Updating . .  

Felicity Huffman and other parents agree to plead guilty in college admissions scandal -- Felicity Huffman and a dozen other wealthy parents swept up in the far-reaching college admissions scandal have agreed to plead guilty after being charged in the scheme, according to court records. Richard Winton, Matthew Ormseth and Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/8/19

Felicity Huffman: ‘I am ashamed of the pain I have caused’ -- In announcing she was pleading guilty for her role in the college admissions scandal, actress Felicity Huffman issued an apology for her actions and stressed that her daughter had nothing to do with the scheme. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

Stanford kicks out student as fallout from college admissions scandal grows -- Stanford University has kicked out a student whose application allegedly contained false information as fallout continues from the sweeping college admissions cheating scandal that has ensnared top universities across the country. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19 

Donald Trump gave corporations a big tax cut. California Democrats want to take some of it -- Citing a tax windfall that major corporations received through President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law, California Democrats on Monday unveiled a plan to levy a steep tax hike on the state’s most profitable businesses. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

California drivers, beware: Gas prices may hit $4 for the first time since 2014 -- Gas prices are spiking, and may reach as high as $4 in the coming weeks for the first time since 2014, when average prices peaked at around $4.15, according to data from the California Energy Commission. Mila Jasper in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

Making history: Our first online census -- Most of us are already doing a lot of business online, from ordering products to banking to even filing our taxes. Now we will be asked to do one more task over the Internet — fill out a U.S. census survey. Lisa Renner Capitol Weekly -- 4/8/19

Adelanto cuts ties to troubled ICE detention center — and removes a layer of oversight -- Adelanto city officials are parting ways with the federal government and a private prison company, ending the high desert city’s role in overseeing the management of California’s largest immigrant detention facility. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

How making $300,000 in San Francisco can still mean you're living paycheck-to-paycheck -- With the median price of a home in the U.S. at $300,000, you can can achieve homeownership and the idealized middle-class lifestyle in most parts of the country making a salary just under or above six figures. In San Francisco's land of $2 million fixer-uppers, the income needed to reach this status is obviously more. But how much more? Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Twenty-two ways to ease California health insurance bills are up for debate in the Capitol -- Twenty-two bills before the Legislature this year aim to make health care more affordable and accessible. It seems almost certain that some of them will pass. But even though all the bills are heading in the same direction, there are competing visions of what a health care expansion should look like in 2019. Deepa Bharath, Michael Finch II, Sophia Bollag, and Sammy Caiola the USC Center for Health Journalism Collaborative in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

BART reopens two stations after train hits and kills person in El Cerrito -- A person struck and killed by a BART train Monday morning closed the El Cerrito del Norte and Richmond stations, causing delays in all directions, officials said. Both stations were reopened by 10:15 a.m. BART passengers should expect residual delays of up to 20 minutes on the Richmond line in all directions, authorities said. Ashley McBride in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Off-duty deputy fatally shoots brother during fight at family party -- Investigators from the department’s homicide detail determined that an argument had broken out among several family members in the front yard of the home and that Israel Miranda Jr., 28, had assaulted some relatives with a knife, the department said in a news release. Javier Panzar in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

AP sources: Secret Service director to leave Trump admin -- U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles is expected to leave the Trump administration, said three administration officials, amid a shake-up in the upper echelon of the Department of Homeland Security. Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Colleen Long Associated Press -- 4/8/19

Fox: Treasurer Ma’s Rebuke of State Tax Authority Reawakens Idea of “Elected” Tax Officials -- California Treasurer Fiona Ma’s appeal to Governor Newsom to intervene with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to prevent the pursuit of third-party small business sellers for back taxes is a just cause. But the fact that she has to appeal to the executive for relief highlights a concern raised two years ago at the time of the creation of the CDTFA—appointed rather than elected tax oversight officials could be a detriment to taxpayers. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 4/8/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

“The rhetoric is so toxic:” Newsom lands in El Salvador as Trump moves to end aid there -- As Gov. Gavin Newsom touched down in El Salvador today to begin a three-day trip designed to contrast his own approach to immigration with that of his nemesis, President Donald Trump, the contrast could hardly have been more stark. Elizabeth Aguilera Calmatters Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 4/8/19

Los Angeles legislator who fled El Salvador as a child returns with California governor -- Whenever Wendy Carrillo returns to El Salvador, she can’t help wondering what her life would have been like if civil war had not driven her family out. Elizabeth Aguilera Calmatters -- 4/8/19

Is Gavin Newsom campaigning in El Salvador? Trip prompts praise, speculation -- Back at his hotel after touring a busy cathedral Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom sought to explain why he traveled to El Salvador just three months after taking the oath of office as California governor. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

Amid tears for Nipsey Hussle, a rallying cry: ‘The marathon has to continue’ -- To the world, he was Nipsey Hussle, the rapper, activist and entrepreneur whose “Victory Lap” album earned a Grammy nomination. ‘But for the hundreds of people who gathered Sunday at the Medhani-Alem Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church in South Los Angeles to remember him, he was known first as Ermias. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

California's powerful political players would like campaign investigations kept quiet -- It’s the week before election day and a candidate has evidence of campaign wrongdoing by her opponent. She takes her case to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission — but the agency is barred from even confirming the complaint exists. Voters are told nothing before casting their ballots. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

Ad watch: Police use-of-force ad misleads on officer training -- The law enforcement organization Protect California is running television ads and digital campaigns to rally support for a police use-of-force measure sponsored by the California Police Chiefs Association. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

Ad watch: Police use-of-force ads lack context as major bill heads toward hearing -- Courage Campaign launched two police use-of-force ads this week urging lawmakers to pass Assembly Bill 392 before the controversial bill is scheduled to withstand its first committee hearing on Tuesday. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/8/19

Skelton: Sacramento wants to tax soda, tires, guns, water, pain pills, lawyers, car batteries... -- To plagiarize T.S. Eliot, April is the cruelest month. But not for the reasons the poet wrote. Rather, for all the taxes. And there are bills in the Legislature to make taxes sting even worse. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

Walters: Big issue: Who’s an employee and who’s not? -- Lorena Gonzalez finds herself in an unusual political position this year—and clearly relishes it. Gonzalez, a Democratic assemblywoman from San Diego, is best known as a fierce warrior for worker rights and benefits, and carries a heavy load of legislation, usually on behalf of unions and other advocacy groups. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 4/8/19

Train tussle: Campaign fights plan for ‘wall of railcars’ on Richmond shoreline -- On a recent morning, small waves lapped at the rocky shore, picnickers gathered at tables around a lagoon, and families perambulated along the eastern edge of San Francisco Bay to enjoy a sunny day in Richmond. The scenic escape at Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline was carved out of an industrial waterfront more than four decades ago to provide a refuge from the press of nearby freeways, refineries, chemical plants and factories. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Man arrested in death of California Highway Patrol officer -- A Southern California man was arrested on suspicion of murder and driving drunk in the death of a motorcycle officer with the California Highway Patrol, officials said Sunday. Michael Callahan of Winchester was booked on the charges in the death of California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Licon, said Officer Steve Carapia. Amanda Lee Myers Associated Press -- 4/8/19

South Bay pair gamed EB-5 visa program for millions in profit from wealthy investors, feds say -- It was an extensive plan to take advantage of a controversial immigration program, and federal authorities say that by the time they intervened, the scheme had ensnared hundreds of wealthy overseas clients seeking green cards and netted a South Bay attorney and her ex-husband millions of dollars in illegal fees and commissions. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/8/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Tech Giants' Initiatives to Address AI Ethics Concerns Under Scrutiny -- The biggest tech companies want you to know that they're taking special care to ensure that their use of artificial intelligence to sift through mountains of data, analyze faces or build virtual assistants doesn't spill over to the dark side. Matt O'Brien and Rachel Lerman Associated Press -- 4/8/19

Will CalPERS board shake-up continue this year? -- A former CalPERS board member, J.J. Jelincic, plans to run against the new CalPERS board president, Henry Jones, as he seeks a fourth 4-year term on the board of the nation’s largest pension system. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 4/8/19

Transit  

BART extension: It’s complicated -- Riders have waited decades for BART to roll into Silicon Valley. Now, an ongoing financial negotiation stands in the way of the opening. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Housing  

The kids aren’t all right: How the housing crisis hurts the Bay Area’s youngest residents -- On a recent Wednesday evening, while her classmates were doing their homework, having dinner with their families or attending ballet and piano lessons, 13-year-old Frida Cassidy Schiesser was at City Hall, making an impassioned plea for rent control. Marisa Kendall in the East Bay Times -- 4/8/19

Education 

Offensive or important? Debate flares anew over San Francisco school mural depicting slavery -- For 84 years, San Francisco high school students have walked to class past the scenes of black slaves picking cotton and white settlers urged on by George Washington stepping over a dead American Indian. Jill Tucker and Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Roommates wanted for UC Berkeley dorm: Must be cool with mice, other vermin -- First, she heard them: the rattle of tiny footsteps in the walls and the radiator of a double room at Stern Hall dormitory. Soon enough, Annabelle Long’s worst fears were realized. Her roommate texted to say she had just reached down to grab her phone charger on the floor and nearly brushed up against a belly-up mouse. Melia Russell in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/8/19

Stanford expels student associated with college bribery scandal -- University says the female student 'fabricated sailing credentials' in her application and her credits earned are vacated. Thy Vo in the East Bay Times -- 4/8/19

Also . . . 

Police officer wounded in wild shootout in Manhattan Beach -- Police responded to reports of a domestic dispute at a Marriott hotel near the corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Aviation Boulevard about 9:30 a.m., police said. A man dressed in military fatigues and carrying a handgun was reported chasing a woman in the hotel. Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

Traveling replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to stop in Orange County this week -- At 375 feet long and up to 7 ½ feet tall, the Wall That Heals is a three-quarter-scale replica of the original wall in Washington, D.C. Both versions are engraved with the names of the more than 58,000 service members who died during the Vietnam War. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/8/19

Beltway 

Democrats Rethink the Death Penalty, and Its Politics -- By signing an executive order, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California recently ended the threat of execution as long as he is in office for the 737 inmates on the state’s death row, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Almost immediately, Democratic presidential candidates lined up in support, calling capital punishment a moral outrage infected with racial bias. Tim Arango in the New York Times$ -- 4/8/19

2020 candidates struggle to convince home-state voters they’re ready for White House -- Sen. Kamala Harris has been elected three times to statewide office, and she’s one of the most popular politicians in California. Yet according to the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll, just 38 percent of likely state voters say she should be running for president. David Siders Politico -- 4/8/19

 

-- Sunday Updates 

To block California soda taxes, companies paid for ‘Black Panther’ tickets, fancy dinners -- Dinners at an expensive restaurant in Maui — with ocean views. Tickets to professional sports games. A free screening of “Black Panther” at a Sacramento IMAX theater. And a $250,000 donation to a group that funds the governor’s travel. Samantha Young in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

Kimberly Sue Endicott, tourist in Uganda, rescued from kidnappers, authorities say -- Kimberly Sue Endicott, 56, an aesthetician from Costa Mesa, and her driver, Congolese national Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, were rescued by security services, the Ugandan government tweeted. No other details about their rescue were available. Their kidnappers had demanded a $500,000 ransom for their release. Hannah Fry and Carlos Lozano in the Los Angeles Times$ Marilyn Kalfus in the Orange County Register -- 4/7/19

Police officer wounded in a wild shootout with gunman in Manhattan Beach -- A Hawthorne police officer was wounded in a wild shootout with a gunman near a shopping center in Manhattan Beach early Sunday, authorities said. Police responded to reports of an active shooter near the corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Aviation Boulevard about 9:30 a.m., authorities said. Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

L.A. Times and other news outlets sue for 911 call records from Borderline shooting -- The Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and the publisher of the Ventura County Star sued Ventura County on Friday, seeking the release of 911 call records from the Borderline shooting that left 12 people dead. The lawsuit alleges that the county has violated the state’s Public Records Act by denying requests for 911 calls, dispatch calls and body and dash camera audio or video. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

With Republican Duncan Hunter’s future uncertain, Democrats rally around one candidate -- Rep. Duncan Hunter’s lingering legal issues and September trial set the stage for an unusual campaign season, with viable Republican alternative candidates in limbo and Democrats behind a familiar East County name. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/7/19

Firefighting aircraft ‘increasingly ineffective’ amid worsening wildfires -- Now, in the aftermath of the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and caused up to $13 billion in damage, some are calling Cal Fire’s use of air tankers “costly and increasingly ineffective.” They insist that fixed-wing air tankers are too vulnerable to the blinding smoke and high winds of extreme fire conditions. Joseph Serna and Kyle Kim in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

California coffers to swell when billion-dollar firms premiere on Wall Street -- California’s boom-and-bust budget could soon get a big boost as companies worth billions of dollars rush onto the public markets, bringing huge tax gains for their home state. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/7/19

The impossible challenge of tracking visa overstays -- Tracking the entry and exit of foreign travelers legally visiting the U.S. seems simple enough. In reality, it has proven an insurmountable challenge. The best tracking occurs at air and sea ports of entry, yet even those systems are not comprehensive. Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/7/19

85-year-old Wine Institute to move headquarters to Sacramento from San Francisco -- Sacramento’s proximity to lawmakers was the main reason behind the move, board of directors members told the San Francisco Chronicle, though the organization has been making policy arguments from San Francisco since 1934. Other reason to consolidate California offices in Sacramento: the rising cost of doing business in the Bay Area and visitors’ difficulty navigating San Francisco traffic to reach the current location in a Financial District skyscraper. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/7/19

Nipsey Hussle had a vision for South L.A. It all started with a trip to Eritrea -- At the age of 19, Nipsey Hussle took the money he earned hustling on the streets of South Los Angeles and bought a plane ticket to his father’s homeland — a tiny country in eastern Africa that fought a brutal war to secure its place in the world as Eritrea. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

County school districts struggle with the rising costs of special education -- Federal and state dollars for students with special needs aren’t rising with special ed enrollment, so districts are digging into general funds and reserves. Kristen Taketa, Deborah Sullivan Brennan in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/7/19

Teen with autism turns a page in his ‘Ottobiography’ -- Otto Lana writes poetry, does distance swimming, and plans to study math and science after high school. Because he couldn’t talk, his first school put him in classes for students with low academic expectations. Deborah Sullivan Brennan in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/7/19

Why Juul is thriving despite the crackdown on youth vaping -- For San Francisco vaping company Juul, the outcry from officials at all levels of government seems unrelenting: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on e-cigarette sales to minors, California lawmakers are weighing a bill to halt the sale of flavored tobacco like Juul pods, and, in the company’s own hometown, the city attorney is pushing to ban e-cigarettes altogether. Juul itself has yanked many of its most popular flavors off of store shelves. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/7/19

Trucks on the 210 Freeway keep crashing onto the Gold Line. A fix could get expensive -- In April of last year, a traffic collision in the middle of the night sent a FedEx truck crashing across the 210 Freeway in Pasadena and onto the tracks of the Metro Gold Line, which is separated from the roadway by a squat concrete barrier. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

San Francisco getting new red-light cameras, but it’s been a stop-and-go process -- If you ran a red light at one of San Francisco’s 20 camera-monitored intersections in the past four months, you got a pass. That’s because the aging traffic cameras were turned off while a new system was waiting to be installed. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/7/19

Citations soar for homeless on American River Parkway after ruling halts bans on camping -- Marietta Watson wonders why being homeless is cause for a ticket. She reached into her small purse and pulled out the pink citation slip with the offense “CART ON PKWY” that she received from an American River Parkway ranger last week. It is exhausting enough being homeless, she said. This was like salt in the wound. Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/7/19

As more people go without a lawyer, courts offer self-help services. Advice from the judge? No way -- The divorced couple appearing before Judge Helen E. Zukin was fighting over visitation. The man said he had kicked his heroin addiction and wanted to spend time with his children, whom he hadn’t seen in three years. His ex was against it, saying she did not trust that he was clean, and that he had let his children down before. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

Bretón: #UFWToo. Union head Teresa Romero wants us to remember the farmworkers -- She’s the first woman to lead the fabled United Farm Workers union, which was established nearly 60 years ago by César Chávez, perhaps the best known Mexican American in U.S. history. Teresa Romero is also the granddaughter of a Zapotec woman whose indigenous lineage predates the Spanish conquest of the nation of Mexico. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/7/19

Joe Biden accuser Lucy Flores went from gangs and jail to law school and elected office -- Lucy Flores has seldom been shy about saying what she felt needed to be said. David Montero in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19

McManus: Stop thinking of Bernie Sanders as a gadfly. He’s the front-runner -- In case you missed it, Bernie Sanders is now, for all practical purposes, the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Vermont socialist pulled in $18 million in the first three months of 2019, most of it from small donors. His nearest rival, Kamala Harris, collected $12 million, with others far behind. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/7/19