California's June 7th U.S. Senate primary promises to be a doozy with Barbara Boxer's retirement prompting a surge of candidates on the ballot that may make it difficult for voters to navigate.
LAT's John Meyers writes: "If elections officials could send just one message to California's 17.2 million registered voters about the U.S. Senate primary in June, it would probably be this: Read the instructions carefully."
"It's not necessarily intuitive on how to properly mark this ballot," said Kammi Foote, registrar of voters for Inyo County. And a mistake could keep a ballot from counting."
"On primary day, the race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer will feature 34 candidates. Only four of those candidates have received appreciable support in public polling so far, and five will appear at the first Senate debate Monday night. "
SEE ALSO: Controversial English-only crusader sets his sights on California's Senate race -- Phil Willon in LAT.
Police accountability in the bay area gets a revisit after a severe beating of an alleged car thief prompts an investigation that revealed 11 on-scene officers failed to turn on their body cameras prior to the violent arrest.
Robert Salonga and Dan Lawton report in Mercury News: "When Alameda County sheriff's deputies reportedly beat a car-theft suspect after a high-speed chase from Castro Valley last fall, the onslaught of blows was not the only troubling revelation. None of the 11 deputies at the scene turned on their body cameras."
"If it weren't for a private overhead security camera, there would have been no video record of deputies pummeling a cowering Stanislov Petrov. The episode highlighted how the accelerating adoption of body-worn cameras by Bay Area police still leaves a central question only partially answered: How -- and how often -- should they be used?"
"This news organization surveyed dozens of local police departments about their body camera policies. Of the 48 agencies who responded or had available records, 31 have deployed or approved body cameras, and an additional eight are planning to. Twenty-nine of the 31 have established policies calling for the body cams to be running as much as possible."
With Donald Trump looming ominously over California, Dems and Latinos both have reflexively surged to the voter registration office in hopes of turning the tables on the heavy hitting nominee.
Ben Adler reports in CPR: "California is seeing a surge in voter registration ahead of the state’s June 7 presidential primary election. But it's not necessarily the way you might expect."
"Throughout the presidential race, and all across the country, Republican voter registration has exploded. It's a sign, perhaps, of the strong feelings provoked by GOP frontrunner Donald Trump."
"But California is kind of an island, says Sacramento-based political data guru Paul Mitchell: It’s not as driven by national trends. Yes, 850,000 new voters registered between January and March – twice as many as the last presidential election year. But the party breakdown might surprise you."
Big insurance has reportedly failed to redeem nearly $300 million in life insurance policies by not even alerting beneficiaries of their inheritance, and now the State Controller's office is making them pay it all back.
Melody Gutierrez reports in The Chronicle: "Thousands of Californians are owed money — in some cases more than $100,000 — in life insurance benefits because they did not know they were beneficiaries and insurance companies made no effort to notify them, state officials say."
"Now, the state Controller’s Office is trying to hand $307 million to its proper owners — and $13.3 million of that life insurance money belongs to 5,300 people living in San Francisco and Oakland, according to data analyzed by The Chronicle."
"The amounts owed to individuals across the state range from $583,000 belonging to the trust of Huan Lin in Los Angeles County to 50 others owed $150,000 or more."
Prince's philanthropic hobbies were all but hidden until now, with a posthumous exploration of his life revealing the money and time the pop-icon poured into lower socio-economic communities in the Bay Area.
Chronicle's Katie Dowd reports: "In the days since the death of music legend Prince, stories of his secret, wide-ranging philanthropy efforts are finally being told."
"Two of Prince's major charitable endeavors were centered in the Bay Area: bringing solar panels to Oakland and helping young people of color learn how to code."
"In an interview with CNN, political activist Van Jones revealed that, while he was the face of environmental group Green For All, Prince was the driving force and checkbook. "
And now from our "Put your best foot forward" file ...
A bored Londoner took to the streets of his home town on Sunday in a gigantic, drivable foot, which ultimately led to a traffic ticket. Yes, you read that correctly.
From The Mirror: "This snapshot shows a traffic warden ticketing a motorist - but the chap isn't in the average family hatchback."
"The 'motorist' was actually stopped driving a GIANT FOOT when he was pulled over and given a ticking off."
"Driving a massive pink foot-shaped vehicle, he was wearing a silver jump suit and crash helmet."