The latest polls in California show that Clinton and Sanders are neck-and-neck, with Clinton edging Sanders by 2%, within the margin of error.
Politico's Carla Marinucci: "With just two weeks until the June 7 primary, Hillary Clinton’s once-robust lead over Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders in California has eroded, turning the contest for the 2016 presidential cycle’s biggest delegate prize into a neck-and-neck race, a new poll shows."
"According to the poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, Clinton leads Sanders, 46 percent to 44 percent, among likely Democratic primary voters, who include independents who may vote in the Democratic primary. The results are within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. Just among registered Democrats, however, Clinton’s lead is slightly larger, 49 percent to 41 percent."
"The latest survey is in sharp contrast to two Survey USA polls conducted in April and earlier this month which showed Clinton up by at least 18 points in California. The last PPIC poll, taken in March, showed Clinton leading Sanders by 7 points."
SEE ALSO: Sanders nearly catches Clinton in new California poll -- Ben Adler with Capital Public Radio.
Speaking of polls, the data for the U.S. Senate race in California shows that Dems currently have the lead, with all three Reep candidates barely maintaining a single-digit base.
Christopher Cadelago reports in Sac Bee: "Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez, campaigning for the U.S. Senate in California, are poised to meet in a fall rematch, according to a new poll."
"Harris, the state attorney general, and Sanchez, a veteran congresswoman from Orange County, continue to claim the top two positions in the 34-candidate contest to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. If the dynamics of the relatively sleepy race hold, the Democrats would meet again in the general election on Nov. 8."
"The Public Policy Institute of California poll, released late Wednesday, had Harris leading with support from 27 percent of likely voters. Sanchez was at 19 percent, while Republican Tom Del Beccaro was a distant third at 8 percent, followed by GOP candidates Ron Unz (6 percent) and Duf Sundheim (3 percent)."
In a very surprising admission on the steps of Capitol Hill, a Republican Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, has admitted to using medical marijuanna while currently in office.
Washington Post's Christopher Ingraham reports: "U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) just made a striking admission:Speaking to a group of marijuana activists on Capitol Hill, Rohrabacher said he had recently turned to medical marijuana to help deal with arthritis pain, and it worked."
"Two weeks ago, Rohrabacher said, he tried a topical wax-based marijuana treatment. That night, it was "the first time in a year and a half that I had a decent night’s sleep because the arthritis pain was gone," Rohrabacher said."
"Rohrabacher is one of the leading conservative voices on overhauling marijuana laws in the U.S. Congress. He's the architect of a provision in federal law that prevents the Department of Justice from interfering with state-level medical marijuana operations. But his statement is nonetheless noteworthy because, according to one close observer, it marks the first time in at least several decades that a sitting U.S. congressman has admitted to marijuana use while in office."
Assembly Democrats are looking to spend nearly $1.3 billion in funding on affordable housing and child development.
Ben Bradford with Capital Public Radio reports: "Democrats in the California State Assembly will push to add funding for early childhood care programs in next year’s budget, and pay for it by delaying spending proposed by Governor Jerry Brown."
"Speaker Anthony Rendon says the Assembly budget proposal will include an extra $600 million for child care and preschool programs."
“As a state we eliminated in excess of a billion dollars in early childhood education and restored less than a quarter of that,” Rendon said. “So what you see here is a significant investment.”"
Grammy award-wining singer The Weeknd and rapper/co-writer Belly both chopped their act from Jimmy Kimmel's Tonight Show shortly after learning that Donald Trump would be there too.
Kate Mather and Matt Hamilton in LAT: "Amid a tempestuous swing through Southern California on Wednesday,Donald Trump made a stop in Hollywood for a taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” drawing a small crowd of protesters and prompting singer the Weeknd and rapper Belly to cancel their performances on the show."
"Outside the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, the crowd blasted Trump and criticized host Jimmy Kimmel for giving the Republican presidential candidate such a prominent platform on late-night television."
“Shame on you, Jimmy Kimmel,” one man chanted in a microphone. Gina Hernandez, 28, drove from Pomona after learning of Trump's appearance on the show to protest his stance on immigration."
Only a tenth of this year's pollution credits have been auctioned off, coming up nearly $600 million short of a projected $2.4 billion budget.
AP's Jonathan J. Cooper: "California's ambitious efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are taking a hit as demand has plummeted for pollution credits that are supposed to fund the initiative."
"Only about a tenth of the available pollution credits were sold in an auction last week, according to results released Wednesday by the California Air Resources Board. Gov. Jerry Brown's administration says revenue from the program was $600 million short of the $2.4 billion anticipated in the current fiscal year."
"Gov. Jerry Brown built a cushion in his budget proposal, but the shortfall will still force the Democratic governor and state lawmakers to scale back their ambitions for the money. A quarter of the revenue is earmarked for Brown's high-speed rail project, with the rest funding a wide variety of programs aimed at reducing emissions or mitigating the damage from climate change."
Congressional hopeful Roger Hernandez is facing allegations of domestic violence in court from soon-to-be-ex-wife Susan Rubio, a Baldwin Park City councilwoman.
Javier Panzar reports in LAT: "he estranged wife of Assemblyman Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) accused him of assaulting her more than 20 times over the last three years at a divorce court hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday."
"Baldwin Park City Councilwoman Susan Rubio, who is seeking a domestic violence restraining order against Hernández, detailed eight episodes of alleged violence during her testimony, including one in which she said Hernández choked her with a belt and another in which she said he "dropped" her on the floor and beat her with a broom."
"Rubio testified that during one argument Hernández accused her of having an affair, retrieved a knife from the kitchen, held the knife over her head and told her, "Keep talking, watch what happens," before backing away from her."
Confused about crossover ballots? You're not alone.
KPCC's Mary Plumer writes: "Less than two weeks remain before California’s June 7 primary election and we're hearing from readers and listeners who are confused about using crossover ballots."
"We've compiled some questions about those ballots along with our answers below."
"This Human Voter Guide segment is the third in our series on Take Two. You can also read previous segments in the series."
And now from our "Rock-a-bye Baby" file...
A recently released video has shown the world that lullabies aren't just for humans.
"An elephant caretaker in Thailand has shown all you need to put the enormous animals to sleep is a soothing voice."
"In a video shared online by the Save the Elephant Foundation yesterday caretaker Lek Chailert shows how she uses her skills to sing Faamai the elephant to sleep at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai."
"As Ms Chailert approaches, the affectionate pachyderm extends her trunk and bring the carer in for a hug."
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(Ed's Note: In an introduction earlier to a story on Proposition 50, we incorrectly said it was on the November ballot. Actually, it's on the June ballot.)