A recent Field Poll shows support for repealing the death penalty is teetering around the halfway mark.
MARK DICAMILLO in Capitol Weekly: "Proposition 62, the initiative to repeal the death penalty in California and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole, is narrowly supported by likely voters. The latest Field-IGS Poll finds 48% of likely voters saying they intend to vote Yes when presented with the official ballot summary that voters will see when voting on Prop. 62 in the November election. This compares to 37% who intend to vote No, while 15% are undecided."
"In addition to Prop. 62, Californians will also be asked to vote on a competing death penalty initiative, Proposition 66, which calls for changing procedures governing challenges to the death penalty and is intended to speed its implementation. When presented with its official ballot summary, many voters are unsure how they’ll vote on Prop. 66. While 35% say they are inclined to vote Yes and 23% would vote No, a plurality (42%) are undecided."
The full poll can be seen here.
In his battle for Congress, Ro Khanna is hoping to draw on the support of fellow Indo-American voters, but that community remains divided in their views about the candidate.
MATTHEW ARTZ with Mercury News: "Indian-Americans have a saying about themselves that should make Ro Khanna a little nervous as he tries for a second time to unseat San Jose Congressman Mike Honda:"
“Two Indians, three opinions.”
"Khanna, the U.S.-born son of Indian immigrants, is counting on the Indian-American community to come out in force on Nov. 8 to help catapult him into Congress to represent a swath of Silicon Valley stretching from Fremont to Cupertino. But when it comes to politics, Indian-Americans have been far more successful at bankrolling candidates of Indian heritage than galvanizing behind them."
A new $2 million experiment involving a specially made type of crystal that can produce energy when under pressure is in the works to explore alternative energy sources.
DELARA SHAKIB with AP: "All those cars on California's famously gridlocked highways could be doing more than just using energy - they could be producing it."
"The California Energy Commission is investing $2 million to study whether piezoelectric crystals can be used to produce electricity from the mechanical energy created by vehicles driving on roads."
"The commission is in the process of choosing a company or university to take on small-scale field tests. It will study how the small crystals, which generate energy when compressed, could produce electricity for the grid if installed under asphalt."
Jerry Brown has vetoed another diaper bill due to a 'precariously balanced budget'.
JOHN MYERS with L.A. Times: "Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an effort Sunday to subsidize diapers needed by families receiving government assistance, calling the plan and several other efforts "an end run" around the annual budget process."
"The veto on Assembly Bill 492 came almost two weeks after the governor vetoed a different bill aimed at reducing the cost of diapers, both efforts by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) to help low-income families."
"The budget process allows all spending proposals to be weighed equally through public hearings, negotiations and, finally, approval of a balanced budget," Brown wrote. "This process is even more important when the state's budget is precariously balanced."
READ MORE in Gov. Brown: Jerry Brown vetoes bill to fully reimburse first responders for San Bernardino attack -- DAVID SIDERS with Sacramento Bee
Bryan Caforio, a new candidate for the 25th Congressional District seat, is campaigning as a champion of the underdog -- but critics say his career history as a lawyer reflects his defense of big business and millionaires.
JAVIER PANZAR with L.A. Times: "When first-time candidate Bryan Caforio explains how he got into politics, he points out that it was his experience as a lawyer that fueled his decision last winter to jump into a heated Los Angeles County congressional race."
"Caforio, 33, whom Democrats have identified as their best chance to oust one of the state’sRepublicans, says that as a trial lawyer he “saw a system in which far too many people in our community were taken advantage of on an almost daily basis” because “corporate politicians” were “looking out for the biggest banks and the wealthiest corporations instead of the people back here at home.”
"The comments came in a recently released campaign video called “My Story” that shows Caforio talking to a worker in a welding mask. The candidate then explains how his wife, Lisa, told him “instead of doing this one case at a time, instead of doing it one client at a time,” he ought to run for Congress to “build a better system” and “an economy that works for everyone and not just the wealthy few."
Researchers at UC Berkeley have helped broaden the understanding of the tectonic plates on the west coast and how they behave.
HYUNKU MICHAEL LEE with Daily Californian: "Researchers at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and the campus department of earth and planetary sciences gained new insight into the movement of tectonic plates as a result of the multi-year study published Friday in the journal Science."
"William Hawley, a UC Berkeley graduate student in earth and planetary sciences and lead researcher on the study, said scientists used a broad network of seismometers to monitor the movement of seismic waves across the plates in the Cascadia subduction zone more precisely than ever before. Their data showed an accumulation of a viscous layer beneath the Juan de Fuca Plate that allows freer movement between it and the mantle than was previously thought."
"One hypothesis for the movement of these plates is that as the mantle underneath a plate moved, it dragged the plate above it along. But because of the fluid-like substance, the researchers concluded that the mantle was not the driving force for the movement of the Juan de Fuca Plate."