Interested in the possibility of CalEXIT? Backers get the green light to collect signatures.
Sacramento Bee's JIM MILLER: "Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment seeking California’s secession from the U.S. can begin collecting voter signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot, the secretary of state’s office said Thursday."
"The so-called Calexit movement emerged within days of the upset presidential victory of Republican Donald Trump, who lost California by nearly 4.3 million votes. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that nearly one in three Californians support the state leaving the U.S."
"Proponents have until July 25 to collect 585,407 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2018 ballot."
Students -- and their parents -- are going to be digging a bit deeper into their wallets: UC will get its first tuition hike since 2011.
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "The University of California regents voted Thursday to raise tuition and fees next academic year for the first time since 2011 — but state residents from families earning up to $156,000 won’t have to pay the higher price."
"Beginning this summer, the base price of a year at UC for California students will be $12,630, nearly 3 percent higher than the current $12,294. Those amounts include tuition and a student services fee. Add additional campus fees averaging $1,257 a year, plus the cost of room, board and books, and the total annual cost tops $34,000 for students living on campus."
"Most California residents won’t have to pay the higher base price because their families qualify for subsidies from the state and UC and are eligible for an exemption. Only one-third of state residents will have to pay the increase, according to the new plan."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's immigration policies are causing a political firestorm across the nation, but California is trying to serve as a barrier against the hardline.
Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS: "In a display of solidarity, leaders representing a broad spectrum of Sacramento’s faith and political communities rallied Thursday against President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders expanding the identification and deportation of undocumented immigrants."
"Gathering at the Salam Islamic Center near American River College, the group also criticized an anticipated executive order to restrict the flow of refugees into the United States and ban visitors from seven predominantly Muslim nations – Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Iran, Libya and Sudan. Sacramento is among the top destinations for Syrian refugees in the nation, and is also home to large numbers of refugees from Iraq and Iran, according to data reported by the U.S. Department of State."
"Sacramento has a history of immigrant communities,” said Sacramento Councilman Eric Guerra, a native of Mexico and the first Latino member of the City Council since 1999. “That is the root of our city and of our region.”
READ MORE related to Immigration: Could California become a 'sanctuary state' under Trump? -- Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO; Immigrants from Muslim nations fear what Trump changes will bring -- The Chronicle's HAMED ALEAZIZ; SF Mayor Lee calls for unity in holding off Trump's policies -- The Chronicle's EMILY GREEN
The political drama continues to unfold for Sacramento's Twelve Rounds Brewing, as the restaurant gets dropped from local beer events.
Sacramento Bee's BLAIR ANTHONY ROBERTSON: "The backlash grew Thursday against an East Sacramento brewery over its owner’s Facebook posts slamming the Women’s March, Muslims and other targets, with several local businesses saying they were dropping the beer of Twelve Rounds Brewing and the brewery backing out of a major beer event scheduled for Friday."
"Amid growing concerns that its presence would be a distraction at an upscale beer showcase, organizers of the Art of Beer Invitational reached out to Twelve Rounds Brewing to talk about its scheduled participation. The event, which attracts scores of top breweries and is a fundraiser for Sol Collective, the art and cultural center in Sacramento, has emerged in recent years as a high-profile event on the regional craft beer calendar."
"For several weeks, Twelve Rounds had been promoting its participation on the brewery’s Facebook page. But it was owner Daniel Murphy’s comments on his personal Facebook page that landed him in the center of a highly charged backlash."
Like something out of a sci-fi movie, scientists have created the first real chimera -- a creature borne of the genetic mixing of pig and human DNA.
WaPo's SARAH KAPLAN: "For the first time, scientists have grown an embryo that is part-pig, part-human."
"The experiment, described Thursday in the journal Cell, involves injecting human stem cells into the embryo of a pig, then implanting the embryo in the uterus of a sow and allowing it to grow. After four weeks, the stem cells had developed into the precursors of various tissue types, including heart, liver and neurons, and a small fraction of the developing pig was made up of human cells."
"The human-pig hybrid — dubbed a “chimera” for the mythical creature with a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail — was “highly inefficient,” the researchers cautioned. But it's the most successful human-animal chimera and a significant step toward the development of animal embryos with functioning human organs."
Some of Trump's closest associates are registered to vote in two states, despite the President's constant negative rhetorical barrage against dually-registered voters.
Washington Post's MATEA GOLD/ALICE CRITES: "Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one of his closest White House advisers, is registered to vote in both New Jersey and New York, while White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is on the rolls both in Virginia and his home state of Rhode Island, according to elections officials and voting registration records."
"Their dual registrations offer two more high-profile examples of how common it is for voters to be on the rolls in multiple states – something Trump has claimed is evidence of voter fraud."
"Along with Kushner and Spicer, The Washington Post has now identified five Trump family members or top administration appointees who were registered in two states during the fall election. The others are chief White House strategist Stephen Bannon; Tiffany Trump, the president’s youngest daughter; and Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin, as first reported by CNN."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Trump has economists the world over worried after a recent threat to tax Mexican imports raises concerns of violating trade law and starting a long term tradewar.
AP's JULIE PACE/MARK STEVENSON: "Determined to wall off America's border with Mexico, President Donald Trump triggered a diplomatic clash and a fresh fight over trade Thursday as the White House proposed a 20 percent tax on imports from the key U.S. ally and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto abruptly scrapped next week's trip to Washington."
"The swift fallout signaled a remarkable souring of relations between Washington and one of its most important international partners just days into the new administration. The U.S. and Mexico conduct some $1.6 billion a day in cross-border trade, and cooperate on everything from migration to anti-drug enforcement to major environmental issues."
"At the heart of the dispute is Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for construction of the massive wall he has promised along the southern U.S. border. Trump on Wednesday formally ordered construction of the wall."
READ MORE related to Economy: One of Trump's first moves is already hurting a loyal group of supporters: Veterans -- Sacramento Bee's VERA BERGENGRUEN; Pipeline protestors project '#NODAPL" on SF Federal Building -- The Chronicle's MICHAEL BODLEY; New 'Ritual' for cannabis, coffee lovers -- The Chronicle's ED MURRIETA
A proposed bill could add a new gender identity to state identification documents.
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Asserting that California must lead the way on rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, lawmakers on Thursday announced a first-of-its-kind measure to streamline the process for changing gender on state identification and introduce an official “nonbinary” designation for those who do not identify as male or female."
"Senate Bill 179, from Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would allow Californians to update their gender on birth certificates, driver’s licenses and identity cards without undergoing clinical treatment or getting a court order. It would also make California the first state in the country to legally recognize nonbinary as a gender."
“We have transgender people around this country who are living in fear as more and more states strip them of the most basic rights,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, a co-author of the bill. “When they go backwards, we go forwards.”
Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA/ELLEN GARRISOn/NASHELLY CHAVEZ: "After two homeless men died next to of Sacramento City Hall this month, the city on Thursday opened an emergency shelter in a building within sight of where one of the men was found."
“I am heartbroken by the deaths of two people, and of course it’s not the only two people who have died as the result of homelessness,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg, standing in front of City Hall just feet from where Michael Nunez died on Jan. 18. “I hope that people see that while we have a long way to go, we are fully committed and I feel a tremendous sense of urgency to do more.”
"A building at 904 11th St. that once housed the city’s information technology center will be used to provide shelter to about 40 people and their pets for at least the next three weeks. The building has no beds, but people will be allowed to spend the night. Green vinyl pillows and mats were being delivered to the site by Thursday afternoon. Volunteers of America will run the shelter for the city."
California's drought status is markedly improved after the recent cold snap and stormfront.
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW/PHILLIP REESE: "The absolute worst of the drought has disappeared in California."
"For the first time in three years, not a single area of California is considered in “exceptional drought,” the most severe category, according to a U.S. government estimate released Thursday. All told, 48.6 percent of the state is completely drought free, the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor reported, up from 42 percent last week. A year ago, only 5 percent of California had escaped the drought."
"The closely watched Drought Monitor, an analysis conducted by the National Drought Mitigation Center and key federal agencies, was released as political pressure mounts on Gov. Jerry Brown to end his statewide drought emergency declaration and its restrictions on water usage."
Ami Bera talks about how his father's imprisonment affects his family.
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA HART: "Political and family turmoil that overshadowed Democratic Rep. Ami Bera and the hotly contested race to represent California’s 7th Congressional District continues to linger for the three-term congressman from Elk Grove."
"Bera’s father, Babulal Bera, remains in federal prison in Southern California, where he is serving time after being convicted of election fraud in connection with his son’s campaigns in 2010 and 2012."
"The elder Bera was convicted in August, during the run-up to November’s election, and sentenced to serve one year plus one day at Terminal Island federal prison outside Long Beach. Ami Bera, who narrowly defeated Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican, in the hotly contested race to represent suburban Sacramento, expressed grief and concern Thursday about the situation."