LA Times's EVAN HALPER: "The Trump administration is poised to abandon America's pioneering fuel economy targets for cars and SUVs, a move that would undermine one of the world's most aggressive programs to confront climate change and invite another major confrontation with California."
"The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce in the coming days that it will scrap mileage targets the Obama administration drafted in tandem with California that aim to boost average fuel economy for passenger cars and SUVs to 55 miles per gallon by 2025, according to people familiar with the plans."
"The agency plans to replace those targets with a weaker standard that will be unveiled soon, according to the people, who did not want to be identified discussing the plan before it was announced."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: EPA's Pruitt lived in DC condo connected to energy lobbyist -- AP's MICHAEL BIESECKER; Want to fix California's water data problems? Get to the root causes -- Water Deeply's JAY LUND; Fish fight: Is aquaculture feeding the people who need it most? -- Oceans Deeply's IAN EVANS; Ocean Beach sand transfers will disrupt SF traffic on Great Highway -- The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA; Californians are embracing recycled drinking water, so why isn't Sacramento? -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW; Watch today's SpaceX launch live at 7;13a.m. PDT -- Daily News's STEVEN ROSENBERG
OC Register's ANDRE MOUCHARD: "Voters in California are divided on the idea of letting local police help federal immigration officials detain undocumented immigrants, depending on if the immigrant is accused of a violent or a non-violent crime."
"More than half of all voters in the state (54 percent) believe local law enforcement should be allowed to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain a person accused of a violent crime, according to a poll released Thursday, March 29, by Eyewitness News-Southern California News Group conducted by Survey USA."
"Conversely, just 11 percent of voters believe law enforcement should block ICE from holding a potentially violent immigrant, while 24 percent say police should stay out of the way entirely."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Trump challenge to state's sanctuary laws to be heard in Sacramento -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Deported LA Army veteran in Tijuana will soon be granted US citizenship -- The Press-Enterprise's ALEJANDRA MOLINA
California voters are joining this party by mistake, but lawmakers aren't doing anything about it
LA Times's JOHN MYERS: "Two years ago this month, The Times investigated one of the longest-lingering questions in California politics: Are some voters mistakenly joining a political party when what they really want is to be an electoral free agent?"
"The answer seemed to be yes, with substantial evidence of citizens who thought they were an unaffiliated "independent" voter but instead registered with the American Independent Party. And no, those aren't the same thing."
Californians to take their coffee with a cancer warning
AP's BRIAN MELLEY: "A Los Angeles judge has determined that coffee companies must carry an ominous cancer warning label because of a chemical produced in the roasting process."
"Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said Wednesday that Starbucks and other companies failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed any risks. He ruled in an earlier phase of trial that companies hadn't shown the threat from the chemical was insignificant."
Liberal giant on federal bench who wrote gay marriage decision has died
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Judge Stephen Reinhardt, a liberal stalwart on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco who wrote the ruling that ultimately legalized same-sex marriage in California, died Thursday. He was 87."
"Court spokesman David Madden said Reinhardt died suddenly during a medical appointment in his hometown of Los Angeles."
Protest of Sacramento police shooting ends after blocking traffic but not Kings fans
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON/DARRELL SMITH/ED FLETCHER/RYAN SABALOW: "Activists protesting the police shooting of Stephon Clark blocked downtown Sacramento streets again Thursday, taunting stoic police and angry drivers, but they ended their latest march without going near Golden 1 Center, where the Kings were playing the Indiana Pacers amid heightened security."
"In addition, the Kings announced a plan early Thursday to partner with activist organizations such as Black Lives Matter to provide educational support for Clark's two young children and others."
"The latest protest began around 3 p.m. outside the office of Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. Protesters have been demanding that Schubert prosecute the officers who shot and killed Clark on March 18 in his grandparents' backyard in Meadowview. The demonstration ended about 3 1/2 hours later outside Schubert's office after winding through downtown streets, blocking some intersections and halting light-rail trains."
READ MORE related to Stephon Clark Shooting: Brother throws himself on Stephon Clark's casket: 'We're gonna forgive the mayor.' -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/NASHELLY CHAVEZ/TONY BIZJAK/BENJY EGEL; Our Stephon Clark lie -- 'Diverse' Sacramento is not as tolerant as we think -- Sacramento Bee's MARCOS BRETON; Mourners overflow Sacramento funeral for Stephon Clark, slain by police -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ/SARAH RAVANI; Hundreds attend Stephon Clark's funeral in Sacramento; demonstrators gather downtown afterward -- LA Times's PAIGE ST. JOHN/NICOLE SANTA CRUZ/JOSEPH SERNA; Stephon Clark: Surrounded by love, trouble and tragedy, and now a rallying cry for justice after police shooting -- LA Times's NICOLE SANTA CRUZ/PAIGE ST. JOHN
'Best tool' to prevent gun violence is rarely used in California
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "When a police officer called Santa Clara County deputy district attorney Marisa McKeown in July 2016 to inquire about getting a gun violence restraining order, her initial response was:"
"What on Earth are you talking about? I've never heard of such a thing."
"The state law, which had taken effect six months before, allows family members and law enforcement to seek the temporary removal of firearms from someone they believe poses a danger to themselves or others."
The US wants back in the TPP? Good luck with that.
Foreign Policy's KEITH JOHNSON: "More than a year after withdrawing from a big Asia-Pacific trade pact, the Trump administration keeps talking about rejoining it on its own terms. But the Asia-Pacific countries that were eager a year ago to hold the door open for the United States are now busy building their own trading order — without Washington at all."
"Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is the latest Trump administration official to talk up the prospect of returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sprawling trade deal that was the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia and the first target of U.S. President Donald Trump’s demolition job."
"Earlier this month, speaking in Chile, Mnuchin said Washington would “definitely” be open to rejoining the pact — once all the administration’s other trade deals were taken care of, and provided the trade accord could be rewritten to be more beneficial to the United States. (U.S. trade officials declined to say what those revised conditions might be.)"
Facebook Executive's 2016 memo shows company aware of its faults
Bloomberg's SARAH FRIER: "A 2016 memo from a Facebook Inc. executive made the case for the company’s grow-at-all-costs culture, explaining that the negative consequences of the social network -- even deaths and terrorist attacks -- weren’t reason to abandon its purpose of connecting people to one another."
"Facebook has spent the last year reacting to a variety of crises including the spread of misinformation, manipulation by overseas actors, violent videos, racist ad-targeting and, in the past few weeks, a privacy scandal. In each case, the company has responded by saying it will review the issues and adjust to be better for the future. In the memo obtained by Buzzfeed News, entitled “The Ugly,” longtime executive Andrew Bosworth explained that Facebook believes the risks of growth are worth the larger goal: connecting people to one another across the globe."
'It was a shock.' Student says she went to her counselor for help and he kissed her.
Sacramento Bee's DIANA LAMBERT: "Cosumnes River College student Iris Perez met with school crisis counselor Hoyt Fong once a week for a year to talk through difficulties in her life before he unexpectedly kissed her on the lips."
"It was a shock,” Perez said in an interview. “I didn’t know how to react. I was frozen. I tried to brush it off, just to get out as fast as I could. ... When I was getting into my car it all hit me at once and then that’s when I started crying. It was unbelievable."
"Shortly after the incident, Perez filed a complaint with the Los Rios Community College District."
READ MORE related to Education: A child left behind: SF student failed every class in high school -- The Chronicle's JENNA LYONS
Jury says no wrongdoing when 2 SF officers fatally shot mentally ill man
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A federal court jury has cleared two San Francisco police officers of wrongdoing for fatally shooting a mentally ill man in his home in December 2010."
"After hearing conflicting accounts of the officers’ confrontation with Vinh “Tony” Bui at a trial last week, U.S. District Court jurors rejected family members’ claims that the officers used excessive force or acted negligently when they shot him."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Heated town hall follows March 21 police shooting of gunman in barbershop -- The Chronicle's ANNIE MA; BART offers, then pulls back, promotion of cop in fatal Oakland shooting -- The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY; There's another effort underway to make police shooting investigations in California public -- LA Times's LIAM DILLON
WaPo's MATT ZAPOTOSKY: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rebuffed — at least for now — a call from Republican leaders to appoint a second special counsel to look into the FBI’s handling of its most high-profile probes and announced that he has asked the U.S. attorney in Utah to spearhead a broad review."
"Sessions made the revelation in a letter to three key GOP leaders in the House and Senate who have called on him to appoint a second special counsel, noting that Justice Department regulations call for such appointments only in “extraordinary circumstances” and that he would need to conclude “the public interest would be served by removing a large degree of responsibility for the matter from the Department of Justice."
"He asserted that the department previously has tackled high-profile and resource-intensive probes and revealed he had named U.S. Attorney John W. Huber to lead a review of the topics that the legislators had requested he explore. Those topics include aspects of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and several matters related to Hillary Clinton and her family’s foundation."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Justice Dept. inspector general to review surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser -- WaPo's MATT ZAPOTOSKY; Trump tells aides not to talk publicly about Russia policy moves -- NBC News's CAROL E. LEE/COURTNEY KUBE/KRISTEN WELKER; How Trump got to 'yes' on the biggest purge of spies in US history -- WaPo's JOHN HUDSON/SHANE HARRIS/JOSH DAWSEY; In Trump's orbit, few people are safe. Here's a look at who might get booted next -- LA Times's KURTIS LEE; OP-ED: Pardoning Flynn & Manafort would be grounds for an impeachment investigation -- LA Times's EDITORIAL BOARD; OP-ED: LBJ dropped out 50 years ago this week. Might Trump do the same? -- LA Times's JON WIENER; Trump's pick to head veterans department faces skepticism over his experience -- WaPo's LISA REIN/SEUNG MIN KIM/EMILY WAX-THIBODEAUX/JOSH DAWSEY; Mueller probing Russia contacts at Republican convention: sources -- Reuters' MARK HOSENBALL; Source: Mueller pushed for Gates' help on collusion -- CNN's KATELYN POLANTZ/EVAN PEREZ; Inside the lobbying campaign that caught Mueller's attention -- Politico's THEODORIC MEYER/MARIANNA LEVINE; If Trump fires Mueller, he just might get away with it -- The Nation's BOB DREYFUSS; OP-ED: Why Mueller could be considering bribery charges -- RANDALL D. ELIASON in WaPo; FBI looked into Trump plans to build hotel in Latvia with Putin supporter -- The Guardian's JON SWAINE; Mueller just connected a top Trump campaign staffer to Russian intelligence -- Vox's ZACHARY FRYER-BIGGS; Ty Cobb on Russia probe: Mueller is 'my audience, not anybody else' -- Politico's LOUIS NELSON; Blame Trump when Iran races for the bomb -- Foreign Policy's TRITA PARSI