In race for California governorship, Newsom and Villaraigosa pledge unity
EdSource's LOUIS FREEDBERG/MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "After a bitter primary gubernatorial contest, driven in large part by funds from pro-charter school backers, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa have declared a truce."
"Following a breakfast together on Tuesday, they vowed to work together to defeat what former Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa called the “threat” posed by a Republican agenda put forward by GOP candidate for governor John Cox and President Donald Trump. Newsom will face Cox, who placed second in the June 5 primary, in the November runoff."
"Newsom and Villaraigosa met on Villaraigosa’s turf at the Homegirl Cafe in downtown Los Angeles, which is run by Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit organization that provides a range of services for former gang members and previously incarcerated men."
Poll finds Newsom has a commanding lead over Cox in California governor's race
LA Times's SEEMA MEHTA/PHIL WILLON: "Democrat Gavin Newsom has a dominant lead over Republican John Cox in California’s race for governor, a contest in which a significant number of voters appear to have cast ballots strategically to sway the outcome of the state’s top-two primary, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll."
"Forty-five percent of registered voters who said they planned to vote in the November race intend to support Newsom, while Cox won the support of 28% of those who plan to cast ballots, according to the poll. Twenty-seven percent of those voters were undecided."
Budget trailer bills have become Christmas trees
CALmatters' DAN WALTERS: "As detailed in this space a few days ago, the Legislature is using a budget “trailer bill” to deprive voters of vital information about local government and school bond issues."
"The legislation, drafted without public hearings or other input, would suspend for two years a new law, which took effect on January 1, requiring proposed bond measures to reveal to voters how they would affect property tax bills."
"The local officials who sought the suspension apparently believe that revealing the tax consequences to voters would make them less likely to vote for bond issues."
Use tax breaks to combat homelessness, candidates for California governor say
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA HART: "More people are homeless in California than anywhere else in the country as home prices and rental costs rise."
"When state populations are taken into account, the Golden State ranks second behind Hawaii for its number of unsheltered residents."
"Local officials and homelessness experts say the state must do more to address it. Among the ideas: Sustained behavioral and mental health treatment. Permanent housing tied with social safety net services and health care programs. Additional emergency shelter beds."
Prank robo calls plague California lawmakers, top Democratic campaigns
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "The California Highway Patrol is investigating bizarre crank calls directed at some state lawmakers and Democratic campaign staff members."
"In an email to Assembly members and staff on Monday night, Mark Hoover, deputy chief sergeant-at-arms, said "several legislators in the Assembly and Senate have received phone calls and/or messages from an individual who appeared to be in distress, pleading for help saying, 'I can't breathe!"
"Assembly sergeants estimate five to 10 legislators and their family members have received hoax phone calls. According to Hoover's email, "Assembly and Senate sergeants are looking into the matter in coordination with CHP." The California Highway Patrol declined to comment on the case, explaining it does not discuss ongoing investigations."
Republicans in Congress look for way out of border crisis as Trump publicly stands his ground
LA Times's NOAH BIERMAN/ELI STOKOLS: "Senate Republicans mobilized on Tuesday to end the administration's policy of separating children from their migrant parents — and the mounting political backlash — as President Trump publicly held firm, warning that those illegally crossing the border "infest our Country."
"Yet cracks appeared in the White House's hard line as well, as outrage against the policy grew amid continued media coverage of bedraggled children penned in austere government detention centers."
READ MORE related to Immigration/Zero Tolerance Crisis: Feinstein's migrant family bill puts her at center of opposition to Trump -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH; LA County officials oppose Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy, direct agencies to assist children -- LA Times's NINA AGRAWAL; Mexico blasts US family separation policy as 'violation of human rights' -- LA Times's PATRICK J MCDONNELL; Trump's claim that migrants 'infest' country seen as whipping up fear -- The Chronicle's HAMED ALEAZIZ; Youngest migrants held in 'tender age' shelters -- AP's GARANCE BURKE/MARTHA MENDOZA; De Leon urges Brown to pull CA Guard from border over family separations -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ; Editorial: Ending Trump's cruel family separation policy -- The Chronicle's EDITORIAL BOARD; Editorial: He's why Trump separates families, cages kids. what did California do to Stephen Miller? -- Sacramento Bee's EDITORIAL BOARD; US officials likely lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children -- McClatchy DC's FRANCO ORDONEZ/ANITA KUMAR; Thousands of legal immigration slots would be slashed under House plan -- McClatchy's KATE IRBY
New tool will help save water by measuring plant health from space
Water Deeply's MATT WEISER: "NEXT WEEK, A new instrument designed to measure plant stress will be plugged into the International Space Station. Once operating, the device will deliver unprecedented data about drought conditions and water conservation all over the planet."
"The device was designed and built by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It’s scheduled for launch on June 29 aboard a SpaceX rocket as part of a resupply mission for the space station."
Anaheim City Council votes to put 'living wage' initiative on its November ballot
LA Times's HUGO MARTIN: "After emotional statements from Disneyland workers and Anaheim business owners, a divided Anaheim City Council voted Tuesday to put on its November ballot a measure that would require hospitality operations that accept a city subsidy to pay a “living wage."
"The council narrowly rejected a proposal to first call for an economic analysis of the impact of the initiative."
READ MORE related to Development & Economy: State will test developed portion of Hunters Point Shipyard, but critics say it won't be enough -- The Chronicle's JK DINEEN; See what the new $240 million Sacramento Convention Center would look like -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS
LA County supervisors approve $2.2B to build replacement for Men's Central Jail
LA Times's NINA AGRAWAL: "A controversial $2.2-billion plan to replace the overcrowded, crumbling Men’s Central Jail downtown cleared its last procedural hurdle Tuesday, when the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project’s budget and certified its environmental impact report."
"The Consolidated Correctional Treatment Facility, as the new lockup will be known, will be designed specifically to provide treatment and rehabilitation of medically and mentally ill inmates, who make up an estimated 70% of the county’s overall jail population, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Teen's family sues SF over extended detention -- The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ; Activists begin 8 days of protest, seek accountability for Stephon Clark, Brandon Smith -- Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN
Pride: 40th anniversary celebration for all generations
The Chronicle's DAVID LEWIS: "“Generations of Strength” is an apt theme for this year’s 48th annual San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade, which has gained strength over the generations as one of the city’s most important cultural events — and has morphed into a celebration shared by the young and the not-so-young, the straight and the not-so-straight."
"In our uncertain political climate, the massive parade — which begins downtown roughly at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 24 — will be an opportunity for everyone to just have fun and be themselves, even as we are mindful of the present and the past, and the things that bind us all."
"The weeklong San Francisco Pride Celebration, which this year will also mark the 40th anniversary of the ubiquitous rainbow flag, attracts people from all over the globe. It is a sincere, yet irreverent, display of diversity. It is a gathering of innumerable LGBTQ organizations — whether it’s the Gay Men’s Chorus or the Dykes on Bikes — that make the city one of the most colorful metropolises on Earth."
READ MORE related to LGBT Pride: Gay Pride events -- The Chronicle STAFF
Autopilot Buddy for tricking Tesla's safety systems blocked by feds
The Chronicle's DAVID R BAKER: "If you own a Tesla and use its self-steering Autopilot feature, the company still wants you to keep your hands on the wheel."
"So, it turns out, does the federal government."
"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday ordered a company not affiliated with Tesla to stop selling Autopilot Buddy, a device designed to trick Autopilot into thinking a human’s hands are touching the steering wheel."
READ MORE related to Transportation: OP-ED: A power grab by Caltrans? -- AIDE CASTRO in Capitol Weekly
SMUD manager said he'd throw Hispanic employees 'over the wall,' lawsuit alleges
Sacramento Bee's KELLEN BROWNING: "A Sacramento Municipal Utility Districtemployee is suing the regional electricity provider, saying it allowed a hostile work environment in which a manager allegedly made sexually inappropriate comments to female employees and said Mexican workers would be deported."
"Diane Clark, a 28-year SMUD employee, said she lost $20,000 in salary when she was demoted as a result of filing a complaint, and filed a lawsuit against the company and her manager on June 11 alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination, race harassment, race discrimination and retaliation."
"The lawsuit claims that Clark's manager, James Leigh-Kendall, who is SMUD's director of reliability compliance and coordination, repeatedly made discriminatory statements to Clark, who is of Mexican descent."
US withdraws from UN Human Rights Council
LA Times's TRACY WILKINSON: "The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is withdrawing from the U.N. body that oversees human rights around the globe, saying the 47-nation council has shown an “unconscionable” bias against Israel and a blind willingness to ignore abuse elsewhere."
"The decision to leave the U.N. Human Rights Council was the latest multinational institution or accord that the administration has abandoned, sometimes upending years of U.S. policy. Critics were quick to cite the withdrawal as further evidence that under President Trump, the United States is retreating from its position as the leading international advocate for human rights."