Gov. Brown declares State of Emergency in fire-ravaged Lake County
Sacramento Bee's CLAIRE MORGAN: "Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Lake County on Monday as the Pawnee Fire continued to rage uncontrolled."
"State resources, including employees, provisions and facilities, will be devoted to battling the wildfire, according to the governor's announcement. The California Office of Emergency Services will provide assistance to Lake County as needed."
"The declaration cited the circumstances of the fire – including high heat, wind and lack of humidity, according to Cal Fire – to be "beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid or regions to combat."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Where NorCal fire victims can find resources -- and how you can help -- Sacramento Bee's CASSIE DICKMAN; NorCal wildfires: Where they are, how much has burned, map -- Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN/JORDAN CUTLER-TIETJEN/CLAIRE MORGAN; 2018 California Fire Tracker -- The Chronicle; Efforts to regulate California's cannabis capital spark legal fight -- Water Deeply's TARA LOHAN
Democrats call on Gov. Brown to pull CA National Guard troops from border
The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ: "Thirty Democratic state lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday urging him to recall California National Guard troops from the southern border in protest of the Trump administration’s “inhumane, disorganized and immoral” handling of immigrant children and their parents."
"The letter adds 29 signatures to a call last week by state Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, to have Brown pull the troops he sent to the border in April at President Trump’s request. In allowing 400 Guard troops to be deployed, Brown stipulated that the service members could not enforce immigration laws and would instead work on existing efforts to target gangs, smuggling and trafficking at the border."
"Brown’s office said Monday that because of the limited scope of the mission, the governor had no plans to remove the Guard troops. But a spokesman added, “We’ll continue to assess and review this just as we have since personnel were originally mobilized back in April."
This one issue could make splitting California into three states virtually impossible
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "Splitting California into three new states would scramble nearly every segment of government that touches residents' lives, from taxes to Medi-Cal to driver's licenses."
"New agencies would have to be created to operate prisons, highways and universities. CalPERS, CalSTRS, Cal Fire and the California Highway Patrol, to name a few, would have to be reconfigured and replaced."
"But of all the gargantuan tasks facing Californians should they choose to divide themselves by three — a proposal that has qualified for the November ballot — none is arguably more daunting than carving up the state's water supply."
Migrant kids could end up in already strained foster system
AP's JESSE J HOLLAND: "Foster care advocates say the government won't likely be able to reunite thousands of children separated from parents who crossed the border illegally, and some will end up in an American foster care system that is stacked against Latinos and other minorities."
"With few Spanish-speaking caseworkers, it's a challenge tracking down family members of the children who live south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and other relatives living in the states might be afraid to step forward to claim them because of fears of being detained or deported themselves."
"Many complications have arisen for these separated families since the Trump administration adopted its "zero-tolerance" policy on entering the country illegally. As many as 2,300 children have been taken from their migrant parents at the border and long-term treatment of them is a concern."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Judge allows immigrants with protected status to sue Trump administration -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Kamala Harris out front on new litmus test for Dems: What to do about ICE? -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI; Apple CEO Tim Cook on immigration: 'I felt we needed to say something' -- The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI; Court blocks deportation of Bay Area man who fled Peruvian drug violence -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Border Patrol stops handing over most immigrant parents for prosecution, but won't say when families will be reunified -- LA Times's MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE/JAZMINE ULLOA
California ballot will include gas tax repeal in November
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Californians will vote in November on a ballot proposition that would repeal a new gas tax and vehicle fees, saddling Gov. Jerry Brown with a final challenge to preserve a key part of his legacy before leaving office."
"With polls showing most California voters want to kill the new tax, the initiative poses a real threat that the funding plan pushed by Brown and Democratic legislative leaders to fix the state’s roads and bridges won’t survive the Nov. 6 election. The measure earned a spot on the statewide ballot Monday, garnering more than the 585,407 signatures of registered voters required, according to a random sample count announced by state officials."
California Senate welcomes new OC Republican, selected after voters fired the Democratic incumbent
LA Times's JOHN MYERS: "The final chapter in the removal of an incumbent California state senator — the first since 1914 — played out in Sacramento on Monday, as Sen. Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) filled the sudden vacancy by taking the oath of office."
"Chang was selected by voters in the state’s 29th Senate District to replace Josh Newman, a Fullerton Democrat who was recalled from office in the same election. Newman had narrowly defeated Chang in 2016 and was only two years into his four-year term when voters removed him on June 5."
Resist too far? Pelosi tries to tamp down progressives' public shaming of Trump officials
LA Times's SARAH D WIRE: "The recent public shaming of Trump administration officials in restaurants has triggered an internal debate among Democrats over how far they should go in confronting the president and his policies."
"The boisterous protests against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Trump advisor Stephen Miller as they dined in different Mexican restaurants, and the ejection of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders by the owner of a Virginia eatery, caused some Democrats to embrace the strategy as an effective way to rally supporters and hold officials responsible."
Wild salmon return to Bay Area markets
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "Local wild king salmon are back in Bay Area markets and restaurants after the commercial season reopened last week from Pigeon Point (near Half Moon Bay) south to the Mexico border."
"The fleet just found a school of beautiful salmon,” San Francisco fisherwoman Sarah Bates said via a text from her boat, the Bounty."
"This current window of commercial salmon season is scheduled to last from June 19 to June 30. Bates said the fleet had to wait until about the third day of the opener to start fishing, once the school moved south of the Pigeon Point line with the movement of prevailing currents and feed."
SF supervisors hold back funding for police Tasers, citing concern over true costs
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco police officers will likely have to wait at least another year to be equipped with Tasers, following a divided vote by city lawmakers Monday to cut funding for the devices."
"Despite November’s decision by the city’s Police Commission authorizing the Police Department to use the electronic stun guns, the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee voted 3-2 to scrap Mayor Mark Farrell’s budget proposal to spend $2 million in the coming fiscal year to buy the devices."
"Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer moved to cut the funds, citing the need for a more comprehensive understanding of their costs. She was supported by Supervisors Malia Cohen, who chairs the budget committee, and Norman Yee. Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Jeff Sheehy voted against the cuts."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Mourners hold candlelight vigil for Long Beach firefighter shot and killed during fire alarm call -- LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN
OP-ED: Vaccinations help seniors avoid health risks
SUMAN RADHAKRISHNA in Capitol Weekly: "As the baby boomer generation ages, physicians like myself must begin to examine how we can improve the quality of life for one of the fastest growing demographics in the world. Too often, seniors in generally good health have their worlds shattered by preventable ailments."
"A sudden fall or common cold can set anyone back, but for someone over the age of 65, a preventable injury or illness may alter their health trajectory and quality of life entirely."
"Our immune systems change as we age, both in ability to respond effectively and consistently. Any intervention that boosts the immune system can help prevent or limit illness from infections. Vaccinations are key in the fortification effort, as they significantly reduce severity of disease and death from susceptible strains."
USC scandal sparks a reckoning in gynecology: How to better protect patients?
LA Times's SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA: "For some USC students who visited campus gynecologist George Tyndall, it was obvious right away that something was wrong. They said he touched them in inappropriate ways, made bizarre comments and acted unprofessionally."
"Others said they left feeling uneasy but weren’t sure what to make of Tyndall’s behavior. It wasn’t until the Los Angeles Times revealed years of misconduct allegations against the doctor that these patients said they began to come to terms with those exams."
READ MORE related to Health & Health Care: Walgreens pharmacist denies woman miscarriage drug on moral grounds -- AP
Network of California districts to explore the enigma of engaging parents
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "California plans to spend $13.3 million over six years to identify and replicate successful ingredients of community engagement, an essential but, for many school districts, elusive part of local control — the shorthand for setting budgeting and academic priorities under the state’s school financing law."
"The new money — included in the 2018-19 budget — will fund a network that eventually will reach as many as 80 districts. The funding represents the first substantial state effort to strengthen community involvement as required under the law, known as the Local Control Funding Formula. The school funding law, which Gov. Jerry Brown championed, shifted control over decision-making from Sacramento to school districts."
"As a report in March by the Berkeley-based nonprofit Opportunity Institute noted, “Ongoing dialogue among a variety of stakeholders is not only legally required, but is essential to the advancement of excellence and equity in our schools.”
Racial climate at US Coast Guard Academy faces new scrutiny
AP's MICHAEL MELIA: "At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, officers-in-training spend four years together at a riverside campus steeped in shared values of honor, respect and devotion to duty. Yet for all the uniformity, many say the experience can feel vastly different for some minority cadets compared with whites."
"African-American cadets, in particular, have been raising concerns about off-color jokes, disparities in discipline and the administration's handling of what some see as racial hostility. Episodes have included a white cadet playing the song "If the South Woulda Won" in a black cadet's room and an instructor's use of a racial slur to get cadets' attention for a presentation cracking down on the widespread, casual use of such epithets."
"The academy, like many other predominantly white institutions, has wrestled with how to make minorities feel more welcome, but outsiders, including members of Congress, are pressing it to do more."