As Dem Party activists reject Sen. Feinstein, which side of the debate is more in touch with voters?
LA Times's PHIL WILLON/SEEMA MEHTA: "Infused with energetic Bernie Sanders supporters and a generation of Democrats who came to age during the Obama administration, the liberal activists who stock the California Democratic Party’s executive committee want leaders in Washington to take a blowtorch to the policies of President Trump and the Republican-led Congress."
"Unsurprisingly, they don’t see Sen. Dianne Feinstein, criticized for preaching “patience” with Trump just a year ago, fitting that bill."
READ MORE related to US Senate: California Dems endorse de Leon for US Senate race, snubbing Feinstein -- Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA
State Dem Party shuns private-prison donations
Capitol Weekly's SCOTT SORIANO: "The head of the California Democratic Party says the CDP will no longer accept political contributions from private-prison corporations."
"Party Chair Eric Bauman said any contributions received since May 21, 2017 would be “donated to organizations doing critical work to protect immigrants from the Trump administration or to support and rehabilitate recently incarcerated folks."
"The donation pledge, however, apparently does not apply to the bulk of the private-prison contributions, which came in before May 21, 2017."
California Dems trying to flip the House aren't running on abortion rights
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Democratic Party leaders and progressive groups portray Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a threat to abortion rights, and they hope the fight over President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee will energize voters in California races that could decide who controls the House next year."
"Those races, however, are playing out in districts where support for abortion rights isn’t the given that it is in the bluest parts of California, such as the Bay Area. Democrats running in the more conservative House districts that the party is trying to seize from Republicans aren’t rushing to make abortion their issue."
New SF Mayor London Breed had a minor emergency right at the beginning
The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "When London Breed stepped out onto the steps of City Hall to take the oath of office, she also stepped into her first crisis as mayor — and the first flub."
"The sun blinded out all three teleprompters, so she had to wing her inaugural address, her first major public speech."
"Three lines into the address and we knew something was wrong,” said P.J. Johnston, the adviser who helped the new mayor craft the 15-minute speech."
Workers claim injuries all over their bodies for big payouts -- but continue their active lives
LA Times's JACK DOLAN/RYAN MENEZES/GUS GARCIA-ROBERTS: "After nearly two decades on the force, former LAPD Officer Jonathan Hall ended his career the way many veteran officers do these days, claiming job-related injuries across most of his body."
"With the help of a boutique Van Nuys law firm that specializes in workers’ compensation cases for cops and firefighters, Hall filed claims saying he’d injured his knees, hips, heart (high blood pressure), back, right shoulder — even his right middle finger."
Fire near Yosemite explodes as officials mourn firefighter killed on front lines
LA Times's DOUG SMITH: "A forest fire burning near Yosemite National Park exploded overnight to 4,300 acres, forcing the closure of Highway 140 into the park and prompting evacuations of nearby communities, officials said."
"The fire was only 2% contained Sunday, a day after a firefighter was killed battling the blaze. No structures have been lost."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Alameda County battalion fire chief undergoes surgery after pit bull mauling -- The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN; Shots reportedly fired outside State Fair gates on opening night -- Sacramento Bee's JORDAN CUTLER-TIETJEN
Legal residents first. Don't separate families. California leaders advise DC on immigration
DAN SCHNUR in a Special to the Bee: "When Kim Yamasaki reads the news, she thinks of another wrenching chapter in the nation’s history, when Japanese-Americans were forced into relocation camps at the onset of World War II."
"My grandfather was sent to one of these camps as a young boy. … We cannot allow this kind of history to repeat itself,” said Yamasaki, now the Executive Director of the Center for Asians United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE) and one of The Sacramento Bee’s California Influencers. “We need to ensure that immigration policy is not made at the expense of an individual’s most fundamental human rights."
"Harmeet Dhillon came to the United States as a small child from the Punjab region of India. As a young lawyer, she represented members of the Sikh community in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks."
READ MORE related to Immigration: New US asylum rules bring confusion, fear and few options for immigrants -- Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA/ROSALI AHUMADA/THADDEUS MILLER/CRESENCIO RODRIGUEZ-DELGADO
Oakland's cannabis equity program is hurting those it was supposed to help
The Chronicle's OTIS R TAYLOR JR: "Alexis Bronson thinks the advantage Oakland’s cannabis equity program promised him is shrinking."
"That’s because he doesn’t yet have space to grow his clone plants."
"Oakland reserved half of its cannabis permits for applicants like Bronson, a black man who’s been cultivating cannabis for more than 30 years. As a teen, Bronson sold weed to his Berkeley High School classmates, but he was hoping that Oakland’s equity program would help launch a successful, sustainable business."
5 hidden beaches around Half Moon Bay
The Chronicle's DAVID FERRY: "There are many great things about California — the world-beating industries, the leading universities, the tacos. But few are as wonderful as Article X, Section 4 of our state constitution."
“No individual, partnership, or corporation, claiming or possessing the frontage of tidal lands of a harbor, bay, inlet, estuary, or other navigable water in this State,” our forbearers stiltedly proclaimed in 1879, “shall be permitted to exclude the right of way to such water whenever it is required for any public purpose…"
"Translation: The beach, good Californians, is yours."
Why California business leaders are fighting to save the gas tax increase
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "It’s not often the California Chamber of Commerce endorses a tax increase."
"You are more likely to see such legislative proposals – on high-income earners, on services, on corporations — make the “job killers” list that the state’s largest business advocacy organization puts out each year to beat back bills it doesn’t like."
"But when Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers last year passed a measure raising fees on transportation fuels and vehicle registration to pay for road repairs, it was because CalChamber, and the larger California business community, helped push it across the finish line."
Preparing to meet Putin, Trump calls EU a 'foe'
LA Times's LAURA KING/ELI STOKOLS: "On the eve of his first formal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump on Sunday described the European Union as a trading “foe,” further unnerving some of America’s closest partners after disruptive visits to NATO headquarters and Britain."
"Trump has not said what he hopes to gain from four hours of scheduled talks — including 90 minutes one on one without any note-takers or aides — with Russia’s strongman early Monday in Finland’s main presidential palace, a grand, canary-yellow building across from Helsinki’s bustling harbor."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Trump resists Mueller interview, leaving difficult decision on subpoena before fall elections -- LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN/DAVID WILLMAN