Stephon Clark: Students Walk Out Of Class, March To California’s Capitol
From Capital Public Radio's JULIA MITRIC and NICK MILLER: "Students walked out of class on Thursday at Sacramento City College to demonstrate against the decisions by state and local prosecutors not to charge the officers who fatally shot Stephon Clark."
"Approximately 300 high school and college students from throughout the region — along with community organizers, some who helped plan Monday’s demonstration and march through East Sacramento, which ended with 84 arrests — shut down traffic in Land Park, Curtis Park and Oak Park as they marched to the state Capitol."
"Before leaving City College, students walked through buildings, chanting and disrupting classes, and encouraging others to join them. They also banged on the front doors to McClatchy High School while chanting “Join us!” to the students inside."
READ MORE on Stephon Clark aftermath: Sacramento students march for police use-of-force bill after Stephon Clark findings -- ANITA CHABRIA, LA Times; East Sacramento arrests a ‘disgrace,’ activists say at Capitol rally for use-of-force bill -- SacBee's MADDY ASHMUN; Hundreds of Sacramento students walk out, march to Capitol in Stephon Clark protest -- SacBee's SAWSAN MORRAR, TONY BIZJAK, THERESA CLIFT AND ALEX YOON-HENDRICKS; With No Charges In Stephon Clark Shooting, Activists Switch Focus To Changing California's Use-Of-Force Laws -- BEN ADLER, Capital Public Radio; Have fatal shootings by police in California dropped 40 percent since 2015? -- CHRIS NICHOLS, PolitiFact CA; Who’s Accountable For The Mass Arrests During Monday’s Stephon Clark Protest? The Boss Of Sacramento’s Police Chief Answers. -- BOB MOFFITT, Capital Public Radio
Thousands of New Millionaires Are About to Eat San Francisco Alive
From NELLIE BOWLES in the NYT: "Big wealth doesn’t come in monthly paychecks. It comes when a start-up goes public, transforming hypothetical money into extremely real money. This year — with Uber, Lyft, Slack, Postmates, Pinterest and Airbnb all hoping to enter the public markets — there’s going to be a lot of it in the Bay Area."
"Estimates of Uber’s value on the market have been as high as $120 billion. Airbnb was most recently valued at $31 billion, with Lyft and Pinterest around $15 billion and $12 billion. It’s anyone’s guess what prices these companies actually will command once they go public, but even conservative estimates predict hundreds of billions of dollars will flood into town in the next year, creating thousands of new millionaires. It’s hard to imagine more money in San Francisco, but the city’s residents now need to start trying."
"Welcomed finally into the elite caste who can afford to live comfortably in the Bay Area, the fleet of new millionaires are already itching to claim what has been promised all these years."
Union-Tribune's WENDY FRY: "Reports that the U.S. government kept a database on journalists, activists and immigration attorneys during an investigation into last year's migrant caravan has stirred outrage among civil rights groups, drawn concern from lawmakers and prompted more people to come forward with additional allegations of being detained by U.S. immigration authorities."
"Brendon Tucker, 24, a volunteer from Brownsville, Texas, said he and other volunteers who had been working with the migrant caravan in Tijuana were stopped at gunpoint by Customs and Border Protection agents in the first days of 2019."
"Tucker said he was returning with activist Evan Duke from a migrant shelter in Tijuana to San Diego through the San Ysidro Port of Entry when CBP directed their vehicle to secondary inspection."
READ MORE about immigration issues: Illegal border crossings hit a decade-long high in February. They’re still historically low. Here’s why -- MOLLY O'TOOLE, LAT
Could the path of a GOP revolt against Trump run through east Los Angeles?
From CALmatters' BEN CHRISTOPHER: "Rudy Torres had no idea that he’s among the most influential Republicans in California."
"Torres runs a small insurance agency with his wife in east Los Angeles, and as the father of two, he says he’s more inclined to call himself a family man than a political activist. When a friend encouraged him to run to represent his neighborhood on the GOP county committee in 2016, Torres agreed; it wasn’t much of a commitment in an area dominated by Democrats, who outnumber Republicans by more than six to one."
“There are very few of us, so I was a shoo-in,” Torres said. Eventually, his fellow committee members stopped even showing up for party meetings."
Deputies vs. deputies? L.A. County deputies claim abuse by an East L.A. sheriff’s station ‘gang’
JOEL RUBIN, LAT: "Late one night last September, a party for Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies was winding down."
"New deputies working in East L.A. were celebrating having successfully completed a probation period and their status as full-fledged members of the Sheriff’s Department. But the gathering took an ominous turn for some when several older deputies showed up."
"According to legal claims filed against the county Thursday by seven deputies, the men belonged to the Banditos, a clique of predominantly Latino deputies who wear tattoos of a skeleton with a sombrero, bandolier and pistol and are alleged to routinely harass young Latino officers at the station."
Three Women Are Now the California GOP's Most Prominent Leaders
From KQED's KATIE ORR: "The California Republican Party is looking to rebuild after devastating election losses. For the first time, a trio of women will be the ones leading the charge."
"With the election of Jessica Patterson as the new party chair, that puts three women as the most prominent faces of the state Republican Party."
"Patterson will work alongside Senate Minority Leader Shannon Grove of Bakersfield and Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido."
Testing begins at Santa Anita, site of 21 horse fatalities since late December
From the LAT's JOHN CHERWA: "Shortly after the sun came up Thursday morning, machinery moved over the dirt surface at Santa Anita to harrow the race track, breaking up dirt clods and giving the wet surface some room to breathe and dry out."
"Then, about 8 a.m., a white panel truck with Biologically Applied Engineering in green lettering eased onto the course, ready to take the next step that might ultimately decide the near future of Santa Anita."
"The tool, which race officials hope can help solve the mystery of 21 horse deaths since Dec. 26, was an Orono Biomechanical Surface tester, which simulates how a horse’s foreleg interacts with the dirt surface. Measurements were taken about every 16th of a mile and sent for testing. There was no testing on the turf course."
From JOE NELSON and BRIAN WHITEHEAD, Press-Enterprise: "They found heaps of cash, $200,000 in all, concealed everywhere — in a green metal ammunition box hidden under a step, stuffed inside a paint can, in a shoe box, and in a Dodgers duffel bag crammed into a propane BBQ grill."
"During the Feb. 20 raid at the Pacific Palisades home of Stephanie Smith, California’s self-touting “cannabis landlord,” San Bernardino police also seized, from what her attorney said was an old “dusty box under a dusty table in a cluttered garage,” a stash of assorted, prescription medications, including 750 hydrocodone pills and 250 Xanax pills."
"Officers also carted away a box of 2-by-3-inch plastic zip baggies, according to a returned search warrant filed in San Bernardino Superior Court."
Feds say illegal pot operation funded with Chinese money
From AP's BRIAN MELLEY: "Three men were arrested Thursday as part of an illegal marijuana-growing operation in Southern California that was funded with money from China, federal prosecutors said."
"Authorities seized nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of processed marijuana and about 3,000 plants during raids on seven large homes in neatly kept San Bernardino County neighborhoods, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles."
"The alleged coordinator of the scheme was a real estate agent who spent more than $5 million to buy the homes with money wired from the Guangdong Province of China, authorities said. Three guns and more than $80,000 in cash was seized from his home."