California's election is today. Results will come sometime later
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "The incredible shrinking scramble to pick a Democratic presidential candidate tops the ballot in California on Tuesday, but voters in the Bay Area and across the state who haven’t voted by mail will find plenty of other contests when they enter their polling place.
In the primary, Californians will be voting for members of Congress and the Legislature, along with casting ballots on a wide range of local issues.
And Democrats and no-party-preference voters who request a Democratic ballot will vote on the party’s nominee to take on President Trump in November. The list of candidates has been cut by three since Saturday — billionaire activist Tom Steyer and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out over the weekend, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign Monday."
Taking a long time to count California votes is OK with voters, poll finds
LA Times's JOHN MYERS: "Learning the final outcome in a California election can take weeks but the reason for that delay — laws that offer more time and methods to vote — outweighs the frustration, according to a new statewide poll.
The survey, conducted for the Los Angeles Times by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, found that 64% of voters surveyed want to keep offering additional ways to cast a ballot even if it takes longer to finalize election results.
“Californians are actually OK with that,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS poll. “They put a much higher priority on giving voters maximum opportunities."
In California's elections, progressives try to elbow in
JOAQUIN ROMERO in Capitol Weekly: "On Thanksgiving day of 2017, Audrey Denney and her sister drove past a sign showing that they were approaching Roseville, east of Sacramento. As they went by, her sister mentioned to her that three women were making runs for Congress. All were young, in their mid-thirties. All were from the Roseville area area. All were running for the first time. “Isn’t that inspiring?” she asked Audrey."
"All the hair stood up on my arm and I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach” Audrey later recounted."
“Why not you?” her sister continued."
LA Metro offering free fares on election day
LA Times's LUKE MONEY: "The right to vote is priceless, and a ride to your Southern California polling place could be too.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is offering free rides on all of its trains and buses Tuesday, the day of California’s presidential primary election. Free fares also will be available for the agency’s Bike Share program.
“We want to make it easy for people to get to the polls and cast their vote this election year,” Inglewood Mayor James Butts, Metro’s current board chairman, said in a statement. “Metro wants to make sure all of the region’s voters get the message and vote."
What to watch for as the primary results come in
Sac Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "Super Tuesday has arrived, and more delegates are up for grabs in California than any other state in the nation.
It’s not just the 2020 presidential race that’s on the ballot, however. California Democrats will look to build on their super-majorities in the state Legislature and retain key congressional seats in races that swung their way in the 2018 midterms.
Here are some key numbers, races and scenarios to watch for as the first wave of results come in tonight:"
Half of the Dems on California presidential ballots dropped out. Can you get a do-over?
Sac Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "Half of the Democratic presidential candidates on California’s primary ballot have already dropped out.
One-time A-list candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar left the race just days ahead of this week’s election, meaning that thousands of Californians who supported them might have regrets because they cannot change their votes for Tuesday’s primary.
Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, who also invested heavily in California, quit the race on Saturday night."
Newsom asks for $20M from California's disaster funds to fight COVID-19
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom wants lawmakers to make $20 million available for coronavirus response out of the state’s disaster and emergency funds, the California Department of Public Health announced Monday afternoon.
In the meantime, 10 of California’s public health labs have received kits to test for the virus, including one in Sacramento County. Richmond, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Tulare, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties have also received kits.
“Quickly identifying and tracing positive cases is helping us better understand and slow the spread of the virus,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said in a written statement. “As testing and contact tracing continues in the coming days, (the California Department of Public Health) expects there will be more California cases identified."
READ MORE related to COVID-19 Pandemic: More deaths as coronavirus keeps spreading, but officials still see chance to fight back -- LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY/HANNAH FRY/SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA; No UC Davis employees test positive, Placer reports 1st case, NBA issues memo -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH/TONY BIZJAK/CATHIE ANDERSON; Dianne Feinstein warns of 'a rise in racism' against Asian-Americans due to coronavirus -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN; Twitter urges 5K employees to work from home amid coronavirus concerns -- The Chronicle's ROLAND LI; San Francisco Chronicle's Coronavirus Tracker
Here's what Newsom raised money for this election cycle
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom has raised over $10 million to support a ballot measure that asks voters to approve $15 billion in bond funding to renovate aging schools, campaign finance records show.
Supporters say schools need the money to repair old buildings. The measure designates $9 billion for preschool through high school and $2 billion each for the University of California, California State University and community colleges.
In total, six committees have reported raising money to support the measure. One is Newsom’s, another is controlled by Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, who led the effort in the Legislature to put the measure on the ballot. The other four committees are handing over the vast majority of the money they raise to Newsom’s committee, which is paying for campaign advertisements for the measure."
Devin Nunes sues WaPo; marks Nunes' seventh suit in almost as many months.
Sac Bee's KATE IRBY: "California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes on Monday filed his seventh lawsuit in 12 months alleging that he was the victim of defamation or conspiracy, this time suing The Washington Post.
Nunes, R-Tulare, in a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia alleges a Feb. 21 news story describing an intelligence briefing given to members of Congress regarding Russia’s perceived preference for President Donald Trump’s re-election was part of a long-running effort at The Post to damage Nunes’ reputation.
Trump who counts Nunes among his closest allies in Congress, also has an at-times adversarial relationship with The Washington Post, referring to it as the “Amazon Washington Post” because it is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos."
A Sanders blowout or a delegate split? California to shape outcome of 2020 primary
Sac Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON/DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The first wave of results in Tuesday night’s California presidential primary election will reverberate across the country and help shape the Democratic race for weeks and even months ahead.
The most delegate-rich state in the nation could send Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on a clear path to the Democratic nomination by giving him an insurmountable lead.
It could also further jumble a field of less liberal opponents struggling to coalesce around a challenger to Sanders."
A deputy allegedly showed off gruesome Bryant helo crash photos at bar. A cover-up scandal ensued
LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/PAUL PRINGLE: "The written complaint came in three days after the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others: At the Baja California Bar and Grill in Norwalk, a young Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was showing gruesome photostaken at the scene of the tragedy.
“He was working the day the helicopter went down and took pictures of the crash site and bodies,” the author wrote.
The report, filed just after midnight on a contact form on the Sheriff’s Department’s website, generated an email to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau, a team that handles media requests."
California's largest district rolls out seal of approval for STEM schools
EdSource's SYDNEY JOHNSON: "As California leaders push for more math and science education through new K-12 standards, the state’s largest district wants to ensure high-quality instruction by expanding a seal of approval process for schools that specialize in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM."
"In Los Angeles Unified, STEM learning often looks different from campus to campus. But as the number of schools with STEM programs has increased across the district, officials say it has become difficult to know whether these schools are delivering on their promise of high-quality science and math learning opportunities."
"Some schools were really embracing the whole STEM framework, and then I saw others where there was no engineering and little technology,” said Los Angeles Unified school board member Nick Melvoin, who has pushed for the certification. Melvoin says he sees a huge level of variance among the STEM schools that he has visited in the district.
Oakland's Schaaf stood firmly by her police chief, until critics turned up the heat
The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI: "Three years ago, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tapped Anne Kirkpatrick to lead a Police Department mired in a series of scandals that included sexual misconduct allegations involving a teenager and the exchange of racist text messages and emails.
Kirkpatrick cast herself as a truth teller who could transform a troubled police force. Schaaf said she hoped the new chief could spark a “cultural change and could exemplify the professional standards I want all my officers to exhibit.”
Throughout Kirkpatrick’s tenure, Schaaf stood by her side with seemingly unwavering support. Schaaf said the chief was doing an “excellent job” after police shot an armed homeless man in 2018, a case that drew sharp rebukes from the Oakland Police Commission and a federally appointed court monitor."
Union to BART: We'll support a sales tax if you fire our bosses
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "A union that represents BART employees is waging an unlikely campaign. Its goal: to defeat a Contra Costa County ballot measure that would fund BART and other transportation projects.
Measure J aims to raise $103 million annually over 35 years by increasing sales taxes by a half cent throughout the county, spending the money on new eBART cars for the line from Pittsburg to Antioch, ferry service, buses, infrastructure to “harden” BART stations against fare evaders, traffic-light synching along major roads, new bicycle routes and, possibly, an extension of the eBART line to Brentwood.
Transportation officials, politicians and environmental groups that back the measure are scrambling to rally support from two-thirds of voters Tuesday, a challenge made more formidable by sudden opposition from Service Employees International Union Local 1021, the union that represents mechanics and clerical workers at BART."
Chris Matthews announces his retirement from MSNBC after sexist comments surface
LA Times's STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "Chris Matthews, the longtime host of MSNBC’s political show “Hardball,” announced he is retiring from the broadcast after coming under fire over controversial remarks he made to a guest.
Matthews told viewers of his resignation at the top of his broadcast, saying it was time for a new generation to take over. He also apologized for inappropriate comments he made to women that clearly factored in the decision to have him leave the program he has anchored since 1997.
His abrupt exit, effective Monday, was a blow to NBC News, which already had taken heavy criticism over its handling of sexual harassment issues involving other prominent media figures."