UC regents take groundbreaking step toward hiring immigrant students without legal status
LA Times, TERESA WATANABE: "The University of California regents, saying they support an equitable education for all, unanimously agreed Thursday to find a pathway to enact a bold policy to hire students who lack legal status and work permits.
The groundbreaking move would reshape the lives of thousands of young people who were brought to the country without papers as children and have lived precariously without legal access to jobs, research positions and career opportunities. California is home to about 1 in 5 of the nation’s college students without legal authorization.
The public university system has been under pressure to challenge a 1986 federal law barring the hiring of immigrants without legal status by asserting that it does not apply to states. A novel theory developed by UCLA law scholars argues that the federal law does not specifically include states — or UC, as a state entity — in its language establishing employer sanctions and therefore does not apply to them."
Here are some of the 300 bills California Democrats killed amid $31.5-billion deficit
LA Times, LAUREL ROSENHALL, HANNAH WILEY, MACKENZIE MAYS: "Democratic leaders at the California Capitol killed nearly 300 bills on Thursday during the ritual fast-paced culling of legislation in the mysterious “suspense file.”
Officially, the suspense file is a tool for legislative leaders to evaluate costly bills by weighing them against one another and deciding what to advance to a vote by the Senate and Assembly. Unofficially, it’s used as a way for Democrats who control the Legislature to snuff out controversial bills with few fingerprints.
Sometimes the underlying cost is to blame. Other times, bills die in the suspense file because Democratic leaders want to shield rank-and-file members from publicly taking a stance. Often, bills die in the suspense file with no explanation."
Feinstein suffered complications from shingles virus
The Chronicle, SHIRA STEIN: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein experienced complications from the serious bout of shingles that left her unable to return to the Senate for nearly three months, including Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis, her spokesperson Adam Russell told The Chronicle.
Feinstein’s reappearance in the Senate in early May did little to quiet concerns from Democrats and progressive activists about her health and ability to do the job. It is not immediately clear the extent to which the complications are still affecting the senator, but the revelation of the complications could reignite calls for her resignation.
Feinstein said May 10 that she was experiencing some side effects, but did not go into details beyond vision and balance impairment and periodically requiring a wheelchair. “My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate. I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover,” she said."
A frail Sen. Dianne Feinstein continues to vote as new details emerge about her health
LA Times, BENJAMIN ORESKES, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ: "It’s police week here at the nation’s Capitol, and, with law enforcement officers flowing through the halls, the Senate Judiciary Committee took up several bills meant to support law enforcement.
Amid debate about legislation Thursday to recruit officers who agree to serve in their home communities, California’s senior senator spoke up.
“I just wanted to say one thing, and that’s about cops on the beat,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said — in her first extended public remarks since she returned to Washington, D.C., after several months at home in San Francisco with shingles."
Practical tips for working with executive branch agency staff
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "In talking with staff from executive branch state agencies and departments the past few weeks, there are some practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the staff members of the Governor’s agencies and departments. While some of these recommendations may seem obvious, many of them bear repeating.
The following are some of the suggestions shared with me these past few weeks:"
L.A. Council approves Bass’ $13-billion budget, greenlighting plan to hire 1,000 cops
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER, JULIA WICK: "The Los Angeles City Council signed off on Mayor Karen Bass’ plan for expanding the Police Department on Thursday, approving a budget that calls for the hiring of about 1,000 officers over the next fiscal year and record spending to fight homelessness.
The council voted 13 to 1 for Bass’ $13.1-billion budget, despite warnings from critics that her plan for the LAPD — increasing the size of the force by 400 officers — is unrealistic and unnecessary. The department expects nearly 600 to resign or retire in the coming budget year, which starts July 1.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez cast the lone opposing vote, saying she could not support a spending plan that provides $3.2 billion to the LAPD at a time when city agencies that repair sidewalks, provide programs for the city’s youth and give aid to its elderly populations are having to “fight over scraps.”"
Rep. Eric Swalwell says he received death threat from ex-49er Bruce Miller
BANG*Mercury News, CAM INMAN: "East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell is taking seriously an online death threat that came from the Twitter account he’s traced to San Francisco 49ers fullback Bruce Miller.
Swalwell shared a screenshot of a direct message Wednesday that came from @BruceMillerIII that warned Swalwell it was “almost time” to either go to Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. military detention center in Cuba, or “just execution.” The message was followed by three laughing emojis and an expletive ahead of the word “traitor.”
“I don’t generally publicize threats except in this case there was an imminency to it – he said, ‘Almost time’ – and also (Miller’s) prior history of violence with two arrests,” Swalwell said Thursday from Washington D.C. in an exclusive phone interview with this news organization."
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. agrees to $150 million settlement in deadly Zogg Fire
The Chronicle, JOEL UMANZOR: "Pacific Gas and Electric Co. agreed to a $150 million settlement Thursday with the California Public Utilities Commission for the electric company’s involvement in the 2020 Zogg Fire that killed four people and burned over 56,000 acres of land in Shasta and Tehama counties.
According to the agreement, PG&E will pay $10 million to California’s General Fund while another $140 million of the company’s shareholder funds to new “wildfire mitigation initiatives.”"
Fires, floods, shootings: How schools can help students thrive after traumatic events
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: "Wildfire and flood season is approaching in California, which means that once again schools will play a central role in helping communities recover from trauma. In some cases, schools will provide food, housing and supplies to families who’ve lost everything. In other instances, schools will be a gathering point for displaced communities. And just about everywhere, they’ll provide a much-needed sense of normalcy for students, staff and families whose lives have been upended by disaster.
EdSource talked to two experts from the Center for Safe and Resilient Schools and Workplaces, a nonprofit that specializes in schools and trauma, about the best ways for schools to prepare for natural disasters as well as shootings and other violence. They also describe the repercussions of not preparing.
Marleen Wong has consulted with thousands of schools and other agencies on disaster response and school crises. She’s provided on-site management during the Los Angeles riots, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the 9/11 terrorist attack and other events."
BANG*Mercury News, ELISSA MIOLENE: "When the flood of students rushing into the cafeteria eased to a trickle, Maria Darnell — the kitchen manager at Alameda’s Lincoln Middle School — texted her boss.
“524 lunches today!” Darnell wrote, along with a smiling, but sweating, emoji.
It had been nine months since California began providing free meals for its public school students, no matter families’ income level. Even so, Darnell was still shocked by how much the program had changed demand. That day, her staff had served 230% more meals than their average before the pandemic, on top of a 530% jump in the number of daily breakfasts."
Chico State professor says she worries 'all the time' that colleague will carry out alleged threat
EdSource, THOMAS PEELE: "Speaking in haunting tones, her voice often breaking, a Chico State biology professor testified Thursday that she worries “all the time, all the time” that a suspended colleague who has allegedly threatened to kill her will do so.
The Superior Court testimony of Kristen Gorman marked the first time that one of the people that suspended professor David Stachura allegedly threatened for cooperating in an investigation of a sexual affair he had with a student has spoken publicly about the matter. Gorman’s testimony was part of Chico State’s efforts to obtain a permanent workplace violence restraining order against Stachura that would ban him from campus. A temporary ban has kept Stachura away from campus while the university makes its case to the court.
Gorman said she was once friends with Stachura and considered him a mentor. But that changed in 2020, she said, when he began to have sex with the student in his office and act strangely. She and Stachura were allowed into the biology department when the campus went into Covid lockdown so each could care for fish they needed to keep alive for research they were conducting separately."
S.F. opens Twitter probe after Elon Musk’s team accused of breaking laws
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "San Francisco officials are opening a new investigation aimed at Twitter’s Mid-Market headquarters after an explosive lawsuit from former senior employees alleged numerous instances where members of owner Elon Musk’s team knowingly broke local and federal laws.
The six former employees say Twitter didn’t pay promised severance and that Musk’s team instructed staff to disable lights and install locks that wouldn’t open during an emergency at employee bedrooms at 1355 Market St., violating building codes."
Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos
LA Times, KERI BLAKINGER: "Less than a week after the county watchdog ordered dozens of deputies to show their gang tattoos and answer questions about violent cliques within the department, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Thursday sent a department-wide email commanding his staff to comply with the inspector general’s request.
“Please be advised that all Department personnel who received such a request are hereby ordered to appear and cooperate in such interviews,” Luna wrote in the firmly worded email. “All statements made by Department personnel shall be full, complete, and truthful statements.”
Any employees who obstruct or delay an investigation, the email went on to say, could be disciplined or fired under current county policies."
She had multiple abortions as a child. Her abuser didn’t expect what came later
The Chronicle, RAHEEM HOSSEINI: "Ruth Elizabeth Solorzano gazed out the car window as her stepfather went over her new fake name.
Other times, on the six-hour drive from eastern Sacramento County, he’d point out interstate signs and suggest they choose an alias that way. Like it was a game. This time Ruth would be “Elisa Sanchez,” a play off her middle name and her grandmother’s surname.
Her stepfather called her Elisa, so she would get used to it, and told her not to say much. If they asked questions, he said, tell them you’re scared. Scared of what your mother would do if she found out."
Exclusive: Why police say California dad drove Tesla off cliff at Devil’s Slide
The Chronicle, MATTHIAS GAFNI: "From the moment she was extricated from her family’s crumpled Tesla, to her helicopter flight to the hospital, Dharmesh Patel’s wife repeatedly and unequivocally told authorities that her husband intentionally drove his car off a San Mateo County cliff in an attempt to kill his family, according to new court records unsealed by a judge.
“He drove off. He’s depressed. He’s a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off,” Neha Patel told a California Highway Patrol officer on Jan. 2 as she was flown away from the crash site on the steep slopes of Devil’s Slide."