A state Democratic party divide pitting progressives against the party establishment shook the Dems' convention this weekend in Sacramento.
Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO: "RoseAnn DeMoro, the outspoken leader of the California Nurses Association, looked out at a horde of red-clad supporters as they prepared to march on the state Democratic Party’s convention Friday to advocate for public-funded universal health care."
"They are a party in absolute crisis and denial,” DeMoro said of the resistance her group, which supported Bernie Sanders for president, encounters from the Democratic establishment. She offered an explanation for the friction coloring their disagreements: “They are too comfortable."
"Inside the convention hall, DeMoro’s nurses booed and heckled Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. They repeatedly interrupted Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. Activists marched to the historic mansion of Gov. Jerry Brown protesting contributions from oil companies."
READ MORE related to Democrats: Democratic divisions on display as Bauman wins California party chairmanship -- Politico's Carla Marinucci and David Siders; A battle of liberal vs. more liberal roils the Democratic Party -- Seema Mehta, Christine Mai-Duc and Phil Willon
An OC Register investigation of rehab centers in Southern California reveals a system that exploits addicts by abusing Obamacare and legislative loopholes to keep chronic abusers in a sort of addiction-recidivism -- all to the profitable gain of the professionals running these treatment centers.
OC Register's TERI SFORZA/TONY SAAVEDRA/SCOTT SCHWEBKE/LORI BASHEDA/MINDY SCHAUER/JEFF GRITCHEN/IAN WHEELER: "As they push their grocery carts and clutch their coffees, the shoppers scurrying through the Ocean View Plaza parking lot pay little attention to Timmy Solomon."
"For many, he’s easy to ignore."
"His hair is dirty and matted. His voice is raspy. And on this sunny Tuesday, Solomon is dragging around a bag full of cans and bottles that he hopes to sell to the RePlanet Recycling station behind the Ralph’s in San Clemente."
READ MORE related to Health: Nurses heckle Democratic leader, threaten legislators over health care -- Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO/ANGELA HART; Congressional Democrats demand answers on Trump threats to sabotage Obamacare insurance markets -- LA Times' NOAM N. LEVEY; Adelanto wants to be the 'Silicon Valley of Medical Marijuana' -- LA Times' PALOMA ESQUIVEL; How LA County's new mental health director plans to help heal troubled minds -- Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM; California bill would protect patients' access to chosen family planning providers -- California Healthline's ANA B. IBARRA
With the fallout of the Oroville Dam spillway collapse still showering state officials in controversy, federal regulators are prompting state regulators to thoroughly inspect every spillway facility for signs of danger that could prevent a future collapse like February's dam breach that forced the evacuation of nearly a quarter million residents.
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "Federal dam regulators are reevaluating how they conduct dam inspections in the wake of the Oroville Dam spillway crisis, and they’ve ordered the nation’s dam operators to thoroughly inspect their facilities to see “if they have a potential Oroville waiting to happen,” a federal dam inspector said Sunday."
"Can we make things different? Can we improve things?” said Frank Blackett, a regional engineer at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Division of Dam Safety and Inspections."
"Speaking Sunday on a panel at an engineering conference at the Sacramento Convention Center, Blackett listed the array of state and federal inspectors who visited Oroville Dam over the years. All of them, he said, missed signs that could have foreshadowed the gaping crater forming in the dam’s concrete spillway in early February, eventually leading to the frantic mass evacuations of 188,000 people downstream of the dam."
READ MORE related to Environment: Most California farm-water suppliers are breaking this law. Why doesn't the state act? -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/PHILLIP REESE; After years of planning, California likely to roll out earthquake early warning system next year, scientists say -- LA Times' RONG-GONG LIN II; SF employs fewer female park rangers than many other big cities -- The Chronicle's LIZZIE JOHNSON
California gets seemingly more and more liberal as the decades pass by, creating 'danger and opportunity' as generational shifts pull the party further and further left whilst time goes on.
LA Times' CATHLEEN DECKER: "For decades, Democratic politics in the nation’s most populous state has been overseen by a quintet of leaders who helped propel California from reliably Republican to dominantly Democratic."
"To outsiders, they were the West Coast liberals whom conservatives love to hate — stereotyped as chardonnay-sipping, tree-hugging, near-socialists who, were it geologically possible, would push the state so far left it would plunk into the Pacific. In truth, they have exerted a moderating force on Democrats here."
"Their reign effectively ended at this weekend’s state party convention, part of a shift both generational and ideological that is altering power across the country and in the nation’s biggest Democratic state. Whoever fills the vacuum will answer defining questions: How far left will the California Democratic Party now go? Will its movement backfire?"
READ MORE related to Local: Kamala Harris' anti-Trump payoff: Campaign cash rolls in -- The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS; State Democrats' family feud imperils 2018 rebound -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI
A Jewish woman responsible for spying on Nazi communications for the Allied effort in WW2 opens up about her bravery that undoubtedly contributed to the war effort.
Sacramento Bee's STEPHEN MAGAGNINI: "Marthe Cohn told the remarkable story Sunday of how a slight Jewish girl from France crossed into enemy lines and became a spy who helped end World War II."
"About 100 people at the Cordova High Performing Arts Center heard Cohn, 97, recount how she and her sister joined the resistance and initially saved hundreds of Jews living not far from the German border by bringing them to a remote farm in unoccupied France."
“We didn’t know who they were, but they needed help,” she said of that effort that began in 1942. “They couldn’t stay in occupied France.”
Ever been curious about custom license plate censorship and DMV's filtration process? This story's for you.
Sacramento Bee's WALTER KO: "Some California Department of Motor Vehicles workers have to keep their minds in the gutter all day long."
"Their job is to catch vanity license plate requests that don’t meet the state’s rules of decency. Sexual suggestions, hints of vulgarity or possible gang references earn a “no.” Only plates that are pure win a “yes” from the DMV reviewers – and they don’t take risks."
"In the second half of 2016, the DMV review staff denied more than 9,000 applications for personalized plates. Some were obvious violations of state law. Others were arguable."
A Republican-proposed tax on imported goods could provide a crippling blow to mom-and-pop small businesses.
McClatchy DC's ALEX DAUGHERTY: "Tee Miller’s clothing shop in Georgetown, South Carolina, survived the city’s worst fire since 1841, a massive blaze that received national media attention and nearly leveled an entire city block on the historic waterfront."
"But Miller, the owner of Black Mingo Outfitters, a shop that sells high-end outdoor clothing brands like Patagonia and Vineyard Vines, isn’t so sure he’ll be able to survive a proposed tax on imported goods championed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as a way to pay for an overhaul of the nation’s tax system."
"Most apparel is made overseas nowadays,” Miller said. “It’s already a tough market to be in.”
Trump's Friday trip to Saudi Arabia--marking his first overseas trip as POTUS -- was received with mix feelings from both Saudis and Americans alike.
LA Times' MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE: "Addressing Arab leaders here Sunday, President Trump highlighted the untapped potential of one of the region’s greatest resources, and it wasn’t oil — it was youth."
"Sixty-five percent of its population is under the age of 30,” Trump said at a summit convened by the Saudi monarch. “Like all young men and women, they seek great futures to build, great national projects to join, and a place for their families to call home."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Turkey summons US ambassador to protest 'aggressive' action against Turkish bodyguards in Washington -- AP; Cosby arrives at courthouse for jury selection -- AP; Area Muslims have varied reactions to Trump's Saudi Arabia speech -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Ruth Bernestein and Paul Mitchell.
CW: "California experienced a surge of new voter registrations in 2016 and turnout was high, spurred in part by the high interest in the presidential election."
"But the big question is whether those voters will stick around for the 2018 midterms."
"Political Data’s numbers cruncher Paul Mitchell and pollster Ruth Bernstein of EMC Research stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to chat about the results of a new EMC Research/Capitol Weekly poll of those 2016 new voters."
