California's biggest IT projects need $100M to finish, Jerry Brown says
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "A group of sprawling, expensive state technology projects stands to gain another $100 million in spending under budget proposals advocated by Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office."
"His administration is requesting the money to complete a $909 million accounting project, a $386 million project for prison inmate health records, a $281 million tax collection program and a $96 million professional licensing program."
"The administration is also requesting almost $10 million to toughen up statewide cybersecurity."
All aboard for Mars? Why not?
From CHUCK MCFADDEN in Capitol Weekly: "Will you (OK, your grandchildren) someday take a vacation jaunt to Mars? Or maybe move there permanently?"
"You will if California’s outside-the-box-thinker Elon Musk and his competitors have their way."
"Non-passenger commercial space activity is already big business. Musk’s SpaceX company launches satellites into orbit, charging commercial customers $62 million per launch to as much as $20 million more for more complicated tasks, such as resupplying the International Space Station."
GOP candidate's measure to expand Legislature fails to make November ballot
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "A proposed initiative that would have expanded the state Legislature to 12,000 members fell just short of qualifying for the November ballot, but John Cox, the Republican candidate for governor who spent more than $2 million of his own money on the effort, is ready to keep fighting."
"County reviews of the 794,643 raw signatures that were turned in disqualified more than 235,000 of them, leaving Cox about 25,000 short of the 585,407 valid signatures needed."
"We’re not accepting the number,” said Wayne Johnson, a veteran GOP consultant working for Cox. “This is far from over. We’re going to review the counting procedures, and we’re doing it in every county."
Candidates for SF mayor try to stake their ground at forum
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "The entrance to Wednesday night’s mayoral forum at San Francisco’s United Irish Cultural Center was thick with supporters of the race’s four leading candidates, waving banners and politely offering campaign buttons and flyers."
"But there was also no scarcity of attendees still searching for the person they think ought to lead the city after voters go to the polls June 5."
"Before the brisk and lively forum, Jane Field, a resident of the Inner Richmond neighborhood who claimed to have no favorite in the race, said she braved the evening’s rainy forecast to get a look at the candidates “up close and personal.” She was looking for a candidate with integrity. “We need integrity in government,” Field said."
READ MORE related to Local Politics: Feather River Recreation and Park District conducts internal investigation after audit -- Chico ER's RISA JOHNSON
One of LA's tiniest city departments is hit with multiple sexual harassment complaints
LA Times' DAKOTA SMITH: "One of Los Angeles' smallest city departments is being roiled by allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation."
"Staffers at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority have filed six sexual harassment complaints since December, records show."
"The department, which oversees Olvera Street and several nearby museums downtown, has about 10 full-time employees and more than a dozen part-time staffers."
READ MORE related to Sexual Misconduct: Are Hollywood movies teaching men and boys that predatory behavior is OK? -- LA Times' JONATHAN MCINTOSH
Feds say UC Berkeley mishandled complaints in sexual harassment cases
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "UC Berkeley failed to give all students the opportunity for a formal investigation of their sexual harassment or assault complaints and did not resolve all of the cases in a timely manner, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found."
"The civil rights office reviewed UC Berkeley’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints from 2011 through 2014, and some from 2017. The office found that, though the campus has improved in some areas, it remained out of compliance with Title IX — the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at schools that get federal funding — in key areas."
"As part of a broad agreement with the federal office, the campus must revisit eight sexual misconduct cases it may have mishandled, and must tighten policies for educating students and employees on preventing sexual abuse."
At EPA hearing, support for Clean Power Plan
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "A steady march of politicians, physicians and scientists came to San Francisco from across California on Wednesday to testify against a federal plan to repeal the nation’s signature law regulating carbon dioxide emissions."
"More than 500 Californians crowded into the San Francisco Public Library to tell a panel of officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that they need to save the Clean Power Plan, a law signed by President Barack Obama in 2015 to curb power plants’ releases of greenhouse gases 32 percent by 2030."
"“We in California have already made our choice. Our future is in clean energy,” Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, told the EPA panel."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: SpaceX's Elon Musk dares to go where others failed with space-based web -- Bloomberg's TODD SHIELDS/DANA HULL/JULIE JOHNSSON; A rare signal from the early universe sends scientists clues about dark matter -- LA Times' AMINA KHAN; Community of small growers emerges on Cupertino's Montebello Road -- The Chronicle's BRYCE WIATRAK; Stay put in the valley. Biggest storm of the season rolls into NorCal -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/TONY BIZJAK; Why new California drought regulations have caused an uproar -- Water Deeply's TARA LOHAN; How much snow next winter? It may not remain a mystery much longer -- Water Deeply's MATT WEISER; Hawaii moves toward ban on ocean-polluting takeout food containers -- Oceans Deeply's ERICA CIRINO; Looking up: We all benefit from space research and technology -- Chico ER's MARISA STOLLER
War of words: ICE compares Schaaf to 'gang lookout'; Schaaf decries 'racist' crackdown
The Chronicle's HAMED ALEAZIZ/JENNA LYONS: "Federal officials and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf traded bitter accusations Wednesday over Schaaf’s decision to alert the public about a multiday Northern California immigration sweep that the Trump administration launched to counter local sanctuary laws."
"Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, compared the mayor’s warning on Saturday night — hours before ICE agents began knocking on doors and making arrests — to a “gang lookout yelling ‘police’” in an appearance on Fox News."
"Schaaf responded, in a news conference and on radio, by assailing the administration’s immigration crackdown as racist."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Laws entangle sheriff's interactions with ICE -- Chico ER's STEVE SCHOONOVER; Immigrant rights group says ICE is holding Vietnamese in limbo -- OC Register's ROXANA KOPETMAN
A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money -- then voted to ban them
LA Times' SARAH PARVINI: "Dennis Mills peered over his shoulder at the green hills below, where marijuana farms dotted the Calaveras County landscape."
"There’s another one!” he told the pilot with a laugh. The Cessna doubled back so Mills, a county supervisor, could steal a second look at a slope where trees had recently been removed."
"From above, Mills said, it’s impossible to tell which cannabis cultivation sites are legal. But it didn’t matter to him. Every single one has to go."
It's a bad idea to raise the minimum age for buying long guns. It's an even worse idea to arm teachers
LA Times' GEORGE SKELTON: "It's not as screwy as arming teachers, but increasing the legal age for buying a rifle or shotgun from 18 to 21 is also off target."
"If the aim merely is to prevent anyone under 21 from possessing a military-style assault weapon, it won't work and doesn't make sense. There are millions of such firearms already out there for the grabbing. And the vast majority of mass shootings are committed by older adults, anyway."
"If the thinking is that semiautomatic weapons with high-capacity ammunition magazines are too deadly for 18-to-20-year-olds to be trusted with, then they're also too dangerous in the hands of older folks. And they are."
READ MORE related to Gun Violence Pandemic: After their teacher fires a gun at school, George students use opportunity to challenge Trump's proposal -- LA Times' MATT PEARCE; California hasn't raised age limit for buying rifles. That may change -- The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER; Donald Trump says he's open to Dianne Feinstein's assault weapons age limit -- or even a ban -- McClatchy DC's EMILY CADEI; Student arrested, accused of threatening Duarte High School on Instagram -- The Press-Enterprise's ALEJANDRA MOLINA
What's behind this year's frightening flu season?
The Chronicle's EMMA O'NEILL/ERIN ALLDAY: "The 2017-18 season has been among the worst in more than a decade — about as bad as the 2009 season, when the new swine flu strain was spreading madly worldwide."
"As of Feb. 17, California has reported 202 deaths from the flu this year. In a typical year, total deaths for the season are around 100. Nationally, rates of flu-related hospitalizations, doctor visits for flu-like illness, and positive lab tests for influenza have far surpassed reports from recent years."
"For about six weeks in December, January and early February, the number of flu-related deaths reported in California every week was hitting alarming levels. In two weeks in January, the state reported 66 deaths — more than half what would be expected for an entire eight-month season."
READ MORE related to Health & Health Care: Will California's $3 billion in stem cell spending pay off? First royalty check arrives -- DAVID JENSEN in a Special to the Bee
Snap Inc. puts more than half its Venice office space up for lease, ending an era
LA Times' DAVID PIERSON: "When Snapchat was housed in a sky blue beachfront bungalow on the Venice boardwalk, fans of the fledgling disappearing-video app used to take selfies in front of the company's now famous ghost logo."
"Evan Spiegel, the company's founder and chief executive, could walk out onto the promenade, talk to his users, and channel the neighborhood's hip appeal into his fledgling app."
"That was six years ago, before the company now known as Snap Inc. launched a $3.4-billion initial public offering in March and grew so big it became a punching bag for local residents and businesses who blamed it for changing Venice's character."
READ MORE related to Economy & Development: Sleepy or sleeper? Sacramento named the most underrated city in California -- Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL
OP-ED: How can a city with 58,000 homeless people continue to function?
LA Times EDITORIAL BOARD: "Homelessness affects the lives of all Angelenos, not just those forced to live on the streets. And it does so almost daily, in ways large and small."
"Consider the pairs of thick gloves that George Abou-Daoud has stashed inside the nine restaurants he owns on the east side of Hollywood. When a homeless person accosts his customers, Abou-Daoud says, he can no longer count on the police for help; unless there’s an imminent threat to safety, he contends, they don’t respond quickly and can’t just haul the person away. So he’s had to take matters into his own hands, literally, by physically ejecting problematic homeless people himself. That’s why he has the gloves — to keep his hands clean."
"Abou-Daoud’s gloves are a particularly bleak symbol of the relationship between the homeless and the non-homeless. But everyone’s got a story of one sort or another. Day in and day out, Metro riders step into trains with homeless people on them — often visibly disturbed or threatening, prompting nervous passengers to edge away or change cars. In downtown L.A., shop owners worry that customers will opt for suburban malls to avoid the panhandlers and glassy-eyed wanderers. In Venice, besieged businesses have banded together to share the cost of security guards and cleanup crews to clear garbage, bedding or worse from the sidewalks."
Spend gas tax money ASAP, new Caltrans leader says of directive from Gov. Jerry Brown
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK/ADAM ASHTON: "Caltrans' new director takes her seat this week with immediate marching orders: Spend money, and spend it fast."
"Gov. Jerry Brown has asked new Caltrans head Laurie Berman and new Transportation Secretary Brian Annis to turn the state's gas tax hike into quick and visible highway improvements."
"The pair describe it as a historic opportunity and a major challenge."
READ MORE related to Transportation: Tax agency rejects 4-cent increase in gas taxes, giving Jerry Brown a $617 million problem -- Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON; Top-selling electric car in California is not a Tesla -- The Chronicle's DAVID R. BAKER; Metro board to vote on expanding 710 Freeway in the 'diesel death zone' -- LA Times' LAURA J. NELSON; BART set to begin issuing tickets to those who sneak aboard -- The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN
Sacramento Police to spend $2.7 million on this speedy new helicopter
Sacramento Bee's NASHELLY CHAVEZ: "The Sacramento Police Department on Wednesday showed off what will soon be their latest tool - a $1.6 million helicopter that will replace one of two older helicopters used by the department."
"Police will receive the aircraft in April but will not be ready to deploy it until August after it’s been outfitted with the police tools, said Eddie Macaulay, a department spokesman. The modifications are expected to add an additional $1.1 million in costs, bringing the total price tag to about $2.7 million."
"The buy is the first time a Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter has been sold to any law enforcement agency, the aircraft’s manufacturer said in a press release Wednesday."
East LA, 1968: 'Walkout!' The day high school students helped ignite the Chicano power movement
LA Times' LOUIS SAHAGUN: "Teachers at Garfield High School were winding down classes for the approaching lunch break when they heard the startling sound of people — they were not sure who — running through the halls, pounding on classroom doors. “Walkout!” they were shouting. “Walkout!"
"They looked on in disbelief as hundreds of students streamed out of classrooms and assembled before the school entrance, their clenched fists held high. “Viva la revolucion!” they called out. “Education, not eradication!” Soon, sheriff’s deputies were rumbling in."
"It was just past noon on a sunny Tuesday, March 5, 1968 — the day a Mexican American revolution began. Soon came walkouts at two more Eastside high schools, Roosevelt and Lincoln, in protest of run-down campuses, lack of college prep courses, and teachers who were poorly trained, indifferent or racist."
READ MORE related to 1968: The POTUS was polarizing, even crude. The shocking became routine. Somehow, we survived 1968 -- or did we? -- LA Times' MITCHELL LANDSBERG
CIA whistleblower loses in court, sparking warning of 'chill' for those seeing abuse
McClatchy DC's TIM JOHNSON: "A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a complaint by a Cuban-American employee of the CIA, and his attorney said the decision may put a chill on other whistleblower charges from within the intelligence community."
"The employee, a Miami native who goes by the pseudonym James S. Pars, alleged that his career at the CIA had derailed after complaining of conditions at a remote foreign posting that he said were akin to a “college dorm,” and that the agency failed to conclude an inquiry into his charges after nearly three years."
"Pars’ attorney, Susan L. Kruger, said Wednesday’s ruling by a federal judge in Washington would have a ripple effect across multiple intelligence agencies."
Kushner's business got loans after WH meetings
NYT's JESSE DRUCKER/KATE KELLY/BEN PROTESS: "Early last year, a private equity billionaire started paying regular visits to the White House."
"Joshua Harris, a founder of Apollo Global Management, was advising Trump administration officials on infrastructure policy. During that period, he met on multiple occasions with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, said three people familiar with the meetings. Among other things, the two men discussed a possible White House job for Mr. Harris."
"The job never materialized, but in November, Apollo lent $184 million to Mr. Kushner’s family real estate firm, Kushner Companies. The loan was to refinance the mortgage on a Chicago skyscraper."
Mueller asking if Trump knew about hacked Democratic emails before release
NBC's KATY TUR/CAROL E. LEE: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe."
"Mueller's investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia."
"The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Trump aide Hope Hicks to resign amid personal tumult and Russia probe -- WaPo's PHILIP RUCKER/ASHLEY PARKER; In public spat, Trump taunts Sessions, AG doesn't keep quiet -- AP's SADIE GURMAN
