Delta hearing moves forward

Judge shoots down Delta tunnels foes' request to halt key hearing

Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "A Sacramento County judge on Monday declined to temporarily stop the hearings that will decide the fate of Gov. Jerry Brown's Delta tunnels project after its opponents sued alleging the process had been tainted by secret meetings."

"In denying their request for a restraining order, Judge James P. Arguelles said during a hearing in Sacramento that project opponents didn't provide enough evidence to show that he needed to halt the water-rights hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board."

"Tunnels foes, including the Sacramento County, Stockton, several Delta water agencies and a group of environmental organizations, sued last month, alleging the board met privately and illegally as far back as 2015 with representatives of the California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the lead agencies planning the tunnels."

There are some bumps in the road for driverless cars, caused by -- you guessed it -- humans.

From the LAT's RUSS MITCHELL: "The human response to possible takeover by robot overlords is off to a troubling start."

California braces for battle with Trump administration over student loans

L.A. Times's DAVID LAZARUS: "Ask Republican politicians how they feel about gun control, and they'll say this is a matter for states to decide. "I think we need to respect federalism and respect local jurisdictions," House Speaker Paul D. Ryan insisted just last week."

"But ask Republicans about protecting people from being ripped off by student-loan debt collectors, and they'll sing a completely different tune."

"A confidential draft memo drawn up by the U.S. Department of Education lays out the case for why states, including California, should abandon their own laws for student-loan servicers and let the feds allow these for-profit companies to skate by with considerably less oversight."

READ MORE related to Education: Board to decide on boundary changes for elementary schools Wednesday -- Chico ER STAFF; Whites dominate California college faculties while students are more diverse, study shows -- EdSource's LARRY GORDON

Sacramento County voters are about to see big changes in how they cast their ballots

Sacramento Bee's ED FLETCHER: "California is adding more ways to vote starting with the June 5 primary election. We caught up with Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill Levine for this Q&A."

"Q: What’s will be different this election?"

"A: The big difference is that every voter gets a vote–by–mail ballot."

London Breed can't say she's 'acting mayor' on ballot, court rules

The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco Supervisor London Breed will no longer be described as the city’s “acting mayor” when she runs for the top seat in June."

"Breed will now be identified as “president, Board of Supervisors” in all voter pamphlets and materials for the June 5 ballot, according to an order and stipulation that will be heard in San Francisco Superior Court Tuesday. It settles a lawsuit filed by one of Breed’s opponents, Mark Leno, who said the acting-mayor title was misleading."

SF city attorney sues 5 people to shut illegal gambling shop in Excelsior

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing five people of running an illegal gambling den for years in the city’s Excelsior neighborhood."

"The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that the property owners and managers of the building at 4182 Mission St. have been operating illegal video gambling machines since at least 2014."

"According to the city’s complaint, the property attracted “criminal and nuisance activity to the surrounding community, necessitating police intervention.” Those activities include the use and sale of methamphetamine and stolen vehicles, and den patrons wanted on outstanding warrants."

DACA advocates rally in LA, Irvine, across country while UC calls for bipartisan legislation

OC Register's ROXANA KOPETMAN: "The beating of Korean drums drowned out chants of “Yes, we can!” Monday evening, as immigrants right activists and people in favor of tougher immigration laws both protested outside the Irvine office of Rep. Mimi  Walters."

"More than 150 pro-immigration activists noisily chanted, cheered and marched while a smaller group carrying signs with messages like “No DACA, Americans First” marched alongside, sometimes videotaping the protesters. A Facebook feed of the event was provided by the Korean Resource Center, a social justice organization in Orange and Los Angeles counties."

"The Irvine protest was one of dozens of similar rallies held across the country Monday, March 5, the day President Trump once set as a deadline for Congress to come up with a new immigration law to replace the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Though the March 5 deadline has been rendered moot by recent court decisions, more than one million young people who came to the United States illegally as children remain in legal limbo until DACA is either allowed to stand or another set of rules is established."

Even after storm, California's Sierra snowpack at 37 percent of average

The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The storm that wrought avalanches at ski resorts and whiteouts on mountain roads last week was so fierce that California water officials postponed their much-anticipated monthly survey of snow depth, setting the stage for potentially better news this week."

"But on Monday, when officials finally lugged their gauges into the High Sierra for their periodic made-for-TV measurement, they confirmed their suspicions: The biggest storm of the winter had done little to alter the state’s swing toward renewed drought."

"California’s all-important snowpack measured 39 percent of average for the date at Phillips Station in El Dorado County, the state’s traditional survey spot south of Lake Tahoe, while snowpack statewide measured 37 percent of average."

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They used to get free or low-cost cannabis to help with their cancer. Not anymore.

Sacramento Bee's BRAD BRANAN: "The Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana survived a raid by federal agents and other existential threats while providing free and low-cost cannabis to seriously ill patients. In operation for the past three decades, the Santa Cruz-based collective is the oldest example of a "compassionate care" program in the nation."

"Now, the program and others like it could be forced to close due to an unlikely reason: legalization."

"Under state regulations that went into effect Jan. 1, compassionate care programs must collect taxes on the market value of cannabis that they give to patients. Many of these programs say they cannot afford the taxes nor the cost of state and local permits required to obtain cannabis from legal growers."

Three arrested in separate school-related threats in Folsom, West Sacramento and Roseville

Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL/CATHY LOCKE: "Three young men were arrested Monday in connection with separate threats targeting high schools or students in Folsom, West Sacramento and Roseville. In the Roseville arrest, police said, the suspect had an "AR-15-type firearm."

"Ryan Bernal, 18, of Rancho Cordova was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of making a criminal threat that prompted the lockdown of Vista del Lago High School in Folsom Monday morning, according to a Folsom Police Department news release."

"The suspect was not at the school, and the threat was made via a text message. Folsom officers were sent to the school as a safety precaution, while other officers contacted Bernal at a relative's home. Although there was no indication Bernal planned to carry out the threat, investigators determined that the threat was criminal, the news release said."

READ MORE related to Gun Violence Pandemic: Florida state Senate passes a Marjory Stoneman Douglas gun control act -- and some call it an insult to its namesake -- L.A. Times's JENNY JARVIE

Why Europe and Canada may retaliate against bourbon, Harleys and Levi jeans

WaPo's JAMES MCAULEY/ALAN FREEMAN: "Slap tariffs on Kentucky bourbon? Halt distribution of Hollywood movies? Block U.S. companies from bidding on foreign government contracts?"

"These are the kind of measures being suggested in Europe and Canada as they face the prospect of substantial tariffs on their steel and aluminum industries proposed last week by President Trump."

"But trade experts say that retaliation is a fine art, where the goal is to inflict as much economic and political damage on your opponent while not doing your economy too much harm. In economies as well-integrated as the United States and Europe or the United States and Canada, it’s likely to prove a challenge."

READ MORE related to Economy & Development: Russ Solomon, founder of iconic Tower Records, dies at 92 while watching Oscars -- The Chronicle's SAM WHITING; Economists overwhelmingly agree: Trump's food box idea is absurd -- L.A. Times' MICHAEL HILTZIK

Not a typo: San Francisco's Muni may cut (some) fares

The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "When it comes to transit fares, what goes up rarely comes down. But the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is considering reducing some fares — especially for visitors and for those who rely on monthly passes."

"Muni also plans to introduce a day pass to lure more riders."

"The MTA Board of Directors will discuss the possible fare changes Tuesday as part of its budget planning process, which will also include consideration of increased fees for everything from residential parking permits to parking citations. The agency needs to close an anticipated $23 million gap for the coming budget year that starts July 1 and $20 million for the following year."

READ MORE related to Transportation: Transit-village housing in Oakland's Fruitvale gets going, after years of delays -- The Chronicle's JK DINEEN

'We need a change.' Former deputy challenges Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones for his job

Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA/NASHELLY CHAVEZ: "The race for Sacramento sheriff became more competitive Monday when former deputy chief and noted criminal justice reform advocate Milo Fitch announced he was running against incumbent Scott Jones."

"Fitch confirmed to The Bee that he obtained necessary papers from the county Monday morning to place himself on the ballot."

"The reason I am running is because we need a change," Fitch said Monday afternoon. "There are too many big problems that are not being addressed and I look forward to making my case to voters that I am the right person to solve them."

READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Former Alameda County sheriff Charles Plummer dies at 87 -- The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN; Will cop killer's profane tirades make this jury sentence him to death? -- Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON; No charges for LAPD officer who fatally shot 14-year-old in Boyle Heights, prosecutors say -- L.A. Times's KATE MATHER

'A basic human right.' Group calls on Sacramento to provide more bathrooms for homeless

Sacramento Bee's CYNTHIA HUBERT/RYAN LILLIS: "In the daily grind of life for homeless people on the streets of Sacramento, the search for a place to use the bathroom is a constant concern."

"Many private businesses tightly manage their restrooms and, according to a new report, public facilities are few and scattered, and many close at dusk."

"The result, according to the report by the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, is that homeless men and women are forced to use streets, alleyways and parkways as their restrooms."

North Korea willing to relinquish nuclear weapons, says Seoul

The Guardian's BENJAMIN HAAS: "North Korea is willing to discuss relinquishing its nuclear weapons, and will freeze its nuclear and missile programmes if it begins direct talks with the US, in a dramatic easing of tensions after a visit by senior South Korean politicians."

"The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will also meet his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, in late April in the first summit of its kind in more than a decade, Moon’s office said. The two leaders will meet at Panmunjom on the highly militarised border."

"North Korea pledged to not use conventional or nuclear weapons against its neighbour, despite frequent threats from Pyongyang. The two sides have remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean war."

Christopher Steele, the man behind the Trump Dossier

The New Yorker's JANE MAYER: "In January, after a long day at his London office, Christopher Steele, the former spy turned private investigator, was stepping off a commuter train in Farnham, where he lives, when one of his two phones rang. He’d been looking forward to dinner at home with his wife, and perhaps a glass of wine. It had been their dream to live in Farnham, a town in Surrey with a beautiful Georgian high street, where they could afford a house big enough to accommodate their four children, on nearly an acre of land. Steele, who is fifty-three, looked much like the other businessmen heading home, except for the fact that he kept his phones in a Faraday bag—a pouch, of military-tested double-grade fabric, designed to block signal detection."

"A friend in Washington, D.C., was calling with bad news: two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham and Charles Grassley, had just referred Steele’s name to the Department of Justice, for a possible criminal investigation. They were accusing Steele—the author of a secret dossier that helped trigger the current federal investigation into President Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia—of having lied to the very F.B.I. officers he’d alerted about his findings." 

READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg called before grand jury, says he will refuse to go -- WaPo's JOSH DAWSEY/PHILIP RUCKER; Ex-Trump adviser changes tune on Mueller subpoena -- The Chronicle's JILL COLVIN/TOM LOBIANCO

Northern Ireland party rejects EU plans on Ireland border

AP: "The Northern Ireland party that props up the government of British Prime Minister Theresa May insists that European Union proposals to avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit are "not acceptable."

"Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster said after a meeting with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, that there can be no division between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. to accommodate for a soft border with the EU."

"The border on the island will be the only land border after the U.K. breaks away as of March 2019 and maintaining open trade and passage is proving to be one of the more intractable issues during the Brexit talks."