Latest voter registration: Independents top GOP
Capitol Weekly's JOHN HOWARD: "For the first time, California’s voter registration figures show independent voters surpassing Republicans, the culmination of a trend that has been building for decades."
"Updated numbers from California’s 58 counties showed decline-to-state voters, those who don’t disclose a party preference, had reached 25.5% in the weeks before the June 5 election. Republican registration, meanwhile, was put at 25.1%."
"Democrats comprised 44.4 percent of registered voters."
READ MORE related to State Politics: Republicans target Trump voters in California push -- McClatchy DC's KATIE GLUECK; Independent voters now outnumber Republicans in California -- Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF; California's legislative budget writers must iron out differences with Gov. Jerry Brown, and each other -- LA Times's JOHN MYERS
With election days away, California's top political ethics cop abruptly quits
Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "The head of California's campaign watchdog agency resigned her position on Tuesday."
"Jodi Remke, who Gov. Jerry Brown appointed in 2014, stepped down as the chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission amid ongoing turmoil."
'She often verbally sparred at public meetings with other commissioners, who were leading an effort to reduce her leadership role. The five-member commission was expected to vote next week to finalize a new power structure."
READ MORE related to June Primary: June 5th Primary: The chase is on -- Capitol Weekly's PAUL MITCHELL; Gavin Newsom: Dems should root for GOP candidate to make fall ballot -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH; Election night: Why the first returns may tell the whole story -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH
State worker unions need return to 'core functionality,' new leader says
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "It’s a bad year to be up for re-election as a California public employee labor leader."
"That’s one takeaway from last week’s surprising election for leadership posts at state government’s largest union, SEIU Local 1000. It was the third in a recent string of upsets where outsiders knocked off incumbent labor leaders in elections."
"SEIU 1000’s president, Yvonne Walker, won another term leading an organization that represents 96,000 state workers, but three of her deputies lost to challengers who say they want to change the way the union does business."
Judge in East Area Rapist case expects to release some warrant details Friday
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON/DARRELL SMITH: "A Sacramento judge said Tuesday he expects to release some warrant documents by Friday in the East Area Rapist case after lawyers debated whether suspect Joseph James DeAngelo can receive a fair trial if that information becomes public."
"DeAngelo, hands cuffed behind his back, stood silently in a cage inside a jailhouse courtroom for two hours as lawyers argued over the merits of unsealing the documents."
"Although he initially attended court in a wheelchair, DeAngelo since has walked into hearings under his own power and spent Tuesday standing ramrod straight with a deputy in the cage behind him and another standing outside it nearby."
She was a Rio Americano cheerleader in the 1980s. On Tuesday, she canceled 'Roseanne'
Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL: "ABC president Channing Dungey made headlines across the country Tuesday for her strongly-worded nixing of Roseanne Barr's eponymous show after the actress' racist comments on Twitter. But 40 years ago, she was just another girl riding her bike through Citrus Heights, pretending to star in "Charlie's Angels."
"Born in Sacramento on March 14, 1969, Dungey attended Deterding Elementary School, Arden Middle School and Rio Americano High School alongside her younger sister Merrin, an actress who went on to appear on shows such as "Big Little Lies" and "Malcolm In The Middle." She was a varsity cheerleader, according to the 1986 Rio Americano yearbook."
"The children of a teacher and a Sacramento Municipal Utility District employee, the sisters obsessed over the latest issues of TV Guide growing up, they told an Emmy Magazine interviewer in 2014."
READ MORE related to Roseanne Barr Downfall: With a racist tweet, Roseanne Barr not only lost a job but also silenced a vital voice: Roseanne Conner's -- LA Times's LORRAINE ALI
The political mailer on your kitchen counter isn't what it seems
Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "The "Woman's Voice Newsletter" leads with an endorsement of Travis Allen, a Republican Assemblyman once accused of sexual harassment, as California's next governor. Sen. Ricardo Lara, Allen's liberal opposite, gets a nod for his Insurance Commissioner bid on the same slate mailer."
"Another piece of campaign mail, called the "Progressive Voter Guide," backs Antonio Villaraigosa. He's running a gubernatorial campaign considered farther from the left than any other top Democrat in the race."
"How did the candidates earn endorsements on the slate mailers piling up in your mailbox? Simple. They paid for it."
Trump accuses Pelosi of being an 'MS-13 lover'
AP: "The Latest on President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Nashville, Tennessee (all times local):"
"12:35 a.m."
"President Donald Trump has accused House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of being an "MS-13 lover" and dismissed a Democratic Senate candidate as a "tool" of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer."
Feds push to raise Shasta Dam, but would it ease California water woes
Water Deeply's ALASTAIR BLAND: "OFFICIALS WITH THE federal government seem determined to realize a controversial proposal to raise Shasta Dam and increase the storage capacity of the reservoir behind it – despite objections from fish and wildlife agencies and California law that technically forbids such a project. In January, the United States Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the dam, received a $20 million appropriationfrom Congress to begin design and preconstruction work – and, with the support of water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley, the bureau has announced plans to begin construction as early as the end of 2019."
"The project, discussed informally for decades, calls for adding 18.5ft of steel and cement to the rim of the dam. This would add 634,000 acre-feet of extra storage space to Lake Shasta, already California’s largest reservoir. Agricultural interests tend to be in favor the project, while environmentalists, tribes and groups dedicated to protecting fish – especially salmon – generally oppose the idea. Several agencies that manage fish, wildlife and water in California have advised against heightening the damthe plan, and opponents are concerned that the proposal could help mobilize a trend of federal agencies and Washington lawmakers overriding or just ignoring state environmental laws."
"Making Shasta Dam higher as planned would cause a large area of Lake Shasta’s shoreline to flood in wet years, including nearly a mile of the McCloud River. This Lake Shasta tributary – once a prolific Chinook salmon stream that flowed into the Sacramento River – is strictly protected under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act."
LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward
LA Times's MATT HAMILTON/RICHARD WINTON/ADAM ELMAHREK: "The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USC's longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university."
"LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month."
Trump's new insurance rules are panned by nearly every healthcare group that submitted formal comments
LA Times's NOAM N. LEVEY: "More than 95% of healthcare groups that have commented on President Trump's effort to weaken Obama-era health insurance rules criticized or outright opposed the proposals, according to a Times review of thousands of official comment letters filed with federal agencies."
"The extraordinary one-sided outpouring came from more than 300 patient and consumer advocates, physician and nurse organizations and trade groups representing hospitals, clinics and health insurers across the country, the review found."
"Kris Haltmeyer, vice president of health policy and analysis at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Assn., said he couldn't recall a similar show of opposition in his more than 22 years at the trade group, which represents Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans and is among the organizations that have expressed serious reservations about the administration's proposed regulations."
READ MORE related to Health & Health Care: In health care arena, the prize for California Insurance Commissioner is a bullhorn -- CHL's PAULINE BARTOLONE
Illegal pot grows found in Yosemite, forests. Officials crack down, citing 'catastrophic' poisons
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Citing new scientific evidence of "catastrophic" impacts on California's forests and wildlife, law enforcement officials in Sacramento announced a new crackdown Tuesday on illegal marijuana growing sites statewide that they say are run by Mexican drug cartels."
"Such drug growing sites, which are guarded by individuals with weapons and protected with booby traps, have been a problem for authorities in California for decades. But the recent discovery that banned pesticides at the sites are polluting water and poisoning endangered species pushed authorities to act, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said at a news conference at his office in downtown Sacramento."
"It is a particularly stark issue for us because we have over 16 million acres of national Forest Service lands," Scott said, noting that grows have been found in Yosemite National Park and other iconic parks."
READ MORE related to Cannabis: Illegal pot grows spread deadly pesticides, other hazards, despite change in law -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE
SF to Uber, Lyft: Tell us what drivers earn
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "Do Uber and Lyft stiff their drivers on wages?"
"A legal push by the ride-hailing companies’ hometown of San Francisco could lead to the drivers becoming employees rather than independent contractors."
Families of SF men killed by police to ask attorney general to file charges
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "Less than a week after San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón declined to file criminal charges against police officers in two controversial killings, an attorney for the men’s families has a backup plan: Ask another prosecutor."
"John Burris is representing the families of Mario Woods and Luis Góngora Pat in their civil suits against the city, but on Tuesday the Oakland civil rights attorney told reporters that any successes in civil court wouldn’t amount to justice for the families or serve as punishment for the officers involved."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Video released of LAPD encounter that ended in fatal shooting of Boyle Heights teen -- LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN
A California church flirts with an unusual social experiment: to never call police again
LA Times's JAWEED KALEEM: "Standing on the front steps of First Congregational Church of Oakland late last month, Nichola Torbett issued a declaration."
"We can no longer tolerate the trauma inflicted on our communities by policing," Torbett, a white church volunteer, said in front of churchgoers who held photos of African Americans shot dead by law enforcement. The church, she promised, would never call the cops again in nearly every circumstance. Dozens of members had agreed to do the same."
"How do police help? They often don't," Torbett later said in an interview. "So, especially as white people, why call them?"
Starbucks' bias training finally happened. Here's what it looked like
WaPo's RACHEL SIEGEL: "The three Starbucks managers didn't know one another well before Tuesday morning. Huddled around an emerald guidebook at the start of the company's racial bias training, they flipped to page 2."
"Over the next four hours, the district managers — Carrie Teeter, Carol Huang and Jose Galvez — would go through the same racial bias curriculum that 175,000 other Starbucks employees completed throughout the day. The training, at 8,000 stores across the country, marked the start of Starbucks' commitment to years of diversity and sensitivity programs after two African American men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on April 12. Starbucks executives and outside experts alike point to the training as a significant response to incidents of racial profiling in commercial spaces that have recently garnered national attention — and are endemic to American history."
Judge readies for update on Trump personal lawyer probe
AP's LARRY NEUMEISTER: "A court-appointed official gave a New York judge in advance of a hearing Wednesday an upbeat report on how fast attorney-client privilege designations are being applied to materials seized from President Donald Trump's personal lawyer."
"Barbara Jones said in a letter filed in federal court Tuesday that lawyers for the personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and attorneys for Trump and the Trump Organization have designated more than 250 items as subject to the privilege. She said the material includes data from a video recorder."
"The letter to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood preceded a hearing scheduled for Wednesday."
Jon Stewart's return to standup at Clusterfest is just the beginning
The Chronicle's PETER HARTLAUB: "The interview hasn’t officially started yet, and Jon Stewart is already being topical and funny."
"Informed, jokingly, that recording without permission might be a federal offense, he has a perfect “The Daily Show” one-liner:"
