California pledged to protect net neutrality -- the showdown is here
LA Times's JAZMINE ULLOA: "When federal regulators voted late last year to roll back net neutrality protections, state Democratic leaders pledged to wage a fight with the Trump administration to preserve fair and open access to the internet in California."
"Now two bills facing final approval in the Assembly and Senate this week have become a proxy battle in the larger national fight to reshape the internet."
Inflation and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs
LA Times's RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "The California bullet train project has cost state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year — a construction spending rate higher than that for the Bay Bridge, Boston’s Big Dig or any U.S. transportation project in recent history"
"But still it’s not enough, planners say."
Animal-tested cosmetics draw lawmakers' scrutiny
Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN: "Bunnies or beauty?"
"It’s not really that simple, but a bill making its way through the Legislature would ban the import of cosmetics to California that contain ingredients tested on animals."
"The bill is SB 1249, introduced by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), now on the Assembly floor after winning Senate approval."
California bill provides process to erase, reduce sentences for marijuana possession
From the Daily Cal's ALYSSA BERNARDINO: "California may begin the process of systematically erasing and reducing sentences for marijuana possession through a bill now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for signing."
"Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, introduced AB 1793 in response to the 2016 passage of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use for people 21 and older. The proposition also allowed for the “resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions,” according to the ballot measure. Prop. 64, however, did not specify a process for the retroactive erasure of cannabis convictions, a gap that AB 1793 seeks to address."
"If AB 1793 is signed by Brown, the state Department of Justice has until July 1, 2019, to search its database for eligible cases from 1975 to 2016 and send them to district attorneys for review. District attorneys then have exactly one year to challenge any case that they do not agree is eligible for resentencing."
ICE 'surprise' arrest in Sacramento courtroom could have chilling effect across state
Fresno Bee's YESENIA AMARO: "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered Sacramento Superior Court last week and handcuffed an immigrant, making an arrest inside a courtroom that is considered a first of its type in the state, one that could have a chilling effect across California."
"This will turn the judicial system on its head,” Sacramento attorney Charles Pacheco said."
"Pacheco said Wednesday’s arrest happened as a Sacramento Superior Court arraignment for his client, Yovanny Ontiveros-Cebreros, was concluding. Pacheco said ICE agents placed his client in handcuffs."
The unanticipated benefits of California's water policies
Water Deeply's KIRSTEN JAMES: "JUST AS CALIFORNIA’S climate policies have driven innovation in energy efficiency, renewable energy and battery storage – creating 500,000 new jobs – many of the state’s recently enacted bills are beginning to drive innovation in water technology. State policymakers should take note."
"These technologies, in turn, are poised to bring about new jobs and economic growth in California, while supporting the policy goals of creating more robust water utilities and better drought resilience for the state."
"A good case in point are the new water efficiency measures, Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668, signed into law in May, which evolved from the emergency water conservation regulations put in place during the drought. Coupled with the water loss management act, Senate Bill 555, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, this series of new policies is beginning to spur a market for tools to help water utilities and users better manage their infrastructure and water use."
Gut and amending + Dems rally for housing $ + Free frozen treats
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "GUTTED LIKE A FISH"
"It’s the final week of session and time for a staple of California politics, in which lawmakers replace the whole contents of bills with proposals on entirely new subjects."
"As the week begins, here are a couple of “gut and amends” worth highlighting:"
OP-ED: John McCain, the ultimate public servant
The Chronicle's EDITORIAL BOARD: "America has lost a hero, a patriot and a senator whose unflinching candor, humility and commitment to putting the public good over partisan alliances personified everything that is good — and so maddeningly rare — about modern politics."
"Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday at 81, was the ultimate public servant."
"Well-deserved tributes poured in from across the nation, across the aisle and across the spectrum from beneficiaries and targets of the Arizona senator’s straight talk."
Shark bumps into 14-year-old boy, forcing closure of California beach, officials say
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "A 14-year-old boy swimming off Huntington Beach in Southern California spotted a shark’s dorsal fin approaching him Friday night, reported the Los Angeles Times."
"The boy felt the shark bump him in the chest, then watched its tail fin as it swam away, Lt. Claude Panis of the Huntington Beach Fire Department told the publication."
"Based on the size of the fin, it was likely a juvenile between 5 and 8 feet long,” Panis told the Times. The boy was not hurt in the 8 p.m. encounter."
Building a vast new city on LA's northern edges: A solution for region's housing crunch?
LA Times's NIA AGRAWAL: "Up near the top of the Grapevine, where Los Angeles and Kern counties meet, sits the largest contiguous expanse of privately owned land in California."
"Sprawling grasslands sprout native and non-native species. Joshua trees with spiky branches clump together. At higher elevations, oak and pine forests blanket hillsides in a thick, green velvet, providing a home to deer, black bears and elk."
"Tejon Ranch, a 270,000-acre plot, is one of the last frontiers of relatively undeveloped space in the Los Angeles region."
