California cedes water to feds in Delta deal with Trump
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW: "Southern Californians could lose billions of gallons of water a year to Central Valley farmers under a deal Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has struck with water officials working for President Donald Trump."
"There’s no guarantee the agreement with Trump will accomplish what Brown’s team is seeking: a lasting compromise on environmental regulations that could stave off significant water shortfalls for farms and cities across California. A powerful state agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, hasn’t yet signed off on Brown’s compromise environmental proposal. Environmental groups have called the governor’s idea woefully insufficient to save ailing fish populations."
"Brown’s administration also made a separate concession to the Trump administration on the governor’s controversial Delta tunnels project, to the dismay of environmental groups that oppose the tunnels."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Sierra Nevada snowpack on track to shrink up to 79% by the end of the century, study finds -- LAT's DEBORAH NETBURN
Arambula abuse allegations bring spanking debate into focus
Sacramento Bee's YESENIA AMARO: "Is it ever OK to spank your child? And is it harmful?"
"This week’s arrest of Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula on misdemeanor allegations that he physically abused his 7-year-old daughter has brought those age-old questions to the forefront."
"Arambula, who has yet to be charged, claims any actions by him only went far as spanking his child as a form of discipline after she had acted out before bedtime. In contrast, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer has said the injury the child suffered was not on her buttocks, which leads to questions about Arambula’s story."
Will the next president come from California? Don't count on it
LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON: "Everyone should take a deep breath and accept reality: No Californian has much chance of being elected president."
"It has less to do with the California Democrats who are warming up to run in 2020 — although they’re not earth shakers — than it does the state’s image outside our borders."
"Face it, we’re seen as kooks, wackos and radical leftists in a state with crippling taxes, a shameful homeless problem and sky-high living costs — a place that invites illegal immigration by providing a sanctuary for border crashers. Sure, much of that is bunkum — the wacko part, anyway. But there’s also more than a grain of truth."
Workers fired over 'abhorrent' photos shot clowning around in California wildfire ruins
Sacramento Bee''s DON SWEENEY: "Photos posted to Facebook show smiling cleanup workers in hard hats sitting in the burned remains of a destroyed recreational vehicle, hopping inside a scorched trampoline frame and posing for other joking shots amid the ruins of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California."
"One shows a beer bottle by the mouth of a house cat’s burned corpse captioned, “Dude … I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM .. damn fire breaks out."
"A San Leandro construction firm announced Saturday on Facebook that the three employees involved in the “abhorrent” photos have been fired."
READ MORE related to Fire Season: 150 Minutes of Hell -- The Chronicle's LIZZIE JOHNSON
Issa, a Republican firebrand from Vista, quietly draws curtain on nine terms in Congress
From CHARLES T. CLARK in the Union-Tribune: "Early next month, the longest serving Republican in San Diego’s congressional delegation will quietly step away from the House of Representatives."
"For Democrats in San Diego County and across the country, the departure of Rep. Darrell Issa is more than welcome. For a time, the Vista congressman was the national face of Republican antagonism toward former President Barack Obama. More recently, he was admired and despised as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump."
"Issa, who will be succeeded by Democrat Mike Levin of Orange County next month, did not respond to multiple interview requests, as San Diego prepares to say farewell to one of its most colorful political figures — an Ohio native and high school dropout who built a multimillion-dollar personal fortune and became one of the wealthiest members of Congress."
Audit scolds SCUSD mismanagement as district faces $30M deficit
Sacramento Bee's MICHAEL FINCH II: "The financial clock is winding down for the Sacramento City Unified School District."
"An independent fiscal manager warned late Thursday that if the district fails to plug a $30 million dollar budget hole, it could trigger a takeover by the state in six months."
"The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a state-created financial adviser for school districts, faulted the district in an audit report for past mismanagement, communication failures, inexperienced staff and a staffing budget that could hinder its ability to solve the lingering budget problem."
WH digs in on border wall demand, risking shutdown
AP's HOPE YEN: "The White House on Sunday pushed the federal government closer to the brink of a partial shutdown later this week, digging in on its demand for $5 billion to build a border wall as congressional Democrats stood firm against it."
"We're going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of illegal immigration," said White House senior adviser Stephen Miller."
"Asked if that meant having a government shutdown, he said: "If it comes to it, absolutely."
Michelle Obama attracts thousands to San Jose appearance: 'People are starving for this'
The Chronicle's NAMWALI SERPELL: "Yolanda Collins arrived at the SAP Center in San Jose without a ticket in hand. The Michelle Obama event had sold out long ago — tickets were going for hundreds of dollars — but that wasn’t going to stop Collins."
"I’m from Chicago,” she said with a smile. “I’m supposed to be in that room tonight."
"Soon enough, a stranger approached and offered her a ticket, insisting that Collins could have it for just $20."
After nearly two years in the WH, Trump's lies start catching up with him
LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN/ELI STOKOLS: "The exchange was as brief as it was definitive."
"Near the back of Air Force One in April, a reporter asked President Trump whether he knew about a $130,000 payment that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made to Stormy Daniels, a porn actress, shortly before the election.
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, shows the operation's scale and sweep -- LA Times's CRAIG TIMBERG/TONY ROMM
Trump travel ban keeps Yemeni mother from seeing dying 2-year-old in Oakland
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "The Yemeni mother of a 2-year-old boy on life support in an Oakland hospital is being prevented from coming to the country to say goodbye to her son by the Trump administration ban on travel from certain Muslim countries, the child’s family says."
"Abdullah Hassan was born in Yemen with a rare brain disease that initially affected his ability to walk and talk but quickly worsened. He is no longer able to breathe on his own. His father, a U.S. citizen who lives in Stockton, brought him to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for care about five months ago, and Abdullah is not expected to live much longer."
"The parents are ready to take Abdullah off life support, but they want his mother to have one more moment to hold him. So far, the U.S. State Department has ignored their pleas for a waiver to get her into the United States, they say."
