A census undercount could cost California billions — and L.A. is famously hard to track
From the LAT's SARAH PARVINI: " Wen it comes to the U.S. census, residents of Los Angeles County are notoriously difficult to track down."
"The county, officials say, will be the nation’s hardest to tally because of its high concentrations of renters and homeless people, as well as immigrant communities that may not participate, because of language barriers or because they fear reprisal from the federal government — especially if a citizenship question is added to the form."
":Many believe that appears likely. Last week, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready to uphold the Trump administration’s plan to add the question. The court’s decision is expected in June."
Woman came to California synagogue to mourn her mother. She saved rabbi from a gunman
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "Lori Kaye had gone to Chabad of Poway on Saturday to offer a prayer for her mother, who died in November, CNN reported."
"But when a gunman burst into the synagogue near San Diego, California, witnesses say Kaye jumped between him and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 57, who had been conducting the Passover service, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported."
"The shooter, later identified by San Diego police as John T. Earnest, 19, opened fire, killing Kaye and wounding three others including Goldstein, KGTV reported."
READ MORE related to Domestic Terrorism: Sunnyvale crash rattles Bay Area Muslim community -- The Chronicle's KIMBERLY VEKLEROV
Deadline for free online community college launch five months away
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "California’s first fully online community college is due to open on Oct. 1, with an ambitious agenda not only to train low-wage workers for better jobs — free of charge — but to find employers to hire them and mentors to give them on-the-job coaching."
“We will be placing them into well-paying careers. We’re blazing new trails,” cybercampus President Heather Hiles recently told the state’s Board of Governors for community colleges, who double as the online school’s Board of Trustees."
"The question is: Can the state pull it off in just five months? Hiles doesn’t have a management team in place yet for the as-yet unnamed venture. As a spokesman for the college put it: “We’re building the plane even as we’re taking off.”
Trump plan for fracking 1 million acres is no bueno for Yosemite, opponents say
Sacramento Bee's THADDEUS MILLER: "The Trump Administration announced a plan this week to open up more than 1 million acres of land to fracking — a plan environmentalists argue could affect protected national parks."
"The Bureau of Land Management released an environmental impact statement on Thursday that considers new oil and gas development on 1.6 million acres across central and Southern California, neighboring Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. among other sites."
"The bureau has not issued any fracking leases since a 2013 court ruling that the agency had violated the National Environmental Policy Act without first considering environmental impacts."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: A fire's unfathomable toll -- The Chronicle's LIZZIE JOHNSON
Trump abortion policy targeting Planned Parenthood halted by California lawsuit
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s attempts to deny federal money to organizations in the state like Planned Parenthood that provide abortion referrals, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday."
"California officials sued to block the rule in March. A U.S. district court judge granted a preliminary injunction in the case Friday, delaying implementation of the rule in California while the challenge makes its way through the courts."
"The Trump administration regulation would restrict funding to hundreds of family planning organizations by withholding federal funds currently used for health care services ranging from cancer screenings to contraception."
Nepotism investigation expands at California agency: 'I can't wait for the truth to come out'
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Seven high-level California government employees could face discipline for their roles in helping a former state department director promote her daughter and favor at least one other job applicant, according to a State Personnel Board report published Thursday."
"Identifying employees by their initials only, the report says former Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker called on coworkers to circumvent state rules to get her daughter hired and promoted while shielding her from discipline."
"The Personnel Board’s report was based on a review of statements and documents gathered by California State Auditor Elaine Howle, who drew similar conclusions from the materials in a report published last month."
READ MORE related to Nepotism Probe: California official who hired daughter had high-level help -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF
Dem candidate Hickenlooper proudly claims to be a moderate
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "Although he’s running for president in a Democratic Party that’s moving to the left, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper won’t apologize for being a pragmatist who says he’s more interested in getting things done than polishing his partisan credentials."
"As far as Democratic progressives are concerned, “I’m not everything their ideals want,” he told a Friday lunchtime crowd at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco."
"In his nearly eight years as Denver’s mayor and eight more as Colorado governor, Hickenlooper said he put a premium on dealing with opposing groups and working out compromises."
Juvie costs skyrocket
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER/JOAQUIN PALOMINO: "The annual cost of incarcerating a youth in juvenile hall in California has doubled over the past eight years, a new state survey shows, putting pressure on counties to answer for skyrocketing costs even as serious juvenile crime decreases."
"California taxpayers spent an average of $284,700 to keep a child locked up in juvenile hall last year, county-level data from the Board of State and Community Corrections reveal, up from an inflation-adjusted $143,300 in 2011."
"Several Bay Area counties were among those spending the most per child, topped by Santa Clara, where the figures showed an annual cost of $531,400 to detain a youth offender in juvenile hall."
Beto O'Rourke calls for health care for all, wealth equality in SF stop
The Chronicle's MELIA RUSSELL: "When Beto O’Rourke arrived on a small square stage raised in the middle of San Francisco’s Irish Cultural Center on Sunday, he apologized for being a bit late."
"Our plane out on the tarmac for 30 or 40 minutes — all I could think of,” O’Rourke said, “was high-speed rail."
"Halfway through his four-day tour of the Golden State, Texas presidential hopeful O’Rourke stopped in San Francisco to make his 2020 pitch: He will be the candidate who makes the United States great, for everybody."
Measles cases are rising. See how many children are unvaccinated in Sacramento schools
Sacramento Bee's MICHAEL FINCH II/HANNAH WILEY: "A rise in measles cases has California lawmakers considering a bill that would constrain doctors from granting medical exemptions for vaccines to children without approval from a state department."
"The bill’s supporters want to limit pockets around California where vaccination rates in schools have dropped below 95 percent, a threshold that can compromise so-called “herd immunity.”
"Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, contends that “unscrupulous” physicians have granted those exemptions for dubious reasons, raising public health risks for people who cannot receive vaccinations."
