Newsom calls for security funding after synagogue shooting
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Two days after a gunman opened fire in a Southern California synagogue, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he’s adding $15 million to his proposed budget to fund security at places of worship and nonprofit organizations at risk of hate-based violence."
"Newsom made the announcement Monday alongside Jewish lawmakers, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and others."
"The deadly shooting on the last day of the Jewish holiday Passover “shattered the illusion of safety” for religious people in the United States, said state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat who chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus."
READ MORE related to Hate Crime Pandemic: California moves to give $15M to hate-vulnerable groups for security -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF; Anti-Semitic assaults tripled in 2018, says a new ADL report -- LA Times's JAWEED KALEEM
Ex-chairman accused of racial discrimination in 3rd suit against California Democratic Party
LA Times's CHRISTINE MAI-DUC: "Two former California Democratic Party employees and an activist sued the organization in Sacramento County Superior Court on Monday, alleging that they were subjected to sexual assault, harassment, racial discrimination and retaliation by former Chairman Eric Bauman, and that the party failed to protect them."
"The lawsuit is the second filed against the party and Bauman in two weeks and the third legal action against both since he resigned in November following allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior toward party staff members and activists."
"In the lawsuit filed Monday, former party operations director Tina McKinnor alleges that Bauman discriminated against her because she is black and former communications director John Vigna claims that Bauman groped him and sexually harassed him “on nearly a daily basis.” The complaint also alleges that the state party retaliated against McKinnor and Vigna for helping another employee file a sexual harassment complaint against Bauman when it fired them in December."
Traffic schools are gaming the DMV to get your business
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "A few owners of online traffic schools in California have taken advantage of loose oversight by the Department of Motor Vehicles to stifle competition and boost their share of customers among the roughly 670,000 ticketed drivers who enroll in the schools every year."
"State law lets drivers hide minor infractions from car insurers if they complete traffic school courses, which migrated from classrooms to the internet about 20 years ago. The online courses have proved lucrative for some school owners, thanks in part to built-in advertising they get from appearing on a list of randomized schools that is passed out at courthouses and maintained online."
"The list has tripled in size over the last two years, reaching about 3,000 schools as a few owners added hundreds of identical websites with names such as No Study Traffic School, Five Dollar Traffic School, Shortest Course Allowed and Easy Daddy Traffic School. Many school names differ only by a number at the end of the name, and different schools often have the same owner, but there’s no easy way for a customer to know that."
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Bay Area median home price drops for first time in 7 years
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "Bay Area home prices fell last month on a year-over-year basis for the first time in seven years, according to a report Monday from research firm CoreLogic."
"The median price paid for a new or existing home or condo in the nine counties was $830,000 in March, up 7.8 percent from February but down 0.1 percent from March of last year."
"The last time prices fell year over year was in March 2012. After that, they rose for 83 consecutive months, often in the double digits for long stretches of time. In March of last year, the median price was up a whopping 16.2 percent over March 2016. After that, the appreciation rate slowed down, but was still positive through February."
Oakland ghost ship trial: What you need to know
The Chronicle's KIMBERLY VEKLEROV/MEGAN CASSIDY: "Attorneys in the Ghost Ship criminal trial will lay out the facts of the case Tuesday to jurors in an Oakland courtroom who will determine whether two men are responsible for involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 36 people."
"After months of pretrial proceedings, the opening statements will be the first time, apart from jury selection, that the panel will hear directly from the lawyers about the December 2016 warehouse inferno. A procession of eye witnesses and expert testimony will follow."
"For survivors and relatives and friends of the victims in the courtroom gallery, the trial is expected to revive trauma and suffering that followed the fire at the East Oakland artist collective."
SF convention attracts half of the 2020 presidential field
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "When California’s Democratic Party selects a new leader at this year’s annual convention, a barrage of presidential candidates will be on hand to make their case to voters."
"Ten Democrats running for president are confirmed to speak in San Francisco between May 31 and June 2, according to an announcement from the state party of Monday."
"The candidates include California Sen. Kamala Harris and other top-tier campaigners like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg."
Beto O'Rourke makes a campagin stop in Modesto. He has a $5T plan to save the planet
Sacramento Bee's KEN CARLSON: "Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke made a stop in Modesto to discuss ideas for combating climate change with a panel at Modesto Junior College."
"That was hours after the Democratic presidential candidate announced a $5 trillion proposal at Yosemite National Park for keeping a global rise in temperatures from threatening human habitation on planet Earth."
"O’Rourke called climate change the “most important challenge that we face, not just as a country but as human beings. ... The welfare of our kids, our grandkids and every generation that succeeds us is at stake right now,” said O’Rourke on his first visit to California since announcing his run for president last month."
Trump wants to charge migrants to apply for asylum
LA Times's KATE MORRISSEY: "President Donald Trump on Monday called for charging migrants fees in order to apply for asylum."
"In a memorandum released late Monday afternoon, Trump instructed the Attorney General and Homeland Security Secretary to come up with regulations that would make several changes in the asylum system, including requiring those submitting asylum applications to pay fees “not to exceed the costs of adjudicating the application."
"Trump cited what his administration has characterized as a “crisis” at the southwest border as reason for the changes. The number of people caught crossing the border reached its highest count in a decade last month."
Rick Singer had grand plans beyond college admissions. Then scandal brought him down
LA Times's JOEL RUBIN/MATTHEW ORMSETH: "William “Rick” Singer stepped into a conference room at a Newport Beach Marriott one morning last January to hear how his master plan was progressing."
"He had paid for the flights and hotel rooms to assemble a group that included an accomplished business executive from the sports world, a Hollywood talent agent, and old acquaintances who had scratched together careers in marketing and other fields."
"One by one, they updated Singer on business ventures they were building and he was funding."
New bill would outlaw classroom animal dissections
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Dissecting frogs and cats — a common assignment for kids in California biology classes — could soon be a thing of the past."
"A bill from Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, would prohibit animal dissections in K-12 schools, both public and private."
"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a strong supporter of the bill. The animal rights organization has documented methods used by companies that supply schools with birds, cats and amphibians for classroom dissections. PETA argues the practice is “miserably cruel."
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Stanford discovery validates chronic fatigue syndrome, could improve diagnosis
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "A Stanford scientist has developed what could be the first simple blood test for chronic fatigue syndrome, a puzzling and often disabling illness that can take years to diagnose and is still largely misunderstood by mainstream medicine."
"The diagnostic test is built on Stanford biochemist Ron Davis’ discovery of a biological marker that distinguishes people with chronic fatigue syndrome from those who are healthy. A description of the biomarker and how it might be used was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
"Assuming his results hold up under further study, the biomarker would be a critical breakthrough in research into the disease. It could make diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome much easier and help scientists develop treatments for the illness. And perhaps just as important, the biomarker provides further validation to a disease that has long been brushed aside or even labeled as imaginary."
An army veteran's terror plot against a Long Beach neo-nazi rally was foiled
Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "A plot to detonate a shrapnel-laden bomb at a Long Beach rally last weekend was thwarted Friday by FBI agents who said the Army combat veteran behind the plan set out to commit mass murder."
“This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central District of California, in a Department of Justice statement announcing the arrest of 26-year-old Mark Steven Domingo. The former U.S. Army infantryman was arrested late Friday as he surveyed the Long Beach park that was to be the site of the planned terror attack, Department of Justice officials said in the statement."
"Hanna said at a news conference Monday that Domingo had plotted to bomb a white supremacist rally in Bluff Park as retribution for the New Zealand mosque attacks, the Associated Press reported."
Where did the measles outbreak in LA start? Officials are looking abroad
LA Times's SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA: "Los Angeles County officials dealing with a measles outbreak say they expect that more people will be diagnosed with the illness in the coming weeks, while the nation stares down what will likely be its worst measles year in decades."
"But where are these cases coming from? The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000, and the virus does not regularly circulate here."
"Officials say that every person diagnosed with measles in the U.S. either contracts it abroad or from someone who got it abroad. In the past few years, American tourists have become more likely to encounter measles because of massive outbreaks in other countries, experts say."
Beluga whale encounter has Norway wondering about swimming spies from Russia
AP: "A beluga whale found with a tight harness that appeared to be Russian made has raised the alarm of Norwegian officials and prompted speculation that the animal may have come from a Russian military facility."
"Joergen Ree Wiig of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries says “Equipment St. Petersburg” is written on the harness strap, which features a mount for an action camera."
"He said Monday that fishermen in Arctic Norway last week reported the tame white cetacean with a tight harness swimming around. On Friday, fisherman Joar Hesten, aided by Ree Wiig, jumped into the frigid water to remove the harness."
