Newsom plan to cover young undocumented immigrants would divert public health dollars
California Healthline's SAMANTHA YOUNG: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the state to provide health coverage to low-income young adults who are in the country illegally, but his plan would siphon public health dollars from several counties battling surging rates of sexually transmitted diseases and, in some cases, measles outbreaks."
"Public health officials describe the proposed reallocation of state dollars as a well-meaning initiative that nonetheless would have “dire consequences” to core public health services."
"There have been 764 confirmed cases of measles this year through May 3 in 23 states, including California, the highest number since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. State public health officials also are struggling to address record rates of sexually transmitted diseases, with more than 300,000 cases of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis reported in 2017."
READ MORE related to Health: How stricter vaccine laws spared California from a major measles outbreak -- LA Times's PRIYA KRISHNAKUMAR/SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA
CA120: Surprise! How some voters chose partisanship
PAUL MITCHELL in Capitol Weekly: "When a supermarket wants to sell candy or a tabloid magazine, they put it near the checkout counter."
"When you get a fundraising email, the “donate now” is always in the first paragraph."
"Even in journalism, the clickbait is put right up top, drawing readers and driving traffic."
Weed tourism is the new wine tasting in California
The Chronicle's MELIA RUSSELL: "As the passenger van reached the gate of a legal cannabis farm, Lorianna Bender looked for barbed wire and barking Dobermans and saw none. A smiling farmer welcomed the tour group, and the view opened to reveal rows of pot plants baking in the sun. Her fear that pot farms were dangerous, clandestine operations vanished."
"It was like you had walked up to someone’s winery in Napa,” said Bender, a yoga instructor from Vallejo."
"Bender is one of a new crop of visitors in California — call them cannatourists. With marijuana fully legal in the state, the growers’ heartland is becoming a cultural destination, with Wine Country as a nearby model."
As Trump continues to push deportations, a fight over data goes to court
LA Times's JOEL RUBIN/BRITTNY MEJIA: "Throughout years of legal battles over the country’s immigration system, a basic question has received relatively little attention: Is information the government stores on the country’s millions of immigrants reliable?"
"That will change this week with the opening of a federal trial in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom."
"The civil case, which has wound its way through years of delays and legal wrangling, has broad implications for President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration as the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups seek to upend how immigration officers target people for being in the country illegally."
Gas prices rise yet again across California. When will it end?
Sacramento Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "Gas prices are continuing to increase throughout California, where the average statewide cost remains by far the highest in the nation."
"After last month surpassing $4 for the first time since 2014, gas prices stood at an average of $4.10 a gallon as of Monday morning in the Golden State, according to AAA. The next closest states were Hawaii at $3.64 and Washington at $3.53."
"The average gas price in Sacramento reached $4.01 a gallon to start Monday, up a little more than 4 cents over the past week, according to fuel trend website GasBuddy. On the same date last year, folks were paying just $3.50 per gallon at the pump."
California bill pushes back school start time
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Principals at California schools could soon find themselves wondering what time Gov. Gavin Newsom’s kids wake up."
"For the second time in two years, California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would forbid K-12 schools from starting class earlier than 8:30 a.m."
"They argue that later start times would improve academic performance and students’ mental health. The bill’s opponents counter that a state law mandating certain school start times would disrupt family schedules and create burdens for school districts."
There's a Congressional Wine Caucus. And it does a lot more than drink
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "It’s said that everything goes better with wine — even legislating in the halls of Congress."
"That’s the theory, in part, behind the Congressional Wine Caucus. In its 20th year, the under-the-radar, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers works in Washington to promote and address the needs of the wine industry. And, yes, they also drink a little on occasion."
"Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, started the caucus shortly after he arrived in Congress in 1999. The Wine Country congressman is a grape grower himself, and he partnered with wine producer and then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, to build the caucus. It grew to more than 300 members at one point in both chambers of Congress. It has since shrunk to just over 115 with time, retirements and seat changes, but Thompson is hoping to replenish its ranks this term."
Mayor Steinberg floats new tax for Sacramento schools amid labor battle
Sacramento Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg over the weekend urged teachers and administrators to settle their contract dispute to help avoid a state takeover of the Sacramento City Unified School District – and floated a districtwide parcel tax campaign to support schools as an incentive."
"Steinberg made the suggestion in a letter posted Sunday on his website, in which he congratulated the Sacramento City Teachers Association for winning a court battle over its labor agreement."
"A court-appointed arbitrator on Thursday ruled that the district breached its tentative agreement with the SCTA regarding an increase in mid-range teacher salaries."
READ MORE related to Death & Taxes: Democrats have 'Robin Hood' tax plans this year -- Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON/EMILY CADEI; Congress takes a serious look at taxing miles driven -- Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN; TurboTax and H&R Block are sued for allegedly keeping Americans from filing taxes for free -- LA Times's MICHAEL HILTZIK
Mother of Ghost Ship victim recalls final text from warehouse: 'I'm gonna die now'
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "Carol Cidlik texted with her daughter throughout the day on Dec. 2, 2016, a routine exchange of messages. But in the evening, an unusual and frightening message arrived."
"At 11:23 p.m., 29-year-old Nicole Siegrist texted from Oakland: “I’m gonna die now."
"The message, which her mom received in Hawaii, was one of many sent out by trapped victims in their final moments as a warehouse fire consumed the Ghost Ship artists’ collective in the Fruitvale neighborhood two and a half years ago."
Ninth gray whale found dead on SF beach cause for 'serious concern,' experts say
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "A gray whale carcass found early Monday on a San Francisco beach marks the ninth dead whale found in the Bay Area in 2019, KRON reported."
"In an attempt to discover how the animal died, The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, will conduct a necropsy on the whale Tuesday ,KPIX reported."
"The age, size and other details on the whale — found on Ocean Beach on the west coast of San Francisco next to Golden Gate Park and the Richmond and Sunset districts — are not known, KTVU reported."
Memorial honors fallen California officers
Sacramento Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "As uniformed officers and law enforcement family members held back tears, Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson got choked up himself while recounting the last time he saw Cpl. Ronil Singh."
"It was Christmas morning last year. And in the small Stanislaus County city, Richardson relieved Singh of his graveyard shift, one-on-one, at 6 a.m."
"Singh worked again on Christmas night. And it was at the end of a long overtime shift, about 1 a.m. Dec. 26, that he was shot and killed during a traffic stop."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Netflix documentary about Sac County Jail inmates coming to your TV this week -- Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN; Some cities are adverse to police having access to facial recognition software -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY
Homelessness isn't huge in this part of LA -- but it's a huge campaign issue
LA Times's EMILY ALPERT REYES: "In Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Chatsworth, Porter Ranch and Granada Hills are about as far as you can get from skid row."
"Fewer people live without shelter in this suburban stretch of the city than in any other L.A. City Council district, according to the last available data from the homeless count."
"Yet homelessness has been a simmering topic here as more than a dozen candidates vie for a seat on the City Council, exposing stark divisions over how to address the needs of the destitute and the concerns of other residents. The June election, which will probably be followed by an August runoff, could decide how homelessness is confronted in the northwest Valley."
Michael Cohen goes to prison, slamming Trump along the way
AP's MICHAEL R SISAK/JIM MUSTIAN: "Michael Cohen took a last swipe at President Donald Trump while reporting to federal prison Monday to start a three-year sentence for crimes including tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments made to protect his former boss."
"Cohen, who turned on Trump last summer after a decade as his personal lawyer, fixer and "take a bullet" loyalist, didn't mention the president by name, but he left little doubt about whom he blamed for his incarceration."
"I hope that when I rejoin my family and friends that the country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm of our country," Cohen told reporters outside his Manhattan apartment. "There still remains much to be told, and I look forward to the day where I can share the truth."
Myanmar frees two Reuters journalists who were imprisoned for more than 500 days
LA Times's SHASHANK BENGALI/CAPE DIAMOND: "Myanmar freed two journalists from the Reuters news agency on Tuesday after imprisoning them for more than 500 days for reporting on military atrocities against Rohingya Muslims."
"Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo walked out of Insein prison outside Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, about 9 a.m., according to their lawyer U Than Zaw Aung."
"Myanmar’s prosecution of the reporters under the century-old Official Secrets Act earned international condemnation and was widely seen as an effort to muzzle critical reporting on the state-backed offensive against the Rohingya, which sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing into Bangladesh and sparked a humanitarian emergency."
And, lastly, from the laugh cabinet...
How did that Starbucks cup end up on 'Game of Thrones'?
LA Times's NARDINE SAAD: "Forget those theories about the Night King’s true identity and dragon resurrections. The latest “Game of Thrones” guessing game has everything to do with a Starbucks coffee cup that made its way into a feast scene on Sunday."
"Beware: Spoilers are coming."
"The blooper was briefly seen in “The Last of the Starks,” sitting unassumingly on a Winterfell banquet table between Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington)."
