From ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE and ANITA CHABRIA in the LAT: "The Sacramento Police Department is again facing accusations of police brutality after a video of officers and a security guard forcing a 12-year-old boy to the ground and placing a “spit mask” over his head went viral."
"The Police Department is not investigating the officers involved. The boy, Isaiah, has been charged with two misdemeanors of suspicion of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, according to police spokesman Marcus Basquez. The battery charge involved spitting on officers."
"The department responded to the viral video on Monday, and released the officers’ body camera footage of the incident."
FROM CPR's STEVE MILNE and NICK MILLER: "Video of Sacramento police officers arresting a 12-year-old black child and putting a “spit mask” over his head has been shared by thousands on social media in recent weeks. On Wednesday, Police Chief Daniel Hahn defended the April 28 arrest of the young boy, saying the officers involved acted “appropriately.”
"The Sacramento Police Department also released on Wednesday body-worn camera footagefrom the involved officers, who say they were helping a security guard in north Sacramento after they saw him chasing the boy, who he accused of trespassing."
"Video taken by a bystander shows officers and security guard struggling to handcuff the boy, then later pinning him to the ground and placing a white mask over his head after he had spit at an officer."
From the Bee's DALE KASLER: "Facing intense pressure to eliminate fire risks, PG&E said Wednesday night it plans to rebuild the electric distribution system in devastated Paradise with underground power lines."
"The utility, which has been blamed by California investigators for causing the Camp Fire, said the underground lines will make Paradise’s system safer."
“As part of our commitment to help this community recover and to harden our electric system to protect against wildfires, PG&E has decided to build our electric distribution system underground in the town of Paradise and in some of the surrounding areas like parts of Magalia,” utility vice president of electric operations Aaron Johnson said in a statement released by PG&E late Wednesday. Johnson made the announcement at a meeting of the Paradise Town Council."
From the Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "Almost 30 years ago, California lawmakers passed a landmark charter-school law that helped give momentum to the national “school choice” movement."
"The law has dramatically reshaped education in the state: About 11 percent of California’s 6 million public-school students are now enrolled, and billions of taxpayer dollars flow to charters every year."
"But some Democratic lawmakers say it’s time for a do-over. They’re pushing a package of legislation, with support from the California Teachers Association, to overhaul the law."
From CALmatters' DAN WALTERS: "Let’s assume, hypothetically, that an independent journalist working in Washington somehow obtained a confidential FBI report on the death of a prominent Trump administration official that described its lurid circumstances, including the presence of a woman not his wife and the use of illegal drugs that caused, or at least contributed to, his demise."
"Let’s also assume that the Justice Department responded to the disclosure by raiding the journalist’s home and confiscating computers and other tools of his trade, hoping to learn who leaked the report."
"Democratic politicians and civil libertarians would erupt in outrage at a heavy-handed government act intended to discourage journalists from delving into areas that officialdom considered off-limits."
O.C. REGISTER'S ALICIA ROBINSON and JEONG PARK: "Caltrans recently received a 23-page letter from Riverside County transportation officials about all the things they think are wrong with plans for bridges that would let toll road drivers bypass lanes of traffic to get between the 241 and 91 freeways."
"The state agency and toll road officials say they’re taking seriously those concerns – also shared by Orange County’s transit agency – as they decide whether to start designing the $180 million ramps, but “as of now we are moving forward with the project,” Caltrans spokesman David Matza said."
"Riverside and Orange county officials fear solving backups on the 241 toll road will make things worse on the 91 – which many more drivers use – unless the fixes they’re planning on the Riverside Freeway are done first. They also question traffic study data they say is too old and inconsistent."
From the Bee's KYUNG MI LI: "Small online retailers wanted more relief from California tax collectors than Gov. Gavin Newsom is prepared to give them."
"Newsom’s administration released a budget bill that if passed next month would prohibit the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration from demanding more than three years of back taxes from out-of-state online merchants that sold products to Californians through larger platforms like Amazon."
"That’s good news for online merchants in the sense that some of them feared owing as much as seven years of back taxes, but still disappointing for retailers who say they did not know they were required to pay California tax in the first place."
From the Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "Hundreds of students on board a California State University Maritime Academy ship for a two-month training cruise got the lesson of their lives as the vessel glided toward a Barbados port and smashed into a crane that sent a mast careening onto the ship’s top deck."
"No one was hurt in the Tuesday morning crash. But the 270 students — who had left the Cal Maritime campus in Vallejo May 5 — watched in horror as their ship slid, unstoppable, toward the colossal orange crane that bent over the water in their direction. They gasped as the two metal behemoths collided with a crunch that snapped the ship’s mast like a chopped-down tree."
"Instead of enjoying their island port of call, the students spent two days repairing the mast with help from the 58 faculty and staff and handful of experienced mariners on board the Golden Bear training ship."
From KQED'S KELLY O'MARA and PETER JON SHULER: "A fight is heating up between California and the Trump administration over the cost of fighting wildfires — and as fire season approaches, state fire officials worry the dispute could slow response times. It comes down to a disagreement over billing and the money state agencies say they're owed.
California firefighters and the federal government have had an agreement for almost 10 years, set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year, that establishes a mutual aid system."
That means local and state firefighting agencies will respond to a fire even if it's on federal land, knowing they'll be reimbursed for their costs per the contract. Since 60 percent of forested land in California is federal land, there are a lot of federal fires that need to be put out.
From the Mercury News' MARISA KENDALL: "In a last-ditch attempt to save the year’s most controversial housing measure, supporters of a stalled bill to overhaul California’s zoning rules are pressuring the state Senate leader to resurrect the legislation."
"After the Appropriations Committee last week killed Senate Bill 50 for the year, the measure’s backers have come out in force, calling for the decision to be reversed."
"Dozens of affordable housing developers and activists, labor groups and other community organizations have sent letters to Senate leaders, urging them to save the bill that would bring taller, denser apartment buildings to California neighborhoods. Mayors of major cities across the state, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have rushed to the bill’s defense."
