Democratic race is wide open, and Warren may be in top tier
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI/ALEXEI KOSEFF: "There’s one unmistakable conclusion after 14 presidential candidates stormed through San Francisco for the California Democratic Party convention that ended Sunday: The nation’s largest primary state is up for grabs — and the field of top contenders just got wider."
"Some of the Democrats at the three-day event said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had vaulted into the top tier of candidates for the March 3 California primary. She drew several thousand people to a rally Friday in Oakland — Sen. Kamala Harris’ hometown — and delivered a fiery, well-received speech to the convention."
READ MORE related to Campaign Trail: Democrati cpresidential hopefuls make Californians feel like they matter -- LA Times's MARK Z BARABAK/MELANIE MASON
Convention fires up left -leaning activists
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/HANNAH WILEY: "They booed when a candidate criticized socialism. They cheered when another vowed to tax the rich to fund a Green New Deal. And they jumped to their feet when speakers called for impeaching President Donald Trump."
"Emboldened by midterm victories and unprecedented attention from a flock of presidential candidates, California Democrats leveraged their state party convention to push the party left."
"The San Francisco gathering over the weekend served as an audition for candidates to court early support among a liberal group of influential party leaders. Thanks to a new early primary, delegates in a state that’s usually considered more of a cash cow by presidential hopefuls basked in a new-found ability to influence policy."
READ MORE related to Democratic Convention: Labor leader wins election to become new California Democratic Party chair -- Sacramento BEE's HANNAH WILEY/SOPHIA BOLLAG; Bernie Sanders jabs Biden at Dem party convention -- Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Democrats endorse 14 policy goals ahead of 2020 -- The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER
Dems argue about accepting money from Juul
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "As e-cigarette maker Juul fights a potential ban in San Francisco, delegates to the California Democratic Party convention this weekend were greeted by prominent signage for the vaping company, a major sponsor of the event."
"The juxtaposition did not sit well with many attendees."
Crackdown on vaccine exemptions? Newsom says he has his doubts
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY/SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday he’s concerned about having government officials sign off on vaccine exemptions, arguing those decisions should be made between patients and doctors without government involvement."
"I’m a parent. I don’t want someone that the governor of California appointed to make a decision for my family,” he told reporters after his speech at the California Democratic Party Convention.
"Although he didn’t mention the bill explicitly, his comments indicate he doesn’t support a bill by state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, that would require the California Department of Public Health to sign off on doctors’ medical exemption requests. If the Legislature passes the bill, it would need Newsom’s signature to become law."
Harris's housing plan could increase renters rates
McClatchy's EMILY CADEI: "idential candidate Kamala Harris says she has a plan to help Americans struggling to keep up with skyrocketing rents. But in California, where housing scarcity is driving an affordability crisis, experts warn that Harris’ proposal could have the unintended consequence of increasing rents for everyone."
"Harris’ Rent Relief Act, which she re-introduced in the Senate in April, would create a monthly refundable tax credit for households whose housing costs exceed 30 percent of their income, including rent and utilities. The goal is to help low-income people across the country afford their rent. Supporters of Harris’ bill include the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Fair Housing of California, and the National Housing Law Project."
"Nationally, 21 million Americans pay 30 percent or more of their income on rent and utilities, and in Iowa there are 90,000 extremely low income renter households facing this reality,” Harris wrote in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register on April 29. “That’s an unacceptable number of families left with no options for how to put a roof over their heads."
Rat infestation at LA City Hall linked to nearby homeless camps, report finds
LA Times's DAKOTA SMITH/DAVID ZAHNISER: "When faced with complaints earlier this year from city workers about rats infesting L.A. City Hall, most city officials said little about whether the problem was connected to several homeless camps right outside."
"But a newly uncovered report from a pest control company hired by the city has raised fresh questions about whether officials wrongly downplayed that possibility during discussions at City Council meetings."
"CatsUSA Pest Control, brought in to assess areas outside City Hall and nearby buildings, warned that homeless people create “harborage for rodents,” according to the report issued Dec. 28 and obtained last month through a public records request by a frequent critic of City Hall."
Why does California's public health department treat CBD like poison?
LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON: "U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — the nation’s second most powerful Republican — and California’s Democratic state legislators completely agree on one thing: Marijuana’s cousin hemp should be fully legalized."
"As the late U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously said: “All politics is local."
"In McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, tobacco farming is dying out. Farmers are desperate for a replacement crop. And hemp is their choice for the future."
At historic farm in Sierra foothills, first Japanese settlement in U.S. turns 150
Sacramento Bee's ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "Here, on these grassy slopes, in this tiny town in the Sierra foothills, the first Japanese settlement in the United States was born, and the first Japanese immigrant was buried."
"One hundred and fifty years ago, in the summer of 1869, a group of Japanese farmers, carpenters and samurai fled the aftermath of a bloody civil war to build a new life growing silk and tea in El Dorado County. It’s the kind of tale of ambition and sacrifice that local historians and docents say embodies a classic California pioneer spirit."
"But despite its historical significance marking the beginning of Japanese Americans’ agricultural and social influence in the United States, the Wakamatsu colony in Gold Hill remains relatively unknown."
98-year-old WWII vet gets Congressional Gold Medal for service as a spy
The Chronicle's KEVIN FAGAN: "Bernd Stevens fled Hitler’s crackdown on Jews in Germany in 1939, sneaking to the United States with faked papers at age 19. He left chaos behind: His family’s camera shop in Munich seized by Nazis, father and brother shipped off to sure death in concentration camps, war about to erupt."
"He didn’t know where his life would lead. But he knew one thing. He wanted to go back for revenge. And that’s just what he did — in epic fashion, as a Nazi-killing spy for the storied Army Office of Strategic Services, which later became the Central Intelligence Agency."
Trump arrives in London -- and attacks Mayor Sadiq Khan as a 'stone cold loser'
LA Times's ELI STOKOLS: "President Trump arrived in London early Monday to begin a five-day European tour that centers around a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II and a visit to an American cemetery near the beaches in France where U.S. troops stormed ashore in the D-day landings 75 years ago."
"Leaving behind the impeachment talk that dominates Washington and a Wall Street slump triggered by his trade tariffs, Trump’s first state visit to Britain coincides with political upheaval over Brexit and the impending resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday."
"But just as Air Force One was touching down at Stanstead Airport on the outskirts of London around 9 a.m. local time, Trump was already tweeting attacks against the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, calling him “a stone cold loser."
