California Democrats aren’t sold on Gavin Newsom’s plan to cut the budget deficit. How they disagree
Sacramento Bee's LINDSEY HOLDEN: "Assembly Democrats are at odds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on a handful of big issues — including proposed cuts to Medi-Cal provider rate increases and tax deduction suspensions — as lawmakers negotiate a budget to close an estimated $45 billion deficit.
The Legislature must pass a spending plan by June 15 for lawmakers to receive their paychecks. That means Newsom, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, will need to reach a deal soon."
UC warns of ‘disruption’ as thousands of student workers expand campus strikes to UC Davis and UCLA
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "The University of California’s powerful legion of student workers expanded their strike Monday to three of UC’s 10 campuses, as thousands of UCLA and UC Davis employees joined those at UC Santa Cruz who walked off the job last week.
The students are stopping work, campus by campus, to protest UC’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests, in which many of them took part."
Steve Garvey and Adam Schiff are at war over who’s the stronger Israel supporter. Does it matter?
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Steve Garvey says Adam Schiff has “turned his back” on Israel.
Garvey claims the Democratic congressman has engaged in “hypocrisy” and “betrayal” with his views of the protesters and the Israel-Hamas war."
The newest election battlefield for abortion: State supreme courts
LAT's FAITH E. PINHO: "As presidential candidates and state legislators campaign over the future of abortion in America, elections for the third branch of government have largely escaped scrutiny on the issue.
Until now."
Micheli Minute for May 28, 2024
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
Budget cuts threaten climate-resilient housing projects
Capitol Weekly's ANTONIO DIAZ: "Amparo Vigil and her family have been in their four-unit home in the Mission District long enough to witness the tech boom drastically transform their community. Family-owned grocery stores, taquerias, and fruit markets are gone, replaced with trendy coffee shops, wine bars, and restaurants.
When Amparo’s father purchased the home in the 1970s, the block’s century-old Victorian houses were bustling with musicians, artists, and immigrant families. He loved the vibrant community and felt a responsibility to nurture and sustain it—values he passed on to Amparo and her siblings, along with the home he worked hard to acquire."
Rising Stars: Andrea Amavisca of the California Immigrant Policy Center
Capitol Weekly's MOLLY JACOBY: "Raised as the child of immigrant parents in Imperial County, a rural agricultural region in Southern California nestled along the Mexico border, Andrea Amavisca always understood the value of immigrant rights.
Amavisca grew up assimilating into predominantly white spaces, believing that involvement in organizations such as 4H and FFA would make her an ideal college applicant. As a result, Amavisca faced a confrontation with her identities when she attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo."
How a lost credit card and $7 cheeseburger reignited California’s debate over excessive bail
CALMatters's NIGEL DUARA: "By most metrics, Gerald Kowalczyk was a uniquely bad candidate to leave jail before his trial. He had a criminal record of more than 60 convictions, a history of failing to adhere to his release conditions and a pretrial algorithm’s assessment that he presented the highest risk score possible.
A San Mateo Superior Court judge set his bail at $75,000, an amount Kowalczyk, homeless and unemployed, could not pay. The charges were that he used someone else’s credit card to buy a $7 cheeseburger."
Column: Samuel Alito’s ethical lapse isn’t the Supreme Court’s first. This is why it’s different
LAT's ROBIN ABCARIAN: "Another day, another ethics crisis at the Supreme Court.Micheli Minute for May 28, 2024
When I first read about the upside-down American flag that flew at the Virginia home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in early 2021, I thought, “Boy, that’s dumb.”"
Alarming new drug is showing up in overdoses across the U.S. What will it mean for S.F.?
The Chronicle's MAGGIE ANGST: "Just as San Francisco is seeing a slight dip in fatal drug overdoses, a new powerful animal sedative has made its way into America’s illicit drug supply and is causing waves of overdoses across the country.
Medetomidine is the latest street drug to appear alongside fentanyl. A synthetic drug used for veterinary anesthesia, medetomidine reportedly causes “heightened sedation” and “profound bradycardia,” or slowed heart rate, according to researchers."
Millions of Americans need drugs like Ozempic. Will it bankrupt the healthcare system?
LAT's KAREN KAPLAN: "An April 24 letter from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to the CEO of Novo Nordisk began with heartfelt thanks to the Danish drugmaker for inventing Ozempic and Wegovy, two medications poised to improve the health of tens of millions of Americans with obesity and related diseases.
But the senator’s grateful tone faded rapidly."
Why focus is a superpower in the classroom: A Q&A with author Doug Lemov
EdSource's KAREN D'SOUZA: "Attention must be paid. Amid the worsening literacy and numeracy crises in our schools, Doug Lemov, former teacher, education expert and author of the bestseller “Teach Like a Champion,” believes that there should be far greater awareness of what the research says about how the brain works, that parents and teachers should know how kids learn best.
Funny, warm and unassuming, Lemov recently took a few minutes away from his latest book to hold forth on how we can better connect what we know about cognition with what we do in the classroom. These insights into the science of learning shape the way he thinks about everything from focus to engagement, from the use of cellphones at school to why kids should read entire books, and not just passages, to fuel reading comprehension."
UC Berkeley to partner with Bay Area districts to diversify leadership pipeline
Tribal leaders, lawmakers to meet with Chico State officials to discuss return of human remains
EdSource's DIANA LAMBERT: "Members of the California Legislative Native American Caucus and regional tribal leaders will meet with Chico State administrators Tuesday to discuss the return of Native American human remains and artifacts.
The informational roundtable will be at 4 p.m. at the Enterprise Rancheria Hard Rock Casino, 3317 Forty Mile Road in Wheatland. It will also be livestreamed, according to a news release from the office of Assemblymember James Ramos."
One San Jose tiny home shelter is successfully moving people to housing. Can it be a model for other sites?
BANG*Mercury News's ETHAN VARIAN: "San Jose, more than any other Bay Area city, has embraced tiny homes as a solution to homelessness.
Since 2020, the city has developed six tiny home sites with around 500 beds. Three upcoming locations will add more than 700 new beds. The facilities provide rent-free private units, some with individual bathrooms, as well as shared kitchens and even community gardens."
Map: One of S.F.’s busiest roads will be partially shut this week to fix ‘severe’ potholes
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "One of the busiest streets in San Francisco, 19th Avenue, will be partially closed during daytime hours several days this week for emergency work to repair “severe” potholes, officials say.
Two of the three northbound lanes of 19th Avenue between Sloat Boulevard and Taraval Street will be closed daily Wednesday through Friday, according to Caltrans and city Public Works officials."
Matthew Perry and the ketamine boom: Expensive, dangerous and very ‘en vogue’
LAT's SALVADOR HERNANDEZ, RICHARD WINTON: "When Los Angeles County medical examiners worked last year to determine how Matthew Perry died, they discovered something startling.
The amount of ketamine in Perry’s bloodstream was about the same as what would be used during general anesthesia, his autopsy showed."
