Melody Gutierrez writes in The Chronicle: "It was supposed to be the easiest section of the high-speed rail project: a 119-mile stretch in the Central Valley that would serve as the testing ground for the high-speed trains before tracks are expanded south to Los Angeles and north to San Francisco."

"But it’s proving to be more difficult than anticipated. On Wednesday, the High-Speed Rail Authority informed the Obama administration, in a contract amendment, that it expects the Central Valley track to be complete by 2022 instead of 2018 as originally projected."

"Difficulty buying property and legal challenges contributed to the new timeline."

Sac Bee's Jeremy B. White reports: "California Assembly members will continue pushing a sweeping package of gun control bills, dismissing concerns that the legislative focus could conflict with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot initiative."

"Tensions over how to pursue gun control emerged into public view last month when Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, sent Newsom a letter warning the lieutenant governor’s ballot measure restricting ammunition purchases amounted to an “all-or-nothing strategy.” The letter said Newsom’s measure would “provide aid to gun-control opponents by giving cover to reluctant legislators who would rather side-step this important issue in lieu of a ballot initiative.”

"Similarly, some Democratic officials and campaign consultants worry that a gun control measure on the ballot will drive Republican turnout by galvanizing conservative voters."

Ben Bradford in Capital Public Radio: "California voters will likely decide in November whether to abolish the death penalty or to streamline the process. Proponents for two competing ballot initiatives met for a hearing at the Capitol Tuesday."

"They argued whether the death penalty is moral, necessary, or just, but also if the state’s current broken system can be fixed."

"California spends upwards of $150 million a year on the death penalty and has hundreds of death row inmates, but hasn’t executed anyone in more than a decade."

The Chronicle's Rachel Swan reports: "Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan is calling on the state to expunge all marijuana-related criminal records, a move that she says will open the door for people of color who have traditionally been shut out of a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry."

“I think it’s important to keep in mind the racial disparity here,” Kaplan told The Chronicle on Wednesday. “Over the past decade, it’s been black people who’ve been locked up — had their freedom taken away, their families taken away, their jobs taken away — for something that white people mostly don’t get punished for.”

She said that people who were convicted years ago may still be denied jobs, affordable housing or student loans. “So they’re punished over and over again for something that society now doesn’t think is a crime.”

Chronicle's John Wildermuth writes: "Fiona Ma, chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization, wasted little time jumping into the suddenly open race for state treasurer."

"Less than a day after state Treasurer John Chiang announced Tuesday that he would forgo re-election and instead run for governor in 2018, Ma, a former San Francisco supervisor and assemblywoman, opened her campaign for his job."

"The state is at a financial crossroads, she said in a statement. While California’s economy continues to improve, “sound fiscal stewardship” is needed to ensure state finances stay in the black."

The Bee's Darrell Smith and Christopher Cadelago report: "The $3.6 million judgment against Sacramento County and its sheriff’s department could have implications not only within the department but also for Sheriff Scott Jones’ political aspirations."

"Jurors awarded more than $3.57 million in damages Tuesday to the four veteran female sheriff’s deputies who claimed their Sheriff’s Department superiors retaliated against them for speaking out against discrimination and preferential treatment in their ranks – conduct alleged to have occurred largely under Jones while he ran the Sacramento County Main Jail as a captain and later when he was elected sheriff."

"Jones, who testified in the trial, is in a tightly contested congressional race against incumbent Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove. Bera won suburban Sacramento County’s 7th Congressional District by fewer than 1,500 votes over Republican Doug Ose in 2014 in one of the nation’s most closely watched races that year."

Garrett Therolf in LAT: "Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has quietly drafted a bill that would gut key portions of the state's landmark law requiring child protective services agencies to release records when a youth dies of abuse or neglect. A vote is expected within the next week."

"It is the second time in two years that California Department of Social Services Director Will Lightbourne has introduced the bill on an emergency basis through a "trailer bill," introduced as part of the state's May budgeting process. That approach bypasses the usual committee review and fast-tracks the proposal for a vote."

"Since the state implemented the law to increase transparency in 2008, reporters have accessed social worker case notes and other files that revealed inadequacies in the state’s child welfare system, including instances of social workers disregarding policies and allowing children to remain in conditions that proved fatal."

Matt Hamilton, Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser report in LAT: "An outspoken critic of the Los Angeles City Council has been arrested after allegedly submitting a public-comment card that depicted a burning cross, a body dangling from a tree and an apparent Ku Klux Klan figure holding a sign labeling Council President Herb Wesson with a racially charged epithet."

"Wayne Spindler, an Encino-based attorney, was taken into custody Friday and booked on a felony count of making a criminal threat, said Officer Jane Kim of the Los Angeles Police Department."

"Spindler, 46, was released after posting $75,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on June 10, according to online jail records. He did not return a message seeking comment."

Don Thompson reports with AP: "A scathing inspector general's report released Wednesday finds medical care remains "markedly inadequate" at a Northern California state prison, as more than a third of the prisons inspected since last year still are deemed to be providing poor care."

"Problems remain even though California has spent $2 billion for new prison medical facilities, doubled its annual prison health care budget to nearly $1.7 billion and reduced its inmate population by more than 40,000 inmates in the last decade."

"Mule Creek State Prison employees "demonstrated a profound inability to provide patients with adequate Access to Care. There were problems in virtually all areas," inspectors found."

And now from our "No cheese comes from angry cows" file ...

A pack of our bovine friends seem to have had enough of captivity as a herd of cattle scare a Morgan Hill woman by destroying her backyard. Mooooooo.

NBC Los Angeles: "It’s not a sight she expected — or wanted — to see, but a Morgan Hill resident came face-to-face with roughly 60 full grown cows grazing in her backyard Tuesday."

"The cows busted a hole through Cheryl Ajluni's fence and destroyed her beloved landscape fixtures. The resident also said that she suffered damage to the yard's grass, fruit trees and plants."

"A Morgan Hill police officer and the resident’s mother helped chase away the animals, Ajluni said."

The Roundup

Bullet train slowing down?

The Roundup: