House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise and several others were shot this morning in Alexandria near Washington DC at a congressional baseball practice game; a suspect is in custody.
LA Times' DAVID LAUTER/MICHAEL A MEMOLI/LISA MASCARO: "House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) was shot at a Republican congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning by a gunman who appeared to have targeted members of Congress."
"Police in Alexandria, Va., located just outside of Washington, D.C., said they were investigating a "multiple shooting" and a suspect was in custody."
"Five wounded people, including the suspect, were taken to area hospitals for treatment, the police said. Scalise, 51, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was shot in the hip and was in stable condition, undergoing surgery, according to a statement issued by his office."
The Delta Tunnels project will soon be reaching critical mass.
Saxcramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER: "Love it or hate it, the Delta tunnels project is reaching a decision point."
"The state’s most powerful water agencies have set a September goal to decide whether they’re going pay for the biggest and most controversial water project California has undertaken since the 1960s: overhauling the plumbing system that pumps billions of gallons of water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Bay Area, Southern California and one of the nation’s most productive farm belts."
"After more than a decade and nearly a quarter billion dollars of study and planning, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other agencies will vote in September on whether to pay for Gov. Jerry Brown’s $15.5 billion plan for re-engineering the fragile estuary on Sacramento’s doorstep."
READ MORE related to Environment: State part of suit against new administration over energy standards -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Some anti-drought programs face cuts -- Capitol Weekly's JESSICA DUNCAN; Here's why California scientists want neighborhood-by-neighborhood smog data -- The Press-Enterprise's DAVID DANELSKI; California AG will fight White House over possible changes to six national monuments -- San Gabriel Valley Tribune's STEVE SCAUZILLO; Cancer-causing contaminants rise sharply in East Bay drinking water -- East Bay Times' DENIS CUFF
The pervasive local coverage of the Bracamontes slayings has prompted the defendant's counsel to push for an out-of-county trial due to what counsel alleges is a jury media bias.
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Media coverage of accused cop killer Luis Bracamontes has referred to his deportations to Mexico 224 times."
"He has been called an “evil monster” in at least eight stories, and “evil in heart” two dozen times."
"Bracamontes has been the subject of coverage so overwhelming since the October 2014 slayings of two Sacramento-area deputies that he cannot get a fair trial in the county, and the case must be moved elsewhere, a nationally known expert testified Tuesday."
A new program in the budget allows the top 9% of all statewide high school graduates to be automatically elligible for UC enrollment.
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "More than 30,000 students who meet California State University admissions requirements are turned away each year because there is no space for them in the system’s most popular programs."
"Under a state budget deal unveiled Tuesday, CSU will soon have to offer those applicants a slot somewhere at one of its 23 campuses campuses statewide."
"The policy, which CSU must develop and approve by next May, is based on a guarantee at the University of California: All California high schoolers who rank in the top 9 percent of graduates statewide, or finish among the top 9 percent of the graduating class at certain high schools, are eligible to attend UC; if they are not admitted to the campus of their choice, UC offers those students a spot at another campus where there is space, which in recent years has been only Merced."
Beltway Democrats are more emphatic than ever in their crusade against Russian election interference.
Sacramento Bee's ALEX ROARTY: "Democrats have a blunt message for colleagues worried the party has become dangerously obsessed with Russia: Get over it."
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony Tuesday put Democrats in a familiar position, reacting to news about President Donald Trump and the ongoing investigation into his campaign’s alleged Russia connections. To skeptics, the story is a distraction from bread-and-butter issues that voters actually care about, like the unpopular Republican-backed health care bill, and a sign the party is already over-reaching well before the midterm congressional elections."
"But Democratic operatives are arguing that the party has no choice but to launch these attacks. A weekly barrage of breaking news has forced their hand, demanding Democrats seize on an issue some of them now believe has increasing relevance beyond the Beltway anyway."
Kamala Harris was praised during her tenure as California's top cop and prosecutor, but she has been a thorn in the side of her Senatorial colleagues during the Kremlingate probe.
East Bay Times' KATIE METTLER: "During Sen. Kamala D. Harris’ 25-year career in law enforcement, she has established herself as a formidable presence in the courtroom, on the campaign trail and ultimately in government."
"She grew up watching her African American dad and Indian American mother protest for civil rights in Berkeley and took that fierce fight for justice with her to law school. She served two terms as San Francisco’s first female district attorney and was the first woman elected as California’s attorney general."
"It’s the résumé of hard-charging legal advocate, not unlike many others in Congress, where she is now a freshman senator from California. Those who know her also know she doesn’t back down."
READ MORE related to Beltway/Kremlingate: California senators question Sessions on his ability to answer questions -- McClatchy's NATALIE FERTIG; Will the Warriors visit the White House? a lose-lose proposition -- The Chronicle's SCOTT OSTLER; Democrats sue Trump over foreign payments -- AP's JULIE BYKOWICZ; Trump advisers question Mueller's impartialitry in Russian probe -- AP
Oakland is encouraging former inmates and ex-convicts to apply for oversight positions on Oakland's police commission.
The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "Former cops need not apply, but former inmates are being encouraged by the city of Oakland to apply for slots on the city’s new police commission."
"A notice recently posted on the city’s website for would-be commissioners says, “Must be an Oakland resident. Must be at least 18 years old. Formerly incarcerated individuals encouraged to apply."
"Barry Donelan, head of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said recruiting ex-cons to help select the chief and discipline officers for misconduct was “extremely distasteful."
What's the difference between laws and regulations? Regulations are the rules defining laws, and they are 'crucial to governance.'
CW's ANTHONY SAMSON/CHRIS MICHELI: "The 2017 legislative session is in full swing, but let’s turn our attention for a moment from laws to regulations."
"We have heard from legislators and others who would like to see California’s administrative agencies consider getting rid of expired and outdated regulations, or amending existing regulations that have become problematic for those being regulated. Regulations are the rules that define how laws are put into effect, and they are crucial to governance."
"Many of these regulations have been on the books for too many years, even after the law that originally authorized them has been repealed."
LA County has just approved an unprecedented spending plan aimed at tackling the growing homeless epidemic.
Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM: "Three months after Los Angeles County voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to fight homelessness, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to a set of spending recommendations for a projected $355 million annually over the next three years to help tens of thousands of people."
"The vote, deemed unprecedented by the board, came after more than 70 people from law enforcement agencies, nonprofit organizations, small cities and those who were formerly homeless spoke during a nearly three hour public comment period during Tuesday’s board meeting in downtown Los Angeles. Many urged supervisors to approve the plan and the funding structure, which they said were much needed."
"But others expressed concern that the recommendations fell short of including law enforcement, more support for those with mental illnesses and services for women and children."
The owners of a Bay Area Chinese restaurant chain were embezzling money from their exploited immigrant worker base by paying them only 6$ an hour, as well as defrauding the state out of millions of tax dollars.
East Bay Times' NATE GARTRELL: "While they were offering the public all-you-can-eat deals on pot stickers, sesame balls and egg rolls, the owners of a Bay Area Chinese restaurant chain were allegedly hiding a sinister secret."
"Behind closed doors, according to authorities, the former owners and managers of Golden Dragon Buffet in Brentwood, New Dragon Buffet in San Leandro, Golden Wok Buffet in Roseville and Kokyo Sushi Buffet in Hayward were saving money by failing to pay their workers minimum wage. State investigators estimate they committed $4.5 million in wage theft from 2009-2013, and cheated California out of another $2 million in taxes."
"In December, a Contra Costa grand jury indicted eight of Golden Dragon’s owners and managers — Brandon Quang, Yu Chen, Rongdi Zheng, Guo Cai Feng, Feng Gu, Lin Jiang, Zhou Xian Chen and Shao Rong Zhang — on 28 charges, including conspiracy, wage theft and workers compensation fraud. That same month, authorities raided four locations connected to the buffet chain, but Quang avoided arrest and fled the country. So did Feng and Jiang. All three are believed to be in China."
