The Roundup

"And leading the agency through that process could be an IRS commissioner with a resume quite unlike those of his predecessors."

"Charles "Chuck" Rettig doesn't have an Ivy League degree, he's never been a corporate executive, and it's almost certain that no previous IRS commissioner has been a member of the Academy of Magical Arts, the club that runs Hollywood's Magic Castle."

Senate opens rare debate on fate of 'Dreamers,' Trump's wall

The Chronicle's CAROLYN LOCHHEAD: "The Senate opened a rare, freewheeling debate Monday night that could determine the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants, many of them in California, who arrived in the country as minors."

"President Trump has agreed to support a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants, more than twice as many as enrolled in an Obama administration program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that protects them from deportation. Trump intends to end the program March 5. About a third of DACA recipients reside in California, more than in any other state."

"In exchange, the administration wants three things that are anathema to Democrats: a wall on about 700 miles of the border with Mexico; termination of the diversity visa lottery that provides 50,000 visas each year to immigrants from countries that send comparatively few people to the United States; and elimination of future immigrants’ ability to sponsor relatives for admission to the U.S. besides their spouses and minor children. Barred from sponsorship eligibility would be immigrants’ parents, siblings and adult children."

READ MORE related to Immigration: Immigration debate launches in the Senate -- and a GOP plan picks up support -- WaPo's ED O'KEEFE

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy center booster lacked enough ignition fluid to light engines, land on platform, Musk says

LA Times' SAMANTHA MASUNAGA: "The center core booster of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy didn't land on a floating sea platform as intended during last week's first test flight because it ran out of ignition fluid, company Chief Executive Elon Musk said Monday."

"Musk took to Twitter on Monday morning to give a few more updates on the Falcon Heavy's first flight. After liftoff, the rocket's two side boosters touched down simultaneously on land, eliciting cheers and applause from the crowd of SpaceX employees gathered in the company's Hawthorne headquarters, as seen on the launch livestream."

"Those two boosters, which were used in previous launches of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, will not be reused again, Musk said in a post-launch news conference last week."

READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: In soil-dwelling bacteria, scientists find a new weapon to fight drug-resistant superbugs -- LA Times' MELISSA HEALY; Dry, hot California winter closes ski resorts, stalls wildflower blooms and revives drought fears -- LA Times' PAIGE ST. JOHN/RONG-GONG LIN II/SARAH PARVANI; Oroville-inspired dam inspection bill heads to Jerry Brown -- Sacramento Bee's BILLY KOBIN; California's drought restrictions on wasteful water habits could be coming back -- this time they'll be permanent -- SGV Tribune's STEVE SCAUZILLO; Oroville Dam: One year after crisis, distrust lingers, big questions remain -- Chico ER's RISA JOHNSON; Sierra Nevada lauded for alternative energy, storage -- Chico ER's LAURA URSENY; Gallagher's dam safety bill goes to governor on evacuation anniversary -- Chico ER's RISA JOHNSON; Trump wants to privatize NASA by 2025, invest $150M for commercial -- AP's MARCIA DUNN

The highest income inequality in California? Census suggests it's in Arden Arcade

Sacramento Bee's PHILLIP REESE: "The California place with the most income inequality is right in Sacramento’s suburbs: the community of Arden Arcade."

"Arden Arcade has recently seen a large increase in poverty-stricken residents moving to apartments in the west side of the community. Many of the new residents are fleeing expensive rent elsewhere in the region. Others are newly arrived refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia or Syria. Meanwhile, some of the city’s wealthiest residents live on the opposite side of Arden Arcade, near the American River."

"The economic disparity between the two groups is striking. The bottom-fifth of Arden Arcade earners in 2016 controlled 2.1 percent of the community’s income, the latest census figures show. The top fifth of Arden Arcade’s earners controlled 58.2 percent of the community’s income."

California joins states that would evict veterans who seek aid-in-dying option

CHL's JONEL ALECCIA: "California voters passed a law two years ago that allows terminally ill people to take lethal drugs to end their lives, but controversy is growing over a newer rule that effectively bans that option in the state’s eight veterans’ homes."

"Proponents of medical aid-in-dying and residents of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville — the largest in the nation — are protesting a regulation passed last year by the California Department of Veterans Affairs, or CalVet, that requires that anyone living in the facilities must be discharged if they intend to use the law."

"That’s a position shared by most — but not all — states where aid-in-dying is allowed. As more U.S. jurisdictions consider whether to legalize the practice, the status of terminally ill veterans living in state-run homes will loom large."

READ MORE related to Health & Healthcare: Trump's budget proposal swings at drug prices with a glancing blow -- CHL's SARAH JANE TRIBBLE; Upsurge of suburban poor discover health care's nowhere land -- CHL's ELAINE KORRY; She thought the weird sensation was a stray eyelash. It was eye worms. -- WaPo's LENA H. SUN; OP-ED: Federal budget cuts put Californians' health at risk -- Mercury News & EBT's EDITORIAL BOARDS

OP-ED: CSU experiment could hurt students

WILLIAM G. TIERNEY/MICHAEL LANDFORD in a Special to The Bee: "Like it or not, California State University students are about to become guinea pigs in a grand educational experiment. Beginning this fall, CSUs will stop giving placement tests or offering remedial classes, and instead will place all students in regular classes to sink or swim."

"The hope is to improve student success – and save money. Nationally, about half of students entering two-year colleges and 20 percent of those entering four-year universities take remedial courses in math, reading or writing, falling farther behind their peers and becoming less likely to complete their degrees. Studies peg the cost of remediation at between $3 billion to $7 billion a year."

"The result has been a hue and cry to do something. Many states have cut costs by eliminating remedial classes, while several others have reformed them."

READ MORE related to Education: Applications for college aid through the California Dream Act are down again -- LA Times' JOY RESMOVITS; Here are some answers about the 'Race and IQ' science project that caused an uproar -- Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA/DIANA LAMBERT; Creating a 'test kitchen' to come up with a better school accountability plan in California -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD; Brown appoints 15 to new K-12 computer science panel -- EdSource's CAROLYN JONES

He posted a series of YouTube videos admitting to crimes. Now he's in jail

Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL: "More charges have been added to a Rancho Cordova resident’s rap sheet after he confessed to burglarizing a fumigated house in a video posted to YouTube."

"Cameron May, 29, was already in Sacramento County jail custody when investigators in Ohio discovered a YouTube video of him admitting to burglarizing a house, according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department media release."

"On Feb. 2, the investigators sent the video to Rancho Cordova police, who had arrested May two days prior on drug and theft charges. Further investigation uncovered a dozen more videos where May admitted to other crimes, even displaying his burglary tools on occasion."

READ MORE related to Public Safety: How LA plans to find its next police chief -- LA Times' KATE MATHER; Why cops like Antonio Villaraigosa and not Gavin Newsom -- Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO; Oakland police academy valedictorian arrested on suspicion of DUI -- The Chronicle's KIMBERLY VEKLEROV; Deputies say they were shot at in East Valinda, no shooter identified -- SGV Tribune's RUBY GONZALES; Silicon Valley NAACP calls on deputy sheriffs' union to release racist texts -- Mercury News' TRACEY KAPLAN

How Trump's new budget threatens Sacramento's streetcar future

Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "The window of opportunity is tightening on Sacramento’s streetcar hopes."

"In his federal budget plan unveiled Monday, President Donald Trump proposed ending the federal funding program for new city rail projects, limiting future funds to projects that already have federal contracts."

"That would put Sacramento’s streetcar dreams in an uncertain position. The city has a preliminary agreement with the federal government for $50 million, about half the amount Sacramento has been hoping the federal government will ultimately provide for the proposed $200 million streetcar. Local property owners in Sacramento have agreed to kick in a share, along with the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento."

Does recalling the judge who gave Brock Turner a light sentence for sexual assault imperil judicial independence?

LA Times' ROBIN ABCARIAN: "Last month, I dismissed as "hogwash" concerns that the recall of Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky could impair judicial independence."

"This did not endear me to many attorneys, law professors and retired judges who reached out to accuse me of flippantly dismissing their sincerely held beliefs."

"No matter how outraged we may be, the last thing we need in California are judges who are intimidated by public opinion," wrote Steven Silva, a Times reader who experienced firsthand the difficulty of fair sentencing decisions when he worked for the presiding judge of the San Diego Juvenile Court."

Las Vegas homeless community on edge with a killer on the loose

LA Times' DAVID MONTERO: "Peter LaPrairie woke up Sunday morning after a night of cold winds whipped through his sleeping bag near the highway. He walked — maybe a mile — toward D Street, where tents and shopping carts were hemmed along a fence like a snowdrift of forgotten humanity."