Gov. Jerry Brown says he'll have National Guard troops at the border to interdict criminal activity, but he's not going after immigrants.
From the AP's ELLIOT SPAGAT: "California Gov. Jerry Brown is crystal clear that his National Guard will help President Trump go after drugs and thugs on the Mexican border, but not immigrants. Drawing that line may be hazy."
"Brown’s pledge of 400 troops allows the president to boast that governors in all four border states back his mission to send the Guard on its third large-scale deployment since 2006. It helped bring commitments from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to about 2,400 troops — above the low end of Trump’s target of sending 2,000 to 4,000 troops to the border shared by the four states."
"The Democratic governor, who cast his decision as a welcome infusion of federal support to fight transnational criminal gangs and drug and firearms smugglers, broke from his Republican counterparts from the three other states by insisting that his troops will have nothing to do with immigration enforcement."
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hopes to get Jerry Brown's job, says his decision on the National Guard would have been different.
From LAUREL ROSENHALL in Calmtters: "A day after Gov. Jerry Brown agreed to the Trump administration’s request to beef up the National Guard in states along the Mexico border, fellow Democrat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not have made the same decision as governor."
"But Newsom, who is the front-runner in the race to replace Brown as governor, put a large asterisk on his disagreement with Brown:"
"Brown announced Wednesday that he would accept federal funding to add 400 California National Guard members “to combat transnational crime.” But he laid out a long list of conditions in an agreement with federal authorities: The troops will not build a border wall or enforce immigration laws, and the arrangement is approved only until Sept. 30. Brown also specified that when it comes to the state’s National Guard, he is the “commander in chief.”
Characterizing U.S. Senate incumbent Dianne Feinstein as wealthy and out-of-touch with Californians, long-shot challenger Kevin de León sys he'll bring a new voice to D.C.
From JOHN WILDEMUTH in the Chronicle: "California has changed dramatically in the past 25 years and has become a much richer and diverse state,” the Los Angeles legislator said Thursday in a 90-minute meeting with The Chronicle’s editorial board. “Values have changed dramatically, and the leadership in Washington doesn’t reflect that.”
"De León called for voters to contrast his poverty-stricken upbringing in San Diego as the son of an immigrant single mother with a third-grade education to that of Feinstein, whose father was a San Francisco doctor. De León called her “someone who has lived in a mansion surrounded by walls all her life. It’s an issue of values.”
"The four-term incumbent projects “an air of entitlement and monarchy and a sense of ownership” when it comes to her Senate seat, he said. “I learned the value of hard work ... in having nothing, in coming from nothing.”
Speaking of elections, Congressman Jeff Denham has long been on the Democrats' hit list of vulnerable GOP incumbents. This year is no exception.
From the Chronicle's JOE GARAFOLI: "Throughout his career in Congress, Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock has regularly appeared on Democratic lists of Republicans who can be knocked off in the next election — but he’s always survived."
"He’s there again this year, largely because Hillary Clinton outpolled Donald Trump in his district in 2016 and Denham won his own race by just three points.
"On Thursday, a super PAC founded by former Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer launched an ad that seeks to turn a traditional Republican strength into a weakness: Denham’s support from the National Rifle Association."
In the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, which took place at an outdoor concert, police are bolstering security by deploying drones at the Coachella festival.
From RICHARD WINTON in the LAT: "A small fleet of drones began to buzz overhead Thursday monitoring traffic and perimeters for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival."
"With 125,000 people expected daily and an increased camping area and footprint, the festival dwarfs its host city, Indio. In the wake of the killing of 58 at a Las Vegas music festival, Indio police and 14 other local and federal agencies will have more eyes than ever on the crowd thanks to the aerial surveillance."
"Drones will be flying over watching the perimeters. It takes us a few minutes to get an officer to a perimeter breach but a drone takes 45 seconds," Indio Police Sgt. Dan Marshall said. "The drones will also allow us to monitor traffic better than before."
Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, protests over the Stephon Clark shooting shifted Thursday night to outside the downtown jail, following two arrests.
Capitol Public Radio's NICK MILLER and BEN BRADFORD report: "Protesters blocked downtown Sacramento streets and rallied in front of the main county jail after two women were forcibly arrested by police on Thursday."
"The arrests occurred outside the district attorney’s offices, where demonstrators have gathered regularly to protest Stephon Clark’s death and demand that the officers be held accountable."
Both police and protesters say officers used force, but there are differing accounts of the extent or the reasons."
A plan to keep California executions partially secret has drawn a lawsuit from the media.
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO reports:"With the prospect of executions resuming in California, news organizations are suing state prison officials for their plans to conceal some of the lethal injection process from reporters and witnesses, and to pull the curtain if the drugs fail to kill the condemned inmate."
"The secrecy, under state regulations adopted last month by Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, “serves no purpose other than suppressing important information about the execution process from the public and the press,” said the suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco."
"The plaintiffs are the Los Angeles Times, public broadcaster KQED and San Francisco Progressive Media Center, publisher of the online journal 48hills.org."
Speaking of the media, there has been a new round of layoffs, this time at Tronc, Inc.
ANDREA CHANG reports in the LAT: "Former Los Angeles Times Editor in Chief Lewis D'Vorkin was fired by Tronc Inc. on Thursday and several dozen other employees of the company were laid off."
"D'Vorkin was the chief content officer of Tribune Interactive, a newly formed digital business unit of The Times' parent company. The reason for his removal was not clear."
"D'Vorkin said the decision to part ways with the company was mutual. He noted that his "heart just wasn't in" the various initiatives that Tribune Interactive was planning."
"In discussions with the company that were going on for a while, finally I said, 'You know, it's time for me to move on and explore new ventures that take me back to my entrepreneurial roots,'" he said. "Those are the things that are appealing to me."
