Trump's 9th Circuit court nominee doesn't live in California. Some say that's a problem
Sacramento Bee's EMILY CADEI: "9th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Daniel Bress was born and raised in Gilroy, Calif., but has lived all but one year of his adult life on the East Coast."
"California’s Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, argue that should disqualify Bress from filling a California-based vacancy on the court, the largest and busiest in the country."
"Given California’s demographics and the high quality of its educational institutions – and given California’s centrality to the Ninth Circuit – I don’t understand why the White House would choose someone with such a limited connection to the state,” Feinstein complained during a hearing on March 7."
READ MORE related to 9th Circuit: Ninth Circuit recomended for expansion, setting up potential for Trump to reshape the court -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO
CA120: In 2020, don't forget California's GOP primary
PAUL MITCHELL in Capitol Weekly: "With the coming 2020 Presidential primary, all eyes are on the plethora of Democratic candidates joining the fray, and the big possibility that an early California contest could catapult one or more contenders past Super Tuesday."
"With all this activity on the left, few are looking at what could be going on with the Republican side of the ticket. Could there be something in California for a Republican challenger to President Donald Trump?"
"We have seen one announced challenge from former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and there could be others lining up, particularly if the pending Muller report has anything that could cripple President Trump’s 2020 prospects."
CalPERS moving forward with $20B expansion of its private equity investments
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "CalPERS is preparing to significantly increase its stake privately held companies, moving to create two new ventures that could invest up to $20 billion outside of publicly traded stock markets."
"The pension fund’s investment committee on Monday voted 10-3 to move forward with the approach, although it the proposal needs to clear one more board vote before the California Public Employees’ Retirement System can start spending money on the program."
"Under the proposal, the $350 billion fund would create two limited liability companies and hire a fund manager to control new investments in private companies."
READ MORE related to CalPERS: New CalPERS leader wants pension fund to put its money back into tobacco -- Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER
An off-duty officer fled DUI crash, then let his mom try to take the blame, records show
From the LA Times' BEN POSTON and MAYA LAU: "South Pasadena Police Cpl. Ryan Bernal realized he was in trouble."
"Dazed from a night of drinking, he was jolted awake when his pickup truck smashed into a pole that fell on the patio roof of an occupied house in Duarte, internal police records show."
"So the off-duty officer drove his truck around the block, walked to a nearby Walmart and slipped away in a ride-hailing service vehicle. The next morning, he showed up at a Los Angeles County sheriff’s station with his mother, who falsely claimed she had been behind the wheel, investigators said."
Cal investigating former crew team member linked to college admissions scandal
The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI: "In the ever-widening college admissions scandal, UC Berkeley confirmed Monday that it has opened an investigation into the acceptance of a student in 2014 whose father paid $100,000 for a test taker to ace the SATs on behalf of his son, according to a federal indictment."
"Jordan Sidoo was accepted to the university after submitting the bogus test results, federal prosecutors said, purchased by his father David Sidoo, a prominent Canadian businessman. The indictment alleges a particularly brazen plot to create a fake ID so a professional test taker could pretend to be his son and record a nearly perfect score."
College admissions scammers found 'the hole in the Death Star'
From the LAT's SUHAUNA HUSSAIN: "There have long been serious concerns about the fairness and equity of the admissions process to elite universities."
"But the sprawling college admissions scandal has exposed serious weaknesses that experts say will result in far-reaching changes."
"“This is like Luke Skywalker finding the hole in the Death Star. In this case, they did it, they found a way to beat the system,” said Peter Lake, a professor of higher education law at Stetson University. The charges show “really determined criminal behavior can penetrate the systems we have in place.”
San Jose's veteran Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren fills key House role as 'mayor of Capitol Hill'
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "She got the nod from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to quarterback Democrats’ symbolic first major legislation as the majority. She’s also the congresswoman you see about turning up the heat in the winter."
"Longtime San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren is settling into her new role as the “mayor of Capitol Hill,” chairing the often-under-the-radar House Administration Committee. The panel’s jurisdiction largely consists of operating the House itself, but it also oversees federal elections."
DWR responds to judge's ruling to let Oroville Dam crisis allegations go forward
Chico ER's RISA JOHNSON: "The state Department of Water Resources has responded to a Sacramento judge’s ruling last week allowing certain allegations in lawsuits against the department over the Oroville Dam crisis to move forward."
"The department sought to strike allegations of racist actions, sexual harassment, petty theft and conspiracy to destroy evidence leading to the spillway emergency by DWR employees included in the suits, previously calling the claims “inflammatory and irrelevant."
"Below is a written statement submitted by the department on Friday evening."
Gov. Newsom says Trump-backed investment program could boost California
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that a Trump administration program that provides tax breaks meant to spur investment in low-income areas could boost California’s economy."
"Newsom said the Opportunity Zones program could help address two of the state’s major challenges: promoting energy investment to meet its climate change goals and providing funding for housing amid a shortage that has exacerbated income inequality."
California has a $9.3 billion 'pot of gold' in abandoned funds that might have your name on it
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California is sitting on $9.3 billion of unclaimed property and forgotten funds scattered throughout the state in bank accounts, uncashed employee checks, stocks, bonds and insurance benefits, according to the state controller’s office."
"State law requires property holders to transfer dormant property to the controller’s office, usually after three years of inactivity."
"In a push to notify private persons and businesses of their abandoned cash, California State Controller Betty T. Yee is urging residents to visit the office’s database to see if some of the 48 million properties, or a “lost pot of gold,” “have your name on them."
Rep. Nunes sues Twitter for $250M, claims 'shadow ban' of conservatives, report says
Sacramento Bee's RORY APPLETON/KATE IRBY: "Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, filed a lawsuit against Twitter, several of its users and a political strategist in Virginia state court on Monday, according to a Fox News report. He is asking for $250 million in damages."
"The lawsuit accuses Twitter of hiding, punishing or “shadow-banning” posts with a conservative bent – including those from Nunes – while simultaneously allowing others to profit from defaming him. Nunes’ attorney, Steven S. Biss, claims Twitter “allowed (and allows) its platform to serve as a portal of defamation in order to undermine public confidence in Plaintiff and to benefit his opponents and opponents of the Republican Party."
"Fox News posted what it said was a copy of the lawsuit, apparently filed in Henrico County. But the document does not bear an official stamp, mark or case number, and Virginia’s online courts database had no record of it being filed as of 5 p.m. Monday. The Bee reached out Biss and Nunes seeking to authenticate it."
As teenager, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke was member of "Cult of the Dead Cow"
From the Daily Mail's EDMILY GOODIN: "Beto O'Rourke benefited from a deal between Reuters reporter Joseph Menn and his former hacker buddies to keep the former congressman's membership in the 'Cult of Dead Cow' a secret until after the 2018 Senate race."
"The move could have also benefited Menn if O'Rourke had succeeded, given a subject of his book would have been a U.S. Senator."
"O'Rourke lost but became a rising national star in the process and is pursuing the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination."
Ghost Ship case moves forward with new lead prosecutor
The Chronicle's GWENDOLYN WU/ASHLEY MCBRIDE: "The chief prosecutor in the Ghost Ship case recently announced he is resigning from the Alameda County district attorney’s office effective April 5, which stirred fears that the trial of defendants Max Harris and Derick Almena could face additional delays."
"But in an Oakland courtroom Friday, jury selection carried on as planned while Deputy District Attorney Autrey James took the lead role in the case, which is now in its third year after a fire in December 2016 killed 36 people in an Oakland warehouse."
To save Dreamers, some Latino Democrats say they'll have to defeat Trump in 2020
Sacramento Bee's KATE IRBY: "Democrats in the Hispanic Caucus have competing ideas on how to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, and one of the biggest questions within their party is whether they’ll work with Republicans at all."
"The results of those discussions will determine whether Congress even attempts a significant bill to settle the immigration status of millions of young people who were brought to the country illegally as children, or to address narrower questions about farmworkers and other employment-based visas."
"Democrats last week unveiled their signature legislation on Dreamers, people brought to the country illegally as children. It would give 2.3 million of them a path to citizenship following President Donald Trump’s decision in 2017 to rescind their protected status, according to a nonpartisan estimate."
Legal claim puts city 'on notice' for civil rights suit over Clark protest arrests
Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH/THERESA CLIFT: "An attorney for the scores arrested in East Sacramento’s Stephon Clark protests earlier this month is laying the groundwork for a federal civil rights suit with a claim against the city of Sacramento, the city’s Police Department and Sacramento County for officers’ actions that night."
"Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin was joined for the Monday morning announcement by Sacramento NAACP President Betty Williams, green-capped National Lawyers Guild observers, local activists and others on the 51st Street Bridge."
"Monday marked one year since Sacramento police officers shot the 22-year-old Clark dead in the backyard of his grandmother’s Meadowview home after they responded to reports of a man breaking car windows. The two officers mistook the cellphone the unarmed African-American man carried for a firearm, later saying Clark took a shooting stance before they opened fire."
California community colleges show little progress in student graduations and transfers
EdSource's LARRY GORDON: "California’s community colleges are making some gains toward ambitious goals of getting more students to complete degrees and transfer to universities but the small improvements last year were “disappointing” and show that much work remains ahead, the system’s leader said Monday."
"While there is some progress, it is not acceptable progress,” system chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley told EdSource. The statistics were included in his “state of the system” presentation Monday to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors."
"The report shows minimal improvements: a less than one percent increase last year in the number of students who earned degrees or credentials and a three percent rise in students who transferred to University of California or California State University campuses."
Bay Area leaders want SF Giants CEO Larry Baer suspended for clash with wife
The Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "A coalition of Bay Area advocates against domestic violence is calling for San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer to be disciplined and possibly suspended for a physical altercation with his wife that was caught on video March 1."
"The group, which includes leaders from such organizations as La Casa de las Madres, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, and BART, wrote a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, demanding that the league address the incident."
