U.S. files antitrust lawsuit against Apple alleging company monopolized smartphone market
LAT's HANNAH FRY: "The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple alleging that the technology giant attempted to monopolize the smartphone market to boost its business.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones by “selectively imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access points from, developers,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice."
Newsom and Democrats announce a plan to reduce the enormous budget deficit. How? TBD
LAT's TARYN LUNA: "With a budget deficit of at least $38 billion hanging over their heads, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders of the state Senate and Assembly announced an agreement on Wednesday to take action in April to begin to dramatically reduce California’s historic shortfall.
The problem: Democrats at the state Capitol couldn’t actually agree on an amount — offering only a range of $12 billion to $18 billion — or explain what, exactly, they plan to cut."
Prop 1 passed – barely. Now the real work to fix California’s mental health crisis begins (OP-ED)
Chronicle's EDITORIAL BOARD: "After more than two weeks of suspense, Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s marquee ballot measure to overhaul California’s behavioral health system, appears to have barely passed muster with voters. But it was hardly the overwhelming bipartisan victory the governor had been hoping for.
The message to elected officials, and to Newsom in particular, is clear: Voters are increasingly skeptical about pouring billions of dollars into homelessness and behavioral health programs that don’t seem to measurably improve street conditions."
Border security is swaying some California Democrats — and could sway control of Congress
LAT's ANDREA CASTILLO: "The Republican effort to solidify immigration as a decisive issue in the November election promises to influence the rematch between President Biden and former President Trump, and has already intensified the pressure on swing-district Democrats as their party fights to win control of Congress.
Seeking a political advantage, Trump continues to hammer Biden over his administration’s border policies and stoke anti-immigrant sentiment — vowing mass deportations of people residing in the country illegally, dehumanizing them as “animals” and accusing them of “poisoning” communities."
Bay Area's longest stretch of dry weather this year likely to end as rain returns
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "San Francisco’s longest stretch of dry weather so far this year is likely to extend to nine days on Thursday, but the streak will come to an end Friday. A wet weather system is predicted to swing across Northern California, bringing rain to the coast and snow to the Sierra Nevada.
Showers are forecast to begin Friday morning spanning Santa Rosa to Eureka, with widespread rain expected to move toward San Francisco during the afternoon and reach San Jose by the evening. Rain is expected to be moderately heavy Friday evening before tapering to showers overnight. South-southwest gusts of 20 to 35 mph will accompany the rain Friday afternoon and evening."
Bay Area students are competing just to take the SAT. Here’s why the test has gotten more stressful
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The SAT — the college admissions test feared by generations of high school students and criticized by some educational experts as discriminatory — is at an inflection point.
This month, the test moved entirely online, though students still must take it at designated testing sites. Meanwhile, some elite colleges that shunned the test during the pandemic are moving to require it again. In the Bay Area and across California, a shortage of testing sites is stressing out families and forcing them to travel — sometimes to other states — and to wait in long lines."
California is clearing criminal records — including violent crimes — to offer second chances
CALMatters's JEANNE KUANG: "It has been 13 years since Nick C. sat in an Alameda County jail at the age of 24, facing decades in prison and the prospect of never seeing his kids again.
He looks back on it as a turning point: Years in juvenile detention and a young adulthood spent dealing drugs culminated in a “bar fight gone sideways.” Charged with attempted murder, he pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records. "
Sacramento exonerated officer whose projectile blinded woman during 2020 protest
THERESA CLIFT, SacBee: "The Sacramento police officer who shot a pepper ball that blinded a woman in one eye in 2020 — resulting in a $3 million city settlement — has been exonerated.
The department posted the documents regarding the incident to its website in November, days after The Sacramento Bee reported the department was in violation of a state law by not promptly releasing disciplinary documents regarding incidents that caused death or serious injury.
