California debuts 'digital' license plates. Here's what they'll cost you.
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "California’s dramatic new license plate is hitting the streets — a digital display board that allows changeable messages controlled by the driver or remotely by fleet managers."
"The new plates use the same computer technology as Kindle eBook readers, along with a wireless communication system."
"They come with their own computer chips and battery."
Steve Poizner seeks old job, drops GOP label
Capitol Weekly's LISA RENNER: "The first person to hold statewide office in California without aligning with a political party could be Steve Poizner."
"According to at least one poll, the 61-year-old tech entrepreneur has a good chance of getting elected insurance commissioner, a job he previously held from 2007-11 when he was a Republican. The Probolsky Research survey showed Poizner leading among all voters for the June 5 primary, including showing a 10-1 lead among Republicans."
"Running as an independent is a good fit for that office,” Poizner said in a recent phone interview. “If I am successful in winning as an independent, it will pave a path for other people who want to run and serve and be problem solvers and not be partisan warriors. That would be a great thing for California if voters have choices.”
Gavin Newsom's lively term as SF mayor offers clues to how he'd lead state
The Chronicle's HEATHER KNIGHT: "Gavin Newsom can’t wait to get back in the driver’s seat."
"As California’s lieutenant governor for the past 7½ years, technically he holds the second-highest position in the country’s most populous state, the one with the fifth-largest economy in the world."
A dangerous opioid is killing people in California. It's starting to show up in cocaine and meth
LA Times's SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA: "Fentanyl, a potent opioid already responsible for thousands of deaths nationwide, is increasingly showing up in drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine in California, officials say."
"The white powder, a lethal substance 50 times stronger than heroin, is sometimes mixed into other opioids to produce a stronger high. Now its presence in non-opioids has public health experts worried that California may be staring down a new dimension of the deadly epidemic."
"Officials suspect that three men who died in downtown Los Angeles late last month had snorted cocaine laced with fentanyl, an incident that has further galvanized fentanyl fears."
Feinstein, Newsom and Farrell join to honor nation's dead at Presidio event
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "San Francisco honored veterans who gave their lives in America’s wars in a sunny Memorial Day celebration that mixed solemn remembrance with pomp and patriotism, and just a touch of politics, at the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio."
"Under clear skies, in uncommonly warm weather, and surrounded by an abundance of stars and stripes, more than a thousand people gathered in the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio Monday for its 150th Memorial Day commemoration."
Billionaire George Soros' funding heats up Alameda County DA race
The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "For the first time since the Reagan era, Alameda County is seeing a serious contest for district attorney. And thanks to internationally known billionaire and progressive George Soros, it’s turning into a real barn-burner."
"The Alameda County D.A.’s job has been basically handed off from the outgoing district attorney to his or her top deputy for decades."
Ivanka Trump is visiting Fresno for a fundraiser. Could it help Devin Nunes' opponent?
Fresno Bee's JOSHUA TEHEE: "On Friday, Politico reported that Ivanka Trump would be visiting California next month on a fundraising trip with Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy."
"The "Protect the House" fundraiser is scheduled to stop June 18 in Fresno, with Ivanka Trump as the evening's main draw."
"While political commentators ponder what the trip might symbolize for both political parties, actor Ike Barinholtz saw the news as an opportunity to tweet his support for democratic candidate Andrew Janz."
'Vagueness goes a long way in politics:' Immigration effort in limbo for CA primary
McClatchy DC's KATE IRBY: "Vulnerable Republicans in California have a way to stifle Democratic criticisms over Dreamers before the June 5 primary — they can tout a deal involving Dreamers without having to cast any votes until after the polls close."
"Republican congressmen regarded as most at risk in this year's election have been trying to force the House to vote on four immigration bills involving Dreamers and increased border security."
"They're five signatures short of the 218 House members they need to force those votes. But because the House is out until the afternoon of June 5 — the day California voters go to the polls — nothing will happen on immigration reform during the last days of the primary campaign."
READ MORE related to Immigration: DHS secretary insists on funding sanvtuary cities despite Trump promise to cut off grants -- McClatchy DC's ANITA KUMAR; Is 'sanctuary state' the best political issue for the GOP in years? Not in California, experts warn -- Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA
She was a #MeToo leader. After sexual harassment accusations, she is fighting to be reelected
LA Times's JAVIER PANZAR/MELANIE MASON: "The future looked bright for Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia when she coasted to reelection in 2016. She had gained clout in the Capitol and statewide attention for notching hard-fought victories for enviromental advocates and championed women's rights."
"Now, she's in a fight for her political life, facing a well-funded opposition campaign from typically Democratic allies and damaged relationships with many of her colleagues in Sacramento."
California prisons phase out 'sensitive needs' yards. Critics see a rough transition
Sacramento Bee's NASHELLY CHAVEZ: "The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is changing how inmates are housed, saying current separations between general population inmates and those held in sensitive needs yards have been ineffective in eliminating gangs and violence within prison walls."
"The agency will instead move toward creating some "non-designated program" facilities, where both groups will be tasked with co-existing. The current system has bred new gangs within the sensitive needs yards, resulting in escalating violence, CDCR Undersecretary of Operations Ralph Diaz said."
"We are going to do behavior-based programs and holding people based on their own behavior," Diaz said."
EPA used disavowed research to justify putting dirtier trucks on the road
LA Times's EVAN HALPER: "At a time when acts of defiance against the Trump administration are routine in Sacramento, the rebuke that breezed through the California Assembly this month still came as a jolt. Even Trump loyalists in the chamber joined in."
"The message to the administration was clear: Forget about your plan to unleash on freeways a class of rebuilt trucks that spew as much as 400 times the choking soot that conventional new big rigs do. Getting caught behind the wheel of one of these mega-polluters in California would carry a punishing $25,000 minimum fine under the measure that lawmakers passed 73 to 0. It had the support of 25 Republicans."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Protecting native fish in the Delta -- Water Deeply's IAN EVANS
If the Golden State Killer stopped, the reason is unknown
Mercury News's NATE GARTRELL: "In the early morning of July 27, 1981, the Golden State Killer sneaked into a Goleta, Calif., home where Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez were sleeping. Their bludgeoned bodies were found the next day when a real estate agent stopped by with prospective buyers. Sanchez had been shot in the head, possibly during a struggle."
"And with that, the killer ended his streak of violence in the Santa Barbara area. His next – and final – known homicide victim, 18-year-old Janelle Cruz, came five years later in Orange County."
"So after 1986 did he stop, as some serial killers have been known to do? Or did the alleged Golden State Killer, a former Auburn policeman, use his knowledge of crime scene investigations to change his method of killing? Those who worked on the case have different theories."
Baker decision won't be justices' last word on LGBT rights
AP's MARK SHERMAN: "A flood of lawsuits over LGBT rights is making its way through courts and will continue, no matter the outcome in the Supreme Court's highly anticipated decision in the case of a Colorado baker who would not create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple."
"Courts are engaged in two broad types of cases on this issue, weighing whether sex discrimination laws apply to LGBT people and also whether businesses can assert religious objections to avoid complying with anti-discrimination measures in serving customers, hiring and firing employees, providing health care and placing children with foster or adoptive parents."
"The outcome of baker Jack Phillips' fight at the Supreme Court could indicate how willing the justices are to carve out exceptions to anti-discrimination laws; that's something the court has refused to do in the areas of race and sex."
SF leaders pleased, homeless activists angered as large tent camps vanish
The Chronicle's KEVIN FAGAN: "If it seems like all the big homeless tent camps in San Francisco have suddenly vanished, that’s because it’s true. City officials are delighted, and street activists are livid."
"The transformation has actually been gradual, as a unified push by teams of street cleaners, police officers and counselors ramped up over the past year and a half to dismantle 30 of the city’s biggest camps. Since the last large camps were removed last week in the southern part of town, none with more than 10 tents has been allowed to spring up."
READ MORE related to Homelessness & Housing: Bathrooms for homeless people on skid row and in Venice Beach hit setbacks -- LA Times's GALE HOLLAND
Lobbyist Hicks goes to Mercury Public Affairs
Capitol Weekly Staff: "Sacramento lobbyist Jodi Hicks, a specialist in health care issues and a partner in DiMare, Brown, Hicks and Kessler, is leaving DBHK to take a ranking position at Mercury Public Affairs."
"Hicks will become a national co-chair of Mercury, the first woman to hold that position."
"Three other people at DBHK also are going to Mercury: Laura Parra and Ryan Spencer as senior vice presidents, and Nikki Ragsac as director."
Trump confirms North Korean official headed to New York
AP: "President Trump confirmed early Tuesday that top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol is heading to New York for talks on an upcoming summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un."
"Trump tweeted: "We have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York. Solid response to my letter, thank you!"
"South Korea's Yonhap News said Tuesday it saw the name of Kim Yong Chol on the passenger list for a flight Tuesday from Beijing to Washington. The news service later reported that Kim changed his flight to go to New York on Wednesday."