Political Stories Top stories
Trump abandons tough stand on green card holders in face of court challenges – The Trump administration took a step back late Sunday from its sweeping temporary ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, issuing a clarification that the order does not apply to green card holders “absent the receipt of significant derogatory information.” McClatchy Newspapers article; LA Times article; New York Times article
California AG and 16 counterparts condemn Trump’s refugee ban as unconstitutional – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and counterparts from across the country on Sunday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s “extreme vetting” order blocking immigration from the Middle East, denouncing the action that set off mass weekend protests as “in so many ways unjust and anti-American.” Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; Sacramento Bee editorial
Dan Walters: Brown puts lid on school aid, may rekindle old fight – Gov. Brown will revise both income and outgo numbers in the budget in May, setting the stage for the last few weeks of the annual budget process and perhaps for a renewal of the perennial battle over school finance that has been in remission of late. Walters column in Sacramento Bee
Valley politics
Ryan Nance to seek Bakersfield Ward 5 council seat – Ryan Nance, late Sunday, announced his intention to run on June 6 for the Ward 5 council seat left open by the death of Councilman Jeff Tkac earlier this month. Bakersfield Californian article
Immigration
Early wins against Trump immigration order may not last – Immigrant rights groups scored a series of early court victories against President Donald Trump’s terrorism-focused executive order limiting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, but legal experts and administration officials said the impact of those initial legal victories could prove fleeting. Politico article
Angry congressional lawmakers erupt, seeks ways to curb Trump immigration order – Members of Congress in both parties erupted with anger and concern Sunday over President Donald Trump’s order temporarily barring immigrants and others from seven Muslim countries from entering the United States. But whether Congress will take action to overturn the order, or at least be able to get swift answers about how thoroughly the administration has considered its implications, was unclear. McClatchy Newspapers article; McClatchy Newspapers article: ‘This is where lawmakers stand on Trump’s immigration order
As California Democrats blast Trump’s refugee order, Republicans in congressional delegation hold their fire – Only a few of the state’s 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the country. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying some tweaks are needed, but his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. LA Times article
Trump asked for a ‘Muslim ban,’ Guiliani says – and ordered a commission to do it ‘legally’ – Former New York mayor Rudy W. Giuliani said President Trump wanted a “Muslim ban” and requested he assemble a commission to show him “the right way to do it legally.” Washington Post article
GOP senators call executive order a ‘self-inflicted wound.’ Trump calls them ‘wrong’ and ‘weak’ – U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizonareleased a statement Sunday saying that confusion at U.S. airports shows that President Trump’s executive order on immigration “was not properly vetted.” LA Times article
Trump wants to enlist local police in immigration crackdown – To build his highly touted deportation force, President Donald Trump is reviving a long-standing program that deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration law. AP article
Chaos over Trump immigration order may be just what he wanted – There was swift backlash from fellow Republicans, world leaders and thousands of angry Americans. A defiant Donald Trump again refused to soften his tough talk even as administration officials walked back some onerous portions of the president’s new policy. McClatchy Newspapers article
Hundreds protest at Fresno airport against Trump immigration ban – Hundreds of protesters at Fresno Yosemite International Airport joined thousands of others across the nation Sunday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration order. Fresno Bee article
Jose Gaspar: Immigration showdown begins locally – Headed by H.A. Sala, the Immigration Justice Collaborative brings together lawyers with expertise in fields that directly or indirectly impact immigrants generally, though the focus is largely on the undocumented. Recent meetings held in Delano and Lamont brought out large crowds. You could sense the feelings of uncertainty, anxiety and fear of what may lie ahead for immigrants under a Trump White House and Republican-controlled Congress. Gaspar column in Bakersfield Californian
Protestors fill Sacramento airport denouncing Trump refugee order – Joining protesters across the country Sunday, hundreds of chanting and singing demonstrators filled Terminal B at Sacramento International Airport to denounce President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily barring entry into the United States of all refugees as well as visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Sacramento Bee article
More than 1,000 protestors rally at SFO against immigration ban – More than 1,000 protesters forced the temporary shutdown of security checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, capping a weekend of demonstrations that packed airports around the country following President Trump’s executive order banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. San Francisco Chronicle article
Trump’s order leaves Los Banos man and daughter stuck in east Africa – The manager of a Los Banos convenience store was stuck in a hotel in east Africa on Sunday after U.S. authorities refused to allow him to bring his 12-year-old daughter into the United States because of President Donald Trump’s executive order halting immigration from several countries. Los Banos Enterprise article
Silicon Valley’s ambivalence toward Trump turns to anger – On Friday morning, Silicon Valley was largely ambivalent about President Trump. The software programmers, marketing experts and chief executives might not have voted for him, but they were hopeful about finding common ground with the new administration. By Saturday night, much of that optimism had yielded to anger and determination. New York Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article
Veterans angry Trump refugee ban includes Iraq interpreters who risked their lives – Military veterans were dumbfounded and furious when it became clear over the weekend that President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the admission into the United States of people from seven majority-Muslim countries keeps out interpreters who’d risked their lives helping U.S. forces in Iraq. McClatchy Newspapers article; LA Times article
Longtime U.S. residents, aspiring citizens caught in ban – A woman traveling to Indiana to care for her cancer-stricken mother, a family physician who has lived in the U.S. for two decades, and a Minneapolis woman about to become a U.S. citizen were among those caught in the net cast by President Donald Trump when he banned travelers from entering the country from Muslim-majority nations. Here are their stories. AP article
For those detained at LAX under Trump’s ban, hours of fear, chaos and hope – A second day of protests got underway at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday after a day of chaos, fear, protests and ultimately some relief over President Trump’s travel bans. LA Times article
‘Breathtaking violation of rights’: LA city attorney barred from seeing detainees at LAX — Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said he spent several hours at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night into Sunday morning, but was repeatedly denied access to federal detainees or an attorney who could discuss the situation with him. LA Times article
Man detained at LAX deported to Iran, but federal judge in LA orders return to U.S. — This was a reunion 12 years in the making. Ali Vayeghan was set to fly from Tehran to Los Angeles, make his way to Indiana, and after a years-long wait, see his son, a U.S. citizen. He was also reuniting with his wife, who arrived in the U.S. four months ahead of him. LA Times article
Trump’s order jolts Iraqis, crucial allies against ISIS — Iraqi officials were taken aback by the executive order on immigration, which they learned about through the American news media because they had not been consulted first. New York Times article
Not in their job descriptions: Why many local police officers say they’re not eager to help Trump enforce immigration laws — After Trump’s unveiling last week of two executive orders that called for empowering local law enforcement officers to take on the duties of immigration agents, police officers and sheriff’s deputies across the Los Angeles area said in interviews that enforcing immigration laws is not in their job descriptions. Many expressed concerns that immigrants already wary of reporting crimes or being interviewed as witnesses will retreat further into the shadows. LA Times article
Uber fights immigration order – and #DeleteUber hashtag – with $3-million legal fund for drivers — Hours after Lyft’s co-founders announced a $1-million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union to “defend the Constitution,” Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick pulled out his pocket book as well. LA Times article
Former San Francisco Giants player defends Trump, argues with fans online– Former Giants player Aubrey Huff has a new book coming out, but may have a tough time selling it in San Francisco after some of his recent online comments. San Francisco Chronicle article
Other areas
Conservatives warn GOP is losing momentum on Obamacare repeal — Congress was poised to start major work this week on dismantling the Affordable Care Act, but conservatives are already fuming over lost momentum that they fear could doom the repeal effort. McClatchy Newspapers article
Presidential Politics
George Skelton: Trump should forget the time-wasting voter fraud claims and focus on keeping – not making – America great – This is a time-wasting subject for a new president. Trump needs to focus on keeping — not making — America great. Skelton column in LA Times
Travel ban is clearest sign yet of Trump advisors’ intent to reshape the country – As havoc unfolded over the weekend following President Trump’s temporary ban on refugees coming into the country, some longtime Washington hands were alarmed by something else: the revamping of the National Security Council, the group of Cabinet-level officials and others who deliberate on the country’s most pressing — and often secret — national security issues. LA Times article
Trump’s executive actions promise a lot, but can they deliver? — Build the wall. Ditch Obamacare. Revive the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Deport undocumented immigrants. Ban Muslims. President Trump packed his first full week in office with a blur of headline-grabbing executive orders that reflected his campaign promises. But not all executive actions are created equal. Some have the actual, immediate power of law. Some require money from Congress to get off the ground. And some are largely theatrical flourishes during the opening week of a new presidency. San Francisco Chronicle article
Readying for a fight: This week we learn Trump’s Supreme Court pick –
The fight over filling the Supreme Court escalates big time this week, when President Donald Trump announces his nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. McClatchy Newspapers article
Bannon seizes a security role from generals — The defining moment for Mr. Bannon came Saturday night in the form of an executive order giving the rumpled right-wing agitator a full seat on the “principals committee” of the National Security Council — while downgrading the roles of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence, who will now attend only when the council is considering issues in their direct areas of responsibilities. It is a startling elevation of a political adviser, to a status alongside the secretaries of state and defense, and over the president’s top military and intelligence advisers. New York Times article; Washington Post article; McClatchy Newspapers article
For Mexico, Trump’s retreat on NAFTA is ‘like being drenched by a pail of cold water’ — The nightmare scenario of an abrupt halt on trade, the region’s lifeblood, has yielded profound disquiet in board rooms from Detroit to Tokyo and here in Mexico. The country’s leaders have bet the house on duty-free exports, mostly to the United States, a strategy that critics in Mexico have long assailed as short-sighted. LA Times article
California Government Today:
News Stories
Top Stories
California’s new pot economy valued at $7 billion — Here, in the outskirts of Sacramento, a handful of government workers face a daunting task: By next year, craft regulations and rules that will govern the state’s emerging legal pot market, from where and how plants can be grown to setting guidelines to track the buds from fields to stores. Getting it wrong could mean the robust cannabis black market stays that way – outside the law – undercutting the attempt to create the nation’s largest legal marijuana economy. The new industry has a projected value of $7 billion, and state and local governments could eventually collect $1 billion a year in taxes. AP article
California will administer new pilot science test despite U.S. Department of Education ruling – In less than two months, California will begin giving public school students a pilot version of an online test based on new science standards – the first state to do so in the United States. EdSource article
Jobs and the Economy
Sacramento asks commercial marijuana cultivators to pony up for neighborhoods — The city of Sacramento is inviting would-be commercial marijuana producers to agree to pay 1 percent of revenues into a “neighborhood responsibility” fund intended to support community programs and offset impacts of the businesses. Sacramento Bee article
Robin Abcarian: Your business is legal, but you can’t use banks. Welcome to the cannabis all-cash nightmare — Imagine having to be paid in cash, having to pay your employees and suppliers in cash, having to take care of your payroll, sales and income taxes in cash. Abcarian in LA Times
Oakland race and equity official reviews cannabis industry – A month into her tenure as Oakland’s new czar of race and equity, Darlene Flynn got thrown into a maelstrom. Her first assignment: to conduct an analysis of the city’s cannabis industry as the City Council fights over whether to pass laws that would allow scads of underground businesses to operate legally. San Francisco Chronicle article
Government policy hurts pensions: low interest – The two big state pension funds have been on very different paths since both had large surpluses in 2000. But they will have identical funding levels if CalSTRS, like CalPERS last month, adopts a recommended lower investment earnings forecast this week. Calpensions article
Starbucks to hire 10,000 refugees over next 5 years — Starbucks says it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years, a response to President Donald Trump’s indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees and temporary travel bans that apply to six other Muslim-majority nations. AP article
Homeless service providers urge feds to keep HUD funds flowing — At his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month, the 65-year-old Republican expressed support for homeless programs that emphasize housing first. KQED report
Wanted: Factory workers. Degree required — A high school diploma is no longer enough for today’s manufacturing jobs. Enter the employer. Apprenticeships are making a comeback, complete with college. New York Times article
Agriculture/Water/Drought
Lois Henry: By the numbers: What the drought’s doing for Isabella — The drought may not be officially over yet, but it’s amazing what a difference a few storms have made this year for one important area of our water world: Isabella Lake. Henry in Bakersfield Californian
Don Curlee: Overview — They won’t know until September, but California orchardists might find that their plots of trees look better from above than they do from ground up. Photos taken from unmanned drone aircraft will help them decide. Curlee in Visalia Times-Delta
Criminal Justice/Prisons
Repairs, improvements for damaged Stanislaus sheriff’s helicopter could cost $876,000 — A Stanislaus County sheriff’s helicopter that was disabled by a hard landing in July could receive $876,000 in repairs and improvements before it’s returned to service. Modesto Bee article
Inmate escapes from Atwater federal prison — An inmate held in the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater was discovered missing Sunday morning, prison officials reported. Eric Pree, 47, was discovered missing from the minimum security federal prison about 10 a.m., according to a news release from the prison. The prison houses about 130 men. Merced Sun-Star article
Education
Benefit aims to bolster music in Modesto elementary schools — A film about kids using musical instruments literally fashioned from trash provides the backdrop to a fundraiser next weekend to help provide new and refurbished instruments for Modesto students. Modesto Bee article
Energy/Environment
Storms preview sea-rise damage to California roads, cities – Ocean rise already is worsening the floods and high tides sweeping California this stormy winter, climate experts say, and this month’s damage and deaths highlight that even a state known as a global leader in fighting climate change has yet to tackle some of the hardest work of dealing with it. AP article
State agencies feud over off-roading along seaside dunes — The decades-long battle over public use of the beach and sand dunes along the coast near Pismo Beach fractured into a new front this month, with one state agency accusing another of taking more than 30 years to accomplish a regulatory task that was supposed to take less than two. LA Times article
Health/Human Services
After a young Fresno husband and father died, tissues donated from his body helped many — As a young Fresno husband and father, James McLaughlan always thought of his family’s needs before his own, from giving his shirt to his wife in a rainstorm to racing after work to pick children up from cheerleading practice. It made sense that McLaughlan, 27, would help others in death. Fresno Bee article
Other areas
Fitz’s Stockton: New brew: ‘Dr. Ru’ — Ruhstaller Beer has a new baby: Dr. Ru. The Sacramento craft beer company’s latest offering is a double India Pale Ale named for Stockton’s Dr. Frank Ruhstaller (1918-1999), a beloved pediatrician who cared for youngsters for half a century. Fitz’s Stockton in Stockton Record
Valley Editorial Roundup
Fresno Bee – There is no evidence to the claim that millions of undocumented voters gave the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. But President Donald Trump won’t stop repeating it.
Modesto Bee – President Donald Trump’s Mexican policy is a non-solution to a non-problem that serves no one but bigots in his base.
Sacramento Bee –- President Donald Trump’s executive order on refugees, and the inhumane chaos it has created, does nothing to make America safer and serves only the most extreme elements of his base.