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San Francisco gets record $100 million donation to battle homelessness

South Koreans vote for new president

United sorry for putting woman on plane to SFO rather than Paris

Teen killed by San Diego officers left suicide note

Motorcyclist seriously injured in Hwy. 1 crash ID'd

2 dead in Lake Berryessa plane crash

RANDI ROSSMANN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | May 8, 2017, 12:15PM

| Updated 2 hours ago.

A plane crash into Lake Berryessa Monday morning killed two, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Office.

The plane crashed just after 9 a.m., landing in the water in the area of Little Portuguese Cove at the lakes east end, between Pleasure Cove Marina and Markley Cove Resort, said sheriffs Capt. Steve Blower in a news release.

Two people were found dead in the wreckage.

Sheriffs deputies, firefighters and paramedics were using boats to get to the wreckage, Blower said.

The recovery and investigation continued late Monday morning.

Check back for details

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.

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Plane crash into Lake Berryessa kills two - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Photograph by Pete MarovichGetty Images

(OMAHA) Democrats desperate for fresh faces cast 37-year-old Heath Mello as a pragmatic, next-generation leader who could win in the Nebraska heartland. Yet his anti-abortion stance has become a flashpoint for the national party.

If Mello prevails on Tuesday in his bid for Omaha mayor, it's a promising sign, he says, for a candidate "with a proven record of working bipartisan and tackling some big issues and, yes, to some extent, is a pro-life Catholic Democrat." He is challenging Republican incumbent Jean Stothert.

Mello's bid has exposed the cultural divisions within the party over the decades-old issue of abortion. It's also proved a major embarrassment for the new party chairman, Tom Perez.

Top Democrats had planned a stop in Omaha at a rally for Mello, but abortion rights groups were outraged. National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League President Ilyse Hogue called the DNC's promotion of Mello "not only disappointing, it is politically stupid."

Caught off-guard, Perez reversed himself, saying "every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman's right to make her own choices," and called on Democrats to speak with "one voice."

They didn't.

At the April 20 rally in Omaha, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year, endorsed Mello and asked, "Omaha, are you ready for a political revolution?"

Perez, who had been scheduled to attend, instead campaigned for a Georgia candidate. The party chairman's actions angered several moderate Democrats and frustrated others as the party struggles for relevance. In the last decade, Democrats have lost about 1,000 elected posts from the White House to Congress to the 50 statehouses, a power deficit the party has not seen nationally in 90 years.

In Nebraska, where Republicans control every congressional and statewide office, Democrats don't have the luxury of being choosy, Mello supporter Abbie Raikes said.

"As liberals in Nebraska, you become accustomed to making compromises," said Raikes, a 45-year-old public health professor at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Raikes, talking with Mello in her near-west Omaha neighborhood last week, supports him in part for plans to promote affordable housing, not because he backed a half-dozen abortion restrictions during eight years in the legislature. After all, the highest-ranking Democrat outside of the state legislature is the mayor of Lincoln.

Democrats must invite new faces with diverse viewpoints into its leadership, said Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who described Perez's reaction to Mello as "really damaging."

"Requiring everybody to fit some purity test is a recipe for disaster," said Ryan, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Nancy Pelosi for House Democratic leader last year. "There are going to be people who are Democrats who may not check all the boxes. But they are with you 80 percent of the time and can win in tough places."

Anti-abortion Democrats have almost disappeared in Congress. Only three senators fit the description, and all three Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are up for re-election next year in states President Donald Trump won in 2016.

Pelosi last week told The Washington Post that abortion should not be a litmus test for Democrats.

In the state legislature, Mello represented an older, ethnically diverse, working-class district in south Omaha, a few miles from the nation's onetime railroad and meatpacking epicenter. But Mello has projected what he calls a "pro-growth, progressive, future-focused" style, which reflects Omaha's moderate tendency.

He favors a government partnership with private industry, a concept often associated with Republicans, for Omaha's crumbling streets. He also has campaigned heavily in Omaha's troubled north side, where most of the city's homicides occur.

Mello's campaign fundraising co-chairwoman, Andy Holland, is the past president of Planned Parenthood of Nebraska. The aspiring mayor also has the support of self-described conservative Mike Kozlik, a lawyer who met Mello last week as the candidate strolled door-to-door through the elegant Dundee neighborhood west of downtown.

"Too often Democrats want to coddle people. Mello comes from working stock," said Kozlik, 64, a south Omaha native whose family struggled during his youth. "He understands the working man."

A Democratic mayor could give the party a leg up in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, more than two-thirds of which is in Omaha, as the party hopes to claw its way back to the majority next year. And in a state that apportions its presidential electoral votes by congressional district, the mayor's office could be an important Democratic foothold.

Democrat Barack Obama carried the district in 2008, but lost it in 2012, as did 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.

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Nebraska Democrat's Anti-Abortion Stance Exposes Deep Party Divide - TIME

Jeff Chidester

The American political landscape is a mess, in large part because one of our two major political parties is not only in chaos, but has absolutely no sense of its identity.

This party is in complete disarray, lacking leadership, vision and focus. Indeed, it is accurate to say the condition of the Democratic Party is in a state of utter disorder, and as with all disorders, the affected are usually the last to know they have a problem, let alone how to cure what ails them.

I want a strong, vigorous political system in our country. It is essential that intellectual, disciplined, robust debate be a part of a healthy political system in our country, or any country. However, the tiresome weekly protests are not only a distraction to what Democrats should be focused on, but are nothing more than the comical resurrection of the discredited primal scream therapy. If the best youve got is singing Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye on the House floor after the vote to Repeal and Replace Obamacare, you are not only singing out of tune, but you are tone deaf to what Americans are concerned about.

In no small part, the Democratic Party has only itself to blame for its most recent presidential election loss. The party has abandoned Middle America, and seems to be content with being a political party that only represents the Coastal Elites. New York, California, and a few other elitist pockets scattered about the rest of the country present only a single voice, a single perspective, in a vast country rich with many views. The party not only seems to ignore Middle America, the so called flyover States, but at times, often with the encouragement of a Coastal Elite mentality, mock and belittle those who live in the Heartland.

You dont win hearts and minds by turning inwards, listening to like-minded voices and stifling potential allies who may differ with you on some issues. The Democrats are lost in the woods because they walked away from the words of Bobby Kennedy (1968) - Ive seen proud men in the hills of Appalachia who wish only to work in dignity, but they cannot, for the mines have closed and their jobs are gone, and no one neither industry, labor nor government has cared enough to help

Bobby Kennedy talked to the people of Appalachia, but the new Democratic Party is the lecture party. Todays Democratic Party is disconnected, caring more about redefining gender, while most Americans are watching lone-wolf terrorist attacks on our shores. The party lectured and pointed fingers at those who held opposing views, and falsely labeled them as bigots, misogynists and racists. While many Americans worried about keeping their jobs, how to put food on their tables, dealing with the devastating effects of addiction, and whether they could make their mortgage payment, Democrats lectured Americans about identity politics and which bathroom we should use.

I know youre thinking, but Jeff, have you not been watching what the Republicans have been doing? Yes, I have. The GOP has problems, but nothing like the clown show the Democratic Party has turned into. Trust me when I tell you the Republican Party has issues, and neither major political party is in great standing with the American public. Politics ebbs and flows, and I could just as easily be writing a similar article soon about the Republicans. But at least the Republicans are still made up of people with many different views. Sure, there is tension amongst Republicans, but try being a Democrat who is pro-life and a supporter of the Second Amendment and see what happens. Potty-mouth Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez made it clear to members of the Democratic Party that they must support abortion or else, even though at best estimates at least 30 percent of self-described Democrats claim to be pro-life. However, abortion is just one issue that either pushes Democrats out of the party tent, or discourages entry in the first place.

The 2016 election should have been a wake-up call for the Democratic Party, but in its defeat the party looks and acts more like the Donner Party than the party of Kennedy and Clinton. However, the biggest issue is the deli number approach the Democratic Party has reverted to, ignoring the success of Obama.

Where is the Democratic bench? Biden will be 74 in 2020, Elizabeth Warren will be 71, and forget Bernie Sanders age, it is just comical that the last, best, hope of the Democratic Party isnt even a Democrat! The Democratic Party has some potentially strong leaders who should be elevated to the public face of the party: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Amy Klobuch and Sen. Chris Murphy. However, the bench is not as deep as it should be because it has only been focused on the White House.

The presidency and capturing elitist strongholds are not the only battles to be won. The Republican Party controls the governors office and both chambers of the state legislature in 24 states, having gained four more states with the 2016 election. The Democratic Party only managed to do that in six states. There are 33 Republican governors. The Democratic Party only controls 16. Republicans also control 32 state legislative benches. Why does this matter? Because this is where your party bench comes from. Obama may have emerged from the U.S. Senate, but he cut his teeth at the local level. Yet the Democratic Party would rather say it is not your turn, or you do not walk in lock-step with the party, instead of bringing forth candidates who represent not just the elitist view of the party, but the view everyday Americans hold dear.

Keep marching, keep singing, keeping looking to New York and Hollywood, and oh by the way, keep losing.

Jeff Chidester was raised in Portsmouth and is a lifelong resident of New Hampshire. He is the host of the Clear Channel radio show New Hampshire Perspective with Jeff Chidester, which can be heard on News Radio WQSO 96.7 FM and New Hampshires News Network WGIR 610 AM. E-mail him at nhperspective@gmail.com.

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Democratic Party in chaos - Foster's Daily Democrat

McClatchy Washington Bureau

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic ad blitz takes aim at vulnerable House Republicans on Obamacare McClatchy Washington Bureau The five-figure ad buy is the latest in an aggressive campaign by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that started immediately after the House barely passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday. The push includes graphics on ... Republicans face more 'shutdown traps' into Democrat spendingWashington Times Vulnerable Senate Democrats think Republicans just handed them a lifeline on health careWashington Post Finley: Obamacare lies keep comingThe Detroit News New York Times -FiveThirtyEight all 7,305 news articles »

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EXCLUSIVE: Democratic ad blitz takes aim at vulnerable House Republicans on Obamacare - McClatchy Washington Bureau

AUGUSTA, Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, introduced a new bill Monday that would expand and enhance Maines social services safety net, largely funded with what Gideon said is $150 million in federal funds that Gov. Paul LePages administration isnt spending.

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said the proposal would drain federal resources and trap Mainers in poverty.

Among the elements of Gideons wide-ranging bill are requirements for the state to use federal grants to expand access to child care; establish a housing voucher program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients and families whose housing costs exceed 50 percent of their income; increase the maximum TANF benefit to the average of nearby states; and create the Addiction Prevention and Family Stabilization Program. The bill also proposes pilot programs to provide low-income families with transportation, install high-efficiency heating systems and create a reserve fund to cover learn years when not enough TANF funding is available.

A 2016 analysis by the Legislatures Office of Fiscal and Program Review found that about $155 million in unspent TANF funding had accrued by the end of fiscal year 2016. DHHS and LePages office ignored questions from the Bangor Daily News on this point, though it said in a news release that a small percentage of the funds had been rerouted to other programs.

[More: How Maine redirected millions meant to help poor families with kids.]

Contrary to Mayhews assertions, Gideon said the intent of the bill is providing expanded services to low-income families but also helping them make a gradual transition from taxpayer-funded services to independence as their income increased above the thresholds for social service programs. This concept is known as the welfare cliff.

This bill provides the opportunity to keep people in successful and sustainable employment, said Gideon.

Gideon cited the American Community Survey when she said the number of Maine children living in deep poverty less than $10,000 per year for a family of three is increasing eight times faster than the national average.

Mayhew pointed to a 2016 study by the LePage administration that showed new work requirements in the TANF program increased incomes and led to more people working.

Weve seen the positive outcomes of these reforms and how they are helping strengthen Maines economy by putting people back to work, said Mayhew in a written statement. We cannot ignore this and we cannot allow this success to be overturned.

Gideon said during a Monday news conference at the State House that her motivation for the bill was primarily to help children dig out of familial cycles of poverty that unchecked can last generations.

Their future was already being proscribed by their present and the poverty they were living in, said Gideon. For me, those kids were my personal reason and call for doing something. The very idea of any child experiencing the sort of insecurity, instability, anxiety and hunger that comes with poverty is just unacceptable to anybody.

Gideon said the program, as well as its pilot elements, could be covered by existing federal resources, but she acknowledged that it could affect future state budgets after the pilot periods expire.

The bill already has some bipartisan support, including four Republican lawmakers from northern and eastern Maine.

Supporters are sure to receive intense pushback. Social service cutbacks through rulemaking and laws that have tightened eligibility and established limits on benefits have been a priority for LePage and most legislative Republicans. One example of that is LePages pending proposal to reduce the lifetime limit on collecting TANF funds from five years to three years.

Gideons proposal is a component of Democrats push this year to blunt LePages latest round of proposed public assistance cuts and changes in a year when state revenues exceed expenses. Supporting low-earning Mainers particularly children is at the core of the Democrats Opportunity Agenda, a set of goals designed to counter many of the elements of LePages biennial state budget proposal.

While tightening eligibility requirements and limiting spending on public assistance programs has been a Republican focus in recent legislatures, they have another priority this year. Republicans are intent on repealing the 3 percent surtax on income above $200,000, which was enacted by voters last year to support public schools.

However, Democratic leaders have made it clear they will go to the mat fighting those changes. Meanwhile, Democrats have taken a page from the LePage playbook by holding town hall meetings all over Maine in recent weeks touting their Opportunity Agenda.

With the release of Gideons bill, perhaps the 128th Legislatures battle lines and stalemate issues that could last well into June have been etched.

This item was originally published in Daily Brief, a free political newsletter distributed Monday through Friday by the Bangor Daily News to inform dialogue about Maine politics and government. To read more of todays Daily Brief, click here. To have the Daily Brief delivered daily to your inbox, click here.

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Democrat Sara Gideon draws new battle line with LePage on welfare - Bangor Daily News