Calif.’s Undocumented Immigrant Children Get Comprehensive Health Coverage; Scared Texan vs. the DEA

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
HEALTH CARE EXPANSION | A California state law went into effect Monday allowing undocumented immigrant children to obtain comprehensive, government-funded health care. At least 2,917 Ventura County residents 18 and younger now qualify for full-scope Medi-Cal under the Health 4 All Kids act, and that number could reach as high as 170,000 juveniles statewide. The expansion is projected to cost the state $177.7 million a year, $142.8 million covered by tax revenues, but those are just estimates. And some officials worry enrollment will be higher. [KXTV / ABC10.com]

HOUSTON, TEXAS
TRANSPARENCY | The owner of a small Texas trucking company is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to let him sue the federal government for $6.4 million in damages, after his case was dismissed in lower court. In November 2011, an 18-wheeler belonging to his company, and carrying marijuana from the border, was shadowed by the Drug Enforcement Agency and run off the road by suspected Zetas Cartel members in a bungled sting—resulting in the driver’s shooting death. The driver worked for the DEA. To make matters worse, an undercover Houston police officer shot and wounded an undercover Harris County deputy during the sting. Owner Craig Patty says the goal of his suit is not to get rich but publicize the DEA’s actions, but many of the feds’ court motions remain sealed to protect operations. "Patty sought compensation from the DEA for the damage to his truck and company and for police protection against cartel retaliation," according to the petition. "He feared that the cartel might come after him on learning that the truck belonged to his company.” [Houston Chronicle]

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
PRISONS | Contraband cell phones in prisons and social media activity among inmates are prompting concerns among South Carolina officials. “I think it’s something we’re constantly having to play catch up to,” said Stephanie Givens, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. So far this year, 66 inmates have been disciplined for social media use, even though they should not have access to computers or cellphones in state prisons. A key worry is that social media and cellphones can provide convicts an avenue to engage in illegal activity while behind bars. “We know some of the inmates will seek any means at all to do business on the outside or have business brought in,” said state Sen. Mike Fair. “Some of them are pretty smart. They can encrypt and use codes and stuff like that to communicate.” [The State]

FLINT, MICHIGAN
WATER CRISIS | Gov. Rick Snyder said it’s possible but unlikely he deleted emails about Flint’s water crisis before April 2013. Snyder’s attorney previously said the governor periodically reviewed and filed such emails or deleted them, which Snyder denied during testimony before the Congressional Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Now he’s saying he misunderstood the question. "The governor's written answers to the committee raise a whole new set of concerns about the accuracy of his testimony before Congress in March," said U.S. Rep. Elijah Cumming in a statement. "We already knew his testimony was misleading when he claimed he was working closely with the mayor of Flint—at the same time he was uttering those words, he was withholding from the mayor a plan to address the crisis he had been working on for weeks." [MLive]

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
BATHROOM LAW | The fight over North Carolina’s transgender bathroom law just took another contentious turn. The federal government is suing the state of North Carolina, and North Carolina is suing the federal government—billions of dollars at stake. In a new twist, the state’s Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat who is also running for governor, has said that he refuses to defend North Carolina against the Justice Department’s legal actions, calling the new law a “national embarrassment.” What’s unclear is whether or not it is legal for Cooper to choose which laws he defends. [The Washington Post]

GRANT COUNTY & KLAMATH COUNTY, OREGON
MARIJUANA | Voters in these two jurisdictions will decide in the state’s primary election Tuesday whether to repeal local bans on marijuana cultivation, processing and sales. Oregon’s electorate approved a recreational marijuana legalization measure in 2014. Following its passage, the state granted cities and counties where at least 55 percent of voters were against legalization the option to ban production and sales. Over 100 jurisdictions have “opted out.” But there have been shifts in some places. Commissioners in Deschutes County decided to lift a ban there last week. "I think that we have a responsibility to do what we can to find a balance, somewhere in the middle of a very divisive issue," said one commissioner. "Whether we like it or not, this [marijuana] is something that is here." [The Associated Press via OregonLive]

ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK
CONSOLIDATION | County Comptroller Robert Antonacci doesn’t see a merger of county and Syracuse municipal services producing the savings advertised. The problem, he says: much of government spending, taxation and regulation is state regulated. “If we do not address the cost drivers of government, and the rules by which we govern, we will only have a larger inefficient government with just as much tax and spending the day after the merger,” Antonacci wrote in a Post-Standard op-ed. “In comparing ourselves to the ‘uni-govs,’ we must examine the rules by which they operate.” [Post-Standard / Syracuse.com]

SOMERSET, COLORADO
COAL | Statewide coal production is down 50 percent since 2004, mines have been shuttered and miners laid off. Arch Coal's West Elk Mine—located in the western part of the state, roughly halfway between Aspen and Grand Junction—is now the last coal mine operating in an area where coal mining once thrived. In nearby Delta County, home values and school enrollment are down, roughly 1,000 mining jobs that paid an average of $80,000 annually have been lost over the last two years, and tax revenues have sunk 12 percent. “The anger here doesn't manifest itself as violence. It manifests as a sadness. People end up cutting back," said the manager of a now-closed mine. "You want better for your family than what you had. And if you're the provider for your family and you cannot provide, it has an impact. This is difficult." [The Denver Post]

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
DEVELOPMENT | Plans are emerging for significant new development along the beachfront of this Atlantic coastal city. As it is now, the look and feel of the architecture there still rings of the 1970s. But plans are in the works for upgrades at and around two resorts: Bahia Cabana and Bahia Mar. These include proposed waterfront park space and promenades, restaurants and new luxury condos. And though the International Swimming Hall of Fame is moving to California, plans are in the works for $17 million of investment at the aquatic facility that has provided its home. "It can be the San Francisco of the Southeast," an "amazingly romantic, desirable place," said Adam Sharif, CEO and founder of the firm that owns Bahia Cabana. "We'd be the San Francisco and Miami would be the L.A." [Sun-Sentinel]

DeKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT | The county launched a website allowing residents to view government board and commission vacancies and apply for them. Interim county CEO Lee May’s goal is to increase citizen involvement in government while diversifying its ranks. Adding experience to almost five dozen boards and commissions wouldn’t hurt either. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]