Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/274183
By Michael R. Blood The Associated Press LOS ANGELES » Even in an election year that appears fa- vorable for national Repub- licans, California Democrats are confident they will retain their iron grip on state lead- ership and possibly enrich their share of House seats in Washington. But for all the political sa - ber-rattling, a gathering of party delegates in Los An- geles this weekend could be significant for what goes un- said. The party has plenty to celebrate, with Democrats controlling every statewide office and both chambers of the Legislature, along with a commanding 2.6 million voter edge in registrations. Gov. Jerry Brown, seeking an unprecedented fourth term, has tamed California's seemingly perpetual budget deficits and is facing two rel - atively unknown Republican challengers. But Democrats in the state Senate count among their ranks a newly con - victed felon, Sen. Roder- ick D. Wright, and Sen. Ron Calderon, who is facing fed- eral bribery charges. Repub- licans eager to gain ground in November have depicted the two cases as evidence of a broken, one-party govern - ment. Republicans also have plenty of contentious issues to raise during this year's campaigning. Among them: the $68 billion high-speed rail train that is Brown's signature project but has lost much of its public sup - port; hundreds of billions of dollars in looming pension and retiree health care debt for public employees; and a water storage and distribu - tion system that has failed to keep pace with Califor- nia's growth. Some Democrats also fear their voters might stay home in November, with no hot race at the top of the ticket to generate excitement. That could hurt the party in any of two dozen or more competi - tive congressional and state legislative contests, they say. Republicans, meanwhile, could be eager to get to the polls to send a message on the national health care overhaul or to break the Democratic supermajori - ties in the state Legislature, which give the party a lock on statehouse power. "Any Democrat in a com - petitive district who runs a traditional campaign ... will be looking for work after Election Day," Bob Mulhol - land, a longtime party con- sultant, warned in an email to delegates. He's predicting a possible record-low turnout in No - vember and pointed to the recent mayor's race in San Diego, where Republican Kevin Faulconer overcame a Democratic registration edge. By most measures, Cali - fornia presents a comfortable landscape for Democrats. The state counted more reg- istered Republicans in 1988 than it does today, although the population has grown by about 10 million over that time, and you'd have to go back to that year to find a Republican presidential can - didate who carried the state, George H.W. Bush. Most political handicap- pers expect Democrats to retain their hold on the gov- ernorship, attorney general and other statewide offices this year, in part because of California's Democratic tilt. GOP registration has dwin - dled to 28.7 percent. The weekend convention in downtown Los Angeles is anchored to a speech Satur - day by Brown, who formally kicked off his candidacy last month. He is expected to secure enough votes in the June primary — which will be run under the state's new, top-two format — to move on to the general election. In November, Brown is ex - pected to face one of two lit- tle-known Republicans, for- mer U.S. Treasury official Neel Kashkari or state As- semblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican from the San Bernardino Mountains com- munity of Twin Peaks. Meanwhile, millions of dollars are pouring into com- petitive legislative and con- gressional races. Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford Universi- ty's Hoover Institution and a speechwriter for former Re- publican Gov. Pete Wilson, said rifts have appeared in the Democratic terrain. He pointed to Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to break with Brown and op - pose the bullet train, and an age gap between the ranks of younger Democratic vot- ers and the party's leader- ship — Brown, for example, is 75. In a recent interview, the governor sounded skep- tical about legalizing mar- ijuana, which could grate some younger voters. "There are some cracks in the wall," Whalen said. pOLiticS Democrats prep for the fall Dr. Colleen Copelan, foreground, walks past the cardboard cutouts of President Barack Obama, le, and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the California Democrats State Convention on Friday in Los Angeles. JAe C. HOng — THe ASSOCiATeD PReSS By Martha Mendoza The Associated Press SA RAtOGA » Juven i les who sexually assault un- conscious victims could be tried as adults under pro- posed California legislation brought in response to the suicide of a 15-year-old girl who was sexually battered while passed out at a party then humiliated by photos circulated to classmates. The amendment was an - nounced Friday as part of a package of legal changes brought by state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose. It seeks to close a loophole that makes it a less serious crime to rape someone who is unconscious or mentally incapacitated than some - one who is of a clear mind. The changes also include a cyberbullying statute that would make it a felony to share obscene or sexual photos of young people or their body parts on social media or smartphones to harass or bully them. "To me, whether you rape someone or ply them with alcohol and then rape them, they're both dis - gusting and despicable acts which I think should be handled in adult court," said Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who helped draft the legislation. In 2012, Audrie Pott fell asleep after drinking Ga - torade laced with alcohol at a friend's party in their hometown of Saratoga. She awoke to find her pants off and lewd comments scrib - bled over her body. Her family says she hanged herself days later after learning cellphone photos of her taken during the assault were circulated. "My life is ruined," she wrote on her Facebook page. "The whole school knows." Flanked by large photos of her daughter, Audrie's mother, Sheila Pott, said the changes are critical to cracking down on assaults and cyberbullying among teens. "We don't want to lose any more of our children to this epidemic," she said. Pott stressed that if the perpetrators, three of Audrie's teenage class - mates, had been tried as adults, their cases would have been public and the consequences more se - vere. Instead the three were prosecuted in pri- vate juvenile proceedings and sentenced to between 30 and 45 day in juvenile hall. Two continue to at - tend Saratoga High, while the third transferred to high school about an hour south in Gilroy. Ex posing the teens' identity "would deter fu - ture incidents and put the community on alert to monitor the students' behavior," Pott said. The Potts are suing the teens and their families. Attorney Sue Burrell at the San Francisco-based Youth Law Center said the proposed legislation is mis - guided and overly broad. "This is a tragic, tragic case, but this is not going to be a deterrent," she said. SAcRAMENtO Cyberbully law proposed aer teen girl's suicide By The Associated Press KUALA LUMpUR, MALAySiA » A Malaysia Airlines Boe- ing 777-200 carrying 239 people lost contact over the South China Sea early Sat- urday morning on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bei- jing, and international avia- tion authorities still hadn't located the jetliner several hours later. The plane lost commu - nication two hours into the flight in Vietnam's airspace at 1:20 a.m. (18:20 GMT Fri- day), China's official Xinhua News Agency said. Vietnam- ese website VN Express said a Vietnamese search and rescue official reported that signals from the plane were detected about 120 nautical miles (140 miles; 225 kilome - ters) southwest of Vietnam's southernmost Ca Mau prov- ince. Malaysia Airlines said it was working with author- ities who activated their search and rescue teams to locate the aircraft. The route would take the aircraft from Malaysia across to Vietnam and China. "Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew. Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize it s fu ll s up po rt ," M al ay si a Airlines CEO Ahmad Jau - hari Yahya said in a state- ment. " O u r t h o u g h t s a n d prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members," he added. All countries in the possi - ble flight path of the missing aircraft were performing a "communications and radio search", said John Andrews, deputy chief of the Philip - pines' civil aviation agency. Fuad Sharuji, Malaysian Airlines' vice president of operations control, told CNN that the plane was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) and that the pilots had reported no prob - lem with the aircraft. He said the aircraft's last communi- cation was over the South China Sea between Malay- sia and Vietnam. Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. Saturday (16:41 GMT Fri - day) and had been expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (22:30 GMT Friday), Malaysia Airlines said. The plane was carry - ing 227 passengers, includ- ing two infants, and 12 crew members, the airline said. Passengers were from 14 countries, including 153 from China, 38 from Malaysia, seven Australians and four Americans. At Beijing's airport, au - thorities posted a notice asking relatives and friends of passengers to gather to a hotel about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the airport to wait for further informa - tion, and provided a shuttle bus service. Zhai Le was waiting for her friends, a couple who were on their way back to the Chinese capital on the flight. She said she was very con - cerned because she hadn't been able to reach them. A woman wept aboard the shuttle bus while saying on a mobile phone, "They want us to go to the hotel. It cannot be good!" Yahya, the airline CEO, said the 53-year-old pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, has more than 18,000 f lying hours and has been flying for Ma la ys ia A ir li ne s si nce 19 81 . The first officer, 27-year-old Fariq Hamid, has about 2,800 hours of experience and has flown for the airline since 2007. Malaysia Airlines' last fatal incident was in 1995, when one its planes crashed near the Malaysian city of Tawau, killing 34 people. Malaysia Airlines has 15 Boeing 777-200 jets in its fleet of about 100 planes. The state-owned carrier last month reported its fourth straight quarterly loss. The 777 had not had a fa - tal crash in its 20-year his- tory until the Asiana crash in San Francisco in July 2013. MALAySiA Je tli ne r mi ss in g wi th 2 39 ab oa rd Four Americans on board flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing 1921 ~ 2014 93 RD www.redbluffroundup.com (530) 527-1000 1-80 0-545-3500 APRIL 18, 19, 20, 2014 Joel Vengley Nev er h av e I exp erie nced s uch a caring, patient and professional environment. The staff at UpState Hearing is unmatched by any business that I have ever encountered. As a father and health care professional, my hearing loss cost me to lose precious moments with my family and increased frustration at work. After meeting with the staff at UpState my hearing loss has been recovered. UpState improved my quality of life with my family and at work. A great big thank you to everyone at UpState. SATuRDAy, MARCH 8, 2014 ReDBLuFFDAiLyneWS.COM | NEWS | 7 A ★