Thursday Must Reads: Four OPD Cops on Leave in Assault Case; Judge Invalidates Jerry Brown’s Prison Reform Measure

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. The Oakland Police Department has placed four police officers on paid administrative leave in connection with a home invasion and assault case, which was first reported by the Express. The Trib$ reports that, in addition to Officer Cullen William Faeth, who was arrested on charges of assault and public drunkenness, OPD has also placed Sergeant Joe Turner on leave, along with two other cops. The victim, probation officer Olga Cortez, said that Turner pointed his gun at her during the December 7 incident in which Faeth assaulted her. Turner was one of four Oakland cops who also shot and killed a man in East Oakland in November.

2. A state judge in Sacramento invalidated Jerry Brown’s prison-reform ballot measure, ruling that the governor filed it improperly, the SacBee$ reports. A group of state prosecutors, who oppose the planned November 2016 measure, sued to block it, contending that Brown illegally gutted another measure and then replaced it with his prison-reform proposal, which would allow for early release of nonviolent felons. The governor and prison-reform groups plan to appeal.

3. The Sierra snowpack continues to plummet and is now at 92 percent of normal because of warm, dry weather in February, Capital Radio reports (h/t Rough & Tumble). At the end of January, the snowpack was at 115 percent.

4. Yet despite the melting snowpack, state water officials announced that they plan to double water allotments to farms and consumers this year from what they had originally proposed. The Chron reports that the state will increase water allotments from 15 percent to 30 percent.


[jump] 5. Golden State Warrior’s star guard Stephen Curry is coming under fire for his decision to promote the use of Britta water filters during a visit to a public West Oakland elementary school, the Chron reports. Educators say that public schools should be free of product promotion and corporate branding. In addition, Britta filters are totally unnecessary in much of the East Bay, because the area’s water supply is among the cleanest in the world.

6. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it’s illegal for restaurant owners to force their waitstaffers to share tips with back-of-the-house employees, the LA Times$ reports. Many restaurants require tip-sharing in order to increase pay for the rest of their workers.

7. Ex-state Senator Leland Yee, who pleaded guilty to public corruption charges, was sentenced to five years in prison, the Chron reports.

8. And John Sutter, a former Alameda County judge and staunch environmentalist who has served as Oakland’s representative on the East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors for twenty years, announced that he is retiring and will not seek reelection, the CoCo Times$ reports.