1. The state Senate approved legislation that would raise the minimum wage in California from $9 an hour to $11 an hour on January 1, the LA Times$ reports. The minimum wage would then climb to $13 an hour on January 1, 2017. The Senate voted along party lines, with Democrats favoring the bill and Republicans opposed. The proposed wage hike would not affect Oakland’s minimum wage, which is already $12.25 an hour.
David Boies.
2. Opponents of the Golden State Warriors’ plans to build a new arena on the San Francisco waterfront have hired famed attorney David Boies, who was part of the legal team that overturned the ban on gay marriage in California, the Recorder$ reports. Boies also represented then-Vice President Al Gore in the infamous Bush v. Gore case. Opponents of the Warriors’ arena plans include wealthy donors of UC San Francisco Medical Center who way the proposed basketball facility will cause a traffic nightmare for the center.
4. A group of scientists is calling on the state to reform its old water rights system, which awards water to people and communities based on how long they’ve been using it, the LA Times$ reports. The scientists say the system doesn’t work in arid conditions and note that other Western states have reformed or jettisoned their old water rights systems.
5. And a federal appeals court judge says that California executed a man who was “likely innocent” in 1998 because the US Supreme Court barred a lower court from reviewing the merits of his case, the Chron reports.
