Big weekend storm packing dangerous winds set to pound Bay Area and the Sierra
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE/ASHLEY MCBRIDE: "Snow surveyors tromped around the Sierra Nevada gauging the frozen water supply Thursday as a series of storms stood poised to blanket the mountains with fresh snow and pound the Bay Area with dangerous wind and rain."
"The Bay Area got a smattering of rain overnight Wednesday, but that was child’s play compared to the thrashing forecasters say the region will get Friday and again on Sunday."
"The cold front, which is expected to hit the Bay Area during Friday’s evening commute, won’t be as bad as the polar vortex plaguing the Midwest and Northeast, but officials are warning folks to batten down hatches and avoid the mountains, where icy conditions and lack of visibility could make driving treacherous."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: California's peak fire season is shifting toward December, study shows -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; California's next climate step: pushing for equitable choices -- JR DESHAZO/COLLEEN CALLAHAN in Capitol Weekly (OP-ED); What you need to know about Clean Power Alliance, SoCal's newest electric company -- LA Times's SAMMY ROTH; Woolsey-fire ravaged homeowners sue SCE, alleging utility started blaze that destroyed 1600 structures -- Daily News's CITY NEWS SERVICE
State auditor targets prison rehab programs
Capitol Weekly's JOHN HOWARD/MONET MUSCAT: "The state auditor says the California prison system’s programs to reduce recidivism aren’t working effectively, noting that inmates who complete the programs wind up back behind bars at roughly the same rates as those who don’t."
"These results are serious enough to highlight an urgent need for Corrections to take a more active and meaningful role in nsuring that these programs are effective,” California State Auditor Elaine Howle reported. She said “there was no overall significant connection between an inmate completing these programs and the inmate’s likelihood to recidivate.”
"Howle also said the correctional system isn’t adequately riding herd on its prison counselors."
READ MORE about audit: California inmate behavior programs didn't cut crime -- DON THOMPSON, AP
Immigrant tech workers struggle to get H-1B visas under Trump
LA Times's JOHANA BHUIYAN/ANDREA CASTILLO: "Leo Wang thought a promising career in the United States was within his grasp. After leaving home in China in 2015, he earned a graduate degree in entrepreneurship and innovation at USC and was hired at a Silicon Valley data storage company."
"But after his first year on the job, Wang, 32, found himself hunched over his laptop, obsessively refreshing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. He was hoping for good news."
"It was last October, six months since he’d applied for an H-1B work visa for high-skilled employees. He’d waited so long for a response that his extended student visa had expired and his employer was forced to place him on unpaid administrative leave."
READ MORE related to Immigration: DHS called hundreds of immigrants to court hearings that didn't exist -- LA Times's ANDREA CASTILLO
Cory Booker launches an unconventional White House bid built on 'universal love'
LA Times's EVAN HALPER: "Cory Booker’s unremitting optimism, wonkish attraction to big ideas and, of course, his background as a community organizer have long drawn comparisons to another pioneering African American lawmaker who went on to bigger things: Barack Obama."
"Whether Booker can ultimately harness it all as successfully as Obama did is about to be tested. On Friday, the New Jersey senator launched his White House bid."
Prescription discounts channeled to patients in Trump plan
AP's RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR: "The Trump administration has unveiled a plan to channel now-hidden prescription drug rebates directly to patients, saying it would bypass middlemen and lower prices for consumers."
"The proposed regulation from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar would eliminate behind-the-scenes discounts among drugmakers, insurers and go-betweens and instead require that they be paid directly to consumers when they buy their medications."
"The idea is to do away with a hidden cost seen as contributing to artificially high list prices for prescription drugs. The proposal was co-authored with the Health and Human Services inspector general's office."
READ MORE related to Health & Health Care: California could insure many more people -- but it could come at a steep price -- USC Center for Health Journalism Collaborative's SAMMY CAIOLA
SCUSD downgraded to near rock-bottom bond ratings amid budget crisis
Sacramento Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Amid a budget crisis, Sacramento City Unified School District bonds have been downgraded to near rock-bottom ratings, district officials said."
"The rare low ratings from the Standard & Poor’s agency come weeks after the district announced it expects to run out of money by November 2019, after months of financial crisis."
"S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Dan Kaplan said the magnitude of the district’s deficit was projected to grow over time. "
READ MORE related to Education: Chronic absenteeism in California schools up slightly, new data show -- EdSource's DAVID WASHBURN
Bay Area housing market cools, but it's still nuts
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "The Bay Area real estate market went into 2018 with a bang and out with a whimper."
"In the first half of the year, the median price rose almost 17 percent to an all-time high of $875,000 in June. In the second half, it fell 10.3 percent from that peak, ending at $785,000 in December."
he December price was down 3.7 percent from November but up 4.6 percent from December 2017, according to a report Thursday from research firm CoreLogic. It includes all new and existing homes and condos in the nine Bay Area counties."
US employers add a robust 304,000 jobs in January
AP: "U.S. employers shrugged off last month's partial government shutdown and engaged in a burst of hiring in January, adding 304,000 jobs, the most in nearly a year."
"The healthy gain the Labor Department reported Friday illustrated the job market's durability nearly a decade into the economic expansion. The U.S. has now added jobs for 100 straight months, the longest such period on record."
"The government also said the unemployment rate rose to 4%, from 3.9%, but mostly for a technical reason: About 175,000 federal workers were counted as temporarily unemployed because of the shutdown."
The dark web puts a new twist on the age-old practice of counterfeiting
LA Times's DEL QUENTIN WILBER: "When Secret Service Agent Matthew Britsch began trawling for major counterfeiters in the shadowy marketplaces of the dark web, he acted like any smart consumer on eBay — he studied the reviews."
"Britsch knew he had struck gold when he found Billmaker, the online moniker of an anonymous counterfeiter who promised a high-quality $100 bill and a money-back guarantee. He even had a loyal fan base who praised his work and customer service with scores of positive reviews."
US poised to announce withdrawal from nuclear arms treaty
AP's DEB RIECHMANN/ROBERT BURNS/MATTHEW LEE: "The Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race."
"An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). Russia denies that it has been in violation."
"U.S. officials also have expressed worry that China, which is not party to the 1987 treaty, is gaining a significant military advantage in Asia by deploying large numbers of missiles with ranges beyond the treaty's limit. Leaving the INF treaty would allow the Trump administration to counter the Chinese, but it's unclear how it would do that."