Newsom calls for record spending to confront California's looming wildfire season
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER/TAL KOPAN: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for unprecedented levels of spending on fire prevention this year, money likely to be supplemented with additional federal dollars, with the hope of averting what many say is a terrible wildfire season in the making.
The proposed state budget, for which the governor on Monday provided more details, doubles the $1 billion increase initially planned for dealing with wildfires in the coming fiscal year — to $2 billion.
The new funding would be split between beefing up the state’s ability to respond to disasters and doing the precautionary work of reducing fire-feeding vegetation across the state’s wildlands, projects like tree thinning and building fuel breaks that have received far less money in the past."
California fires: State faces challenging fire season amid worsening drought, Newsom says
PAUL ROGERS, Mercury News: "On the heels of last year’s record wildfire season, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Monday that California is facing another difficult summer and fall of fires due to the worsening drought.
“None of us are naïve about the challenge this state faces, or for that matter the entire Western United States,” Newsom said during a visit to the Cal Fire aviation center at McLellan Park in Sacramento. “Record drought conditions persist all through the Western United States.”
So far this year, more fires have burned in California than during the same period last year, particularly in Southern California. From Jan. 1 to May 19, there have been 2,504 wildfires statewide, up from 1,534 fires in 2020, according to statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. And last year, while 2,527 acres had burned by mid-May, this year, 15,390 acres have already burned."
CHP officers allegedly took $35K in bribes to alter car dox, California DOJ claims
Sac Bee, LARA KORTE: "Two former California Highway Patrol officers were arraigned in Los Angeles on Monday for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for falsifying documents to register exotic “gray market” cars, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta .:
According to the complaint filed by the California Department of Justice, former officers James Yao Kuo and Jessie Anthony Carrillo received $35,000 in 2016 to alter the Carfax and DMV documents for vehicles imported to the U.S. from another country.
In many cases, it is illegal to drive those “gray market” cars in California because they don’t meet the state safety and/or emissions standards, according to the Justice Department."
Could California's drought crisis block Bay Area housing construction?
EMMA TALLEY, Chronicle: "The Marin Municipal Water District is considering banning new water service hookups to homes in response to worsening drought conditions. But the move could hurt future housing development in an area already in dire need of more homes.
The move would come amid historic drought conditions in the area, with county officials declaring a local drought emergency last week in light of a “grim and deteriorating” situation. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor recently deemed most of the Bay Area as extreme drought zones for the first time since 2015.
“We need to do everything that we can to save water,” said Jeanne Mariani-Belding, spokesperson for the water district."
READ MORE ENVIRONMENT NEWS --- A 'super blood moon' is coming this week. Here's how to catch it -- The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES; Parts of Bay Area suddenly in the very worst drought category. Here's what that means -- The Chronicle, DOMINIC FRACASSA
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Update -- California State Parks
STAFF: With Memorial Day – one of the biggest camping holidays of the year – coming up next Monday, we thought we’d check in on the status of California’s State Parks. We’re joined this week by Gloria Sandoval, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for State Parks who tells us how to get into your favorite park – and offers tips on what to do if your first option is booked.
MICHAEL HILTZIK, LA Times: "Alysia Padilla-Vaccaro knows she’s been blessed by a revolutionary stem cell treatment that has allowed her daughter Evangelina, 9, to live a normal life. But she’s also anguished.
Anguished not by doubts about the treatment, which was funded with millions of dollars from California’s stem cell program formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM.
The treatment has completely cured Evangelina’s rare genetic immune system deficiency, which is known familiarly as bubble baby syndrome and commonly takes the lives of children with the condition by the age of 2."
The Chronicle, ALEXANDRIA BORDAS/CYNTHIA DIZIKES: "Florida police are investigating an accusation that Dominic Foppoli, who on Monday resigned as Windsor’s mayor, committed “sexual battery” with his “hands/feet/teeth” at a home in Palm Beach, according to new documents released Monday.
An attorney for Farrah Abraham, a 29-year-old social media influencer and former reality television star, said Foppoli injured Abraham during the alleged March 2021 assault.
“Some of the evidence provided to police were photographs of the injuries she sustained,” said Spencer Kuvin, who is based in West Palm Beach, Fla."
California essential workers: What do you think about the end to the mask mandate?
Sac Bee, JEONG PARK: "California will lift most of its restrictions on June 15.
That means getting rid of the COVID-19 capacity limits in most cases and mask requirements for those who are fully vaccinated.
Some Californians are cheering the reopening after more than a year of restrictions that led some businesses to close. But others are warning that the lifting of the mask and social distancing requirements is coming too soon, when there are hundreds of new COVID-19 cases a day in the state."
Legislators urge state to deny SF school district's bid for $12M in reopening funds
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "State legislators have accused San Francisco’s school district of trying to exploit a legal loophole to receive $12 million in state funding to reopen schools for in-person learning, arguing the district did not bring back enough students to qualify for the money.
California set aside $2 billion earlier this spring to help school districts reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. To qualify for the money, districts needed to reopen for all elementary grades and at least one grade in middle or high school by May 15.
The San Francisco Unified School District chose to bring back high school seniors but instead of offering in-person instruction to the entire grade, only some seniors were invited to return before the deadline. District officials have said they launched a “hybrid schedule” for seniors by the deadline, which might not qualify under the law."
SF ranks near the bottom of US metro areas in home value increases
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "The U.S. is in the middle of a record-setting boom in home values and a massive squeeze in supply. But the Bay Area has been somewhat cushioned from these effects, according to a recent Zillow report.
The report found that in the metropolitan area of San Francisco — which includes Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin counties — home values increased by 7.4% in April 2021 compared to the previous year. In the San Jose metropolitan area, which includes Santa Clara and San Benito counties, home values were up by 5.9%.
By comparison, home values in the U.S. overall rose 11.6% over the past year. And in some regions, including Phoenix and Austin, Texas, home values soared by more than 20%."
Sacramento to consider stiff fines for illegal fireworks after complaints soared in 2020
Sac Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "Last summer, fireworks complaints soared in Sacramento and across the country. This year, city officials are hoping to crack down on fireworks that violate the city code by imposing new fines.
Here’s what you need to know about the amended ordinance, which the City Council will consider Tuesday, in preparation for the Fourth of July."