Newsom broadens drought order – but again stops short of mandatory urban water cutbacks
DALE KASLER and RYAN SABALOW, SacBee: “Gov. Gavin Newsom, acknowledging the severity of the drought, ordered California cities and other local water agencies Monday to reduce their water usage and tighten their conservation rules.
Newsom, however, continued to resist mandatory statewide cutbacks in urban water use, just as he did last year during the recall campaign. Instead, he ordered urban water agencies to implement the second stage of their water shortage contingency plans — protocols that are to take effect when water shortages approach 20%.
While those rules vary from one jurisdiction to the next, they usually include restrictions on outdoor watering, customer rebates for installing efficient plumbing fixtures and stepped-up public-relations efforts and “water waste” patrols.”
Newsom urges ban on watering lawns at businesses as drought worsens
The Chronicle, STAFF: "As California’s exceptional drought stretches into a third year, Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging state water regulators to ban the watering of lawns at businesses and other institutions.
Newsom signed an executive order Monday that asks the state Water Resources Control Board to prohibit businesses and other institutions from irrigating grass or “non-functional turf” that only serves an ornamental purpose. The ban would not apply to residential households or irrigation needed to keep trees and other landscaping alive, nor to grass that serves a recreational purpose, such as school fields.
Still, Newsom’s administration said the move would save hundreds of thousands of acre feet of water this year. One acre-foot of water can meet the consumption needs of about two to three households for about a year."
Deadly highways: Fewer crashes but more fatalities
WILL SHUCK, Capitol Weekly: “The pandemic-prompted shift to at-home work dramatically reduced the number of cars on the road, so people drove faster, drank more, paid less attention and got lazy about their seatbelts, all of which contributed to the highest rate of fatal accidents in more than a decade.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration this month reported that 38,824 people died from vehicle collisions in 2020. That’s the highest number of fatalities since 2007. And initial numbers for the first nine months of 2021 suggest the speed-and-crash trend has continued.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator Steven Cliff, a veteran of the Jerry Brown Administration, said the numbers are proof of a “deadly crisis” nationwide.”
Vigorous storm system hits Southern California with rain, snow and messy roads
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH/LILA SEIDMAN: "A vigorous storm system moved into the Southland on Monday, offering much-needed rain and high-elevation snow to the drought-stricken region — along with the threat of lightning, flash floods, road hazards and small hail.
By early afternoon, steady rain was falling in Los Angeles County after the storm had moved through Santa Barbara and Ventura, the National Weather Service said.
The California Highway Patrol reported street flooding in several areas, including near Sepulveda Boulevard, where news video showed cars splashing through deep water."
California wildfire smoke may rise to ‘practically unbearable’ levels in next decades
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The unrelenting wildfire smoke that’s etched in the memories — and lungs — of many Californians after several difficult fire seasons is expected to worsen in coming years. The extent of the uptick, though, may be far greater than previously thought.
Residents in the Pacific Northwest and parts of Northern California could see particle pollution from wildfires increase more than 50% by the middle of the century, compared with recent decades, and triple by century’s end, new research shows.
The troubling scenarios, published Monday by scientists at Princeton University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, up the ante on a sobering trend identified in past research and mark a future in which smoky skies make late summer and early fall practically unbearable."
Dorms eyed for community colleges to ease California housing crunch
MICHAEL BURKE and EMMA GALLEGOS, EdSource: “At Sierra College just north of Sacramento, every semester brings at least one guarantee: a very long wait list for housing in the college’s residence hall.
One of just a few community colleges in California offering on-campus housing, Sierra College’s dorm-style residence hall has about 120 beds. With more than 16,000 students enrolled at the college and about 25% of them housing insecure, demand for those beds regularly outpaces supply.
Soon, help could be on the way: Sierra College is one of four community colleges that the state’s Department of Finance has recommended receive tens of millions in funding to create more affordable housing for its students. The other community colleges are Fresno City College, Ventura College on the state’s Central Coast and College of the Siskiyous in northern California near the Oregon border.”
Capiltol Weekly podcast: Dan Zingale looks ahead
CW staff: “Daniel Zingale has worn many hats during his career in and around government: head of the Department of Managed Healthcare, Senior VP at the California Endowment, and more recently, Governor Newsom’s top communications chief. He announced his retirement in January 2020 and soon ensconced himself in a cabin in the foothills with his partner Chuck and a flock of livestock.
Even “retired,” Zingale can’t leave the political fray. He is currently serving on the Delta Stewardship Council, is part of the California 100 Project, and recently announced that he joined the veteran lobby firm Sacramento Advocates. We also learned that he helped his former boss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, promote his recent message to the Russian people about Ukraine.
Stolen luxury cars worth $2.3 million found stashed in Van Nuys backyard
JAMIE DING, LA Times: “More than 30 stolen luxury vehicles, including BMWs, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Porsches and Jaguars, were being stashed in a Van Nuys backyard, authorities said.
The cars, worth a total of $2.3 million, had been “fraudulently purchased” from dealerships in Southern California, according to California Highway Patrol investigators.
An aerial photo provided by the CHP showed the cars lined up neatly on a grassy lot behind the house.”
Schools to stay closed Monday as Sacramento district, teacher talks extend with no sign of resolution
DARRELL SMITH, SacBee: “Sacramento City Unified School District officials continued twin talks with bargainers from the teachers and classified staff unions Sunday as negotiations on a new labor pact ground through the weekend.
Classes in the 40,000-student district would remain closed Monday, the district said in a 9:30 p.m. update, marking the fourth day without instruction. The district closed its campuses Wednesday as employees took to the picket line.”
California grocery store chain with Sacramento locations sold to private equity firm
MARIJKE ROWLAND, SacBee: “Modesto-born Save Mart Supermarkets has been bought by a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, ending 70 years of Central Valley ownership of the popular grocery chain.
The Save Mart Cos. — which includes Save Mart, Lucky California, and FoodMaxx grocery stores — was acquired by Kingswood Capital Management LP.
The two companies announced the news Monday morning in a joint statement. Save Mart has locations across the Sacramento area, including in East Sacramento, Elk Grove, Carmichael and more. The company also has FoodMaxx locations in South Natomas and near Burbank High School, according to the store’s website.”
LA Times, SARAH D WIRE: "Former President Trump “more likely than not” attempted to illegally obstruct Congress when he tried to subvert the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, a federal district court judge determined in a ruling Monday that ordered California lawyer John Eastman to hand over emails to the congressional panel investigating the insurrection.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who is based in Santa Ana, broadly stated that Trump likely committed felony obstruction of Congress and that Trump and his then attorney Eastman likely engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct Congress.
“Based on the evidence, the court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” Carter wrote."
Will Smith’s Oscars slap condemned by the film academy, investigation launched
LA Times, JOSH ROTTENBERG: "Following Sunday night’s stunning altercation at the Oscars, in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, the motion picture academy announced Monday it is conducting a formal review of Smith’s conduct.
“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,” the organization said. “We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences enacted a code of conduct for its members in 2017 in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. “There is no place in the Academy for people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognized standards of decency,” the group said at the time. “If any member is found by the Board of Governors to have violated these standards or to have compromised the integrity of the Academy by their actions, the Board of Governors may take any disciplinary action permitted by the Academy’s bylaws, including suspension or expulsion.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, in her toughest hour, is keeping a tighter circle
LA Times, NOAH BERMAN/MELANIE MASON: "Vice President Kamala Harris was marinating in a fresh stew of commentary about her public polling that showed her home state approval numbers were almost as dismal as her national ones. Russia had just invaded Ukraine, forcing the vice president to accelerate her on-the-job training as the administration faced a defining foreign policy crisis.
It was the kind of week that has become routine for Harris, replete with stress and scrutiny. But for about an hour on Feb. 28, a cool and cloudy Monday, it felt like the old times, as she hosted 11 close friends and supporters in her ceremonial office in a building next to the White House. They checked out a new bust of Thurgood Marshall in the corner, shared pictures and hugs, and told her to stay strong.
“Of course, we addressed her as Madam Vice President, but she was Kamala to us,” said Amelia Ashley-Ward, a Harris friend who is also the publisher of the Sun-Reporter, the Bay Area Black newspaper that gave a greenhorn California politician one of her first big political endorsements. “I assured her that I still had her back.”"
Bay Area gas prices hit another record high
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: "As the national average price for gas continued to plateau on Monday, the same could not be said for several cities in California, including the Bay Area, according to the American Automobile Association.
San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Napa, Vallejo, Fairfield and San Jose recorded their highest average price of gas — regular and/or diesel — in the last two days, according to figures by the AAA.
The cost of crude oil — which makes up more than two-thirds of what drivers pay at the pump — spiked up to $100 when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Two weeks ago, when crude oil prices gradually fell below $110, the national average price for gas followed suit, the AAA said."
Who should receive reparations in California for slavery? Answers raise more questions
LA Times, TARYN LUNA: "Antoinette Harrell has spent nearly three decades of her life verifying cases of slavery in the South before and after emancipation.
She visits grave sites, interviews grandparents, explores dusty attics, digs through records and follows all leads she can find to track down the family histories that many were stripped of more than a century ago when their ancestors were split up and enslaved.
And she has advice for California’s Reparations Task Force as it prepares to answer the pivotal question of who should receive reparations for slavery."
Zelensky holds out possibility of Ukrainian ‘neutrality’ as Russian assaults continue
LA Times, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL/JAWEED KALEEM/JENNY JARVIE: "Russian and Ukrainian officials began arriving in Turkey on Monday for a new round of talks as their countries battled well into a fifth week of war, with missiles raining down outside several cities Monday morning, including the capital of Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
In a video address ahead of the negotiations, to be held in person in Istanbul, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation was seeking peace “without delay” and “the restoration of normal life.” He also said separately that he was willing to accept Ukrainian “neutrality,” one of Russia’s core demands. That would mean Ukraine letting go of aspirations to join NATO, even though pursuit of membership is enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The talks are expected to open Tuesday."