L.A. sheriff stripped of control of Kuehl investigation by attorney general
LAT, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: “California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Tuesday took control from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department of a controversial criminal investigation into county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and others, saying that sidelining the department was in the “public interest.”
Bonta’s unusual decision to strip the Sheriff’s Department of its own investigation comes amid mounting questions about the department’s handling of the probe and allegations from Kuehl and others that Sheriff Alex Villanueva is using it to attack political enemies.
In another setback for the department, a Superior Court judge also on Tuesday temporarily blocked sheriff’s investigators from searching computers and other devices seized last week from Kuehl and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.”
Solar power and a stressed grid: Batteries may play key role
LIAM GRAVVAT, Capitol Weekly: "California’s electrical grid was pushed to unprecedented limits recently as the state suffered through a record-breaking heat wave and wildfires burned tens of thousands of acres across the already parched Golden State.
At least one segment of California’s power grid drew special attention — solar energy, which comprises about 15 percent of California’s power needs.
Solar-generated power has long been viewed by experts as an effective way — perhaps the most effective — to wean society from fossil-based fuels and curb climate-changing carbon emissions.
‘State of emergency’: Oakland leaders ring the alarm after three homicides in one hour
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN/SARAH RAVANI: “Hatim Nasser stood outside the Islamic Center in Oakland on Tuesday morning, cell phone buzzing as he made burial arrangements for a friend shot dead the night before — one of three slayings within an hour.
It was the latest spasm of violence in a city confounded by frequent shootings; yet even as political leaders raised the alarm, gunfire killed another person in the heart of downtown.
The deadly spree started at about 7:45 p.m. Monday on the 3100 block of Telegraph Avenue, around the corner from the Islamic Center in the Pill Hill neighborhood, according to the Oakland Police Department.”
Inside the war against Southern California’s urban coyotes. ‘Horrific’ or misunderstood?
LAT, LOUIS SAHAGUN: “Kristin Muller said she was sickened by the sight of the half-eaten remains of her cherished cat, Milkshake, on a neighbor’s lawn.
Security camera video, she told the Manhattan Beach City Council, revealed that Milkshake “was ambushed and killed from behind at 3:46 a.m.”
It was one of three cats her family believed were lost to coyotes in just two months in the city’s Liberty Village community, despite desperate efforts to protect them by dousing the yard with gallons of wolf urine.”
L.A. Unified cyberattackers demand ransom
LAT, HOWARD BLUME: “The hackers who targeted the Los Angeles Unified School District have made a ransom demand, officials confirmed Tuesday, an indication that the attackers have extracted sensitive data or believe they can bluff the district into thinking that they have.
“We can confirm that there was a demand made,” L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said. “There has been no response to the demand.”
Carvalho declined to disclose the amount of the ransom demand or any further information about what information, if any, the attackers may be holding.”
Settlement requires state to monitor Contra Costa school that restrained students
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: “Elyse K., a parent of twins in Contra Costa County, knew something was amiss at her children’s new school when her daughter, then age 8, refused to get out of the car during morning drop-off.
“She said that they had hung her on the wall, like a coat on a coat rack, with her legs spread like an X,” said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her children’s identities. “She said she’d had enough and didn’t want to go back.”
Alarmed, Elyse K. confirmed the story with Marchus School staff and asked the state to investigate. Her actions, along with those of other parents, led to a lawsuit that settled last week requiring systemic changes at the Concord public school for children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges.”
This map reveals who owns every property in the S.F. Bay Area
The Chronicle, EMMA STIEFEL/SUSIE NEILSON: “To our knowledge, there has never been a centralized database where someone could see who owns any property in the nine-county Bay Area region, making it difficult to investigate connections between the powerful forces that shape the housing market for all. So The Chronicle built one.
Type in your full address, or any Bay Area address, to see who officially owns nearly any building. The map contains data on almost 2.3 million properties registered across the Bay Area’s nine counties, which The Chronicle obtained in summer 2021.
The Chronicle used this data to investigate the ownership networks of 12 of the region’s most powerful real estate players and for a deep dive into Veritas Investments, one of San Francisco’s largest residential rental companies. But the properties owned by those 12 real estate giants and Veritas represent a fraction (0.3%) of the data.”
In nonpartisan race for California superintendent of public instruction, it’s all politics
LAT, MACKENZIE MAYS: “The superintendent of public instruction is the only nonpartisan statewide office in California, but it seems impossible to separate politics from the race between Democratic incumbent Tony Thurmond and Republican challenger Lance Christensen.
Neither shy away from stepping into the partisan fray.
As superintendent, Thurmond, who was elected in 2018 after a term in the California Assembly, has been in lockstep with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has promoted LGBTQ-inclusive books in school libraries amid fights against them in some Republican-led states; issued a statement supporting abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade and launched discussions about institutional racism after the police killing of George Floyd.”
S.F. schools welcome 1,000 more students than expected this year: ‘An optimistic sign’
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: “San Francisco schools saw about 1,000 more students than expected this fall, a slowing of a financially devastating decline in enrollment and bolstering hopes that fewer families will flee the district in the wake of the pandemic.
The number of students enrolled in the district this year is 49,045, according to official count taken 10 days into the school year, well surpassing the 47,996 children officials predicted.
“We are pleased to see that enrollment in San Francisco public schools is stabilizing and is higher than we had projected,” said Superintendent Matt Wayne. “We even have seen a slight increase in the number of kindergarten and 6th grade students.””
S.F. had bold plan to cut chronic homelessness in half in 5 years. The numbers only got worse
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH/KEVIN FAGAN: “In 2017, San Francisco’s top officials announced an audacious goal: Cut the city’s chronic homelessness number in half over the next five years.
A few months earlier, the city had received support to help reach that goal — $100 million in pledged private expenditures from a nonprofit aiming for the same five-year reduction, complementing the city’s more than $250 million annual homelessness budget.
“This is going to be huge,” then-Mayor Ed Lee told The Chronicle at the time about the initiative by nonprofit Tipping Point. “I do believe we’ll be able to cut chronic homelessness in half with this help.””
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: “A flood of Dreamforce attendees saturated the streets around Moscone Center on Tuesday, bringing 2019-like crowds to downtown San Francisco in the city’s biggest conference in three years.
A 40,000-person sold out crowd took over a closed off block on Howard Street and all three Moscone Center facilities, with massive lines and pedestrian congestion outside each building. Convention rooms and escalators were packed with people, who largely seemed unconcerned about COVID, as only a few wore masks. They marveled at a spectacle that included a 30-foot artificial waterfall complete with foam rock formations, a puppy play area and digital recordings of butterflies at the entrance, all meant to evoke the conference’s National Park theme.
It was a mix of summer camp, arts megafestival and heavy corporate branding — with tech heavyweights like Amazon, TikTok and IBM all operating extravagant booths on the expo floor in Moscone South. Exhibition displays included a mini ski lift with Salesforce’s cartoon mascots and a wooden campground. There were close to a half-dozen overflow seating areas, beaming in live video from speakers and panels.”
Putin announces partial military mobilization in Russia in war with Ukraine
AP, KARL RITTER: “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists in Russia, in a move that appeared to be an admission that Moscow’s war against Ukraine isn’t going according to plan after nearly seven months of fighting.
It’s the first mobilization in Russia since World War II and comes amid recent battlefield losses for the Kremlin’s forces.
The Russian leader, in a seven-minute televised address to the nation aired Wednesday morning, also warned the West that he isn’t bluffing over using all the means at his disposal to protect Russia’s territory, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Russia’s nuclear capability. Putin has previously warned the West not to push Russia to the wall and has rebuked NATO countries for supplying weapons to help Ukraine.