California tree carnage: A decade of drought and fire killed a third of Sierra Nevada forests
Sacramento Bee, ARI PLACHTA: "Admirers of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are familiar with the swaths of blackened trees flanking its sprawling green forest ranges. A new UC Berkeley study quantifies that devastation, finding nearly a third of southern Sierra conifer forests have died in the last decade.
California has seen devastating bouts of drought and record-breaking wildfire events in the last several years. From 2011-2020, a combination of fire, drought and drought-related bark beetle infestations killed 30% of forests in the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Lake Tahoe and Kern County, according to the analysis.
“It’s kind of a wake up call, even to those of us that are kind of steeped in this field,” said Zackary Steel, lead author of the study. “We’re moving from knowing this is a problem to quantifying the problem.""
Newsom wants to tackle high gas prices with a new tax. Here’s why it won’t be easy
Sacramento Bee, MAGGIE ANGST: "Nearly a month after California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a new tax on “greedy” oil companies charging high gas prices while enjoying unprecedented profits, his administration has shared few details about the plan.
Newsom called for a windfall profits tax that would fund rebates for California taxpayers getting squeezed at the pump. Underscoring the urgency of the matter, the Democratic governor called on state legislators to convene in Sacramento for a special session in December to hammer out the specifics.
“They’re screwing you, taking advantage of you,” Newsom said about oil companies after his gubernatorial debate on Sunday. “... A price gouging penalty to put money back in the pockets of people that are being taken advantage of is not only the right thing to do, it’s the moral and ethical thing to do.”
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "Arnold Schwarzenegger was the last California governor from the Republican Party, the same party whose leaders are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to give state legislatures the last word on district boundaries and election disputes.
But Schwarzenegger is urging the court to reject that plan and says it would threaten, among other things, the nonpartisan commission that California voters approved while he was governor to draw district lines for state and federal candidates after each census.
Allowing partisan lawmakers to overrule state courts on rules that govern elections “would eliminate state efforts to curtail partisan gerrymandering, imperiling the checks and balances needed for a functioning redistricting process that places voters’ interests over legislators,’” lawyers for Schwarzenegger wrote Wednesday in a filing on the case that the court is scheduled to hear Dec. 7."
Going electric: Opponents clash as California aims to force diesel trucks off the road
CALMatters, NADIA LOPEZ: "Environmentalists and trucking industry groups sparred with clean air regulators today over a contentious proposal to phase out California’s big rigs and other trucks with internal combustion engines, and force manufacturers to speed mass-production of electric trucks.
The California Air Resources Board held its first public hearing on rules that would ban manufacturers from selling any new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks by 2040. The new rules would also require large trucking companies to convert their fleets to electric models, buying more over time until all are zero-emission by 2042. The move is part of the state’s wider strategy to end its reliance on fossil fuels and cut planet-warming emissions.
“California is leading the transition to wide-scale electrification of trucks and buses,” said board chair Liane Randolph. “These actions can show the world how to simultaneously address the climate crisis, improve air quality and alleviate key concerns identified by communities.”"
Organizers launch bid to recall embattled L.A. City Councilmember Kevin de León
LA Times, JULIA WICK/DAKOTA SMITH: "Amid widespread calls for the embattled politician’s resignation, five constituents filed initial paperwork Thursday to recall Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León.
The former state Senate leader has been at the center of a political maelstrom set off by a leaked recording first reported by The Times on Oct. 9.
De León has said repeatedly that he has no plans to step down, citing the need for representation in his downtown and Eastside district. He was elected to the council in 2020 and has more than two years left in his term."
Kevin de León is on an apology tour. When will he realize it’s a farewell tour? (COLUMN)
LA Times, ERIKA D SMITH: "For what seemed like the 100th time in about 20 minutes, Kevin de León was speechless, his jaw slack, his eyes as wide and blank as a deer caught in headlights.
Tavis Smiley, the host and founder of KBLA Talk 1580 AM, had just asked the embattled Los Angeles City Council member the only question that matters: How did De León possibly think he could continue to serve in elected office?
How, when so many Angelenos now see the former activist as a “hypocrite” for participating in a racist, secretly recorded conversation with two other Latino council members and a labor leader? On Thursday, five of his own Eastside constituents filed paperwork to recall him."
Long COVID afflicts 15% of adults who test positive
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "As evidence accumulates on the number of people infected with the coronavirus who end up with symptoms of long COVID, interest is also mounting in the possibility that the Pfizer antiviral drug Paxlovid could provide a possible treatment.
But as with so many other treatments during the pandemic, access to the medication has been unequal: a new CDC study finds that Black Americans were 36% less likely to be given it to fight their infection than their white neighbors.
Equal access to treatment will become increasingly important heading into the winter amid new data showing a rise in hospitalizations and forecasts for a peak in December to January.
These are now the most common COVID symptoms — depending on your vaccination status
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Don’t shrug off that sneeze or scratch at the back of your throat. As coronavirus variants continue to evolve and become more difficult to detect, so do COVID symptoms, allowing more people to spread the virus without realizing it.
Signs of infection are increasingly hard to tell apart from symptoms of a common cold or flu, according to the latest update from the ongoing Zoe Health Study, a joint project by researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and King’s College in London."
Sacramento supervisor shares COVID misinformation, says children ‘do not die’ from virus
Sacramento Bee, MATHEWN MIRANDA/CATHIE ANDERSON: "Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost shared misinformation about COVID-19 at a public meeting, this week saying “COVID is gone,” “children do not get or die from the virus,” and describing vaccines for the virus as “experimental.”
Statistics from California’s COVID-19 database show that Frost’s statements are not correct.
The state’s latest update showed that minors accounted for 18.1% of COVID-19 cases in California, 352,734 of those cases among preschoolers and 1,532,288 in kids ages 5 to 17."
CDC paves way for California to require school COVID vaccines — but lawmakers have given up for now
CALMatters, ELIZABETH AGUILERA: "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination advisors voted last week to recommend all children get the COVID-19 vaccine, a move that does not change California’s list of vaccines required for children to attend school.
The addition of the COVID-19 vaccine to the CDC’s recommended vaccines for kids is not a mandate for states’ school attendance requirements. Any additions to California’s list must be made by the state Legislature or the state Department of Public Health. In the last 12 months, the Newsom administration and the Legislature separately tried to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for kids to attend school, and both failed.
People involved in those efforts said they do not expect the Legislature to consider a mandate for children again next year, barring a big spike in hospitalizations or deaths."
Collaborative, hands-on trainings crucial for English language educators
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "In a state where 2 in 5 public school students speak languages other than English at home, teachers need more collaborative and hands-on professional development to help bring California’s English learners to proficiency in English, educators and parents agreed during an EdSource roundtable on Thursday.
Teachers on the panel shared experiences of recent professional development they received that made a difference.
This summer, Marina Berry took part in a three-week program meant to accelerate the language proficiency of long-term English learners in fourth to eighth grade while providing a structured, supportive professional development opportunity for educators. The program was designed by the San Joaquin County Office of Education, where Berry teaches, and provided extensive collaboration opportunities."
Federal regulators descend upon nation’s largest alcohol wholesaler
The Chronicle, ESTHER MOBLEY: "Federal regulators descended upon the Union City offices of the country’s largest liquor wholesaler on Wednesday, spending most of the day at the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits building on Dowe Avenue.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) “were engaged in an official activity at Southern Glazer’s yesterday,” said Jennifer Chiou, public information officer for the IRS. “We were there most of the day.”"
Elon Musk just took over Twitter and fired top executives. Here are 5 questions for the future
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter reportedly closed in dramatic fashion late Thursday: In his first action after taking control, Musk fired several top executives, according to media reports.
The departures included CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety, the Washington Post, CNBC, and others reported, citing anonymous sources. General counsel Sean Edgett was also reportedly fired.
The purchase was expected to resolve a six-month period of financial uncertainty for the San Francisco social media company. But with major changes already taking place, plenty of questions remain. Here are five:"
Twitter employees brace for massive layoffs as Elon Musk completes his acquisition
LA Times, JAIMIE DING/BRIAN CONTRERAS: "After six months of wrangling and delaying tactics, Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter finally closed late Thursday, according to reports — leaving Twitter employees facing a very different picture than the one they contemplated in April.
When the billionaire tech mogul first agreed in April to buy Twitter, many employees at the San Francisco social media company were leery of their new potential boss, who had criticized the company’s workforce as lazy and politically biased.
But they enjoyed the comfort of knowing they could always turn elsewhere. The job market for tech talent was strong and had only gotten stronger during the pandemic."
Tahoe is getting a massive upgrade. Here's how it will transform the ski destination
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS: "A long-awaited mountaintop ski gondola that promises to reaffirm Lake Tahoe’s stature as a marquee skiing destination is set to start carrying skiers as soon as mid-December.
The gondola will link the base areas at Olympic Valley ( formerly called Squaw Valley) and Alpine Meadows — which operate together as a single resort called Palisades Tahoe — and create the third-largest ski resort in the U.S., behind only Park City Mountain and Powder Mountain in Utah.
Strung more than two miles over a high ridge between the two ski areas, the gondola is the most significant upgrade to Tahoe’s ski infrastructure in a decade or more. (None of Tahoe’s other nine major ski areas are linked in such a fashion.) Its 98 passenger cabins will cruise 11 mph, for about a 16-minute ride between base areas and carry riders past a spectacular vantage point of the surrounding Sierra peaks with the cobalt body of Lake Tahoe visible in the distance."
This California city was named one of the world’s most breathtaking. See why
Sacramento Bee, HELENA WEGNER: "California has one of the most breathtaking places in the world, according to National Geographic.
The magazine released its annual review of the “25 breathtaking places and experiences for 2023” and San Francisco made the list.
Writers, “Nat Geo explorers” and editorial teams from all over the world chose 25 places from 200 nominations, Amy Alipio, senior editor for National Geographic, told McClatchy News in an emailed statement."
Feds urged to reject plan to sell troubled Chinatown building for low-income seniors
LA Times, CONNOR SHEETS: "For decades, living conditions at Cathay Manor Apartments have deteriorated as its elderly, low-income residents have grown more isolated amid the rising rents and gentrification of booming Chinatown.
Dingy hallways and run-down communal spaces lead to modest apartments, many of which haven’t been updated in years. Clogged vents blow tepid, foul-smelling air. Malfunctioning elevators have repeatedly gone unfixed for days on end, leaving many of the vulnerable, mostly Chinese American residents marooned on their floors.
The 38-year-old complex on a busy stretch of North Broadway is a far cry from the gleaming luxury towers that have gone up across the neighborhood since the turn of the century. Yet its owners see it as a potential moneymaker."
A train cut off California man’s legs while he lay on tracks. Does he deserve $57 million?
Sacramento Bee, SAM STANTON: "The Amtrak amputation lawsuit went to the jury Thursday following an impassioned plea by Joe Nevis’ lawyer that jurors award him $57.6 million in damages for the Christmas Eve 2016 accident in which a train sliced off his legs.
“He has 40 more years to live, 40 more years of finding his way through doors, of people holding doors for him, holding elevators,” attorney Raymond McElfish told the Sacramento jury as he stood with Nevis next to him in a wheelchair in front of the jury box and U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd.
“They all know what they did, and they know what it’s worth,” McElfish said of the defendants — Amtrak, Marysville’s Rideout Memorial Hospital and Dr. Hector Lopez. “Compensate him so he can live his life the best he can do.”"
FBI background check blocked gun sale to St. Louis school shooter
AP, JIM SALTER: "The 19-year-old gunman who forced his way into a St. Louis school and killed two people purchased the AR-15-style rifle from a private seller after an FBI background check stopped him from buying a weapon from a licensed dealer, police said Thursday.
Orlando Harris tried to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer in nearby St. Charles, Mo., on Oct. 8, St. Louis police said in a news release Thursday evening. An FBI background check “successfully blocked this sale,” police said, though they didn’t say why the sale was blocked.
Harris then bought the rifle used in the school shooting Monday at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School from a private seller who had purchased it legally in 2020, police said."