At least 2 dead, 11 injured after 6.4 earthquake in Northern California
LA Times, ALEXANDRA E. PETRI/MACKENZIE MAYS/SUMMER LIN/NOAH GOLDBERG/SUSANNE RUST: "A powerful earthquake jolted Humboldt County early Tuesday, leaving at least two people dead, tens of thousands without power and widespread damage in its aftermath.
Even in this seismically active region of Northern California known for large temblors, the 6.4 magnitude quake felt particularly violent to many longtime residents. Officials were still trying to tally the destruction hours later.
The force of the shaking shattered windows, sent objects flying and damaged at least one historic bridge in the small communities south of Eureka. At least 11 people were injured."
The Chronicle, SHWANIKA NARAYAN: "Katie Dixon remembers walking into her rent-controlled basement apartment for the first time in November 2020, and feeling a rush of relief, safety and success.
The Oakland unit was the first home of Dixon’s adult life, after spending more than two decades in and out of jail and homelessness.
“For the first time in my life, I felt psychologically, emotionally and physically safe,” Dixon, 36, told The Chronicle. “To have a roof over my head when I’ve never had stable housing before, it’s life-changing. I’m able to breathe by not worrying about where I’m going to sleep for the night.” She found her place almost a year after Oakland banned criminal background checks in housing applications."
What has California’s government been up to lately? Here’s your updated primer
CALMatters, DAVID LESHER: "Our mission at CalMatters is to help you understand the major issues in this big state and to learn the how and why and who about the decisions made by our policy leaders.
We have a staff of expert journalists around the state who spend each year reading reports, following bills and talking to elected leaders, advocates, experts and those experiencing the problems and changes to life in California. And once again this year, they have created an updated primer on how California state government works and what it’s been up to in the past year.
One of the things we saw in 2022 is that when you essentially live in a one-party state, elections can be predictable. Democrats won all nine statewide campaigns without any serious threat."
Amid climate change, a question: What’s the future of California rice?
Capitol Weekly, AARON GILBREATH: "After absorbing sunshine all summer, mature rice plants in California’s Sacramento Valley stand as high as three feet tall, in five inches of flood water. Planted in spring, farmers drain their fields in August, and they drive big, loud harvesters into them in September, gently separating the rice stalks from the grain, and blowing the harvest into bankout wagons that they tow beside them.
On average, each acre produces 8,000 pounds of rice, which is a greater yield than most of the world’s rice growing regions. But this September, 300,000 of California’s 550,000 acres of rice lay barren—over half the state’s rice crop.
Instead of miles of soft green grasses swaying amid shimmering water, the fields were cracked bare dirt, some crowded with weeds—no water, no rice, no harvest."
Why Gavin Newsom thanked a judge for striking down part of a gun law he created
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "When the Supreme Court let Texas enforce a law allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers for $10,000, Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by sponsoring a law authorizing Californians to act as similar $10,000 bounty-hunters against makers of guns that are illegal in the state. And when a federal judge declared part of the California law unconstitutional this week, Newsom’s first response was — of all things — to celebrate.
“I want to thank Judge Benitez,” Newsom said Monday after the ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego. “We have been saying all along that Texas’ anti-abortion law is outrageous. Judge Benitez just confirmed it is also unconstitutional.”"
Here's how much a new report says it would take to end California's homeless crisis
The Chronicle, KEVIN FAGAN: "A new report estimates California could end homelessness by 2035 if it spent at least $8.1 billion every year on the problem, a daunting goal that points out the enormity of the challenge despite ramped-up efforts in recent years.
The money should be used for building affordable apartments and housing with supportive counseling services, subsidizing rents and providing emergency shelter, according to the study released Tuesday by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the California Housing Partnership."
L.A. County supervisors pledge support for Bass’ state of emergency on homelessness
LA Times, REBECCA ELLIS: "Leaders from both the county and city of Los Angeles — two bureaucracies with massive roles to play in fixing the region’s worsening homelessness crisis — promised Tuesday to press reset on their fractured relationship.
The olive branch came during a Board of Supervisors meeting in which county leaders voted unanimously to support Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of a state of emergency over homelessness. Bass, who appeared at Tuesday’s meeting, said she wanted to work hand-in-hand with the county as she tries to cut through the city’s cumbersome bureaucracy to rapidly get people off the street.
“The only way we can really solve this crisis is if we are working in complete partnership,” Bass told the board."
$24 billion projected budget deficit may test California’s resolve to grow safety net amid recession
CALMatters, ALEJANDRO LAZO/JEANNE KUANG: "California faces a projected deficit next year even if the U.S. avoids a recession. Despite the expected shortfall, policymakers say they’ll maintain spending on social programs though advocates are calling for more.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently said in its annual forecast that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party-controlled Legislature are facing a $24 billion projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
If the state enters a recession the outlook is even worse, with revenues predicted to fall short by $30 billion to $50 billion. The governor signed a record-breaking $308 billion budget in June."
Here’s how S.F. politicians plan to address the city’s biggest problems in 2023
The Chronicle, JD MORRIS: "2022 was a tough year for San Francisco.
The city remained in the throes of an opioid crisis marked by widespread public drug dealing in central neighborhoods and incessant overdoses that have resulted in more than 1,800 deaths since the start of 2020."
One count, two recounts, no decision: Sunnyvale council seat still in limbo
BANG*Mercury News, VANDANA RAVIKUMAR: "Election officials on Tuesday still weren’t ready to declare a winner in the Nov. 8 election of a city councilmember in Sunnyvale’s District 3, despite an Election Day tally and two recounts that all showed Murali Srivivasan had won by a single vote.
A second recount of the ballots by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters found the results didn’t differ from those reported in the initial vote tally or the first recount, which was performed automatically after the race ended with a margin of less than 25 votes between Srinivasan and his opponent, Justin Wang."
COVID in California: Burden on hospitals in state sees no sign of easing
The Chronicle, RITA BEAMISH/CLAIRE HAO: "The pressures of declining enrollment during the pandemic, along with administrative costs, led to the decision to close the doors of a 154-year-old East Bay university. Federal authorities are looking at whether to update the existing suite of vaccines and boosters to more effectively fight the evolving coronavirus strains. And UCSF’s Dr. Bob Wachter is trying to clear up the “confusion & misinformation” that he sees abounding on masks, testing and vaccines."
Oakland reinstates mask mandate in government buildings amid surging COVID
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "Oakland will require all employees and visitors to wear a face mask when entering city facilities beginning immediately — an attempt to get a handle on the “tripledemic” hitting the Bay Area of COVID, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
The Oakland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to reinstate masks for everyone age 6 and up that goes into city facilities — less than a month after the city removed an existing mask mandate at libraries, senior centers and other government buildings."
What triggered Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude California earthquake?
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The site of Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake that damaged multiple homes and businesses in Humboldt County is an area rife with seismic activity. The quake is neither the first, nor will it be the last, to jolt California’s far north.
Exactly one year ago, the region was rattled by a 6.2 magnitude temblor, which triggered rockslides and sent groceries shooting off store shelves. The U.S. Geological Survey counts at least 40 quakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater within 150 miles of Tuesday’s shaker over the past century, including the 7.2 magnitude Cape Mendocino earthquake and tsunami in 1992 that led to a federal disaster declaration."
BANG*Mercury News, JAKOB RODGERS/SHOMIK MUKHERJEE/ETHAN BARON: "Jacqui McIntosh’s nearly three-month wait to sell her quaint, century-old logging home here ended in a moment of sheer terror.
She was supposed to get an offer Tuesday morning. But in the dead of night — barely hours before that call was scheduled — her home convulsed with enough force to tear it free from its foundation, break open the main gas line and completely detach her laundry room."
California’s new poet laureate wants to bridge social justice and poetry
EdSource, ASHLEIGH PANDO: "In late November, Gov. Gavin Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom walked into professor Lee Herrick’s class at Fresno City College, surprising him with the news that he was chosen as California’s 10th poet laureate.
“As a teacher, poet, and father, Lee writes movingly about his identity as a Californian and encourages others to reflect on what the state means to them,” Newsom said in a news release.
“Lee’s dedication to highlighting the diverse experiences of Californians, and making them so accessible through his poetry, makes him a perfect candidate for Poet Laureate.”"
How ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir’ became America’s most banned book
LA Times, JEFFREY FLEISHMAN: "Maia Kobabe grew up in an idyll. Cow fields threaded by a dirt road. No TV. Almost no internet. Nights fell over hills, stars shone bright, and Kobabe read fantasy novels, imagining other universes while searching for an identity, a glint of self to carry into the world.
“I lived in a shire,” said Kobabe, whose father and mother carved beads, weaved and sewed in a rustic community not far from this Northern California town. “I wish every kid had so much space to wander in. I wish every kid could walk out their door in any direction and be perfectly safe to catch snakes and frogs and pick berries.”
The pull of tides and the sway of nature were easier to decipher than the riddle within. Born with female anatomy, Kobabe didn’t feel like a girl, which became apparent in third grade when wading shirtless in a river during a class trip drew a reproval from the teacher. But boy wasn’t right, either. Kobabe was between two places and didn’t know where to stand. Was there anybody else in the world who felt like this? It was a mystery."
Here’s what to make of Elon Musk’s plan to resign, eventually, as Twitter’s CEO
The Chronicle, KATE GALBRAITH/JORDAN PARKER: "Elon Musk, the controversial new owner and chief executive of San Francisco’s Twitter, said in a tweet Tuesday that he would resign as CEO “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!”
After that, he wrote, “I will just run the software & servers teams.”"
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "San Francisco will kick off 2023 by removing hundreds of parking spaces across the city that obstruct riders from boarding Muni buses — a process that is planned for completion within 18 months.
The effort follows a policy approved by the Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors earlier this month that mandates all Muni bus stops have at least 20 feet of space to allow riders to board buses. It came after city supervisors passed a resolution calling for the change."
Oakland’s latest move to try preventing sideshows is delayed again
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "For the second time, Oakland delayed a policy that would penalize sideshow organizers and participants who come within 200 feet of a sideshow — the city’s latest effort to try to rein in the illegal automobile events that sometimes draw hundreds of people to city streets and can result in violence.
The delay comes after one council member expressed concern that the city wasn’t doing enough to pursue alternatives that wouldn’t result in criminal or civil penalties. Council Member Carroll Fife said she is in conversations with Council Member-elect Kevin Jenkins, who takes office in January, about working with private organizations to create an alternative to sideshows."
Judge rejects new trial for Scott Peterson in murder of wife, unborn son
BANG*Mercury News, JULIA PRODIS SULEK/ELIYAHU KAMISHER: "Scott Peterson’s years-long quest for a new trial was denied on Tuesday when a judge ruled that a juror who once was involved in a domestic-violence incident was not biased against Peterson when she voted to convict him in the notorious murders of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son.
The ruling means that Peterson will continue serving his life sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County, itself a reprieve from the death penalty originally imposed by the jury but overturned last year by the state Supreme Court."
Ukraine’s Zelensky set to address Congress in first foreign trip since Russian invasion
LA Times, COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN/TRACY WILKINSON: "In his first known trip abroad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to arrive in Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Biden and address a joint session of Congress.
U.S. officials kept details of his visit under wraps given the security fears. Despite the heavy shroud placed over Zelensky’s plans, it was widely reported he would travel to Washington to visit Capitol Hill and appear at the White House.
Zelensky’s visit, his second to the United States as president, comes as lawmakers are preparing to vote on a $1.7-trillion end-of-year funding bill that includes nearly $45 billion in emergency economic and security assistance to Ukraine, $8 billion more than Biden had requested from Congress last month."