These California dams need repairs. But Newsom plans to cut grants in half
CALMatters's RACHEL BECKER: "Several dozen dams throughout California could store up to 107 billion more gallons of water if they underwent repairs to fix safety problems. But facing a staggering state deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cutting funding for a dam repair grant program in half this year, while state legislators want the $50 million restored.
California has an aging network of nearly 1,540 dams — large and small, earthen and concrete — that help store vital water supplies. For 42 of these dams, state officials have restricted the amount of water that can be stored behind them because safety deficiencies would raise the risk to people downstream from earthquakes, storms or other problems."
This seashell could be California’s next state symbol
CALMatters's JENNA PETERSON: "California has 44 state symbols, including a state folk dance, dinosaur and mushroom. But Assemblymember Diane Dixon says we need another — an official state seashell.
And she says the shell of the black abalone, an endangered marine snail, is the ideal choice — to represent the threat of climate change and to honor its history with Native American tribes."
S.F. just had its first big mayoral debate. Here are the highlights
The Chroinicle's JD MORRIS: "San Francisco’s leading mayoral candidates had their inaugural debate of the election season Wednesday as the major contenders tried to defend their records and their visions for how to lead the city for the next four years.
Mayor London Breed sparred with her four most serious challengers — Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí — in a roughly 90-minute exchange at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on Hayes Street, a short walk from City Hall."
BANG*Mercury News's GRACE HASE: "The contentious Congressional District 16 recount may be over, but the ripple effects of the nearly three-week saga are still being felt as Assemblymember Evan Low this week unveiled new legislation that would trigger automatic recounts in close statewide elections.
In May, Low emerged victorious from a voter-requested recount after the primary race to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo ended with him in a tie for second place with Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. Low will now face former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in the November election."
Greater urgency needed to advance California’s transition to broadband
JIM WUNDERMAN in Capitol Weekly: "Nearly three years ago, at a rural elementary school, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that committed the state to increasing equitable, affordable access to high-speed internet service across California by building a state-owned internet backbone network and local broadband networks.
Since then, hundreds of last-mile broadband project plans have emerged to connect unserved households and businesses with local networks."
UCLA has a new chancellor: Julio Frenk, University of Miami president, global health expert
LAT's TERESA WATANABE: "University of Miami President Julio Frenk, a Mexico-born global health expert, will become the next chancellor of UCLA and first Latino tapped to lead the nation’s top public research university as the campus faces a dark time of divisive protests.
Frenk, 70, will bring deep expertise in public health, a medical degree and experience as Mexico’s former health minister to the Westwood campus — equipping him to oversee its comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics along with the large academic enterprise of 46,700 students. Frenk has also proved to be a prodigious fundraiser, leading a $2.5-billion campaign for the University of Miami’s centennial next year and quadrupling contributions as Harvard’s dean of the school of public health — helping secure a historic $350-million endowment gift."
Pro-Palestinian protesters take over Cal State L.A. building, stranding administrators inside
LAT's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/ANGIE ORELLANA HERNANDEZ: "After nearly six weeks of a peaceful encampment at Cal State Los Angeles, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters took over a campus building on Wednesday afternoon, stranding employees on an upper floor who were told to shelter in place for hours.
The office of Cal State L.A. President Berenecea Johnson Eanes is in the building. A university spokesperson would not confirm whether Eanes was one of the people inside the barricaded building, but said a small group of administrators who remained there late Wednesday night were staying “to handle the situation.”"
Green schoolyards build lifelong learners (OP-ED)
LUIS G. SANDOVAL/MITSSI SANDOVAL in Capitol Weekly: "When we began teaching at Victoria Avenue Elementary over twenty years ago, my sister and I could hardly imagine the possibility of having a living classroom right in our own schoolyard. We salvaged 10 old wooden boxes that were on their way to the landfill to create two small flowerbeds. Once we saw our student’s eyes light up with excitement and wonder, we knew we needed to secure funding to transform our entire schoolyard. We worked in partnership with our school and the district and applied for multiple grants to transform these modest, DIY garden boxes into a living classroom and to replace asphalt with grass and trees to cool down the playground during hot days. We still have a long way to reach our vision for a truly green schoolyard, but we can already see the effects of our work on our students.
Our hope is for every school in California to share our experience and access the benefits of green schoolyards, and we are not alone. 71% of California voters are in favor of including $1 billion for green schoolyards and playgrounds in the 2024 education bond measure. The time for action is now to transform asphalt lots into vibrant green schoolyards for schools across California to improve the daily lives of our students, educators, and communities."
California home insurance in high-risk wildfire areas could be easier to get under new plan
Sacramento Bee's STEPHEN HOBBS: "Homeowners in areas at high risk of wildfires could have an easier time finding insurance coverage in the future under an eagerly-awaited proposal released Wednesday by the Department of Insurance.
Under the plan, companies will commit to write policies for a certain number of homes in regions of the state considered at greater risk. In return, they will be allowed to use computer models to predict future loses when asking to raise their rates."
El Niño is over — with La Niña expected soon. What that means for California weather
The Chronicle's JACK LEE: "El Niño is officially over.
The Climate Prediction Center announced Thursday that waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which are warmer-than-average during El Niño, have cooled to “neutral,” or near-normal temperatures. Sea surface temperatures are expected to continue to drop in the coming months, with a 65% chance of La Niña developing by the period from July to September and lasting through the winter."
Map: ZIP codes where California home insurers would have to write more policies
The Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE/SRIHARSHA DEVULAPALLI: "A proposed regulation unveiled Wednesday aims to encourage insurance companies to write more policies in areas of California that have been ravaged by both wildfires and the state’s insurance crisis.
Over the past few years, fire-prone areas in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Napa and Santa Cruz counties have seen thousands of homeowners lose insurance coverage as insurance companies look to reduce their exposure to wildfire risk. This new regulation would require insurers to write more policies in these “distressed” areas in exchange for changes in how companies determine their prices."
New rental developments are changing the American Dream of suburban homeownership
LAT's LIAM DILLON: "Chelsey and Spencer Marks’ home in Cathedral City was becoming more trouble than it was worth.
The young couple had just spent $15,000 repairing their air conditioning system, essential in the resort town where summer temperatures average more than 100 degrees. Soon, they feared, their three-bedroom house would need new windows and a replacement pump to clean the pool. And even after three years in their home, they had not gotten used to the desert winds howling at all hours outside their doors."
SFPD ‘making arrests every day’ with help of new license plate readers
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "A new network of high-tech cameras has begun photographing thousands of vehicle license plates as drivers zip through San Francisco intersections, building a vast database of information that police say is already leading to arrests on a daily basis.
About 100 of San Francisco’s new automated license plate readers are now live, with another 300 to be installed by July. While police say the technology, which is contracted through the company Flock Safety, has fast become a valuable tool in crime fighting, privacy advocates are wary of its dragnet approach and warn about risks for abuse."
Get a sneak peek at Sacramento’s new light rail trains and hear what disabled people think
Sacramento Bee's BAILEY STOVER: "Sacramento Regional Transit invited community members to tour a new S700 low-floor light rail train Wednesday at the Township 9 station located at 7th Street and Richards in Sacramento.
Later this summer, once construction is completed, the new trains will hit the tracks on the Green and Gold lines. Construction on Blue Line station platforms is set to begin in the fall."
To close budget deficit, Sacramento will start charging for on-street Sunday parking
Sacramento Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "To help the city close a budget deficit, Sacramento will soon charge drivers at downtown and midtown parking meters on Sundays and holidays, the City Council decided Tuesday.
In addition, as part of the city’s new $1.6 billion budget, the city will soon start charging for parking at 300 on-street central city spots that are currently free. It will also start charging for electric vehicle charging in its garages."