Pair of atmospheric river storms headed to California. SoCal could be in for a soaking
LAT, RONG-GONG LIN II: "After an extraordinarily dry start to the year, two atmospheric river storms are expected to hit California — potentially bringing much-needed moisture to the still-withered Southland while packing a more powerful and prolonged punch up north.
Forecasters currently believe there’s little risk that the rains expected next week will trigger destructive debris flows and mudslides in Southern California’s recent burn areas. But the risk is still there, and there is a range of possibilities for how much rain will ultimately fall."
READ MORE -- Weekend storm to drench Bay Area, dump feet of snow in Sierra. Here’s the timeline -- The Chronicle, GREG PORTER
FBI nominee Patel, California’s Adam Schiff battle in Senate confirmation hearing
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "FBI nominee Kash Patel said in his 2023 book that Adam Schiff was one of Washington’s “corrupt actors of the first order.”
Thursday, Schiff, now a U.S. senator and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was given the opportunity to grill his detractor. And he did so, relentlessly."
Boats return to the Potomac River for D.C. plane crash recovery and investigation
LAT, STAFF: "Police boats returned to the Potomac River on Friday as part of the recovery and investigation after a midair collision killed 67 people in the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter-century.
More than 40 bodies have been pulled from the river as the massive recovery effort continued, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press on Friday. The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity."
Ninth Circuit temporarily blocks California social media law aimed at protecting minors
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a temporary injunction blocking a California law requiring social media platforms to provide a chronological feed – in lieu of an algorithmic feed – to minor users and limiting notifications to those users during school hours and overnight.
The law has been on pause since earlier this month, after a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of California agreed to the plaintiff NetChoice’s request to halt it."
California Democrats delay votes on bills to support Trump-related legal defense
Sac Bee, STEPHEN HOBBS/NICOLE NIXON: "California legislators were tight-lipped about their decision Thursday to delay votes on a pair of bills that would provide up to $50 million combined for the state Department of Justice and organizations that provide legal services to respond to actions taken by the administration of President Donald Trump.
The Assembly was set to take up the bills after they were approved last week in the Senate. But Democrats were called into a closed door meeting shortly after their work for the day began."
California blesses political donors’ strategy to multiply their influence
CALMatters, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "After more than two years, California’s political ethics watchdog has closed its investigation into a controversial campaign donor network, concluding that the group followed legal advice from the state and therefore did not violate contribution limits.
The decision clears the way for a bold new approach to raising and spending money in California elections. Political committees now have state regulators’ blessing to create an unlimited number of affiliated committees with different leaders, and then closely coordinate fundraising and candidate donations among them. That could exponentially increase their influence on campaigns."
Donald Trump is already president. His latest moves show he wants to be king
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "One way to understand Donald Trump’s chaotic first several days of office is to know that he isn’t satisfied with being president in his second term. He wants to be king, surrounded by loyal subjects and unencumbered by oversight restricting what he wants to do.
Democrats have been powerless to stop him — some have even abetted him — and the few remaining free-thinking Republicans are too cowed to try."
Trump’s order on antisemitism and ‘Hamas sympathizers’ has California universities on alert
LAT, JAWEED KALEEM: "An executive order from President Trump promoting a federal crackdown on campus antisemitism and his threats to cancel visas of pro-Palestinian international students have put California university leaders and activists on alert after many of the nation’s largest and most contentious protests unfolded at their schools.
USC leaders were cautious in comments about the order, saying they adhere to state and federal laws, while a UC spokesman said it was committed to “combating antisemitism” but did not respond to a Trump promise to deport internationals who are “Hamas sympathizers.” The chair of a UCLA Jewish group welcomed the order as an acknowledgment of the “crisis” of campus antisemitism. And a pro-Palestinian UCLA faculty representative described the threats in the order as “authoritarianism, plain and simple.”"
Health bright spots; ‘alarming’ education gaps among California’s students, report card finds
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "In 2024, 18% of 8th graders in foster care in Orange County met or exceeded the state’s standards in math, more than double the statewide rate which was 7%; about half of counties had a higher graduation rate among foster youth than the statewide average of 64%; and, there was space in licensed child care for only about a quarter of children from working families.
These are some of the statistics easily viewable after the latest update to a data tool called the California County Scoreboard of Children’s Well-Being, published bi-annually by Children Now, an organization that evaluates progress made on California policies and investments."
Schools opening near fire zones are safe, district officials say. Parents aren’t so sure
LAT, DANIEL MILLER/HOWARD BLUME: "Chris Dennis walked up Palm Street and down Lincoln Avenue in west Altadena, past charred husks of houses and cindered carcasses of cars.
The Eaton fire had destroyed his family’s nearby home, but his son’s school was still standing. And Dennis wanted to see it."
A lifeline for ill students, LAUSD’s home hospital school suffers from instability
EdSource, MALLIKKA SESHADRI: "Nothing about being a home-hospital teacher is normal.
A Los Angeles Unified educator drives nearly 22 miles from one student’s home in Venice Beach to another’s in East Los Angeles — and another 20 miles to Maravista, lugging tote bags with school supplies, books, plants and paintbrushes."
California’s monarch butterfly population plummets; fire wipes out Topanga habitat
LAT, CLARA HARTER: "The Western population of the monarch butterfly has declined to a near-record low with fewer than 10,000 found living in California this winter, a foreboding sign for the future of the beloved black-and-orange insect.
An annual count recorded 9,119 butterflies this winter, according to results released by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. This is the second-lowest population recorded since tracking began in 1997. An all-time low of fewer than 2,000 monarchs was recorded in 2020."
California state worker unions eye salary increases, telework as contract negotiations begin
Sac Bee, WILLIAM MELHADO: "Salary increases, longevity pay and telework policies are all on the bargaining table this year as California prepares to begin negotiating with seven bargaining units representing over 50,000 state workers.
Leaders of bargaining units hope that California’s improved financial position, compared to last year’s massive budget deficit, will translate into salary increases beyond the typical 2-3% adjustments. Labor groups said substantial pay increases are necessary to address the rising cost-of-living in California and to recruit more civil servants."
Google offers buyouts to employees not ‘deeply committed’ to its mission
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Google confirmed Thursday that it has rolled out a “voluntary exit” program for certain employees in its product teams who may not align with the division’s goals or are struggling with hybrid work requirements or their roles.
“There’s tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency,” Google said in a statement to the Chronicle."
S.F.’s workforce keeps moving farther away from their jobs. Here’s how far they live
The Chronicle, HANNA ZAKHARENKO/ROLAND LI: "San Francisco saw the nation’s biggest jump in the percentage of the workers living 50 or more miles from their jobs from 2012 to 2022, compared with the top 25 cities with the largest workforces in the U.S. Experts said this was fueled by remote work and high housing costs.
By 2022, 18.7% of San Francisco’s workforce lived 50 or more miles away from their jobs, up from 13.7% a decade earlier."
Prosecutors list two new victims, say Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs dangled woman off balcony
LAT. RICHARD WINTON: "New elements of the case against Sean “Diddy” Combs were revealed Thursday as federal prosecutors expanded their indictment against the hip-hop mogul, saying he forced two additional women into taking part in a sex-trafficking scheme and dangled another woman over a balcony.
The superseding indictment, filed in a Manhattan courthouse, increases the number of alleged victims of sex trafficking from one to three. It also adds four years to the alleged criminal conspiracy, saying it began in 2004 instead of 2008 and lasted until 2024."
Who is ‘Ziz’? How a mysterious group with roots in the Bay Area is linked to six deaths
The Chronicle, MICHAEL BARBA/MATTHIAS GAFNI/MEGAN CASSIDY: "Ziz was dead. Or at least it seemed that way.
Just before midnight on Aug. 19, 2022, the Coast Guard steamed through San Francisco Bay after an alarming report. The eccentric computer programmer and blogger, born Jack Amadeus LaSota before adopting the name Ziz and feminine pronouns, had fallen from a boat. For hours, rescue crews searched by air and sea. They found nothing."
Muni to cut service on some bus lines this summer as it confronts $50 million shortfall
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "San Francisco’s transportation agency is set to cut Muni service by 4% this summer, a dramatic move as the transit system confronts a $50 million budget shortfall.
To help close that gap, planners at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency are contemplating three scenarios, each slashing bus service on some lines to preserve others and save Muni about $15 million."
Could you get a parking ticket in Sacramento under a new California law in 2025?
Sac Bee, ARIANE LANGE: "Sacramento is not yet enforcing a new state law that disallows a lot of parking within 20 feet of intersections, known as daylighting, to help protect pedestrians from death and serious injury.
Statewide, more than 1,000 pedestrians die in traffic each year."
Key airport along approach to SFO may lose all air traffic controllers this week
The Chronicle, JULIE JOHNSON: "The San Carlos Airport, a hub for Silicon Valley business travel that lies along the approach to San Francisco International Airport, may no longer have air traffic controllers guiding planes in and out of the airport starting Saturday.
Airport manager Gretchen Kelly said in a news release Wednesday that the airport’s controllers resigned after the Federal Aviation Administration changed air traffic control contracts to a firm with lower pay that does not take into account the region’s high cost of living."