Spillway test

Apr 4, 2018

Coming storm could force first test of Oroville Dam's partly rebuilt spillway

 

Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW: "With a powerful storm barreling toward California's coast, state officials warned they may have to use the largely rebuilt flood control spillway at troubled Oroville Dam as early as next week."

 

"The California Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday that water levels at Lake Oroville could quickly rise to the "trigger elevation" of 830 feet, the point at which DWR plans to open the spillway gates and release water down the 3,000-foot-long concrete chute."

 

"DWR said it has begun ramping up water releases from other outlets, including the dam's hydroelectric plant, in an effort to keep water below that 830-foot threshold."

 

READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: 'Moisture surge' from atmospheric river to drench Sacramento on Friday and Saturday -- Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL; A year after crumbling, Oroville Dam's rebuilt spillway could be tested by coming storm -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; If two eyes are good, four were even better for this lizard species -- LA Times's AMINA KHAN

 

3 shot in YouTube office attack; suspect 'hated' company

 

AP's RYAN NAKASHIMA/SUDHIN THANAWALA: "A woman suspected of shooting three people at YouTube headquarters before killing herself was furious with the company because it had stopped paying her for videos she posted on the platform, her father said late Tuesday."

 

"Two law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Nasim Aghdam of Southern California. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case."

 

"YouTube had "stopped everything," and "she was angry," her father Ismail Aghdam said from his San Diego home in a telephone interview with the Bay Area News Group."

 

READ MORE related to YouTube Shooting: Disgruntled video-maker who expressed anger at YouTube policies ID'd as shooter -- The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA/ANNIE MA/KEVIN FAGAN; Woman suspected of opening fire at YouTube had battled against platform -- LA Times's RICHARD WINTON/TRACEY LIEN/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/SARAH PARVINI

 

California's 'sanctuary' policy attacked in new ballot initiative

 

Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "The parents of two young people killed by immigrants are leading an effort to repeal California's "sanctuary state" policy and criminalize officials who obstruct federal law."

 

"You're already here illegally," said Don Rosenberg, whose son Drew was hit on a motorcycle by an unlicensed driver who had been granted temporary immigration status to remain the U.S. in 2010. "You already have no right to be here. Why are we bending over backwards for someone who commits more crimes on top of that?"

 

"Senate Bill 54, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to help the federal government enforce immigration violations, prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to sue California last month and survived an early referendum attempt that failed to qualify."

 

READ MORE related to Immigration: H-1B visa lottery, despite changes, still leaves careers up to chance -- The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI; Trump says he will send troops to southern border until his promised wall is built -- LA Times's NOAH BIERMAN/DAVID S. CLOUD

 

Woman sues California Senate, claiming she was fired in retaliation for harassment complaints

 

Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "A former employee filed a lawsuit against the state Senate and former Sen. Tony Mendoza on Tuesday alleging that she was fired in retaliation for reporting that he sexually harassed a young woman working in his office last year."

 

"Adriana Ruelas, Mendoza's former legislative director, is seeking unspecified monetary damages related to the Sept. 22 firing and allegations that Mendoza defamed her character publicly after the Senate let her go, according to a lawsuit she filed in Sacramento Superior Court. The lawsuit repeats many of the allegations Ruelas outlined in an earlier complaint filed with the state as a necessary precursor to her suit."

 

"Mendoza resigned from office on Feb. 22 as the Senate considered taking up a resolution that day to expel him in light of confirmed claims Ruelas and others made against him. His decision came days after the Senate publicly released the findings of a two-month investigation that determined he "more likely than not" made unwanted advances on six women, including four subordinates, over the last decade."

 

These 13 California legislators are getting two government checks a month

 

LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Amid ongoing warnings about underfunded public employee pension funds, more than a dozen California state lawmakers are augmenting their $107,242 salaries by collecting retirement payments from previous government jobs, a practice that taxpayer activists condemn as “double dipping."

 

Why an election tradition in California is banned in other states

 

McClatchy DC's EMILY CADEI: "It’s hard to think of three words subject to more intense election-year scrutiny than the ones California candidates can include beneath their names on the ballot."

 

"Every two years, campaigns do battle with the California secretary of state – and one another – over whether or not the professional descriptions they pick are within the bounds of state law. This year has been no different, with more than a half-dozen congressional and statewide candidates forced to amend their “ballot designation,” as its known, before the certified list of candidates for the June primary was released March 29."

 

"It turns out, it’s a pretty unique election-year tradition. A survey of election laws compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), could not find another state that allows the same kind of professional description of each candidate to appear on the ballot. Officials at the NCSL emphasized that their list is not exhaustive, but their findings were echoed by other election experts and political consultants queried by The Sacramento Bee."

 

'It just doesn't look right,' says Sacramento councilman who represents Stephon Clark neighborhood

 

Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS/NASHELLY CHAVEZ/ED FLETCHER: "The anguish of Sacramento’s African American community was on full display inside City Hall on Tuesday, and the councilman who represents the neighborhood where Stephon Clark was fatally shot offered the strongest criticism yet among city officials of the incident."

 

"For more than two hours, speaker after speaker walked to a podium in front of the City Council inside a packed chambers. Some fought back tears. Some read poetry. Many raised their voices. But at no point did the hearing turn violent."

 

"Speakers demanded accountability for the shooting of Clark, an unarmed black man killed by Sacramento police officers in pursuit of an alleged car burglar in Meadowview on March 18. Officers said they believed Clark, 22, had a gun. He was found only with his cellphone."

 

READ MORE related to Stephon Clark Shooting: Fired after Stephon Clark comment, Kaiser nurse starts GoFundMe page to help pay bills -- Sacramento Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON; Sacramento mayor rips sheriff's handling of Stephon Clark protest where deputy hit activist -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK; If one of your deputies hits a protester, what do you do? Dodge and weave -- Sacramento Bee's MARCOS BRETON; After Stephon Clark shooting, California lawmakers push to make it easier to prosecute police officers -- LA Times's LIAM DILLON

 

OP-ED: Repairing consumer privacy in a digital world

 

TIM SPARAPANI in Capitol Weekly: "Recently introduced legislation in the California Assembly (AB 2110), would require manufacturers to provide independent repair shops with the same parts, tools, software, and other information that they provide to their authorized repair shops for the repair of Internet-connected electronics – from smart phones to home appliances to toys to fire alarms."

 

"The idea is to create more repair options for consumers. One effect of the legislation, however, is that it would provide anyone with full access to the security and privacy features of these products, both physical components and software/firmware."

 

New Chinese tariffcs could be a blow to California's wine industry

 

The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY: "China’s announcement on Friday that it would impose new tariffs on U.S. goods came as unwelcome news to California vintners, who anticipate that the extra 15 percent charge on wine that China is planning could have disastrous effects on an increasingly important segment of their businesses."

 

"As the fastest-growing wine market in the world, China is a crucial target for California wineries. The value of U.S. wine exports to China has increased 450 percent in the past decade, according to the Wine Institute, reaching $197 million in 2017."

 

READ MORE related to Development & Economy: Tesla hits bumpy road in troubled week; believers undeterred -- The Chronicle's DAVID R. BAKER

 

California districts to take part in groundbreaking school safety study

 

EdSource's DAVID WASHBURN: "What are all the things that make a school safe and the people inside it feel connected with each other and the surrounding community?"

 

"This question is most often answered with some variation on the following: a school is safe if it is a secure facility in good physical condition. Students, teachers and parents feel connected if class sizes are reasonable and it has a full menu of extra-curricular activities."

 

"However, a growing body of research is demonstrating that such answers only scratch the surface — and the health and welfare of our children depends on schools and communities digging much deeper into the question."

 

Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to speak with Congress, Sen. Feinstein says

 

The Chronicle's OWEN THOMAS: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before Congress in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data-privacy scandal."

 

"Zuckerberg has agreed,” she said in a meeting with The Chronicle’s editorial board in San Francisco on Tuesday morning. “The question is whether it will be one committee or two.” Both the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Feinstein is the ranking Democratic member, and the Commerce Committee have extended invitations to have Zuckerberg offer testimony."

 

Medicare advantage plans cleared to go beyond medical coverage -- even groceries

 

CHL's SUSAN JAFFE: "Air conditioners for people with asthma, healthy groceries, rides to medical appointments and home-delivered meals may be among the new benefits offered to Medicare beneficiaries who choose private sector health plans, when new federal rules take effect next year."

 

"On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded how it defines the “primarily health-related” benefits that private insurers are allowed to include in their Medicare Advantage policies. And insurers would include these extras on top of providing the benefits traditional Medicare provides."

 

"Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will have more supplemental benefits, making it easier for them to lead healthier, more independent lives,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma."

 

Here's where and how California youths are most often murdered

 

Sacramento Bee's PHILLIP REESE: "The recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., left 14 youths dead and reignited a debate about gun control."

 

"In California, about that many youths have been murdered by other people every three weeks, on average, during the past 30 years. Most of the deaths involve firearms. Because such killings are common, they receive much less attention than a mass school shooting."

 

"The Bee analyzed a California Department of Justice homicide database that lists every homicide during the past 30 years, isolating murders and non-negligent manslaughters involving youth. Deaths due to accidents, suicide and manslaughter attributed to negligence were not included."

 

Bonnie Reiss, Schwarzenegger aide, UC regent, dies

 

Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Bonnie Reiss, a senior adviser to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration and a member of the University of California Board of Regents, died Monday after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 62."

 

"An entertainment attorney and Democratic campaign strategist, Reiss was a close friend of Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver for decades. When Republican Schwarzenegger assumed the governorship after winning the 2003 recall election, Reiss was one of his early confidantes. She became his liaison on education issues and a leading force for his environmental advocacy."

 

""Bonnie Reiss was a true treasure to California, the United States, the world, and everyone she has ever met," Schwarzenegger said in a Facebook post Tuesday. "I have never met anyone with more energy for helping others and improving the world around her. Sadly, cancer was immune to all of her immeasurable strengths."

 

When James Earl Ray came to LA, months before he killed Martin Luther King, he found a place where he fit in

 

WaPo's MATT PEARCE: "The hypnotist called himself the Rev. Xavier von Koss, and advertised courses in "MASTER HYPNOTISM." He would probably be forgotten now, but his name appears briefly in investigators' files on the death of Martin Luther King Jr., an accidental witness to history."