Were the 209 mph wind gusts recorded in California a record or an error?
Sac Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI: "Wind gusts reportedly surpassed 200 miles per hour on a particularly windy Sunday morning near Kirkwood, according to the National Weather Service — possibly setting a new record for California amid doubts of the report’s veracity."
"Sacramento-area NWS forecaster Karleisa Rogacheski confirmed that an observation site in the Sierra Nevada recorded a gust of 209 mph at 7:45 a.m. amid widespread windy conditions in the region."
"The last major wind speed record in the state was set in February 2017, when winds reached 199 mph at the Alpine Meadows ski resort."
READ MORE related to Highspeed Winds: 77,000 PG&E customers without power -- The Chronicle's JD MORRIS/TATIANA SANCHEZ; PG&E urges customers to prep for strong winds -- Sac Bee's ROSALIA AHUMADA; Winds cause havoc in Central Sierra: Yosemite road closures, power outages -- Sac Bee's LARRY VALENZUELA
State Democrat and her top employee reprimanded for alleged sexual harassment
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A California assemblywoman and her chief of staff were reprimanded for sexual harassment on Thursday after a workplace investigation substantiated claims that the lawmaker inappropriately hugged one and the aide made unwanted sexual comments toward two unidentified employees."
"One person reported to the Legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit that Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, had insisted on a “two-arm hug” during a breakfast and another hug and a kiss “on the cheek” during a dinner, according to heavily redacted documents sent on Friday to the press. The documents do not say when the interactions occurred."
"The same person also alleged Carillo’s chief of staff, George Esparza, made unwanted sexual comments, including, “You gotta know where the girls are at” and “Are you done masturbating?” Another person alleged Esparza inappropriately commented about the person’s appearance."
Expect more blackouts in California, PG&E says
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "Make no mistake: PG&E Corp. will plunge Californians into darkness again this year if it thinks that will prevent another major wildfire."
"But the utility said Friday it’s investing millions in personnel and technology to lessen the impact of its “public safety power shutoffs” and believes the 2020 blackouts won’t darken nearly as many homes as last year."
"PG&E, which has 16 million customers around the state, filed an updated wildfire safety blueprint with the Public Utilities Commission, outlining plans for “hardening” its electric grid, improving its weather forecasting and trimming back more tree limbs that could spark fires."
Unlikely allies push the WH to back cleaning pollution from the Tijuana River
LA Times's ANNA M PHILLIPS/JENNIFER HABERKORN: "For decades, millions of gallons of raw sewage and trash have flowed from the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean, fouling beaches, angering Southern Californians and getting worse by the year."
"An estimated 143 million gallons of waste from Tijuana spilled into the river valley in 2017, overwhelming a treatment plant built by the United States and Mexico nearly 25 years ago. Last October, a corpse clogged a sewage intake screen, causing a backup and sending 14.5 million gallons of polluted water over the border and into the U.S."
"Yet neither country has been willing to spend the money to expand the plant. Then President Trump renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada in late 2018. He needed the approval of Congress. That was the opening local groups at the border needed to resolve the environmental disaster."
Lessons from past epidemic guide US response to crisis
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "A month into the 2003 global SARS scare, a plane coming from Tokyo landed at Mineta San Jose International Airport with a dire warning from the pilot: A few passengers had symptoms of the mysterious new respiratory illness."
"The plane was surrounded by ambulances, fire engines and police cars after it landed. Five passengers with coughs and other respiratory symptoms were pulled aside and questioned; three were taken to the hospital for further screening. All of the passengers were handed public health cards telling them to monitor their health over the next couple of weeks in case they, too, developed symptoms."
"No one on that plane had severe acute respiratory syndrome, though. And in fact, over the five-month run of the epidemic, only two people in California — a man and a woman in Santa Clara County — would be diagnosed with the disease that infected more than 8,000 worldwide."
Trump's next target could be his most cynical yet -- modern architecture
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "The San Francisco Federal Building, as befits an 18-story structure clad in sheets of steel, is a lightning rod."
"Design buffs celebrate its futuristic swagger. Local detractors recoil from its blunt slab-like form."
"But neither camp, I’ll warrant, expected the 13-year-old complex at Seventh and Mission streets to emerge as a poster child for a handful of people who hate modern architecture — hate it so much they want President Trump to pretty much ban any new federal buildings that don’t look like they were designed in 1903."
Trump drops probe of carmakers that sided with California in climate change fight
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "The Trump administration has dropped its antitrust investigation into four automakers that defied the White House and sided with California in a protracted fight over limits on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions."
"Multiple media outlets reported that the Justice Department ended its investigation. Rachel McCleery, a spokeswoman for Ford Motor Co., confirmed to The Sacramento Bee that the probe has ended."
"Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately seized on the news, calling it a win for California."
They're running for LA City Council -- but not ruling out a bid for mayor in 2022
LA Times's DAVID ZAHNISER: "School board member Mónica García has signed the pledge — the one that says she’ll serve all four years if elected to an Eastside seat on the Los Angeles City Council."
"Former marketing executive Cyndi Otteson, who lives in Eagle Rock, signed it too. So did Raquel Zamora, a high school counselor who, like Otteson and García, is running in the March 3 election to replace Councilman Jose Huizar."
"The only candidate who didn’t grab a pen is former state Sen. Kevin de León. And that’s made him a target for rivals who say he will treat the district, which stretches from downtown and Boyle Heights to Eagle Rock, as a two-year steppingstone to higher office."
How some California school districts invest in counseling -- and achieve results
EdSource's CAROLYN JONES: "Geovanna Veloz, a senior at Mission High School in San Francisco, has always known she wants to be a nurse. What she didn’t know was how to get there."
"Her parents couldn’t help much. Immigrants from Mexico, they speak limited English, work long hours and don’t have much experience with education. Neither went to high school at all, in fact."
"Enter the school’s academic counseling staff. They ensured that Veloz took the right classes and helped her pick colleges, sign up for the SAT, submit applications and fill out financial aid forms. Veloz is now waiting to hear from three California State University campuses and two University of California schools."
Deciphering the mystery walls of East Bay hills
The Chronicle's TOM STIENSTRA: "Above San Ramon, on Rocky Ridge atop Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, there’s a rock wall where you might envision a hunter from 5,000 years ago hiding with a bow and arrow to ambush a deer."
"It’s my favorite spot on Earth,” said James Benney, one of a small group of explorers-historians who try to imagine the Bay Area as it was in the ancient days. “You can sit and watch the sunset across the bay, the hills glowing in front of you."
"In these moments, Benney said he could visualize life among the ancients."
'Parasite' pulls off Oscar upset, winning four Academy Awards
LA Times's JOSH ROTTENBERG: "In an upset victory and a historic milestone, director Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” — a darkly comic class satire about two families, one rich and one poor, whose lives become entangled — won best picture Sunday night at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first foreign-language movie to win the film academy’s top prize."
"Throughout awards season, “Parasite” was seen by many as the underdog in a field that included Martin Scorsese’s gangster drama “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s fantasia “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ World War I movie “1917.” But over time, the South Korean film worked its way into the hearts of Oscar voters, whose ranks have grown increasingly international and diverse in recent years."
"The road to the Oscar for “Parasite” kicked off in May when the film claimed the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite Bong’s idiosyncratic, genre-scrambling vision — or perhaps because of it — “Parasite” went on to become a mainstream box-office success like few foreign-language films in memory, earning the Screen Actors Guild’s ensemble award along with a slew of critics group prizes."
Trump could face charges if he loses election
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Now that the Senate has voted to clear President Trump of impeachment charges, any judgment of his conduct will be left up to the voters, as fellow Republicans argued it should be."
"That is, until Trump leaves office, and loses the immunity from criminal prosecution that presidents are granted by Justice Department policy."
"As Trump’s lawyers repeatedly pointed out, the two articles of impeachment approved by the Democratic-controlled House, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, did not expressly accuse him of crimes. But his alleged dealings with Ukraine’s president — withholding $391 million in military aid, and the promise of a White House meeting to coerce Ukraine into investigating political rival Joe Biden and his son — contain elements of several established federal crimes:"
'Mayor Pete' to hold events on Valentine's Day in Sacramento
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is coming back to Sacramento."
"Buttigieg is expected to appear at a town hall-style event in Sacramento on Feb. 14, according to a posting on the site MobilizeAmerica. The location of the town hall is yet to be announced, but more information is available at www.mobilize.us/californiaforpete/event/227441."
"The candidate is also expected to attend a private fundraiser in the area the same day."
Here's what a President Buttigieg would mean for California
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Pete Buttigieg often asks people at his rallies to picture the day “when the sun comes up and Donald Trump’s not the president."
"It’s how Buttigieg explains that he represents a new direction for the country. At 38, he is not only the youngest remaining candidate in the race, he would also be the nation’s first openly gay president."
"But representing a new direction doesn’t necessarily mean the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., is charting a more progressive course. In some ways, he’s advocating policies that are more conservative than what is in place now in California."
