California Drought Could Mean Peak Fire Season Months Earlier Than Usual
SCOTT RODD, CapRadio: "Sissy Savoye’s tent is surrounded by charred trees and burn scars from last year’s massive North Complex Fire in Butte County.
She’s been living on her best friend’s property after his home burned to the ground.
They’re committed to rebuilding, but Savoye is nervous about this year’s wildfire season, as the state battles a severe drought. “We’re not tapping water in our wells,” she said. “Usually that doesn’t happen until August.”
Can you stop going to the DMV? How the department wants to eliminate visits
ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: "During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Department of Motor Vehicles was forced to close its doors and shift to a primarily digital approach.
Now, the director of the DMV says the department is looking to make some of those changes permanent in a bid to become “more modern and agile.”
To that end, the DMV is asking for more than $60 million in funding in the state budget that will go into effect in July."
Reward climbs to $400,000 for information on apparent road-rage killing of 6-year-old in Orange
ERIC LICAS, OC Register: "A reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman in an apparent road rage shooting that left a 6-year-old dead in Orange climbed to $400,000 on Sunday, as the hunt for the suspect extended into its second week. That figure is up from $310,000 on Wednesday.
California Highway Patrol officers continued searching across Southern California for a man suspected of opening fire from the passenger seat of a white Volkswagen Golf SportWagen on the 55 Freeway, resulting in the death of young Aiden Leos on Friday, May 21. The 6-year-old was in a booster seat as his mother drove on the freeway.
No suspects were publicly named over the weekend, despite the reward offered for clues and direct appeals from officials to the shooter, or anyone who knows him, to come forward."
California eyes shuttered malls, stores for new housing
ADAM BEAM, AP: "California state lawmakers are grappling with a particularly 21st-century problem: What to do with the growing number of shopping malls and big box retail stores left empty by consumers shifting their purchases to the web.
A possible answer in crowded California cities is to build housing on these sites, which already have ample parking and are close to existing neighborhoods.
But local zoning laws often don’t allow housing at these locations. Changing the zoning is such a hassle that many developers don’t bother trying. And it’s often not worth it for local governments to change the designations. They would prefer to find new retailers because sales taxes produce more revenue than residential property taxes."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: The Worst Week
Ca;itol Weekly Staff: "Since we posted FOUR new episodes this past week, we’re offering up an abbreviated version of our regular podcast… this time we’ll just look at who had the #WorstWeekCA. If you have been following the news, the answer should be pretty clear."
In wine country, a newspaper war brings down a mayoral ‘prince’ accused of sex abuse
JAMES RAINEY, LA Times: "The front-page shockers began in early April and just kept coming: A young mayor from the San Francisco Bay’s wine country had been accused of sexually abusing and assaulting women. First there were four accusers. Then four more.
A former girlfriend accused Dominic Foppoli, the mayor of “friendly, family-oriented” Windsor, of sexually abusing her. Another woman said he forced himself on her during an alcohol-fueled hot tub party at his family’s winery. A town council colleague said she might have been drugged before she was sodomized following a community clambake.
The headlines were stunning, but they came not from Sonoma County’s leading media outlet, the Press Democrat, but from its big-city rival, the San Francisco Chronicle. The allegations, which led Foppoli to resign his mayorship on May 21, have rocked the Pulitzer Prize-winning Press Democrat, after its top editor made the extraordinary admission that the newspaper had failed to pursue the story when a reporter brought forward the first accusations, more than two years ago."
Ransomware hack puts sensitive Azusa Police Department documents online
HARRIET RYAN, LA Times: "Late this winter, an international hacking syndicate suspected of conducting ransomware attacks around the globe turned its attention to the police department in the San Gabriel Valley city of Azusa.
Through means that remain unclear, the hacking group DoppelPaymer appears to have infiltrated computers in the 63-officer department and gained access to critical data. A demand for money followed.
For the next 2½ months, officials in the city of 48,000 kept the hack a secret. They said nothing in March as they strategized with the FBI, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and ransomware consultants, and remained mum in April when they opted not to pay, and hundreds of highly sensitive files, including criminal case files and payroll data, spilled out online."
Marin kayaker embarks on risky journey to Hawaii - alone
GREGORY THOMAS, Chronicle: "The 44-year-old Marin kayaker is attempting to paddle alone across 2,400 nautical miles of open ocean to Hawaii, an audacious undertaking few in the water sports world aspire toward, let alone pursue. He hopes it won’t take him longer than 70 days.
“If I say 60 and it’s 70, the last 10 days will be so hard,” said Derreamaux, who is originally from France. “But if I say I’m not sure and it’s 70, I’ll feel pretty good.
Such is the mind-set of a man on the verge of launching directly into one of Earth’s wildest environments by himself. Being alone and unaided — there won’t be an escort craft — will surely prove as tough as the physical strength needed to beat a path through the turbulent sea to Waikiki."
Misinformation remains the biggest hurdle as vaccination effort turns to cash incentives
PAUL SISSON, Union-Tribune: "San Diego County will soon reach 2 million residents who have had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. But in a region with more than 3.3 million residents, that means there are still more than 1 million who have not yet come forward to get stuck.
Some just haven’t gotten around to it yet, and the state’s new $115 million lottery — which rewards vaccination with cash rewards — will surely push some off the fence and into vaccination clinics.
But it is clear that misinformation, not money, has often driven vaccination decisions."
VTA shooter blew up on radio dispatch, complained about pay, vacation, coworkers say
DAVID DeBOLT, FIONA KELLIHER, ROBERT SALONGA and MAGGIE ANGST, Mercury News: "As authorities continued to piece together what triggered a Valley Transportation Authority maintenance worker’s rail yard massacre Wednesday, employees at the transit agency recounted that the gunman, Samuel Cassidy, was a loner known for sudden outbursts directed at colleagues.
A month before the massacre, Cassidy lost his temper over the light rail radio system, a notable breach of accepted etiquette. He had also complained about payroll and vacation issues at work, coworkers told the Bay Area News Group Friday.
Also Friday, authorities revealed they found a dozen guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and improvised incendiary devices inside Cassidy’s San Jose home."
California cafe charges customers extra if they wear a face mask
SUMMER LIN, SacBee: "A California cafe owner is charging customers who wear a face mask an extra fee.
A poster on the window at Fiddlehead’s Cafe in Mendocino read, “$5 fee added to orders placed while wearing a face mask,” SFGate reported.
Chris Castleman, owner of the cafe, told McClatchy News that he put the sign up “because the pro-mask people have been damaging our country for too long. It’s time to end the mandates and start focusing on reversing the collateral damage done by these government restrictions.”
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy dies after Monday pursuit shooting
JOE NELSON, San Bernardino Sun: "Deputies attempting to pull over a motorcyclist in Yucca Valley on Monday engaged in a high-speed chase and shootout, with one deputy fatally shot and the motorcyclist killed in the gunfight.
Late Monday, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said in a video posted on Twitter that Sgt. Dominic Vaca, 43, a 17-year veteran with the department, had died at a hospital of his injuries. He was assigned to the Morongo Basin Station.
“The gunshot wound he sustained earlier today was too severe for him to overcome. Our prayers are with him and his family as we all mourn this difficult time,” McMahon said, noting hospital staff had performed heroic life-saving measures."
