Newsom’s budget would add billions to fight drought, fires and boost California farms
SOPHIA BOLLAG, SacBee: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday will propose spending billions of additional dollars on drought response, wildfire suppression and rural workforce development programs, according to budget documents reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
The governor’s plan includes $750 million in one-time money to help communities affected by the drought, including for water conservation, water efficiency, replenishing groundwater supplies and helping small farmers.
That money comes on top of $5.2 billion Newsom and lawmakers approved last year for drought response and will build on clean drinking water projects previously funded through the state budget, an administration official told The Bee.
Battling misinformation and increasing testing, vaccines: Newsom seeks $2.7 billion for pandemic response
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to ask the Legislature to immediately approve $1.4 billion in his state budget proposal as an emergency response to the pandemic, primarily to boost access to vaccines, testing and support for overwhelmed hospitals.
Newsom will release his budget numbers Monday, but officials in his administration offered an early look Saturday at the ongoing pandemic response. Newsom is proposing a $2.7 billion package, including the $1.4 billion, on pandemic-related spending, including expansion of testing, vaccinations and support for the health care system.
The effort to augment the state’s $11.2 billion allocated in the fight against COVID-19 over the past two years comes as the state is seeing a significant increase in hospitalizations amid the omicron surge."
California schools risk ‘colossal’ loss of dollars as enrollment drops
The Chronicle, JOE HONG: "As they await the release of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2022-23 state budget, school district officials across California are worried about losing millions of dollars all at once, resulting in staffing cuts in a time when students need more attention than ever.
After two years of not being penalized for declining enrollment during the pandemic, school districts are bracing for a sudden drop in revenue next year as their funding gets recalibrated to match current enrollment, which plummeted since COVID-19 first closed California’s schools.
“I’ve never ever seen a drop in enrollment come all at once like this,” said Andy Johnsen, superintendent at San Marcos Unified in north San Diego County. “The pandemic changed everything.”"
More than 3,000 PG&E customers still waiting on power 2 weeks after Sierra Nevada storm
VINCENT MOLESKI, SacBee: "Thousands of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers are still without power two weeks after a severe winter storm brought several feet of snowfall to the Sierra Nevada and its foothills.
On Sunday afternoon, PG&E spokeswoman Karly Hernandez said that 3,198 customers were still without power. In Nevada County, 1,978 were still affected by the blackouts, plus 562 in El Dorado County, 452 in Placer County and 200 in Sierra County.
“PG&E crews continue to make progress restoring customers that are without power,” Hernandez said in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
L.A. County sets another daily record with more than 45,000 coronavirus cases
LA Times, PRISCELLA VEGA: "Los Angeles County reached another daily record of coronavirus cases as health officials on Sunday reported more than 45,000 new infections.
The county recorded 45,584 new cases amid the surge in infections driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to figures released by the county’s Department of Public Health. The department also reported 13 new deaths, bringing the county’s total number of deaths to 27,785 since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The updated numbers from the county underscored anew how the spread of the virus has exploded with the arrival of the Omicron variant. With an average of nearly 115,000 people being tested each day over the last seven days, more than 20% of people are testing positive for the virus, the county said. On Saturday, officials said the county had tallied more than 200,000 new cases over the previous seven days — the highest one-week total of the pandemic."
California officials warn against price gouging of home coronavirus test kits
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: "With coronavirus tests nearly impossible to find in the Bay Area — and San Francisco health officials saying they will limit testing early this week because of “challenges beyond our control” — California officials are now warning against price gouging for at-home test kits.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert Saturday about sellers charging exorbitant prices for over-the-counter rapid tests, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order over the weekend limiting sellers’ markups. Unauthorized test sites also are becoming a concern, San Francisco health officials warned.
The furious spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, and its ability to infect while causing few or no symptoms, has created a stampede for tests as people seek to learn whether it’s safe for them to be around others."
A neglected California city reinvents itself with electric cars — and plots a roadmap for the nation
LA Times, EVAN HALPER/MYUNG J CHUN/JACKELINE LUNA: "This Central Valley outpost is one of the most fertile places on Earth, attracting thousands of seasonal laborers to harvest lettuce and reaping windfalls for big agribusiness. But for most of Rey León’s life, the city of Huron has been a transportation desert.
When he was a child, it took three hours and 13 stops to ride a bus 53 miles to Fresno to visit a cousin in the hospital. “That experience stuck with me,” he said.
By the time he’d graduated from UC Berkeley and returned to the community to help his aging parents, little had changed. Even after he was elected Huron mayor five years ago, León’s lobbying for reliable bus routes to Fresno, Visalia and Coalinga got nowhere with regional planners, who chafed at the cost."
Police rescue pilot moments before Metrolink train slams into crashed plane
The Chronicle, LAURA NEWBERRY: "Los Angeles Police Department officers in Pacoima rescued a pilot from a crashed plane just moments before a train slammed into the aircraft Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The single-engine Cessna crashed onto the train tracks at San Fernando and Osborne streets about 2 p.m., LAPD Officer Antonio Delatorre said. Shortly after, officers from LAPD’s Foothill Division pulled a bloodied man in his 70s from the cockpit, according to Delatorre.
A video shared by LAPD shows a Metrolink train hitting the plane just seconds after the rescue."
Hundreds died in L.A. traffic crashes in 2021. Is Vision Zero a failure?
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of ending traffic deaths by 2025 looks increasingly unattainable following another year of rising fatalities and injuries caused by motorists.
According to Los Angeles Police Department data through Dec. 25, 289 people were killed in traffic collisions last year, 21% more than the same period in 2020 and 19% over the same period in 2019. A total of 1,465 people were severely injured, a 30% increase over the same period in 2020. The LAPD defines severely injured as needing to be transported from the collision.
The city’s streets are increasingly dangerous for pedestrians in particular, with 486 being severely injured by motorists — a 35% increase over 2020. Pedestrian deaths rose 6% to 128."
2022 Golden Globe Awards carry on, without stars or a telecast
The Chronicle, LINSAY BAHR: "The Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood’s so-called biggest party that regularly drew 18 million television viewers, was reduced to a live blog for its 79th edition on Sunday, Jan. 9.
The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association proceeded with its film awards without a telecast, nominees, a red carpet, a host, press or even a live stream. Instead, members of the association and some recipients of the group’s philanthropic grants gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a 90-minute private event, announcing the names of the film and television winners on the organization’s social media feeds.
Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” won several big awards, for best picture comedy or musical, best actress for Rachel Zegler and best supporting actess for Ariana DeBose."
This is what happened inside the Golden Globes show that wasn’t televised
LA Times, STACY PERMAN/CHRISTI CARRAS: "Long billed as Hollywood’s “party of the year,” Sunday’s Golden Globes more closely resembled an intimate tax attorneys’ convention.
Although the evening was black-tie, the usual fizzy mood was gone.
“This obviously felt different,” said one Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. member who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. The atmosphere, the member said, was more like the annual grants banquet where the HFPA announces the charities it supports."
Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan rejects Jan. 6 panel request for interview
AP: "Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of former President Trump’s closest allies in Congress, on Sunday rejected a request for an interview by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
In a combative letter to committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Jordan said, “The American people are tired of Democrats’ nonstop investigations and partisan witch hunts.”
He said the interview request “amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives,” adding: “This request is far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core constitutional principles and would serve to further erode legislative norms.”"
Bob Saget, star of 'Full House,' dies at 65
The Chronicle: "Comedian and actor Bob Saget, most famous for playing Danny Tanner on the television show "Full House," has died, according to TMZ. He was 65.
Hearst station WESH 2 News in Orlando has confirmed TMZ's report.
TMZ reports that Saget was found dead by security in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida. The circumstances of his death are not clear at the time."
Klay Thompson makes triumphant return to Warriors after 941-day hiatus
The Chronicle, CONNOR LETOURNEAU: "Klay Thompson heard it all: That he wouldn’t be the same player. That he would have to settle for a reduced role. That he would lose his explosiveness.
But in the span of a few seconds Sunday night, Thompson showed his doubters — and, for that matter, the world — that a 941-day hiatus from games hadn’t quelled his greatness. Late in the second quarter of the Warriors’ 96-82 win at Chase Center, he crossed over Cleveland center Jarrett Allen, took two giant strides into the key and threw down a one-handed dunk over two defenders.
As a sell-out crowd roared, Thompson furrowed his brow and drew back the left side of his mouth. What made that snarl — and the highlight that preceded it — so special was that Thompson has never been considered an elite athlete. Even before he underwent surgeries to repair a torn ACL and a torn Achilles tendon, his teammates often joked that he could barely dunk."
