A big bear in Tahoe has a big appetite and no qualms about busting into houses — 28 at last count
ERIN ALLDAY, Chronicle: "Hank the Tank, an enormous black bear who’s developed a raging appetite for human food, is facing possible euthanasia after breaking into more than two dozen homes in a gated South Lake Tahoe neighborhood over the past seven months.
The 500-pound bear has broken windows, smashed through front doors and ransacked garages in search of food, authorities say. He’s undeterred by efforts to “haze” him away from food with sirens, tasers and beanbag shots.
Nearly everyone agrees the bear needs to be removed from the Tahoe Keys community where he’s roamed since at least last August, inciting aggravation in the wake of his property damage — but also exasperated affection."
College admissions cheater asks to serve year in prison in California ‘satellite camp’
JOE DWINELL, Mercury News: "A former Wynn Resorts executive sentenced to a year and a day in the “Varsity Blues” college scam sting wants to be locked up in a “satellite camp” next to a federal prison rife with gangs.
Gamal Abdelaziz, 64, convicted of paying a $300,000 bribe to land his daughter in the University of Southern California, is asking the federal court in Boston to send him to Satellite Prison Camp at USP Atwater, Calif.
Defense attorneys for 15 alleged members of the Nuestra Familia — the prison gang that holds sway in the Atwater lockup — have decried conditions inside the penitentiary."
Coldest storm of the winter to hit L.A mountains and beyond: ‘You need to be prepared’
DONOVAN X. RAMSEY, LA Times: "The coldest storm of the winter season is set to dump snow and ice to the mountains of Los Angeles County, according to an urgent advisory the National Weather Service issued Monday.
The region should expect 1 to 3 inches of snow, with up to 5 inches possible in the San Gabriel Mountains, starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday through noon Wednesday, the advisory warned. Affected mountain areas include those in San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and Los Angeles County, excluding the Santa Monica range.
“If you’re going to the mountains, you need to be prepared. People need to be very, very cautious,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Oxnard."
Beekeepers turn to anti-theft technology as hive thefts rise
DAISY NGUYEN, AP: "For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state’s most valuable crop.
But as almond trees start to bloom, blanketing entire valleys in white and pink flowers, so begin beehive thefts that have become so prevalent that beekeepers are now turning to GPS tracking devices, surveillance cameras and other anti-theft technology to protect their precious colonies.
Hive thefts have been reported elsewhere in the country, most recently three hives containing about 60,000 bees taken from a grocery chain’s garden in central Pennsylvania. They happen at a larger scale and uniquely in California this time of year because bees are most in demand during the largest pollination event in the world."
Column: Newsom’s waning voter approval might’ve given the GOP a shot. But they blew it in the recall
GEORGE SKELTON, LA Times: "To use a golf analogy, the ball’s teed up for the Republican Party to contest Gov. Gavin Newsom. But it already swung weakly last year and shanked to the right.
There won’t be a mulligan — no do-over — on the foolish recall attempt that Newsom crushed by about 24 percentage points.
“After the recall, the ball’s definitely lying in the deep rough,” says Republican consultant Rob Stutzman, an avid golfer."
Rep. Karen Bass’ L.A. mayor campaign manager departs
JULIA WICK, LA Times: "Jamarah Hayner has departed as Rep. Karen Bass’ campaign manager in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, a campaign spokesperson said Monday.
Hayner, who had been with the campaign since it launched in September, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She previously managed Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s 2020 campaign.
Anna Bahr, a spokesperson for Bass’ campaign, said that Hayner’s departure was amicable and that the campaign was grateful for her work and wished her luck with her consulting firm."
A just-retired California correctional officer died in a road-rage shooting. They’re on the rise
ROSALIO AHUMADA, SacBee: "Lufino Reyes Mejorado was a good guy, his family says. The kind of guy who would pull over to help out another driver with a flat tire.
The 60-year-old Sacramento man had worked as a correctional officer at California State Prison, Solano, until 2018, when he retired with hopes of continuing his education to become a social worker and help homeless people.
Frances Mejorado Knox, his sister, said she was shocked to learn her brother was a victim of road rage, shot and killed Dec. 6 along Interstate 5 in Sacramento after an encounter with another driver that started several miles away on another freeway."
California’s budget surplus may be up to $23 billion more than previous projection
TRACY BLOOM and ASHLEY SAVALA, KTLA: "A California budget surplus that is already expected to be massive could end up being billions of dollars more than initial estimates.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his 2022-2023 budget proposal back in January, his administration forecast a $45.7 billion surplus.
But in a February update, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office said there’s a very good chance the surplus could exceed the initial estimate by $6 billion to $23 billion, thanks to money collected from personal income, sales and corporation taxes."
As drought lingers, larger and more destructive wildfires pose new threats to water supply
HAYLEY SMITH, LA Times: "Already diminished by drought and extreme heat, California’s water supply will face yet another peril as wildfires continue to incinerate ever larger areas of forested land, according to new research.
In a UCLA-led study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers determined that increasing forest fire activity is “unhinging” western U.S. stream flow from its historical predictability. In areas where more than a fifth of the forest had burned, stream flow increased by an average of 30% for six years after the fire.
On its surface, increased stream flow — the rate at which water is carried by rivers and streams — could be seen as a boon for the drought-stricken region. But too much water comes with hazards, including increased erosion, flooding and debris flows."
Citing Bee investigation, CA lawmaker brings bill to rein in sheriff ‘welfare’ spending
JASON POHL, SacBee: "In a rebuke to county sheriffs, a California lawmaker has proposed a plan to help close a loophole that allows law enforcement to spend money from incarcerated people and their families on building maintenance, staff salaries and lodging at resort hotels. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, introduced legislation this month to overhaul rules for jail “inmate welfare funds.”
The bill, AB 1782, requires that the fees charged to incarcerated people and their loved ones be used “solely” — rather than “primarily” — for rehabilitation programs, job training and other things that directly benefit people in county jails.
It would also strip a provision that has given sheriffs the authority to spend leftover welfare fund cash on salaries and building maintenance, two of the largest drains on the pool of cash.
Helicopter pilot reported mechanical problems before deadly crash
ERIC LICAS, JOSH CAIN, MINDY SCHAUER and ERIKA I. RITCHIE, OC Register: "A Huntington Beach police officer injured in a helicopter crash in Newport Beach that killed a colleague on Saturday evening was released from the hospital on Sunday, as an investigation got underway to reveal what made the chopper suddenly plunge into the bay.
“He’s doing well, but there’s still a lot of recovery ahead,” Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Carey said of the injured officer. “They are optimistic about his recovery.”
The announcement came as Orange County Sheriff’s Department divers worked to retrieve the upside-down police helicopter, HB1, from the water between the Lido and Balboa peninsulas."
