Red flag

Red flag warning issued for Valley as dry, windy weather elevates California wildfire risk

DALE KASLER, SacBee: "It’s the middle of May, months before the wildfire season traditionally begins, and the National Weather Service has issued its second red flag warning of 2022.

The service issued a warning Wednesday for a broad swath of the Central Valley from Redding to Modesto, saying strong winds and dry conditions will significantly increase the risk of wildfire.

The warning takes effect at 11 a.m. Thursday and runs until 8 p.m. Friday."

California Supreme Court clears the way for Newsom to grant clemency to NFL star’s father, convicted of murder in 2005

BOB EGELKO, Chronicle: "The state Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant clemency and an early parole hearing to Kenneth Clark, a pro football player’s father who was convicted of a 2005 murder in San Bernardino and sentenced to 55 years to life in prison.

Clark, now 51, was found guilty of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Michael Rosales, who had driven into Clark’s car outside a convenience store. Clark has insisted he was innocent and noted that the prosecution’s eyewitness later recanted his testimony, but state and federal courts have rejected his appeals.

Fresno arsonist who started Big Sur wildfire that killed condors gets long prison term

KATHE TANNER, Fresno Bee: "The Fresno man found guilty of starting the devastating Dolan Fire near Big Sur will serve 24 years in state prison, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

Ivan Gomez, 31, was sentenced Wednesday in Monterey County Superior Court in connection to the 2020 blaze that seriously injured a firefighter, destroyed multiple homes and killed several California condors, the agency said in a news release.

Gomez was found guilty April 7 of 16 felony charges, including arson."

Want to donate Bitcoin to your favorite candidate? California commission weighs crypto policy

ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: "Should California politicians be allowed to accept donations of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin? The California Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s election watchdog, is set to consider just that when it meets at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Cryptocurrency is a virtual, encrypted currency, not backed by any governmental body.

It is produced by computer servers completing complex math problems and which is shared and tracked using a technology called blockchain."

Latinos hold only 3% of California’s public company board seats despite diversity push

The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "Latinos held only 3% of California public company board seats at the end of 2021, lagging behind other minority groups that made larger gains in the previous year, according to a new report.

California companies moved to diversify their boards in the wake of AB979, a bill passed in the fall of 2020 that required them to have at least one member of an underrepresented group.

Between October 2020 and the end of 2021, board seats held by an Asian member rose from 9.7% to 13.6%, and Black board members doubled from 2.9% to 5.8% of all seats. But Latino representation grew from only 2.1% to 3%, according to an analysis by Latino Corporate Directors Association. That’s despite Latinos making up 39% of California’s population."

Did the Buffalo mass shooting suspect’s 90% white hometown fuel his hate?

LA Times, CONNOR SHEETS: "This corner of upstate New York is threaded by roads winding up from the banks of the Susquehanna River into low, tree-covered hills. Commuters choose this community for its good schools and proximity to jobs in Binghamton, often settling in developments marked by vast lawns, expansive views and two-car garages.

Others are drawn to Conklin’s country feel and rustic rhythms. There’s a sod farm near where the main drag meets the Pennsylvania border, and a produce operation on the way out of town headed north. Fishing for smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna is a favorite pastime, and it’s not unusual for locals to wear camo to the Dollar Tree.

It’s a small enough place that purchasing a stump grinder and issuing permits for mobile home communities constitute major agenda items at town meetings. Conklin has long enjoyed — even taken pride in — its speck-on-the-wall anonymity, a town unnoticed by and unconcerned with most of the outside world."

COVID in California: CDC set to approve boosters for Bay Area kids aged 5 to 11

The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco firefighters who refused COVID vaccines brandished conspiracy theories and compared the city government to an authoritarian regime during their termination hearings. Apple indefinitely postponed plans to require its workers to return to office three days per week and told some Apple store workers to mask up amid rising coronavirus cases in the Bay Area. The CDC is expected to recommend boosters for kids aged 5 to 11 on Thursday, opening the possibility of shots as soon as this weekend.

Latest updates:

COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations expected to rise in nearly every state.

There will be up to 5,300 additional COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. over the next two weeks based on forecast models used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly every state is expected to see an increase in deaths reported during the week ending June 11, with California, New York, Georgia and Florida projected to tally the largest tolls. The U.S. is now averaging about 273 COVID deaths a day, with the average of new daily cases approaching 100,000. There are more than 24,300 Americans hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest figure since March, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC forecast models also show new hospitalizations increasing by up to 11,000."

Another poll suggests trouble for Chesa Boudin in the recall. How reliable is the data?

The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "Poll after poll shows that things are really not looking good for Chesa Boudin.

The latest, released Thursday by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and conducted by EMC Research, found that 67% of survey respondents were planning on voting “yes” on the district attorney’s upcoming recall election, while just 31% said they would vote “no.”

This follows three other polls that show, at best, support for Boudin trailing support for the recall by about 10%. Overall polls show him getting recalled by a significant margin."

Mayor London Breed vows to fight for more police officers in upcoming San Francisco budget talks

The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Wednesday she’ll push for police academy classes and investment to recruit and retain officers in the upcoming city budget amid public safety concerns from residents and businesses.

Breed told business leaders Wednesday morning public safety “would be a top priority” in the budget she will propose to supervisors on June 1, according to a copy of the speech. She mentioned police are below recommended staffing levels.

“If you want your workers to feel safe, we need your help to advocate for police officers in this budget,” she said, according to a draft speech she gave at a breakfast organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The Chronicle requested the draft but didn’t attend the event. “Every year when I propose academy classes at the Board of Supervisors, there’s a cut. We all have to change that.”"

Secret retreats and a powerful ‘cabal’: Corruption probe reveals who really runs Anaheim

LA Times, NATHAN FENNO, ADAM ELMAHREK, GABRIEL SAN ROMÁN: "A year and a half ago, two power brokers in Anaheim discussed a critical question on the phone: Who should they invite to a secretive gathering of Anaheim business leaders, consultants and politicians?

It would be a “retreat” at a local hotel, and one of them described their small group as a “cabal.” Attendance would be limited to people they could trust or, as they put it, “family members only.”

What the men didn’t know was that the FBI was listening."

San Francisco’s juvenile hall was scheduled to close last year. So why are kids still locked up there?

The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Three years ago, the Board of Supervisors made the landmark decision to shut down its juvenile hall by the end of 2021, becoming the first major city in the nation to do so. Yet the Youth Guidance Center, as it’s officially known, remains open.

The move came in the wake a Chronicle report that showed a dramatic drop in serious youth crime that had left the state’s juvenile halls almost vacant. In its place, supevisors pledged to stop incarcerating kids and instead create home-like rehabilitative centers, including a secure site for those who pose a public safety risk. But so far, no site has been identified and no firm timeline for closure exists.

Supervisors will discuss the stalled plan at a committee hearing Thursday."

Storied California redwood grove ‘almost loved to death’ reopens this weekend, with new boardwalk

The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS: "A grove of ancient redwoods that had suffered a decade’s worth of damage from tourists in California's far north has been retrofitted with a new boardwalk to shield it from further abuse.

The Grove of Titans, a cluster of hulking coast redwoods inside Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Crescent City, stands among thousands of impressive old-growth redwoods in the forests of the North Coast. For decades following the park's opening in 1929, the grove was relatively undisturbed, tucked off-trail in the park's remote interior.

That changed in 2011, when the grove's exact location was published online and widely disseminated among nature enthusiasts. Overnight, the redwoods, whose crowns extend higher than 300 feet in the air — ranking them among the world's tallest trees — became a popular destination for some of the park's hundreds of thousands of visitors."

The 101 best California experiences

LA Times, CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS: "Hey, California people: Imagine an iceberg.

There’s the tip, and then there’s the best part: the 87% that’s hidden below the waterline.

OK, maybe it’s not so great if you’re the Titanic. But to me, after decades spent up and down California reporting on travel, the arts and the outdoors, the unseen 87% represents immense possibilities. It’s where the gold is, beyond the selfie spots, the mouse ears, the Golden Gate Bridge and the postcard vista from the Tunnel View parking lot in Yosemite."

Moscow says hundreds of Ukrainian troops in custody as war crimes trials continue

LA Times, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL, JAWEED KALEEM: "Russia said Thursday that more than 1,700 Ukrainian fighters had surrendered at a steel plant in the conquered city of Mariupol, even as Ukraine claimed battlefield gains elsewhere, continued its first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier and prepared to launch a second.

Russia said that the Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol had been taken to a pre-trial detention center and that at least several commanders remained inside the Azovstal steelworks, which has become a symbol of resistance in the protracted war. The plant was Ukraine’s last redoubt in the devastated port city, whose capture has given Russia a key territorial gain along the southern coast.

The International Red Cross said it had logged information on “hundreds” of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azovstal facility. The humanitarian group said its effort was part of an agreement between Ukraine and Russia that began when Ukraine gave up its fight at the plant Tuesday."