Historic storm hits California: Snow in north, blizzard warnings in Southland
LA Times, GRACE TOOHEY/HAYLEY SMITH/SUSANNE RUST/ALEXANDRA E. PETRI: "A frigid winter storm barreled into California on Thursday, bringing sea-level snow along the coast at Eureka and whiteout conditions in the Sierra as well as bursts of hail, snow and rain in Southern California that are expected to worsen considerably over the next two days.
Cold temperatures brought snow, hail and graupel to unusually low elevations of the Southland, including at the Hollywood sign, slicking mountain roadways and spurring some school districts to cancel classes ahead of possible blizzard conditions.
Though the storm may be novel for Northern California, it has the potential to be historic in the southern part of the state, especially Friday and Saturday, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said."
California's winter storm is bringing snow, hail and graupel. Here's how to tell the difference
The Chronicle, JACK LEE: "Winter storms brought snow to places in the Bay Area like Mount Hamilton and Los Gatos. It also brought an unusual form of precipitation to Santa Cruz beaches and Half Moon Bay on Thursday: graupel. It isn’t fluffy like snow or hard like hail; it’s somewhere in between.
Snow forms when water vapor turns to ice and makes crystals that form familiar six-sided snowflakes."
‘Rock bottom temperatures’ chill Bay Area, with more snow, rain to come
BANG*Mercury News, RICK HURD/MARTHA ROSS/ETHAN BARON: "California residents from the Northern Coast down to the Bay Area saw major snowfalls Thursday with more wind, rain and snow expected to fall through the night and into Friday as a powerful winter storm makes its way south, bringing snow and hail to areas at 1,500 to 2,000 feet above sea level and even lower elevations in some areas.
The band of cold, wet weather is part of a system that came out of the Pacific Northwest, with an earlier wave Wednesday night and Thursday morning that dropped snow as low as a few hundred feet above sea level in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The National Weather Service expanded a Winter Storm Warning to start at 4 p.m. Thursday and end at 11 a.m. Friday to cover the entire Bay Area above 1,500 feet.
Widespread precipitation is expected around the Bay Area starting Thursday night, bringing steady rain to much of the region until tapering off with showers Friday morning, with rainfall totaling a half-inch to an inch-and-a-half, depending on location, National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Canepa said Thursday evening."
California weather: Morning commute may be bad as snow, frigid temperatures blanket state
The Chronicle, JORDAN PARKER/NORA MISHANEC/RACHEL SWAN/GERRY DIAZ/JACK LEE/SAM WHITING/CLAIRE HAO: "Powerful back-to-back storms are walloping the Bay Area, bring rain, snow, and even occasional bursts of hail to a large swathe of California.
Peaks along the North Bay Highlands, Peninsula, and East Bay hillsides could all see snow as Arctic temperatures set in again overnight, with daytime temperatures remaining relatively low as well. Hail and ice pellets may pelt motorists on Highways 101 and 1 as thunder clatters the coastal areas. This latest jolt of wild weather will likely persist until Friday, when the storms migrate south toward Los Angeles."
Yosemite National Park: El Capitan rockfall captured on video
BANG*Mercury News, PAUL ROGERS: "Visitors to Yosemite National Park this week got a first-hand view of the power of nature.
A large rockslide on Monday sent tons of boulders crashing down from El Capitan, the immense 3,000-foot tall granite monolith on the north side of Yosemite Valley.
The slide, which began at 11:42 a.m., caused a thunderous crashing for about 20 seconds near Horsetail Fall, a landmark known for its “firefall,” the popular spectacle every February when the setting sun can cause the falls to appear to glow orange."
California lawmakers question Newsom oil profit penalty, fear ‘unintended consequences’
Sacramento Bee, LINDSEY HOLDEN: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom may face a tough road persuading lawmakers to support his oil windfall profits penalty, as Democrats and energy experts expressed uncertainty Wednesday about the right strategy to address high gas prices.
The Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee held the first public discussion of Newsom’s plan to penalize oil companies for earning profits over a certain cap and return the funds to Californians. But there was no consensus around the idea.
Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, said it’s clear people believe “oil companies were profiting off the backs of Californians.”"
Schiff, Porter take early lead in race for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat
BANG*Mercury News, MARISA KENDALL: "U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff and Katie Porter have taken an early lead in the high-profile race to replace storied Sen. Dianne Feinstein when she retires in 2025. But all the candidates in the running share a common problem — most voters don’t know who they are and likely aren’t yet paying attention to the race.
In a recent poll focused on the 2024 election to fill the seat, which asked voters about current and possible candidates, so far all Democrats, 22% of voters favored Schiff, who represents the Los Angeles area, and 20% favored Porter, from Orange County, according to UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. Rep. Barbara Lee, from the East Bay, who was the last of the three official candidates to enter the race, trailed with just 6% of voters favoring her. Another 4% liked Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents part of Silicon Valley and reportedly has toyed with the idea of running but hasn’t declared his candidacy.
Though it’s still early — the election is more than a year away — the poll revealed that all of the candidates have their work cut out for them when it comes to name recognition. A whopping 62% of voters said they don’t know enough about Lee to have an opinion of her, while 47% had no opinion of Porter, and 39% had no opinion of Schiff."
Trial in Pelosi attack likely to start in summer, suspect’s lawyer says
The Chronicle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "The jury trial in the case against David DePape, the man accused of bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer in his San Francisco home in the fall, will likely proceed this summer, his attorney said Thursday.
In a short hearing Thursday, prosecutors and DePape’s defense attorney asked a San Francisco Superior Court judge to approve a date in April in which counsel will set a date for his trial in the state’s case against him. He also faces charges in federal court."
COVID-19 deaths top 100,000 in California: ‘Nobody ... anticipated this toll’
LA Times, LUKE MONEY: "It was three years ago this month that California documented its first known victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the pandemic’s toll has breached a once-unthinkable level, with more than 100,000 deaths reported statewide, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Unlike the first known victim — whose tragic brush with the coronavirus was recounted in detail during the pandemic’s early days — we may never know the identity of the individual who represents the latest grim milestone in an era marked with them."
Will physician assistants join nurse practitioners on front lines of CA abortion access efforts?
Capitol Weekly, CLAIRE MCCARVILLE: "As last year’s wave of laws protecting abortion in California go into effect, nurse practitioners and other advanced practice clinicians are at the frontline of the access issue.
Jessica Dieseldorff, a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte with more than 20 years of experience, pointed out that the expansions of scope offered by Senate Bill 1375 (Atkins, 2022) are a matter of practicality.
“We are already the core workforce,” she said, “so if we’re able to offer more services, then we are able to support our patients in what they need.”"
Bill to expand coverage to migrants may test Newsom’s pledge on universal health care
KHN, RACHEL BLUTH: "A doctor found cysts in Lilia Becerril’s right breast five years ago, but the 51-year-old lacks health insurance. She said she can’t afford the imaging to find out if they’re cancerous.
Becerril earns about $52,000 a year at a nonprofit in California’s Central Valley, putting her and her husband, Armando, at more than double the limit to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for people with low incomes and disabilities. Private insurance would cost $1,230 a month in premiums, money needed for their mortgage.
“We’ve been resorting to home remedies to get through the pain,” Becerril said through a Spanish translator. Her husband has needed hernia surgery for 20 years. “It’s frustrating because we pay our taxes, but we can’t reap any of the benefits of where our taxes are going,” she added."
Conservative group sues Kaiser Permanente over transgender care
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: "The conservative nonprofit Center for American Liberty said Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente alleging that it provided inappropriate gender hormone therapies and surgical procedures to a teenager who later de-transitioned.
The teenager at the center of the lawsuit is Chloe Cole, 18, who has been outspoken nationally about her experiences with gender dysphoria, which led to her starting puberty blockers and hormone therapy at age 13 and getting a double mastectomy at 15. She decided to de-transition when she was 17.
In the time since, her case has become a political touchstone for conservative groups pushing against transgender rights and access to gender-affirming care for young people."
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years in prison for Los Angeles rape
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY: "Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison Thursday for raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013, all but ensuring that the disgraced Hollywood kingmaker will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Weinstein, who is 70 and in poor health, is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, where he was convicted in 2020 of sexually assaulting other women.
In handing down Weinstein’s punishment, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench ruled he cannot serve the two sentences concurrently."
California sinks millions into teacher residency programs, but many can't afford to enroll
EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: "California has invested more than $350 million over the past five years to fund teacher residency programs as part of a multipronged approach to end the state’s enduring teacher shortage. But the residency programs are struggling to fill their rosters because teacher candidates can’t afford to live on the small stipends often provided.
Residents work alongside an experienced teacher-mentor for a year of clinical training, while completing required coursework in a university preparation program — a time commitment that often precludes them from taking a part-time job.
“We’ve seen that a majority are experiencing financial hardships during their residency year,” Kate Hirschboeck, a senior researcher for WestEd, told the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing earlier this month. “Around 30% of residents experienced food or housing insecurity. Just over half experienced an inability to pay bills or education expenses. … We’ve seen that residents of color are disproportionately impacted by these financial challenges.”"
‘A master class in antisemitism’: East Bay teacher on leave after complaints of conspiracy theories, bigoted materials
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "A teacher at an East Bay high school remained in his classroom for two months after students complained he taught antisemitic conspiracy theories, with administrators doing nothing to counter the hate speech, according to students and teachers who spoke at a school board meeting last week.
In separate conversations with The Chronicle, members of the school community also alleged that English teacher Henry Bens used a Nazi salute in his classroom.
After inquiries from The Chronicle, officials in the Hayward Unified School District issued a statement Wednesday that Bens was on a leave of absence. It was unclear whether he was forced to take the leave or requested it. Officials confirmed they’re investigating “the teacher’s alleged actions” and that Bens would not return to school Monday."
California opens civil rights investigation of Riverside County Sheriff’s Office
LA Times, MICHAEL FINNEGAN: "California’s attorney general has opened a civil rights investigation of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office amid allegations of excessive force against detainees and inhumane jail conditions.
“We all benefit when there is action to ensure the integrity of policing in our state,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said. “It is time for us to shine a light on the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and its practices.”
Bonta said he was troubled by reports that sheriff’s deputies were using excessive force and by Riverside County’s high rate of deaths in custody. “Too many families and communities in Riverside are hurting and looking for answers,” he said."
Major office landlord defaults on $1.7 billion in loans tied to two S.F. buildings
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "Major office landlord Columbia Property Trust has defaulted on $1.7 billion in loans tied to seven office buildings, including two in San Francisco.
The downtown San Francisco buildings are 201 California St. as well as 650 California St., where Columbia sued Twitter in December for alleged nonpayment of rent."
‘The longest day of our lives’: Ukraine reflects on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion
AP, JOHN LEICESTER/HANNAH ARHIROVA: "Ukraine’s president pledged to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the somber first anniversary Friday of the Russian invasion of their country Feb. 24, 2022, which he called “the longest day of our lives.”
As morning broke on a day of commemorations and reflection, President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a tone of grim defiance and used the anniversary to congratulate Ukrainians on their resilience in the face of Europe’s biggest and deadliest war since World War II. He said they had proven themselves to be invincible in what he called “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity.”
“We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for each tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fought,” he said in an early-morning video address."
