Thousands of California wells are at risk of drying up despite landmark water law
LA Times, IAN JAMES: "Even though California enacted sweeping legislation nearly a decade ago to curb excessive agricultural pumping of groundwater, new research predicts that thousands of drinking water wells could run dry in the Central Valley by the time the law’s restrictions take full effect in 2040.
The study, published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, casts critical light on how the state is implementing the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The research reveals that plans prepared by local agencies would allow for heavy pumping to continue largely unabated, potentially drawing down aquifers to low levels that would leave many residents with dry wells."
California orders bottled water company to stop ‘unauthorized’ piping from springs
LA Times, IAN JAMES: "For decades, water has been siphoned from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains and piped downhill to be bottled and sold as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water. After a years-long fight over the bottled water operation in the San Bernardino National Forest, California water regulators ruled Tuesday that the company must stop taking millions of gallons through its pipelines.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to order the company BlueTriton Brands to “cease and desist” taking much of the water it has been piping from tunnels and boreholes in the mountains near San Bernardino."
A Chat With Viviana Becerra, COS to Attorney General Rob Bonta
Capitol Weekly, TIM FOSTER: "Viviana Becerra was one of the new names this year on Capitol Weekly’s annual Top 100 List. As Chief of Staff to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, she oversees the Office of Communications, Office of Native American Affairs, Office of External Affairs, Community Awareness, Response, and Engagement Team, and the Office of Legislative Affairs. While Becerra may be new to the list, she is already a capitol veteran, despite the fact that she has yet to hit 40.
She sat down with hosts Rich Ehisen and Tim Foster to talk about her journey to the AG’s office and what it’s like to to work for a high energy pol like Attorney General Bonta."
The story of Bob Lytle, the most infamous figure in California gaming you’ve never heard of
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "In the annals of California gaming history, there is perhaps no more infamous and consequential figure than Bob Lytle.
A law enforcement veteran, Lytle directly shaped California’s current gambling landscape right before he retired from the Attorney General’s office to go work for a cardroom – a cardroom where he was later investigated and ultimately lost his gaming license."
How California lawmakers greenlit ‘any flavor of affordable housing you could possibly want’
CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER: "You may not have seen the headlines (there weren’t any). You may have missed the raucous debate (there wasn’t much of one). But with the end of the legislative session last week, California is now on the verge of laying down a welcome mat for most major affordable housing projects across the state.
That’s not because of a single bill, but a patchwork of current and former legislation that, taken together, “basically covers any flavor of affordable housing you could possibly want to build,” said Linda Mandolini, president of Eden Housing, an affordable housing development nonprofit."
S.F. supervisors would be elected at-large in ballot measure proposed by longtime politico
The Chronicle, ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH: "Longtime San Francisco politico Quentin Kopp has proposed a ballot measure that could dramatically upend the city’s Board of Supervisors — and the way voters choose who sits on it.
Last week, he filed a ballot measure to amend the City Charter to have district supervisors elected in what is essentially an at-large process."
S.F. supervisors praise reparations plan, but cash payments unlikely without Breed’s support
The Chronicle, ALDO TOLEDO: "The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voiced strong support Tuesday for a final set of recommendations to provide reparations to the city’s Black community, which include potential $5 million payments meant to address decades of racism and discrimination in the city.
But despite strong community and board support during a four-hour hearing, it remains unclear whether the possible payments will be part of any near-term actions or whether the city will fund a reparations office to implement the recommendations."
Questions remain as feds signal an end to DWP billing probe
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "It was a shocking sight on a July morning in 2019: An FBI van parked outside Los Angeles City Hall and agents upstairs, scouring the headquarters of the city attorney’s office.
The government was there to collect evidence in a complex criminal case growing out of a scandal that erupted years earlier at another powerful city agency, the Department of Water and Power."
California fire weather watches are in effect. Here’s what that means
The Chronicle, JACK LEE: "In early October 2017, following a stretch of unusually warm and dry weather, faulty electrical equipment sparked a fire just outside Calistoga. Strong winds, at times gusting over 60 mph, propelled the blaze through Napa and Sonoma counties as fast as 230 feet per minute. A few hours later, the Tubbs Fire had already moved 12 miles and roared into Santa Rosa.
It became one of California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfires, killing 22 and destroying over 5,600 buildings, propelled by dangerous weather."
Bay Area air quality is rapidly worsening due to wildfire smoke. Here is a timeline of impacts
The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "The low-pressure system that is bringing unhealthy wildfire smoke to the Bay Area is expected to persist for the next few days as it drifts toward the California coast, raising the odds that smoky weather will persist across the region.
Weather models predict that the ribbon of northerly winds from the low pressure will ferry more rounds of smoke from the Smith River Complex into Central California this evening. The smoke is likely to settle at ground level, meaning residents across Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Santa Rosa might catch more whiffs of smoke this evening."
READ MORE -- San Francisco smells of smoke as Bay Area’s bad air expected to linger -- The Chronicle, KATE GALBRAITH/JULIE JOHNSON
California is holding on to billions in unclaimed property. How can you get your money?
Sac Bee, CORTLYNN STARK, THE SUM: "The state of California is holding onto more than $11 billion in unclaimed property, according to a news release from earlier this year.
Let’s break down what that is, how you can find out if the state has yours and how you can claim it."
California should be regulating kratom
Capitol Weekly, MAC HADDOW: "Californians have long since been ahead of the curve when it comes to wellness. The Golden State’s residents have routinely pioneered new ways to focus on self-care, manage stress and adhere to daily health routines, including exercise, meditation and the informed use of natural herbal supplements.
One such supplement that is increasingly becoming part of the wellness routines of many is kratom. Despite differing public views and ongoing regulatory discussions, millions of people around the world use kratom for various health benefits. Derived from the tropical evergreen tree in Southeast Asia, Mitragyna speciosa, kratom has been an essential part of traditional medicine for centuries."
These Cal State colleges are harder to get into than some UCs
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA, NAMI SUMIDA: "UCLA and UC Berkeley are often considered the crown jewels of California public universities. Those two schools boast the lowest admissions rates among California public schools, with three other UCs — Irvine, San Diego and Santa Barbara — rounding out the top five.
But following close behind and ranking sixth-most selective is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, admitting 30% of applicants in 2022, an admissions rate that rivals that of several University of California schools, according to a new data analysis from the Chronicle. That number makes it the most competitive school in the California State University system.
Federal judge halts California school’s rule against outing transgender students, teeing up conflict
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A federal judge says a school that follows California state policy by letting students decide whether to tell their parents that they identify as transgender is violating parents’ right to raise their children.
The ruling conflicts with another federal judge’s earlier decision that the policy protects youths’ right to privacy, and the issue is headed for higher courts.""
AI, other education technology can infringe on rights of disabled, LGBT students, report warns"
EdSource, EMMA GALLEGOS: "The use of education technology in schools, such as artificial intelligence, digital surveillance and content filters, poses a threat to the civil rights of students with disabilities, LGBTQ students and students of color, a new report released Wednesday warns.
Some technology used in schools to block explicit adult content and flag students at risk of self-harm or harming others have also created serious problems for already vulnerable students, cautions the report by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for civil rights in the digital world."
Google extends lifespan of Chromebooks — a change that could save school districts millions
BANG*Mercury News, ELISSA MIOLENE: "Google is finally extending the lifespan of older Chromebooks — the low-cost laptops used by school districts across the country — after years of limited software support sent thousands of those devices to the trash after just a few years of service.
The policy change comes after the Bay Area News Group in July detailed the struggles with expiring Chromebooks across the region, and how year after year, school districts were forced to recycle the devices due to premature software death dates."
Amazon hiring 30,000 workers in California
SCNG*SGV Tribune, KEVIN SMITH: "Amazon is looking to add 16,000 workers to its warehouse network in Southern California, part of a seasonal push to fill 250,000 jobs nationwide ahead of the holiday shopping season.
The company, which is seeking 100,000 more workers than it did in the past two holiday seasons, said it’s also boosting its average starting pay for new employees to $20.50 hourly. In some areas, base wages will be as high as $28 per hour."
He doesn’t know who flew him to California. A year later, this migrant’s future is uncertain.
CALMatters, JUSTO ROBLES: "n the final hours of Sept. 15, 2022, Pablo Silva and four other Venezuelan men were wandering downtown Sacramento, a city they had never heard of, searching for a roof over their heads.
They didn’t find it.
They had traveled thousands of miles to escape violence and poverty in Venezuela. Silva said he and the men had asked for asylum at the border in Texas and, after they were processed, immigration officials gave them paperwork with an address, saying it was a shelter in Sacramento.
‘You’re a Tijuanan’: Viral video roils Santa Barbara, spurring hundreds to protest
LA Times, FAITH E. PINO: "A viral moment between a white woman and Latino man in Santa Barbara captured on video struck a nerve over the weekend as hundreds flooded the streets to protest what many deemed a racist encounter, emblematic of the rarely discussed issue of racism in the majority-white city.
The video, captured Saturday morning by construction worker Luis Cervantes, shows Jeanne Umana inside a house down the street from her home. Cervantes repeatedly tells Umana that she’s on private property at a construction site.
Insurance premiums could surge in these U.S. cities because of climate disasters, new data shows
CNN, WIRE SERVICE: "Millions of American homeowners could see insurance rates surge in the coming years in part due to worsening climate disasters, new data shows.
An analysis of from nonprofit research group First Street Foundation found nearly 39 million homes and commercial properties – about 27% of properties in the Lower 48 – are at risk of their premiums spiking as insurers struggle to cover the increasing cost of rebuilding after disasters."
He heard voices. He bought a gun. Now he’s accused of killing an L.A. deputy
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN, NATHAN SOLIS, SLAVADOR HERNANDEZ, THOMAS CURWEN, RICHARD WINTON: "When Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, allegedly shot Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, he may have been using a handgun he had purchased legally despite a history of mental illness, authorities said Tuesday, raising questions about how he was able to slip through the cracks of a system designed to prevent such tragedies.
Cataneo Salazar’s mother told The Times her son had been hospitalized for mental health crises and twice attempted suicide. Experts say California laws should have prohibited him from purchasing a firearm, but the safeguard system is complicated and there are several ways he may have passed through the usual checks unnoticed. "
