Earth reaches grim milestone: 2023 was the warmest year on record
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "An astonishing seven consecutive months of record-breaking warmth has culminated a grim milestone for humanity: 2023 was, officially, Earth’s hottest year on record.
That assessment, announced Tuesday by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, follows a year in which extreme heat smothered multiple continents simultaneously, pushed ocean temperatures to alarming highs and spurred dire warnings about the worsening effects of climate change."
Pilot projects and sunset dates in California legislation
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "California, like most other states, occasionally establish a “pilot program,” which is basically a study or temporary program established by statute, often combined with a study and sunset date. The idea behind pilot program legislation is to give a public policy proposal a try. As part of this effort, there is usually an effort to collect data and determine whether the temporarily adopted program is meeting expectations.
In some instances, a pilot program includes a formal study, perhaps even with an independent third-party conducting the data collection, evaluation, and reporting. There may even be oversight to ensure that the program is being used as intended so that a proper evaluation can be made. As a result, a pilot project is a short-term statutory program used to evaluate perhaps an entirely new or innovative program or operation."
Changemaker: Kristina Bas Hamilton (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "As California stares down the largest budget deficit in a decade, lawmakers – most of whom have never governed during a down time – will be facing hard choices. Labor lobbyist Kristina Bas Hamilton remembers the rough days of the Great Recession, and sat down with us to talk about what this go round might be like, and how it will differ from the past. She also talks with us about her podcast, and her new book, Changemaker: An Insider’s Guide to Getting Sh*t Done at the California Capitol, a How-To guide for working with lawmakers.
Plus, as always, we tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics."
Worried about AI? How California lawmakers plan to tackle the technology’s risks in 2024
LA Times, QUEENIE WONG: "Jodi Long was caught off guard by the cage filled with cameras meant to capture images of her face and body.
“I was a little freaked out because, before I walked in there, I said I don’t remember this being in my contract,” the actor said."
When Sacramento council reconsiders city manager raise, one detail will be different
Sacramento Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "When the Sacramento City Council reconsiders a vote for City Manager Howard Chan Tuesday, one significant detail will be different, which could change the outcome.
Chan’s base salary would still increase from $400,000 to $420,000, with 240 hours leave time, according to a city staff report. However Chan would no longer be able to cash out the leave time at his discretion."
Dungeness crab is here — sort of. Here’s what’s happening at Bay Area restaurants
The Chronicle, ELENA KADVANY: "Sweet, long-awaited Dungeness crab is finally adorning pasta and being folded into dumplings at restaurants throughout the Bay Area. But it’s most likely not yet coming from Northern California.
After numerous delays, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife opened the commercial crab season between Oregon and the Sonoma/Mendocino county line on Friday, Jan. 5. However, a fishermen’s strike and inclement weather means few California crabs are actually making their way into Bay Area markets and restaurants. Instead, any Dungeness is still likely coming from Washington or Oregon states — though most menus don’t make the distinction."
California just counted its mountain lions. Here are the results
The Chronicle, CLARE FONSTEIN: "For the first time in 40 years, researchers estimated California’s total mountain lion population and while the numbers are high, experts are still concerned about their future.
Data shows there are about 4,500 mountain lions statewide, according to Justin Dellinger, the leader of UC Davis’ California Mountain Lion Project. Areas closer to the coast, including the Bay Area, and the northwest part of the state generally found higher densities of mountain lions, he said."
Bay Area will soon see some of the highest king tides of the year
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "King tides, which brought minor flooding and damage to parts of the Bay Area just weeks ago, are splashing back into the region this week.
Tides around 7 feet or more are expected to arrive in the Bay Area on Tuesday and continue through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service."
What rising immigration really means for California’s economy
LA Times, DON LEE: "Even as busloads of migrants sent north by border-state officials have strained cities and stirred new political firestorms in Washington, fresh data are driving home the increasingly crucial role that immigrants will play for U.S. businesses and the economy at large, especially in California.
Net immigration to the U.S. hit a 22-year high of 1.14 million last year, newly released Census Bureau data show. California’s overall population, which lost 75,000 people between July 2022 and July 2023, would have fallen by more than 225,000 if not for international migration, according to calculations by Brookings demographer William Frey."
Citing Shohei Otani's $680M pay deferral, California official urges U.S. to fix tax system
The Chronicle, JORDAN PARKER: "California’s top fiscal officer on Monday urged Congress to take “immediate and decisive action” to restrict the ability of high earners to defer income – and cited Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract as an example of how California could lose millions in tax dollars.
“The current tax system allows for unlimited deferrals for those fortunate enough to be in the highest tax brackets, creating a significant imbalance in the tax structure,” Malia Cohen, the state’s controller, said in a statement Monday. “The absence of reasonable caps on deferral for the wealthiest individuals exacerbates income inequality and hinders the fair distribution of taxes. I would urge Congress to take immediate and decisive action to rectify this imbalance.”"
READ MORE -- Shohei Ohtani could avoid paying tens of millions in California taxes. Not so fast, state says -- LA Times, BILL SHAKOOAP
Whistleblower claims UC Santa Cruz cheated donors, then fired her for exposing it
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "Cecilia Reyes had been deputy director of planning and giving at UC Santa Cruz for a year in 2022 when she told a campus administrator about her “uneasy feeling” that a consultant was pressuring donors to let his company take over management of their gifts, and that he was taking an undue share of the money.
Reyes, who had expected to become director of the department, was instead fired within months of sharing her concerns with the administrator and the University of California’s Office of the President, according to lawsuit filed Monday against UC Santa Cruz."
Two types of housing vouchers for foster youth | Quick Guide
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "In California, where affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find, youth exiting the foster care system disproportionately face higher rates of homelessness, according to CalYOUTH, a study on foster youth conducted from 2012 to 2022.
Two federal programs, the Family Unification Program (FUP) and the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative (FYI), work to reduce these rates of homelessness by providing targeted housing vouchers commonly referred to as Section 8."
Researchers discover thousands of nanoplastic bits in bottles of drinking water
LA Times, CORINNE PURTILL, SUSANNE RUST: "It seems anywhere scientists look for plastic, they find it: from the ice in Antarctica, to the first bowel movement produced by newborn babies.
Now, researchers are finding that the amount of microscopic plastics floating in bottled drinking water is far greater than initially believed."
Another huge conference is back in S.F. Can city keep up its ‘safe, clean’ campaign?
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "San Francisco’s Union Square was filled Monday with thousands of people in suits as the city became the epicenter of the health care and biotech industries for the week.
JPMorgan Chase’s 42nd annual health care conference, billed as the biggest in the world, has already injected an early-year economic booster to the beleaguered downtown. Many hotels sold out, with last-minute rooms charging upward of $1,000 per night. Over 8,000 invite-only attendees descended on the Westin St. Francis hotel, with thousands more coming for side events. Last year’s event generated an estimated $86 million in economic activity and $8 million in tax revenue, according to the San Francisco Travel Association, the city’s tourism board. Last year was the first return of the in-person conference since 2020, prior to the pandemic."
As California evictions boom, whether tenants get lawyers depends on where they live
CALMatters, FELICIA MELLO: "After years of living on the streets and in single-room-occupancy hotels, the cozy studio apartment in San Francisco’s Japantown felt like a sanctuary to Corey Lafayette. He’d moved with no furniture, so friends found him a mattress on Craigslist and contributed a massive globe and a mirror framed in wrought-iron leaves. He bought pots and pans and dreamed of decorating.
As he cared for the plants on his sunny patio and walked through the building’s tree-lined courtyard, he could feel stress peeling away. No more stops by police. No more neighbors in his business or strict hotel rules. At the apartment, he was free.
California rents dipped 1% last year, first drop since 2020
SCNG*OC Register, JONATHAN LANSNER: "California’s renters got a mild breather in 2023.
When my trusty spreadsheet looked at ApartmentList’s rent data – a curious mix of landlord listings and Census stats – it’s clear that the Golden State remains a pricey place to be a tenant, even after pandemic-era rent hikes ended last year. The stats track rents in 46 states and the District of Columbia."
Bay Area’s biggest corporate landlord to pay $3.7 million over rent-gouging case
BANG*Mercury News, KATE TALERICO: "Invitation Homes, the nation’s largest owner of single-family rentals, will pay $3.7 million to settle allegations it illegally hiked rent for hundreds of California tenants, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced.
The attorney general’s office says the company — which is also the single largest owner of residential property in the Bay Area — raised rents between October 2019 and December 2022 on 1,900 homes in California beyond the amounts allowed by the Tenant Protection Act. That state law, passed in 2019, caps annual rent increases to 5%, plus a percentage change in the cost of living, up to 10%."
California wants to reduce traffic. The Newsom administration thinks AI can help
LA Times, QUEENIE WONG: "Being stuck in traffic is a familiar problem for many Californians, but state officials want to harness the power of artificial intelligence to discover new solutions.
The California Department of Transportation, teaming up with other state agencies, is asking technology companies by Jan. 25 to propose generative AI tools that could help California reduce traffic and make roads safer, especially for pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can quickly produce text, images and other content, but the technology can also help workers brainstorm ideas.
Why do planes have door plugs? And other questions about the Alaska Airlines blowout, answered"
LA Times, SAM DEAN: "The landing gear was stowed, the plane was climbing to cruising altitude, and then a segment of the wall exploded out of the rear cabin of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Friday night, just 20 minutes after the plane took off from Oregon’s Portland International Airport airport en route to Ontario, Calif.
No passengers were seriously injured in the incident, which occurred as the Boeing 737-9 Max was 16,000 feet off the ground, and the pilots managed to safely land it back at the Portland airport shortly after.
Is Trump immune from the law? His case will separate a president’s ‘official acts’ from crimes"
LA Times, DAVID G. SAVAGE, SARAH D. WIRE: "There’s a beloved American axiom as old as the nation that “no one is above the law — not even the president.”
Every generation or so, that gets tested in the courts, and it’s about to happen again.
