California’s next big storm is on its way. Here’s a timeline for heavy rain and snow
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Winter storms have hammered the Bay Area in the past month, and the active weather isn’t letting up anytime soon.
Back-to-back storms on tap for the holiday weekend will bring heavy rain, gusty wind and a large swell to Northern and Central California from Saturday through Monday."
Why did L.A.’s last big storm cause landslides in only some areas?
LAT's RONG-GONG LIN II: "The last round of atmospheric river storms drenched Southern California with historic rainfall, and by one measure, it came close to beating a record for the most rain over a three-day period.
While the rain was widespread, damage — including landslides — was focused mostly on certain hillside neighborhoods. Why didn’t the storms cause catastrophic landslides across a greater swath of the region?"
Putin foe Alexei Navalny dies in prison, Russian authorities say
LAT's LAURA KING: "Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who survived a near-fatal poisoning blamed on the Kremlin and endured harsh prison conditions even while wielding black humor and social-media savvy to battle President Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule, died in prison Friday, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47.
Supporters of Navalny, Putin’s most unyielding and best-known critic, had long feared for his health and safety as he endured harsh conditions in captivity, most recently at the remote, freezing penal colony dubbed “Polar Wolf.”"
What would Katie Porter do as California’s U.S. senator?
CALMatters's YUE STELLA YU: "Katie Porter wants to convince California voters that she is a new breed of politician Washington, D.C., desperately needs.
A firebrand in Congress often with a whiteboard in hand, the Orange County Democrat has garnered national attention for grilling corporate executives during legislative hearings and challenging leaders within her own party. Her outspoken and blunt style helped her first flip a Republican congressional seat in 2018 and keep that seat for two terms."
Crowded field competes to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo
BANG*Mercury News's GRACE HASE: "When U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo announced last fall that she would be retiring after more than three decades in the House of Representatives, nearly a dozen hopefuls jumped at the rare opportunity to run for an open Bay Area congressional seat.
By the end of the year, 11 candidates had raised more than $4 million in their bids to represent District 16, which encompasses parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and runs from Pacifica in the north to San Jose and Los Gatos in the south. Topping the fundraising list are former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, State Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), tech entrepreneur and veteran Peter Dixon, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Palo Alto City Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims."
In the crowded race for D.A., who can break out of the pack to challenge George Gascón?
LAT's JAMES QUEALLY and SONJA SHARP: "The candidates vying to become L.A. County’s next district attorney could barely fit on stage together for a debate.
Scrunched into a dozen studio chairs that left political foes and ideological opposites inches apart at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, the largest field of contenders ever to run for the office spent close to an hour slogging through opening statements. The candidates — mostly longtime judges and prosecutors — challenging Dist. Atty. George Gascón cried out for microphone time, which they mainly used to deliver messages as similar as their resumes."
Mayor Bass faces choice for next LAPD chief: Hire from within or bring in an outsider
LAT's LIBOR JANY: "After selecting a temporary Los Angeles police chief to replace the retiring Michel Moore, the mayor and Police Commission are setting their sights on a bigger challenge: choosing who gets the job permanently.
Already, the names of several early contenders have been making the rounds at City Hall and police headquarters. Two of the perceived front-runners came up through the department ranks and were promoted to top posts by Moore, while another is a longtime big city police chief with Southern California roots."
How California lawmakers want to target retail theft
CALMatters's LYNN LA: "Nearly four months after forming a bipartisan select committee and two hearings later, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas announced legislation Thursday to combat shoplifting and organized retail theft — just beating today’s deadline to introduce new bills.
He joined Democratic Assemblymembers Rick Zbur of Los Angeles, chairperson of the committee, and Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, chairperson of the Assembly Public Safety committee, to unveil the California Retail Theft Reduction Act, which Rivas described as “critical legislation” to address “a serious crime that’s hurting businesses and impacting our communities.”"
READ MORE -- California lawmakers unveil plan to target organized retail theft — without Prop. 47 changes -- Sacramento Bee's LINDSEY HOLDEN
These fed-up parents fought California’s pandemic schooling and won. Now what?
CALMatters's CAROLYN JONES: "At the height of the pandemic, in spring 2020, Maria O. her husband and four children were quarantined in their one-bedroom apartment in South Los Angeles, each vying for privacy, quiet and adequate technology to work and attend school remotely.
There weren’t enough tablets or laptops, and Wi-Fi was glitchy. Her children ended up logging into online classes using their parents’ phones. While the children once loved school, they started falling behind academically. Everyone grew frustrated."
‘Kids are upset’: Here’s why thousands of Bay Area students can’t apply for FAFSA college aid
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "Donovan, 17, glanced up from his laptop at Balboa High School in San Francisco, where he was filling out a federal financial aid application for college next fall.
“I’ve got some bad news,” he told his counselor, John Moreno. After two frustrating hours of trying on Tuesday, his Pell grant request still hadn’t gone through."
Woke Kindergarten’s contract in East Bay school terminated after national backlash
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "The anti-racist consulting firm Woke Kindergarten will no longer train teachers at an East Bay elementary school, the three-year, $250,000 contract terminated Monday after a national backlash over the provocative content as well as the questionable use of federal funding.
Hayward Unified officials said “the controversy was becoming a distraction,” with threatening and racist phone calls and emails to Glassbrook Elementary and the district office. District officials emphasized that while terminating the contract, they were “not repudiating any of the training related to the organization.”"
UCSF administrator sentenced for diverting $1.5 million in tuition payments
BANG*Mercury News's JASON GREEN: "A former academic program officer for the University of California, San Francisco will serve 20 months in federal prison for diverting $1.53 million in tuition payments into her personal bank accounts, according to authorities.
Sandra Le, 55, of San Francisco, received the sentence from U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release."
House Education panel subpoenas Harvard leaders in antisemitism probe
The Hill's LEXI LONAS: "The House Education Committee on Friday announced subpoenas against Harvard University's leadership, saying the school has failed produce documents needed in the panel's antisemitism probe.
The subpoenas against Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker, Interim President Alan Garber and Harvard Management Company's Chief Executive Officer N.P. Narvekar are the first ever to be given by the House to a university."
San Francisco to apologize to Black residents for decades of discrimination
The Chronicle, ALDO TOLEDO: "San Francisco is poised to apologize for its role in decades of discrimination against Black residents amid an ongoing debate over whether to give cash payments and make other reparations to the African American community.
Dozens of people packed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chamber Thursday to hear for the first time a resolution apologizing for the forced removal of Black communities from historic neighborhoods, ongoing tensions with the Police Department and underinvestment in key public services."
Business, labor fight over California law few know about
CALMatters's JEANNE KUANG: "Business and labor are gearing up to go head-to-head on Californians’ ballots again — this time over a consequential 20-year-old state labor law you’ve probably never heard of.
The two sides released dueling reports this week extolling the virtues, or sins, of the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, which major employers’ groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce are campaigning to repeal via the November ballot."
S.F. beaches are littered with trash. Here’s why it’s worse this time of year
The Chronicle, CLARE FONSTEIN: "When Megan Moilanen wraps up teaching for the day, she drives to Fort Funston – her outdoor escape. But what she saw there in late January brought tears to her eyes.
Plastic littered the beach."
Developer wants to ‘supersize’ S.F. project under new state housing law — while it’s being built
The Chronicle, LAURA WAXMANN: "Oakland developer oWow is the latest builder planning to “supersize” a previously approved project in San Francisco due to a recent change in state law.
An application filed with the city’s Planning Department on Wednesday proposes updates to the design of 960 Howard St. in the Central SoMa neighborhood, which, in recent years, was approved for redevelopment into a three-story creative office building with a 9-story, 113-unit residential addition."
This is the first Bay Area transit agency to fully recover its 2019 ridership
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "Bay Area public transit has reached a milestone: One of its 27 operators has fully recovered the ridership it had before the pandemic, with another agency poised to join it soon. And they’re both agencies that, largely, don’t transport people to San Francisco’s downtown offices.
The idea that fewer people would be riding the region’s trains, buses and ferries this decade than in the past one seemed unfathomable just five years ago, when agencies struggled with demand to move people into San Francisco’s downtown core."
Democrats eye new immigration strategy after Suozzi win
The Hill's RAFAEL BERNAL: "Tom Suozzi's success this week flipping a New York congressional district from red to blue is emboldening Democrats to "go on offense" on immigration, raising both hopes and fears among advocates.
The former and future congressman leaned into immigration during his campaign to replace ousted Rep. George Santos, bucking a trend of Democrats shying away from the issue as Republicans consistently hammer President Biden over his handling of the border."
Senate Republican rips Tucker Carlson over Russia grocery store trip
The Hill's DOMINICK MASTRANGELO: "Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) ripped Tucker Carlson on Thursday for the conservative pundit's recent praise of Russia President Vladimir Putin following a Moscow trip the commentator took that included a stop at a local grocery store.
"Ah yes, Russia is so much better than the U.S. with all those cheap groceries and lavish subway stations," Tillis wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, mocking Carlson. "The Soviets had a term for people like Tucker: useful idiots.""
