California rolls out first-of-a-kind permanent water restrictions for cities and towns. Here are the details
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Drought or no drought, California water regulators are pushing ahead with a new conservation policy that could force some communities to cut water use upward of 30% permanently — though on more lenient terms than originally proposed.
The first-of-its-kind regulation is intended to help the state confront chronic water shortages as climate change makes for hotter, drier weather. The initial draft of the regulation, released last year, was widely criticized for asking roughly 400 cities and water agencies to cut back too much too quickly. The cost of compliance was also a concern."
California eases new water saving regulations for local agencies after pushback
LA Times's IAN JAMES, SEAN GREENE: "After facing criticism, California water regulators have proposed new conservation rules that would ease requirements for urban suppliers and lead to smaller statewide water savings than originally planned.
An initial proposal from the State Water Resources Control Board ran into strong opposition last year, with managers of water agencies arguing that the large proposed cuts in water use between 2025 and 2035 would be costly and difficult to implement. Those criticisms were echoed in a scathing review by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office."
READ MORE -- California weakens plan for mandatory cutbacks in urban water use, yielding to criticism -- CALMatters's RACHEL BECKER
Democrats try to change the narrative about California with retail theft bills
Capitol Weekly's BRIAN JOSEPH: "Perception is often reality in politics and, fairly or not, a series of viral videos showing criminals brazenly shoplifting from California stores has some people thinking the Golden State has become lawless.
That obviously isn’t good for the party that dominates the state or for its leader, who most observers believe is intent on someday sitting behind the Resolute Desk."
Lawmakers want to help California be happy
CALMatters's LYNN LA: "Can California legislate its way to happiness?
Former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is committed to trying, though he puts his own happiness at only two out of 10 (ask him again after November, when his term ends, he told CalMatters)."
Scott Peterson hearing: LA Innocence Project lawyers seek DNA evidence in exoneration effort
The Chronicle's DAVID HERNANDEZ: "Attorneys for Scott Peterson said Tuesday they are seeking DNA testing and evidence to challenge his conviction for murdering his wife and their unborn son after uncovering what they described as “alarming deficiencies” in the evidence prosecutors presented at Peterson’s high-profile trial.
Peterson, 51, appeared in San Mateo Superior Court from Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County via a Zoom feed during a hearing that lasted a half hour."
Bay Area warmup begins with gusty winds today. Here’s what to expect
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "An anticipated warming trend will begin across the Bay Area on Wednesday, but it will come with an extended period of strong winds.
Scattered morning clouds will yield to afternoon sunshine, as a dry northerly breeze pushes clouds out of the region. Most of the day should be fairly calm throughout the Bay Area, but winds are expected to increase in the evening. Solano County will be hit by the powerful gusts first, gusting over 30 mph by 5 p.m. and eventually up to 50 mph overnight."
California colleges have to slash emissions. Here’s why decarbonization is complex and costly.
CALMatters's CHRISTINA CHKARBOUL: "California is home to the three largest public university systems in the nation, with 148 campuses across the state serving nearly 3 million students annually. Maintaining expansive systems comes at a large cost, both in dollars and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Every time a student flips on the light switch in their dorm, a professor turns on the computer to start a lecture or a facilities employee drives across campus to make a repair, a campus’ carbon footprint grows. Now, as the state asks colleges to meet mandatory emissions reductions by 2045 while also accommodating more students, the University of California, California State University and community colleges will have to figure out how to reduce emissions while growing in size and scope."
California’s science test will be added to state school dashboard
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "The State Board of Education is moving forward with plans to add the state’s science assessment to the California School Dashboard, making it a new piece of the statewide school accountability system.
Students first took the online science test in 2019, before Covid forced an interruption of testing in 2020. Starting in 2025, performances by district, school and student groups will receive one of five dashboard colors, designating the lowest (red) to the highest performance (blue) — just as with math, English language arts and other achievement indicators. Each color reflects two factors: how well students performed in the latest year and how much the score improved or declined from the previous year."
Momentum is building to require California high schoolers to learn how to manage money
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME: "California is moving closer toward requiring all public school students to learn how to manage their money — read a pay stub, balance a checking account, use credit cards wisely, save for the future and avoid scams.
The plan is to make all high school students, as a condition of graduation, take at least a one-semester class in financial literacy. Backers are going down two paths to make this happen: a November ballot initiative and state legislation. If the legislation crosses the finish line in time, the ballot initiative would be set aside."
This Bay Area county relies on Head Start to prepare kids for school — but can only fund a fraction of the demand
BANG*Mercury News's KATIE LAUER: "Maria Chavez first heard about George Miller III Children’s Center almost two decades ago when a neighbor recommended that she send her now-18-year-old daughter there for preschool. After sending all three of her children to the same program, she said her initial nervousness turned into pride that she could provide them a quality early education.
“I’m so happy it’s accessible, because as a mother who works, I can’t always give them much time, but here they prepare them so well,” Chavez said, waiting for her youngest daughter, 4-year-old Emily, to finish snack time. “Seeing how they treat my child is beautiful. The help and support we receive here is like another family.”"
California economic outlook is good for 2024. What about unemployment, housing?
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "California’s economy should grow somewhat faster than the nation’s, though its unemployment rate will remain above the national average, a new forecast by the UCLA Anderson School said Wednesday.
“The forces driving California’s economy remain robust,” said the analysis by Jerry Nickelsburg, forecast director.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article286598600.html#storylink=cpy
How explorers found Amelia Earhart’s watery grave. Or did they?
LA Times's THOMAS CURWEN: "After nearly 100 days at sea, the crew had given up. Since early September, they had logged nearly 12,000 miles aboard the Offshore Surveyor, crisscrossing the equator near the 180th meridian. Now a few days past Thanksgiving, the time had come to move on.
They had worked hard under a tropical sun, days becoming weeks, a familiar routine offloading their unmanned submersible and watching as its sonar became their eyes on the ocean floor, recording all that it saw."
S.F.’s Presidio’s infrastructure is getting a major overhaul. Construction could take years
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "San Francisco’s Presidio soon will have something new to look at: detour signs.
Roads will be torn up so water and sewage pipes can be replaced. Overhead wires will go underground. The three last vacant buildings in the Main Post will be brought back to life."
Large California companies will soon face new rules on how they use AI
CALMatters's KHARI JOHNSON: "Rules around businesses using artificial intelligence have begun to come into focus for the first time.
The California Privacy Protection Agency board on Friday voted 3-2 to advance rules about how businesses use artificial intelligence and collect the personal information of consumers, workers, and students. The vote, which took place in Oakland, continues a process that started in November 2021."
Newsom stays silent on Cal-OSHA staffing crisis as legislators and advocates call for actiong
Sacramento Bee's MAYA MILLER: "California lawmakers and labor leaders are calling for change within the state’s workplace safety agency following a four-month Sacramento Bee investigation into the organization’s hiring practices. The Bee’s reporting found numerous troubling examples of how a staffing shortage within the Division of Occupational Health and Safety, also known as Cal-OSHA, causes serious harm both to state employees and California’s front-line workers."
‘We’re throwing the book at criminals’: O.C. aims anti-crime campaign at surrounding areas
LA Times's HANNAH FRY: "Using bumper stickers, billboards and advertisements on public buses, Orange County prosecutors have launched an anti-crime campaign aimed at deterring people from committing theft there.
In particular, that would be people from Los Angeles and other Southern California counties, whom Orange County officials blame for much of the theft on their turf."
LAPD can’t get rid of their bad cops. Here’s what they want to do about it
LA Times's LIBOR JANY: "It read like a typical job listing for an attorney.
Successful candidates could expect to cross-examine witnesses, research case law and write briefs — with a starting salary that topped out at roughly $221,000."
United Airlines has had a string of incidents. But is it still safe to fly with the carrier?
The Chronicle's RICARDO CANO: "United Airlines experienced multiple emergencies on recent flights traveling to or departing from San Francisco, capping an unusually bad week for the airline.
But aviation experts say the Chicago-based airline’s series of troubles is more indicative of bad luck than it is of a systemic failure and shouldn’t deter would-be travelers from taking to the skies."
