California bracing for extreme rainfall. Here’s why this atmospheric river will be different
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "After a relatively tranquil, dry fall in California, this week’s weather forecast could not be more different. Extreme rainfall totals are predicted throughout parts of the Bay Area, North Coast, Sacramento Valley and northern Sierra Nevada due to an extreme atmospheric river, probably the strongest to hit the areas in several years.
Mechanisms for a long-lasting atmospheric river-fueled storm are predicted to be in play in Northern California. As a result, heavy rain is expected from Tuesday night through at least Saturday morning, with possible flooding."
California braces for climate conflict but aligns with Trump on forest management
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "California leaders are bracing for a clash with President-elect Donald Trump on most environmental issues when he returns to the White House, but they’re surprisingly aligned with him on forest management.
Since his first term as president, Trump has blamed the state for its devastating wildfires, telling leaders to thin out its forest and clear out the forest floors to lower risk. Research shows he wasn’t entirely off base."
Gavin Newsom to live in $9.1 million Marin County home, split time between Bay Area and Sacramento
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is moving part time to a home in Marin County that sold on Thursday for $9.1 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The six-bedroom property in the unincorporated community of Kentfield includes floor-to-ceiling windows, a swimming pool and a spa, according to a real estate listing."
Trump’s Pentagon pick paid woman after sex assault allegation but denies wrongdoing, his lawyer says
LAT's ERIC TUCKER: "Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit, according to Hegseth’s lawyer.
Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after a speaking appearance at a Republican women’s event in Monterey, according to a statement released by the city. No charges were filed."
Trump is likely to gut these tax credits. Here’s how to take advantage now
The Chronicle's JESSICA ROY: "Donald Trump has pledged to tackle inflation in his second presidential term. Yet one of the items that’s likely high on his agenda is dismantling parts of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Passed in 2022, the act was one of President Joe Biden’s signature pieces of legislation and contained a number of tax credits aimed at helping Americans save money while making climate-friendly changes, like installing solar panels and buying electric vehicles."
Daniel Lurie’s voters don’t agree with him on every issue. Here’s where they disagree
The Chronicle's NAMI SUMIDA: "During his campaign for San Francisco mayor, Daniel Lurie positioned himself as a political outsider ready to bring fresh solutions to the city’s most pressing challenges. The nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir argued that he could make progress on problems that incumbent Mayor London Breed, with over a decade of experience in City Hall, could not solve.
Lurie’s message appears to have resonated with voters. He defeated Breed by about 10 percentage points in the final round of ranked-choice voting and also captured the largest share of first-choice votes across the city."
California’s protections for transgender care could be tested under Trump
LAT's EMILY ALPERT REYES: "When Mars Wright saw that Donald Trump had been elected again as president, the 29-year-old Los Angeles artist and streetwear designer felt relieved he had already undergone surgeries for his gender transition.
Wright, a transgender man, has chronicled his medical journey online, flexing and dancing to show how his body transformed after a masculinization procedure he nicknamed “Dorito chip” for the way it altered his shape. His surgery was covered under an L.A. Care plan he obtained through Covered California, the marketplace set up under the Affordable Care Act for Californians to purchase insurance."
How will Trump change health care? California braces for fights over insurance and abortion
CALMatters's KRISTEN HWANG: "The last time Donald Trump was president, his health care policies chipped away at the Affordable Care Act and helped eliminate federal abortion rights, leaving states to fill the gaps. In his second term, experts predict Trump’s agenda to be similar and warn that health care will get more expensive and harder to access for millions of people.
Congressional Republicans, newly empowered by Trump’s victory and the Senate moving to GOP control, have made it clear that they intend to try to implement long-standing conservative goals that include decreasing government spending on health care and further dismantling abortion rights, which are currently protected in about half of the country, including California."
Covered California starts offering health care to DACA immigrants. Will Trump’s win deter them?
CALMatters's ANA B. IBARRA: "For the first time since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children can purchase subsidized health plans through Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace.
This move is expected to provide relief to thousands of so-called Dreamers, especially those who are freelancers, self-employed or have no other means of health coverage."
California retains No. 1 ranking for international student enrollment as concerns grow over Trump
LAT's JAWEED KALEEM: "The number of international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities reached an all-time high last school year, with India surpassing China as the top sender and California maintaining its spot as the top destination, according to a new report.
The data from the Institute of International Education said that more than 1.1 million foreign students — over half of whom are Chinese or Indian nationals — were in the U.S. for undergraduate, graduate or post-graduation work training programs in 2023-24, a 7% year-to-year increase."
Lead levels in California schools' drinking water (updated 2024)
EdSource's YUXUAN XIE: "This map collected data from both the California State Water Resources Control Board (from Jan. 1, 2017 to Sept. 24, 2020) and several districts that conducted their own water testing, such as Oakland Unified, which recently published 2024 data. Compared to the map EdSource published in 2018, this map has added active lead levels at school sites as well as the number of fixtures that have been tested. California law requires schools to take action if lead levels in their drinking water exceed 15 parts per billion (ppb). Data is updated as of June 27, 2024.
Note: Some of the data records may not be updated regularly on school district websites. To confirm results of lead testing, please contact your local school directly."
Tribal college students at Sacramento State drop out, face housing issues. Were they failed?
Sacramento Bee's EMMA HALL: "Shanoah Platero, a member of Navajo Nation, came to California Tribal College at Sacramento State with the promise of an opportunity.
She was recruited by the tribal college’s athletics director and would attend the institution with financial assistance for tuition and housing, she said. Her rent would be $200 a month at Academy 65, an apartment complex near campus. Her tuition would be on a $40 credit per unit, something she could afford with her financial aid package. She would even get a spot on the women’s basketball and cross country team."
A Silicon Valley teacher used pronouns in a TK class. Parents demanded they go back ‘in the closet’
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "The last person to take the mic during public comment at the most recent Cupertino Union school board meeting came with an admonishment: Respect the families you are serving, she advised teachers and administrators.
And if you disagree, keep it to yourself, said the woman, a parent in the school district, at the Nov. 7 meeting. She then encouraged the school board to pass a policy to “keep teacher’s individuality in the closet when it comes to age-appropriate sensitivity and controversial issues that don’t sit well with parents with young children.”"
What the 2024 election means for California’s air and climate
Capitol Weekly's BILL MAGAVERN: "For Californians living with the nation’s dirtiest air and ongoing threats of wildfires, heat waves, drought, flooding and sea level rise, the election delivered mixed results. On the plus side, voters overwhelmingly approved a $10 billion climate bond to help the state prepare for a hotter, drier, more flammable world. On the other hand, even that large investment will be inadequate, because the return of Donald Trump to the White House magnifies all the threats that make the bond necessary, increases the likelihood of poisoned air and water and runaway climate change, and destroys the hope that the federal government will help California navigate those challenges in the next four years.
As of November 13, Proposition 4, which authorizes $10 billion in bonds for water, wildfire, conservation, offshore wind and other climate programs, was carrying over 59% of the statewide vote, a resounding victory in a year when many commentators are opining that the electorate shifted to the right."
Has nuclear power entered a new era of acceptance amid global warming?
LAT's NOAH HAGGERTY: "When Heather Hoff took a job at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, she was skeptical of nuclear energy — so much so that she resolved to report anything questionable to the anti-nuclear group Mothers for Peace.
Instead, after working at the plant for over a decade and asking every question she could think of about operations and safety, she co-founded her own group, Mothers for Nuclear, in 2016 to keep the plant alive."
Los Angeles rezoning plan won’t spur enough new housing, report finds
LAT's LIAM DILLON: "A soon-to-be-voted-on plan to rezone the city of Los Angeles will fall far short of its homebuilding goal, according to a new analysis from UCLA researchers.
Under state laws designed to remedy a housing shortage, the city has to set aside land for the construction of 250,000 more homes than allowed through existing zoning rules. Measures under consideration by a city council committee are likely to satisfy the state requirements, the UCLA analysis found. But when analyzing the likelihood of what developers would actually build, researchers found the number of new homes would be far lower, said Shane Phillips, Housing Initiative Project Manager at UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies."
Bay Area is getting its first ‘diverging diamond’ traffic interchange. Here’s how it works
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Normally, the thrill of visiting the Bay Area’s Six Flags Discovery Kingdom involves the twists and turns of roller coasters with alluring names like Medusa, Boomerang and Sidewinder Safari.
But soon, getting to and from the Vallejo amusement park will include some thrills of its own, taking vehicles through a “diverging diamond” — a new type of traffic interchange that will be the first of its kind in the Bay Area and only the second in California."
Muni is cracking down on fare evasion. Tickets have hit pre-pandemic levels
The Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "On a late October Monday afternoon, riders on the 38-Geary Muni bus going downtown saw a sight that to some brought back distant, pre-pandemic memories: SFMTA fare inspectors getting on the bus, walking from passenger to passenger checking tickets.
While a couple passengers dashed off the bus as soon as they saw the inspectors get on, three would-be fare evaders weren’t so quick, instead being cited and escorted off the bus for not having paid for the ride."
