California's weather forecast is looking positive going into 2017, with experts claiming that we will see some relief from our drought.
ANGEL JENNINGS with LAT: "The slow but steady improvement in California’s drought picture should accelerate in the new year with a series of storms that are expected to dump rain and snow in Northern California."
"The northern half of the state has already seen impressive rains this fall and winter, filling reservoirs and replenishing the Sierra snowpack, a key source of water for California cities and farmlands."
"A storm system is expected to bring rain and snow throughout the week in Northern California, and a foot of snow is expected Tuesday in the Sierra Nevada and another foot or two is predicted for Wednesday, said Johnnie Powell, a weather forecaster with the National Weather Service. "
Speaking of water, SF is getting prepared to temporarily function without its conduit to Hetch Hetchy, as experts give a safety inspection to the tunnel.
LIZZIE JOHNSON with The Chronicle: "In late December, the filtration tanks at a treatment plant in San Bruno were quietly filled with millions of gallons of raw water."
"At the same time, water was drained out of Mountain Tunnel, the century-old artery connecting the Bay Area to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, 175 miles away in Tuolumne County. From Tuesday through March 5, crews will traverse the 19-mile conduit making repairs and performing a rigorous inspection. Officials have known for years that the tunnel is at risk of catastrophic collapse."
"The shutdown will help them decide whether the tunnel can be saved or will need to be entirely replaced."
READ MORE related to water and climate: Warmer waters have more bottlenose dolphins turning up in SF Bay -- DAVID PERLMAN with The Chronicle
Meanwhile, a 'quake swarm' near the southern border could be the precursor to something much more serious.
RONG-GONG LIN II with LAT: "A swarm of more than 250 small earthquakes have struck since New Year’s Eve near the California-Mexico border, causing unease among residents and attention from scientists."
"The strongest earthquake in the sequence was magnitude 3.9, striking directly underneath the town of Brawley, about 170 miles southeast of Los Angeles. "
"The earthquakes struck in the southern end of the Brawley Seismic Zone, a seismically active region where tectonic plates are moving away from each other and the Earth’s crust is getting stretched out “and basically adding land,” said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson."
With the 2017 Legislature under way, we take a look at past actions in the Capitol.
CHRIS MICHELI with Capitol Weekly: "As the California Legislature commences its 2017 Session, the following is a quick look back at historical numbers for bill introductions and gubernatorial bill actions."
"Over the last half a dozen years, as a general rule, the Legislature has introduced about 2,100 bills per year, about 1,000 of those measures get to the Governor’s Desk, and he signs roughly 850 of those bills."
"With Democratic super-majorities in both the Assembly and Senate, will more bills be introduced? Will more bills get to the Governor’s Desk? Assuming all Assembly Members and Senators introduce the maximum number of bills over the next two years, there could be over 5,000 bills. It will be interesting to see…"
New elected Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is likely to begin pushing for government transparency this week during his first meeting with the City Council.
ANITA CHABRIA with Sacramento Bee: "At his first full meeting presiding over the Sacramento City Council on Thursday, Mayor Darrell Steinberg will push for adoption of government-transparency measures that go beyond a proposed “sunshine” ordinance that’s been more than a year in the making."
"The proposed ordinance is designed to allow better public access to city information. Many of the recommendations are already in place, such as an online records portal and meeting agendas posted five days in advance."
"Steinberg said Monday he intends to ask council members to consider making the ordinance more robust before passing a final version in coming weeks."
Ammunition shortages and price hikes are feared to be around the corner, as new regulations go into effect in the new year.
RYAN SABALOW with Sacramento Bee: "Matt Ball isn’t the type of gun enthusiast who hoards ammunition – at least not normally."
"Ball, a 39-year-old banker from Roseville, is a casual shooter who spends a few days a year at the target range. Typically, when he’s running low on ammo, he swings by a local sporting-goods store and buys what he needs, or he orders online."
"But like thousands of other hunters and target shooters in California, Ball has been stocking up in advance of a host of new state gun laws, set to take effect this year and next, that include ammunition regulations that are among the most stringent in the nation."
READ MORE related to 2017 Policy: Historic SF parental leave law kicks in -- EMILY GREEN with The Chronicle
A misunderstood new state law has been a recent source of fake news on social media.
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee: "A misleading column about a new state law by an Orange County lawmaker has sparked inaccurate online reports taking off on Facebook."
"Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, wrote a piece for the Washington Examiner under the headline “California Democrats legalize child prostitution,” which has been cut and pasted by a variety of partisan websites as the basis for their false claims."
"Allen begins his submission by stating that “Beginning on Jan. 1, prostitution by minors will be legal in California. Yes, you read that right."
SFPD have made progress in dealing with mental health crises in 2016 without use of lethal force.
VIVIAN HO with The Chronicle: "The San Francisco police hostage crisis negotiation team responded to more calls in 2016 than in any year in recent history, an uptick that officials see as a sign that the department is moving in the right direction in dealing with people suffering from mental health crises."
"Officers, who volunteer to be on the team, responded to 80 calls last year, more than triple the 25 they responded to in 2013 and a 60 percent increase from the 50 they handled in 2015."
"The team can be called in to any possible standoff situation, whether it involves a barricaded suspect, actual hostages or a person suffering from a mental health crisis."
Pranksters in Hollywood have re-enacted a 40-year-old stunt believed to be an ode to legalization.
JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH with NYT: "In 2017, Hollywood has become “Hollyweed.”
"At least that may have been the New Year’s resolution of a determined prankster who around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning draped tarps over the iconic sign, transforming the o’s in “wood” into lowercase e’s."
"Officer Christopher Garcia, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said the episode was being investigated as trespassing, rather than as vandalism, because the miscreant had not directly interfered with the integrity of the sign."
The Banning Ranch development project is headed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
BRADLEY ZINT with LAT: "The California Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in San Francisco on a preservation group's lawsuit challenging the Newport Beach City Council's approval of a proposed development at Banning Ranch."
"The Banning Ranch Conservancy, which seeks to preserve the sprawling coastal property in West Newport as open space, is accusing the city of violating its own general plan when, in 2012, the council approved a large residential and commercial development for the area."
"The group contends the general plan prioritizes open space in West Newport and that city officials failed to work with the California Coastal Commission to prioritize sensitive habitat areas. The conservancy also says the project's environmental impact report was inadequate."
The State Coastal Conservancy has crafted a 1,200 mile trail along the coastline stretching from Mexico to Oregon, and the goal of the project is to get people outdoors and to the coast.
NATE SELTENRICH with The Chronicle: "You don’t have to walk from Mexico to Oregon to appreciate the California Coastal Trail, but Morgan Visalli and Jocelyn Enevoldsen did anyway. The young marine scientists spent three months last summer exploring a proposed 1,200-mile route that many consider a symbol of California’s approach to managing its coastline."
"A short stroll across scenic bluffs, shifting dunes or sandy beaches is equally worthy of protection, says Tim Duff, a project manager with the California State Coastal Conservancy, the state agency in Oakland that serves as primary architect of the trail."
“Public access is not just a north-south coastal trail — it’s all of the spur trails off of that,” Duff said. “The goal of the conservancy is to maximize public access to the coast. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get to the coast.”"
A controversial public shopping ban is a violation of civil rights, alleges the ACLU.
RICHARD CHANG with Sacramento Bee: "Arden Fair mall’s decision to ban unaccompanied teenagers the day after Christmas is drawing criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union along with some parents and teenagers who say it discriminates against a broad category of people, barring them from a space open to the public."
"On Dec. 26, security guards and Sacramento police officers enforced a blanket ban on minors who were shopping without a parent or guardian. Security personnel and law enforcement were stationed at various entrances to prevent unaccompanied minors from entering. Some teenagers who sneaked in with the crowds were later stopped inside and asked to leave."
"Jamie Donley, Arden Fair’s senior marketing manager, defended the policy, which was written into the code of conduct only days before and allows management broad power to institute the rule when it sees fit."
Unions will be voting on a final batch of pay raises this month, but are they worth it?
ADAM ASHTON with Sacramento Bee: "Gov. Jerry Brown’s last contracts with state workers will cost at least $569 million in the current budget, but the big number is no guarantee that unions will accept the deals when they vote on the final batch this month."
"In fact, some state workers are loudly advocating for their peers to turn down a handful of contracts Brown’s team negotiated in December."
“Definitely, I’m voting no,” said Dave Watkins, 53, of Sacramento, an associate government program analyst who thinks he’ll have to postpone his retirement if a contract for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 wins approval."
A Republican Congress is galvanized to repeal Obamacare.
RICHARD LARDNER with Sacramento Bee: "Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama's Democratic policies."
"One of the biggest and most immediate targets is Obama's Affordable Care Act, which many Republicans have long sought to gut and has been blamed as a primary cause for a lackluster economic recovery. But decades-old programs that millions of Americans rely on every day, such as Social Security and Medicare, also will be in the crosshairs as congressional Republicans seek to shrink both the size of the federal budget and the bureaucracy in Washington."
"We have a lot to do — and a lot to undo," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a letter to fellow Republicans."
READ MORE related to National: House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office -- DONNA CASSATA with AP/Sacramento Bee
Donald Trump drew attention over the weekend for forcing billionaire David Koch and his guest out of his West Palm Beach golf course.
KATIE MCHUGH with Breitbart: "President-elect Donald Trump told a critical biographer and guest of billionaire David Koch to leave his West Palm Beach golf course on New Year’s Eve, forcing Koch to leave with him."
"Trump’s gesture was another slight against the pro-amnesty, pro-“free trade” billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who opposed Trump during the Republican primary season and refused to help him during the general election. It also signals Trump will not necessarily play nice with the GOP political establishment and Beltway right."
"The Kochs swooped in during the Tea Party revolt in 2010, training amateur political activists and trying to channel populist energy against the Obama administration into supporting the progressive-business alliance that wanted more cheap labor and lesser sentences for drug traffickers, under the umbrella term of “smaller government."
