A lull in the chaos after Northern California suffers damage from floods, winds, huge waves
LA Times, SUMMER LIN/SUSANNE RUST/JESSICA GARRISON/HANNAH FRY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "A powerful winter storm that blasted Northern California with strong winds and heavy rain, knocking out power, toppling trees — including one that killed a toddler — and flooding homes and businesses along the coast in Santa Cruz continued its march through the region Thursday.
Although the brunt of the storm has passed, scattered showers and possible thunderstorms will linger through the northern swath of the state as the atmospheric river — fed by a plume of subtropical water vapor at the lower and middle levels of the atmosphere — moves east.
Forecasters are keeping watch over flooding triggered by massive waves along the coast and in inland areas where water continues to rise along creeks, streams and rivers. Another series of storms is expected to hit the region over the weekend and into next week, bringing the potential for more strong winds and heavy rain."
Friday offers quick break from Bay Area storms as region prepares for more high winds over the weekend
BANG*Mercury News, AUSTIN TURNER: "While more high-impact storms remained in forecasts for the weekend through next week, Friday was expected to give residents a quick but welcome reprieve from strong winds and heavy flooding.
The National Weather Service predicted that San Jose would see a mostly sunny day Friday, with a high of 61 degrees and winds capping out at 9 miles per hour. The agency gave a 30% chance for rain to fall after 4 p.m., but it was likely to add up to no more than one-tenth of an inch.
The northernmost parts of the Bay Area were predicted to see a bit more stormy weather Friday, but a subdued version compared to the storm that arrived Wednesday and battered parts of Santa Cruz County on Thursday. Oakland and San Francisco were both forecast with a high of 59 degrees and less than one-tenth of an inch of rain throughout the day. Winds in those cities were expected to be higher than their South Bay counterparts, with forecasts of 21 and 24 mph wind gusts, respectively."
What we know about the 6 people who died in Northern California storms this week
Sac Bee, ARIANE LANGE: "Two major storms have pummeled California over the past week and led to at least six deaths. The first storm began New Year’s Eve, causing floods and toppling trees; the second storm began Wednesday and caused serious damage in the Bay Area.
Here’s what we know about the six people who have died in the storms — the youngest was a toddler, and the oldest was a man in his 70s."
How much rain, snow has fallen in Northern California’s latest storm? See the totals
Sac Bee, HANH TRUONG: "Rain fell short of some estimates in the Sacramento region after what was expected to be another monster storm.
Forecasts predicted that the area would see up to 3 inches of rain, but the latest totals from the National Weather Service show most of the region got less than 1.5 inches."
Storm leaves California coastal towns badly damaged -- with more danger on the way
LA Times, SUSANNE RUST/JESSICA GARRISON/SUMMER LIN/HANNAH FRY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "The latest in a series of atmospheric river storms pummeled Northern California on Thursday, toppling trees, battering the coastline and swelling rivers and streams into furious torrents as residents braced for more intense weather set to arrive in the near future.
Storms over the last week have killed at least six people, including three whose bodies were found in or near submerged cars after a levee broke near Sacramento. A toddler was killed when a tree crashed into a residence in Sonoma County.
While many parts of Northern California escaped major damage, some coastal areas were swamped by high surf and flooding that left beaches in shambles. People living near the Russian River remain on edge, given the chance that waters could rise to dangerous levels over the next few days."
Meet the ‘drain daddies’ and ‘storm drain troopers’ who helped keep S.F. dry during the storm
The Chronicle, JK DINEEN: "The atmospheric rivers that have blown and blustered their way across San Francisco in recent days have swamped low-lying neighborhoods, stranded cars, flooded basements and even whisked away a bar’s wooden parklet.
But as bad as the flooding has been in some areas, it would likely have been much worse if not for San Francisco’s army of “drain daddies” and “storm drain troopers” who, embracing the city’s “adopt a drain” program, spend their free time battling the leaves and trash that plug up the city’s 25,000 storm drains.
Since the program started in 2016 some 2,793 volunteers across the city have officially adopted 4,201 drains. Adoptive drain parents get to name their drains, giving birth to monikers like “Purple Drain,” “Drainmond Green,” “Drain Fonda” and “Grate Expectations.” The volunteers are also eligible to receive equipment issued by the Public Utilities Commission: such as reflective vests, gloves shovels and brooms."
Why is drought-weary Los Angeles letting stormwater flow into the Pacific Ocean?
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "The Los Angeles River roared to life this week as a series of powerful storms moved through the Southland. In Long Beach, 3 feet of water shut down the 710 Freeway in both directions, while flooding in the San Fernando Valley forced the closure of the Sepulveda Basin.
It was by all accounts a washout, but despite heaps of water pouring into the area, drought-weary Los Angeles won’t be able to save even half of it. The region’s system of engineered waterways is designed to whisk L.A.'s stormwater out to sea — a strategy intended to reduce flooding that nonetheless sacrifices countless precious gallons.
Voters in 2018 approved Measure W, which is aimed at improving L.A.'s aging stormwater capture system. Officials are making progress, but experts say there’s a long way to go. Of an estimated 5 billion to 10 billion gallons pouring into the Los Angeles Basin from current storms, only about 20% will be captured by the county."
Sacramento Valley, already deluged, braces for more floods
CALMatters, JULIE CART/ALASTAIR BLAND: "Raising questions about whether California’s elaborate system of flood protections will hold, another dangerous storm is barreling toward the Sacramento Valley, where rains already punched through some levees and floods killed at least one person.
Last weekend’s storms have already tested the flood-prevention infrastructure across the region, which sits at the confluence of two major rivers and bears the brunt of heavy rains. “It’s a bathtub, basically,” said Beth Salyers, deputy district engineer for the federal Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento.
An estimated 1.3 million people and $223 billion worth of property in the Central Valley are protected by the state-federal systems of levees, dams and other structures."
What is a levee and how does it work? What to know after flooding in Sacramento County
Sac Bee, JACQUELINE PINEDO: "The start of the year kicked off with an intense storm causing flooding on Highway 99 and across Sacramento County, leaving cars stranded, forcing people to evacuate out of their homes and resulting in multiple deaths.
Levees are an important part of flood-prevention infrastructure. When they fail, the results can be disastrous.
Here’s what happened with Sacramento levees during a recent storm, and how they’re supposed to work:"
The abundance of Tahoe snow is welcome. But storms delivering it are hurting business
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "In a perfect world, Tahoe would get a few inches of light powdery snow every few weekdays all winter, business owners say, making for easy travel on clear roads, good skiing — and plenty of business for restaurants, hotels, ski resorts and the like.
Instead, it’s getting big heavy wet snowfalls delivered by atmospheric river and bomb cyclone storms. The snow comes in such large volumes and has been so wet that it has closed highways to the lake, caused power outages by pulling down electric lines and forced ski resorts to shut down some of their ski lifts — including the gondolas at Heavenly and Palisades Tahoe. The accompanying publicity — with weather forecasters and CHP officials warning drivers to stay home until the storms have passed — has prompted some visitors to avoid the area altogether.
Carol Chaplin, president and CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, has no official statistics yet but said that business at tourism-related enterprises is down a bit less than 10% so far this winter."
Get ready for a massive SoCalGas bill this month, as natural gas prices soar
LA Times, RUSS MITCHELL/ROB NIKOLEWSKI: "The warning Southern California Gas Co. issued to its customers was unusually blunt: “There’s no easy way to put this,” the company said. “January bills are likely to be shockingly high.”
Anyone who heats their home with natural gas is likely to see a January bill that is more than double what they paid a year earlier, SoCalGas said.
A typical peak monthly bill of $65 from last winter will probably come in close to $160, SoCalGas said, a 146% increase. A $130 bill will be more like $315, up 142%."
The biggest California political news stories of 2022 (PODCAST)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: "Podcast hosts John Howard and Tim Foster talk about the biggest California political news stories of the past year – the secret tapes of several Los Angeles City Council members, housing and homelessness, the November elections and more. Plus, they tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics."
The California Legislature is back: Five key questions
CALMatters, ALEXEI KOSEFF/SAMEEA KAMAL: "A soaring homeless population. A bitter battle with the oil industry over gasoline prices. A spending plan for a state with the world’s fifth-largest economy as threats of a recession hover.
There’s a lot for the California Legislature to deal with this year — and it made little headway Wednesday, its first day back at the Capitol since swearing-in a new class of members last month. The brief floor sessions in the state Senate and Assembly focused more on the dearly departed than the challenges ahead.
The slow start to the legislative session is nothing new, but it does leave plenty of time for reflection. Here are some key questions for the year to come:"
Is Gavin Newsom actually popular in California? Here’s what his election history suggests
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "In recent years, California Gov. Gavin Newsom catapulted into the national political spotlight. The 2021 attempt to recall him as governor and his public feuds with high-profile Republicans like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attracted national attention, with Newsom emerging as a national Democratic voice and a potential 2024 presidential candidates.
Though Newsom repeatedly denies that he will run in 2024, political experts speculate he will do so eventually — if not in 2024 then in later years. The consensus among political pundits is that his chances of winning the Democratic nomination, let alone the presidency, are slim at the moment.
But what does data on Newsom’s recent elections suggest about his popularity and his chances in a national race?"
How Jan. 6 impacted bipartisanship among California representatives
BANG*Mercury News, HANNAH KANG: "For Rep. Adam Schiff, the state of bipartisanship looked grim post-Jan. 6, 2021.
Two years ago, rioters breached the U.S. Capitol as Congress convened to certify the 2020 presidential election, which then-President Donald Trump had lost. The attacks resulted in five dead and many more injured.
Four Southern California Republicans — Jay Obernolte, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert and Mike Garcia — voted against certifying the election results. More recently, the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol recommended the Department of Justice prosecute Trump on four charges, including for aiding an insurrection."
Six takeaways for Californians after the UC graduate student worker strike
CALMatters, MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "The largest higher-education strike in U.S. history — courtesy 36,000 disgruntled graduate student workers and 12,000 other academic employees at the University of California — wrapped up Dec. 23, and depending on one’s perspective, it was either a historic win or a colossal letdown.
The workers got some of what they wanted, and while the UC system hasn’t said how it’s going to afford it, it’s now on the hook to do so. These deals aren’t evergreen — the graduate student contracts last until 2025 — and negotiations on successor deals will likely begin in late 2024.
The graduate union members did get multiple raises through 2024 and roughly 50% increases in base pay, plus promises of transit passes, some dependent child healthcare and other benefits. They did not get extra money to afford sky-high California rents. Out-of-state graduate students still have to pay extra tuition fees, and the child care subsidies are below what they wanted. This has led to dissent in the ranks."
CSU system finalizes process for finding new chancellor
SCNG, CHRIS HAIRE: "The CSU Board of Trustees has finalized the process for choosing a new chancellor for the Cal State University system, almost 11 months after the public institution’s previous permanent leader resigned amid allegations he mishandled sexual harassment complaints against a former administrator.
The 23-campus CSU system announced that the trustees had nailed down the process to find — and officially launched the search for — a new chancellor on Thursday, Jan. 5.
While the Board of Trustees will have the final say on the next chancellor, the CSU will create two committees to help determine qualifications and sift through candidates, according to a Thursday press release. The CSU will also host a series of community forums across California early next month."
California campuses try to lower college costs with free transit
CALMatters, CARMEN GONZALEZ: "When Melanie Lindo was considering her transfer to a UC campus, her choice didn’t come down to academics or campus resources but how long, complex and pricey her bus ride would be.
“Compared to all the other UCs I was accepted to, UCLA was the cheapest in terms of transportation,” said Lindo.
Prior to attending UCLA, Lindo’s commute to Santa Monica College from Echo Park in Los Angeles put her at a disadvantage academically: She would cut evening study sessions short knowing she would have to wake up in the early morning to catch a bus — one she hoped was on time. “Sometimes the bus is delayed, so instead of waiting the 10 minutes, it’s a 20-minute wait, meaning I’m most likely going to miss a good portion of the lecture,” she said."
Tulare County passes $95 million measure to build a public university center for its residents
EdSource, EMMA GALLEGOS: "To achieve her dream of becoming a teacher, Visalia native Jessica Lopez assumed a lengthy commute to Fresno State was in her future. But attending the university’s satellite South Valley Campus in Visalia means her commute to class is 10 minutes, rather than an hour.
“I feel like this is one of the best decisions that I’ve made,” said Lopez. “The campus is so accessible.”
This November, Tulare County voters approved a $95 million ballot measure to build a new and much expanded university center in Visalia across the street from College of the Sequoias. It means that many more students like Lopez will be able to get their bachelor’s or even master’s degrees without leaving town."
US hiring stays brisk as employers add 223,000 jobs
AP, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER: "America’s employers added a solid 223,000 jobs in December, evidence that the economy remains healthy yet also a sign that the Federal Reserve may still have to raise interest rates aggressively to slow growth and cool inflation.
The December job growth, though a decent gain, amounted to the lowest monthly increase in two years. The unemployment rate remained fell to 3.5%, matching a 53-year low, the Labor Department said Friday.
Last month’s job growth capped a second straight year of robust hiring during which the nation regained all 22 million jobs it lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the rapid hiring and the hefty pay raises that accompanied it likely contributed to a spike in prices that catapulted inflation to its highest level in 40 years."
What if stocks were tracked like home prices?
SCNG, JONATHAN LANSNER: "Imagine watching the often volatile stock market more like the relative slow-motion tracking of home prices.
Stock price moves are typically digested on a daily – if not minute-to-minute – basis using short-term yardsticks for the ups and downs. As 2022 drew to a close, we could dissect the dismal annual outcome for stocks within seconds of the year’s closing bell.
Yet home prices – a huge slice of many households’ net worths – are tabulated at a far slower pace."
More Black families are choosing this Sacramento suburb. ‘We want to be pioneers’
Sac Bee, SAWSAN MORRAR/PHILLIP REESE: "Boomer Bennett was looking to move out of Los Angeles during the coronavirus pandemic. He felt crowded in the city, as if everyone was stacked on top of each other. With four children, Bennett wanted more space and more opportunities for professional growth.
He spent some time in Citrus Heights in 2016, giving him a feel for what Northern California had to offer: space, shorter commutes and friendly neighbors."
They were the ‘idyllic’ family. Now, the father is accused of driving a Tesla off a cliff to kill them
LA Times, NOAH GOLDBERG: "They were the “idyllic” family at the end of the cul-de-sac.
With their pair of Teslas parked in the driveway, Dharmesh Patel, 41, and his wife, Neha, 41, were the most visible family on the quiet residential block of single-family homes on Lomay Place in Pasadena. As a couple, they pushed a stroller occupied by their 4-year-old-son and 7-year-old daughter as they went for runs in the morning. Patel would pass out cookies to neighbors. His wife started a mass text thread for neighbors to stay in contact.
On Dec. 24, before he left for Northern California for the holidays, Patel even brought his next-door neighbors a poinsettia plant — which is growing in their living room now."
New rules to let inmates enroll in Medi-Cal before they leave prison
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "California is preparing to expand Medi-Cal to inmates up to 90 days before release as part of the latest transformation to the state’s low-income health insurance program.
Under the expansion, incarcerated people with a variety of health issues, including chronic conditions, mental illness, substance use disorders, disabilities, or who are pregnant will be eligible to receive assessment and treatment shortly before release. The goal, in part, is to facilitate a smooth reentry process and reduce costly emergency room visits and hospital stays.
Typically, Medi-Cal, which provides health insurance to low-income residents, is prohibited from servicing incarcerated people, but state officials have applied for a waiver from the federal government. The waiver is expected to be granted as soon as mid-January, according to Jacey Cooper, director of the state’s Health Care Services Department. The state is also requesting $561 million to implement the changes."
Gregory Yee, Times reporter who chased the stories that shaped L.A., dies at 33
LA Times, CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD: "Gregory Yee, a hard-charging breaking news reporter for the Los Angeles Times, died unexpectedly Wednesday at the Hollywood bungalow where he lived. His family said the cause appeared to be complications from a respiratory issue. He was 33.
Yee joined The Times in summer 2021 as a night reporter on the Metro staff, and he had been working as one of 18 reporters on the Fast Break desk, the paper’s breaking news operation. He worked the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift, sometimes posting three or four breaking-news stories a night.
He covered heat waves and wildfires, gun violence in Oakland and the controversy surrounding robotic police dogs. He chronicled the hunt for the mountain lion known as P-22, and L.A.’s effort to save the historic lampposts on the Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct before thieves could take them all."
‘Madness.’ ‘Chaos.’ ‘Stupid.’ How the McCarthy stalemate is playing on Fox News
LA Times, JAMES RAINEY: "Faced with one of the nastiest political train wrecks in modern memory, America’s conservative media stalwarts responded this week with recrimination, regret, reflection — and at least one suggestion that House Republican stalwarts might find solace, and a new leader, by getting good and drunk.
A week of party infighting over who should be the next speaker unspooled on live television even as much of the media establishment on the right coalesced around Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield lawmaker who has coveted the House’s top job for years.
Even former President Trump and a super-majority of hosts and guests on Fox News — the most powerful platform on the political right — could not provide the leverage that McCarthy needed to win the 218 votes needed to make him speaker."
Cartel lays siege to Mexican city after recapture of the son of ‘El Chapo’
LA Times, KATE LINTHICUM: "Armed men took hostages, burned vehicles and stormed an airport in northern Mexico on Thursday after federal forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, one of the world’s most wanted cartel leaders and the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
The 33-year-old drug boss was arrested after a predawn gunfight in a town north of the city of Culiacán, a stronghold of the Guzmáns’ Sinaloa cartel. Even as the cartel mounted attacks across the state, the air force was able to fly the younger Guzmán to Mexico City, said Mexican Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval González.
Officials canceled flights, suspended school and ordered residents to shelter in place as cartel members threw up road blockades in multiple cities, injuring at least 25 security forces and killing one. In Culiacán, Sandoval said, cartel fighters blocked all six entrances to the city and attacked a commercial airport and a nearby air force base. At least one commercial flight and an air force plane were hit with gunfire, officials said."
