California gas prices up more than 10 cents in one week. Here’s how long spike may last
Sacramento Bee, HANH TRUONG: "You might feel a pinch in your wallet the next time you fill up your car.
Gas prices are on the rise in California this week — and across the country — according to the American Automobile Association.
The current average price for regular fuel in California is $4.55 a gallon, up more than 10 cents from the previous week’s $4.44. Last month, the average price was $4.39, a roughly 16 cent hike."
States miss deadline to address Colorado River water crisis; pressure builds on California
LA Times, IAN JAMES: "The seven states that depend on the Colorado River have failed to meet a Tuesday deadline for agreeing on a water-use reduction plan, raising the likelihood of more friction as the West grapples with how to manage the shrinking river.
In a bid to influence federal officials after contentious negotiations reached an impasse, six of the seven states submitted a last-minute proposal outlining possible cuts to help prevent reservoirs from falling to dangerously low levels, presenting a unified front while leaving out California, which uses the single largest share of the river.
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming called their plan a “consensus-based modeling alternative” that could serve as a framework for negotiating a solution. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had set an end-of-January deadline for the seven states to reach a consensus. But California officials opposed making evaporation and other water losses in the river’s Lower Basin part of the calculation, as the change would translate to bigger supply cuts for the state."
An Arctic air mass is driving freezing weather in the Bay Area. Here’s where it will get the coldest
The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "A cold, low-pressure system is ushering in some of the coolest air the Bay Area and Northern California has seen in weeks. This cold snap started over the weekend as the low moved over San Francisco Bay, and it’s set to linger through the first half of this week. Bitter northwest winds will keep daytime highs in the 50s across most of the Bay Area, while nighttime temperatures will quickly plummet — especially in the inland valleys of the East Bay and South Bay.
So, how much longer will this blast of Arctic air hover over Northern California?"
Sierra Nevada snowpack hits biggest level in nearly 30 years
BANG*Mercury News, PAUL ROGERS/SCOOTY NICKERSON: "The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack — the source of nearly one-third of California’s water supply — is at its highest level since 1995, boosting hopes that an end to the drought is near, but also raising concerns that a few warm spring storms could melt it too early and trigger major flooding.
Not since Toy Story packed movie theaters, Steve Young led the 49ers to their fifth Super Bowl win, and gasoline cost $1.28 a gallon has there been so much snow in California’s most famous mountain range at the end of January.
“It’s absolutely massive,” said Kevin “Coop” Cooper, a ski resort consultant who lives near South Lake Tahoe. “I’ve spent so much time with my snow shovel that I named it. My wife thought I was having an affair.”"
UC Berkeley snow lab conducts research in intense winter storms
Daily Californian, OLIVIA BRANAN: "UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab, which conducts research related to California water resources and climate change, saw intense snow storms this month, receiving 54 centimeters of snow in 24 hours, according to a tweet from the CSSL.
Lead scientist and manager at the Central Sierra Snow Lab, or CSSL, Andrew Schwartz said the snowpack reached approximately 11 feet deep across the site, and up to 20 feet next to the lab. He added that the facility was built robustly to withstand even the harshest of winters.
“This winter has been a particularly exciting one, and I’m looking forward to seeing if we continue to sustain our above-average snowpack and experience additional atmospheric rivers,” CSSL station director Neil Tsutsui said in an email."
SoCalGas says skyrocketing gas bills will drop significantly in February
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN: "With astronomical natural gas prices squeezing the pocketbooks of Southern California Gas Co.'s 21.8 million customers, the company says relief may be on the way as soon as next month.
In a statement, the company said the price of natural gas for its customers would be down 68% for February compared with January.
“While we’re relieved that prices have dropped significantly since last month, they remain higher than usual for this time of year,” said Gillian Wright, a SoCalGas executive."
‘It’s a losing battle’: Storms shattered Santa Cruz's iconic promenade. Is it worth fixing?
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Days after this month’s storms blasted the Santa Cruz coast, Debra Szecsei was savoring the now sunny surroundings at her home on the city’s West Cliff Drive.
The popular oceanfront promenade in front of her house was bustling with the usual walkers, runners and bicyclists. Surfers, sea lions and sailboats basked in the shimmering sea. A warm, salty breeze blew beneath a clear blue sky. It was paradise, Surf City-style.
Still, there was no ignoring the problem here on the west side of Santa Cruz. A large section of bluff just beyond Szecsei’s driveway had fallen into the sea. It was among many spots along the roughly three-mile residential street and recreational corridor to be dramatically beaten down by waves during the parade of storms."
How to see the rare green comet on its once-in-a-lifetime pass by Earth
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "A unique green comet passing by for the first time since the Stone Age is making its closest approach to Earth this week, even visible to the naked eye for some viewers. And those curious to see it should grab the chance, because it won’t return in our lifetime — or perhaps ever, Bay Area astronomers say.
Known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the comet was discovered last March by the Zwicky Transient Facility in Southern California, according to Geoff Mathews, an astronomy instructor at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills."
Want to hike Mt. Whitney this year? Here’s how to apply for the lottery starting Wednesday
LA Times, CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS: "If you’re hoping to climb Mt. Whitney in 2023, Wednesday is the beginning of the drama. That’s when U.S. Forest Service officials open the monthlong lottery for permits at Recreation.gov.
The lottery will be open Feb. 1 through March 1, with applicants obliged to choose whether they plan to climb in a day or over multiple days. Results will be announced online March 15, when good or bad news will be posted to hikers’ personal profiles on the website. Last year, 29% of lottery entrants got good news. The year before, 28%.
At 14,505 feet (or 14,494, depending on which expert you ask), Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada and the contiguous U.S. The most common path to the top includes 6,200 feet of vertical gain from the trailhead at Whitney Portal, 14 miles west of Lone Pine in Inyo County."
On brink of extinction, monarch butterfly numbers increase for second year
LA Daily News, STEVE SCAUZILLO: "Climbing back from the brink of extinction, the population of Western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast rose for the second year in a row, according to data released Tuesday, Jan. 31.
A three-week count in November and December 2022, conducted over 272 sites in coastal California by the Portland-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, tallied 335,479 of the orange-and-black iconic butterflies, an increase of 36% over the 247,237 counted the previous year.
More importantly, the rebounding species (Danaus plexippus) hit an all-time low of 2,000 in 2020, leaving biologists concerned it would disappear from North America."
Pushed by landmark Supreme Court ruling, San Francisco approves rare concealed-carry gun permit
The Chronicle, ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH: "For the first time since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office approved a resident’s application to carry a concealed weapon, known as a CCW permit.
“We can confirm we did approve our first CCW permit Friday,” said Tara Moriarty, a department spokesperson. The applicant is Benjamin Zheng, who works at an automobile body shop in the Tenderloin."
How a Lunar New Year celebration became a fight for survival
LA Times, STAFF: "The four smiling women pose before a festive backdrop, with its outsize clinking champagne glasses and clock about to strike midnight. They wear red, a symbol of good luck.
Shally wears flared black pants decorated with crystals. The 57-year-old has on a bob-cut wig “to make it special.” This is a Lunar New Year’s Eve party, after all.
An hour after that photo was taken, around 10:20 p.m., a 72-year-old man walked into Star Ballroom Dance Studio armed with a semiautomatic pistol. As he started spraying bullets, dancers confused the gunfire with fireworks."
COVID in California: Sonoma County records its 1st virus deaths of this year
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "The pandemic is likely at a transition point, but it is still a public health emergency and much remains to be done toward broader vaccination and other responses, says the World Health Organization's chief. In Washington, the White House says President Biden will end the U.S. pandemic emergency declarations on May 11, which would shift the way the coronavirus is handled into more normal agency procedures. But the number of Americans calling in sick to work remains high, and has not dipped below 1 million a month since November of pre-pandemic 2019."
These benefits will disappear when Biden ends the COVID national and public health emergencies in May
CNN, WIRE SERVICE: "President Joe Biden intends to end the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday. That means that many Americans could have to start paying for COVID-19 testing and treatment after the declarations cease.
The White House, in a statement of administration policy announcing opposition to two House Republican measures to end the emergencies, said the national emergency and public health emergency authorities declared in response to the pandemic would each be extended one final time to May 11.
“This wind down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the (public health emergency),” the statement said."
Coronavirus: L.A. County reported 2,946 more cases and 56 more deaths, Jan 31
OC Register, JEFF GOERTZEN: "Los Angeles County public health officials reported 2,946 more cases of the coronavirus since Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,676,266 as of Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Officials reported 56 more deaths linked to the coronavirus since Monday for a total of 35,281 deaths since tracking began.
There were 24fewer hospitalizations since Monday, bringing the total amount of people hospitalized with coronavirus to 705."
LA County reports 56 combined COVID-related deaths from Saturday to Tuesday
LA Daily News, CITY NEWS SERVICE: "Los Angeles County health officials reported another 56 COVID-19-related deaths over a four-day period ending on Tuesday, Jan. 31, while coronavirus-related hospitalizations ticked upward slightly.
After a one-day delay in the release of weekend virus statistics caused by a processing error, the county’s Department of Public Health reported 16 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, 14 on Sunday, nine on Monday and 17 on Tuesday.
The new fatalities gave the county a cumulative death toll of 35,281 since the pandemic began."
Are more people depressed & anxious, or are we just getting better at talking about mental health?
LA Times, LAURA NEWBERRY: "Over the last decade, and especially since 2020, the knowledge that more and more people are struggling with mental health conditions has almost become rote, along with a dizzying list of interacting factors that contribute to this reality.
When a 75-year-old reader sent us the question, “Why does mental illness seem to be on the rise?” I considered laying out in this newsletter the many reasons why a growing number of people are anxious and depressed.
The 24/7 news cycle is harming our mental health. The 40+-hour workweek and grind culture are harming our mental health. Social media’s algorithms, designed to keep us angry, distracted and siloed, are harming our mental health, and so, too, are social isolation, income inequality, climate change, racism, sexism, sizeism, homophobia and transphobia. And on and on."
'Could have fought harder': Response to new contracts reveal a union divided
Daily Californian, HSI-MIN CHAN: "For weeks, 48,000 academic workers united in a UC-wide strike. In its wake, student researchers, or SRs, and academic student employees, or ASEs, find themselves split.
On Dec. 23, 2022, the strike ended with the ratifications of new labor contracts between the UC system and two local unions: UAW 2865 and SRU-UAW, which represent ASEs and SRs, respectively. Since then, members and leaders have disputed union election practices, strike strategy and the impact of the two new contracts on their thousands of representees.
On Dec. 9, 2022, a majority of UAW 5810’s membership — consisting of more than 11,000 postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers — had ratified two contracts with the UC system. The UAW 5810 votes suggested widespread support, with 89.4% and 79.5% of voters approving the new contracts for postdocs and academic researchers, respectively."
UC Berkeley fires swim coach Teri McKeever
OC Register, SCOTT M. REID: "It was a day Cal swimmer Leann Toomey thought she would never see.
“Not in a million years,” Toomey said.
Toomey, a former All-America swimmer at Cal, is one of more than 40 women who alleged they were bullied by Teri McKeever, Cal’s groundbreaking women’s swimming head coach."
L.A. could see nearly 100 new digital signs. Anti-billboard groups plan to fight back
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER/RACHEL URANGA: "L.A.'s biggest transit agency has long been in the advertising game, renting out space on its buses, trains and even elevators at its rail stations.
But now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking to take those efforts to a new level by putting up as many as 93 billboard-size digital signs across the city — despite warnings from critics who say the rotating images will distract drivers and make the city uglier.
The agency’s transit communications and advertising program, approved last week by Metro’s board of directors, would bring digital signs to dozens of streets and freeways in downtown, the Westside, the San Fernando Valley and other areas."
San Jose’s PayPal to cut 2,000 jobs as Bay Area tech layoffs continue
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "San Jose digital payments company PayPal told employees Tuesday that it would lay off 2,000 employees, about 7% of the company’s workforce, as rolling cuts continue to hit the Bay Area tech industry.
The cuts were announced the same day that San Jose-based cloud software company NetApp said it would cut 8% of its workforce, Reuters reported, while the CEOs of Pleasanton business organization software company WorkDay said in a securities filing that 3% of its employees would lose their jobs."
McDonalds President Says It Might Be ‘Impossible’ to Operate in These Key States
The Street, VERONIKA BONDARENKO: "The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act is ruffling fast-food industry feathers.
While the pandemic accelerated both discussions and movement of businesses, talk of how California's high tax rates and liberal leadership has made it "impossible" to do business in the state is anything but new. So are alarm-raising statements about how big business is fleeing the Golden State en masse.
In 1933, one state official wrote that "if we set up a tax on one of their supercolossal $7,000,000 productions, [the movie industry] would no doubt transfer their operations to" Florida. Similar fears of a business exodus to Nevada pushed local legislators to give a property tax break to equipment manufacturers in the 1960s."
Bed Bath & Beyond closing 7 more Southern California stores
SGV Tribune, KEVIN SMITH: "Bed Bath & Beyond continues to announce store closures with seven more in the Southern California area slated to shut their doors.
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, the retailer said it would shutter 87 additional stores nationwide, including locations in Palm Desert, Hawthorne, Upland, Culver City, Glendora, Pasadena and a Harmon store in Los Angeles.
On Jan. 11 the company announced 126 of its 150 planned store closures, including locations in Valencia, Palmdale, Burbank, La Habra, Lakewood and Buena Park."
This S.F. Chinatown giant is opening a new location — at the Louvre in Paris
The Chronicle, NAOKI NITTA: "The San Francisco restaurateur behind the massive Chinatown food complex China Live plans to make his mark on Paris with a second multipart restaurant at a landmark location.
Asia Live, as the new venture’s name implies, will expand the focus of owner and executive chef George Chen to include Vietnamese, Thai and other Southeast Asian cuisines."
Most Bay Area cities will miss a major state housing deadline. But no one agrees on what that means
The Chronicle, JOHN KING: "As Feb. 1 arrives and Bay Area cities and counties are required to have state-approved plans showing how they will build more housing in the next eight years, this much is certain: Most will miss the deadline.
As for what that means, all bets are off."
Home prices have been declining across the Bay Area — except for these four ZIP codes
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG/ADRIANA REZAL: "Home values increased in only four ZIP codes in the entire Bay Area over the past six months, new data shows, with the nine-county region at the forefront of the nationwide housing market cooldown since peaking in June.
All four of those ZIP codes were in Sonoma County, and even those upticks were relatively small, according to data from real estate listings website Zillow.
The rest of the Bay Area’s ZIP codes saw typical home values decrease from June to December, with San Francisco neighborhoods and a handful in Contra Costa County logging the biggest declines."
California’s hottest real estate neighborhoods: Home prices are still rising in these ZIP codes
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG/ADRIANA REZAL: "The California housing market continues to cool from the pandemic buying frenzy, with some areas seeing home prices decline for seven months in a row.
Among the factors fueling the decline have been economic uncertainty, the knock-on effects of rising inflation, and soaring interest rates, experts say. The average monthly mortgage rate was 6.15% for the week ending Jan. 19, up 73% from a year ago.
Even so, home value growth in some California outlier neighborhoods has bucked the trend, continuing to rise even as parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles push further into the red, according to the latest data from real estate listings site Zillow."
LA council members propose $10M relief program for mom and dad landlords
LA Daily News, CITY NEWS SERVICE: "Five City Council members called on Tuesday, Jan. 31 for the city to establish a $10 million assistance program to provide direct payment to small landlords in Los Angeles who are waiting on rent due from tenants since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the last couple of weeks, the council has voted for landmark legislation providing tenant protections as the city’s local state of emergency due to COVID-19 expires at the end of the month.
The motion, presented by Bob Blumenfield, Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park and Tim McOsker and seconded by John Lee, states that the city must “do more” to help small landlords who have “faced years of financial uncertainty, tremendous debt, and personal hardship with keeping vulnerable tenants housed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”"
Prosecutors charge Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter, citing safety violations and ‘recklessness’ behind ‘Rust’ shooting
LA Times, ANOUSHA SAKOUI/MEG JAMES: "Citing numerous instances of alleged reckless behavior, safety lapses and chaos on the set of “Rust,” New Mexico prosecutors on Tuesday filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the film’s star, Alec Baldwin, and armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
In charging documents released Tuesday, the New Mexico prosecutors placed much of the blame for the tragedy on Baldwin, arguing that he was directly responsible for the shooting that claimed the life of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. If convicted, he and Gutierrez Reed could each face a mandatory five-year prison sentence.
Beyond his role as star of the western, Baldwin also acted as a producer who was responsible to ensure safety on the set, the prosecutors argued."
Warden at troubled California women’s prison faced sexual harassment, misconduct lawsuits
Sacramento Bee, SAM STANTON: "Investigations at California’s largest prison for women into sexual abuse and assault claims are continuing, and the acting warden who oversaw a probe that identified at least 22 potential victims has been moved out of the prison.
Acting Warden Mike Pallares, who referred the case to the Madera County district attorney for prosecution, has been accused of misconduct in two previous lawsuits and by a current inmate. He no longer works at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, where the scandal spilled into the open in late December.
“We thank him for his time and work at the institution in his acting capacity,” California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Dana Simas wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “He is taking on Associate Warden responsibilities in CDCR.”"
LAPD Chief Michel Moore receives second term
LA Times, LIBOR JANY/DAVID ZAHNISER: "The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday reappointed Chief Michel Moore to a second term as head of one of the nation’s largest police departments.
The five-member commission reached its unanimous decision during a closed-door meeting knowing that Mayor Karen Bass, who in her role wields considerable power over the chief and department, supported the move — albeit with some caveats.
In a letter sent to the commission on Monday, Bass, who took office in December and campaigned on the promise of bringing more police accountability and transparency, said she believed Moore shared her desire to see the department improve its recruitment of “reform-minded” officers and change how it responds to calls involving the mentally ill."
LAFD deputy chief retires amid investigation into harassment allegations
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "A top Los Angeles Fire Department official has retired in the midst of a city investigation into allegations of misconduct against him.
Deputy Chief Armando Hogan, 61, retired effective Jan. 17, said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott, a department spokesperson. Hogan had been on administrative leave since Oct. 13 as the city investigated the accusations, Scott said.
“The department was made aware of allegations of misconduct and directed an investigation to be conducted,” Scott said. “As this is an active investigation, the department will not comment further.”"
Skeptical family orders independent autopsy of O.C. public defender who died in Mexico
LA Times, ALEXANDRA E. PETRI: "The body of an Orange County lawyer whose death in Mexico is still clouded by questions has been returned to Southern California, where his family has ordered an independent autopsy, according to their attorney.
Elliot Blair, 33, was found dead Jan. 14 at Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Rosarito Beach, a popular tourist area in Baja California. He and his wife, Kimberly Williams, also an Orange County deputy public defender, were on vacation celebrating their first wedding anniversary.
Mexican authorities attributed Blair’s death to an accidental fall from an open-air, third-floor walkway at the hotel, but Blair’s family said they believe he was the “victim of a brutal crime.”"
S.F. will get new homeless response team to replace police. Will it mean more help for those on the streets?
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "San Francisco will soon try out removing police from low-level 911 calls about homelessness and instead dispatch community workers to respond.
The hope is that the new program will reduce the possibility for police violence, free up officers for more serious calls than someone sleeping in front of a business, for example, and help get people off the streets and to a better place, although resources such as housing remain in short supply. The new pilot program will join at least half a dozen other teams run by different city departments that respond to people in mental crisis, overdosing on drugs or in need of a wellness check."
California sending $1.13 billion to Caltrain electrification, BART and other Bay Area projects
BANG*Mercury News, ELIYAHU KAMISHER: "California officials on Tuesday announced a $1.13 billion cash infusion to a handful of overbudget transportation projects that transit planners hope will one day ring the Bay Area in fast and reliant rail service.
The money flowing to the Bay Area and elsewhere is meant to help mega-projects – including BART through San Jose and Caltrain’s electrification – stay on track as agencies report ballooning cost estimates. Projects across the state now need to line up new money from state and local sources in order to secure billions more in federal grants from Washington.
Toks Omishakin, who heads the California State Transportation Agency, said the funds “will help get these transformative projects over the finish line and into operation.”"
Transit projects in San Fernando Valley, Inglewood, OC, IE, win state grants
LA Daily News, STEVE SCAUZILLO: "A first-ever light-rail line for the San Fernando Valley, a streetcar in central Orange County, a people-mover in Inglewood and a dedicated bus project serving Ontario International Airport were all winners in a major grant allocation from the state’s transportation agency on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
However, an extension of the L (formerly Gold) Line from Pomona into Montclair in San Bernardino County wa ..."
Self-driving cars are causing mayhem on S.F. streets, officials say. Will their expansion be restricted?
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "San Francisco firefighters were battling a two-alarm apartment blaze on the corner of Hayes and Divisadero streets during a recent Sunday morning when a driverless Cruise car entered the active firefighting scene and nearly ran over fire hoses on the street.
Firefighters at the scene stood in front of the car to try to get it to stop, but the autonomous vehicle came to a halt only after one of them smashed the Cruise car’s front window amid the chaotic effort to put out a fire that displaced 25 people, according to city transportation officials.
City officials warned state regulators this month that disruptions like that Jan. 22 incident “could increase very significantly” in San Francisco if they allow Cruise, Waymo and other self-driving taxi companies to expand fare service without restrictions."
George Santos tells House Republicans he wants off of his committees until issues are resolved
CNN, WIRE SERVICE: "Rep. George Santos told the House GOP conference on Tuesday behind closed doors he wants off of his two committees until his issues are resolved, three members told CNN.
The New York Republican who has faced calls for his resignation for false statements — including regarding his professional experience, education history and identity — is a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Small Business. Federal prosecutors are also investigating Santos’ finances, and he continues to face a myriad of questions about his personal finances.
He was first elected last fall."
