‘Climate whiplash’: Satellite images show dramatic swings of California’s snowpack
The Chronicle, JACK LEE: "Twelve months ago, California was entering year three of an extended drought. On the heels of the driest January-April period in 128 years, the state’s two largest reservoirs were down to critically low levels, and a skimpy snowpack meant little additional water was on the way.
“We were in dire straits,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center."
PG&E first-quarter profits jump as utility’s revenue surges
BANG*Mercury News, GEORGE AVALOS: "PG&E’s profits jumped during the first three months of 2023, a rise that coincided with big increases in monthly bills that frustrated some customers reeling from a cold, wet winter. Higher costs could continue into the year even as the days lengthen and turn warmer.
During the first quarter of 2023, PG&E earned $623 million, an 18.2% jump in profits from the $527 million the company tallied during the same quarter in 2022, PG&E said Thursday in a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Christmas came early for Wall Street,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer group The Utility Reform Network, also known as TURN. “PG&E is focusing far too much on profits and far too little on affordable monthly bills.”"
Gavin Newsom vowed to fix California environmental law stalling housing. Was the promise empty?
Sac Bee, MAGGIE ANGST, LINDSEY HOLDEN: " Gov. Gavin Newsom and top Democrats have repeatedly vowed to reform California’s landmark environmental protection law, which many blame for the state’s inability to build enough housing.
And after years of discussion, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, thought that a recent handful of high-profile housing developments that had been stalled by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, might provide an opportunity to overhaul the 53-year-old statute.
CEQA was originally envisioned as a way to keep new construction from harming the environment. In practice, it has also generated a half-century of litigation, empowered public efforts to block unpopular developments and tied projects up in lengthy environmental reviews."
Practical tips for working with committee staff
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "In talking with committee staff the past few weeks, there are some practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the staff of the policy and fiscal committees in the California Legislature. While some of these recommendations may seem obvious, many of them bear repeating.
The following are some of the many suggestions shared with me these past few weeks:"
How free trips for California legislators lead to bills
CALMatters, JEREMIA KIMELMAN, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "After touring Portland and Seattle in 2020 to research waste disposal, state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, successfully carried a measure to restrict which plastics can bear the triangular arrow recycling symbol.
Because of a study trip to Japan in November, Assemblymember Devon Mathis, a Visalia Republican, introduced a bill this year, which failed in committee, that would have required the state to procure more electricity from nuclear power plants instead of natural gas facilities.
And inspired by a visit to Portugal two years ago to learn about offshore wind farms, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, a Glendale Democrat, is pursuing legislation this session to streamline the approval of electrical infrastructure projects such as new transmission lines."
To head off hospital closures, California legislators are fast-tracking a loan program
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA: "California hospitals in financial trouble will soon be able to apply for interest-free state loans, although key questions about the selection process aren’t yet resolved.
The Legislature on Thursday approved a bill that will allocate a one-time sum of $150 million from the general fund to aid hospitals that are facing severe financial distress and are at risk of closure, or that have closed but have a plan to reopen. The loans would have to be paid back within six years, although loans may be forgiven for hospitals that meet certain requirements. Gov. Gavin Newsom needs to sign the bill to enact the program.
Legislators and hospital administrators have acknowledged a loan program is only a stop-gap for a number of hospitals that for months have warned of their precarious fiscal situations. Legislators fast-tracked action following the closure of Madera Community Hospital at the start of this year, which left this San Joaquin Valley county of 160,000 people without a local emergency room."
Ex-UC Davis student arrested in serial stabbings that have terrorized city
LA Times, JESSICA GARRISON, BRITTNY MEJIA: "Police on Thursday named a young man recently “separated” from UC Davis for academic reasons as the suspect in stabbings that left two men dead and one woman in critical condition in this bucolic college town just west of Sacramento.
Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said at an afternoon news conference.
Davis Mayor Will Arnold praised the law enforcement effort."
OUSD strike: How long could teachers be out?
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Oakland teachers took to the picket lines Thursday morning for the first day of an open-ended strike over salaries, class sizes and a long list of demands not usually part of negotiations such as housing for homeless children, reparations for Black students, and the kinds of trees used in landscaping.
All bargaining had ceased with labor leaders refusing to return to the table until the district provided a comprehensive proposal on all mandatory contract items as well as those that are allowed, but not required, including a specific policy and process for school closures, transportation for all 34,000 students, landscaping and reparations.
Neither side would venture a guess on how long the strike would last. There are three weeks of school left before the summer break."
How much do striking Oakland teachers make? Here’s how their pay compares to other Bay Area districts
BANG*Mercury News, JOHN WOOLFOLK: "With Oakland Unified School District teachers on strike, how does their pay compare around the region, state and country?
The Oakland Education Association, the union representing the district’s 3,000 K-12 teachers, counselors, social workers, speech pathologists, nurses, librarians and substitutes, argues its teachers are the lowest-paid in the Bay Area.
The average annual teacher salary in Oakland Unified for the 2021-2022 school year was $70,572, according to the California Department of Education. Across the bay at San Francisco Unified, the average was $84,881, while in the South Bay at San Jose Unified, it was $86,433. At Piedmont City Unified, located in the town surrounded by Oakland, the average was $89,480."
Bill seeks to increase housing support for youth in extended foster care
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "Young Californians in extended foster care may soon get relief from rising housing costs if Assembly Bill 525, recently introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting, is passed.
The bill seeks to create a housing supplement that would increase the monthly amount of financial assistance that youth in extended foster care can receive, based on the county they live in. The increased amount would supplement the base rate that youth currently receive, which is $1,129 regardless of their county of residence.
“Foster youth are some of the most vulnerable youth in the entire state,” said Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco. “It’s absolutely critical that we do everything possible to support them. … Just a little bit more money every month would go quite a long way.”"
California tourism is roaring back — and spending could reach historic highs
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS: "Having cratered during the onset of COVID, California’s travel economy is on track to surpass its historic pre-pandemic heights this year, according to a new report from the state tourism bureau.
Last year, travelers spent $134.4 billion and the state added 157,000 jobs — figures that correspond to 93% and 94% of their 2019 levels, respectively, according to the report, which was produced by Oregon tourism research firm Dean Runyan Associates on behalf of Visit California."
After the collapse of two California banks, what can the state do?
CALMatters, GRACE GEDYE: "Two major California banks — Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic — have failed.
While some banking industry leaders have said the immediate crisis is over, stock prices for other regional banks, including PacWest and Western Alliance, fell this week.
It’s important for the financial system that people believe their money is safe, and banks failing in quick succession tends to erode confidence. So what’s a state to do?"
After First Republic, people are waking up to where they should really be parking cash
The Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: "Apple’s new 4.15% savings account, which according to Forbes attracted nearly $1 billion in its first four days despite being open only to Apple credit card holders, is a sign that Americans are finally waking up to the fact that they can earn a lot more on their cash than what the big banks are paying.
Another sign: After soaring in 2020 and 2021, U.S. bank deposits began falling in April 2022, shortly after the Federal Reserve launched the first of 10 consecutive rate hikes. They took an even sharper tumble following the failures of Silicon Valley, Signature and First Republic banks."
As a Hollywood writers’ strike hobbles production, L.A. businesses brace for ripple effects
LA Times, WENDY LEE: "Last time there was a Hollywood writers’ strike, in 2007, the resulting halt in filmmaking activity depleted the savings of Pam and Jim Elyea’s prop house History for Hire, so much so that they had to defer a dream of owning their own warehouse.
Years later, COVID-19 brought another formidable challenge for their North Hollywood business, which has supplied props including period-appropriate luggage for “Titanic” and cameras for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.”
Now history is repeating itself with a new writers’ strike that began on Tuesday, which is causing a significant portion of local production to shut down."
Westfield mall blamed ‘rampant criminal activity’ for Nordstrom closing in S.F. Here’s what the data says
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI, SAM WHITING: "The impending closures of two Nordstrom stores and Saks Off 5th in downtown San Francisco have added more fuel to the debate over the role of crime in pushing retailers out of the city’s core.
Nordstrom said downtown “changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully,” without specifically citing public safety concerns in a staff memo."
Amid the population exodus, California saw housing construction boom during pandemic
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN: "Even as California’s population took a hit during the pandemic, new data show the state experienced a boom in home building the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Recession.
The rise in new construction — including increases in multiunit dwellings in some areas — comes as California faces a housing crisis that has sparked a push at the city and state levels to build more homes.
Experts say that although the ramped-up construction has helped, it is not enough — at least yet — to seriously reduce high rents and housing prices."
Peter Thiel says moving to Florida from Silicon Valley is too expensive
Bloomberg, MICHAEL SMITH: "Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel said he’s reluctant to move his operations to Florida from Silicon Valley because housing prices have soared.
“If you buy a house in Miami today versus just three years ago, you’re paying four times as much for a monthly mortgage payment,” Thiel said on the podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss.
The Miami region saw its number of million-dollar ZIP codes more than double from the end of 2019 through 2022, according to a Bloomberg analysis of home values in the country’s most-expensive areas. While parts of New York and California, traditional wealth centers, still rank near the top of list of most expensive areas, values in some neighborhoods have actually declined since 2019, Zillow data show."
At the LAFD, pay for sex on duty, batter a cop, lie on medical records — and keep your job
LA Times, PAUL PRINGLE: "One firefighter made off with a Los Angeles Fire Department cellphone last year and used it to solicit a prostitute while on duty. He then abandoned his dispatch post at the department’s downtown communications center, which handles 911 calls, drove to a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport and had sex with her before returning to work.
A second city of L.A. firefighter drove with a blood-alcohol level nearly 2½ times the legal limit, resisted arrest and committed a battery on a law enforcement officer, according to LAFD disciplinary records on the 2020 incident.
In a third case, three LAFD firefighters reported in 2020 that their captain kicked a homeless man in the head with his steel-toe boot while the man was lying motionless, the department records show. One witness said the blow was so hard that he heard the man’s teeth “clank together.”"
The Bay Bridge is opening a new off-ramp this weekend. Will it reduce traffic congestion?
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "Motorists heading east on the Bay Bridge will soon have access to a newly constructed off-ramp to Yerba Buena Island.
The 7 a.m. Sunday opening of the eastbound off-ramp will mark the end of a massive project to reconstruct the iconic bridge’s eastern span. Eric Young, spokesperson for the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, said the off-ramp will increase access to the city’s burgeoning islands that are primed to experience significant housing growth in the next decade.
“Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island are growing due to development. With that development comes the need for some greater capacity with the ways on and off the island,” Young said."
