Updating . .
Evacuees stranded with no end in sight to Lake Oroville crisis -- The crisis at Lake Oroville may grind on for weeks or longer — leaving the nearly 200,000 people ordered to evacuate on Sunday in limbo as crews work to flush water out of the reservoir and shore up a badly eroded emergency spillway, officials said Monday. Melody Gutierrez, Evan Sernoffsky and Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
Series of storms to make trouble for Lake Oroville -- A series of wet-weather systems this week will accelerate inflow into Lake Oroville at the same time officials are trying to free up space and avoid again using the reservoir’s badly-damaged emergency spillway. With just two days of dry weather before the rain returns, crews were scrambling to dump water and shore up the eroded spillway. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
State races against time to make room for more rain headed to Lake Oroville -- Another storm expected to hit the Lake Oroville area on Wednesday is projected to bring up to 8 inches of rain to the region as officials desperately work to stop the dam’s emergency spillway from collapsing and wiping out towns that have been evacuated. Malaika Fraley in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/13/17
Donald Trump is the bad guy in the first TV ad of Los Angeles' congressional race -- The first television ad of the race for the 34th Congressional District is out, and President Trump stars as the bully. In the ad for Sara Hernandez for Congress, Trump is the first and last image viewers see. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Lawmakers should flex their muscles when approving key climate change program, legislative analyst says -- State lawmakers should take more control over California’s signature program to combat climate change, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst said in a new report Monday. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Here's the nightmare scenario at Oroville Dam that officials are fighting to prevent -- Any dam engineer would be terrified of this nightmare scenario — the possible collapse of a retaining wall in California’s second largest reservoir. That’s the prospect officials faced when they ordered more than 100,000 people evacuated downstream of the nation’s tallest dam Sunday. Rong-Gong Lin II, Raoul Rañoa and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Spillway threat asserted: A state agency seeks relicensing to run Oroville Dam, but a challenge sees design flaws -- [This story was originally published on November 27, 2005. It is being republished in light of damage at the Oroville dam.] -- Oroville Dam contains a flaw, some critics assert, one that could damage the structure during a major flood and threaten downstream communities. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Butte County sheriff defends evacuation order -- The Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea on Monday defended his decision a day earlier calling for evacuations of more than 100,000 residents down river from the Oroville Dam after concerns that a spillway could fail and unleash a 30-foot tall wall of water on the region. Joseph Serna and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
More rain in forecast as workers struggle to lower water level at Oroville Dam -- An approaching storm has added new urgency to the Department of Water Resources' frantic efforts to reduce water levels at Oroville Dam by 50 feet. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
Water level drops behind California dam, easing flood fears -- The water level dropped Monday behind the nation's tallest dam, reducing the risk of a catastrophic spillway collapse and easing fears that prompted the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. Olga R. Rodriguez and Don Thompson Associated Press -- 2/13/17
Oroville Dam crisis prompts sleepless night for evacuees -- Beverly Boone, who is 89, spent a tough night as an evacuee. She sat in a folding chair at the emergency shelter at the Chico fairgrounds on Tuesday morning, unable to eat the free pancakes and sausage. She swirled her coffee and tried not to look at a newspaper full of pictures of the disintegrating Oroville Dam emergency spillway that forced her to leave her home. Melody Gutierrez, Lizzie Johnson and Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ Bill Lindeloff, Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Scores of schools close through at least Tuesday as Oroville evacuation continues -- Many districts were already scheduled to be closed Monday in observance of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Although most say they will remain closed Tuesday, many won’t reopen until notified by authorities that the area is safe. Loretta Kalb and Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Here are answers to your questions about the crisis at Oroville Dam -- Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Some people couldn’t get out of Oroville, some have returned -- Not everyone was able to escape Oroville Sunday night. Grant Gallaway lives in an apartment one block from the Feather River, where he can see the dam looming on the hill above. He doesn’t own a car. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Levee breach forces evacuation of Tyler Island in Delta; unrelated to Oroville -- Sacramento County are advising residents in the Tyler Island area south of Walnut Grove to evacuate due to a levee breach, officials said Monday. There are about 20 homes in the area, said Sacramento County Water Resources spokesman Matt Robinson. Tyler Island is protected by a ring levee. Ellen Garrison in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Highway 50 is riddled with mudslides and will be ‘closed indefinitely’ -- Highway 50 will remain “closed indefinitely” as crews slog their way through clearing three major mudslides across a 12-mile stretch, as well as several smaller, active mudslides, according to Caltrans. The highway is closed in both directions from Pollock Pines to Strawberry in El Dorado County. Bill Lindelof in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Can California lawmakers tackle road repairs with new supermajority? -- The California Legislature will again take up the problem of funding road repairs this week, an issue that has been championed by Gov. Jerry Brown but that lawmakers have failed to act on. Meghan McCarty KPCC -- 2/13/17
In the Capitol, myth vs. reality -- Over the years, there have been myriad misconceptions about different aspects of state law making. So let’s hold our breath, take a deep dive into the Capitol and separate the myths from the reality. Chris Micheli Capitol Weekly -- 2/13/17
South Gate teacher gets meningitis and dies, and parents worry about health risks -- A teacher at Montara Avenue Elementary School in South Gate died last week after contracting meningitis, leading parents to worry about whether their children might have been exposed. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Santa Monica seeks to pass the nation's most extensive earthquake retrofit plan -- Santa Monica is poised to require safety improvements to as many as 2,000 earthquake-vulnerable buildings in what would be the nation’s most extensive seismic retrofitting effort. Rong-Gong Lin II, Raoul Rañoa and Jon Schleuss in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Trump has gotten even less popular while in office -- For now, what matters most to Trump is holding the support of his core voters. That’s key to his strength in Congress, especially in the House, because his popularity remains high in most Republican-held congressional districts. But if his decline persists, it could weaken Trump’s sway in the Senate, where members need to run statewide. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 2/13/17
Fox: Business Networking Key to Boosting Bay Area over LA -- The “Beat LA” chant that occurs at many San Francisco sporting events featuring teams from the two regions of the state may reflect more than the athletic contest on the field. The San Francisco Bay Area’s economy has surged ahead of Los Angeles’s economic growth over the past 40 years. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 2/13/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago -- More than a decade ago, federal and state officials and some of California’s largest water agencies rejected concerns that the massive earthen spillway at Oroville Dam — at risk of collapse Sunday night and prompting the evacuation of 130,000 people — could erode during heavy winter rains and cause a catastrophe. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/13/17
Experts: State left with few options while trying to avert disaster at Oroville Dam -- As Oroville Dam operators worked into the night Sunday to try to prevent collapse of the emergency spillway, independent engineering experts said the state has few options at its disposal. Phillip Reese and Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
No word when evacuation order for 188,000 will be lifted as Oroville threat remains -- State officials have activated hundreds of people to help deal with the Oroville Dam crisis, sending 100 California Highway Patrol officers to the region and placing 1,200 California National Guard members on notice that they may be needed. Ryan Sabalow and Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Expert: If emergency spillway collapses, Highway 70 corridor ‘is gone’ -- The Sacramento Bee spoke with Joe Countryman, a member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and a former engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for context on the engineering issues in the Oroville Dam crisis. Here is an edited transcript of the interview. Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Too much water: How Oroville Dam problems became a crisis -- The mass evacuations underway below the Oroville Dam capped a week of frantic efforts to prevent flooding as America’s tallest dam reached capacity and its main spillway was severely damaged. Matt Hamilton and Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Evacuations ordered below Oroville Dam after a hole is found in its emergency spillway -- Tens of thousands of residents in Northern California were ordered to immediately evacuate Sunday afternoon after erosion at the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville threatened to flood downstream towns. Anna M. Phillips, Matt Hamilton, Paige St. John and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
188,000 under evacuation orders near Northern California dam -- At least 188,000 people remain under evacuation orders after Northern California authorities warned an emergency spillway in the country's tallest dam was in danger of failing Sunday and unleashing uncontrolled flood waters on towns below. Olga R. Rodriguez and Don Thompson Associated Press -- 2/13/17
More than 100,000 flee as Oroville Dam danger spikes -- While the integrity of Oroville Dam is not at risk, officials said a catastrophic amount of water was in danger of bursting through the wall of the auxiliary spillway alongside the 770-foot-tall dam. Evan Sernoffsky, Jill Tucker, John King and Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
Some who were ordered to evacuate the Oroville area don't know where to go -- James Nash, 86, of Oroville heard about the evacuation order from his apartment building manager. A retired chef and Korean War vet, he wasn't sure where to go, and was upset that Oroville officials didn't seem to be doing more. He couldn't make it to Chico on his bike. Chris Megerian and Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
‘I pray for the safety of everybody here’ -- Across Northern California on Sunday, dramas played out in living rooms, gas stations and freeway onramps as some evacuees had time to grab clothing, laptops and chargers. Others, such as Erin English of Linda, left with nothing as darkness descended – along with mounting fear and uncertainty over the stability of the Oroville Dam. Marjie Lundstom, Dale Kasler and Hudson Sangree in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Evacuees jam roads heading away from Oroville Dam: ‘It’s a zoo’ -- “The roads are a total mess — it’s a zoo,” said Lynn Wixom, who lives near Oroville Dam out of the potential flooding area. His daughter was driving south of Oroville shortly after the evacuation order went out around 4:30 p.m., prompted by fears of a collapse of an auxiliary spillway on rain-swollen Lake Oroville, and “she said they were almost forced off the road by crazy drivers.” Melody Gutierrez, Lizzie Johnson and Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
Skelton: California lawmakers are stuck on Trump, but there's a problem at home that needs attention: dirty water -- While President Trump and his California resistors dominate the spotlight, a little outfit without much pizazz is trying to draw state government’s attention to sickening drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Walters: Millions spent on California politics, but it’s just chicken feed -- After last November’s elections were over, the combatants filed year-end reports on what they had spent for and against legislative candidates and ballot measures and it was close to $700 million – nearly two-thirds more than spending during the previous election cycle. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
'I can see the fear': multicultural Los Angeles senses a different world under Trump -- While much of America supports some type of ban on Muslim immigrants, the executive order has been disorienting to many in and around Los Angeles — in part, they say, because their lives intersect with so many people of so many cultures. Joe Mozingo, Victoria Kim and Matt Stevens in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
Telemundo town hall offers worried Latino immigrants tips in wake of ICE raids -- Amid “panic and fear” that has gripped certain Latino immigrants across the nation, scores of Spanish-speakers converged in Universal City on Sunday for a taped town hall about the effects of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and recent enforcement actions on the Latino community. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/13/17
Growers and workers alike worried about immigration raids -- News of expanding immigration raids, leading to more than 160 detentions in Los Angeles last week, has sent waves of fear through the state's rural fields and farmlands, where growers and immigrant laborers alike are bracing for possible crackdowns on the state’s agricultural heartland. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 2/13/17
Kamala Harris on Trump's Immigration Order -- Outraged over President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban for seven Muslim majority nations, California Senator Kamala Harris says she called Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly at his home to complain about a lack of legal counsel for detainees. Conan Nolan NBCLA -- 2/13/17
Rep. Scott Peters is getting comfortable in the hot seat -- There are at least two things Rep. Scott Peters can count on: he’ll always be in a swing district, and he’ll always be one of the top Republican targets in 2018 and beyond. But simply judging from his history, Peters’ odds of staying in Congress look pretty good today. Michael Smolens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/13/17
Following Lodi deaths, Stockton lawmaker calls for state oversight of parachuting -- Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman said Yong Kwon and Tyler Nicholas Turner were the 12th and 13th people killed in flights out of Lodi Parachute Center since 2000. Kwon, 25, was the instructor and Turner, 18, was a first-time jumper in the tandem parachute crash. Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
CalSTRS cuts hundreds of misreported pensions -- Triggering at least two lawsuits, CalSTRS has cut the pensions of hundreds of retired teachers because extra work or pay was misreported as earnings for pensions, not for a 401(k)-style individual investment benefit with a guaranteed minimum return. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 2/13/17
Activism Hits Even the Less Flashy Tech Companies -- As soon as President Trump signed his executive order on immigration, some of the biggest tech companies went quiet. Their executives did not sign legal briefs, brandish statements or dissent on Twitter. They strove for business as usual. David Streitfeld in the New York Times$ -- 2/13/17
Education
California renews push to promote environmental literacy in schools -- In Clinton Huey’s 6th-grade science class at Bancroft Middle School in San Leandro just south of Oakland, students have made their own carbon dioxide, measured the acid content of car exhaust, created greenhouse gas models from plastic bottles, charted sea-level rise since 700 A.D. and built wind generators – all in a quest to understand climate change. Carolyn Jones EdSource -- 2/13/17
Environment
Biggest Driver of Cleaner-Car Rules Is California, Not Washington -- Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Mark Fields used a recent White House breakfast with President Donald Trump to argue for relaxing U.S. car-emissions standards. But Mr. Fields and other auto executives need to travel 2,700 miles west of Washington to find the government officials who are pushing them the most on environmental regulations. Mike Spector in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 2/13/17
Uncertain times cloud zero-emission dreams for ports of LA, Long Beach -- Many of the exhaust-spewing vehicles chugging into coastal cargo hubs at Los Angeles and Long Beach have disappeared, replaced with cleaner-burning alternatives. Pollutant levels have plummeted. And visits to the hospital for asthma have declined. Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/13/17
Are cancer-causing emissions in Paramount harming Long Beach residents? -- Officials are questioning whether Long Beach residents may be suffering health impacts related to elevated emissions hexavalent chromium from two metal processing facilities in Paramount. Courtney Tompkins in the Long Beach Press Telegram$ -- 2/13/17
Coastal Commission affirms denial of Banning Ranch project; developer vows to continue fight -- After a roughly nine-hour session in September, the California Coastal Commission voted 9-1 against a residential and commercial development proposed for Banning Ranch in Newport Beach. Bradley Zint in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17
POTUS 45
AP Fact Check: Trump aide peddles false vote fraud charge -- Presidential adviser Stephen Miller peddled discredited theories about voter fraud during a round of TV appearances Sunday that won praise from his boss but brought no new evidence to light. Associated Press -- 2/13/17
Trump undertakes most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan -- The fallout is already rippling across the federal bureaucracy and throughout the U.S. economy, affecting how dentists dispose of mercury fillings, how schools meet the needs of poor and disabled students, and whether companies reject mineral purchases that fuel one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. Juliet Eilperin in the Washington Post$ -- 2/13/17
Thousands of protesters spell out 'RESIST!!' on San Francisco's Ocean Beach -- Thousands of protesters gathered on San Francisco's Ocean Beach on Saturday, using their bodies to send a political message. To spectators on the beach, the purpose of the protest may have seemed unclear. But from the sky, there was no question. Thousands of people spelled out "RESIST!!" on the sand. Alix Martichoux in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17
Defections by Sears, Kmart cap week of controversy for Trump brands -- Trump-branded consumer products have suffered new blows, with U.S. retailers Sears Holdings Corp and Kmart Corp discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items, while new details emerged showing sales of Ivanka Trump's brand fell in the weeks before Nordstrom Inc stopped carrying her products. Jon Herskovitz Reuters -- 2/13/17
Trump Friend Suggests Reince Priebus Is in Over His Head -- The friend, Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media, said in an interview that Reince Priebus was well meaning and well liked. But he said Mr. Priebus was in over his head, and he hinted that Mr. Trump may already be growing weary of the man he chose to run the White House. Michael D. Shear in the New York Times$ -- 2/13/17
-- Sunday Updates
High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it -- For many Californians, the plan to run high-speed trains between San Francisco and Los Angeles remains in the realm of fantasy. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/12/17
Thanks to storm runoff, there's a lot of water over California's second-largest reservoir -- Bloated with storm runoff, the reservoir had gone from 80% full to overflowing in less than a week when managers were forced to reduce releases on Oroville’s heavily damaged concrete spillway. Bettina Boxall and Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/12/17
Water flowing out of Lake Oroville emergency spillway -- State water officials watched nervously Sunday as thousands of cubic feet of water continued to gush over Lake Oroville’s emergency spillway every second — an unprecedented measure to reduce water volume in the state’s second largest reservoir that neared capacity this weekend. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/12/17
24 hours later, no problems reported with Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway -- A dry spell has helped considerably, reducing the amount of water flowing into swollen Lake Oroville. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/12/17
Feinstein fundraising machine fires up for re-election run -- Aspiring Senate hopefuls got some bad news the other day when Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent out invites for a “Feinstein for Senate 2018” campaign kickoff fundraiser March 18 in Bel-Air. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/12/17
Atop Mt. Wilson, retired engineers keep alive astronomy's 'Sistine Chapel' -- Dressed in parkas and knit caps, the three volunteers lug crates of power tools and spooled wire into the gleaming mountaintop edifice that some have called astronomy’s “Sistine Chapel” and immediately start tinkering. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/12/17
‘Not on our watch’: Trump resistance catches fire in Bay Area -- Before Donald Trump was elected president, Dave Emme had no idea who his congressional representative was. The 32-year-old environmental engineer, who lives in Oakland, was so disengaged from national politics that the first time he voted for president was for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Tammerlin Drummond in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/12/17
Thousands march against Trump in Mexico City: 'Pay for your own wall!' -- Thousands of demonstrators waving Mexican flags and signs denouncing President Trump marched through central Mexico City on Sunday, the largest mobilization in the capital to date against the controversial polices of the Trump White House. Patrick J. McDonnell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/12/17
Next Porter Ranch gas leak fight may be over money -- Last week the Southern California Gas Co. announced it would pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by air regulators. Now it looks to some, especially residents, that the community got short-changed. Greg Wilcox in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/12/17
How much could the Rams and Chargers make in their new stadium? We ran the numbers -- The Rams and Chargers came to Los Angeles for one simple reason: money. James Rufus Koren, Roger Vincent in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/12/17
Diaz: California’s housing crisis: It’s a matter of will -- In one sense, California’s housing crisis is a matter of simple math. This state was not building anywhere close to the number of homes that would be required to accommodate the addition of 300,000 residents a year over the past decade. John Diaz in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/12/17
Hillary Clinton Is Running Again -- Hillary Clinton will run for president. Again. No inside information informs this prediction. No argument is advanced as to whether her run is a good or a bad idea—there are many ways to make a case either way. Instead this is just a statement of simple facts (if facts mean anything anymore, that is). Matt Latimer Politico -- 2/12/17
Trump impeached? You can bet on it -- Gambling houses all over the world are taking in action on whether Trump, inaugurated just last month, will resign or be impeached. And the odds aren’t as long as you might think. Steven Shepard Politico -- 2/12/17