Updating . .
These 33 important buildings owned by L.A. County could be at risk in a major quake -- For six decades, a boxy downtown building has been the beating heart of Los Angeles County government — home to the five supervisors, half a dozen departments and hundreds of employees who filter through its halls each week. Rebecca Ellis, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Full list of L.A. County-owned buildings facing potential earthquake risk -- This flaw, now well-known, was discovered in the 1971 Sylmar quake, and caused building and freeway collapses in L.A. in that temblor as well as the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Here’s the full list: Rebecca Ellis, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Street
Amid FBI investigation, Antioch police refuse to release use of force records, including a controversial neck hold that has since been widely banned -- Four dog bite cases are also being withheld. Nate Gartrell in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/23
Arellano: An LAPD SWAT raid wrecked this man’s print shop. He can’t get compensation -- For 13 years, Carlos Pena has run NoHo Printing & Graphics in North Hollywood. He has stayed here even as this stretch of Lankershim Boulevard became sketchier, even as the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to lay off all his employees. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Policy & Politcs
Skelton: Newsom denies the obvious: California is no longer in drought -- Gov. Gavin Newsom came close but couldn’t quite bring himself to say it: The drought’s over. It’s disappointing when a governor won’t acknowledge what ordinary citizens already know because they can see things for themselves. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Housing
A California program to fix mobile home parks approved 1 application in 10 years. Will a rebrand work? -- Mobile home residents in California face an outsize risk of failing utility systems, flooding and fires as a result of infrastructure that frequently hasn’t been updated or repaired in decades. Manuela Tobias CalMatters -- 3/27/23
A Sacramento housing nonprofit is closing. More than 560 Sacramentans could be homeless -- The county’s decision to let the contracts expire leaves the more than 560 tenants in Sacramento and 100 in Stockton at risk of being kicked out by June 30. Theresa Clift in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/23
Diversity and Hate
California celebrates diversity, but also confronts hate -- In some ways, there are two Californias. Depending on your values and political views, the state is either a bastion of diversity and inclusion, or a treacherous place for minorities and marginalized groups. Lynn La CalMatters -- 3/27/23
When it comes to preventing COVID-19 deaths, ‘how we feel about each other matters’ -- A new study examines the factors that caused some states to have COVID-19 mortality rates that were four times higher than others. Melissa Healy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Climate
Can California put an end to corporate greenwashing? -- A bill would require companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to disclose their carbon emissions if they do business in California. Dorany Pineda in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Paper on Life Support
As the Salinas Californian withers, a city yearns to know its stories -- The decline of Salinas’ 152-year-old newspaper has eroded the sense of community in this city renowned as the Salad Bowl of the World. Residents are left hungry for a trusted watchdog and worried about what stories are going uncovered. James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
State Farm
California State Farm car insurance customers to see a $264-million rate increase -- State Farm insures more California drivers than any other company operating in the state. Those 3.7 million California drivers will see an average annual boost of $71 per policy, an increase of 6.9%, said Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group. Ronald D. White in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Catalytic Converters
With thefts still high, California Prius drivers wait months for new catalytic converters -- Prius drivers whose catalytic converters have been swiped are experiencing a second indignity: Thousands of owners are ahead of them in line for the same part, and the delays could stretch on for months. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
California Policy and Politics Monday
First Citizens BancShares to acquire failed Silicon Valley Bank -- First Citizens BancShares will buy the deposits and loans of failed lender Silicon Valley Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said late Sunday. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Bryan Pietsch in the Washington Post$ Andrew Ackerman in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/27/23
Policy and Politics
San Diego Supervisor Nathan Fletcher seeking help for post-traumatic stress, alcohol abuse; ends state Senate run -- The San Diego County supervisor said he has suffered from post-traumatic stress resulting from military combat and childhood trauma. Kristen Taketa, Karen Kucher in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/27/23
What are California lawmakers doing to fix the housing crisis? A look at 2023’s new bills -- Feeling political pressure to solve California’s severe housing shortage and ballooning homelessness, state lawmakers are pushing new bills to increase production of affordable homes and strengthen tenant protections against evictions and surging rents. Hannah Wiley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/23
Storm Train
Highway 101 reopens at Marin-Sonoma border after repairs of damage caused by landslide -- A portion of southbound Highway 101 reopened Sunday after crews from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Marin County completed work on a gas line that was damaged in a landslide caused by the recent storms, Caltrans said. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/27/23
More rain and high winds coming for Bay Area, Tahoe to get more snow -- A dry spell for storm-weary Bay A¥rea residents will end Tuesday as a system coming from Alaska heads south toward the region, bringing with it rain, high winds, possible lightning strikes and a couple of feet of snow in Tahoe. Gabriel Greschler in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/23
Storm warnings issued for several Northern California counties -- Though it would typically be considered one of the more run-of-the mill storms, on top of such an already wet winter, the rainfall and gusty winds may cause hazardous driving conditions, roadway flooding, power outages and fallen trees or branches, weather officials said. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Marin County residents trapped after tree smashes home -- The oak tree – which was estimated to be between 100 and 200 years old –– toppled into the two-story home on Yolanda Drive at about 5:23 a.m., said Jake Peterson, a Ross Valley Fire Department battalion chief. Giuseppe Ricapito in the East Bay Times$ -- 3/27/23
Why are so many Bay Area trees turning destructive and deadly in recent storms? The answer is years in the making -- The same urban canopy that provides so much relief in the Bay Area’s summer is now exacting a winter toll, with hundreds of trees weakened by years of drought collapsing in relentless rain and wind — claiming lives, buildings and roads. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/23
What Sierra hikers can expect this summer after California’s onslaught of storms -- But this year, the huge amount of snow is likely to leave trails in the High Sierra buried for months, and make those hikes even more dangerous and crowded than usual even after they thaw. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/27/23
LAUSD Strike
Q&A: 5 questions that arise from LAUSD’s historic labor settlement -- The district must also get students and teachers back into their routines, reach a separate agreement with the teachers union, respond to three days of lost learning and tie up other loose ends. Clara Harter, Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/27/23
Twitter Workplace
Twitter Says Parts of Its Source Code Were Leaked Online -- Parts of Twitter’s source code, the underlying computer code on which the social network runs, were leaked online, according to a legal filing, a rare and major exposure of intellectual property as the company struggles to reduce technical issues and reverse its business fortunes under Elon Musk. Ryan Mac and Kate Conger in the New York Times$ -- 3/27/23
Elon Musk Values Twitter at $20 Billion -- Elon Musk said Twitter is now worth about $20 billion, according to an email he sent the company’s employees on Friday, a significant drop from the $44 billion that he paid to buy the social network in October. Kate Conger and Ryan Mac in the New York Times$ -- 3/26/23
Tolls
Brenda Angulo’s license plate has been pinging off the Bay Area’s growing network of electronic toll transponders — into a colossal $30,000 bill -- A single 50-cent express lane fee from last April would now cost her $73.50 with penalties — an increase of 14,700%. And if she wanted to keep her Mazda on the road, she also would have to fork over $2,523, which included her annual registration fees and a portion of her unpaid tolls. Eliyahu Kamisher in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/23
Environment
Klamath dam removals, habitat restoration, begins -- Crews have begun working on removing four dams on the Klamath River which tribes and other groups have lobbied to take down for decades. Jackson Guilfoil in the East Bay Times$ -- 3/27/23
Border
Top Democrats warn Biden: Don’t restart family detentions -- Top Democrats are warning President Biden against restarting the controversial practice of detaining migrant families who cross the U.S. southern border without authorization. Courtney Subramanian, Hamed Aleaziz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/23
Street
Mother of twins killed in East Bay when SUV driver fleeing police plows into her car -- The mother of twin 6-year-old boys was killed in a car crash Thursday in Rodeo when a sport utility vehicle being pursued by police plowed into the vehicle she and her sons were in, Hercules police said Friday. Suzanne Espinosa Solis in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/27/23
Education
California sees boost in student applications for college financial aid -- More California high school students applied for free federal and state financial aid for college this year than last —likely showing that a new state law is having a positive effect. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 3/27/23
Sunday Updates
Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna opts against Senate run; endorses East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee -- Khanna told CNN’s Jake Tapper on the “State of the Union” show that he planned to endorse East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee and work as her campaign co-chair in the 2024 race for Feinstein’s seat. Jakob Rodgers in the San Jose Mercury$ Kelly Garrity Politico Nolan D. Mccaskill in the Los Angeles Times$ Azi Paybarah in the Washington Post$ -- 3/26/23
Garofoli: How a Trump indictment could change California’s GOP primary -- Trump can’t afford to blow off California if he wants to be the Republican nominee again. He may still lead Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in national polling, but DeSantis is beating him in California, according to the February Berkeley IGS Poll. Trump doesn’t want to be trailing in California, the state that will again offer the largest haul of delegates needed to capture the nomination. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/26/23
McManus: The law is on Trump’s tail, and he sounds pretty worried -- Donald Trump is beginning to sound panicky. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/23
Storm Train
Monterey spent one-fifth what Santa Cruz did on Pajaro River flood control. Did that contribute to catastrophic levee break? -- But a Bay Area News Group review reveals there had been significantly less flood control work on the south bank where the levee failed this month, catastrophically flooding the small farming town of Pajaro, than along the north bank, where the city of Watsonville escaped a similar fate. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/26/23
Will this week’s storms lead to more Bay Area highway closures? -- Since December, storms have caused more than $638 million in damage to the state’s highways, according to Caltrans. Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/26/23
Housing
What are California lawmakers doing to fix the housing crisis? A look at 2023’s new bills -- Some of the proposals include letting religious organizations quickly build affordable homes on their excess land and lowering the cap on how much landlords can raise rents each year. Others would ask voters to add housing as a human right to the state Constitution and ease barriers homeowners face when building duplexes in their single-family neighborhoods. Hannah Wiley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/23
Could the Silicon Valley Bank collapse be a good thing for Bay Area homebuyers? -- The Silicon Valley Bank meltdown has roiled the banking system, financial markets, the tech sector and even the Napa Valley wine industry. But the economic instability is also bringing a measure of relief to homebuyers struggling to afford a Bay Area real estate market where prices are starting to rebound after months of declines: lower mortgage rates. Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/26/23
Pentagon & Silicon Valley
Pentagon Woos Silicon Valley to Join Ranks of Arms Makers -- The Pentagon is seeking to enlist Silicon Valley startups in its effort to fund and develop new weapons technology and more-nimble suppliers, as the U.S. races to keep pace with China’s military advances. Sharon Weinberger, Robert Wall and Doug Cameron in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/26/23
Street
Bad bets, dysfunction: Inside the collapse of the Skid Row Housing Trust -- The Skid Row Housing Trust was a model for nonprofits housing homeless people in Los Angeles. Behind the scenes, it was imploding — leaving tenants in squalor. Doug Smith, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/23
Once hounded by police, LA street vendors find new freedom -- Mario Ramos, one of Los Angeles’s thousands of street vendors, went from fearing police to obtaining a health permit for his business selling homemade ice cream. Silvia Foster-Frau in the Washington Post$ -- 3/26/23
TikTok
For some, TikTok is a path to riches and the American dream. With a ban, it could all disappear -- As the Biden administration weighs a ban on the app, many budding entrepreneurs fear losing a tool that has helped them build a robust customer base. Jaimie Ding in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/23
Also . .
San Francisco Fights Urban Disorder—and Goes After a Little Free Library -- City officials dropped the heavy hammer of government on the mini library due to what officials said was a single anonymous complaint. Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/26/23