Good morning. It’s Thursday, Jan 12.
- Cresting Salinas River threatens Monterey Peninsula.
- Burning Man group sues over geothermal project.
- And L.A. mayor clears huge Venice encampment.
California storms
1.
At long last, a pause is in sight.
Forecasters say they expect the bombardment of storms that began in late December to cease by the second half of next week. But not before several more bouts of rain and snow. The meteorologist Matthew Cappucci sketched out the next five days:
- Thursday into Friday: Storms will be confined primarily to northern coastal California, skirting north of the Bay Area.
- Friday through Sunday: A more significant atmospheric river will surge across the state, dumping up to 3 inches of rain on low-lying areas and a few feet of snow in the Sierra.
- Late Sunday into Monday or Tuesday: In a grand finale, yet another atmospheric river moves ashore, likely waning as one heads south. Washington Post
2.
The latest storm developments:
- Emergency managers were anxiously monitoring the Salinas River in Monterey County, which was forecast to crest late Thursday. Flooding threatened to sever access to the Monterey Peninsula, effectively turning it into an island. In wine country, the Russian and Navarro rivers were both poised to hit flood stage by Saturday. KSBW | Monterey Herald
- “Pretty unbelievable.” On Monday, Lake Cachuma, Santa Barbara’s primary water source, was filled to just 37% of capacity. It’s now projected to be completely full by the weekend. Noozhawk | Mercury News
- A couple struck by rockfall in Yosemite. A Fort Bragg woman hit by a falling tree. A Ukiah woman trapped in her submerged vehicle. Here are the 19 confirmed deaths in California’s storm siege. 👉 L.A. Times
- A cartographer created a gorgeous animation depicting the water vapor that swept into California from Dec. 26 to Jan. 11. @scottreinhard
Statewide
3.
The race to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, is heating up. A day after Rep. Katie Porter launched her campaign, Rep. Barbara Lee, of Oakland, told colleagues she would also run for the seat. Lee, who rose to national prominence with her lone vote against the Afghanistan war in 2001, is a seasoned progressive and a revered figure in the East Bay. But at 76 years old, she could face resistance from voters eager for generational change. Politico | L.A. Times
4.
California’s ban on menthol and other flavored tobacco products took effect in December after tobacco companies exhausted challenges to the new law. Now R.J. Reynolds Company has rolled out a line of “non-menthol” cigarettes that critics say are thinly disguised attempts to circumvent the ban. The cigarettes are packaged in green boxes and promise “bold, lasting flavor.” One ad declares, “The menthol ban is here but we’ve got you covered, California.” N.Y. Times | L.A. Taco
5.
California has been at the forefront of efforts to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion into higher education. But an investigation found that a movement that at first seemed unambiguously virtuous had morphed into a program of forced ideological conformity. At UC Berkeley, job candidates are penalized if they profess a desire to “treat everyone the same.” At community colleges, instructors are warned not to “weaponize” academic freedom at the expense of “race-conscious pedagogy.” The Free Press
6.
As recently as 2018, In-N-Out owner and president Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson vowed to never expand the burger chain further east than its Texas outposts. “You put us in every state and it takes away some of its luster,” she said. Yet on Tuesday, In-N-Out announced plans to open several new locations in Tennessee along with an “eastern territory office” on the outskirts of Nashville. The state’s governor called the news “life-changing.” Washington Post | The Guardian
Northern California
7.
The San Francisco nonprofit behind the Burning Man festival, which hosts 70,000 people in the Nevada desert every year, is suing over a proposed geothermal energy plant on lands surrounding the site, citing potential environmental harm. A spokesman for developer said the lawsuit lacked merit. Green energy was needed, he added, to “offset some of the copious amounts of fossil fuels the Burning Man Project annually emits in the Black Rock Desert.” Nevada Current | Reuters
8.
Netflix just released a true-crime documentary on Kai, the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker. Kai, whose real name is Caleb McGillvary, shot to internet fame in 2013 when he gave a colorful interview to a Fresno-area TV reporter about how he rescued a woman under attack, using a hatchet to “smash, smash, suh-mash!” the assailant. Just three months later, McGillvary was accused of beating a 73-year-old New Jersey lawyer to death. Early reviews are positive. Fresno Bee
See the trailer. 👉 YouTube
9.
Phantom Falls, a moody 166-foot waterfall ensconced deep within a nature reserve near Chico, spends most of the year dry. It leaps to life only during rainy months, creating one of the most stirring spectacles in the North State. In recent days, it could be mistaken for Hawaii. The photographer Michael Manzone shared the picture above, captured Dec. 30.
Where to see Northern California’s roaring waterfalls. 👉 S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
10.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, sworn in one month ago, made a longstanding homeless encampment in Venice one of the first targets of her ambitious plan to move the city’s unsheltered into hotels and motels. By Monday, 82 out of an estimated 98 people had moved indoors. “They want the tents to go,” Bass said. “I could build half a million units of housing and if there are still tents, people will not believe that you did anything except to steal their money.” L.A. Times
11.
“If you’re making a commitment to fair labor, there will be a higher cost, period.”
For decades, Los Angeles has been the country’s premier hub for garment manufacturing. But new legislation meant to protect exploited workers is driving up costs, disrupting an industry known for razor-thin profit margins. A growing exodus of textile and apparel companies is now fleeing to places like China and Bangladesh, threatening what’s left of “Made in America” fashion. Los Angeles Magazine
12.
Nestled in the rolling hills behind Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is an uninhabited village of whimsical structures. The “architecture graveyard” of Poly Canyon began in the 1960s as the staging ground for experimental works from the university’s renowned architect program. It’s since become something more: an outdoor museum that’s open to the public. Tom Scott, a popular British YouTuber, took a tour. YouTube (~5 mins)
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