Mudslide fears as storm arrives // A turn toward Christianity in Silicon Valley

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Strong atmospheric river brings risk of mudslides.
Family men swept up in immigration crackdown.
And a turn toward Christianity in Silicon Valley.

Statewide

1.

Mountain snow piled several feet high.

Winds gusts that reach 75 mph.

Forecasters said the most powerful atmospheric river of the season would pummel California between Wednesday and Friday, bringing the possibility of dangerous mudflows. Residents living downhill from slopes burned by wildfires were urged to have an evacuation plan before Thursday, when the heaviest bands of rain are expected. Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist in Oxnard, said the rain would exhibit “a bursting type of pattern” that could trigger “raging torrents of rock slides and mudslides that can be damaging and even deadly.” Everyone would be wise to stay off the roads altogether on Thursday, officials said. L.A. Times | Accuweather

See an animation of the storm forecast and the anticipated timing in Southern California.

2.

Trump administration officials have said they are primarily focused on hardened criminals in their deportation campaign, but early targets in California don’t seem to fit that profile. Among those detained: a church volunteer and breadwinner for his family; a father and restaurant worker who was brought to America as a toddler; and a 16-year-old kid searching for work to support his family in Mexico. “None appeared to pose the risks to national security or public safety Trump promised he’d target during his campaign,” CalMatters wrote.

Deportation fears are hurting businesses that cater to immigrants. The owner of Teddy’s Red Tacos, a Los Angeles chain, said his sales have dropped by half. “People are afraid to go out,” he said. L.A. Times

3.

The Huntington Beach City Council discussed a “non-sanctuary city” measure on Jan. 21. (Leonard Ortiz/O.C. Register via Getty Images)

In Huntington Beach, the City Council passed a resolution last month ordering police to disregard the state’s sanctuary law.

In Sacramento on Monday, Republican lawmakers asked the Trump administration to block local jurisdictions from restricting gas appliances.

And in Long Beach, activists gathered recently to pressure California to comply with President Trump’s order to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports. “The president is on your side,” one speaker told the audience.

As the Trump administration seeks to reshape American government, some Californians are looking for ways to nudge the balance of federal and state power toward Washington, wrote the San Francisco Chronicle.

4.

Crab fisherman Axel Bjorklund worked off the Sonoma Coast on Jan. 30. (Brian van der Brug/L.A. Times via Getty Images)

California loves Dungeness crab. But whales migrating through coastal waters keep getting entangled in commercial crab fishing gear, often leading to their mutilation or death. As California has gradually tightened regulations to spare the whales, some in the crab industry are wondering whether it can survive. Crab fisherman Dick Ogg emphasized his respect for whales. “I don’t want to have any problems with these” whales, he said. “I love these animals.” But he likened fishing to driving a car. No matter how many precautions you take, there will still be accidents. L.A. Times

Northern California

5.

One local described the property as an “ancient magical forest.” (Justin Lewis/The Coldwater Collective, via Save the Redwoods League)

The conservation group Save the Redwoods League announced Tuesday that it had agreed to pay $24 million for more than 1,500 acres of wooded lands near Sonoma County’s Russian River from a timber company, creating new public parkland. The rolling landscape is carpeted with second- and third-growth redwoods, Douglas fir, tan oak, and California bay trees. But there are also some old-growth redwoods, including a 14-foot-wide specimen estimated to have sprouted not long after the fall of Rome. S.F. Chronicle | Mercury News

Drone footage of the property looks exquisite. 👉 YouTube

6.

Brooke Jenkins, San Francisco’s district attorney, has increasingly turned to publicly denouncing judges by name if they deliver rulings she deems too lenient, riling the city’s legal community. Most judges don’t view drug dealing as serious, she said recently: “Drug dealers therefore do not fear incarceration.” On another occasion, she said criminals use San Francisco’s courtrooms “as a revolving door.” In a third instance, when Jenkins felt a defendant got off too easy, she complained: “This behavior epitomizes the broken laissez-faire culture at the Hall of Justice.” S.F. Chronicle

7.

Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and right-wing kingmaker, says Christian theology informs his politics (Nordin Catic/Getty Images for The Cambridge Union)

The New York Times wrote about a turn toward Christianity in Silicon Valley:

“If religious rituals offer up old ways of muddling through newly tumultuous times, it’s unsurprising that they’re resurging now in Silicon Valley, which seems to be going through its own cycle of rebirth. Pride-themed trivia nights and Black History Month playlists have given way to tech moguls feting President Trump, decrying the snowflakery of their young workers and crusading for a return to a bygone era of higher birthrates.”

8.

The Gulf of America arrived on Google Maps on Monday after President Trump directed mapmakers to abandon the name Gulf of Mexico, which has been in use for more than 400 years. On Tuesday, Apple Maps also fell in line. The changes drew praise from Republicans and condemnation from online critics who portrayed them as a capitulation. Google and Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, both donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, while the companies’ CEOs got pride-of-place seats behind Trump during his swearing-in. SFGATE | A.P.

Southern California

9.

California regulators said Tuesday that they will allow the state’s home insurance plan of last resort to collect a $1 billion bailout that will drive up insurance costs for homeowners across the state. The FAIR Plan sought the infusion after being inundated with claims from homeowners who lost everything in the Los Angeles fires. The funds will come from a rarely used assessment on private insurers, which will in turn pass much of the cost onto their policyholders. Analysts predicted that insurers will feel greater pressure to leave the state, making it even harder for homeowners to find coverage. Bloomberg | Washington Post

10.

Residents rebelled against debris handling in Duarte during a town hall on Jan. 29. (Wally Skalij/L.A Times via Getty Images)

The cleanup of toxins left in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires has resulted in a new sort of NIMBY battle. Crews have been transporting hazardous materials to four federal staging areas across the county. At a recent town hall in the San Gabriel Valley, EPA officials tried to mollify hundreds of residents furious over a nearby debris site. Chants of “Find another place!” rose. “I understand they need to put the toxic waste somewhere,” said Catalina Pasillas. “But it feels like they chose our city because they thought we wouldn’t say anything.” N.Y. Times

11.

State law prohibits public officials from doling out contracts to entities in which they, or their spouses, have a financial interest. In December, Los Angeles’ top homeless services executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, assured reporters that she abided by those rules when her agency contracted with a nonprofit where her husband holds a senior post. “I am completely recused from matters that involve or impact Upward Bound House,” she said then. The reporters asked to see the contracts but got no response. So they pulled them through a public records request. The documents were signed by Adams Kellum. LAist

12.

A Harry Gesner home is listed for nearly $2 million in Los Angeles. (Antony Barcelo)

In the 1950s, the late surfer-architect Harry Gesner designed 12 homes above Mulholland Drive, each cantilevered out over steep lots with sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills. Neither big nor opulent, the homes borrowed from traditional Norwegian boatbuilding. The New York Times featured one of Gesner’s “boat houses” in the newest installment of its real estate series “What you get” — for the price tag of nearly $2 million.

Correction

An earlier version of this newsletter misstated the source of a $1 million donation to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. Apple CEO Tim Cook personally donated the money, not Apple itself.

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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.

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