Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 22.
- Forecasts warn of potential blizzard in L.A. mountains.
- Denomination ousts O.C. church over female pastors.
- And a coastal home by Frank Lloyd Wright sells in Carmel.
Statewide
1.
“A snowmaker of the likes we have not seen for many years.”
Forecasters said the storm dropping into California between Wednesday and Saturday would be one to remember, with bitingly cold winds and snowfall below 1,500 feet nearly statewide. That means a rare blanket of snow could cover places like the port city of Eureka, low hills along the coast, and the high desert. The National Weather Service issued a highly unusual blizzard warning for the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains in Southern California, where forecasts called for accumulations up to 7 feet. L.A. Times | Accuweather
- See all active weather warnings for California. 👉 S.F. Chronicle
2.
Dispatches from the wild winds on Tuesday:
- Fierce winds toppled trees and downed power lines across the state Tuesday. In the Bay Area, a tree fell along the westbound stretch of the Bay Bridge, blocking traffic. In Boulder Creek, an infant was critically injured when a redwood tree crashed through the roof of a home. More than 172,000 customers remained without power across the Bay Area and Central Coast late Tuesday. L.A. Times | KGO
- Video captured an army of tumbleweeds charging across Tehachapi. @veronicaschwzr
3.
More of California’s January downpours could have been stored for use during future dry spells if the state bureaucracy hadn’t stood in the way, water agencies and experts said. Last August, a water district along a stretch of the Cosumnes River near Sacramento asked for permission to divert water from the river when it becomes engorged. The permit finally came through on Jan. 11, more than a week after the Cosumnes had crashed through nearby levees. N.Y. Times
4.
Barbara Lee, the Oakland congresswoman who stood alone against authorizing military action after Sept. 11, 2001, entered the 2024 race to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday. In a video, she highlighted the racism she fought against in her youth and the struggles she faced as a single mother. “No one is rolling out the welcome mat, especially for someone like me,” she said. “I was the girl they didn’t allow in.” Lee’s age, 76, was expected to loom large over her campaign. S.F. Chronicle | A.P.
5.
What do Kentucky, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Orion arm of the Milky Way have in common? They are all home to places named California. There are dozens of Californias out there, many of them tracing their names to the Gold Rush, when America’s western frontier captured the world’s imagination. But few have embraced their namesake with as much spirit as La California, along Italy’s Tuscan coast.
In 2004, as a gag, the roughly 1,500 inhabitants of the cobblestoned village hosted an unauthorized polling station for the U.S. presidential election, reasoning that everyone should be counted as Americans when the U.S. is so influential in world affairs. Conferences and debates were held. George W. Bush, the incumbent, earned a paltry 5.6%, a result said to cause some diplomatic embarrassment. Atlas Obscura
Northern California
6.
Lawrence Young-Yet Chan, an athletic director at a San Francisco high school, would regularly call a teenage girl out of class between 2012 and 2016, according to a lawsuit. At least one teacher found the behavior odd. The girl eventually revealed the purpose of the meetings to a college guidance counselor: Chan had sexually abused her for four years, she said. Yet Chan was allowed to quietly resign instead of being fired. Reporters discovered that such agreements have been commonplace across the school district. SF Standard
7.
A rare Frank Lloyd Wright home in Carmel just sold for $22 million, a staggering price for a property of just 1,400 square feet. Completed in 1951, the Walker House, pictured above, is the only Wright creation of its kind built in a coastal environment, blending seamlessly into the rocks. Its most prominent feature is a hexagonal living room framed in glass panels with panoramic views over the coastline. Wall Street Journal
8.
Somehow, one of the most colorful Mardi Gras celebrations west of the Mississippi happens in the forested foothills of California’s Gold Country. The annual Nevada City Mardi Gras Parade began in the early 1990s after a pair of local firefighters returned from the glittery Catholic celebration in Mobile, Alabama, and recounted the trip to the mayor. This sounds like our town’s kind of party, they all agreed, and plans were hatched. The Union published photos from this year’s event, held Sunday.
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Southern California
9.
The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday expelled its second-largest congregation — Saddleback Church in Orange County — for having female pastors. In 2021, the church founder Rick Warren quietly ordained three women as staff pastors, taking a stand against the official church position forbidding women as pastors. He retired last year and gave an emotional speech at the Southern Baptists’ annual convention, calling for change. Conservatives responded by denouncing the drift toward what they called “the new moralism.” A.P. | L.A. Times
10.
The pay is unusually good at CalOptima, Orange County’s publicly funded health plan for the poor. An executive with less than a year of healthcare administration experience is making $282,000 a year. The human resources director earns $512,000. And Michael Hunn, the agency’s chief executive, is making $841,000. A former chair of CalOptima’s board called the salaries “extremely egregious.” A state legislator ordered an audit. Voice of OC
11.
Self-defense courses have become popular among landlords in Los Angeles. At a recent training, participants said anti-landlord bias in the press along with rising tensions over high rents have made them vulnerable to attacks from homeless people and agitated tenants. Carrie Rios, a former traffic cop who teaches the course, said the danger is real. “If you google tenant-landlord murder, you’ll see,” she said. “So many cases.” Capital & Main
12.
As office workers migrate out of American downtowns, a startup in Los Angeles is hoping to lure them into the mountains. Find Sanctuary is a collection of 40 rentable tiny cabins designed for remote work — including high-speed Wi-Fi, crisp cell service, and a full kitchen — located in the wilderness of the San Bernardino Mountains. The company’s pitch: Get work done while reconnecting with nature. Field Magazine | Dwell
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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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