Source: San Francisco Chronicle

The snowpack in California’s mountains weighed in Wednesday as the biggest it’s been at the start of February anytime this century, a product of the recent storms that have flipped the script on drought and begun easing water shortages across the state.

State water officials conducting their monthly snow survey logged snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades at 205% of the average for the date. At Phillips Station, one of the state’s oldest and most central monitoring sites where surveyors convened in front of TV cameras for measurements Wednesday morning, the snowpack was 193% of average.

The numbers are welcome relief for California after its driest three-year period on record. Melted snow supplies nearly a third of the state’s drinking and irrigation water, and it usually comes at a critical time — when the rains are over and summer water demand kicks in.

But the amount of the newfound snow that makes it to California’s taps, as it begins to thaw and wash down mountainsides into reservoirs, hinges on several yet-to-be-determined variables, including how much more snow falls, how early it melts and how much soaks into the ground. Any of these things could undo the state’s fickle recovery from drought.



Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/california-s-snowpack-jumps-to-twice-the-17757389.php

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The recent drought followed by precipitation this Winter are a respite and not a solution to California's water problems.

Black coffee addict, aged 70.

December 1973 moved to Berkeley to go to Cal, turned 21 in January 74.

Several blocks away, there was a coffee shop on a corner and people would line up on the sidewalk to have cups filled or take coffee in paper cup. This was the Peets store on Cedar and Walnut; Peets was still owned and operated by Mr. Peet and there was the Berkeley store and another Peets in Menlo Park.

Got into dark roasts like Moca Java, Major Dickenson's Blend, etc. Bought a gold filter and a French press. Before graduating, had amassed a second identical gold filter and two identical French presses. Also bought two plastic cheesy grocery store Melitta cones that had an outlet that fit into the Stanley thermos I used for work. Was so picky about coffee, one set was my travel set and all needed was way to boil water.

Now nearly 50 years later I use the same two gold filters and French presses. The gold filters are held together by duct tape and crazy glue, only use French press when company and, even then, most often drip into a small crockery pitcher bought in Berkeley in the 1970s rather than use a press. Ninety-five percent of the coffee I drink (2 to 4 cups daily) are gold filter into a white crockery mug. Also have two but maybe 15 years old. One has a shadow of a woman and "Read Like a Dickinson" and the other is Oscar Wilde and would to go look to see the verbiage.

Still buy Peets but at Safeway or Costco. Buy ground as too lazy to grind beans. Sometimes accidently buy beans and need to grind. Ooops.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

President Biden approved California’s request for a major disaster declaration to increase federal emergency support as storms and flooding continued to flog communities across the state over the weekend. Hazardous roadways plagued several areas Sunday, with home-bound Sierra travelers warned of near-impossible conditions on some roadways and Bay Area motorists dealing with closures forced by floods and landslides.

“California is grateful for President Biden’s swift approval of this critical support to communities reeling from these ongoing storms,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said after meeting with evacuated residents in Merced County on Saturday. The declaration will unlock more federal funding to help local and state storm response efforts and will make funding available to affected individuals in hard-hit Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties.

In the Bay Area, residents on Sunday assessed damage from the widespread flooding, wind and landslides that submerged roadways and felled trees — leaving at least one dead, a woman found beneath a tree branch in Golden Gate Park, according to officials. A National Weather Service flood advisory was in effect until 9 a.m. Monday for Bay Area shoreline and North Bay interior areas.

The storms showed signs of tapering off in the Bay Area, but not before another round of moderate rain showers was expected to blow through already waterlogged areas Monday. More than 2,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers around the region were without power Sunday afternoon, according to the company. Most of the outages were in San Francisco, the Peninsula and the South Bay.

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Traveling-back-from-Tahoe-This-is-the-best-time-17719733.php

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I hope the north coast are included. I'm in extreme northeast Humboldt. Highway 96 (Klamath River Highway otherwise known as the Bigfoot Scenic Byway) is closed indefinitely upriver with no detour. Did not have phone from the 6.2 earthquake in late December. Had electric as have Kohler propane generator. Power and phones came back Thursday but power is from a generator set up locally by PG&E at the old sawmill site. I have what I need and am basically cozy and safe.

Lots of trees went down. There will be many landslides in back country because of the large wildfires in recent years. The roots of large vegetation that keep soil in place on steep slopes may die and then rot and no longer hold the soil as well. There were large fires in 2022 but there were fires in 2020 and 2021 that were larger locally than any in recorded history.

Makes more sense to me than what is broadcast on the History Channel.

Also explains the Sphinx and why ancient Egyptians liked cats so much.

Discuss or ignore as you please.

or so it showed on caller ID.

Seldom pick up a number do not recognize but did just to see what was said.

But was disappointed that just another scam to rip off senior citizens.

So disappointed by things. alas.

The cost of education has skyrocketed. Profiteering and egos of edifice IMO are to blame. Education is now mostly a filter that further separates the haves from the have nots. Young people today have reason to complain and be disillusioned, especially if from poor or middle class families. My father went to 8th grade (and hated Cal the "hippie school". Best thing I ever did in life.

Went to Cal as an undergrad; Jan 74 (when turned 21) to March 79. Applied for financial aid. Got tuition waiver as was National Merit Semi-finalist (iirc tuition-student fees was about $90/quarter in 74 an $130 by 79). Got cash for books and supplies. Got a work study grant and a list of possible employers including a Federal lab in same agency (USFS) had worked for since age 16 and had a federal career job (as technician) since age 19. Had a 5 quarter break in middle. First two year was a flat on Durant not far from campus in a beautiful old building. Rent (lived with GF) started at $200/mth and was raised to $225 the 2nd year. Last two years (77-79) was a live in caretaker (free lodging and paid me for any actual work) on an estate off Sea View in Piedmont plus the District Ranger at home Ranger District fixed it so the USFS job switched me back and forth; instead work study was paid 20 hrs a week as GS-7 (and associated benefits). Managed to save money as a student. The two years post graduation went through two federal programs where earned 30 graduate units as a GS-9 and GS-11 all federally paid but had to sign a contract to stay with agency through 85. I considered myself a USFS lifer.

In 1983 the USFS announced 10 slots for midcareer employees to earn Masters. One was to get accepted into a university that would get a grant to support the research and pay salary and benefits but similar to the two opportunities mentioned above, had to sign a contract to stay with agency for 6 years. I was accepted into MBA programs at Stanford, Cal. and UCLA and chose Stanford. Part of this move was to get opportunity for exe to go back to school as well and be near her parents in Silicon Valley. Was to start Fall 1984. Marriage broke up and could not start as scheduled and still owed USFS time on initial 6 year commitment. Stanford was out and went to Cal Haas School in Fall 85. Took out a $5000 loan, mainly to buy first pc, a printer, and copies of word perfect, lotus 123 and DBase. Cashed out federal retirement to fund school. Paid back the loan in one payment the yea I graduated.

I only paid about $1200/year in student fees / tuition per year and was earning about as much in consulting as made with usfs while a student by mid 86. I paid $400 / mth with 3 others to rent a beautiful three story house near the Rose Garden.

Now what is shocking. Here are estimated costs per year at Haas B school now.

http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/costs-and-financial-aid

Note at present student fees and tuition are $67,424 per year for a CA resident

Here is a problem more than student loans IMHO. This is a public university.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — A government watchdog group says it has obtained emails showing the Secret Service identified a social media account threatening Speaker Nancy Pelosi two days before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but did not notify Capitol Police until the insurrection was underway.

The email, which Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington posted online Wednesday, says the Secret Service identified “a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi” on Jan. 4, 2021. An unidentified “intelligence research specialist” in the Secret Service sent the message to an email address for the U.S. Capitol Police, according to the copy the watchdog group posted on its website.

The email says the Secret Service discovered a post on the social network Parler, a favorite of right-wing users, that threatened then-President-Elect Joe Biden, which said, “we CANNOT allow #Biden to enter the white house.”

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, confirmed that the email was authentic. He noted that Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is not a protectee of the Secret Service, which oversees security for the president. The messages were sent to Capitol police out of “an abundance of caution” even though they did not contain “a specific threat of violence to her on that evening,” he said.

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Secret-Service-waited-to-tell-Capitol-Police-of-17380259.php

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This is why IMHO current and past social media should be monitored for threats of violence by the FBI, perhaps a special task force.

Authors of posts of concern then visited with a search warrant for weapons mentioned in the social media posts and other related material.

The warrants would be served by the FBI complete with SWAT, weapons seized, and author of threats be charged as appropriate. Bet illegal weapons would be found often. Give these traitors what they fear and let them call federal law enforcement fascist and Nazi. Something akin to this approach is required to secure and provide safety to the nation. Otherwise, we will continue to suffer continued acts of violence and stochastic terrorism. IMO Faux and like media should be shut down and suffer monetary damages for the deaths, damage, and increased cost of security for the BS they spew to the ugly hearted and weak minded. Enough is enough, people in the USA should be protected. Unhealthy to raise children in this environment where violence and threats of violence is the norm.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among babies and toddlers in the Bay Area appears to be far outpacing statewide and national rates of 2.4% and 1.5%, respectively, according to early figures provided by several local health departments. Coronavirus hospitalizations in California and the Bay Area have reached their highest point since February, when the region was still coming out of the winter omicron surge.

Here are the latest updates:

COVID-19 hospitalizations in California up 63% in a month

There were 4,227 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in California as of Tuesday, according to state data, marking more than a 63% increase in the past month. Bay Area hospitals reported 796 patients, according to data from the California Department of Public Health, also a substantial uptick from June. About half the hospitalizations may be incidental, according to state officials, meaning patients were hospitalized for another reason but tested positive while there. California’s coronavirus test positive rate has increased to 16.1%, compared to 8.7% on June 10. The state is averaging 21 deaths per day due to COVID-19, having now surpassed 92,000 total pandemic deaths. COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high, with California reporting 43 daily cases per 100,000 residents — a figure that has fluctuated little since early June. The highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of omicron make up about 4 out of 5 sequenced cases in the Northern California region, according to CDC data.

COVID-19 pandemic “nowhere near over,” says WHO head

Evolved versions of the coronavirus are driving another wave of COVID-19 infections globally and “putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers,” according to the head of the World Health Organization. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday that while the world is better prepared to handle new surges, people should not let their guard down. “As the virus pushes at us, we must push back,” he said. Hospitalizations are on the rise due to more transmissible subvariants of omicron, and deaths are also increasing in some regions as mitigation measures have largely been discarded, allowing for “new, fitter variants emerging, with different degrees of virulence, transmissibility, and immune escape potential.” Ghebreyesus concluded, “New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over.”



Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/COVID-in-California-BA-2-75-subvariant-has-been-17298154.php

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more at link

Seems to me to be a timely task to follow in the heels of the 1/6 hearings.

Any ideas?

about fentanyl purchased in The Tenderloin to traffic in Humboldt and Mendocino counties.

THE SF-MENDO-HUMBOLDT FENTANYL PIPELINE IS SURGING, OVERDOSES ARE RISING, THE MENDO DA WARNS OF REDUCTIONS IN PRISON SENTENCES
May 29, 2022 Matt LaFever

https://kymkemp.com/2022/05/29/fentanyl-is-flowing-through-mendocino-and-humboldt-counties-as-the-mendocino-da-warns-of-reductions-in-prison-sentences/

[UPDATE 10:21 A.M.] DTF BUST TODAY JUST NORTH OF THE MENDOCINO CO. LINE ONLY DAYS AFTER BOARD OF SUPES SENT STRONGLY WORDED LETTER TO SF DA ABOUT DRUG SALES THERE
May 5, 2022 Kym Kemp

>>Samantha Karges of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed this is a Humboldt County Drug Task Force stop.

It is common for that agency to observe local suspects making an alleged purchase of drugs in the Bay Area and then wait until they return to Humboldt County before stopping and searching them. She has said more details will be released later.

Just two days ago, on May 3, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors sent a strongly worded letter to Chesa Boudin, the San Francisco District Attorney, complaining of the prevelence of open drug dealing in that city making it easy for local people to purchase large amounts of illegal substances and bring them back to Humboldt County. See below: