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Updating . .   

Evacuation order lifted for residents near Oroville Dam -- Evacuation orders for 200,000 people in communities downstream of the Oroville Dam were lifted Tuesday afternoon, when officials announced they did not think the broken spillways presented an immediate danger. Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/14/17

ICE rejects social media reports of immigration checkpoints in Van Nuys -- After a series of immigration raids across Southern California last week, social media has been buzzing about Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints in Van Nuys. But authorities say there is no truth to the rumors. Wes Woods in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/14/17

Sheriff 'actively working' to get Oroville evacuees back in homes, but no timetable -- At a Monday afternoon news conference, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said authorities were working on a “repopulation” plan for evacuees, but there was no timeline for lifting the evacuation orders. He defended his decision to call for evacuations over the weekend. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

They helped build Oroville Dam, now they refuse to evacuate -- Russell Hanks’ family — his great-grandfather, grandfather, uncles and cousins — all helped build the Oroville Dam in the 1950s and have worked on it since. It’s one reason the entire family stayed put and ignored evacuation orders when the spillways began to fail. Julia Prodis Sulek in the East Bay Times -- 2/14/17

Oroville dam crisis: Could it have been prevented? -- As work continue to prevent disastrous flooding at Oroville Dam, one big question keeps occurring: How did we get here? Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Reports of scattered looting surface as homes and businesses are evacuated -- Oroville police Lt. Gil Zarate said thieves have broken into a few homes as well as commercial properties, including Dollar Tree on Sunday night and Tony’s Liquor Store and Nick’s Stuff N Things on Monday. Police arrested a vandal at Tony’s Liquor Store, Zarate said. Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/14/17

California Senate gives 10 percent raises to 71 employees to close gender pay gap -- Capping a yearlong assessment of pay equity among its ranks, the California Senate late last year gave 10 percent raises to 71 employees to shrink a lingering gap between what male and female employees earn. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Nunes and Schiff both call for investigations into the Flynn scandal, just different kinds -- House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) told Bloomberg on Monday afternoon he expected President Trump's then-national security advisor Michael Flynn to keep his job and "it just seems like there's a lot of nothing there." At the same time, the ranking Democrat on the committee, Burbank's Rep. Adam Schiff, was calling for Flynn to step aside, at least temporarily. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

State analyst warns about uncertainty over size of California's pot industry and a possible federal crackdown -- Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to merge regulations of medical and recreational marijuana sales in California is a wise move, but officials should be careful in allocating large amounts of money to the new system, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded Tuesday. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Roadway updates: Highway 50 remains closed; westbound I-80 traffic rerouted at Highway 20 -- Highway 50 remains closed in both directions as crews work to clear three major mudslides across a 12-mile stretch in El Dorado County, according to the state Department of Transportation. The main route between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe has been closed since Friday, and it won’t reopen Tuesday, Caltrans reports. The item is in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Homeless man wins harassment settlement from San Diego police -- Zack Green, who has lived on the streets in and around Pacific Beach for decades, will get $7,500 and his lawyers will collect $7,500 in legal fees and other costs. The initial complaint sought $1 million in damages. Jeff McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

County voters to decide on quarter- cent sales tax for homelessness programs -- When Los Angeles voters overwhelmingly approved a bond measure in November to build apartments for the chronically homeless, long-frustrated advocates hailed the victory as a watershed in their efforts to provide permanent homes for thousands of people living on the city’s sidewalks and parkland. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

San Francisco educators still waiting for promised teacher housing -- Hilary Elfman is the kind of teacher San Francisco Unified School District needs to keep, but the odds of that happening decrease every time the special-education teacher surfs the Internet looking for housing she can afford. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Compton Community College regains local control after years of oversight -- The Compton Community College District, which has been managed by a state-appointed special trustee since it lost its accreditation more than a decade ago, has won back the authority to govern itself — a major nod to its efforts to rebuild, state officials announced Tuesday. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Trump Knew for Weeks That Flynn Had Not Told Truth -- President Trump was informed more than two weeks ago that his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had not told the truth about his interactions with Russia’s ambassador, and the president eventually asked for Mr. Flynn’s resignation after concluding he could not be trusted, the White House said on Tuesday. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ Michael A. Memoli and Del Quentin Wilber in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Democrats Demand Inquiry on Russia; G.O.P. Mostly Silent -- The stunning resignation of Michael T. Flynn as White House national security adviser less than a month after his appointment has emboldened congressional Democrats to demand a broader investigation into President Trump’s ties to Russia and the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 election. Jennifer Steinhauer in the New York Times$ -- 2/14/17

'Saturday Night Live' ratings soar thanks to Baldwin's Trump and McCarthy's Spicer -- NBC’s long-running late-night sketch comedy program is having its most-watched season in 22 years, thanks in large part to Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of the 45th president of the United States and, more recently, Melissa McCarthy’s devastating take on White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Talbot: Sheriff Hennessy takes the heat as San Francisco loses its black history -- But when word spread that Hennessy, acting on the eviction orders of Superior Court Judge A. James Robertson II, had locked out 100-year-old Iris Canada from the Fillmore district apartment she had occupied for over a half century, angry housing activists quickly descended on the sheriff’s office. David Talbot in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Mayors Don’t See Eye to Eye on Infrastructure Fixes -- Can a Northern California big city Democratic mayor and a Southern California big city Republican mayor find common ground when it comes to infrastructure improvements? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 2/14/17

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Evacuees might not go home until Oroville Dam spillway is repaired -- Helicopters dropped giant rock-filled sandbags into place Monday to shore up a California reservoir that had threatened to breach its banks and unleash a 30-foot wall of water, but officials said an evacuation order covering nearly 200,000 people would stay in place until they are sure it’s safe to return home. Jonathan J. Cooper and Brian Melley Associated Press -- 2/14/17

‘It’s just wait and wait and wait.’ Thousands displaced in Oroville Dam scare wait for word -- Authorities who ordered the evacuations of Oroville and nearby communities Sunday afternoon said Monday they were working on plans to return residents, but could not predict how long it would take before they decided it was safe. “This is still a dynamic situation,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a press briefing Monday afternoon. Tony Bizjak, Andy Furillo and Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Fear, confusion and anxiety as Northern California residents wait out mass evacuation -- As Doris O’Kelley rushed out of her Oroville home Sunday night, one question burned in her mind: When would she be able to return? Melanie Mason, Paige St. John, Chris Megerian and Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Oroville Dam evacuation underscores challenge of moving masses -- Before leaving town late Sunday, Vila Smith, one of nearly 200,000 Oroville Dam evacuees, stopped at home to gather her son’s Bible, which he’d left behind. She didn’t grab anything for herself, except a few important documents like her birth certificate. “It’s all replaceable,” Smith, who works at Walmart, said of the belongings. “Bodies are not.” Christopher Cadelago, Jim Miller and Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Will it hold? Oroville Dam makes it through a key test -- As massive releases of water pummeled its surface all night Sunday and all day Monday, the main spillway at Oroville Dam showed no new signs of erosion, reducing the chances of a catastrophic collapse that would flood vast expanses of Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties, state officials said. But serious threats remain. Phillip Reese, Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

A race against Mother Nature as officials send water cascading out of Lake Oroville -- With more storms expected to slam Northern California later this week, officials worked frantically Monday to drain water from brimming Lake Oroville in hopes of heading off a potentially catastrophic flood. Chris Megerian, Bettina Boxall, Melanie Mason and Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Courting disaster at Oroville Dam — key questions and answers -- Here are some central questions and answers about the damage to the Oroville Dam and the fight to prevent a catastrophe: Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

‘We’re doing everything we can, ’ Jerry Brown says of dam emergency -- California Gov. Jerry Brown, appealing to the Trump administration for direct federal assistance on the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway, said Monday that he remains encouraged that the state and federal government can work constructively. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Gov. Jerry Brown says he's not worried that Trump's criticism of California will stifle help on Oroville's dam emergency -- Gov. Jerry Brown, who asked President Trump for federal disaster assistance in the wake of the emergency at the Oroville Dam, said Monday that he's not worried about the recent rancor between the president and California. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Feds order independent review of Oroville Dam spillway problems -- The federal agency that issued the license for the troubled Oroville Dam on Monday ordered state officials to convene an independent panel of five experts to assess the damaged dam and issue recommendations. Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Alarms raised years ago about risks of Oroville Dam’s spillways -- Potentially catastrophic problems with both the primary and emergency spillways at the Oroville Dam appear to have been caused by flaws that either had shown up in inspections or were flagged to state and federal officials going back more than a decade, an expert in infrastructure failures said Monday. Peter Fimrite, Cynthia Dizikes and Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

As California waits on Trump, FEMA gets going around Oroville Dam -- As California waited Monday night to see if President Donald Trump would grant Gov. Jerry Brown’s request for emergency funding for 10,000 evacuees who lived in the shadow of the Oroville Dam, FEMA began preparing for the worse. Michael Bodley in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Emergency work starts on levee downstream from Oroville Dam -- Last week, at about the same time the state announced problems with the spillway at the dam, Reclamation District 1001 became aware of boils in the levee near the small community of Verona, about 10 miles north of Sacramento International Airport, said Joe Henderson, the district’s general manager. Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Walters: Oroville Dam crisis warns us of need to maintain infrastructure -- Several Northern California towns dodged a fatal bullet Sunday night when a weakened auxiliary spillway at Oroville Dam – the nation’s highest – didn’t collapse. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Highway 50 is riddled with mudslides and will be ‘closed indefinitely’ -- Highway 50 will remain “closed indefinitely” as crews slog their way through clearing three major mudslides across a 12-mile stretch, as well as several smaller, active mudslides, according to Caltrans. The highway is closed in both directions between Pollock Pines and Strawberry in El Dorado County. Bill Lindelof in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

In wake of confusion, ICE officials release details of arrests -- Federal officials on Monday released details about an immigration sweep in Los Angeles and surrounding counties last week that resulted in the arrest of 161 people living in the country illegally. Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

California Assembly rejects Trump's executive order on refugees and immigrants -- In a debate that both sides agreed was largely symbolic, the California Assembly on Monday ratified a resolution criticizing President Trump's contentious executive order imposing new limits on refugees and other immigrants. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Highway 37 may finally stop flooding under new CHP plan -- The seemingly constantly closed stretch of the road in Novato, between Atherton Avenue and Highway 101, will get a long-awaited upgrade this week, according to the California Highway Patrol. It’ll get taller. Michael Bodley in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Big Oil’s Grip on California -- In America’s greenest state, the industry has spent $122 million in the past six years to shape regulation and legislation. It wins more than you think. Michael J. Mishak The Nation -- 2/14/17

A final round of legal sparring as Baca's retrial nears -- With his retrial on obstruction of justice charges scheduled to begin next week, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca lost several judicial rulings Monday in a final round of pretrial legal jockeying. Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Crumbling levee triggers evacuations for small farming community in the Delta -- Battered by recent storms, the levee in Tyler Island, an area about six miles south of Walnut Grove in Sacramento County, began crumbling after a nearly 70-foot-wide hole developed within the structure, said Matt Robinson, a spokesman for Sacramento County Water Resources. Veronica Rocha in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Proposal would block release of police body camera footage showing victims of rape and domestic violence -- Assembly Bill 459 from Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Arcadia) says the privacy of victims outweighs any public interest in body camera footage and should be protected. Under his proposal, video could be released if the victim allows it. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds    

Buy a car, help fix California’s roads -- Assembly Republicans released a road-funding plan Monday that contains no new taxes but poses a $4.6 billion hit to the general fund, the main source of money for state programs. The $5.6 billion package would get the bulk of its revenue from the estimated $3 billion in sales tax collected on vehicle purchases – money that currently flows into the general fund. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Homeless  

San Diego proposes intake center to house, help transition homeless -- The city of San Diego hopes to open a center that will temporary house hundreds of homeless people while helping each one find permanent housing within the next couple of years. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/14/17

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions 

Report: Google paid its autonomous car project employees so much they quit -- Google's autonomous car project, now operating as its own organization called Waymo, is funded by an incredible amount of money. So much of that money was distributed to staffers on the project, as it's now being reported, that they no longer had an incentive to stay with the company. Alyssa Pereira in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Dakota pipeline protesters persuade CalPERS to reconsider project -- After hearing sometimes tearful testimony from environmentalists and Native Americans, the CalPERS Board of Directors indicated on Monday that it would consider divesting from the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

It isn't over yet: Aviation interests seek federal court review of deal to close Santa Monica Airport -- A group of aviation interests on Monday asked a federal appeals court to review a recent agreement between Santa Monica and the Federal Aviation Administration to shorten the runway immediately and close the embattled facility at the end of 2028. Dan Weikel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Education 

Rep. Hunter Wants To Withhold Student Aid From Sanctuary Campuses— Can He Do That? -- A bill from Congressman Duncan Hunter, R–Alpine, would prohibit sanctuary universities from receiving federal student aid. This and recent White House executive orders have left campuses feeling vulnerable — and their law experts busy. Megan Burks KPBS -- 2/14/17

California senator wants to push back school start times -- New California legislation may be a boon to tardy teens. State Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, introduced a bill Monday that would prohibit middle and high schools from starting classes before 8:30 a.m. Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Trump’s gift to teachers: students eager to discuss government -- Donald Trump and his new administration have handed Bay Area teachers from all sides of the political spectrum an unexpected gift: a bounty of topics and a crop of students suddenly clamoring to talk about government and politics. Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/14/17

UC president emerges as champion of program for undocumented students -- When Janet Napolitano was named president of the University of California three years ago, her appointment provoked impassioned protests by students and others upset about her role as head of the Department of Homeland Security overseeing the deportation of more than 2.5 million undocumented immigrants. Louis Freedberg EdSource -- 2/14/17

Bill promotes diverse cultural dress at commencement -- In yet another expression of California independence from national norms, high school seniors will be given formal freedom of expression in their dress during graduation ceremonies, under a new bill pending in the Assembly. Alisha Kirby Cabinet Report -- 2/14/17

Cannabis 

Guns   

Immigration / Border 

Taylor: Bay Area sheriffs schmooze with top boss, Jeff Sessions -- Livingston’s department happens to hold a multimillion-dollar contract with the feds to run a federal immigration detention center out of one of its two jails: the West County Detention Facility in Richmond. The county is paid $82 per day per detainee for holding people for deportation on the government’s behalf. And it holds about 200 immigrants a day, which adds up to $6 million a year. Otis R. Taylor Jr. in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Environment 

More Pollution Than Cars? Gas-Powered Gardening Equipment Poses the Next Air Quality Threat -- They may look pretty innocuous — those leaf blowers, hedge trimmers and gas mowers wielded by a small army of gardening crews across the state. They’re not. David Gorn KQED -- 2/14/17

Also . . . 

Sister of Slaying Victim Olango Sues El Cajon, Officer -- Nearly six months after seeing her unarmed brother killed by an El Cajon police officer, Lucy Olango has sued the city for negligence. Ken Stone Times of San Diego -- 2/14/17

Virtual sex is not just science fiction -- The movie “Demolition Man” depicted a future in which lovers no longer had physical sex but instead donned headgear that generated a touchless virtual reality encounter. Benny Evangelista in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

POTUS 45  

Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House -- With President Trump in his fourth full week in office, the upheaval inside the administration that West Wing officials had optimistically dismissed as growing pains is now embedding itself as standard operating procedure. Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker in the Washington Post$ -- 2/14/17

Oprah gives tape with Puzder abuse allegations to Senate -- Senators in both parties have viewed an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in which President Donald Trump's Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder's former wife leveled allegations of physical abuse against him, according to sources familiar with the matter. Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine Politico -- 2/14/17

Mar-a-Lago Member Posts Photo with ‘Nuclear Football’ Aide -- Richard DeAgazio, who was at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night when Trump hosted a dinner for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, posted photos on his Facebook with a man identified as “Rick,” who carries the President's Emergency Satchel, which has launch codes for nuclear missiles. Eric Garcia Roll Call -- 2/14/17

How Trump avoided being asked about his embattled national security adviser -- Since he was sworn into office, President Donald Trump has selected reporters from conservative or friendly media outlets to ask him questions at his news conferences, a pattern that appears aimed at least in part at avoiding touchy subjects. Anita Kumar McClatchy DC -- 2/14/17

 

-- Monday Updates 

Evacuees stranded with no end in sight to Lake Oroville crisis -- The crisis at Lake Oroville may grind on for weeks or longer — leaving the nearly 200,000 people ordered to evacuate on Sunday in limbo as crews work to flush water out of the reservoir and shore up a badly eroded emergency spillway, officials said Monday. Melody Gutierrez, Evan Sernoffsky and Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17

Series of storms to make trouble for Lake Oroville -- A series of wet-weather systems this week will accelerate inflow into Lake Oroville at the same time officials are trying to free up space and avoid again using the reservoir’s badly-damaged emergency spillway. With just two days of dry weather before the rain returns, crews were scrambling to dump water and shore up the eroded spillway. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17

State races against time to make room for more rain headed to Lake Oroville -- Another storm expected to hit the Lake Oroville area on Wednesday is projected to bring up to 8 inches of rain to the region as officials desperately work to stop the dam’s emergency spillway from collapsing and wiping out towns that have been evacuated. Malaika Fraley in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/13/17

Donald Trump is the bad guy in the first TV ad of Los Angeles' congressional race -- The first television ad of the race for the 34th Congressional District is out, and President Trump stars as the bully. In the ad for Sara Hernandez for Congress, Trump is the first and last image viewers see. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

Lawmakers should flex their muscles when approving key climate change program, legislative analyst says -- State lawmakers should take more control over California’s signature program to combat climate change, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst said in a new report Monday. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

Here's the nightmare scenario at Oroville Dam that officials are fighting to prevent -- Any dam engineer would be terrified of this nightmare scenario — the possible collapse of a retaining wall in California’s second largest reservoir. That’s the prospect officials faced when they ordered more than 100,000 people evacuated downstream of the nation’s tallest dam Sunday. Rong-Gong Lin II, Raoul Rañoa and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

Spillway threat asserted: A state agency seeks relicensing to run Oroville Dam, but a challenge sees design flaws -- [This story was originally published on November 27, 2005. It is being republished in light of damage at the Oroville dam.] -- Oroville Dam contains a flaw, some critics assert, one that could damage the structure during a major flood and threaten downstream communities. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Butte County sheriff defends evacuation order -- The Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea on Monday defended his decision a day earlier calling for evacuations of more than 100,000 residents down river from the Oroville Dam after concerns that a spillway could fail and unleash a 30-foot tall wall of water on the region. Joseph Serna and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

More rain in forecast as workers struggle to lower water level at Oroville Dam -- An approaching storm has added new urgency to the Department of Water Resources' frantic efforts to reduce water levels at Oroville Dam by 50 feet. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/13/17

Water level drops behind California dam, easing flood fears -- The water level dropped Monday behind the nation's tallest dam, reducing the risk of a catastrophic spillway collapse and easing fears that prompted the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. Olga R. Rodriguez and Don Thompson Associated Press -- 2/13/17

Oroville Dam crisis prompts sleepless night for evacuees -- Beverly Boone, who is 89, spent a tough night as an evacuee. She sat in a folding chair at the emergency shelter at the Chico fairgrounds on Tuesday morning, unable to eat the free pancakes and sausage. She swirled her coffee and tried not to look at a newspaper full of pictures of the disintegrating Oroville Dam emergency spillway that forced her to leave her home. Melody Gutierrez, Lizzie Johnson and Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ Bill Lindeloff, Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Scores of schools close through at least Tuesday as Oroville evacuation continues -- Many districts were already scheduled to be closed Monday in observance of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Although most say they will remain closed Tuesday, many won’t reopen until notified by authorities that the area is safe. Loretta Kalb and Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Here are answers to your questions about the crisis at Oroville Dam -- Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Some people couldn’t get out of Oroville, some have returned -- Not everyone was able to escape Oroville Sunday night. Grant Gallaway lives in an apartment one block from the Feather River, where he can see the dam looming on the hill above. He doesn’t own a car. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Levee breach forces evacuation of Tyler Island in Delta; unrelated to Oroville -- Sacramento County are advising residents in the Tyler Island area south of Walnut Grove to evacuate due to a levee breach, officials said Monday. There are about 20 homes in the area, said Sacramento County Water Resources spokesman Matt Robinson. Tyler Island is protected by a ring levee. Ellen Garrison in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Highway 50 is riddled with mudslides and will be ‘closed indefinitely’ -- Highway 50 will remain “closed indefinitely” as crews slog their way through clearing three major mudslides across a 12-mile stretch, as well as several smaller, active mudslides, according to Caltrans. The highway is closed in both directions from Pollock Pines to Strawberry in El Dorado County. Bill Lindelof in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/13/17

Can California lawmakers tackle road repairs with new supermajority? -- The California Legislature will again take up the problem of funding road repairs this week, an issue that has been championed by Gov. Jerry Brown but that lawmakers have failed to act on. Meghan McCarty KPCC -- 2/13/17

In the Capitol, myth vs. reality -- Over the years, there have been myriad misconceptions about different aspects of state law making. So let’s hold our breath, take a deep dive into the Capitol and separate the myths from the reality. Chris Micheli Capitol Weekly -- 2/13/17

South Gate teacher gets meningitis and dies, and parents worry about health risks -- A teacher at Montara Avenue Elementary School in South Gate died last week after contracting meningitis, leading parents to worry about whether their children might have been exposed. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

Santa Monica seeks to pass the nation's most extensive earthquake retrofit plan -- Santa Monica is poised to require safety improvements to as many as 2,000 earthquake-vulnerable buildings in what would be the nation’s most extensive seismic retrofitting effort. Rong-Gong Lin II, Raoul Rañoa and Jon Schleuss in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/13/17

Trump has gotten even less popular while in office -- For now, what matters most to Trump is holding the support of his core voters. That’s key to his strength in Congress, especially in the House, because his popularity remains high in most Republican-held congressional districts. But if his decline persists, it could weaken Trump’s sway in the Senate, where members need to run statewide. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 2/13/17

Fox: Business Networking Key to Boosting Bay Area over LA -- The “Beat LA” chant that occurs at many San Francisco sporting events featuring teams from the two regions of the state may reflect more than the athletic contest on the field. The San Francisco Bay Area’s economy has surged ahead of Los Angeles’s economic growth over the past 40 years. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 2/13/17