PG&E will slash customers' bills in the new year, the utility announced on Tuesday. The utility said the cuts, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, come as "electric prices have stabilized and are going down." PG&E noted that this is the fourth decrease for electric rates in two years. Residential customers are set to receive a decrease of about 5%, which amounts to around $7 per month.
When Sophia Johnson and her husband, Tyler Troy, were expecting a third child, their friends suggested names like Grizzly and Third Street. Though the couple understood that such suggestions were a big joke among their friends, for them, naming their children after Berkeley streets was a tradition they took seriously. Berkeley has a wealth of lovely, old-fashioned names to be found on its street signs, said Johnson.
FRESNO In the corner of Sammy Gill's sprawling Fresno truck yard, among other gargantuan rigs with 20-plus-inch rims, a bright red 2022 Mack Anthem sits idle. The truck hasn't moved since mid-November not because it's broken down, but because its owner, an immigrant driver, had his commercial driver's license canceled under a state crackdown whose timing and reach remains unsettled. Beautiful truck, said Gill, who co-owns Gill Freightways Solutions Inc., a trucking company that hauls refrigerated trailers, or reefers. But (he) can't drive it.
Firefighters on New Year's Eve were battling a blaze at an apartment complex in San Jose, according to authorities. The fire was reported around 4:50 p.m. at the Del Coronado Apartments, located in the 5200 block of Camden Avenue, the San Jose Fire Department said in a social media post. Multiple units were involved and residents were being evacuated, according to authorities. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Traffic is impacted, the fire department said. People are being asked to avoid the area.
"I could hear rustling on our porch," Corral de Tierra resident Michael Antle told the television station. "Our family dog was taken off of our porch. The following night, the lion came for our goat and actually took the goat to the same spot. Didn't eat either animal, so I think it's out to kill."
State labor groups are calling for a one-time 5 percent emergency tax on several of California's wealthiest residents. "We are calling on California's approximately 200 billionaires to step up," said Renee Saldana, a spokesperson for SEIU United Health Care Workers West labor union. Many of those billionaires are heads of companies in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. If the proposal gets enough signatures, it will appear on the statewide ballot in November.
Over half a million Californians could lose access to the hugely popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs starting Jan. 1, 2026, after the state government decided to deny some Medi-Cal coverage for the prescription drugs in an effort to save money. GLP-1 drugs have become a blockbuster hit for people aiming to lose weight following the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the name-brand drug Wegovy in 2021.
A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after authorities accused him of causing a crash on the 5 Freeway in Lebec, near Pyramid Lake, killing two children in his SUV on Christmas Day. Jorge Preciado was behind the wheel of a Nissan Rogue traveling northbound near Vista Del Lago Road when he allegedly lost control and slammed into the back of a Toyota Rav4, which was stopped in the median, California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez said.
We've lost a lot, but that doesn't mean anyone should downplay that which continues. San Jose is a resonating chamber of identities, all bouncing off each other, in the same way audio frequencies bounce off the walls of an auditorium. That's the best way to understand this place. Forget the worn-out clichés like "melting pot" or "mosaic." Use the term "resonating chamber." To me, that makes more sense.
The woman was identified as Diane L. Wittig, a 77-year-old Fort Bragg resident, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Monday. Deputies have notified her legal next of kin. According to authorities, Wittig was knocked off a rock by a large wave and swept into the ocean around 2 p.m. Dec. 22 at MacKerricher Beach. Bystanders rescued her from the water and brought her to shore, but she became unresponsive and lost consciousness.
Stacey Lee Snow, 53, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the 16-month-old girl, who authorities said was found unresponsive after she had been put down for a nap April 8. The Medical Examiner's Office concluded that the girl asphyxiated, and the report indicated she'd had her head wedged between a plastic cot placed on top of a portable crib and the crib railing.
They were given immunity to point the finger at me so they wouldn't get in trouble. That's what this is. I'm not saying I'm not at all to blame whatsoever. It was my alcohol that they got drunk off of. It was my home that they were at. I've never said that I was not aware of any alcohol. I've never stated that. I did become aware of it. I feel responsible.
"Which would then take the power from that grid, put it into batteries and then in outages that occur from storm systems like this actually go ahead and kick on and keep people with power for the amount of time that we think's going to be necessary to see power restored in really terrible storm systems," Supervisor Mueller said.
For people traveling on the New Year's Eve, it is going to be rather rainy across the region. We don't expect a lot of major flooding concerns, but we could see potting on roadways, some urban and small swing flooding in areas where there's poor drainage,
A historic, and some might even say cursed, stretch of California highway remains closed on Tuesday in the wake of a massive rockslide created by last week's storms. Highway 41, known to many Californians as "Blood Alley," is a critical stretch of road that connects the Central Valley and the rest of California to the Central Coast between Paso Robles and Kettleman City. The section of road affected by the rockslide is near Cholame, with the incident occurring around 9 p.m. Sunday. A detour is currently available for motorists traversing that section of Central California, Caltrans officials said.
A Guerneville family is rebounding and receiving community support nearly one week after their home was destroyed by a fallen tree that just barely missed a 3-year-old girl as she slept in her crib during a raging winter storm just one day before Christmas. Now living at a Windsor hotel, the family has had time to take a breather and reflect on the damage that forced them out of their home of nearly four years on Highway 116 near Riverside Drive.
Southern California should be prepared for rain and blustery conditions this week. Residents can also expect to have a rainy New Year's Eve and Day, with rainfall rates from a quarter to half an inch an hour predicted on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. "The chances of a wet New Years Parade, and including the night before when people camp out before the parade, are extremely high, 80-90% at this point," the weather service said in a Monday evening statement.
Yvett Bañares-Tala and Ruben Tala, a local staff sergeant, were heading to Lake Tahoe for their annual holiday trip when Ruben suddenly noticed a black vehicle sliding off the road. He quickly stopped his car, put it in park, and ran out to help. In the video, you can see Ruben anchoring himself to the car to speak to the passenger and driver in the car.
One man died and another remained in critical condition Tuesday following gunfire Monday night, police said. Authorities did not identify the 36-year-old dead man immediately, pending notification of relatives. They said he was a Richmond resident. In a statement, San Pablo police spokesperson Peggy Chou said officers responded about 9:05 p.m. to the 1400 block of Rumrill Boulevard for reports of a shooting.
