Test Preparations for the Northern California Earthquake – CalMatters

Is California ready for the Big One?

That was undoubtedly the question on many residents’ minds after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Humboldt County in the early hours of Tuesday morning, killing two people and injuring at least 12; damage homes, roads, bridges, water and gas lines, and other critical infrastructure; About 57,000 PG&E customers were left without electricity and many without water.

The quake occurred in a rural area of ​​Northern California known as Mendocino Triple Junction, where three tectonic plates meet – but many residents said this quake was different than the ones that usually shake the area.

“It was probably the most powerful earthquake we’ve felt in the 15 years I’ve lived here,” Eureka resident Dan Dixon told the Associated Press. “When it was happening, I thought it was the Big One, because we never felt anything that strong,” Arcata resident Amy Yueki told the Los Angeles Times.

“We live in earthquake country,” Mark Gilarducci, director of the California governor’s Office of Emergency Services — who will retire at the end of the year after a decade on the job — noted in a news conference Tuesday. … This is another example of the fact that earthquakes can happen in any time. ”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared a state of emergency in Humboldt County to support the emergency response, said in a statement that state agencies are working with local and tribal governments to provide shelter, food and water. assessment of damage to buildings and roads; restore energy help local hospitals, some of which were without power and were running on generators; and monitor seismic activity.

Officials also promoted early warning systems that helped notify more than 3 million people by phone of an earthquake. About 270,000 people were notified via the state Office of Emergency Services-funded MyShake app, while most of the rest were Android users who automatically receive earthquake alerts, according to the Los Angeles Times. Some Californians far from the epicenter were also alerted by a shrill alarm that shook them out of bed around 2:30 a.m., leading to frustration.

“Earthquake warning will never be perfect,” Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismology Laboratory and leader of the team that developed the MyShake software, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We very quickly came up with our best estimate of the magnitude, and we’re sending a warning to anyone in the area who would normally feel the shaking.” “. “The system worked as well as we had hoped, and (as) we were working on the design,” said Ghilarducci.

It is the latest indication that emergency cell phone alerts have generally proven effective for the state. During the summer heat wave, Newsom’s administration decided to send emergency messages to 27 million Californians urging them to conserve energy—a move that brought the state back from the brink of blackouts.

Meanwhile, California is rapidly approaching the 2030 deadline by which hospitals will be required to be able to operate as normal after a massive earthquake — or risk being shut down by the state. Hospital groups estimate that the required improvements could cost more than $100 billion, not including financing, and could lead to facility closures in disadvantaged communities.

In August, an unlikely alliance — the California Hospital Association and the Service Employees International Union — Western Health Care Workers union — tried to broker a last-minute deal that would have pushed back the 2030 deadline while raising the minimum wage for some healthcare workers to 25. dollars an hour. Jean Emerson Shea, vice president of external affairs for the Hospital Association, said at the time that the deal had foundered due to lack of time.

“Hospitals have spent more than 20 years and billions of dollars to make sure the buildings are safe” and will remain standing after a major earthquake, Emerson-Shea told me Tuesday. “Now it is a conversation about reasonable services to continue to be available in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.”

In other Capitol news: California finally has a new state auditor. Newsom on Tuesday named Grant Parks, the principal director of auditing services for the California Judicial Council, to take over the position vacated about a year ago by Eileen Howell, who led the independent agency for 21 years and whose rigorous audits are of state agencies. He is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans. Parks is registered without party preference and served in the state auditor’s office from 1999 to 2016, according to Newsom’s office.

A message from our sponsor

Other Stories You Should Know 1 Politicians Sitting on $35 Million in Unused Campaign Cash Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

Former governor Jerry Brown left office in 2019, but still has $13.1 million in campaign money remaining. Los Angeles City Councilman and former senator Kevin De Leon, who has been plagued by scandal, has $3.1 million in a campaign account for the 2026 California gubernatorial race. But De Leon won’t necessarily run for lieutenant governor — to keep the unspent money From a previous campaign, politicians must pass money from one account to another each election cycle. Alexei Koseff and Ben Christopher of CalMatters found that 96 accounts owned by state political candidates contained about $35 million in money that was never spent on the campaigns for which it was raised. Although candidates can return unused campaign money to their donors, many keep it to retain their political influence, donate to charities or political allies, or perhaps seek office again.

For example, the 2026 treasurer campaign controlled by former association president Fabian Nunez has an income of nearly $2 million. That’s the remainder of the $2.1 million that the account received from Treasurer Nunez’s 2022 committee, which got its money from the 2018 Fabian Nunez committee of Treasurer, which was funded by the 2014 treasurer’s account, which was funded by the committee for the council’s campaign. State elders for the year 2010. In recent years, Nunez has used campaign funds to support the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, a nonprofit organization for which his son Esteban serves as a lobbyist, and After-School All-Stars, a charity founded by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a personal figure. A friend, before leaving office, commuted Esteban Nunez’s prison sentence for his role in a stabbing incident. Meanwhile, De León’s most recent publicly reported contribution was a $25,000 payment to the Santa Clara County Board of Education campaign for Magdalena Carrasco, his former romantic partner and mother of his daughter. Carrasco lost her race. 2 Panel recommends significant changes to criminal justice laws Police lights during the night. Image via iStock

California should create a state-funded system to pay crime victims restitution and establish their right to restorative justice, prohibit police officers from stopping drivers for reasons unrelated to traffic safety, limit the types of vehicle searches they can perform, and enforce the highest state law. A court ruling that requires judges to consider a defendant’s ability to pay when setting bail. Those were among the recommendations unveiled Monday in an annual report from the Penal Code Review Commission, whose members are mostly appointed by the governor and whose suggestions to state legislators have radically reshaped California’s criminal justice laws. Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner, who sits on the committee, told the San Francisco Chronicle she plans to introduce bills in January to codify some of the report’s recommendations.

Here is a closer look at the report’s rationale for some of the recommendations:

California needs a better compensation system for crime victims: Conservative estimates of available data suggest that each year courts order convicted people to pay victims at least $150 million to cover their financial losses, but in fiscal 2020-21 only $55 million was collected. By creating a state-funded system, not only would victims get their money more quickly, but defendants—most of whom couldn’t afford to pay anyway—would not face as many criminal fines and fees that could push them further into poverty. . Police stops for technical traffic violations are ineffective and lead to “disturbing racial disparities”. For example, blacks were stopped 112% more frequently in 2020 than would be expected given their share of the California population. However, the report notes that speeding – which endangers public safety – was the most common cause of traffic stops for police that year. Reducing traffic stops can be “really dangerous and can really lead to a lot of crimes not being caught and unsolved” because officers sometimes find drugs or weapons or evidence of other crimes, Republican Assemblyman Bill Esayeli of Riverside County told the Los Angeles Times. while stopping. California’s foster care system needs to be reformed. Many of the more than 44,000 people awaiting trial on any given day in California prisons cannot post bail and have not been released, despite a 2021 decision from the state’s highest court that their ability to pay should not be the only factor keeping them behind bars. In fact, there is no evidence that government bail amounts, the pretrial prison population, or the average length of pretrial detention have decreased since the ruling, according to a recent report from UCLA School of Law and the Legal Policy Advocacy Clinic. University of California, Berkeley. 3 Did the Transparency Act Pay Work as Intended? Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

Have you ever looked at a job posting and wished it had a salary range? Well, starting January 1st, California employers with at least 15 workers will be required to share that information in job postings, and companies with at least 100 employees will also be required to report more detailed salary data to the state. But some advocates worry that companies will be able to find ways to get around the law, as they have done in other areas with similar regulations, CalMatters’ Grace Gedye reports. In New York City, for example, some employers posted unhelpful broadbands on the first day of the law’s enforcement, leaving workers confused about how much they might actually earn.

Other things worth your time

Some stories may require a subscription to read

Alameda County just became the first state in the country to ban criminal background checks for tenants. // San Francisco Chronicle

Oakland remands mask on government buildings amid rising COVID cases. // San Francisco Chronicle

Union membership declines again among workers in California. Leaders blame remote working. // Sacramento P.I

Jefferies surpasses two Californians in his selection to lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. // Los Angeles Times

As Los Angeles County mental health professionals burn, some are weighing options. // Los Angeles Times

The official investigating suspicious deaths in your town may or may not be a doctor. // California Healthline

San Francisco opens its first public psychiatric hospital for young people. // San Francisco Examiner

Why San Franciscans wait so long for ambulances. // San Francisco Standard

The San Diego Blood Bank is calling for increased donations as shortages approach. // San Diego Union-Tribune

How San Francisco politicians plan to tackle the drug crisis and homelessness in 2023. // San Francisco Chronicle

Los Angeles County extends pandemic protection measures by one month. // LAist

The report says that UC Santa Barbara’s “Dormzilla” poses a safety hazard. // Los Angeles Times

San Francisco’s Fillmore district is the latest neighborhood in a revolt against homelessness and drugs. // San Francisco Chronicle

What would it take to end homelessness in California? $8 billion a year over 12 years, the report estimates. // Mercury News

This Oakland nonprofit leader doesn’t know how she got the billionaire’s attention. // San Francisco Chronicle

A study says that California cities dominate the list of the happiest cities in the country. // hill

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos