9 Stories You Should Know About Today

"It does indeed appear that all the ingredients may come together for a very high-impact storm event, especially across the northern half of the state. Preliminary indications suggest that wind speeds with the upcoming system may be of a similar magnitude to those experienced during a noted January 2008 event, which brought widespread significant impacts to a broad swath of NorCal." Full story

Federal climate scientists say that California’s drought, now in its fourth year, is not likely the product of human-induced global warming. A new report, based on seven models that ran 160 “reenactments” of the last three years, concludes that “perhaps about two-thirds of the precipitation deficits” of the last three years have been the product of various convergent factors, including “a randomness of the atmosphere.” Full story

From the CHP statement: "The California Highway Patrol is sworn to protect the people’s right to peacefully assemble and demonstrate, however, the freeway is not the place to express one’s opinions. Vehicles on the freeway travel at extremely high rates of speed and it is difficult for even the most prepared drivers to stop if a pedestrian steps out in front of their vehicle. A collision between a vehicle at freeway speeds and a pedestrian has the same effect as a person falling off a five story building.” Full story

“It’s good that it’s nonviolent, and it’s good that a lot of people are doing it, but I feel they’re getting caught up now in tactics,” said Buck Bagot, 63, who has participated in the latest demonstrations and was an Occupy movement leader in San Francisco. “What we really need to be talking about now is the demands. Who do you want to do what?" Full story

"In high-profile, controversial cases, where officers use lethal force, prosecutors face a dilemma. If they don’t file charges against officers, they risk the wrath of the community; if they do file charges, they risk the wrath of the police and their powerful unions. By opting for secret grand jury proceedings, prosecutors pass the buck, using grand jurors as pawns for political cover. The Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases are examples of how prosecutors manipulate the grand jury process." Full story

The massive reports' conclusions can be summed up in four short bulletpoints that are just brutal in their clarity and simplicity. Full story

“My words give me no pleasure,” said Ms. Feinstein, who spoke as many committee staff members watched from the floor. But she said history would judge the nation by its commitment to a “just society, a government of law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say never again.” Full story

In the first school board meeting since the community learned about the plight of a second-grader dismissed from her school under allegations of not living in the affluent East Bay city, dozens of speakers Monday night addressed Orinda Union School District trustees, many angry at how young Vivian's case was handled while a few supported the board and administration. Full story