Dogs in Phelan Cruelty Investigation Case Available for Adoption

6/13/2017 Dogs in Phelan cruelty investigation case available for adoption

San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

Dogs in Phelan cruelty investigation case available for adoption

By Gail Wesson, The PressEnterprise

Monday, June 12, 2017

More than 30 dogs, mostly Afghan hounds, taken in a Phelan cruelty investigation case, will be made available for adoption Wednesday, June 14, at the San Bernardino County Animal Shelter in Devore, according to a county news release.

The dogs were found living in inhumane conditions when sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant May 18 at a residence in connection with an illegal marijuana grow, according to a sheriff’s news release.

Since then, the owner of the dogs released them for adoption. The dogs had been living in kennels in the 11300 block of Barbet Road.

“All but two of the dogs are Afghan hounds. They have received much needed grooming and bathing,” Capt. Nishalet Wilson, the Devore shelter manager, said in the news release.

The dogs are available to individuals or to rescue groups approved by the county.

Adoption fees are $80 for dogs age 16 weeks or older, and $85 for younger dogs, which includes spay/neuter surgery, microchip and initial vaccinations.

The cruelty case was submitted to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution. The former owner’s name and details were not immediately available.

The shelter is at 19777 Shelter Way in San Bernardino. It is open from 10 a.m. to 7 pm. Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

Information: 9093869820 or www.sbcounty.gov/acc

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/generalnews/20170612/dogsinphelancrueltyinvestigationcaseavailableforadoption

http://www.sbsun.com/article/20170612/NEWS/170619836&template=printart 1/1 6/13/2017 Ramos named vice president of County Transportation Authority Highland Community News: Political Ramos named vice president of County Transportation Authority Posted: Monday, June 12, 2017 8:53 am

On Wednesday, June 6, 2017, San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor James Ramos became Vice President of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), an agency that serves over 2.1 million residents. The position became vacant when the former Vice President transitioned into the President role.

Ramos was recommended by a seven member nominating committee consisting of one member of the County Board of Supervisors (Chairman Robert Lovingood) and two members New vice president from each of the three subareas: Mountain/Desert, East Valley, and West Valley. Ramos will serve in this capacity for Supervisor James Ramos, right, now vice one year. president of SBCTA.

Supervisor Ramos’ qualifications for the position of Vice President includes serving as a former Vice Chair and Chair of the SBCTA Transit Committee, Chairman of the County of San Bernardino and Alternate Director on the Metrolink Board of Directors also known as the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. Ramos has been a strong advocate of improving the quality of life for residents by working to alleviate traffic congestion and reducing long commute times.

“It is an honor to have been selected as SBCTA vice president," Ramos said. "I look forward to working closely with other board members and jurisdictions to accomplish SBCTA’s goal of improving our regional transportation system.”

The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority is responsible for cooperative regional planning and furthering an efficient multimodal transportation system countywide. The agency is a supporter of freeway construction projects, regional and local road improvements, train and bus transportation, railroad crossings, managing the system of call boxes, ridesharing, congestion management efforts, and longterm planning studies. It also serves by administering the halfcent transportation sale tax voters approved through Measure I in 1989, which allows for major transportation improvements within the county.

For more information on SBCTA, visit: www.gosbcta.com

http://www.highlandnews.net/news/political/ramosnamedvicepresidentofcountytransportationauthority/article_37ea3b384f8711e79adfa3ddc4884494.htm… 1/1 6/13/2017 Victorville's plan for stuck homeless? Free bus tickets to familiar territory

Victorville’s plan for stuck homeless? Free bus tickets to familiar territory

City officials and the Sheriff’s Department have been discussing a plan to provide transportation out of Victorville for homeless individuals marooned here and who have support elsewhere.

By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Follow

Posted Jun 10, 2017 at 1:58 PM Updated Jun 10, 2017 at 1:59 PM VICTORVILLE — City officials and the Sheriff’s Department have been discussing a plan to provide transportation out of Victorville for homeless individuals marooned here and who have support elsewhere.

City Manager Doug Robertson revealed the pending program during Tuesday’s City Council meeting in response to concerns raised by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cox about the homeless population, particularly in Old Town. But Robertson also acknowledged the legal precariousness of such a plan.

“In the past cities have gotten in trouble for simply putting a homeless person on a bus and sending them away,” he said, “so the program that wasn’t quite ready for an announcement just yet, but that is intended to start July 1 with the new budget, is actually not a bus ticket out of town. It is a bus ticket home.”

The fine details have yet to be sorted even as the program is expected to get underway in less than a month. City spokeswoman Sue Jones and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Capt. Jon Schuler both said Friday that more information will be shared in the near future.

“The intent is that if a homeless person is hampered in Victorville because they have family or someone along those lines who can help them in another state, in another city, in another county, wherever,” Robertson said, “... if that deputy can in fact make contact with a person who is willing to go to the bus station on the other end and collect that person, then we would pay for that ticket, wherever that is. If it ends up being a plane ticket, that’s fine too.”

The program already has allocated funding, but the specifics weren’t clear. Councilman Jim Kennedy said a transportation solution might help “5 to 10 percent” of the problem.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170610/victorvillesplanforstuckhomelessfreebusticketstofamiliarterritory 1/2 6/13/2017 Victorville's plan for stuck homeless? Free bus tickets to familiar territory

Meanwhile, Cox had sought a solution to what he described as the dire homelessness situation in Old Town, where his personal property has been destroyed and his business robbed.

“I used to really feel like I needed to do something to help the homeless,” he said, “and after my own experience in about 18 months, I feel it’s my responsibility to help them out of town.”

“This has just gone beyond any kind of reason and I’m not sure there’s anything we can do,” he continued. “It seems like there’s a battery of attorneys waiting for the city to do something or even individuals so they can tell us what their rights are. I don’t want to violate anyone’s rights, but no one has the right to” destroy property, squat or break windows.

The 2017 San Bernardino County Homeless Count and Survey showed this city’s homelessness figure dropping dramatically, down to 157 from the 264 reported in 2016, although the survey is conducted on a single day and some say it’s not reflective of the actual homelessness situation.

The city and the county continue to partner on another plan, to secure permanent housing for the homeless, officials said. As of this week, despite good headway, there wasn’t anything to announce.

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or . Follow him on Twitter at .

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170610/victorvillesplanforstuckhomelessfreebusticketstofamiliarterritory 2/2 6/13/2017 Victorville's budget surplus to fund 2 new deputies

Victorville’s budget surplus to fund 2 new deputies

Adding two deputies will raise the grand total for sworn San Bernardino County Sheriff’s personnel in the city to 93, and the number of deputies to 72.

By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Follow

Posted Jun 8, 2017 at 12:04 PM Updated Jun 10, 2017 at 12:11 AM VICTORVILLE — A $475,000 budget surplus for fiscal year 2017-18 will be used to fund two new deputies and a marked patrol unit, and to re-paint and upgrade a fire engine at Southern California Logistics Airport, officials said this week.

It was a no-brainer for the City Council, which often seeks to earmark extra revenues for public safety. The SCLA fire engine, in addition to getting a physical makeover, will be outfitted with a proper radio system, officials said.

Adding two deputies will raise the grand total for sworn San Bernardino County Sheriff’s personnel in the city to 93, and the number of deputies to 72.

The identified surplus was briefly discussed during a budget workshop Tuesday afternoon. The city’s spending plan, which is expected to be officially adopted later this month, projects general fund revenues of $59.2 million against $58.7 million in expenses.

The general fund budget, largely the discretion of city leaders, reflects a 5-percent increase in revenue over fiscal year 2016-17 and only a 2-percent increase in expenses, ultimately cultivating the surplus.

The biggest revenue jumps over last fiscal year were in “fines & forfeitures” (27 percent), “intergovernmental” (16 percent), and “other revenue” (31 percent).

The biggest spending spikes were in “administrative services” (12 percent), “public works” (10 percent), “community services” (10 percent) and “administration” (9 percent).

While no major questions were raised over the spending plan, Councilman Jim Kennedy did point to the overall $201.4 million budget and its oft-use of the vague category, “other,” for revenues and expenses, calling it a sign of “laziness.” He sought from city staff new drafts

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170608/victorvillesbudgetsurplustofund2newdeputies 1/2 6/13/2017 Victorville's budget surplus to fund 2 new deputies

where those categories were expanded in detail, particularly for those that weren’t minor line items.

“I consider this to be absolutely unacceptable to put out in front of the public,” he said. “Anybody with a reasonable set of skills will look at this at say, ‘What are they hiding?’”

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or . Follow him on Twitter at .

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170608/victorvillesbudgetsurplustofund2newdeputies 2/2 6/13/2017 Hike in sales tax gives $375,000 to Yucca Valley HiDesert Star: News Hike in sales tax gives $375,000 to Yucca Valley By Stacy Moore, HiDesert Star | Posted: Friday, June 9, 2017 3:45 pm YUCCA VALLEY – An adjusted budget shows the town getting more sales tax revenue, but less from property taxes. Yucca Valley’s finance manager, Sandra Cisneros, presented the adjusted budget at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. The budget ends at the end of this month, she remarked, but it’s still being adjusted. The town now expects to get $295,000 more from sales taxes than the earlier budget projected. Thanks to the Measure Y, a halfcent sales tax increase that began this year, the town expects to get $375,000 in new revenue. However, other sales taxes are falling short. “Due to lackluster sales in autos and some other things, we’re estimating lower overall sales tax of around $80,000,” Cisneros said. In more goodandbad news, transit occupancy taxes are higher than expected, mostly thanks to visitors filling hotels, but property taxes decreased $52,500. The town has also saved some money, spending about $21,400 less than projected on supplies and services and $10,000 less on contracts and partnerships. In the end, the changes will have no effect on the bottom line. “The net increasedecrease at the very bottom line is zero, so there is no actual change,” Cisneros said. Under the budget as approved Tuesday, the town shows the following revenue for this year: • $4.5 million in property tax. • $3.7 million in sales tax. • $1.1 million in franchise fees, hotel taxes and interest.

• $1 million in service and other fees. • $10.5 million in total revenue. Spending totals $11.1 million, budgeted as following: • $3.3 million in personnel. • $4.2 million in the Sheriff’s Department contract.

• $2.3 million in operating supplies and services. • $10.2 in total expenditures. The Town Council passed the amendments unanimously.

http://www.hidesertstar.com/news/article_647e929e4d6511e79120138f23b4d25e.html?mode=print 1/1 6/13/2017 West Nile virus detected in Chino Hills mosquitoes

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

West Nile virus detected in Chino Hills mosquitoes

By Gail Wesson, The PressEnterprise

Monday, June 12, 2017

CHINO HILLS >> The West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District has detected West Nile virus from mosquitoes for the first time this year in Chino Hills and also found the virus present in Upland for the second time this year, according to a news release.

The mosquitoes were collected in a trap near Soquel Canyon Road and Butterfield Ranch. The location in Upland was not specified.

So far this year, 12 mosquito samples from five counties, including Riverside, have tested positive for the virus in 2017, according to the state’s May 26 report on the West Nile virus website.

There has been only one confirmed human case of the virus this year ,and it was in Kings County.

At this time last year, 27 viruspositive mosquito “pools” had been reported from seven counties, according to the state.

As the weather heats up, an increase in vector activity is expected. The district urged residents to remove standing water from their property and wear a Centers for Disease Controlrecommended mosquito repellent when outdoors.

The virus is transmitted to humans and animals by the bite of an infected mosquito.

The West Valley district is a nonprofit public agency dedicated to the management of insects and animals of public health importance. The district serves six cities in western San Bernardino County.

URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/health/20170612/westnilevirusdetectedinchinohillsmosquitoes

http://www.dailybulletin.com/article/20170612/NEWS/170619857&template=printart 1/1 6/13/2017 Inland Empire families received $26 million in California Earned Income Tax Credits

San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

Inland Empire families received $26 million in California Earned Income Tax Credits

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun

Monday, June 12, 2017

Lowincome families in the Inland Empire received more than $26 million in California Earned Income Tax Credits this year, and a campaign expected to significantly increase that number next year is already underway.

The tax credit is for working families, either reducing their tax burden or providing a tax refund. Started two years ago to supplement the federal EITC, the California version has been available to households making up to $14,161 (if they have three children), but this year’s budget would increase that limit to $22,000.

At first, many families didn’t collect the money despite being eligible, often because they didn’t file taxes. But a focus on San Bernardino and Riverside counties increased the number of recipients this year — two of the only places where that happened, said Josh Fryday, president of Golden State Opportunity Foundation, which ran the CalEITC4Me campaign.

That means families struggling to get by can make essential purchases, which also helps the local economy, Fryday said.

“We find it’s one of the most bipartisan issues in the entire country and has support from all spectrums,” Fryday said. “It’s not a subsidy. It’s something that incentivizes work and makes work pay. Since it’s people who work but still earn under a certain threshold, we find it’s a very important incentive and we also find — this is well documented — it’s very effective at lifting people out of poverty.”

Golden State Opportunity, founded by tech entrepreneur Joseph Sanberg, made a heat map of the areas with the highest eligibility, and saw Riverside and San Bernardino had some of the highest eligibility.

So they hired a fulltime campaign manager for the area, San Bernardino native Blanca Lopez.

They started by offering free tax preparation for anyone making under $60,000 — often, she said, people eligible for the tax credit don’t file taxes because they can’t afford it and aren’t required to do so — then partnered with community organizations, churches and the like, and would send text messages with information.

People were excited, she said.

“Everybody could use a little help in terms of financial stability and things, and I think people were excited to take that information and pass it on to friends and particularly family,” she said. “We would ask, ‘What are you going to spend this money on?’ And they would share different things: Some people wanted new tires for their car, or they wanted to pay down some bills, very basic things.

“This is money that is going to stay in your community,” Lopez added. “The more people get it, the more your community benefits.”

Statewide, the number of EITC claims dropped to 345,000, from 349,000 last year. But both San Bernardino and Riverside counties increased the number of claims — more than 20,000 each — and the total money received.

http://www.sbsun.com/article/20170612/NEWS/170619842&template=printart 1/2 6/13/2017 Inland Empire families received $26 million in California Earned Income Tax Credits In Riverside, $12,161,493 was claimed — $14,326,455 in San Bernardino — as of May 20, according to CalEITC.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/governmentandpolitics/20170612/inlandempirefamiliesreceived26millionincaliforniaearnedincometaxcredits

http://www.sbsun.com/article/20170612/NEWS/170619842&template=printart 2/2 6/13/2017 Inland Empire outpacing Southern California in warehouse growth

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

Inland Empire outpacing Southern California in warehouse growth

The industry is looking increasingly toward automation to remain competitive

By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

and Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Monday, June 12, 2017

The Inland Empire led Southern California in construction of logistics and freightrelated warehousing real estate, according to a report released from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

While just released Monday, the data is based on 2015 numbers. The report found logisticstype construction in the Inland Empire dwarfed the other counties, with 20.8 million square feet of space added in 2015 and another 16.7 million square feet under construction that year, according to the report.

In comparison, 3.6 million square feet of related real estate was added to Los Angeles County in 2015, with another 2.8 million under construction at that time.

It’s best to position warehousing, logistics and wholesale trade facilities closer to population centers to provide quicker delivery times, especially with ecommerce, said Shannon Sedgwick, an economist with the LACEDC.

“The demand for largescale warehousing operations has been continually increasing,” Sedgwick said by phone Monday. “The Inland Empire, with its relatively cheaper real estate and more industriallyzoned land, a freeway network, and a builtin pool of potential workers, has driven the growth of the trade and logistics industry in the region.”

The study reveals that 598.3 million tons of freight valued at $1.7 trillion moved throughout the region in 2015. That equated to a daily average of 1.6 million tons valued at $4.7 billion.

Needless to say, all of that activity fueled lots of jobs.

A driver of employment

The LAEDC report shows that the region’s trade and logistics sector employed 580,450 direct payroll workers in 2015, a 9.7 percent increase since 2005. An additional 273,840 jobs were supported through indirect effects and another 310,490 were supported by induced effects, creating a total employment impact of nearly 1.2 million jobs.

Indirect jobs include workers who don’t directly produce goods or services but make their production possible or more efficient. Induced jobs take into account employees who work at local restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets and other businesses where trade and logistics workers spend their money.

The Inland Empire supported about half of those jobs and Los Angeles County supported another 40 percent.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/business/20170612/inlandempireoutpacingsoutherncaliforniainwarehousegrowth&template=printart 1/3 6/13/2017 Inland Empire outpacing Southern California in warehouse growth Average wages are good

The pay isn’t bad. The average annual wage in the trade and logistics industry in 2015 was $63,130, about 14 percent higher than the $55,310 average annual wage for all other industries in Southern California.

Wages were much higher in certain segments of the industry. Those involved in support activities for water transportation earned an average of $111,120 a year, for example, and others who work in air transportation earned an average of $75,710 a year.

A significant economic impact

Trade and logistics in Southern California generates $224.6 billion in economic output annually, sustained by direct spending of $131.9 billion, which includes $43.5 billion in labor income paid to its employees, according to the report. Industryrelated expenditures indirectly generate $47.2 billion in spending at supplier businesses in the region, and compensation paid to employees fueled additional spending of $45.6 billion.

But while wages are good, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are increasingly integrating automation in their operations — and that’s displacing workers. Trade and logistics industries are looking to become more capitalintensive versus laborintensive through the use of new technologies.

Local ports integrating automation

The Port of Los Angeles has been transforming its TraPac terminal over the last several years by outfitting it with massive robots. Some are tasked with moving shipping containers from ships and stacking them nearby, and others load the stacked containers onto trucks for the next leg of their journey.

“We have eight terminals here and one is TraPac,” port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. “It’s the only automated terminal and it was very expensive. The Port of L.A.’s investment in TraPac was more than $400 million. We’ll get that back and more over the course of their lease, but it’s very expensive to do this. And it takes years for a company to plan and get the environmental approvals to build an automated terminal.”

The Port of Long Beach has also been outfitting its Middle Harbor terminal with automated equipment, which is expected to be operative by 2020.

Selfdriving trucks are also being used in warehouses in the form of autonomous forklifts. More recently, the truck transportation and drayage (shorthaul) industries are looking at selfdriving trucks as a way to reduce costs and boost their profit margins. But that’s not going to happen right away.

“Regulations have to catch up with the technology,” Sedgwick said. “That kind of technology won’t be widespread until that issue is resolved.”

The federal government has yet to establish laws that deal specifically with autonomous vehicles. But several states have opted to enact their own statewide laws. Another major hurdle to widespread adoption is the public’s innate fear of seeing selfdriving trucks on the road.

Automation in warehouses

Automation is also widespread in warehouse operations. Amazon is known for its orange Kiva robots, which transport shelving and bins to workers, who then pick the products. Several new startups are also poised to enter and transform the warehouse robot space. San Josebased company Fetch Robotics has created industrial robots that simplify warehouse product handling by following pickers to catch their selected items.

Fetch Robotics spokesman Tim Smith explains it this way: http://www.dailybulletin.com/business/20170612/inlandempireoutpacingsoutherncaliforniainwarehousegrowth&template=printart 2/3 6/13/2017 Inland Empire outpacing Southern California in warehouse growth “Our robots are almost like moving pallets,” he said. “They don’t necessarily replace jobs, but they can do the worst part of a job.”

When workers retrieve merchandise from the shelves in the warehouse they can place them on a Fetch device, which then takes the items to wherever they need to go in the building. That eliminates the need for an employee to walk miles and miles throughout the day to deliver the products.

“A map of the environment is created when a robot is installed and that usually takes two or three days,” Smith said. “We have about 15 customers all over the world. One is in Livermore and others are in Asia and Europe.”

Drone deliveries

The LAEDC report also notes that delivery drones are being readied by several companies, including Amazon, Google and UPS to make deliveries to remote areas or areas with heavy traffic congestion more efficient.

But drones without direct supervision of a person are not currently legal in the U.S. Until they are, delivery drones will still require a human component.

Technology isn’t the only game changer in the trade and logistics sector. Labor issues, including disruptions and domestic outsourcing, have the potential to negatively affect the Southern Californiabased industry in terms of growth for trade volumes and wages, the report said.

URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/business/20170612/inlandempireoutpacingsoutherncaliforniainwarehousegrowth

http://www.dailybulletin.com/business/20170612/inlandempireoutpacingsoutherncaliforniainwarehousegrowth&template=printart 3/3 6/13/2017 San Bernardino hospital appoints new president with previous ties to Inland Empire

Redlands Daily Facts (http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com)

San Bernardino hospital appoints new president with previous ties to Inland Empire

By Staff report

Monday, June 12, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> Dignity Health St. Bernardine Medical Center has a new president with ties to the Inland Empire.

Douglas Kleam was announced Monday as the hospital president, effective immediately. A health care executive with a diverse background in hospital administration, Kleam has the expertise to lead St. Bernardine through its current strategic challenges while guiding the hospital’s vision for the future, according to a Dignity Health news release.

While Kleam previously worked as administrator and chief operating officer at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley and chief operating officer at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, the announcement marks a return for him to the Inland Empire.

Early in his career, Kleam led support services for St. Bernardine, and Linda, his wife of 37 years, is a school nurse in San Bernardino County. He is delighted to be back at St. Bernardine and looks forward to collaborating closely with the sisters, staff, physicians and board members and serving the Dignity Health mission, according to the news release.

Among his accomplishments at Providence Holy Cross, Kleam exceeded net operating income by more than 20 percent for the past two fiscal years, achieved an 84th percentile on an inpatient satisfaction survey, and recruited multiple physicians. At St. Vincent, he improved operational efficiencies and costs by over $11.8 million through productivity monitoring, staffing efficiencies and physician utilization improvements.

While under his leadership, St. Vincent achieved its highest employee satisfaction scores.

Kleam has an MBA from the University of Redlands and a bachelor’s degree in Business from California State University, Bakersfield. He is also a graduate of the Catholic Healthcare Ministry Leadership Program.

“We are excited for Doug’s leadership and operational expertise to lead our team at St. Bernardine,” said Julie Sprengel, a Dignity Health Southern California executive, in the news release. “His dedication to the Inland Empire, his unquestionable integrity and commitment to our ministries will be a driving force in moving the Medical Center forward.”

URL: http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/business/20170612/sanbernardinohospitalappointsnewpresidentwithprevioustiestoinlandempire

© 2017 Redlands Daily Facts (http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com) http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/article/20170612/NEWS/170619861&template=printart 1/2 6/13/2017 Tripledigit heat in the High Desert expected by week's end

Triple-digit heat in the High Desert expected by week’s end

By Kevin Trudgeon City Editor Posted Jun 12, 2017 at 11:44 AM Updated Jun 12, 2017 at 5:39 PM After a relatively cool June weekend that saw temperatures hover in the 70s, the summer heat is expected to ratchet up this week in the High Desert.

With the “trough” of low pressure that brought colder temperatures to much of the state — and thunderstorms and snow to parts of the Sierras — moving out, a ridge is building that will allow for warm weather to build as the week progresses, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Derek Schroeter.

“This will be the first real stretch of heat this summer,” Schroeter said. “It’s the first time we’re forecasting it to reach over 100 degrees. By Friday, we’re forecasting it at 102 and then staying over 100 for the weekend.”

Schroeter said the 10-day forecast shows the heat continuing in the High Desert, and he expects that to remain the norm for the foreseeable future.

“As far as our models can predict, it looks like this pattern will be with us,” Schroeter said.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 84 and calm northwest winds. Nighttime low of 54 and winds becoming light and variable after midnight.

Wednesday: Daytime high of 94 with clear skies and a nighttime low of 57.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 98 degrees and a low of 59 at night.

Friday: Temperatures are expected to reach 102. Nighttime will see mostly clear skies, with a low of 60.

Saturday: Expected high near 100 degrees, with a low of 60.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 99 degrees.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170612/tripledigitheatinhighdesertexpectedbyweeksend 1/1 6/13/2017 June gloom will give way to nearrecord heat later this week, forecasters say LA Times

June gloom will give way to near-record heat later this week, forecasters say

June gloom hangs around in Glendale during CicLAvia on Sunday. (Matthew Ballinger / Los Angeles Times)

By Meg Bernhard

JUNE 12, 2017, 1:15 PM

heat wave is expected in Southern California at the end of this week, but forecasters are not A anticipating temperatures to break records. Temperatures will be about 15 degrees higher than average in the Antelope Valley, with highs in the mid100s forecast for Lancaster and Palmdale. In downtown Los Angeles, temperatures are expected peak in the mid to upper 80s while coastal areas will reach the mid to upper 70s.

In the San Fernando Valley, temperatures could reach up to 96 degrees on Thursday and 100 degrees on Friday.

The hottest temperatures are expected between Thursday and Sunday, according to Ryan Kittell, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. He attributed the heat to a ridge of abnormally high pressure forming over the West Coast and a weaker than usual sea breeze.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelnjunegloomheatwave20170612story.html 1/2 6/13/2017 June gloom will give way to nearrecord heat later this week, forecasters say LA Times The spike in heat will mark a drastic departure from the cool temperatures Angelenos have enjoyed during the last two weeks of June gloom.

“At this point it doesn't look like we’ll have any records broken,” he said, adding that some temperatures will hover near records.

As of Monday morning, the National Weather Service in Oxnard has not issued any heat or fire advisories, though they will continue monitoring the heat wave this week, Kittell said. [email protected]

@meg_bernhard

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This article is related to: Droughts and Heat Waves, National Weather Service

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelnjunegloomheatwave20170612story.html 2/2 6/13/2017 States Rally to Save PublicHealth Program Slated for Cuts in Overhaul Bill WSJ

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. To order presentationready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/statesrallytosavepublichealthprogramslatedforcutsinoverhaulbill1497351602

U.S. NEWS States Rally to Save Public-Health Program Slated for Cuts in Overhaul Bill

Groups are lobbying the Senate to keep almost $1 billion in funding in its version of the legislation

The Houseapproved healthcare overhaul would cut funding for a CDC prevention program. Above, a microbiologist demonstrates using a loop to work with bacteria at the CDC. PHOTO: BRANDEN CAMP/ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Stephanie Armour, Michelle Hackman and Betsy McKay June 13, 2017 7:00 a.m. ET

State officials and public-health groups are pushing the Senate to preserve billions of dollars that go to local health programs, from vaccines to antismoking campaigns, that would be halted under the House Republican bill to topple the Affordable Care Act.

Officials from states led by both parties are rattled because the House-approved healthcare overhaul would end almost $1 billion in annual payments to a prevention program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The money is largely doled out as grants for state and local health prevention and outreach efforts.

“This was little-noticed because there was so much focus on insurance coverage,” said John Auerbach, chief executive of the Trust for America’s Health, a nonpartisan organization focused on disease prevention. “It will result in hundreds of millions of dollars that will no longer go to states.”

The CDC program, launched in 2010 as part of the ACA, was aimed at helping states develop new ways to reduce disease and curb costs. Over time, the money appropriated to the CDC has increasingly become a core part of state health-department budgets, health officials say.

The program, known as the Prevention and Public Health Fund, helps states maintain programs that prevent tobacco use, flag disease outbreaks and provide vaccines to the uninsured.

More than 500 organizations have urged President Donald Trump to preserve the prevention funding, saying in a letter they wanted to “warn of the dire consequences” if https://www.wsj.com/articles/statesrallytosavepublichealthprogramslatedforcutsinoverhaulbill1497351602 1/3 6/13/2017 States Rally to Save PublicHealth Program Slated for Cuts in Overhaul Bill WSJ it is eliminated. The groups include the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Pounds of Prevention The House-approved health-care bill to replace the ACA would remove the nearly $1 billion fund that supports a variety of programs. Where the money went in fiscal year 2017: Program Funding ($millions) Immunization $324.4

Preventive Health Block Grants $160.0

Office of Smoking and Health $126.0 Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention $73.0 Diabetes Prevention $72.0 Racial/Ethnic Approaches to Community Health $51.0 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Program

Lead Poisoning Prevention $40.0

Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Education $17.0 Healthcare Associated Infections $14.7 Youth Suicide Prevention $12.0 Chronic Disease Self-Management

Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding $12.0

Falls Prevention $8.0

Million Hearts Program $8.0 National Early Child Care Collaboratives $5.0

$4.0

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

House Republicans say the program funds many frivolous projects. Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee cite grants that went to urban-gardening projects and massage therapy.

“The Obama administration used the Public Health and Prevention Fund as a slush fund for questionable projects that had little to do with public health or prevention,” said Zach Hunter, a committee spokesman. “Republicans have long favored redirecting these funds to more directly benefit patients and improve public health while also keeping agencies accountable for their spending.”

It is unclear how the Senate will respond, but Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) said there are some questions about where the funding has gone. “Some of the activity is probably of dubious quality,” he said. “But some of it, fair to say, has advanced the ball on healthcare delivery.”

Under the ACA, it is Congress’ responsibility to allocate exactly what the Prevention and Public Health Fund monies are spent on. If Congress doesn’t allocate the money, the responsibility is handed to the Department of Health and Human Services.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) said he had no real concerns about the prevention-fund cuts because the House bill would boost funding for the CDC elsewhere. https://www.wsj.com/articles/statesrallytosavepublichealthprogramslatedforcutsinoverhaulbill1497351602 2/3 6/13/2017 States Rally to Save PublicHealth Program Slated for Cuts in Overhaul Bill WSJ “Most of the time those kinds of things are doing public awareness, and if we don’t know that tobacco has some awful side effects by now, perhaps we should,” Mr. Meadows said. “But on most of the other things like Zika and Ebola,” the cuts were offset in other areas.

The prevention fund received $931 million in fiscal 2017 and $829 million in 2016. The ACA would provide $837 million for the fund in fiscal 2018.

Cuts to the fund would cost lives, said Tom Frieden, who was CDC director from 2009 until last January. “Losing immunization programs means more preventable illness and more cancer,” he said in an interview.

The proposed cut is part of a RELATED broader Republican strategy

Opioid Crisis Complicates GOP’s HealthLaw Push to more narrowly target Before Repeal and Replace, Kentucky Is Dismantling Health Law funding for public-health Iowa Seeks to Revamp Affordable Care Act programs. The CDC faces House GOP Health Bill Would Add 23 Million Uninsured (May 25) potential cuts from Congress Congress Feels Squeeze From Sputtering Health Law Overhaul (April 14) and the Trump administration that could shave about 25% from its $7.18 billion budget. Beyond the prevention fund, the Trump administration has proposed a $1.2 billion reduction in the CDC budget for fiscal 2018.

State health officials said the proposed cuts to the prevention program would hit home. Alaska has received more than $30 million through the program since 2010, with funding going to wellness programs in Alaska native villages, suicide-prevention efforts and vaccine purchases. The state is in the throes of a budget crisis and would likely need to cut programs if the federal funding ends, officials said.

“I wish I could say they’re all low-priority programs, and we’re really not worried. But that’s not true,” said Jay Butler, chief medical officer at the Alaska Division of Public Health. “We’re talking about some of the most important health threats in the country.”

In Alabama, where about 60% of the public-health department’s funds come from federal dollars, the end of the CDC’s program could weaken the state’s ability to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks, state officials said. Alabama has received about $44 million through the prevention fund since its inception.

“We have no idea how we’d continue doing what we’re doing,” said Mary Greene McIntyre, the Alabama Department of Public Health’s chief medical officer. “We would probably have to identify which diseases we would stop focusing on.”

The Wyoming Department of Health could lose more than $2 million in overall yearly public-health funding if the ACA were repealed. “Obviously, the immunization program is a high priority for us, so anything that reduces what that program can do is a concern,” said Kim Deti, a spokesman for the state health agency.

The House health bill is now in the hands of Senate Republicans. Aides expect to begin drafting parts of the Senate bill within days, with hopes of wrapping it up by Congress’ August recess.

Write to Stephanie Armour at [email protected], Michelle Hackman at [email protected] and Betsy McKay at [email protected]

—Kristina Peterson contributed to this article

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. To order presentationready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/statesrallytosavepublichealthprogramslatedforcutsinoverhaulbill1497351602 3/3 6/13/2017 County homeless program aims to produce 1,000+ units, cut costs 75% The San Diego UnionTribune

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County homeless program aims to produce 1,000+ units, cut costs 75%

San Diego County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts held a press conference in front of the County Administration building where they unveiled a $25 million plan for subsidized housing. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/UT)

By Roger Showley

JUNE 12, 2017, 7:25 PM

ith new subsidized housing units costing up to $400,000 apiece to build, county supervisors began a W search Monday for a cheaper way out of San Diego’s affordable housing crunch.

Board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob and Supervisor Ron Roberts said at least 1,000 homes, costing as little as $100,000 each, might be possible in a $25 million program they hope the full board will endorse next Tuesday.

“For a growing number of our residents, affordable housing is not a reality and in fact is quite a challenge,” Jacob said at the County Administration Center.

Roberts, a retired architect, recalled how his parents doubled up with another family until they could move into public housing in Linda Vista after World War II. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growthdevelopment/sdficountyhomeless20170612story.html 1/3 6/13/2017 County homeless program aims to produce 1,000+ units, cut costs 75% The San Diego UnionTribune “I've never seen it worse than it is today,” Roberts said. “The biggest and most visible symptom of this issue is the expanding population of homeless on our streets throughout the entire county in San Diego and that includes families and seniors.”

Recent reports show that the homeless population has risen to more than 9,100 people countywide; there’s a shortage of about 142,000 units affordable to people paying more than the desired 30 percent of income on housing; and, after adjusting for inflation, median rents have increased 36 percent since 2000, while renter household incomes have risen only 4 percent.

Jacob characterized the new funds, drawn from county reserves, as “seed money” that could be matched by privatesector dollars to produce a thousand units or more over the next five years. The money would be deposited in a new Innovative Housing Trust fund, administered by the Health and Human Services Agency and available to developers to apply for.

“This is something very new, very innovative, very bold,” she said.

Roberts said he is proposing an additional $500,000 from his district’s neighborhood reinvestment program account to use in exploring innovative designs that could drive the construction cost down by 75 percent.

“My own goals are to show that we can develop an affordable unit for seniors, that we can use property more effectively and that we can bring it in at a lower cost,” Robert said.

One approach he is toying with is tightly designed cottages with minimum floor space but clustered around a senior community facility.

Roberts proposes $100,000 be offered to San Diego Kind Corp. to plan an innovative housing project at the county’s 4.6acre Levant Service Center site in Linda Vista.

Kind built the senior tower at 10th Avenue and Broadway and rehabilitated two residential hotels downtown. President Percil Stanford said the cost per unit could be cut from $400,000 to $100,000 by using costsaving materials or incorporating prefabricated elements and still produce a safe, durable and hazardfree home, “something people will feel very good about living in.” He said a prototype could be developed in a year’s time.

Because one of the major stumbling blocks to subsidized housing is land costs, the supervisors released a list of 11 countyowned sites that could be considered for possible locations for new construction.

The candidates include the threeblock county courthouse complex, which is being vacated with the opening of the new state courthouse to the west, and the 19acre Descanso detention facility, which has been closed.

But county officials said only one of the three courthouse blocks is suitable for housing and the Descanso property is probably too remote and with limited zoning for significant development. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growthdevelopment/sdficountyhomeless20170612story.html 2/3 6/13/2017 County homeless program aims to produce 1,000+ units, cut costs 75% The San Diego UnionTribune The other nine properties occupy 23.1 acres, the largest being the sixacre Health Services Complex at 3851 Rosecrans St. in the Midway area. All are being vacated and destined to be demolished to make way for new development.

Three are family and health centers in Southeastern San Diego that would be consolidated into one facility in the same area. The fouracre sheriff’s crime lab on Mt. Etna Drive in Clairemont is moving and the assessor recorderclerk office occupies an old bank building on a 35,000squarefoot lot in El Cajon. The Levant property is one of the locations on the list.

Supervisors Kristin Gaspard and Bill Horn withheld comment until they could read the proposal. Supervisor Greg Cox said many mentally ill, medically frail and foster youth will need government help in getting housing and he looks forward to next week’s debate.

It will take three votes to approve the $25 million plan and the 11property list and four votes to approve Roberts’ innovativedesign grant effort.

Rick Gentry, president and CEO of the San Diego (city) Housing Commission, said the county effort “dovetails nicely” with the city’s efforts to produce more affordable housing.

“I think everybody’s pointed in the same direction and I think that’s going to be a very useful set of partnerships and there will be a good collaboration from it,” Gentry said. [email protected]; (619) 2931286; Twitter: @rogershowley

This article is related to: Homelessness

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growthdevelopment/sdficountyhomeless20170612story.html 3/3 6/13/2017 Homeless advocates protest lack of funding for housing in Orange County budget | 89.3 KPCC

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The Orange County Board of Supervisors can expect to be greeted by protesters on Tuesday when it meets to discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Advocates for the homeless says there’s no new money in the current proposal for housing.

Orange County adopted a 10year plan to end homelessness in 2012. And yet, seven years later, homelessness is up — nearly 13 percent since 2013 — not down. Critics like Linda Lehnkering, who is part of the Anaheim Poverty Task Force, say that’s in part because the county hasn’t followed through with the plan’s recommendation to create a special fund dedicated to housing the homeless.

“While it has a nice plan, it hasn’t committed to date any of its own discretionary funding to fulfill," she said.

The vast majority of funds spent by Orange County to fight homelessness actually come from the state or federal government. And President Trump wants to cut much of the federal funding, including deep reductions to Section 8 housing vouchers and grants for states and local governments to build affordable housing.

Orange County Supervisors will discuss the draft budget and vote on proposed modifications. The final budget is scheduled to be approved on June 27.

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What Did California Learn From The Drought?  Amy Quinton Monday, June 12, 2017 | Sacramento, CA |  Permalink

LISTEN 1:07

Lake McClure Reservoir during the drought California in 2015.

Mike Jenson / Merced Irrigation District

A report (http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_0617DMR.pdf) from the Public Policy Institute of California says the state's cities and suburbs responded well to the unprecedented mandate to cut water use by 25 percent during the drought.

The PPIC says by some measures, the state’s water conservation requirement was a success. Californians cut water use 24 percent on average while the economy grew. But report authors call the mandate a “blunt instrument” that increased tension between the state and local water agencies.

http://www.capradio.org/96861 1/3 6/13/2017 What Did California Learn From The Drought? capradio.org

Instead, the report notes the strategy state regulators implemented near the end of the drought was more appropriate. The so-called "stress test" required local agencies prove they had enough water for three dry years. The PPIC says this "trust but verify" tactic served the state as well as urban and suburban water suppliers.

“This is a good approach going forward," says Ellen Hanak, director and senior fellow at the PPIC. "There’s no way in a state as large and geographically diverse as California, that the state, from Sacramento, is going to be in a position to know better than the local managers what the conditions are locally.”

Hanak says water supply data that local agencies had to collect and submit to the state was another positive outcome. She says those reporting requirements should be made permanent. It provides both a good way to measure water use over the long term and provides a better baseline for analyzing conservation during drought.

“This is just a good piece of data that’s not very costly,” says Hanak.

 California drought

Amy Quinton Environment Reporter

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http://www.capradio.org/96861 2/3 6/13/2017 Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known Bloomberg

Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known

by Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson June 13, 2017, 2:00 AM PDT

➞ Attackers said to take measure of voting systems, databases

➞ A ‘red phone’ warning to the Kremlin from Obama White House

Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported.

In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day, and in at least one state accessed a campaign ﬁnance database. Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said.

The scope and sophistication so concerned Obama administration officials that they took an unprecedented step -- complaining directly to Moscow over a modern-day “red phone.” In October, two of the people said, the White House contacted the Kremlin on the back channel to offer detailed documents of what it said was Russia’s role in election meddling and to warn that the attacks risked setting off a broader conflict.

Unwinding the Twists, Turns in Trump-Russia Probe: QuickTake Q&A

The new details, buttressed by a classified National Security Agency document recently disclosed by the Intercept, show the scope of alleged hacking that federal investigators are scrutinizing as they look into whether Trump campaign officials may have colluded in the efforts. But they also paint a worrisome picture for future elections: The newest portrayal of potentially deep vulnerabilities in the U.S.’s patchwork of voting technologies comes less than a week after former FBI Director James Comey warned Congress that Moscow isn’t done meddling.

“They’re coming after America,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in the election. “They will be back.”

A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington declined to comment on the agency’s probe.

Kremlin Denials

Russian oﬃcials have publicly denied any role in cyber attacks connected to the U.S. elections, including a massive “spear phishing” eﬀort that compromised Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, among hundreds of other groups. President Vladimir Putin said in recent comments to reporters that criminals inside the country could have been involved without having been sanctioned by the Russian government.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/20170613/russianbreachof39statesthreatensfutureuselections 1/5 6/13/2017 Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known Bloomberg

One of the mysteries about the 2016 presidential election is why Russian intelligence, after gaining access to state and local systems, didn’t try to disrupt the vote. One possibility is that the American warning was effective. Another former senior U.S. official, who asked for anonymity to discuss the classified U.S. probe into pre-election hacking, said a more likely explanation is that several months of hacking failed to give the attackers the access they needed to master America’s disparate voting systems spread across more than 7,000 local jurisdictions.

How to See If Russia Meddled With Your Vote

Such operations need not change votes to be effective. In fact, the Obama administration believed that the Russians were possibly preparing to delete voter registration information or slow vote tallying in order to undermine confidence in the election. That effort went far beyond the carefully timed release of private communications by individuals and parties.

One former senior U.S. oﬃcial expressed concern that the Russians now have three years to build on their knowledge of U.S. voting systems before the next presidential election, and there is every reason to believe they will use what they have learned in future attacks.

Secure Channel

As the first test of a communication system designed to de-escalate cyber conflict between the two countries, the cyber “red phone” -- not a phone, in fact, but a secure messaging channel for sending urgent messages and documents -- didn’t quite work as the White House had hoped. NBC News first reported that use of the red phone by the White House last December.

The White House provided evidence gathered on Russia’s hacking eﬀorts and reasons why the U.S. considered it dangerously aggressive. Russia responded by asking for more information and providing assurances that it would look into the matter even as the hacking continued, according to the two people familiar with the response.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/20170613/russianbreachof39statesthreatensfutureuselections 2/5 6/13/2017 Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known Bloomberg

“Last year, as we detected intrusions into websites managed by election oﬃcials around the country, the administration worked relentlessly to protect our election infrastructure,” said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for former President Barack Obama. “Given that our election systems are so decentralized, that eﬀort meant working with Democratic and Republican election administrators from all across the country to bolster their cyber defenses.”

Illinois Database

Illinois, which was among the states that gave the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security almost full access to investigate its systems, provides a window into the hackers’ successes and failures.

In early July 2016, a contractor who works two or three days a week at the state board of elections detected unauthorized data leaving the network, according to Ken Menzel, general counsel for the Illinois board of elections. The hackers had gained access to the state’s voter database, which contained information such as names, dates of birth, genders, driver’s licenses and partial Social Security numbers on 15 million people, half of whom were active voters. As many as 90,000 records were ultimately compromised.

But even if the entire database had been deleted, it might not have aﬀected the election, according to Menzel. Counties upload records to the state, not the other way around, and no data moves from the database back to the counties, which run the elections. The hackers had no way of knowing that when they attacked the state database, Menzel said.

The state does, however, process online voter registration applications that are sent to the counties for approval, Menzel said. When voters are added to the county rolls, that information is then sent back to the state and added to the central database. This process, which is common across states, does present an opportunity for attackers to manipulate records at their inception.

Patient Zero

Illinois became Patient Zero in the government’s probe, eventually leading investigators to a hacking pandemic that touched four out of every ﬁve U.S. states.

Using evidence from the Illinois computer banks, federal agents were able to develop digital “signatures” -- among them, Internet Protocol addresses used by the attackers -- to spot the hackers at work.

The signatures were then sent through Homeland Security alerts and other means to every state. Thirty-seven states reported ﬁnding traces of the hackers in various systems, according to one of the people familiar with the probe. In two others -- Florida and California -- those traces were found in systems run by a private contractor managing critical election systems.

(An NSA document reportedly leaked by Reality Winner , the 25-year-old government contract worker arrested last week, identiﬁes the Florida contractor as VR Systems, which makes an electronic voter identiﬁcation system used by poll workers.)

In Illinois, investigators also found evidence that the hackers tried but failed to alter or delete some information in the database, an attempt that wasn’t previously reported. That suggested more than a mere spying mission and potentially a test run for a disruptive attack, according to the people familiar with the continuing U.S. counterintelligence inquiry.

States’ Response

That idea would obsess the Obama White House throughout the summer and fall of 2016, outweighing worries over the DNC hack and private Democratic campaign emails given to Wikileaks and other outlets, according to one of the people familiar with those conversations. The Homeland Security Department dispatched special teams to help states strengthen their cyber defenses, and some states hired private security companies to augment those eﬀorts.

In many states, the extent of the Russian inﬁltration remains unclear. The federal government had no direct authority over state election systems, and some states oﬀered limited cooperation. When then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said last August that the department wanted to declare the systems as national critical infrastructure -- a designation that gives the federal government broader powers to intervene -- Republicans balked. Only after the election did the two sides eventually reach a deal to make the designation. https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/20170613/russianbreachof39statesthreatensfutureuselections 3/5 6/13/2017 Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known Bloomberg

Relations with Russia remain strained. The cyber red phone was announced in 2011 as a provision in the countries’ Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers to allow urgent communication to defuse a possible cyber conﬂict. In 2008, what started during the Cold War as a teletype messaging system became a secure system for transferring messages and documents over ﬁber-optic lines.

After the Obama administration transmitted its documents and Russia asked for more information, the hackers’ work continued. According to the leaked NSA document, hackers working for Russian military intelligence were trying to take over the computers of 122 local election oﬃcials just days before the Nov. 8 election.

While some inside the Obama administration pressed at the time to make the full scope of the Russian activity public, the White House was ultimately unwilling to risk public conﬁdence in the election’s integrity, people familiar with those discussions said.

For more on Russia's cyber attacks, check out the Decrypted podcast:

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/20170613/russianbreachof39statesthreatensfutureuselections 4/5 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times Signs of past California 'mega-quakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault

By RongGong Lin II

JUNE 13, 2017, 5:00 AM | REPORTING FROM DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CALIF.

s Interstate 10 snakes through the mountains and toward the golf courses, housing tracts and resorts of the Coachella Valley, it crosses A the dusty slopes of the San Gorgonio Pass. The pass is best known for the spinning wind turbines that line it. But for geologists, the narrow desert canyon is something of a canary in the coal mine for what they expect will be a major earthquake coming from the San Andreas fault.

The pass sits at a key geological point, separating the low desert from the Inland Empire, and, beyond that, the Los Angeles Basin.

Through it runs an essential aqueduct that feeds Southern California water from the Colorado River as well as vital transportation links. It’s also the path for crucial power transmission lines.

California earthquake experts believe what happens at the San Gorgonio Pass during a major rupture of the San Andreas fault could have wideranging implications for the region and beyond.

They worry a huge quake could sever lifelines at the pass for weeks or months, cutting Southern California off from major highway and rail routes as well as sources of power, oil and gas. Southern California’s cities are surrounded by mountains, making access through narrow passes like the San Gorgonio essential.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 1/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

The San Andreas fault, in heavy red, slices through key mountain passes including the San Gorgonio Pass and the Cajon Pass. (U.S. Geological Survey)

Experts have also expressed grave concerns about the Cajon Pass, where Interstate 15 and key electric and fuel lines run. Other problem spots are the Tejon Pass, through which Interstate 5 passes, and the Palmdale area, through which the California Aqueduct crosses.

One of the most dire scenarios geologists have studied is a quake that begins at the Salton Sea. Such a quake would be particularly dangerous because the fault’s shape points shaking energy toward Los Angeles.

Southern California has not seen an earthquake like this since humans started recording history here. But the geological evidence of such quakes is all around us.

Where electric lines cross the San Andreas fault

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 2/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

Where electrical transmission lines cross the San Andreas fault, according to a 2008 report. (U.S. Geological Survey / ShakeOut)

Signs of megaquakes

In Desert Hot Springs, hints of the mighty San Andreas fault lie all over: The rise of mountains that created the Coachella Valley. The oases and palm trees — made possible only because earthquakes pulverized rocks that allowed springs to burst to the surface.

A geologist’s trained eye can even spot exactly where the fault is located. In one exposed cliff, USGS research geologist Kate Scharer showed how one side of a hill has moved northward and skyward compared with the right side — and the gouge in the hillside between them was the fault.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 3/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

Seismologist Lucy Jones stands on top of the San Andreas fault, which has pushed up the left side of the hill northward and higher than the side to the right from past earthquakes. (Photo by Allen J. Schaben / Annotation by Raoul Ranoa / Los Angeles Times)

Farther away, Scharer described how an old lower canyon was severed from the upper canyon and its ancient source of water.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 4/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

The old path of the Pushawalla Canyon was carved into Earth 32,000 years ago, according to U.S. Geological Survey research geologist Kate Scharer. Since then, the lower part of the canyon has been moving left, to the northwest, and has moved half a mile so far. (Kate Scharer / U.S. Geological Survey)

Direction matters

There’s a reason why this particular scenario vexes scientists:

An earthquake arriving from this direction would point cataclysmic shaking directly into the heart of L.A., a kind of disaster that has not been seen since humans began recording history in California. Shaking could last for as long as three minutes.

In a magnitude 8.2 scenario, the earthquake would begin at the Salton Sea, and then — like a big rig driving on a freeway — speed up the San Andreas fault toward Los Angeles County.

“It’s shooting all of that energy straight into the L.A. Basin,” Scharer said.

This animation shows how intense shaking is directed from the San Andreas fault into the Los Angeles Basin. Areas of yellow indicate strong shaking; orange is "very strong" shaking and red is "violent" or "extreme" shaking, causing collapses. (U.S. Geological Survey / Southern California Earthquake Center)

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 5/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times Why a quake that begins so far away matters

An earthquake that begins more than 100 miles from L.A. might seem like something you might not worry about.

But a magnitude 8.2 earthquake is no ordinary earthquake.

The traditional image of an earthquake might be to show the epicenter — the point at which the earthquake begins.

(USGS, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap, Angelica Quintero / Los Angeles Times)

But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

A better representation of a large earthquake would show how the earthquake travels up the fault. And this becomes more important for large earthquakes, which require an incredible amount of area in which the sides of the fault move against each other.

So, according to seismologist Lucy Jones, if a San Andreas earthquake began at the Salton Sea and ...

♦ ended at Mount San Gorgonio, it would be a 7.3 earthquake. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 6/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

(U.S. Geological Survey, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap, Angelica Quintero / Los Angeles Times)

♦ stopped at the Cajon Pass, it would be a magnitude 7.6 or 7.7 seismic event.

(U.S. Geological Survey, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap, Angelica Quintero / Los Angeles Times)

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 7/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times ♦ traveled up to Lake Hughes, the earthquake would clock in at 7.8.

(U.S. Geological Survey, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap, Angelica Quintero / Los Angeles Times)

♦ and “if it goes all the way from the way from the Salton Sea to near Paso Robles, we’d get an 8.2. So that’s probably the biggest we can have,” Jones said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 8/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

(U.S. Geological Survey, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap, Angelica Quintero / Los Angeles Times)

“I think it’s going to go all the way to Paso Robles,” Jones said of the next Big One.

Jones cited a recent study by Scharer that found that earthquakes happen at the San Andreas around the Grapevine on average every 100 years. It has been 160 years since the last major earthquake on that section of the fault.

Hope for L.A.

Here in the Coachella Valley and across the West Coast, scientists have been busy installing new seismic equipment as they construct an earthquake early warning system, which could give places like L.A. seconds — or even a minute or more — of warning before the shaking waves arrive from an earthquake.

The project, however, is in danger of losing funding. President Trump’s proposed budget suggests ending federal funding for the early warning system. Southern California’s elected officials in Congress have voiced support for continuing funding of the project.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 9/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times

Aris Aspiotes, a field engineer with the USGS, shows off an earthquake sensor that measures the movement of ground on the San Andreas fault. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Here are some more answers to questions given by Jones and Scharer as they gave a tour to elected officials on a trip organized by the Southern California Assn. of Governments:

Why are we so concerned about the San Andreas fault, when other faults are closer to cities?

The worst thing about an 8.2 on the San Andreas is that all of Southern California would be hit hard at the same time. San Bernardino, for instance, wouldn’t be able to call for help from Los Angeles, which would have its own problems.

“With 300 miles of fault all going in the same earthquake, you then have everybody affected at the same time,” Jones said. “The San Andreas is the one that will produce the earthquake that’s going to cause damage in every city” in Southern California — including Santa Barbara and San Diego.

Why is the San Andreas considered so likely to rupture?

Because it’s California’s fastestmoving fault.

“It’s a little bit like — the moron who is driving the fastest is the most likely to get into an accident,” Scharer said.

If a couple were holding hands across the San Andreas fault, what would happen when the earthquake hits?

Here in Desert Hot Springs, the couple would be thrown down. The ground would shatter. And in a matter of seconds the two would be separated by as much as 30 feet, Scharer said, almost the entire length of a city bus.

One would lurch toward San Francisco, and the other toward the Mexican border.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 10/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times Can the San Andreas trigger aftershocks on other faults closer to the city?

Yes. One scenario of a San Andreas earthquake results in aftershocks on the NewportInglewood fault, which runs between L.A.’s Westside through Orange County, and the Sierra Madre fault in the San Gabriel Valley. “We even had one in Sacramento,” Jones said.

Even the Hayward fault in the San Francisco Bay Area could be set off by an earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault, Jones said.

This has happened before. The great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, estimated at being magnitude 7.7 to 7.9, sent a 5.5 aftershock to Santa Monica Bay and a magnitude 6 earthquake to Imperial County, near the Mexican border.

Can you explain how the San Andreas fault works?

Western California — San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara — is moving to the northwest. Areas to the east of the fault are moving to the southeast.

Los Angeles is slowly moving closer to San Francisco as a result of earthquake activity on the San Andreas fault. (U.S. Geological Survey)

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 11/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times How fast has the San Andreas fault moved in the last million years?

It has moved about 22 miles in the last million years, Jones said.

When will the Big One hit?

We just don’t know. “Things don’t happen like clockwork,” Scharer said.

The San Andreas fault does not slice under the city of Los Angeles. So why should Angelenos worry?

Los Angeles sits on a basin filled with sand and gravel.

So when shaking waves come, they “bang up against the side of the mountains and reverberate back out across the basin,” Scharer said. “Those waves are very effective at traveling through piles of gravel.”

Can scientists develop something that could absorb all the shaking energy from a massive earthquake before the city is hit?

No. The energy produced by a large San Andreas earthquake, “it’s like the size of a small nuclear bomb,” Scharer said.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima produced enough energy to be equivalent to a magnitude 6 earthquake.

Do small earthquakes relieve pressure on the faults?

No. “Little earthquakes don’t get rid of big ones,” Jones said. “The more little earthquakes you have, the more you have to have bigger ones.”

How should cities cope with the earthquake risk?

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamelntoursanandreasfaultlucyjones20170613htmlstory.html 12/15 6/13/2017 Signs of past California 'megaquakes' show danger of the Big One on San Andreas fault LA Times Jones said utilities, such as water, electricity and gas, require more attention. “If we don’t deal with utilities … we aren’t going to be able and stay here and work,” she said.

Are California’s building codes equipped to deal with big earthquakes?

A few California cities have boosted safety regulations for older buildings in response to earthquakes. In recent years, several cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, began requiring retrofits of vulnerable apartment buildings. L.A. is even requiring retrofits of brittle concrete buildings.

But Jones is critical of minimum building standards for new construction in California, which she said allow for a 10% chance of new buildings collapsing and killing people in an earthquake.

Jones favors increasing standards for new construction, ordering new buildings designed so that they can be immediately occupied after an earthquake. She said that would increase costs by 1%.

“I think you need to be safe enough to walk into a building, so that you don’t lose the use of it — and so your neighbors don’t lose the use of their buildings,” she said.

Are new buildings built better elsewhere?

A: Jones says new buildings are stronger, for example, in Chile. That’s because the country makes those who build new buildings responsible if the structure suffers earthquake damage in the first decade after it is completed.

As a result, owners have insisted on strong construction, Jones said. And the country rode out a recent magnitude 8.8 earthquake well.

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