For this point in the water year — which starts in October — the totals are around twice the average at many Bay Area spots. November was drier than normal, and December brought about double the average rainfall.

The totals below are from Dec. 1 to Jan. 16 at National Weather Service stations.

The site of the greatest reading, Uvas Canyon, is at 1,100 feet elevation near the Casa Loma fire station, about 2 miles east of Loma Prieta.

To the south, Mining Ridge, at 3,288 feet elevation in Big Sur, has recorded 84.16 inches from Dec. 1 to this week.

Read more: 35 key figures that sum up the atmospheric river blitz

Either way, if you weren’t a dessert person before this, you will be after reading this take on the region’s hottest new bakeries — from a Walnut Creek shop crafting Romanian specialties to an Oakland cheesecake house and a Santa Clara bakery where a couple has found their encore career in Portuguese recipes.

East Bay Bakery, Danville

Across the street from Blackhawk Plaza, this stand-out bakery with the simple name has been wowing locals with its sweet and savory offerings since it opened in July. Glass cases display in jewel-like fashion the laminated croffles, curry puffs and pretzels that have become proprietor-baker Gaby Lubaba’s signatures. East Bay Bakery has no seating but the counter offers views of the open kitchen, where the bakery crew prepares Lubaba’s unique spins on danishes, cookies and croissants. (We recently spied both a baklava croissant and a pastrami-cheese version.)

Lubaba, who made our 2022 list of Rising Stars, offers a wide selection of classic treats and fresh baked breads, too, including rye brownies and a craveable olive fougasse. But there is a certain magic in the seasonal items — hello, pistachio chocolate escargot — and treats inspired by her native Indonesia. Be sure to get your hands on the crispy beef curry puffs filled with real curry leaves. They go fast.

The treat: Made from buttery croissant dough, the croffle ($5) is a crowd-favorite that taps into something deeply nostalgic. The crispy, almost caramelized outside leads to a chewy, satisfying interior that’s buttery and not too sweet. Perfection.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. weekends at 6000C Crow Canyon Road in  Danville. Also Saturdays at the Orinda Farmers Market and Sundays at the Walnut Creek Farmers Market; https://theeastbaybakery.com

LeLe Cake, Los Gatos

Elena Leskina says she’s pretty fearless when it comes to challenges — whether it’s “new business, new skills, new country.” An electrical engineer by trade, she taught herself how to bake intricate desserts by watching YouTube videos during her young daughter’s two-hour naps back in Moscow. When she and her family immigrated to the U.S. five years ago, she opened a commercial kitchen.

Last June, she launched LeLe Cake, a cute all-day cafe where brunch is as popular as the pastries and custom cakes. It’s worth waiting for a table to try one of the Euro-style dishes that customers rave about — the Syrniki (Russian cheese pancakes) with berries, perhaps, Homemade Salted Salmon Toast or the Gruyere Waffle with goat cheese and onion marmalade.

If you didn’t save room for dessert, stop at the bakery case for a takeout order of, say, Kartoshka (chocolate cake “truffles” topped with fruit), Pavlova or Trifle. The full-size cakes are multi-layer, highly decorated beauties with selections such as the Choco Girl, Poppyseed & Lemonade, flaky Napoleon cake or the Sever, a Norwegian national favorite topped with meringue.

The treat: The star is Leskina’s version of the Medovik, a Russian honey cake layered with fresh raspberries and a light white chocolate and sour cream frosting. It’s available by the slice (three layers) or as a full-size cake (five or six layers).

Details: Open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 14178 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos; https://lelecake.me/

Crumble & Whisk, Oakland

Charles Farrier’s somewhat random entry into the bakery world came when a coworker asked if he could contribute to a potluck dinner. “I was like, ‘Sure.’ I brought a cheesecake. Everyone loved it,” he recalls.

That revelation triggered a slow and deep dive into the art of baking, with Farrier studying cookbooks, experimenting with different styles of cheesecakes, and then distributing them at barbershops and businesses along Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard and later at farmers markets. This December, he opened a brick-and-mortar location in the Laurel District, where he prepares not just the confection that put him on the map but scrumptious pastries, artfully decorated cookies and so much more.

“This is about building up community, so people can get to know me as a neighborhood staple,” Farrier says. For his breakfast peeps, he has coffee cake, overnight oats and huge cinnamon buns with a jiggly, custard-like frosting. (Try to get them hot.) Folks celebrating a special occasion – or who just want to treat themselves – can order his super-creamy cheesecakes in full and puck-sized versions, with vegan options to boot. And for dinner, you can pick up a flaky-crusted pot pie and a banana pudding that’d fool your Southern grandma, with vanilla wafers and the obligatory toupee of whipped topping.

The treat: The much-lauded cheesecakes are not dense but rather melting, creamy delights with seasonal surprises. Cold weather might see a maple-pecan crumble or apple-cider cake version with chunks of fruit. In the summer folks, rave about the blackberry and corn cheesecake, made with a puree of off-the-cob kernels, thyme and brown butter.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at 4104 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland; www.crumbleandwhisk.com.

Little Sky Bakery, Menlo Park

For years, Tian Mayimin was focused on the law. Since 2017, it’s been all about leavening.

In the beginning, the self-taught baker delivered her naturally leavened breads, baked in her Menlo Park home kitchen, to neighbors. Then she became the darling of the Peninsula and South Bay farmers market circuit with her creative lineup of loaves. Next came pop-ups. And soon she set her sights on a dedicated brick-and-mortar.

Last March, she and her team opened a storefront location on Santa Cruz Avenue near the Caltrain station. Late in the year, she expanded the hours of their indoor pop-up at the State Street Market in Los Altos, all while maintaining a strong farmers market presence. They staff 16 markets every week, with four seasonal ones starting up again this spring.

With the expansions came more innovation. Pistachio Bundt Cakes and Caramel Nut Tarts for the holiday season. Roman-style flatbreads. Baozi, yeast-leavened, filled buns. Open-face lox sandwiches on European rye. Jalapeno Cheddar Rings. A signature Challah made with orange juice and honey and brushed with olive oil. And Volkornbrot, the hefty German loaf nicknamed the king of seeded breads. Some creations are available weekly; some rotate into the lineup.

The treat: The popular Raisin-Walnut loaves go fast. And keep your eye out for batches of the Provencal herbal flatbread called fougasse.

Details: Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 506 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park, with a permanent indoor pop-up at State Street Market in Los Altos; https://littleskybakery.com/

European Delights, Walnut Creek

Since opening in July on Walnut Creek’s east side, this bakery has become a haven for European expats and others craving Italian coffee and classic pastries without gobs of frosting or other sugar bombs. From the open kitchen, Romanian co-owner and head baker Rica Zaharia, a native of Transylvania, greets customers with a smile and talks them through the day’s fresh bakes while the Lavazza brews on the counter.

The glass case holds a medley of goodies, like almond and honey shortbread, apple morning buns and giant, 7-inch cookies packed with caramel and chocolate chips. Some items, like the covri dog, a frankfurter wrapped in golden pastry dough, are a nod to Zaharia’s Romanian roots. Others are collaborations between Zaharia and staff baker, Vida. One such creation, the tiramisu cookie, features pastry cream sandwiched between soft, round ladyfinger-like cookies.

The treat: We’re big fans of the börek. Thin, flaky, phyllo-like pastry dough is filled with ham, vegetables, cheeses and other savory ingredients. Our favorite is the mushroom ($5), which has flecks of herbs and a distinct truffle flavor. Keep an eye out for heart-shaped treats in February.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and until 2 p.m. Sunday, at 2236A Oak Grove Road in Walnut Creek; https://european-delights.com.

Max’s Cakes, Hayward

This classic, family-owned bakery opened five weeks ago and has already added much-needed pizzazz to downtown Hayward. Horchata cheesecake and café de olla and buñelo cupcakes, nods to baker Max Soto‘s Mexican-American heritage, line the pastry case alongside cookies and brick-sized slices of his Instagram-famous layer cakes. Those cakes come in five flavors, including coconut cream, burnt almond and confetti, and are already proving to be top sellers.

After ordering your dessert, take a seat — or a selfie inside the giant picture frame against the white subway-tiled wall. Or spend some time admiring the historic black and white photos of downtown Hayward lining the walls. Soto appeared on Buddy Valastro’s “Big Time Bake” in 2020 and became the youngest contestant ever to win a “Food Network” competition. There are some pretty cute photos of him eating cake as a baby, too.

The treat: You have to get a slice of cake ($8). Two, actually. The 24-Karrot cake is super moist, topped with cream cheese frosting and brimming with shredded carrots and toasted walnuts. If you’re a lemon fiend, Lemon Supreme, a lemon cake layered with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream, is your jam.

Details: Opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday-Sunday at 1007 B St., Hayward; https://maxscakesofficial.wixsite.com

Portuguese Tasty Desserts, Santa Clara

What’s new in Santa Clara is delightfully old school: a bakery specializing in nostalgic Portuguese recipes that made their way from the Azores to the Bay Area many decades ago.

When Teresa and Nelio Defreitas retired from school district careers (she as a kitchen supervisor, he as a campus maintenance manager), they decided to resurrect her parents’ Portuguese Bakery, which had been in business locally for more than 40 years. They found a spot and opened a year ago.

“This is what we love to do, especially the interaction with the customers,” she said. “We have such an amazing mix in this community.”

Customers come from as far away as Sacramento for the pillowy Portuguese sweet bread, pastel de natas (custard tarts), rice pudding, a rich, smooth flan and other goodies. The malasadas — the Portuguese doughnuts so popular in Hawaii — are available in 12 flavors (including guava and custard) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Know you won’t have time to cook for that upcoming potluck? They will bake to your specifications. “Bring me your Pyrex dish and I’ll fill it up with rice pudding,” Teresa said.

The old-school touches extend beyond the recipes. Walk in and you’ll be welcomed, as all customers are, with a complementary cup of coffee, sweet bread samples and conversation. You won’t walk out empty-handed.

The treat: Biscoitos, the not-too-sweet cookie rings, come in almond, lemon, cinnamon, anise, chocolate and other flavors and are perfect for dunking in coffee or snacking.

Details: Open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 1085 El Camino Real, Santa Clara; www.facebook.com/PortugueseTastyDesserts/.

Simurgh, Emeryville

If you took a bagel, crusted it in sesame seeds and stretched it out like one of those old-timey hoops kids pushed with a stick, you’d get simit. Every Turkish city has shops hawking simit – and around here, there’s no better place to try them than Hatice Yildiz’s cafe that opened on San Pablo Avenue in late 2022.

A daughter of Istanbul restaurateurs who took an interesting journey to baking – she got a PhD in religious studies in Berkeley – Yildiz makes simit that’s crackling outside, soft and stretchy inside and kissed with the smoke of the oven. Order it with lox and cream cheese or, more traditionally, with tahini and grape molasses. There’s charred-top rice pudding, too, and baklava with housemade phyllo and imported “emerald” pistachios, famous for their startling green hue and nutty-fresh taste. Try the chocolate version, whose honey and bitter cocoa notes somehow improves on the original.

A heartier bite can be found in boreks, quichelike pies with fillings of goat cheese, mushrooms and kale, and stuffed eggplants that were sun-dried in Turkey. Yildiz plans to diversify her savory side this year with lahmacun, as well, a thin flatbread topped with minced beef, peppers and herbs and baked to perfection. (Just don’t call it “Turkish pizza.”)

The treat: The Russian/Ukrainian honey cake is a masterfully constructed slab of housemade graham crackers, condensed milk and brown butter. The sweet-sensory overload is like sticking your head in a honeybee hive, without the bees.

Details: Open daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at 4125 San Pablo Ave. in Emeryville; www.simurghbakery.com.

Forest & Flour, Fremont

Many Bay Area residents with dietary issues have found sweet salvation at Sway Soturi’s farmers market booths over the past few years. Now the San Jose wellness entrepreneur can offer a larger menu of organic and gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, soy-free and corn-free savories and sweets to a broader audience at her new cafe in Fremont’s Mission San Jose district.

“We try to make things that people would miss,” said Soturi, who started baking allergen-friendly fare for herself. Take, for example, monkey bread and soup. Her Monkey Party muffins are as ooey-gooey as expected, thanks to a coconut-sugar caramel. The creamy, satisfying Clam Chowder is made with chicken broth, coconut milk and cashews, which naturally add an interesting nutty tone.

You’ll also find gluten-free muffins (carrot, matcha and seasonal), baguettes, brioche, chocolate chip cookies and more. For lunch, she and her team offer congee and French toast too.

By the way, this greenery-filled cafe is located near Mission Peak, which is good to keep in mind if you need fuel for a trip up or replenishment after coming down.

The treat: The big hit is the aromatic Lavender-Lemon Bread. It’s available by the loaf or as a small toast order, with a side of locally made Rose Petal Jam. Soturi also showcases other like-minded Bay Area purveyors.

Details: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 43587 Mission Blvd., Fremont; https://forestandflour.com/.

Bake Sum, Oakland

As a kid, Joyce Tang loved to eat at bakeries in Oakland’s Chinatown. “When I got older, I didn’t really feel like I saw anyone iterating those types of flavors at the patisseries I’d visit around the Bay Area,” she says.

Her solution: Quit a Facebook job, land an internship at a three-star Michelin restaurant in Spain, then come back and start her own bakery specializing in memories from her childhood. The philosophy at Bake Sum is pastries should not just be beautiful (though they are, wonderfully so), but also meaningful to a staff of predominantly Asian and female bakers.

“We always try to find nostalgic flavors that speak to us and our upbringings,” Tang says.

Walk into the charmingly decorated shop in Grand Lake and you might see lilikoi “mochi bites” and loco-moco danish with a meat patty, gravy and runny egg. There’s a croissant and Spam musubi crossover called a “crusubi” and an okonomiyaki danish with garlic oil-roasted mushrooms, Kewpie mayo and furikake. It all sounds hearty, but with the skill of the bakers in making delicate, flaky doughs, you’ll be ready for seconds in no time.

The treat: The green-onion croissant is a popular offering that blends two styles of scallion pancakes from Northern and Southern China. It has a pleasantly bready, oily and crunchy exterior, with a soft interior of scallions, toasted sesame oil and sea salt.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday-Sunday and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday and Monday at 3249 Grand Ave. in Oakland; www.bakesum.com.

Moves, expansions and other new-ish bakeries to check out:

Lolita Bakery Cafe: Silvia Leiva Browne has supplemented her Hillsdale Shopping Center location, which opened in 2018, with a larger retail shop where fans of Argentinean baked goods can find her alfajores, empanadas and more. 3790 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo; www.lolitaalfajores.com

Republic of Cake: This longtime Orinda bakery known for cupcakes moved to Danville in 2022, expanding its offerings to include more pastries, quiches, sandwiches and ice cream. 730 Camino Ramon, Suite 196, Danville; www.republicofcake.com

Wingen Bakery: Peek into a new bread room and enjoy extra seating with a bistro-style menu of breakfast and lunch items at this recently-expanded Livermore bakery known for bread and pastries. 50 S. Livermore Ave., Livermore; www.wingenbakery.com

Ono Bakehouse: The East Bay’s only dedicated Hawaiian bakery has been open since Dec. 2020 and continues to wow with malasadas, savory ham-and-pineapple buns and tropical Queen Emma cake. Best to pre-order. 1922 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley; https://ono-bakehouse.square.site

Sunday Bakeshop: StarChefs 2022 Rising Star Award winner Elaine Lau marries classic French training with the Asian flavors of her childhood for magically nostalgic treats that have mass appeal: White Rabbit cookies, a char siu croissant, Thai tea milk buns and halo halo cake are all stunners. 5931 College Ave., Oakland; www.thesundaybakeshop.com

Community college plansmade and abandoned

I was disappointed to read the article on community college enrollment challenges as submitted by Professor Hasan Rahim (“State must reverse community college enrollment decline,” Page A6, Jan. 11) which to me indicates there has been little or no progress since I came on board in 1998.

All of Rahim’s recommendations were certainly discussed administration after administration, semester after semester, during my time. I actually attended these meetings at San Jose City College and participated in the discussions.

Meetings were held with partnering high schools and agreements were made with UCs and CSUs. What happened to all that hard work?

With regard to the Master Plan for Education, at least one SJCC college president participated in a statewide committee to update the plan. Again, what happened to all that work?

Ten years into retirement, I could hardly believe what I read.

Isabel Mota MaciasModesto

CEQA is not the causeof housing crisis

Dan Walters’ scaremongering Jan. 8 column claims that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) “stymie[s] high-density, multi-family projects” (“Environmental law’s misuse blocking housing brings calls for CEQA reform,” Page A9). Walters wields a big bullhorn, but he is sounding a false alarm. Walters never mentions that CEQA actually provides exemptions for such housing, while protecting disadvantaged communities, public health and the climate.

CEQA wisely makes government officials pause and think before approving large development projects. For example, in the UC Berkeley case Walters cites, CEQA required the university to consider alternative housing sites before paving over a historic public park and displacing current residents. That is just smart.

Californians need to know that those seeking to weaken CEQA in the name of housing are promoting arguments that independent experts have resoundingly refuted. High land and construction costs, local zoning and other factors, not CEQA, are the root causes of our housing crisis.

Gary PattonAdjunct professor, UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz

Politicians changingoffice should say so

Politicians should go all in if they seek a new office

Sandra Delvin [“Council replacement process lacks transparency,” Page A6, Jan. 10] brings up some of the shortcomings of the way members of San Jose City Council are appointed.

The two new members would be selected by people who never lived in District 8 and only one lived in District 10. We should change the law in California; any elected officeholder seeking another office must go all in. They must submit a resignation from their current office effective the end of the year no less than two months before the primary election date to be allowed on the primary ballot.

This would enable those who may be interested to jump in, but more importantly, this will ensure continued true representation of the people.

Laith NaamanSan Jose

Legislature must fixsolar payment plan

Utility companies won the jackpot on December 15, 2022, when the California Public Utilities Commission, presumably with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s blessing, passed NEM 3.0, which will force solar-generating households to sell at far below the market rate — 75% below current prices.

Solar has proven to lower electricity costs overall, so this poorly reasoned decision will only make electricity more expensive in the long run. Such a situation is only possible because utilities are given a monopoly in the electricity marketplace — we can buy from only them, rather than any neighbors who have themselves installed solar.

That means it is imperative that governments craft fair rate structures. And they have failed spectacularly with NEM 3.0.

If Newsom cares about his climate legacy, he’ll work with the California Legislature to pass a solar net metering policy that is actually aligned with energy economics and provides fair rates for all electricity consumers.

Jeremy PoindexterSan Mateo

Democrats could havecurtailed GOP concessions

Vanya Matzek (“Democrats wasted votes during speaker battle,” Page A8, Jan. 13) suggested that congressional Democrats wasted their votes during the election of the speaker and should have found a few Republicans willing to vote with them on a better Republican candidate than Kevin McCarthy.

If only 10 Democrats abstained from the vote, Kevin McCarthy would have been elected speaker without having to make all those concessions to the far right. Would that have made him more willing to compromise with Democrats? Probably not, but we would not have had all those horrible rules he had to agree to in order to get those last few votes.

Merlin DorfmanLivermore

An estimated 675 Bay Area jobs are being lost as a result of decisions orchestrated by seven companies that are in the tech, advanced manufacturing, or biotech sectors, according to a Bay Area News Group review of official notices received by the state Employment Development Department.

Jabil; Verily Life Sciences, which is a moonshot company launched by Google owner Alphabet; Flexport; Stitch Fix; Scale AI; Arris Composites; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals are among the latest companies to reveal plans for job cuts, the EDD notices show.

In addition, another group of workers with Flagship Facilities Services, while not tech staffers, lost their jobs in Menlo Park as a result of lessened requirements by Facebook app owner Meta Platforms, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the EDD.

Here are details of some of the most recent disclosures of Bay Area layoffs by tech or biotech firms:

• Jabil, a contract electronics manufacturer, has decided to eliminate 205 jobs in Alameda County. These include 166 job cuts in Fremont and another 39 in Livermore. The layoffs are slated to occur on March 7. “We do not anticipate that these employees will return to work in the foreseeable future,” Alicia Marjon, a Jabil human resources manager, stated in the WARN notice. These Jabil job cuts are expected to be permanent.
• Verily Life Sciences has decided to reduce staffing by 119 positions at its headquarters in South San Francisco. The company is a life sciences moonshot that was launched by Google owner Alphabet. “The separation of employment of the affected employees with the company in connection with a company-wide reduction in force is expected to be permanent and there will not be any bumping rights,” Kerrie Peraino, chief people officer with Verily, stated in the WARN letter. The Verily layoffs are due to be effective on March 12.
• Flexport, a supply-chain software startup, is cutting 120 jobs in San Francisco. The layoffs are described as “permanent,” the EDD public website shows.
• Stitch Fix, an online apparel and personal styling service, has decided to chop 97 jobs in San Francisco on a permanent basis. The layoffs are due to be effective on March 6.
• Scale AI, an artificial intelligence company, is cutting 68 jobs in San Francisco, saying the staff reductions are permanent. The layoffs began in late December and are due to occur in waves that will be complete by March 31.
• Arris Composites is cutting 65 jobs in Berkeley. Arris uses advanced technologies to help create cutting-edge products and materials for a wide range of uses. The cuts are permanent and were effective on Nov. 7 of last year. However, they were not posted until Jan. 10 of this year.
• Janssen Pharmaceuticals is cutting one job in Vacaville. The layoff is due to be effective on March 10.

“Flagship Facility Services has decided that it must permanently lay off 126 of its employees at Meta Platforms’ Menlo Park facility,” Michele Babb, a Flagship Facility vice president, said in a WARN notice to the EDD.

The company specifically provides culinary and cafeteria services to Meta Platforms. The terminations are scheduled to occur on March 6.

“The employees are represented by Unite Here! Local 19 and have bumping rights as may be provided by their collective bargaining agreement,” Babb stated in the WARN notice.

Quarry project woulddestroy scenic road

EBMUD has applied for a conditional use permit from Alameda County to allow the deposit of trench soil extracted from pipeline replacement into the quarry site located at 13575 Lake Chabot Road.

EBMUD estimates that there will be 60–100 dump trucks five days a week on Lake Chabot Road for the next 40–80 years (this is not a typo), with trucks entering Lake Chabot Road in San Leandro and exiting on Foothill in Castro Valley every four or five minutes.

Lake Chabot Road, is very narrow with no shoulders, already heavy with 3,500 cars a day, bicycle traffic, wildlife and hikers. It is currently closed due to storm damage. This fragile but needed scenic road can’t support dump trucks which will make it unsafe for those of us who use it now.

Teri SchlesingerSan Leandro

Prop. 13 proves costlyto government programs

“Prop. 13 is vital to senior community” in the Jan. 10 East Bay Times (Page A6) misleads readers.

Yes, Proposition 13 is vital to the senior community of homeowners, but Proposition 13 is also unfair to them and others, as well. In fact, Proposition 13 has been exploited by the community of big businesses while also harming the senior community and others.

Proposition 13 was passed in 1978 — thanks to the deceptive slogans of Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann — as “a way to keep Grandma in her home.” But it was also a way to keep the property taxes of businesses low — especially big businesses like Chevron and Disneyland.

Because the low property taxes of Proposition 13 drastically reduced funding of local and state governments, seniors and others have suffered — impoverished schools, government offices understaffed with shorter hours, streets and other infrastructure in poor repair.

Prop. 13 needs fixing to fairly serve all.

Ruby MacDonaldEl Cerrito

Feds overreach withtalk of gas stove ban

The federal government wants to ban gas stoves. I have a stove with an electric oven and gas burners.

I don’t like cooking with electric burners. It’s difficult to regulate the heat; with gas burners it’s so much easier. Gov. Gavin Newsom also wanted to do that but not for restaurants. The government always wants to come after the little guy and make our lives more difficult.

It’s bad enough already with inflation and high gas, food and energy prices. They blame everything on climate change. Enough is enough.

Cathy LedbetterNewark

The U.S. should joinnuclear weapons treaty

Jan. 22 is a historic day. It’s the day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force in 2021, aka the “Ban-aversary.”

This year, over 100 events across the country (including in Livermore) will celebrate the treaty with banner hangings, bell-ringings, visits and letters to elected officials, public readings of the treaty, and more.

U.S. leaders have long said we will lead the way to nuclear abolition. It’s time to make that promise real — join the treaty and lift the nuclear shadow that looms over the world.

Scott YundtLivermore

Letter is wrong to paintthe GOP as a monolith

Re. “Let’s celebrate heroes of the Jan. 6 breach,” Page A6, Jan. 11:

Thanks to Sandy White, I know who I am.

I bicycle everywhere (to save lives and the planet) and maxed out my solar. I’m not “rich” but donate 15% of my gross income to charities, regardless of whether they lean “left” or “right.” They all help people.

She proclaims “Let’s remind everyone which party (Republicans) tried to destroy our democracy and which party (Democrats) saved it.” She implies the five deaths of Jan. 6 (three by natural causes) are comparable to the 2,403 who died at Pearl Harbor — a true “day of infamy.” This veteran disagrees.

Who am I? A Republican. Therefore I am also a “Destroyer of Democracy.” She mentions no exceptions.

We are individuals, not a mindless collective. I consider ridiculous generalizations and uncompromising narratives (like hers) to be the true “Destroyers.” Obi-Wan Kenobi observed, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” Sandy, welcome to the Dark Side.

Stacy SpinkCastro Valley

]]> https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/12/letters-1115/feed/ 0 8715206 2023-01-12T16:30:54+00:00 2023-01-13T03:56:52+00:00 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/11/dark-dreary-bay-area-weather-is-expected-to-last-into-next-week/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/11/dark-dreary-bay-area-weather-is-expected-to-last-into-next-week/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2023 19:24:41 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8712538&preview=true&preview_id=8712538 Don’t be fooled by Thursday’s lull.

The eighth and ninth storms to target California since Christmas are on the way this holiday weekend, making for volatile and treacherous conditions from the Bay Area to the Sierra.

The storms themselves won’t be as intense as those that devastated communities in the Santa Cruz mountains and along the beaches over the past week, but with rivers running high and soils already saturated, more flooding and mudslides are predicted across California. The Salinas River in southern Monterey County in particular is expected to flood Friday.

“We definitely appreciate the bounty, but we wish it was spread out over a longer period,” Jeff Lorber, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Wednesday.

So much snow has fallen already this season that sensors are registering what is considered the “full seasonal snowpack” normally expected by April 1, state climatologist Michael Anderson told reporters during a news briefing Wednesday. It’s still too soon to say whether the snowpack levels will hold until then, but if they do, they could provide ample snowmelt to continue to fill the reservoirs this spring and summer.

Kevin “Coop” Cooper, a longtime Tahoe area ski condition reporter and resort marketing consultant, said the abundant snow is a welcome change after several lean snow years during the state’s drought.

“Right now, I’m looking out of my house and it’s snowing lightly. We’re seeing a nice new amount of snow, temperatures are dropping,” he said Wednesday. “After my 30 years up here, this is one of the best MLK weekends we’ve seen in a long time.”

But that comes with a catch.

Video: California storms drop hail in the Bay Area, cause rockslides, sinkholes and more

With heavy snow and high winds predicted in the Sierra through the weekend, getting to the mountains could be dangerous. Travel in vulnerable areas, especially the Sierra, is not advised from Friday afternoon through Saturday, Lorber said, “when the winds and the rainfall will be at their peak.” The ninth storm is expected to roar in late Sunday through Tuesday.

It’s the kind of warning that weekend warriors amped to hit the Sierra slopes don’t like to heed.

“Fresh snow is like going through butter,” said Andrew Pham, 22, who stopped at Helm of Sun Valley ski shop in San Jose to attach bindings to his new snowboard and is planning to drive up Friday. “When you’re the first one on it, ooh.”

By Wednesday, snowpack levels reached 226% of average for this time of year, beating out 2005 which was 206% of average. All that fresh snow is giving experts reason to feel optimistic that drought conditions that have gripped the Golden State for three years could meaningfully ease by the end of the snowy season.

“The fact that we’re continuing to get this precipitation is just absolutely fantastic,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory near Donner Summit. “It’s still unlikely that we’re going to get completely out of this drought in a single year. But if the storm door stays open… we can put a serious dent in it.”

As of Wednesday, major Northern California reservoirs have registered “impressive gains,” Anderson, the state climatologist, said. But there’s still plenty of catching up to do. Lake Don Pedro east of Modesto is at 69% capacity, for instance, and San Luis Reservoir southeast of the Bay Area, which has risen 35 feet since Dec. 1, is 40% full. The Shasta and Oroville reservoirs, the behemoths of California’s water system, are at 42% and 47% respectively. Lake Oroville has risen more than 90 feet since Dec. 1, surpassing its 2021 and 2022 levels.

“We’ve had quite a deficit because of the drought,” said Molly White, principal engineer with the state water board. “So we’re seeing steep inclines right now in storage, and hope that continues.”

In the Bay Area, Mount Umunhum in Santa Cruz County registered the highest rainfall total in the 24 hours leading to 10 a.m. Wednesday — 1.03 inches. Concord recorded 0.97 inches of rain. About six-tenths of an inch fell in Los Gatos; a quarter-inch fell at Ben Lomond, and two-tenths of an inch fell in San Jose and at the San Francisco International Airport.

In Tahoe, business is booming at ski resorts, despite struggles to keep lifts operational as a series of snow storms continues to plow through the Sierras. So much snow has accumulated in the Sierras already that ski resorts are having to keep track of avalanche risk hour-by-hour.

Mark McLaughlin, the so-called “storm king” who keeps track of Sierra conditions, said he listened to the concussive pounding Wednesday morning of cannons pelting the mountain sides of the Palisades Tahoe resort to trigger avalanches to improve safety before skiers arrive.

“I bet you I heard 20 of them this morning, 20 blasts,” McLaughlin said Wednesday.

John O’Connell, spokesman for Caltrans in the Lake Tahoe area, recommended that skiers from the Bay Area hit the road Thursday if they can, as the storm may arrive earlier Friday than initially expected. They should be prepared to put chains on their car tires unless they have four-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicles with tires designed for rain and snow. Either way, if there are chain controls due to ice and snow, vehicles should drive no faster than 30 mph, he said. And temporary road closures are possible during the snowstorms.

“We recommend people bring blankets, bottled water and snacks, have their phone charged up and a full tank of gas,” O’Connell said. “If we do have to hold traffic, you might be stuck up there in traffic that’s not moving for a little bit. We just want people to be prepared.”

Pham, who was tuning up his snowboard in San Jose on Wednesday, is still hoping to hit that fresh snow.

“But Dad called and said the storm is coming and I shouldn’t go,” he said. “So I guess I’m 50/50. But it would probably be worth it.”

Staff writer Scooty Nickerson contributed to this story.

The attack resulted in the disclosure of over 120,000 files related to BART’s police force operations. Among the documents, which were posted on a dark web site, were at least six unredacted reports detailing suspected child abuse, driver’s license numbers, and mental health evaluations, according to a review from NBC News. The files include personal information of the children and alleged abusers in some cases.

The hackers made “multiple sophisticated attempts” on BART’s network, the memo from BART Chief of Police Ed Alvarez said.

“Most of these attempts were unsuccessful,” Alvarez said. “Unfortunately, the attackers were able to exfiltrate less than 1% of the District’s internal business records.”

This hack did not include rider databases or financial records, according to a separate email sent to BART’s board of directors.

The hack was perpetrated by Vice Society, a notorious Russian criminal group that has targeted schools, hospitals, and public agencies around the world with ransomware attacks, according to Alvarez’s memo. Last week Brett Callow, a cybersecurity analyst at Emsisoft, said the group listed BART as the target of an attack.

“It’s often the case that other people scrape the data,” said Callow, in an interview. “Once the data is posted on these sites there is no way of knowing where it will end up or what other people may do with it.”

In an initial statement on Tuesday, BART spokesperson Alicia Trost said the agency is “investigating the data that has been posted.”

“To be clear, no BART services or internal business systems have been impacted,” she said. “As with other government agencies, we are taking all necessary precautions to respond.”

A summary of the incident provided to BART board members and the media, said the agency worked in consultation with state and federal law enforcement and outside cybersecurity experts after detecting the attack. A BART spokesperson declined to provide further details of the attack or if there was any attempt to negotiate a ransom with the hackers.

BART said it contracted with a data forensics firm to identify personal information disclosed in the hack and notify impacted individuals.

The following totals from the National Weather Service are from Saturday, Jan. 7 — when rain began in the evening for most of the Bay Area — through 6 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 12. They are raw numbers, not yet checked for quality control.

The site of the greatest reading, Uvas Canyon, is at 1,100 feet elevation near the Casa Loma fire station, about 2 miles east of Loma Prieta.

Higher totals were reported to the south: Mining Ridge, at 3,288 feet elevation in Big Sur, had 21 inches.

Find the chart for the previous week of rain here.

The dogs were found inside a home in North Livermore after police became aware of their living conditions.

Police said conditions inside the home were filthy and that many of the dogs were found in crates with no food or water.

Animal services officers from Livermore and Pleasanton, along with a community service specialist from Livermore, determined that the man who owned the home was hoarding the dogs and was unable to care for them, authorities said.

The homeowner’s name was not released. Police said the case was under review by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

The dogs were ultimately transported to the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin. At the shelter, the dogs were vaccinated, had their nails trimmed and were placed in clean cages.

One dog needed emergency medical treatment; that animal has already been placed in a new home. None of the dogs have died, authorities said Friday.

Fifteen dogs are at the Oakland Animal Shelter, 12 are at the the Dublin SPCA and approximately 10 are at the Valley Humane Society. Twelve dogs remain at the East County Animal Shelter.

Anyone interested in adopting one of the dogs or making a financial donation toward their care may call the East County Animal shelter at 925-803-7040, Oakland Animal Services at 510-535-5602, East Bay SPCA at 925-479-9670, and Valley Human Society at 925-426-8656.

Parts of the Santa Cruz County city are under a flood advisory, and Rodrigues remembered well the damage caused by past floods in the area and wanted to make sure his community is ready.

“We’re sort of a meeting place for people when they talk about what’s going on in other parts of the neighborhood,” Rodrigues said. “Obviously there’s a lot of worried people.”

As yet another winter storm rolled into the rain-soaked greater Bay Area this weekend, the region again braced for dangerous winds and mudslides, followed by potentially widespread flooding early next week when a more powerful atmospheric river weather pattern was expected to arrive.

Rivers and creeks will be at the greatest risk of cresting their banks Monday and into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Severe flooding in other low-lying areas also is a concern then as the heaviest rains are set to fall.

“If you know of areas that saw flooding” from recent storms, said weather service meteorologist Brayden Murdock, “odds are with Monday’s system, you’re going to be seeing that again.”

Saturday’s rains began pouring over the North Bay in the morning before making their way south in the afternoon through the Bay Area and into Santa Cruz and Monterey, amid ominous signs of what lies ahead.

ABC meteorologist Drew Tuma reported sightings based on observer photos of asperitas clouds, a distinctive, unusual and only recently classified cloud formation with an appearance of rippling waves often associated with unstable weather.

If you’re wondering what the wavy clouds are moving through the Bay Area they are Asperitas Clouds. Not a very common cloud to see, indicates an unstable atmosphere, can be quite turbulent to fly through. https://t.co/QjtxbwJjv9

— Drew Tuma (@DrewTumaABC7) January 7, 2023

And climate scientist Daniel Swain reported unusual organized thunderstorm clusters on satellite imagery over the Pacific Ocean heading toward California and said there “could be quite a lot of thunderstorm activity.”

An unusual feature conspicuous on satellite imagery this morning over Pacific west of CA: multiple, seemingly organized thunderstorm clusters over the ocean headed eastward toward California (& not just along front). Will be interesting to see how this evolves later today. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/SrWTAolufh

— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) January 7, 2023

Even before the next storm hits, booming wind gusts of up to 60 mph threaten to topple trees and take out power lines across the region this weekend.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Alameda County firefighters rescued someone who had been trapped in a home on Sandy Road in Castro Valley after a large eucalyptus tree fell on it. The person was transported to a nearby hospital to be treated for injuries, while two adults and four children also were displaced.

At 3:53PM, ACFD responded to an EMS call that was upgraded to a rescue due to a large eucalyptus tree that fell on a home on Sandy Rd in Castro Valley. FF’s rescued 1 person who was trapped inside the home and then transported to a nearby hospital to be treated for injuries. Cont pic.twitter.com/n6hZASamjg

— Alameda County Fire (@AlamedaCoFire) January 8, 2023

In Palo Alto, nearly 700 PG&E customers from Crescent Park to the St. Francis area lost power due to the storm, with power expected to be restored by midnight, Palo Alto police reported. Elsewhere, the utility was dealing with reports of minor power outages across the Bay Area, mostly affecting fewer than 50 customers.

And after a week of relentless rainfall, mudslides and debris flows are a top concern, especially in areas burned by wildfires in recent years. A series of recent storms across California already have knocked out power to thousands, flooded streets, battered the coastline and caused at least six deaths. The storms won’t be enough to officially end the state’s ongoing drought but they have helped.

Across the greater Bay Area on Saturday, residents and officials prepared for the punishing weather ahead.

In the North Bay, Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman was helping mobile home residents near the Russian River pack up their trailers as the water rose higher.

“People who live here know what to expect, and they’re getting ready for it,” said Baxman.

Not far away along the coast, Sonoma County opened a community support center at Fort Ross State Historic Park, 19005 Coast Highway in Jenner. The county also has an emergency shelter at the E.C. Kraft Building at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa for up to 60 people, county officials said.

Saturday’s storm was expected to bring half an inch to 2 inches of rain for most of the Bay Area and up to 4 inches in the mountains. The North Bay was expected to be the wettest, with between 4 to 6 inches of rain. Meanwhile, wind gusts throughout the region were forecast to reach up to 60 mph, and even higher at mountain peaks.

After a brief dry spell Sunday afternoon, the more potent second storm is set to arrive later that night and last through Tuesday morning, dumping between 2 and 6 inches across the Bay Area and up to 8 inches in higher elevations.

Even San Jose could see about 2 inches of rain in the coming days, unusual for an area that’s generally in the rain shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains, while Big Sur could get upwards of 11 inches of rain at its highest peaks.

As the rain comes down harder, the threat of floods and mudslides should increase across the region. And major waterways will be at risk of overflowing.

Some creeks and rivers the weather service highlighted for potential flooding include the Russian River near Guerneville; Alameda Creek near Niles Canyon and Sunol, and Arroyo de la Laguna at Verona in Alameda County; and Coyote Creek at Milpitas and at Edenvale, and Pacheco Creek near Dunneville in the South Bay. The San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz County is also at risk of overflowing.

Mandatory evacuation orders are possible in those areas and others at risk of flooding and mudflows.

In Richmond, Mayor Tom Butt said 15 homes in the Seacliff neighborhood are still under evacuation due to mudslide concerns. He said there were no plans for additional evacuation orders but the city would continue monitoring the storm.

“All quiet for a day or so — nothing I can do to stop it,” he said.

“One of the number one things for people to do is to make sure they are signed up for their county alerts,” Bingaman said. “That is going to be the best way to get the info that’s pertinent to them.”

Staff writer Aldo Toledo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.