Category: San Francisco, California Local News

CAZADERO, Calif. (KGO) — In the North Bay, big repairs and major clean-up jobs are happening in communities along the Russian River, where storms over the past two weeks toppled trees and washed away roads.

“My son was sleeping right there, ten feet away, it felt like an earthquake and explosion,” said Mark Weiss.

Mark Weiss from Cazadero, made a stunning discovery over the holidays, a 300-foot tall old growth redwood tree toppling during a storm.

“After 24 years here, you know the sound of a tree falling hitting a structure or car – it didn’t hit anything with people in it,” Weiss added.

MORE: Sonoma County officials warn residents after wastewater leaks into Russian River during flooding

Weiss owns Raymond’s Bakery. The giant tree destroyed the outdoor dining area and part of the kitchen.

“We’ll probably have to jackhammer the foundation, pour a new one, reframe the wall, he said.

Near Monte Rio, a chunk of Highway 116 fell off into the Russian River during heavy rain Monday. Traffic is now reduced to one lane. Caltrans and the fire department say the washout could grow as runoff flows downhill.

“What happened – we went down with a boat, underneath is an eddy it cuts through, just sucking away at the bottom -it’s going to keep sliding,” said Chief Steve Baxman from Monte Rio Fire Department.

VIDEO: Marin Co. residents still recovering after storm, king tides cause devastating flood damage

So much rain fell here during the holidays, bringing flooding, falling trees which damaged a home on Bohemian Highway.

“The problem we’re having now, we had years of drought so we had a lot of dead trees, now they’re filling with water and toppling,” said Baxman.

Signs are posted along the Russian River, warning about raw sewage which spilled into the river this week. It happened after the river overflowed at a sewage treatment plant in Guerneville. The spill has now been stopped, water testing is happening.

“As a precaution, we did sampling. All of our samples have come back good, at no time has the water been impacted,” said Eric Schanz, General Manager, Sweetwater Springs Water District.

Caltrans says repairs on the washed-out portion of Highway 116 could take up to a year.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will declare his state a blueprint for the rest of the nation during his final State of the State on Thursday, saying it stands in stark contrast to a chaotic federal government run by Republican President Donald Trump.

“We face an assault on our values unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime,” the Democrat plans to say, according to excerpts previewing his speech released by his office.

Newsom is conscious of his legacy as he marches toward the conclusion of his eight years governing the nation’s most populous state and eyes a presidential run in 2028. In the speech, he plans to highlight California’s work fighting homelessness, crime and high health care costs, according to his office. He’ll call on the state to go after large investors buying up affordable homes, saying the practice is “putting pressure on rents and crushing dreams of homeownership.”

Over the years he has used the State of the State to tout California’s economic growth and technological innovation and defend the state against criticism over its high cost of living and largest homeless population in the country. He has jabbed at Trump and warned that his administration would threaten the state’s progressive policies.

This year, he’ll echo those remarks and deride critics as suffering from “California Derangement Syndrome,” a reference to Trump’s use of the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome” to call out his political opponents.

The speech comes a day after the state marked a year since the devastating Los Angeles-area fires erupted, ripping through neighborhoods and killing 31 people.

In the months since, Newsom has asked Congress and Trump for billions of dollars in funding to help the region recover from the blazes, some of the most destructive in state history. Trump has not answered that call – one of the many disputes between him and the governor during his first year back in the presidency.

The two have sparred over everything from Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in L.A. to the federal government’s blocking of California’s first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

The state has sued the Trump administration more than 50 times, and Newsom has called Trump a threat to democracy, leading a redistricting fight to improve Democrats’ chances of winning control of the House in this year’s midterm elections.

The speech comes a day before he is set to unveil his proposed budget for the next fiscal year after years facing budget shortfalls.

Newsom has spent the past seven years trying to solve some of California’s most relentless issues, including the impacts of climate change, the state’s homelessness crisis, and its high gas and utility prices.

Newsom will tout the state’s work on key issues

The governor will announce that unsheltered homelessness in California dropped 9% last year. His office didn’t immediately provide the data to back up the decrease.

He will highlight the state’s cleanup work from the L.A.-area fires and its push to provide mortgage relief to survivors, while noting “we need to turbo-charge our efforts” to rebuild communities.

He previously requested that Trump send the state nearly $34 billion in disaster aid to recover from the fires. He’ll criticize Trump for refusing to meet that ask.

Newsom plans to celebrate homicide rates being at their lowest in decades in Oakland and San Francisco. He’ll cite the $267 million in funding the state sent to law enforcement agencies across the state in 2023 to help them fight retail and property crime. He’ll tout the California Highway Patrol’s work to curb crime in Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Stockton and other cities.

His first in-person speech in years

This is the first time Newsom has delivered the State of the State to lawmakers in person since 2022. He has said he does not like formal speeches because his dyslexia makes it difficult to read from a teleprompter in live time.

Instead he has submitted a written address to lawmakers in the years since, fulfilling a constitutional requirement that he report to the Legislature in some form.

He also tried other approaches that have departed from tradition, including posting a prerecorded speech online and touring the state to announce policies aimed at tackling homelessness and mental health crises.

Under the state constitution, Newsom is barred from seeking a third term.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Crowds protested outside of the ICE building in downtown San Francisco in response to the shooting death of a 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

The rally started at the ICE San Francisco federal building on Sansome, where speakers with various organizations including Indivisible SF, took turns sharing their message in front of the crowd.

“Minneapolis is suffering today and we mourn them,” said one speaker, who identified as a nurse in the city.

RELATED: 37-year-old-woman killed in ICE-involved Minneapolis shooting identified

Demonstrators chanted back, holding up signs with their messages, protesting ICE and even the United States’ recent military operation in Venezuela.

After the speeches, the group marched toward the Civic Center, where the rally concluded.

One man from Oakland said once he heard about what happened in Minneapolis, he knew he had to come.

“Well I think it’s a terribly atrocity,” said Conrad. “I think it was inevitable.”

Nohemi Torres of San Francisco also decided to come out.

“Even though it didn’t take place here,” said Torres. “It’s really important to show up for the people who are standing for their community.”

The woman killed has been identified as Renee Nicole Good by the Minneapolis City Council.

Authorities say Good was in her car when she shot by an ICE agent when she started driving towards him. She later died.