At 36, Adam Schiff was the youngest member of the California State Senate when he took office in 1996. He was sworn in last week as California's 48th United States Senator.
Throughout California right now, people are being sworn into office—some for the first time, and others in the midst of long careers. It's an annual rite of democracy. In city council chambers and those of boards of supervisors, in offices of school boards and directors of public hospitals—anywhere public money is being spent, the recently-elected guardians of the public trust are taking oaths of office.
On the floor of the US Senate, Adam Schiff was sworn in last week as the 48th person to represent our state in that august body. Schiff took his first oath of office in the California State Senate 28 years ago, and went on to build a career as a bipartisan dealmaker—not as the firebrand who has spent recent years in the national spotlight. Here's a quick read.
But first: Happy Hollidays from the capital of California! Below, as always, you can find one-click links to stories from trusted news sources about the most important stuff happening in your community, and—a recipe to make the season brighter and tastier.
CARE Courts in the News
Sacramento County last week announced the expansion of the CARE court program to provide treatment to homeless residents with psychiatric issues. California now offers access to Community, Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment courts in all 58 counties—the law creating these courts was launched in seven counties just last year. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that "California's CARE Courts are falling short." Here, Jonathan Vankin explains how this controversial humanitarian effort came to pass.
Farewell to Bruce Bratton
Chris here, mourning the death of Santa Cruz's "perennial gadfly," Bruce Bratton, who passed away a few days ago having completed 90 orbits around the sun.
I was acquainted with Bruce for several decades, and often saw him walking out and about in Santa Cruz or holding court over coffee somewhere. He was a local institution, and he will be missed.
Read more about this remarkable curmudgeon in this Good Times article by Christina Waters.
• Why Didn't Scotts Valley Get a Tornado Warning?
Lookout Local asked a meteorologist to learn why the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for San Francisco, where a tornado failed to appear, and not Scotts Valley, where a tornado touched down on December 14. Read on to learn the answer.
(12/17/2024) → Lookout Local
• Tornado in Scotts Valley!
Read on to learn more about the tornado in Scotts Valley on Saturday afternoon, causing injuries, flipping cars and closing Mount Herman Road.
(12/14/2024) → Lookout Local
• County Brings CZU Rebuild Permitting In-House
In their meeting on December 10, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to end a third-party contract for rebuild permitting of CZU wildfire destroyed housing and bring the work in-house. Read on about concerns about how already overtaxed planning staff will handle the additional workload.
(12/10/2024) → Lookout Local
• California Workforce Fund Targets Programs Solving Problems
Child care centers throughout California struggled to find people with the right credentials to look after their babies, toddlers and preschoolers. At the same time, many people who wanted to become early childhood educators faced difficulties in earning the credentials.
(12/17/2024) → CalMatters
• Newsom Pushes New Reservoir Project
In a December 10 press conference, Governor Newsom urged lawmakers to press forward in building the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County. Read on to learn more about the project, the largest new reservoirs to be built in California in the last 50 years.
(12/10/2024) → The Mercury News
At 36, Adam Schiff was the youngest member of the California State Senate when he took office in 1996. He was sworn in last week as California's 48th United States Senator.
