Welcome to my office. On nice mornings, anyway, I'll do my prep work for The KFBK Afternoon News in my back yard---a mug of coffee, a laptop, Cristina Mendonsa and Sam Shane on The KFBK Morning News streaming on the iHeartRadio app and a full inbox from overnight. Let's see what's new in our state and our world today:
- Yesterday was hot. Today will be hotter. 104 is the predicted high in Sacramento today, and I'll remind you again---this is the kind of weather where people get heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Stay out of the sun as much as possible. Seek shade, and better yet, air conditioning. Drink plenty of water. Wear light, loose-fitting clothing.
- It could be worse. Stockton and Fresno will see 105 today, Bakersfield 107, Palm Springs 113 and Death Valley 114.
- Even the cooler places are warm. South Lake Tahoe will hit 81 today, San Francisco 82, Truckee 84 and San Jose 96.
- The City of Tracy, expecting 106 today, has opened cooling centers for its residents at the Tracy Library, Transit Center, the Larch-Clover Community Center and the West Valley Mall.
- It looks like we'll cool back into the 90s tomorrow and for the next few days, but summer is here and we will see triple digits, low humidity and high winds---all the things that PG&E says could cause it to pre-emptively shut off power, possibly for days at a time, to prevent wildfires. You can sign up for alerts to get notice when PG&E plans to do that where you live.
- Meantime, whatever you think of PG&E, the corporation, the human beings who work for it are increasingly becoming targets of abuse and assault.
- That whole "days at a time" thing has people looking at emergency generators for their homes. But while a few hundred dollars might buy a portable generator that can keep the freezer and a few lights on, something that will keep the air conditioning on during a heatwave is several thousand dollars, a permanent installation, and requires permits from the local building authority. Blowing off those permits could cost you when it comes time to sell your house. We'll go in-depth on that on The KFBK Afternoon News today.
- This just hit the inbox as I'm writing: SACRAMENTO – TODAY, Tuesday, June 11th, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will host a press call to make a major announcement impacting Californians across the state, as well as Americans around the nation. It's scheduled for 11 this morning. We'll have updates on News 93.1-KFBK.
- The search continues for Davey G. Johnson, an automotive journalist who writes for Car and Driver and Motorcyclist Magazine. He's from Sacramento, was on a test bike from Las Vegas to here, crossed Sonora Pass and was last heard from June 5. The bike and Davey's belongings were found at a rest area near Mokelumne Hill. Last night, searchers discovered his wallet on a second pass through of his motorcycle pants pockets. The fear is that he's been swept away by the 35-45 mile per hour current of the river that runs through that rest area.
- Bad news if you're one of the one in three adults in the U.S. who is affected by shingles, the painful lingering side-effect of having had chickenpox either in childhood or as an adult (I had it at 46). The shingles vaccine is in short supply. We'll have more on why that's happening and what you can do today between 4 and 7.
- A partial settlement to the saga of CalPERS retirees up in Loyalton. The town, financially strapped, stopped paying into the state employees retirement fund, so CalPERS stopped paying the retirement benefits.
- On the heels of sexual assault allegations against the campus gynecologist at USC, UCLA's former campus gynecologist has been arrested on charges of sexual exploitation and battery.
- Another touchstone of childhood for a generation of Californians is gone. Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor closed its last location in Brea (Southern California) without any notice. The most recent Sacramento location closed in 2016. While most Californians have happy memories of Farrell's, it was associated with tragedy here. A jet taking off from Sacramento Executive Airport crashed into the Farrell's in the Crossroads Center on September 24, 1972, killing 12 adults, ten children and injuring 25 other people.
Let me hear from you on these stories or others. There's a "comment" button at the bottom.
I hope you'll join Kitty and me today from 4:00 to 7:00 on The KFBK Afternoon News at 93.1 FM, 1530 AM and on the iHeartRadio app.