- California Braces for Another ‘Significant’ Atmospheric River The New York Times
- Severe storms to batter East and West coast as California faces risk of flash flooding and snow AOL
- Treacherous flooding is about to get worse in California as another atmospheric river closes in on storm-battered residents CNN
- Nor’easter to Batter East Coast With Snow and Rain as Atmospheric River Pummels California The Wall Street Journal
- Severe storms to batter East and West coasts as California faces risk of flash flooding and snow msnNOW
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Tag Archives: braces
As ice storm continues in the South, the Northeast braces for dangerously frigid temperatures
CNN
—
As tens of thousands remain without power in Texas on Thursday amid frigid temperatures and icy roads, the Northeast is bracing for a blast of bitterly cold air that could feel well below freezing.
Texas has been bearing the brunt of a dangerous ice storm that dumped several rounds of sleet and freezing rain, causing life-threatening road conditions in surrounding states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Memphis area in Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Texas reported a third person had died during the storm after losing control of her truck on an icy road north of Eldorado. One person was killed in Austin in a 10-car pileup, and another person died after their car rolled over in the Dallas-area city of Arlington, officials said.
And while Thursday is expected to bring some relief from the deadly storm as temperatures slowly rise, the piling of multiple layers of ice and sleet has snapped tree branches and limbs and led to power outages for more than 360,000 homes and businesses in Texas. That means thousands of people likely don’t have proper heating or hot water as ice coats the ground.
Overnight into early Thursday, an additional quarter inch of ice could possibly glaze already slippery roads, particularly in central and northern Texas, southern Oklahoma and Arkansas.
“This will bring storm total ice accretions to over 0.5” for many locations which will raise the risk for significant tree damage and power outages, in addition to icy, dangerous roads. Sleet may also mix in at times with the freezing rain which will increase the chances for icing on the roadways,” the National Weather Service said.
By late Thursday night, the Northeast could begin feeling temperatures below zero from a separate winter storm, prompting officials in several states to announce preparations.
In Connecticut, the governor activated the state’s severe cold weather protocol beginning noon Thursday through the weekend.
“With the kind of severe cold weather that is headed our way, frostbite can develop on exposed skin in under 30 minutes. Spending long periods of time outdoors in these conditions is not only harmful, it can be fatal,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
The governor added that shelters and warming centers are available across Connecticut, and transportation can be provided when needed.
Similarly, warming centers are expected to be available in Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont, officials said.
In Boston, the mayor declared a cold emergency in the city for Friday through Sunday ahead of the severely cold weather.
“I urge all Boston residents to take precautions, stay warm and safe, and check on your neighbors during this cold emergency,” Mayor Michelle Wu said.
More than 15 million people are expected to be under a wind chill watch or warning in the Northeast beginning either Thursday night or Friday morning through at least Saturday afternoon.
The National Weather Service issues a wind chill warning when the air is expected to feel -25 degrees Fahrenheit or colder.
The impending wind chill alerts would apply to all of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, northern Connecticut, much of eastern and central New York and northeast Pennsylvania.
“The air mass descending on the area Friday into Friday night is the coldest air currently in the Northern Hemisphere,” National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, warned.
The cold air is on a path to move into the Northeast Thursday night and Friday, with the coldest period coming Friday night and Saturday morning, as temperatures fall below zero.
The northern portion of New England will see temperatures drop to 15 to 25 degrees below zero. Plus, the frigid temperatures will be joined by winds of 25 to 40 mph, making air in areas as far south as New York City feel -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Avoid any outdoor activities on Friday and Saturday! Cold temperatures paired with the wind chill factor could lead to potentially life-threatening conditions outdoors,” the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, northern New York and northern New England will feel like -35 to -50 degrees Fahrenheit with some locations experiencing wind chills as cold as 65 degrees below zero. These extreme conditions can cause frostbite in as little as five minutes.
The cold blast is expected to be brief, with temperatures rising across most of the region by Sunday afternoon.
Ukraine Braces for Major Russian Offensive
Russia is preparing to launch a major new offensive against Ukraine in the coming weeks, a top Ukrainian security official said, adding to mounting concerns in Kyiv and the West that the Kremlin is preparing a renewed push to seize large areas of the country.
“Russia is preparing for maximum escalation,” said
Oleksiy Danilov,
the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, in an interview with Sky News published online early Wednesday local time. “It is gathering everything possible, doing drills and training.”
The warning comes after weeks in which Ukrainian and Western officials have pointed to the risk of a possible new offensive by Russia in the months ahead. Within Russia, the military is under pressure to regain battlefield momentum after it lost broad swaths of territory to a Ukrainian offensive during the second half of last year. Ukraine’s forces recaptured large areas of the country seized by Russia earlier in the year, including Kherson, the only regional capital occupied by the Kremlin’s military.
Since the Ukrainian military’s offensive, the front lines of the conflict have become largely static, with Russia making incremental gains around the small city of Bakhmut. It has become a central battlefield in the war, with Russia sending wave upon wave of newly recruited soldiers to the front line.
Russia mobilized roughly 300,000 additional soldiers starting last September in what the Russian government termed a partial mobilization of reservists. Mr. Danilov said that he expected more than half of those newly mobilized soldiers would be used in any new offensive.
Mr. Danilov also said that a new Russian assault could coincide with the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country on Feb. 24, 2022.
A Ukrainian serviceman entered a shelter near a front-line position in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine at the end of January.
Photo:
yasuyoshi chiba/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
said separately on Tuesday evening that he has been discussing with senior officials plans to thwart any new attempt by Russia to reverse its battlefield losses in Ukraine.
“We are studying the situation in detail in all major operational directions and in the long term. What the occupier is preparing for, and how we are already responding to Russia’s preparations for a revanche attempt,” he said in his nightly address to the nation.
In recent weeks Ukrainian officials have coupled warnings of a new Russian offensive with calls for Western countries to supply more weapons that could help counter a renewed attack. Following a decision last week by the U.S., Germany and other countries to provide Ukraine with at least 120 main battle tanks, Ukrainian officials have called for jet fighters. President Biden said on Monday that the U.S. wouldn’t provide F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, although he didn’t put a time frame on the prohibition.
Separately, Ukraine’s top prosecutor announced a slew of corruption cases against former senior Ukrainian officials on Wednesday. In a post on Facebook,
Andriy Kostin
said his office had officially notified six former top officials at the ministry of defense and other institutions of the cases. The accusations against them range from misuse of funds to embezzling and accepting bribes.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Mr. Zelensky fired nearly a dozen senior officials in an effort to prevent and clamp down on corruption. The crackdown is seen as critical to his efforts to ensure the continued flow of Western military and financial support. Ordinary Ukrainians, who are fighting and dying by the thousands in the war, have also insisted on an end to corruption in the country.
“Corruption in war is looting!” said Mr. Kostin. “My signal to all officials at all levels, wherever they are: there will be no return to the past.”
Fighting raged in Ukraine’s east, the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday morning, with Ukrainian forces repelling Russian attacks in at least eight separate areas in the Donetsk region, including around Bakhmut, where Ukrainian troops have held out against overwhelming Russian firepower for more than six months. Ukraine’s military general staff said in an update on the fighting posted on Facebook that it inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces in the east.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday said that Russian forces had eliminated Ukrainian units and fighting vehicles in the Donetsk region.
Outside of Bakhmut, Russian forces last month captured the nearby mining town of Soledar, raising fears that Russia’s mobilization of reservists was beginning to help it reclaim the military initiative in an area that has become highly symbolic and costly for both sides, although with uncertain strategic value on the battlefield.
Russia also continued lethal shelling of the city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces recaptured in November, local officials said. The region’s military administration said in a morning update on Wednesday that one person had been killed and another injured as Russian forces launched 42 separate mortar and rocket attacks on the area over the past day.
Russia has made incremental gains around Bakhmut, a Ukrainian city that has become a central battlefield in the war.
Photo:
Emanuele Satolli for The Wall Street Journal
The British Defense Ministry said Wednesday morning that Kherson “remains the most consistently shelled large Ukrainian city outside of the Donbas,” though Russia’s rationale for expending ammunition there remained unclear.
“Commanders are likely partially aiming to degrade civilian morale and to deter any Ukrainian counter-attacks across the Dnipro River,” the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
Ukraine’s recapture of Kherson was one of the most important symbolic defeats for the Kremlin in the entire war, providing a psychological boost for Ukrainian forces and a strategic victory in Ukraine’s push to retake its critical port cities along the Black Sea. Ukrainian officials have also said they have been striking in Russian-occupied territory south of the Dnipro river, which flows past the city of Kherson, since November.
Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com
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Tyre Nichols death: 5 former Memphis officers indicted on murder and kidnapping charges as nation braces for release of police video
CNN
—
Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday.
The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said.
Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.
The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.
Police nationwide have been under scrutiny for how they treat Black people, particularly since the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the mass protest movement known as Black Lives Matter.
President Joe Biden said Thursday the killing is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all.”
Officials in Memphis have braced for potential civil unrest and have called for peaceful protests ahead of video of the fatal police encounter that’s expected to be publicly released Friday. The local school district also canceled all after-school activities Friday in the “interest of public safety.”
Police departments across the country – including in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Nashville and New York – told CNN they were either monitoring events or already had plans in place in case of protests.
Nichols’ family and attorneys, who were shown the video Monday, said it shows officers severely beating Nichols and compared it to the Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King in 1991. Family attorney Antonio Romanucci told CNN the public should be “prepared” for a disturbing scene, saying it was like an “MMA fight” while Nichols was “helpless, he was defenseless, he was restrained.”
Nichols’ mother Ravaughn Wells, who said she hasn’t been able to watch it, said the video release will be “horrific” but urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” said Wells.
Three of the officers remained in custody at the Shelby County Jail Thursday night. Bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Mills, 32, and Smith, 28, posted $250,000 bond Thursday evening and were released, according to jail records.
In a joint news conference Thursday afternoon, Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills, and William Massey, Martin’s attorney, said they have not yet watched the video of the police encounter, which is expected to be released to the public Friday.
Ballin described Mills as a “respectful father,” who was “devastated” to be accused in the killing. Mills, previously a jailer in Mississippi and Tennessee. Ballin said he had not spoken to Mills specifically about Nichols.
Martin also intended to post bond and will also plead not guilty, his attorney said. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.
Other officers’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Live updates on the Tyre Nichols case
Video of the fatal police encounter, a mix of body-camera and pole-cam video, is expected to be released publicly after 6 p.m. Friday, Mulroy said.
Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday night, Mulroy said that while he can’t definitively say what caused the encounter to escalate, the video shows that the officers were “already highly charged up” from the start of the video and “it just escalated further from there.”
The video doesn’t capture the beginning of the altercation between the officers and Nichols but rather “cuts in as the first encounter is in progress,” Mulroy said.
“What struck me (about the video) is how many different incidents of unwarranted force occurred sporadically by different individuals over a long period of time,” the district attorney added.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the fatal encounter was not proper policing.
“I’m sickened by what I saw and what we’ve learned from our extensive and thorough investigation,” he said. “I’ve seen the video, and as DA Mulroy stated, you will too. In a word, it’s absolutely appalling.”
On Thursday, family attorneys Ben Crump and Romanucci said, “The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre.”
The five Memphis police officers, who are also Black, were fired last week for violating policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said.
In a YouTube video released late Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the officers’ actions and called for peaceful protests when the arrest video is released.
“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Davis said in the video, her first on-camera comments about the arrest. “This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
The five terminated officers all joined the department in the last six years, according to police. Other Memphis police officers are still under investigation for department policy violations related to the incident, the chief said.
In a statement posted Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city had initiated an “outside, independent review” of the training, policies and operations of the police department’s specialized units. At least two of the officers belonged to one of those special units, according to their attorneys.
Two members of the city’s fire department who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” also were relieved of duty, a fire spokesperson said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.
Mulroy said the investigation is ongoing and there could be further charges going forward.
Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old, had worked with his stepfather at FedEx for about nine months, his family said. He was fond of skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park, hanging out with friends at Starbucks and photographing sunsets, the family said.
His mother said he had her name tattooed on his arm. He also had the digestive issue known as Crohn’s disease and so was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his 6-foot-3-inch height, she said.
On January 7, he was pulled over by Memphis officers on suspicion of reckless driving, police said in their initial statement on the incident. As officers approached the vehicle, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said. The officers pursued him and they had another “confrontation” before he was taken into custody, police said.
Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.
In Memphis police scanner audio, a person says there was “one male Black running” and called to “set up a perimeter.” Another message says “he’s fighting at this time.”
On Thursday, Mulroy offered a few further details, saying the serious injuries occurred at the second confrontation. He also said Nichols was taken away in an ambulance after “some period of time of waiting around.”
Attorneys for Nichols’ family who watched video of the arrest on Monday described it as a heinous police beating that lasted three long minutes. Crump said Nichols was tased, pepper-sprayed and restrained, and Romanucci said he was kicked.
“He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”
Nichols had “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to the attorneys, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned.
Among the charges, the officers were indicted on two counts of aggravated kidnapping: one for possession of a weapon and one for bodily injury.
“At a certain point in the sequence of events, it is our view that this, if it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point, and it was an unlawful detention,” Mulroy said.
Less than a month after the murder of Floyd, the Memphis Police Department amended its duty to intervene policy, according to a copy of the policy sent to CNN by the MPD.
“Any member who directly observes another member engaged in dangerous or criminal conduct or abuse of a subject shall take reasonable action to intervene,” the policy, sent out on June 9, 2020, said.
“A member shall immediately report to the Department any violation of policies and regulations or any other improper conduct which is contrary to the policy, order, or directives of the Department.”
The policy went on to say “this reporting requirement also applies to allegations of uses of force not yet reported.”
Correction: A previous version of this story gave the wrong spelling for the name of one of the arrested officers. According to the indictment, it is Tadarrius Bean. Previous versions of this story also spelled Emmitt Martin’s name incorrectly. This story has also been updated to correct the spelling of RowVaughn Wells’ first name.
GOP lawmakers, NRA slam ATF rule to regulate pistol braces: ‘Unconstitutional overreach’
Republican lawmakers and gun rights groups blasted the Biden administration over a new rule that tightens regulations on pistol stabilizing braces.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) finalized a new regulation Friday that will treat guns with stabilizing accessories like short-barreled rifles, which require a federal license to own under the National Firearms Act.
The move is part of a comprehensive gun crime strategy President Biden announced in April 2021, in response to the massacre at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, where a gunman using a stabilizing brace killed 10 people. A stabilizing brace was also used in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio, that left nine people dead in 2019.
Announcing the rule, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that stabilizing brace accessories, which were designed to help disabled combat veterans enjoy recreational shooting, transform pistols into short-barreled rifles.
“Keeping our communities safe from gun violence is among the Department’s highest priorities,” Garland said. “Almost a century ago, Congress determined that short-barreled rifles must be subject to heightened requirements. Today’s rule makes clear that firearm manufacturers, dealers, and individuals cannot evade these important public safety protections simply by adding accessories to pistols that transform them into short-barreled rifles.”
US AUTHORITIES SAY OVER 100 PEOPLE CHARGED WITH GUN, DRUG CRIMES IN 3 STATES WEDNESDAY
A MCK pistol brace for a handgun is displayed with firearm accessories for sale at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds on June 5, 2021 in Costa Mesa, California.
(PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
“Certain so-called stabilizing braces are designed to just attach to pistols, essentially converting them into short-barreled rifles to be fired from the shoulder,” said ATF Director Steven Dettelbach. “Therefore, they must be treated in the same way under the statute.”
Second Amendment advocates were apoplectic over new requirements for gun owners to register existing pistols equipped with stabilizing braces with the government within 120 days, else they must remove the brace or surrender the firearm to ATF.
“The Biden administration chose to shred the Constitution today,” the National Rifle Association said.
“Joe Biden is an enemy of our Second Amendment,” the group added.
ILLINOIS SHERIFF SAYS HE WILL NOT ARREST PEOPLE SOLELY FOR POSSESSING SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPONS AFTER STATE BAN
Attorney General Merrick Garland names an independent special counsel to probe President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 2023.
(OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Gun Owners of America, which bills itself as the only “no-compromise” gun lobby in Washington, D.C., vowed to file a lawsuit challenging Biden’s new ATF regulation.
“This admin continues to find ways to attack gun owners. We will continue to work with our industry partners to amplify the disapproving voices in the firearms industry and [Gun Owners Foundation], our sister legal arm, will be filing suit in the near future,” said Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America.
“Pres. Biden just initiated the largest federal gun registration scheme in our nation’s history w/o even the passage of a new law. GOA is actively working with Congress to pass a resolution blocking this rule under the Congressional Review Act,” added the organization’s director of federal affairs, Aidan Johnston.
Their cause was taken up by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., who in June 2021 wrote a letter signed by 140 lawmakers expressing opposition to the proposed rule on stabilizing braces.
SUPREME COURT ALLOWS NEW YORK TO ENFORCE RESTRICTIONS ON CONCEALED CARRY OF FIREARMS – FOR NOW
President Biden signs into law S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gun safety bill, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Saturday, June 25, 2022.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
“This rule jeopardizes the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners and disabled combat veterans, which is why I led Members of Congress in opposition,” Hudson said. “I will continue to fight against the ATF’s unconstitutional overreach that could turn millions of citizens into felons.”
ATF, however, says that its new rule does not affect stabilizing braces intended for disabled persons.
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo also condemned the ATF rule. “The ATF’s announced rule on pistol braces today is nothing short of a massive executive branch-imposed gun registration and confiscation scheme,” Crapo tweeted. “This is an unacceptable attack on the Second Amendment and law-abiding Americans.”
Gun control advocates praised the new regulation. Everytown for Gun Safety cheered the ATF’s move, saying gunmakers had exploited loopholes in the law to make firearms more deadly.
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The rule will go into effect next week, at which point gun owners who own a pistol stabilizing brace will need to register the weapon with ATF or remove the accessory.
Officials estimated about 3 million stabilizing braces are currently in circulation in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Biden administration finalizes new rule tightening regulations on gun stabilizing braces
The Biden administration has finalized a new rule to tighten restrictions on stabilizing braces for firearms that can convert pistols into rifles.
The Justice Department said in a release on Friday that it submitted its rule to the Federal Register, clarifying that manufacturers, dealers and individuals must comply with laws regulating rifles when they use stabilizing braces to convert pistols to rifles with a barrel of less than 16 inches, which are known as short-barreled rifles.
The release states that Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to address stabilizing braces in April 2021.
“Almost a century ago, Congress determined that short-barreled rifles must be subject to heightened requirements,” Garland said in the release. “Today’s rule makes clear that firearm manufacturers, dealers, and individuals cannot evade these important public safety protections simply by adding accessories to pistols that transform them into short-barreled rifles.”
The release states the National Firearms Act has placed certain restrictions on short-barreled rifles since the 1930s because they are easier to conceal than long-barreled rifles and have more destructive power than traditional handguns.
The increased requirements include background checks for all transfers and additional taxation.
“This rule enhances public safety and prevents people from circumventing the laws Congress passed almost a century ago,” ATF Director Steven Dettelbach said. “In the days of Al Capone, Congress said back then that short-barreled rifles and sawed-off shotguns should be subjected to greater legal requirements than most other guns.”
But Dettelbach said the stabilizing braces are designed to attach to a pistol to convert it to a short-barreled rifle to be fired from the shoulder.
The release states that the rule allows a 120-day period for manufacturers, dealers and individuals to register any existing short-barreled rifles covered by the rule tax-free. They can also remove the stabilizing brace to restore the firearm to be a pistol, or turn over the converted short-barreled rifles to the ATF.
The release notes that stabilizing braces are not banned under the rule, only that certain restrictions must apply when they are used to convert the pistols.
The Justice Department initially proposed the rule in June 2021, and the ATF received more than 237,000 comments during the 90-day public comment period.
The rule will go into effect on the date that the Federal Register publishes it, which Reuters reported will likely be next week.
California hit by more storms, braces for potential floods
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California was hit with more turbulent weather Sunday as thunderstorms, snow and damaging winds swept into the northern part the state, preceding another series of incoming storms and raising the potential for road flooding, rising rivers and mudslides on soils already saturated after days of rain.
The National Weather Service warned of a “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers” — storms that are long plumes of moisture stretching out into the Pacific capable of dropping staggering amounts of rain and snow.
In the state capital, more than 60,000 customers were still without electricity Sunday evening — down from more than 350,000 — after gusts of 60 mph (97 kph) knocked trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Joey Kleemann was listening to the winds howling shortly after midnight, wondering whether she should move her car, when she heard a “gigantic, thumping, crashing sound” as a massive tree fell onto the Sacramento home where she’s lived for 25 years.
The gusts were strong enough to rip the tree from its roots, pulling the concrete sidewalk up with it.
Cracks in Kleemann’s roof meant rain streamed into her dining area throughout the night. She planned to place a tarp over the damaged area in anticipation of another deluge.
“I just had a feeling with the winds. They were scary winds,” she said. “Mostly I focused on: It could be so much worse.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said 12 people lost their lives as a result of violent weather during the past 10 days, and he warned that this week’s storms could be even more dangerous. He urged people to stay home.
“Just be cautious over the course of the next week, particularly the next day or two or so,” Newsom said during a briefing with California officials outlining the state’s storm preparations.
The weather service’s Sacramento office said the region should brace for the latest atmospheric river to roar ashore late Sunday and early Monday.
“Widespread power outages, downed trees and difficult driving conditions will be possible,” the office said on Twitter.
Evacuation warnings were in place for about 13,000 residents of a flood-prone area of Sonoma County north of San Francisco, where the swollen Russian River was expected to overspill its banks in the coming days.
And Sacramento County ordered evacuations for people living around Wilton, a town of about 6,000 roughly 20 miles southeast of downtown Sacramento, with warnings of imminent flooding. The rural area along the Cosumnes River saw flooding in an earlier storm.
“Residents must leave now before roads become impassable,” the county said.
The state Department of Transportation warned motorists to stay off mountain roads after closing a stretch of U.S. 395 in Mono County, along the Eastern Sierra, due to heavy snow, ice and whiteout conditions.
“With the severe nature of this storm, Caltrans is asking all drivers to limit nonessential travel until the peak of the storm has passed,” the department said in a statement.
The wet weather comes after days of rain in California from Pacific storms that last week knocked out power to thousands, flooded streets, battered the coastline and caused at least six deaths.
The first of the newest, heavier storms prompted the weather service to issue a flood watch for a large swath of Northern and Central California with 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain expected through Wednesday in the already saturated Sacramento-area foothills.
In the Los Angeles region, scattered rain fell during the weekend while stormy conditions were expected to return Monday, with the potential for up to 8 inches (20 cm) in foothill areas. High surf was expected through Tuesday, with large waves on west-facing beaches.
Since Dec. 26, San Francisco has received more than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain, while Mammoth Mountain, a popular ski area in the Eastern Sierra, got nearly 10 feet (3 meters) of snow, the National Weather Service reported.
The storms won’t be enough to officially end California’s ongoing drought — but they have helped.
State climatologist Michael Anderson told a news briefing late Saturday that officials were closely monitoring Monday’s incoming storm and another behind it and were keeping an eye on three other systems farther out in the Pacific.
Winter storm moves across Midwest, Minnesota braces for snow
The busy end of 2022 continues into the start of 2023, as another winter storm is moving across the Midwest. Snow is likely across the Twin Cities Monday night through Tuesday. Ice accumulations are likely south of the metro through the I-90 corridor.
WARNINGS
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from southwest Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro, and into western Wisconsin. This begins Monday afternoon and continues through Tuesday evening. An Ice Storm Warning is in effect in southern Minnesota from Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening. A few counties in central Minnesota and western Wisconsin are under a Winter Weather Advisory Monday evening through Tuesday evening.
TIMELINE
Some scattered snow showers are possible on Monday afternoon, mainly from the Twin Cities to the south. In southern Minnesota, there could be some freezing drizzle mixing with the snow. Any precipitation would be very light through about 6:00 p.m. Monday.
Starting Monday evening, snow will become widespread in the Winter Storm Warning through Monday night. This is also when freezing rain is likely along the I-90 corridor. Most ice accumulations will be between sunset Monday and sunrise Tuesday.
Heavy snow is likely in the Twin Cities metro Tuesday morning, then taper to lighter snow in the afternoon. On and off light snow showers continue Tuesday night, finally coming to an end Wednesday morning.
SNOW AND ICE TOTALS
The heaviest snow is likely from southwest Minnesota into the west metro. 8 to 12 inches are possible in these areas. The south and east metro totals could be anywhere from 4 to 8 inches. Any freezing rain mixing in could keep snow totals on the lower end of that range. There will be a sharp cut-off on the north and south side of the heaviest snow. Totals could be over 8 inches in St. Cloud, then only an inch or two around Brainerd.
Ice accumulations could be significant in parts of southern Minnesota. Up to 0.25″ of ice is possible from Owatonna to Rochester, south into Iowa. As always, ice can make driving very difficult to dangerous at times, but it can also cause power outages. If you are in the Ice Storm Warning, keep this in mind as you prepare for the storm.
WHAT COULD STILL CHANGE?
The forecast confidence is high for heavy snow in southwest Minnesota. There is also high confidence in ice accumulations closer to the I-90 corridor. The difficult part of this forecast is where the change from freezing rain to snow will happen. This is why snow totals in the Twin Cities could still change as we get closer to Tuesday. Regardless, any combination of snow and ice will still be disruptive Monday night through Tuesday.
HOW TO PREPARE
Start thinking about limiting travel on Tuesday, especially if you were planning on driving through southern or southwestern Minnesota. If you have an appointment scheduled, consider rescheduling. Even skilled winter drivers would have problems with this much ice.
Parents, have a plan if kids need to stay home from school on Tuesday.
If you have the time on Monday, make sure you have gas for the snowblower, and that you have enough sand and/or salt.
FORECAST UPDATES
Minnesota’s Weather Authority will continue to update the forecast before the storm on Monday and will take you through it on Tuesday. You can always get the latest updates on KSTP.com and the KSTP Mobile App.
China’s stretched health system braces for peak in COVID infections
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Dec 23 (Reuters) – China is expecting a peak in COVID-19 infections within a week, a health official said, with authorities predicting extra strain on the country’s health system even as they downplay the disease’s severity and continue to report no new deaths.
In the face of a surging outbreak and widespread protests against its “zero-COVID” regime of lockdowns and testing, China began dismantling it this month, becoming the last major country to move towards living with the virus.
Its containment measures had slowed the economy to its lowest growth rate in nearly half a century, jamming global supply chains and trade. As Chinese workers increasingly fall ill, more disruption is expected in the short term before the economy bounces back later next year.
China reported less than 4,000 new symptomatic local COVID cases nationwide for Dec. 22, and no new COVID deaths for a third consecutive day. Authorities have narrowed the criteria for COVID deaths, prompting criticism from many disease experts.
Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, was quoted in Shanghai government-backed news outlet The Paper on Thursday as saying China “is expected to reach the peak of infections within a week.”
“The peak infection will also increase the rate of severe disease, which will have a certain impact on our entire medical resources,” he said, adding the wave will last another one or two months after that.
“We must be mentally prepared that infection is inevitable.”
Nevertheless, Zhang said he had visited nursing homes around Shanghai, noticing the number of elderly dealing with severe symptoms was low.
Worries over the near-term impact of China’s COVID wave pushed stock markets in China (.SSEC), Hong Kong (.HSI) and elsewhere in Asia lower. The yuan also weakened.
Infections in China are likely to be more than a million a day with deaths at more than 5,000 a day, a “stark contrast” from official data, British-based health data firm Airfinity said this week.
A Shanghai hospital has estimated half of the commercial hub’s 25 million people would get infected by the end of next week. Experts say China could face more than a million COVID deaths next year.
UNPREPARED
China’s abrupt change in policy caught a fragile health system unprepared, with hospitals scrambling for beds and blood, pharmacies for drugs and authorities racing to build clinics.
More than a dozen global health experts, epidemiologists, residents and political analysts interviewed by Reuters identified the failure to vaccinate the elderly and communicate an exit strategy to the public, as well as excessive focus on eliminating the virus, as causes of the strain on China’s medical infrastructure.
[1/11] Medics move a patient into a fever clinic at a hospital as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Beijing, December 23, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A drive to vaccinate the elderly that began three weeks ago has yet to bear fruit. China’s overall vaccination rate is above 90% but the rate for adults who have had booster shots drops to 57.9%, and to 42.3% for people aged 80 and older, according to government data.
China spent big on quarantine and testing facilities over the past three years rather than bolstering hospitals and clinics and training medical staff, these people said.
“There is an incredible lack of preparation for the virus coming despite them having … ample warning,” said Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases doctor at Rophi Clinic in Singapore.
China’s National Health Commission did not respond to requests for comment on the criticisms.
The country has nine domestically developed COVID shots approved for use, all seen as less effective than Western-made vaccines that use the new mRNA technology.
A shipment of 11,500 BioNTech (22UAy.DE) mRNA vaccines for German nationals in China have arrived at the German embassy in Beijing, an embassy spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.
The embassy hopes the first doses will be given out “as soon as possible”, the spokesperson said.
NO DATA
The World Health Organization has received no data from China on new COVID hospitalizations since Beijing lifted its zero-COVID policy. The WHO has said gaps in data might be due to Chinese authorities simply struggling to tally cases.
Amid mounting doubts about Beijing’s statistics, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said all countries, including China, need to share information on their experiences with COVID.
As COVID rages through China, residents who previously faced long periods of isolation are now learning to live with the virus.
Chinese teacher Yang Zengdong, whose whole family is isolating in their downtown Shanghai apartment, mildly ill with COVID, welcomes the change in policy. Only weeks ago, they would have all been sent to a quarantine facility, and their building would have been locked down.
“When I think of this situation my feeling is just, wow, we are so lucky because now we can isolate at home,” Yang said.
“This wave is something we have to face, because it is impossible to stay closed forever.”
Reporting by Bernard Orr in Beijing, Casey Hall and David Stanway in Shanghai, Farah Master in Hong Kong and Chen Lin in Singapore; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Biden administration finalizing its plans as it braces for end of Title 42 and a rush at the border
Washington
CNN
—
The Biden administration is finalizing its response to Wednesday’s anticipated end of a Trump-era border restriction known as Title 42, according to officials familiar with the planning.
Officials said the plans, which may include the revival of a controversial asylum policy, could be announced within the coming days. But it appears the administration may end up with some more time to consider its plans after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday issued a temporary hold on the order lifting the policy.
A surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border in recent days has already raised alarm among Democrats and Republicans, some of whom have called on the White House to find a way to extend the restrictions, and has placed immigration – a politically precarious issue – back at the forefront. The White House has said the administration is bound by a court order.
But Roberts paused that order in response to an emergency appeal by the leaders of several GOP-led states. In a brief order, signaling that the court wants to act quickly, Roberts asked the Biden administration to respond by 5 p.m. ET Tuesday to the appeal.
The brief order from Roberts does not necessarily reflect the final outcome of the case, but it means the policy that allows officials to swiftly expel migrants at US borders will stay in effect at least until the justices decide the emergency application.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement following Roberts’ order that “as required by the Supreme Court’s administrative stay order, the Title 42 public health order will remain in effect at this time and individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico,” adding: “While this stage of the litigation proceeds, we will continue our preparations to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when the Title 42 public health order lifts.”
For weeks, the administration has been bracing for the end of Title 42 that was invoked at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and allowed officials to turn away migrants encountered at the US southern border. The lifting of the authority means a return to traditional protocols at a time of mass migration in the Western Hemisphere, stressing already-overwhelmed resources.
Officials have been weighing policies to try to stem the flow of migrants heading to the US southern border. Among them is a proposal that would bar migrants from seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border if they could have received refuge in another country they passed through, mirroring Trump-era asylum limits. The proposal is being finalized and is expected to be announced this week prior to the lifting of Title 42.
The new rules are likely to generate outcry and legal challenges from immigration advocates, who have pushed for an end to Title 42. Enacting a version of a Trump-era asylum rule could also pose political challenges for Biden, who vowed to enact a more humane immigration policy than his predecessor.
The Biden administration tried to wind down the Title 42 program earlier this year, but a coalition of mostly GOP-led states – in a separate case filed in Louisiana – successfully sued to block the Department of Homeland Security from ending enforcement.
Inside the White House, the pause on the termination of Title 42 will not have any effect on what have been intensive behind-the-scenes preparations for the end of the authority, according to a White House official.
While the Department of Homeland Security serves as the lead agency on the issue and has said their preparations continue, the looming end of the pandemic-era public health authority has been a central focus for the last several weeks inside the West Wing, with senior White House officials playing a significant role in the internal debates over policy options to address an expected surge of migrants at the border.
There are no plans to slow the ongoing effort, the official said, given the possibility any delay is only brief in nature. “We’ve always been aware of the role the courts have in this process, but it’s not something that changes the approach,” the official said.
Officials will also continue to press Congress to approve the inclusion of more than $3 billion in additional funding to assist their preparations at the border as part of the omnibus funding bill.
The looming end of Title 42 has been a source of heightened concern, particularly as numbers of migrants attempting to cross the border increased in the days ahead of the order’s expiration. Biden has come under fire from border-state lawmakers for his handling of the matter. His advisers have convened meetings almost daily to weigh their options.
In formulating their plans, officials have sought ways to bring order to the situation at the border, where images of long lines and crowded holding facilities have generated outcry. Their goal has been to deter migrants from crossing illegally while still preserving their ability to legally apply for asylum.
Whether the new asylum policies can deter migrants from attempting to enter the US remains unclear. Large numbers of migrants have already arrived at the Mexico side of the border awaiting Title 42’s expiration. Administration officials have said many of them are being exploited by smugglers offering false promises related to the end of Title 42, and officials are doubtful those practices would be altered by new rules.
And economic and safety conditions in the countries the migrants are leaving remain unstable and have worsened since the coronavirus pandemic.
The Department of Homeland Security is actively monitoring intelligence to try to determine how many migrants are moving toward the US southern border and where they’re heading, though human smuggling organizations often influence pathways.
“It’s a cat and mouse game,” one senior Homeland Security official said.
An intelligence memo, from the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, circulated last week underscored the concern within the administration over an increase in arrivals, citing human smuggling organizations adjusting their methods and how migrants may shift their calculus.
On the US side of the border, officials have been striking contracts to move migrants to other border stations for processing to avoid overcrowded facilities, the senior DHS official said. The administration has also identified cities within the United States to move migrants for processing – an idea that’s long been considered among officials – but no decision has been made yet.
In a document outlining border security preparedness, DHS broke down its six-pillar plan, which was released in the spring and has since been updated. It includes scaling up ground and air transportation capabilities to transport migrants for processing and remove them, leaning on a CBP One mobile application to process asylum seekers, and increasing referrals for prosecutions for repeat border crossers, the document said.
The White House has pushed back on calls for the administration to find a way to extend the controversial public health authority, saying it is bound by court orders.
Images from the border have raised alarm among elected officials, some of whom have publicly questioned the Biden administration’s readiness and preparations to handle the expected influx of people trying to enter the United States.
Over the weekend, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia called on Biden to “use every bit of power he has as an executive to find a way or ask for an extension.”
The White House official declined to elaborate when asked whether Biden has the authority to secure such an extension.
The White House has insisted that the end of Title 42 does not mean that the US border will suddenly be open to all – and that there are existing processes in place to process the claims of asylum-seekers. The administration has also pointed to monthslong work that the Department of Homeland Security has been doing to prepare for the increase in migrants arriving at the border, while also calling on Congress to approve extra funding that the administration has requested to manage the situation.
Over the weekend, a federal law enforcement source familiar with daily operations in South Texas told CNN that border authorities in the Rio Grande Valley have encountered between 900 and 1,200 migrants daily during the past two weeks.
Migration in the Western Hemisphere will be discussed between Biden and Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Monday, according to a White House official, who stressed that Ecuador has been “setting an important example” on the issue.
The two leaders will also follow up on several issues discussed during this year’s Summit of the Americas, including an agreement to increase security cooperation to tackle drug-related gang violence, the official said.
Over the summer, against the backdrop of the Summit of the Americas, Biden announced a regional partnership to address mass migration in the Western Hemisphere. The agreement, dubbed the Los Angeles declaration, was signed onto by multiple Western Hemisphere nations.
Under the declaration, governments are expected to commit to expanding temporary worker programs, bolstering legal pathways like refugee resettlement and family reunification, providing support to countries hosting large migrant populations, and cracking down on human smuggling networks.
Biden and Lasso will revisit those efforts Monday, the official said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when the Biden administration announced its intention to end Title 42. It was in 2022.