California

Can this California bill help get neighborhoods off gas?

Published

2 years ago

June 11, 2024

Can this California bill help get neighborhoods off gas?

SB 1221 would change that, at least for the 30 pilot projects it would authorize utilities to undertake. Instead of unanimous consent among all customers in a zone, it would require a supermajority — 67 percent — to agree, Velez said. “Then the utility could move forward.”

To be clear, any project must prove that it’s cost-effective for all participating customers, Velez said. But the effort to redefine “obligation to serve” requirements to allow alternatives besides gas delivery has struck a nerve among gas utilities and workers.

A previous version of SB 1221 initially included language that would have allowed gas utilities to “cease providing service if adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available” to support customers, for instance. But Southern California Gas, the state’s biggest all-gas utility, and labor unions representing utility workers opposed that provision, and it was stripped from the current version of the bill.

California isn’t the only state grappling with this issue. In New York, the NY HEAT Act, a bill that would replace gas utilities’ “obligation to serve” gas to households with an energy-neutral obligation to provide heating, cooling, cooking, and hot-water services — a step opposed by gas utilities and labor groups — failed for the third time in as many years to pass in the final hours of the state legislative session last week. In Illinois, unions are pushing state lawmakers to slow down on policies aimed at phasing out gas pipeline expansions.

Jose Torres, California director at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, emphasized that any pilot project authorized by SB 1221 must prove that it’s cost effective for both the participating customers and a utility’s customers at large.

“How do you allow utilities and communities to make fuel-neutral decisions that benefit the majority of Californians? That’s the spirit of this bill — to move us forward in that conversation and take on those complicated issues,” Torres said.

Threading the needle of climate, customer choice, and cost-effectiveness

At the same time, pressure is building on policymakers, regulators, and utilities to find an alternative to continuing to invest in the country’s gas delivery network. A 2021 report from consultancy Brattle Group stated that existing plans to revamp pipelines could saddle U.S. gas utilities with $150 billion to $180 billion in“unrecovered” investment over the coming decade.

California spends nearly $14 billion per year on buying and using fossil gas and building and maintaining a gas delivery network that connects to nearly four-fifths of all homes, according to a 2020 analysis presented to the California Energy Commission by consulting firm Energy and Environmental Economics. A decarbonization strategy that relies on electrifying California’s buildings to get them off gas could cost between $5 billion and $20 billion per year less by 2050 than an alternative approach of using biogas, hydrogen, or synthetic gas to replace fossil gas, the analysis found.

Every year that gas utilities keep replacing pipelines represents a year of potential electrification savings lost, said Mike Bloomberg, managing partner at Groundwork Data. The nonprofit consultancy has issued a set of reports with the Building Decarbonization Coalition on the challenge of decarbonizing gas utilities in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

“The gas transition is not going to happen overnight,” Bloomberg said. But neither will it proceed rapidly enough to avoid excessive costs for gas utility customers or the worst impacts of climate change if utilities and regulators don’t find a way to deal with the disconnect between how gas infrastructure is paid off today — spread out across all customers and over decades — and the costs of electrification, which are now borne almost entirely by individual customers.

SB 1221 would task the CPUC with coming up with the details of how the state’s gas utilities will carry out the 30 zonal electrification pilot projects, the NRDC’s Velez said. One potential problem with the current legislative language is that it would not allow gas utilities to collect the costs of installing new electrical appliances or doing other necessary work in customers’ homes and buildings from their customer base at large over the same decades-long timeframe as they’re allowed to do with gas pipeline investments, which Velez worries could discourage utilities from participating.

At the same time, SB 1221 does require every utility in the state to develop maps of their planned longer-term pipeline replacement needs, along with equity data to help state agencies and municipal and local leaders find pilot projects in lower-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods, Velez said. That’s important, because it can take years of planning ahead for cities, community groups, and neighborhoods to prepare for making the switch to all-electric heating and appliances at a pace that matches a utility’s pipeline replacement schedule.

That planning ahead is essential, said Neha Bazaj, a director at Gridworks, a nonprofit consultancy that advises regulators and communities on how to carry out complicated energy transition projects. Last year, Gridworks began working with municipal and community groups involved in a California Energy Commission grant-funded project examining the potential for zonal electrification in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Albany.

One of the key findings, Bazaj said, is that California gas utilities’ current three-year planning horizon for gas pipeline replacements is “still not a lot of time to get buy-in” from individual customers and community representatives that need to be involved. That’s a problem, because lack of community engagement and agreement can make or break these projects.

“Obviously the obligation to serve is a challenge to implementing these projects at scale,” she said. “It is likely unrealistic to anticipate 100 percent buy-in from everyone.” Even so, “the goal should be to have as much buy-in from people as possible.”

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California

Rob Reiner and wife found dead in Brentwood, California home

Published

7 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Rob Reiner and wife found dead in Brentwood, California home

Celebrated actor, director, producer and activist Rob Reiner, whose work shaped American television and cinema for decades, has died at 78, according to Variety and TMZ. His death, alongside that of his wife, Michele Singer, 68, is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department after the couple was found in their home in Brentwood, California.

A dedicated political activist, Reiner was slated to speak on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in Palm Springs, Calif., about his career and his book “A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap.”

Reiner, born March 6, 1947, in the Bronx, New York, grew up in the entertainment business − his father was comedy legend Carl Reiner and his mother, Estelle, was an actress. He became famous in his own right for his portrayal of Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family,” winning two Emmy Awards as Archie Bunker’s son-in-law.

Though he had dozens of acting credits to his name, he transitioned to directing and created beloved films including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men” and “When Harry Met Sally …” He cast his mother as an extra in the rom-com classic for a scene at a New York deli where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm.

“First couple of times, she didn’t do it full out,” Reiner said of directing Ryan in the scene. “Finally, I sat across from Billy (Crystal). And I acted it for her. … And I’m pounding the table, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ And I’m realizing I’m having an orgasm in front of my mother, you know? There’s my mother over there.” His mother’s line – “I’ll have what she’s having” – became one of the most famous lines in film.

Similarly, his mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” was a part of the cultural landscape (and earned a spot in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry), with memorable songs like “Gimme Some Money.”

Reiner admitted that was the very reason “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” came to be: “We never got any money from the first movie, really,” Reiner said in an interview with USA TODAY earlier this year about his three stars, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. “Lots of people had the rights, and the four us had 10% each, and while it’s going to sound crazy, we only got like 82 cents apiece over the years, despite all the DVD and foreign sales. Call it creative accounting on steroids. So Harry said, ‘I’m going to sue to get the rights back,’ and though it took him years, he got it done.”

The sequel was largely improvised. “The fun thing for me was falling back with old friends,” he said. “You just start doing your thing with each other, Chris used to call it ‘schneedeling,’ and right away, we were schneedeling as if no time has gone by. You can’t beat that.”

Reiner was a progressive and outspoken voice in the Hollywood community, supporting issues including marriage equality and gun control. He was a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and advocated for social and political change. In 2006, his name was floated as a possible candidate for governor of California, but he decided not to run.

Reiner was slated to speak on Tuesday, Dec. 16 in Palm Springs at the historic Plaza Theatre about his career and his book “A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap.” Bruce Fessier, who covered entertainment for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs for four decades, was to moderate.

“I was preparing for my Q&A with Rob Reiner … when I heard two people had been murdered at his house in West L.A.,” Fessier said. “I felt like I knew him well.”

He had rewatched both “Spinal Tap” movies that afternoon and had also read his book in preparation.

“I prayed the victims weren’t Rob and his wife, Michele,” he said. When the deaths were confirmed, he cried “Why them? Rob was way more than a great film director and actor. He did so much good as a political activist. He was a renaissance man.”

Rob Reiner was married to actress and director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. During their marriage, Reiner adopted Marshall’s daughter, Tracy, who later became an actress.

In 1989, Reiner married Michele Singer, a photographer. Together they shared three children: Nick, Jake and Romy. Reiner often credited Michele with inspiring the happy ending of “When Harry Met Sally …,” which he was filming when they met.

Kate Franco, executive editor of The Desert Sun, contributed to this report.

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California

De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita: live score, updates, highlights from California’s Open Division state championship bowl | Sporting News

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita: live score, updates, highlights from California’s Open Division state championship bowl | Sporting News

MISSION VIEJO, California, Dec. 13 — The No. 7/SN No. 15 Santa Margarita [Rancho Santa Margarita, CA] Eagles ended a 14-year state championship drought Saturday night in a 47-13 romp past the No. 15/SN No. 25 De La Salle [Concord, CA] Spartans in California’s CIF Open Division state championship bowl.

While the win ended Santa Margarita’s drought, it prolonged De La Salle’s own dry spell in championship bowl games, extending the Spartan’s losing streak to eight games in these contests.

Santa Margarita is ranked as high as No. 4 in the country by three selectors (High School Football America, MaxPreps, and USA Today’s Super 25). In the High School Football America rankings, they’re ranked ahead of both the No. 1/SN No. 1 Buford [GA] Wolves and the No. 3/SN No. 5 Carrollton [GA] Trojans – two teams that will play for Georgia’s GHSA Class 6A championship on Tuesday night.

Whether the win over De La Salle can get the Eagles – who will finish the season with three losses at 11-3 – a share of the national title remains to be seen.

De La Salle, meanwhile, ends its season at 12-1.

WATCH ON THE NFHS NETWORK: No. 7/SN No. 15 Santa Margarita [Rancho Santa Margarita, CA] Eagles vs. No. 15/SN No. 25 De La Salle [Concord, CA] Spartans

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Refresh for updates

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End of the fourth quarter: Santa Margarita 47, De La Salle 13

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SANTA MARGARITA 47, DE LA SALLE 13

Santa Margarita gets a pick six to put capper on this one.

Siua Holani with finished touches on this one. 43-yard pick 6. Santa Margarita 47, De La Salle 13. 1:36 4Q. pic.twitter.com/VVVEN5bvr6
— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) December 14, 2025

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SANTA MARGARITA 41, DE LA SALLE 13

Johnson finds Gazzaniga for his second touchdown of the game. The tight end entered the game with two touchdown receptions all year, and he’s got two in the state title game.

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End of the third quarter: Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 13

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

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SANTA MARGARITA 35, DE LA SALLE 13

De La Salle forces another turnover and converts it to points to give them a glimmer of hope that they can climb out of this deep hole.

Two forced De La Salle turnovers and two Jaden Jefferson touchdowns.
Jefferson is the state record holder in the 100-meter dash 💨
De La Salle cuts the Santa Margarita lead to 35-13 with 4:09 left in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/05dJ7Q9Mmy
— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) December 14, 2025
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The third quarter is under way, and to make matters worse for De La Salle, Santa Margarita is on offense first.

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End of the second quarter: Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 7

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

Santa Margarita has been a different team offense since Mosley’s return around midseason. And they’re one half away from a state championship in Carson Palmer’s first year at the helm.

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SANTA MARGARITA 35, DE LA SALLE 7

Just over a minute to play in the first half, Mosley scores again on another short play, and then he adds the 2-point conversion. This feels like it’s over.

Trent Mosley finishes off the half with another touchdown. Also adds run for two-point conversion. 1:07 left. Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 7. Complete domination. pic.twitter.com/hMsSsI0svB
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025
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SANTA MARGARITA 27, DE LA SALLE 7

It’s Duce plus a deuce. Santa Margarita marches right back down the field after the Spartans’ touchdown, and Duce Smith carries it in for another touchdown. And even with the score by De La Salle, Santa Margarita still has its biggest lead of the night after converting the 2-point conversion. It’s Johnson to Ryan Clark on the extra two.

Jaion Smith TD. Two-point conversion good. Santa Margarita 27, De La Salle 7 pic.twitter.com/1zpn1ETZyW
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025
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Santa Margarita into the red zone again.

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SANTA MARGARITA 19, DE LA SALLE 7

Helped along by the turnover and a couple of penalties, De La Salle’s offensive line shows some muscle in the trenches and they power their way down near the goal line where Jaden Jefferson carries it across. That felt like a must-score situation, and they get the touchdown. Now, can they stop Santa Margarita’s offense again?

Jaden Jefferson TD. Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle 7. 6:43 left in second. pic.twitter.com/QzsKMWP58i
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025

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De La Salle gets its first real break. Mosley fumbles, and the Spartans pounce on it inside the Eagles’ 40. If they want to have any chance of staying in this game, they need to make the most of this short field.

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End of the first quarter: Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle 0

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

42 seconds left in first quarter. Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle. Luke Gazzaniga TD. About the only thing the Eagles need to work on are PATs. 1 for 3. pic.twitter.com/WA6IY0blgI
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025

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SANTA MARGARITA 19, DE LA SALLE 0

Johnson finds Luke Gazzaniga on a wide-open post against a blown coverage. It’s too easy for the Eagles right now, and with their elite defense, it’s possible they’ve already scored enough to win this game.

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De La Salle with a quick three-and-out on offense, and they punt on a 4th-and-19. Mosley returns it inside De La Salle’s 35. This is already starting to look ugly.

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SANTA MARGARITA 13, DE LA SALLE 0

Trace Johnson finds Mosley with a short swing pass to the right side of the field, and the senior standout does his thing winding and weaving his way 34 yards through traffic before running over the final defender at the goal line. Again, the early feeling watching this is not good for De La Salle.

What a luxury.
Just get it to Trent Mosley and watch.
Santa Margarita 13, De La Salle 0 (missed PAT)pic.twitter.com/3cp3hBbUJ5
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) December 14, 2025
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Santa Margaria quickly approaching the red zone again.

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De La Salle puts together a good drive to get into position for a short field goal attempt. But it’s blocked by Santa Margarita, ending the scoring threat. If you’re a De La Salle fan, you’re encouraged by the offense being able to move against the Eagles. But combined with the defensive personal fouls on Santa Margarita’s first drive, you also get the feeling early that this could be a really tough night for the Spartans. It’s early, we’ll see how they rebound from the lost scoring opportunity.

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SANTA MARGARITA 7, DE LA SALLE 0

Helped along by a couple of personal foul penalties, Santa Margarita drives quickly on its first possession, scoring on a short run by Trent Mosley out of the Wildcat formation.

Tulane bound Trace Johnson and Griffin Brahm connect get in the red zone.
4⭐️ USC bound Trent Mosley then scores. He’s a freakish talent.
Santa Margarita up 7-0 on De La Salle with 8:00 left in the 1st pic.twitter.com/vpo2yvYp9R
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— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) December 14, 2025

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Santa Margarita won the toss and deferred to the second half. De La Salle picks up one first down against this stout Eagles’ defense before being forced to punt.

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They’re under way in California! This is the final game of California’s high school football season.

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Coming soon!

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De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita start time

Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Start time: 11 p.m. EST (8 p.m. PST local)

The game between De La Salle and Santa Margarita is being played at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.

How can I watch De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita today?

MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF HEADLINES

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California

Two girls, 9 and 11, awarded $31.5m after sister’s California torture death

Published

2 days ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Two girls, 9 and 11, awarded .5m after sister’s California torture death

A lawsuit over the death of an 11-year-old California girl who was allegedly tortured and starved by her adoptive family reached a settlement on Friday totaling $31.5m from the city and county of San Diego as well as other groups.

The suit was brought on behalf of the two younger sisters of Arabella McCormack, who died in August 2022. The girls were ages six and seven at the time. Their adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, and McCormack’s parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, are facing charges of murder, conspiracy, child abuse and torture. They pleaded not guilty to all charges, and their criminal case is ongoing.

Arabella McCormack. Photograph: San Diego county sheriff’s office

The lawsuit alleged a systemic failure across the city and several agencies and organizations to not report Arabella McCormack’s abuse.

The settlement includes $10m from the city of San Diego, $10m from San Diego county, $8.5m from the Pacific Coast Academy and $3m from the Rock church, the sisters’ attorney, Craig McClellan, said. The school oversaw Arabella McCormack’s home schooling, and her adoptive mother was an ordained elder at the church.

“The amount is going to be enough to take care of the girls for the rest of the lives,” McClellan said. But it “isn’t going to be enough and never could be enough … to replace their sister, nor is it going to erase the memories of what they went through”.

The lawsuit said county social workers did not properly investigate abuse claims and two teachers at the Pacific Coast Academy failed to report the girl’s condition. It also said a San Diego police officer, a friend of the girl’s adoptive mother, gave the family a wooden paddle that they could use to hit their children.

San Diego sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of a child in distress at the McCormack home 30 August 2022. They found Arabella McCormack severely malnourished with bruises, authorities said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

Her sisters are now nine and 11 and living with a foster mother. They are in good health and “doing pretty well considering all things”, McClellan said.

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