An atmospheric river joins the fray
Rain, snow and an atmospheric river spell more travel woes up and down California. And meet the woman known for mentoring aspiring attorney Kim Kardashian West, and even more so for trying to reform the entire prison system.
But first, in honor of Black Friday, see how stores want "less of a transaction, more of an experience." Think scavenger hunts that end at breweries and free exercise classes. Let's get physical.
Arlene Martínez writes In California, a daily roundup of stories from newsrooms across the Paste BN Network. Sign-up here and tell a friend!
Her goal: Cut the prison population in half
Jessica Jackson had a 2-month-old daughter and a GED when her husband went to prison. At 22, she moved back home with her mom and got busy. She graduated law school, got elected to local office in Mill Valley and, during a chance meeting, developed the initiative that would drive her life's work. #cut50 aims to cut the prison population in half, decrease the negative aspects of incarceration and reduce the stigma and isolation that affects those who are touched by the criminal justice system. In Kim Kardashian West, who is studying under Jackson to become a lawyer, Jackson found an ally to raise the initiative's status and get people excited about and agitated to change a broken criminal justice system.
An opening, a closing and wild weather
Closed since a mass shooting, the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks will reopen and so will a second location, the owners announced in a Thanksgiving Day Insta post.
Riverside County authorities shut down a cockfighting ring, leaving would-be attendees to find a different way to spend Thanksgiving.
72 hours in Santa Barbara: A wildfire and snow (VIDEO). See more photos here.
Mother Nature, what else can we expect?
Skies were mostly clear Friday, but the reprieve from wintry weather will be brief, with at least two more waves of precipitation expected in the next few days for a state drenched by a so-called bomb cyclone. “The bottom line is that all California is really getting hosed down in the next week,” and an atmospheric river is next, says Bill Patzert, a climatologist retired from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Near the Coachella Valley, more snow's expected to join the 2½ feet that dropped earlier this week (don't forget your chains). Motorists taking Interstate 5 through Siskiyou County may see a new storm arriving in the North State. The National Weather Service on Friday issued a winter storm warning for the Mount Shasta region for heavy snow expected to fall Saturday into Sunday. The warning goes into effect at 10 a.m. Saturday and lasts until 10 a.m. Sunday.
Your weather quote of the day: “When we do things in California, we always do it the Hollywood way.”
The climbing world lost a true light'
An Orange County native and well-known rock climber fell to his death Wednesday in Mexico. Brad Gobright, 31, and a partner were rappelling down an almost sheer rock face known as Sendero Luminoso on the El Potrero Chico peak near the northern city of Monterrey when the fall occurred, Outside Magazine reported. Gobright briefly held the speed record for a free climb of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite, and in July climbed Yosemite's El Niño with Alex Honnold. Honnold was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "Free Solo." On Thursday, he wrote on Instagram that "the climbing world lost a true light."
Before it was Joshua Tree National Park
Once upon a time, long before the hipsters descended on the Southern California desert to snap Instagrams of their rock climbs, a different kind of traveler jounced over dusty back roads to reach the same harsh, beautiful terrain. People bought land, ran businesses and raised families in what was then the Joshua Tree National Monument; about 100 of them still claim a piece of ownership of what in 1994 became a national park. Researchers commissioned by Joshua Tree National Park officials plan to take a deep dive into who owns what and where, and which properties can return to the vast natural landscape. They also want to fill in the gaps in the park's history, including a narrative of the people who have lived there — or in a few cases, still do.
What we're talking about (and watching)
The Kardashian-Jenner clan's desert holiday features a turkey-shaped cake by Tommy Hilfiger because obviously.
Live-work units are having a moment in Ventura County — an expensive moment.
A bear that hopped into an SUV in Tahoe decided on second thought to walk (VIDEO).
Goats and other grazers are underutilized partners in fighting California wildfires (OPINION).
How racism ripples through rural Calif. pipes
They settled in communities on the outskirts of town. There was no access to water, which wasn't coincidental: segregationist, racist policies made it near impossible for African American families to find housing anywhere else. Generations later, that legacy remains in California's Central Valley, the New York Times reports. It's in the lack of clean drinking water, contaminated water or loss of water during times of drought. “The United States is home to some of the most reliable water and wastewater systems on earth, and many Americans believe access is universal,” a report from the University of California Davis Center for Regional Change notes. “But in fact, millions of the most vulnerable people in the country — low-income people in rural areas, people of color, tribal communities, immigrants — have fallen through the cracks.”
A frigid Thanksgiving dip ends well
I'll leave you with the story of the California mare who truly has something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Lucy got trapped overnight in a lap pool as near-freezing temperatures hit the coast after she escaped her enclosure. Luckily, someone saw her early Thursday and called for help. Emergency responders got her out, and she was treated for hypothermia.
In California is a roundup of news compiled from across Paste BN Network newsrooms. Also contributing: New York Times, E&E News, NBC News, Accuweather, Associated Press.