Stories you shouldn’t miss for Nov. 14, 2017:
1. Holliday Development is planning to construct three modular housing projects in West Oakland, including one for formerly homeless people, reports Roland Li of the San Francisco Business Times$. Holliday is proposing to build on three sites, including the old Phoenix Ironworks warehouse, where the company says it could construct 300 to 400 apartments, including housing for the formerly homeless, affordable housing, and market-rate housing. The modular housing, which is cheaper to build, would be constructed in Vallejo by union workers and shipped to West Oakland for assembly.
2. Even though Californians reduced water consumption during the drought, state residents still use more than the national average, reports Emily Guerin of KPCC (h/t Rough & Tumble), citing new data from the U.S. Geological Survey. As of September 2017, Californians use 110 gallons per person per day for outdoor and indoor consumption, while the national average is 82 gallons per person per day. Experts credited Californians’ extra water use mostly to outdoor watering.
3. California may achieve its renewable energy goals 10 years early, reports David R. Baker of the San Francisco Chronicle$, citing new data from state energy regulators. The state’s goal is to have utilities use 50 percent renewables by 2030, but California is on track to meet that standard by 2020. “In 2016, 32.9 percent of the electricity PG&E sold to its customers came from renewable sources, according to the report.”
4. A controversial beer garden proposed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev for Oakland’s Temescal district is moving toward city approval, reports Katie Burke of the San Francisco Business Times$. Anheuser-Busch Inbev plans to build the beer garden at 320-330 40th St., near Broadway, but many locals oppose the plan because they’re concerned about its impact on small brewers.
5. The vast majority of wineries in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties escaped damage from the big fires that struck the North Bay last month, but they’re facing financial difficulties because visitors have steered clear of the area, reports Eric Risberg of the Associated Press. “The state’s tourism commission, Visit California, is spending $2 million on an advertising campaign to encourage visitors to return.”
6. And U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified on Capitol Hill today that he told the truth when he previously said he was not aware of any Russian contacts with the Trump campaign last year — even though he now remembers there were, the Washington Post$ reports.
$ = news stories that may require payment to read.
