Good morning, SoCal. Here's what you need to know today.
Your Weather Planner
After a short-lived cool wave across SoCal, temperatures gradually warm through the workweek.
Temperatures near the coast will be closer to normal before warming begins. Inland temperatures are already running about 3 to 5 degrees above normal.
Temperatures will peak for most of SoCal this weekend with temperatures about 5 to 10 degrees above normal.
Get your 7-day forecast: LA West | LA East | San Fernando Valley/Ventura County | Orange County
Around SoCal
1. Jury begins hearing closing arguments in case of ex-UCLA gynecologist
A former UCLA campus gynecologist used his position to sexually abuse seven female patients, a prosecutor told jurors as they began hearing closing arguments in the doctor’s trial on 21 felony counts.
“All doctors owe a fiduciary duty to their patients. They owe them that basic right,” Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers told jurors hearing the case against James Mason Heaps. “Instead of the defendant upholding his Hippocratic oath, he used his position as a doctor, as a specialist to sexually assault seven incredibly vulnerable women.”
Heaps, now 65, is on trial for nine counts each of sexual battery by fraud and penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation, along with three counts of sexual exploitation of a patient.
The charges stem from alleged crimes between 2009 and 2018 involving seven of Heaps’ former patients.
2. Plaque honoring Peter Ueberroth unveiled in Coliseum's Court of Honors
A plaque in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s Court of Honor honoring 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Peter V. Ueberroth was unveiled Monday.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and two-time Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses were among those joining Ueberroth at the event.
Following the massive deficit incurred by the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, government funding for the 1984 Games was barred. In response, Ueberroth introduced an ambitious and innovative sponsorship program for the Games, coming up with a model of product category exclusivity that ultimately inspired the creation of the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Partner program.
The Los Angeles Games generated a $223 million profit, which was used to launch the LA84 Foundation, which has supported thousands of youth-serving sports organizations in Southern California through grant making, funding facilities and fields, training coaches and commissioning research.
Ueberroth was commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 89 and chairman of the United States Olympic Committee from 2004 to 2008.
3. California braces for dry winter as Western drought drags on
The past three years have been California's driest on record and state officials said Monday that they're preparing for the streak to continue.
The official water year concluded Friday, marking an end to a period that saw both record rainfall in October and the driest January-to-March period in at least a century. Scientists say such weather whiplash is likely to become more common as the planet warms. It will take more than a few winter storms to help the state dig out of drought.
Though its impossible to predict with certainty what the winter will bring, “we are actively planning for another dry year," said Jeanine Jones, drought manager for the state Department of Water Resources.
Snow that falls in California's mountains typically provides one-third of the state's annual water supply, but last year snow levels were far below average by the end of the winter. The Colorado River, another major source of water for Southern California, is also beset by drought, threatening its ability to supply farmers and cities around the U.S. West.
Precipitation was 76% of average for the year that just ended, and the state's reservoirs are at 69% of their historical levels, state officials said. The 2022 water year was slightly cooler and wetter than the year before, though not enough to change the trajectory of the drought, Anderson said.
Around the Nation
1. Biden admin. announces $280M in mental health grants for schools
2. National Archives releases new details of effort to retrieve docs Trump stored at Mar-a-Lago
3. Kim Kardashian agrees to pay $1.26M in settlement with SEC over crypto promotion
Don't Miss This
Only on Spectrum News 1
(Getty Images)
Building up California's infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated $121 million to eight projects in California through the Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Program. This comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom recently appointed former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as his “infrastructure czar.”
On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae takes a closer look at how federal dollars are being used to build up California’s infrastructure.
Click the link above for access to the full episode.
SoCal Snapshot
A protester is hit by Rams defensive end Takkarist McKinley, middle left, and linebacker Bobby Wagner during the first half Monday night's game between the 49ers and the Rams in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)