GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (Governor’s Office).

In response to rising crime rates in Oakland and the East Bay, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced a contract to install high-technology surveillance cameras across those areas.

The California Highway Patrol has signed a contract with Flock Safety to install 290 cameras on surface streets in Oakland and 190 along state highways in the East Bay area adjacent to Oakland.

Such cameras are not designed to give overwatch of people, but to help search for vehicles linked to crime by being able to check vehicle type, make, color, license plate state and more.

Prompting the move is a sharp increase in crime in Oakland, including the widely publicized closure of an In-N-Out Burger in that city, due to car break-ins, property damage and robberies. It was the first closure in the chain’s 75 years of operation.

Biden to Baltimore after bridge crash

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY bridge after collapse (Wikipedia).

A trip to Baltimore next week is planned  for President Joe Biden in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Six people died and the failure of the span had shut down a major East Coast port. He will meet with Gov. Wes Moore on the trip, which is expected to be brief. Earlier this week he pledged $50 million and the federal government is expected to eventually cover the entire cost of repairing or replacing the bridge.

In the meantime, efforts are underway to remove the wreckage and debris that’s fallen into the Patapsco River. The Chesapeake 1000, the biggest floating crane on the East Coast, has arrived on the scene to begin much of the heavy lifting.

Fast food prices rise as wages do

Workers at the big fast food chains are getting a big raise on their paychecks, and customers will see that reflected in the bill for their meals.

A new state law that goes into effect on Monday requires that eateries with 60 stores or more nationwide raise wages in their California outlets to $20 an hour, an increase from the state minimum wage of $16.

Some chains – such as Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza – are responding by cutting staff and in-house delivery. Some – like Jack In the Box – will be raising prices, by 6 to 8 percent.

McDonald’s will be raising prices but has not yet determined by how much.

Campus police officer was a hero

Video footage of the December 2023 shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas released this week showed a campus police officer race to the scene of the shooting, dodge bullets and fatally shoot the gunman.

The officer, who was not named, arrived at the scene of the shooting 78 seconds after hearing gunshots. He dived behind a patrol car to avoid the fire and shot the gunman, a 67-year-old business professor who was rejected in his efforts to get a teaching position at UNLV. Three people were killed before the gunman was shot.

One badly-wounded professor was described as “improving daily … doing rehab and out of the hospital.”

Dodgers play the Cards well, win 6-3

The Los Angeles Dodgers built an early lead and held off a late rally to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 at home on Friday night. Now 3-1, the team is in second place in the National League West,

With two homers and four RBIs,Teoscar Hernandez led the Blue Crew offense. Also homering were Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas.

Bo Miller (1-0) pitched six shutout innings, yielding just two hits. He struck out 11 batters and walked one batter.

The Cardinals trailed 6-0 until they rallied with three runs in the top of the eighth.

Friday was a day off for the Los Angeles Angels and their series in Baltimore will resume on Saturday.

Weather: A rainy weekend

Well, it’s good for the lawns. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday for our West Orange County area. Saturday should have a daytime high of 58 with an overnight low 52. Rain and thunder is expected on Sunday with a high of 69 (49). Partly cloudy skies should return on Monday with a high of 66 (50). And then, sunny skies return on Tuesday with a high of 72 (52).

Great Thoughts

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

– Winston Churchill