Day Around the Bay: Today Was the Rainiest February 4 in San Francisco History

Local:

Obviously the North Bay is seeing the worst of today’s storms, but here in SF, today’s 2.53 inches of rainfall smashed a 138-year-old record for this date, and there are still several hours left in the day. The Golden Gate Bridge has to close its sidewalks, some 20,000 customers are without power in the Bay Area, and tonight’s winds could reach up to 70 miles per hour. [KRON4]
The daily popualtion at SF County Jail hit 1,300 in January, which is the highest level that population has been since April 2019. But the SF Sheriff’s Office that runs the facility is still struggling with staffing shortages, and fights between prisoners at the jail hit a five-year high in 2024. [Chronicle]
Santa Clara County is suing chemical companies DuPont and 3M over the volume of “forever chemicals” known as PFAs accumulating tin the county’s drinking water. The PFAs (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been detected in drinking water wells in San Jose, Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, which the county alleges shows “widespread contamination of the groundwater underlying the Santa Clara County region.” [Bay Area News Group]
The impending closure of the Bloomingdale's in the SF Centre mall will result in the layoffs of 164 employees. [Chronicle]

President Trump went on a bizarre rant about Gaza on Tuesday in an appearance with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming out of the blue that “The US will take over the Gaza Strip,” kick out all of the Gazans, and make that land what he called a new “Riviera.” [CNN]
The formerly SF-based self-driving car company Cruise, now absorbed into GM, has laid off half of all Cruise employees and declared its robotaxi business dead. [TechCrunch]
With Trump expected to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday, the NFL is capitulating and removing the words “End Racism” from the back of the grass in the end zone. [NY Times]

Today is Emperor Norton’s birthday as he was born 207 years ago on this date. So let’s go back into the archives of TV land, for the 1966 episode of the Old West show Bonanza that did an Emperor Norton-themed episode. The character is named Emperor Joshua Norton, and it’s a pretty respectful depiction of the emperor. Hoss, Little Joe, and the gang join an adventure where Emperor Norton feuds with a mining tycoon, who in turn tries to get Norton thrown into an insane asylum.

Image: @JackalineMadden via Twitter