SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants are expected to have one of the National League's best rotations by the end of April, and former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray will join the group in the middle of the summer. But at least in the first week it's a kind of climbing exercise.

Three options remained in Arizona when the Giants returned to the Bay Area this week. Alex Cobb is weeks ahead of schedule in his rehab from hip surgery, but he's not quite ready to return to the big leagues just yet. Keaton Winn will play in a minor league game on Wednesday as he recovers from elbow discomfort at the start of training camp. Blake Snell will pitch this Friday, building on Sunday's three-inning outing, which was his first since signing a two-year deal with the Giants.

Winn could be an option as early as Monday in Los Angeles, which would be the fifth game of the season. In theory, Snell could be added to the roster as early as next Wednesday, although with an off day right after the season-opening road trip, it might make more sense to push him back for the home opener when he feels he's ready. The Giants have been tight-lipped about Cobb's schedule, but he's believed to be close.

The situation could result in the Giants only having three true starting pitchers on Opening Day. Mason Black appeared poised for a rotation spot until the others were ready, but the Giants moved him to minor league camp on Tuesday afternoon. Since Black is not on the 40-man roster, the Giants can bring him back early in the year if necessary.

The Giants also reassigned left-hander Juan Sanchez and outfielder Ismael Munguia. All three had strong starts, with Munguia winning the Barney Nugent Award, given to the player who is most impressive in his first big league camp.

“Both [Black and Sanchez] “Sometimes he threw a good pitch,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We have a lot of tough decisions to make, but all of these guys also know they're just a phone call away. “Our guys know the 26-man roster means a lot more as the season goes on, so you've got to be ready. It could happen at any time.

The Giants also have plenty of other balls in the air.

Mike Yastrzemski's wife, Paige, is due to give birth to the couple's second child on Friday, and although Yastrzemski plans to play on Thursday, he will likely be on the paternity list for the remainder of the season-opening road series against the San Diego Padres.

Running out of options, Joey Bart met with Melvin after Tuesday's game. It's possible the Giants use him as a third catcher while they consider other roster moves. It would probably be easier to sneak Bart through waivers a few days into the season than in the next day or two when 29 other teams set their own rosters.

The Giants also need multiple 40-man spots. Nick Ahmed appears to be the Opening Day shortstop, and non-roster invitees Daulton Jefferies and Landen Roupp have been fighting for open bullpen spots.

San Francisco was still working on moves late Tuesday night and planned to fly to San Diego on Wednesday. As last year's last-minute addition of Matt Beaty showed, problems often arise until the very last minute.

Super provider

Tyler Fitzgerald took a quick first base lesson with Ron Wotus before the game and then landed at the position for the final three innings on Tuesday night. It's another glove for the young utility man, who now has experience in all four infield spots and can also play center field.

The front office and new coaching staff are excited about Fitzgerald, who showcased his speed-power combination in a cameo late last season. The roster lacks defensive versatility, and Fitzgerald's ability to now fill eight different spots may be why he gets the final backup spot.

Former first-rounder back on track?

Hunter Bishop was brought to San Francisco to join the group of minor league players who rounded out the roster for two exhibition games, although he did not appear in Tuesday's game. Bishop didn't play last season after Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, but he said he was fully healthy and felt great about how his body and swing felt this spring.

It's been five years since the Giants made Bishop their first first-round pick under Farhan Zaidi and Michael Holmes, and he's had to watch as most of that first-round class has already reached the big leagues. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if Bishop was back on the radar this season. He is one of the organization's best athletes and even after years of battling injuries, he is still only 25 years old.

If Bishop starts in Double-A, he would be part of a very athletic outfield. Speedy centerfielder Grant McCray will begin his season there after hitting 14 home runs and stealing 52 bases in the High-A League last season.

New voices

The announcer for the first game of the year at Oracle Park was Carolyn “CJ” Silas, the longtime PA announcer for Cal Poly Baseball. Silas has more than 30 years of experience behind the microphone, including stints with the Blue Jays' Triple-A team and the Yankees' Double-A team.

The Giants announced earlier this month that they had parted ways with Renel Brooks-Moon, who had served in the role since the ballpark opened in 2000. They plan to change PA announcers early in the season while they look for a long-term solution.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

The post Giants juggling plenty of transferring components earlier than finalizing Opening Day roster – NBC Sports activities Bay Space & California appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants are expected to have one of the National League's best rotations by the end of April, and former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray will join the group in the middle of the summer. But at least in the first week it's a kind of climbing exercise.

Three options remained in Arizona when the Giants returned to the Bay Area this week. Alex Cobb is weeks ahead of schedule in his rehab from hip surgery, but he's not quite ready to return to the big leagues just yet. Keaton Winn will play in a minor league game on Wednesday as he recovers from elbow discomfort at the start of training camp. Blake Snell will pitch this Friday, building on Sunday's three-inning outing, which was his first since signing a two-year deal with the Giants.

Winn could be an option as early as Monday in Los Angeles, which would be the fifth game of the season. In theory, Snell could be added to the roster as early as next Wednesday, although with an off day right after the season-opening road trip, it might make more sense to push him back for the home opener when he feels he's ready. The Giants have been tight-lipped about Cobb's schedule, but he's believed to be close.

The situation could result in the Giants only having three true starting pitchers on Opening Day. Mason Black appeared poised for a rotation spot until the others were ready, but the Giants moved him to minor league camp on Tuesday afternoon. Since Black is not on the 40-man roster, the Giants can bring him back early in the year if necessary.

The Giants also reassigned left-hander Juan Sanchez and outfielder Ismael Munguia. All three had strong starts, with Munguia winning the Barney Nugent Award, given to the player who is most impressive in his first big league camp.

“Both [Black and Sanchez] “Sometimes he threw a good pitch,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We have a lot of tough decisions to make, but all of these guys also know they're just a phone call away. “Our guys know the 26-man roster means a lot more as the season goes on, so you've got to be ready. It could happen at any time.

The Giants also have plenty of other balls in the air.

Mike Yastrzemski's wife, Paige, is due to give birth to the couple's second child on Friday, and although Yastrzemski plans to play on Thursday, he will likely be on the paternity list for the remainder of the season-opening road series against the San Diego Padres.

Running out of options, Joey Bart met with Melvin after Tuesday's game. It's possible the Giants use him as a third catcher while they consider other roster moves. It would probably be easier to sneak Bart through waivers a few days into the season than in the next day or two when 29 other teams set their own rosters.

The Giants also need multiple 40-man spots. Nick Ahmed appears to be the Opening Day shortstop, and non-roster invitees Daulton Jefferies and Landen Roupp have been fighting for open bullpen spots.

San Francisco was still working on moves late Tuesday night and planned to fly to San Diego on Wednesday. As last year's last-minute addition of Matt Beaty showed, problems often arise until the very last minute.

Super provider

Tyler Fitzgerald took a quick first base lesson with Ron Wotus before the game and then landed at the position for the final three innings on Tuesday night. It's another glove for the young utility man, who now has experience in all four infield spots and can also play center field.

The front office and new coaching staff are excited about Fitzgerald, who showcased his speed-power combination in a cameo late last season. The roster lacks defensive versatility, and Fitzgerald's ability to now fill eight different spots may be why he gets the final backup spot.

Former first-rounder back on track?

Hunter Bishop was brought to San Francisco to join the group of minor league players who rounded out the roster for two exhibition games, although he did not appear in Tuesday's game. Bishop didn't play last season after Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, but he said he was fully healthy and felt great about how his body and swing felt this spring.

It's been five years since the Giants made Bishop their first first-round pick under Farhan Zaidi and Michael Holmes, and he's watched the majority of that first-round class already reach the big leagues. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if Bishop was back on the radar this season. He is one of the organization's best athletes and even after years of battling injuries, he is still only 25 years old.

If Bishop starts in Double-A, he would be part of a very athletic outfield. Speedy centerfielder Grant McCray will begin his season there after hitting 14 home runs and stealing 52 bases in the High-A League last season.

New voices

The announcer for the first game of the year at Oracle Park was Carolyn “CJ” Silas, the long-time PA announcer for Cal Poly Baseball. Silas has more than 30 years of experience behind the microphone, including stints with the Blue Jays' Triple-A team and the Yankees' Double-A team.

The Giants announced earlier this month that they had parted ways with Renel Brooks-Moon, who had served in the role since the ballpark opened in 2000. They plan to change PA announcers early in the season while they look for a long-term solution.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

The post Giants juggling a lot of shifting elements earlier than finalizing Opening Day roster – NBC Sports activities Bay Space & California appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

It’s hard to develop chemistry midseason, but that’s exactly what the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line has to do through the final eight games of the regular season.

Through the first nine games this year, the Jaguars have changed at least one aspect of their offensive line five times.

Due to his four-game suspension, Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson was unavailable Weeks 1 through 4, setting up OL Walker Little to take his place. By Week 4, though, the team had already made a shift, benching left guard Ben Bartch for veteran Tyler Shatley.

Another change took place in Week 5 when Robinson made his return and was immediately thrust in as the team’s starting left tackle, moving Little to left guard and benching Shatley. That lasted just 11 plays before Little injured his knee, costing him the next three games of the season.

Shatley returned to the team’s role as the left guard, marking the fourth shift, placing Shatley next to Robinson.

Now with Little’s return this past Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Shatley returned to the bench, marking the fifth change of the season to the left side of the team’s O-line.

On Monday, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson spoke about the potential continuity issues, while expressing optimism that they’ll continue to improve.

“That’s big. Having five guys that would’ve been there for nine games. There would be more continuity I think, [Jaguars OL] Walker [Little]] is still working himself back in with his first full game back there,” said Pederson.

“Really just understanding that there’s a lot of communication that has to go on up front, getting all of that down and the timing. It continues to improve but we can definitely get better there.”

Against the 49ers, the Jaguars surrendered five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. Not all of that is due to the offensive line, but some of it certainly was and communication issues are a product of a lack of playing together.

The Jaguars hope that is the last shift the line will have to make, which is especially important to develop continuity with the unit.

“I got a lot of confidence in the group, there’s no question or hesitation. They’ll continue to improve and get better,” Pederson said Monday.

Cam Robinson believes in Walker Little, trusts the process

Little is at the center of all of the team’s offensive line changes this season. He also was one of the players most criticized for his performance against the 49ers this past weekend.

According to Pro Football Focus, Little surrendered the most pressures (three) and was the lowest-graded offensive player with a grade of 29.2. His pass block grade was 41.4, also the lowest on the team.

Still, Robinson believes that the third-year offensive lineman will be just fine.

“Walker did fine. The more he plays at that position, the more reps he’ll get. Walker’s a hell of a player, he’ll be fine. Just give it time and give it reps. We’ll gel and it’ll be fine,” Robinson said after the game Sunday when asked about Little’s performance.

Little was tasked with manning the team’s left tackle role throughout training camp. As such, he was given limited reps at left guard during camp and did not take any or many during his time as the team’s starting left tackle before getting hurt in Week 5.

“I think it hurts him a little bit that he didn’t get all those reps in there. But he’s good enough and smart enough and all that, he’s athletic enough to know the role, know the job, know his assignments,” Pederson said when asked about Little’s lack of training camp reps at guard.

“Now, it’s just a matter of him 0-playing in more condensed spaces. It’s different than being out on those islands as a tackle. He’s getting used to that as well. He’s done some good things and he’s still working through the process.”

Ultimately, for the Jaguars’ offensive line to improve, they will have to continue to learn how to play as one. That’s the difference.

“Specifically, when you’re dealing with the O-line, it’s just different because if you’re a receiver, you just go make a play. If you’re a running back, you just go make a play. But, we all have to be in sync, like, we’re all literally one person. He’ll be fine. We’ll get reps. We’ll get better,” said Robinson.

The Jaguars will have another opportunity to gel on Sunday, Nov. 19 when the team takes on the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Stadium.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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Buzzy AI startups are landing big investments, drawing talent to the city and occupying more real estate.

October 23, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Piero Molino, left, Michelle Britton, Will Van Eaton and Michael Ortega of the AI start-up Predibase stand outside the entrance of the company’s office in the financial district of San Francisco on Oct. 18. San Francisco has become the national center of AI start-ups and investment. (Loren Elliott)Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave

SAN FRANCISCO — Parts of San Francisco are still shells of their original glory three years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. After the loss of foot traffic, restaurants and cafes closed, some retailers left and many companies downsized or relinquished their office leases because of hybrid or remote-work policies.

But on sporadic weeknights, hundreds of AI enthusiasts crowd into a downtown office, lured by nothing more than pizza, beer and the main draw: a conversation about artificial intelligence.

“You can’t pay for that kind of inbound traffic,” said Dev Rishi, the host of the meetups and a founder and the chief executive of the AI start-up Predibase. “There is palpable excitement and energy in this space.”

The recent boom in AI — led by advances in generative AI — is not only re-energizing this city’s tech community, but it is also triggering a movement of people to the city and office-space rentals by companies. Whereas tech giants including Facebook, Salesforce and LinkedIn reduced their presence in the city during the pandemic, buzzy start-ups are moving in. Chat GPT-developer OpenAI, the AI safety research start-up Anthropic and a growing number of emerging AI companies are expanding in size and office presence, raising billions of dollars, enticing tech workers to the city and forming tightknit communities.

With the backdrop of the city’s often publicized problems including crime, homelessness and drug use, AI is emerging as a bright spot that some hope will be a catalyst for the city’s next chapter. Entrepreneurs, real estate firms, economic development officials and investors hope to capitalize on the excitement.

“I want to confront the brutal reality of the dark sides of San Francisco,” said Angela Hoover, a founder and the CEO of the AI start-up Andi, which relocated from the pandemic technology hot spot of Miami to San Francisco in July. But Hoover also recognized that “this is where all the building in AI is happening, and we needed to be a part of it.”

The flow of venture capital dollars into AI and machine learning companies in San Francisco hit new highs this year, with start-ups raising $18.5 billion in the first quarter — about 82 percent of U.S. investments in the segment, according to data from PitchBook. That is $6 billion more than all the AI companies in San Francisco raised in 2022. Although the quarterly amount invested has moderated, investor interest in AI is expected to be strong in 2024 as companies continue to recognize AI’s value, PitchBook said. Quarterly totals easily can spike with just a couple of large investment deals.

The investments aren’t benefiting just generative AI start-ups. Those that have been in the industry for years are feeling the boost, too.

Viz.ai, a San Francisco-based AI health-care company founded in 2016, raised $100 million last year. Since the pandemic, its staff grew to 400 employees from 150.

“There’s rightfully a lot of excitement in the investment of the community,” said Chris Mansi, CEO of Viz.ai. “This [tech] allows companies like ours … to accelerate pretty significantly.”

In San Francisco, it seems that everyone is talking about AI, start-up leaders say. Some compare it to the early internet era of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Others call it a revolutionary moment akin to the invention of the smartphone.

“I’ve been in San Francisco for 23 years and … I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Vijay Karunamurthy, the field chief technology officer at Scale AI, which employs about 750 people. “You can just meet customers on the street walking from BART [trains] to the office or while getting coffee or run into someone investing.”

Areas of the city are hot pockets for the AI community. Hayes Valley, just west of downtown, has become known as Cerebral Valley because of its density of AI talent and hacker houses. And some have identified another area as the Arena, which includes parts downtown and nearby neighborhoods.

While many companies cut back on office space, several AI companies are signing leases.

Anthropic is finalizing a 230,000-square-foot lease in a downtown space formerly occupied by Slack, people familiar with the real estate industry say. OpenAI is in talks to sublease 445,000 square feet of space at Uber’s headquarters, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. OpenAI declined to comment on its plans.

Earlier this year, Hive AI leased about 57,000 square feet near the Salesforce Tower, according to the commercial real estate data and analytics firm CoStar. And Hayden AI and Adept AI leased nearly 42,000 square feet and about 36,000 square feet, respectively.

Some smaller AI companies expect their offices to grow soon, too.

“We’re 25 folks now,” said Yashar Behzadi, the founder and CEO of Synthesis AI, which is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. “We have an office for about a dozen people and will double or triple that next year.”

AI firms are expected to have leased approximately 3 million square feet of space in San Francisco by the end of the year, the commercial real estate firm JLL estimates. By comparison, commercial occupants typically lease about 1 million square feet of space in a year’s time.

“There is an absolute groundswell. These AI start-ups are flocking to San Francisco, ” Chris Roeder, the executive managing director and lead broker for JLL’s San Francisco office, said about AI office activity.

Start-ups say people who previously left the city or abandoned their entrepreneurial dreams have been reinspired by AI. As a result, recruiting to the city seems easier than in previous years.

“They want to work here,” said Michael Lam, a founder and the CEO of AI the tutoring start-up Studdy. “For the first time in a long time, there’s a thriving community of entrepreneurs who want to socialize, meet other people and go to events.”

San Francisco Travel, which handles marketing and sales for events at the Moscone Convention Center and other venues, has seen several AI conferences and events pop up and expects the trend to continue into next year. Cassandra Costello, an executive vice president and the chief policy and external affairs officer, says the organization aims to build on the momentum in AI to attract more such business to the city.

Michelle Fang, a start-up marketer in San Francisco, said the list of events in the city she publishes on social media has quadrupled since May, ranging in size from large gatherings to small living-room conversations.

“It feels much more organized by the community and boots on the ground,” she said. “People are coming here just to experience it.”

Attending events is what helped Hoover of Andi ultimately choose to relocate her company to San Francisco.

“The more access you have to events where you can learn, the better your chances,” she said, noting that AI advancements move fast.

Although San Francisco Mayor London Breed this year lauded the city as the “AI capital of the world,” the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development believes AI won’t be the silver bullet to economic recovery. Still, AI is important enough to be part of the strategy, especially for its role in reviving foot traffic.

“AI is in a great spot,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, the executive director of the agency. “It prioritizes in-person work, and we want the people leasing our offices to be using them.”

Beyond the city’s civic challenges, the growth of the AI community also could be dampened by the technology’s potential harms. Regulators are increasingly concerned about the impact AI could have on society, including in the spread of misinformation. Some people worry about algorithmic biases, job loss and privacy.

Start-ups say the grave implications of what they are doing is not lost on them.

“The mission is really clear,” said Karunamurthy of Scale AI, which helps companies with their AI training data. “We’re building tech that will impact our children’s lives.”

San Francisco will play a key role in the future of AI, Microsoft’s venture arm believes. The tech giant and OpenAI investor did not release numbers but said it is heavily investing in AI start-ups, a large number of which are in the city. It also opened an innovation lab in downtown last month to help AI companies collaborate and introduce prototypes of AI products.

“The cycle times [in which AI companies are formed] are off-the-charts fast,” said Christopher Young, the executive vice president for business development, strategy and ventures at Microsoft. “Being in the city and able to get together quickly is part of that.”

Y Combinator, a start-up accelerator that moved from the South Bay to San Francisco this year, said it is still seeing many AI applicants. Sixty-four percent of its most recent batch of companies were AI-focused, and nearly 60 percent of its overall AI portfolio is based in San Francisco.

Jared Friedman, a group partner at the accelerator, says this is reminiscent of the early 2000s web boom.

“If you weren’t here, it was hard to be on the bleeding edge,” he said. The AI playbook “is being written right now by the start-ups that are here doing it.”

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One of the most storied buildings in Louisiana is set for a modern makeover, promising visitors an unparalleled experience rooted deep in the state’s history.

Located in the heart of the historic town of Washington, LA – the third oldest European settlement in the state – this iconic building, once the bustling Klaus general store, is getting a second lease on life.

“You can see that we’re actually restoring this building, which was erected just after the Civil War by Jewish merchants from Prussia,” explained Stephen Ortego, Principal Architect at SO Studio, in a recent Instagram video. These entrepreneurs not only set up a general store on the ground floor but also made it their family residence, living just above their thriving business. The store remained a local landmark even as Max Klaus, who later married the founder’s daughter, took the reins, maintaining its legacy until the late 1960s.

Ortego shed light on the careful and respectful approach being taken with this project, stating, “This is a historic preservation project, and we are meticulously adhering to the guidelines from the national park service to ensure that we are using the best practices for historic preservation.” However, he clarified, “It’s not a complete restoration, because we’re not returning it to its pre-electricity and pre-plumbing days, but we are making sure it’s as close to its original charm, with a touch of modernity.”

The ambitious project will transform the old general store and residence into a boutique hotel, boasting nine exquisite rooms. Guests will soon have the unique opportunity to stay in one of Louisiana’s most historic places, making their visit a literal walk through history.

An excited post from @SOStudioArch on Instagram reads: “Introducing one of our newest projects in the historic town of Washington, LA. This project promises to transform the original general store and residence into a boutique hotel with 9 beautifully designed rooms. Guests will be enveloped in history while indulging in modern luxury. Stay tuned for more updates and sneak peeks.”

This rehabilitation project symbolizes a gorgeous blend of history with contemporary comfort, making it an exciting destination for history buffs and travelers alike.

KEEP READING: Here are the best places to retire in America

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Small hailstones fell in parts of San Francisco Wednesday morning, products of an as yet unsettled weather system that could bring more lashing winds and thunderstorms to parts of the Bay Area.

The National Weather Service issued a warning that pea-sized hail could also be expected in parts of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties by early morning.

The morning’s stormy weather should give way to calmer conditions Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco as the extratropical cyclone, which brought violent winds, rainstorms and the attendant threat of landslides to an already sodden Bay Area, moves south, according to Chronicle weather forecaster Gerry Diaz .

Thunderstorms were most likely forming Wednesday along the coasts of Sonoma and Santa Cruz, as well as in the highlands of Napa County, the coast of San Francisco Bay, and the low-lying regions of Solano and Contra Costa counties.

WEATHER EXPLANATION BY @NWSBayArea https://t.co/zzEUc2n0qt pic.twitter.com/ifYF6IjObO

— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) March 29, 2023

Winds were expected to reach between 30 and 35 miles per hour in the Bay Area.

In San Francisco, too, the weather conditions caused temperatures to drop – low enough to set a daily record.

On Tuesday, temperatures in the city dropped to 51 degrees, one degree below the 52-degree record set in 2006.

Reach Dominic Fracassa: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com

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A freeze warning was issued early Thursday for parts of the South Bay, East Bay and North Bay due to freezing temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

The freeze warning is in effect through 9 a.m. for the North Bay peaks and valleys, the East Bay peaks and valleys, and the Santa Clara Valley and hills, the NWS said.

Temperatures in these areas were expected to drop between 28 and 32 degrees.

Cold conditions will impact vulnerable populations, people with blackouts and pets, the NWS said. It can also kill crops and other delicate plants and potentially damage unprotected outdoor installations.

Get the latest weather updates at the NBC Bay Area Weather Site.

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The storm is expected to bring several inches of accumulation along I-95.

Feb 26, 2023 3:16pm ET

• 6 minutes read

The massive winter storm that has brought infrequent snowfalls to parts of California threatens to do the same on the east coast as it sweeps furiously across the country.

Southern California will finally get some respite from the intense rain and snow on Sunday. The major storm system is now bringing damaging thunderstorms to the Great Plains.

More than 80 million Americans are currently on alert for wind or winter weather.

Western Oklahoma will experience the majority of the severe weather on Sunday, with wind gusts of 80 to 110 miles per hour possible. North Texas and Southeast Kansas are forecast to experience storms with damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes.

The storm line will begin in the Texas Panhandle late Sunday afternoon before continuing in parts of Missouri into the overnight hours with a damaging wind threat.

East Coast snow forecast up to February 28, 2023.abc news

There will also be torrential rain in the Midwest through Sunday night, turning to a wintry mix through Monday morning, making commuting challenging for those in the Chicago area.

The storm system is expected to whip eastward after lingering on the west coast, dumping several inches of rain and snow in some regions.

In the Great Lakes region, snow is expected in Wisconsin, Michigan and the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of customers in Michigan are already without power. Utility companies DTE Energy and Consumers Energy said power would be restored ahead of the approaching storm.

On Monday evening and into Tuesday, a mix of snow and winter is likely to result in congestion in cities along the I-95 corridor.

On February 25, 2023, desert flora is covered with snow in Phelan, California.David Swanson/Reuters

The snow deficit in cities like New York City, New Haven, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston is likely to break away with several inches of snow and slush expected from this storm system. Tuesday morning could be a chaotic drive through the Northeast.

A rare snowstorm warning was issued for Southern California, bringing several feet of snow to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. A blanket of snow even reached the Hollywood Hills and the hills around San Francisco.

At one point over the weekend, snow fell at a rate of 2.5 inches per hour in places like Lake Arrowhead, California. Between 2 and 6 feet of snow has fallen in the mountains outside of Los Angeles since Wednesday.

More than 126,000 customers in California were without power on Saturday. More than 2,500 flights were canceled last week in anticipation of the storm.

Snow covers a home in Rancho Cucamonga, California on February 25, 2023.Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Another storm system is moving ashore in northern California later Sunday, bringing more gusty winds and incredible amounts of mountain snow.

Winter warnings are in effect on the west coast from Seattle to Sacramento when the weather picks up. The Sierra Nevada mountain range with the highest elevations will see between 3 and 7 feet of snow.

More waves of rain and snow will roll in elsewhere in California Monday morning.

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California’s uphill battle against its housing crisis has increasingly called upon a small but powerful actor: the accessory dwelling unit, or ADU.

Often referred to as in-law units or granny flats, traditional ADUs are small dwellings that are located on the same lot as an existing home, and typically have their own kitchens and bathrooms. ADUs can also refer to converted garages, boiler rooms and other sections of apartment buildings turned into housing.

Proponents of ADUs tout them as relatively low-impact tools to both help address California’s housing shortage and to enable lower- and middle-income homeowners to increase wealth and income by renting out the units. State legislators passed numerous laws aimed at making ADUs easier to build in recent years, including one that legalized units on single-family lots in 2020.

San Francisco has enacted numerous pro-ADU laws of its own in recent years as well. In 2016, the city passed Ordinance No. 162-16, which legalized ADU construction across all neighborhoods. It was among the most significant of a handful of pro-ADU policies the city has enacted since 2014, starting with an ordinance that allowed property owners to build ADUs if they also retrofitted their buildings against earthquake damage.

But despite these policies, only 622 ADUs have been built in the city since 2014, representing less than 0.2% of the city’s total housing supply. And those units are disproportionately located in wealthier neighborhoods, a Chronicle analysis has found.

The Chronicle obtained data from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection on all permitted ADUs completed since 2014, when the city first began enacting ADU-friendly legislation. We then looked at the number of ADUs completed by neighborhood, as a share of each neighborhood’s total housing units.

The majority of ADUs, we found, are being built in neighborhoods in the northern and central portions of the city. The Haight-Ashbury neighborhood has the highest rate of ADU construction relative to its available housing stock; Since 2014, the neighborhood has seen 50 ADUs successfully completed, a rate of 55 per 10,000 existing housing units. Seven neighborhoods, including Sea Cliff and Japantown, have seen zero ADUs, according to the permitting data.

Overall, we found more ADUs built in wealthier neighborhoods — those with higher incomes — than in less wealthy ones.

Our findings dovetail with previous research by a University of Michigan researcher that showed few permits to construct new ADUs have been filed in lower-income communities in San Francisco, and even fewer of those permits have become actual ADUs.

David Garcia, policy director for the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, said that ADUs are being disproportionately constructed in wealthier neighborhoods across the state, not just in San Francisco. “These neighborhoods are (traditionally) housing-exclusive, so I actually think that’s positive,” he said.

However, he said, it is a problem that so few ADUs have been constructed in San Francisco’s lower-income neighborhoods — which he attributes to lower- and middle-income homeowners lacking the cash or equity to pay the often-steep construction and design costs .

“I think we’re used to talking about ADUs being used as tools to build wealth, and if that’s not happening I think that’s a failure of the policy,” Garcia said. He added that the Terner Center and other policy experts are trying to identify possible solutions to the ADU wealth gap, like loans and other financial incentives. Politicians are working on this too: One recent bill introduced by Assembly Member Phil Ting of San Francisco would create a state fund that lower- or middle-income families could draw on to build ADUs.

Other housing experts, though, question whether it’s sensitive for the city and state to spend so much time and energy on ADU legislation at all. Among them is Daniel Parolek, CEO of Opticos Design, a Berkeley architecture firm.

Parolek is also credited with coming up with the “missing middle” concept, or the idea that moderate-density housing options — like duplexes and fourplexes — are key to addressing housing shortages in urban regions like the Bay Area.

“It’s good that we’re adding housing in this way. But a city like San Francisco needs a lot more tools to enable a volume of housing that has an impact,” Parolek told The Chronicle.

He added that in his experience, many California cities are “prioritizing ADUs at the expense of other needed housing efforts,” in part because they’re less politically controversial than other development options, like rezoning neighborhoods or approving large apartment buildings.

And even though San Francisco has passed many recent laws aimed at making ADU construction easier, many builders still see the process as cumbersome, according to Mark Hogan, principal architect at OpenScope Studio. OpenScope helped shape San Francisco’s ADU program and has built numerous ADU projects in the city.

Hogan said this is because the city has its own set of laws around ADUs that are less streamlined than the state’s. For instance, when California legalized ADUs statewide in 2020, it also required local governments to respond to ADU permit applications within 60 days.

But because of a loophole in the law that applies to cities with ADU programs prior to July 2018, including San Francisco, the city doesn’t have to abide by this time limit for ADU permit applications for apartment buildings — the kinds that tend to be most feasible for San Francisco, given that the city’s lot sizes are often too small for the in-law unit type of ADUs. Hogan said this loophole has stalled many ADU projects in larger buildings, frustrating developers.

In 2019, Hogan said, things were looking up for ADU builders when Mayor London Breed issued a directive ordering the Department of Building Inspection to respond to permit applications within four months. But then the pandemic arrived, coinciding with internal department-wide disruptions such as high staff turnover and corruption investigations involving higher-level staff.

“Because of the disruption of staff leaving and the pandemic, that whole four-month timeline has completely gone out the window,” he said.

Susie Neilson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: susie.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson

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September 21, 2021

In an indicator of just how many fingers disgraced permit expediter, contractor and confessed federal criminal Walter Wong had in how many San Francisco pies, a settlement with him ratified by the Board of Supervisors last week includes a $387,000 credit to Wong for garbage can parts.

This equipment is referred to obliquely in the actual settlement as “a credit of $386,933.94 for goods and services already received by the City from Alternate Choice, LLC.”

Mission Local, however, has confirmed that these “goods” are garbage-can parts for the much-maligned “Renaissance” bins procured from the Wong-affiliated Alternate Choice in a $5.2 million contract. The parts had been obtained by the city, but had not yet been paid for — and the $387,000 credit offsets a larger $1.7 million fine levied against Wong.

San Francisco is in the midst of a year long process of designing and producing a new, custom-made trash can — an exercise that has required a prohibitive amount of time and could result in garbage bins costing more per unit than a decent used car.

The present trash cans, whose wonderful performance induced — and justified — the process of designing a can from scratch and building it, were produced by one of the city’s most notorious fixers. And, thanks to this $387,000 worth of cans and parts, the procurement process can go on; without these parts, it would have been even more challenging to maintain our deteriorating extant cans.

Wong, who was swept up in the ongoing corruption probes stemming from the January, 2020, federal charges leveled against former Public Works boss Mohammed Nuru, was born in Hong Kong in 1948 and emigrated to San Francisco 23 years later. He ascended from positions as a janitor and busboy to become a contractor, major landowner and, perhaps most saliently, a permit expediter.

It is hard to understate the amount of control Wong exercised over this city’s Department of Building Inspection, for a generation. He ran a de facto department within a department, seeded with his allies to handle his matters, up to and including former director Tom Hui.

Wong copped to fraud and money-laundering charges and pledged to cooperate with the feds. He did: His fingerprints were all over the charges leveled against former PUC boss Harlan Kelly in November, 2020. Kelly was accused of taking bribes from Wong in return for aid in obtaining a lighting contract (Wong ultimately failed to land the contract; jarringly, within the charging documents, a conversation between Wong and Nuru is recounted, in which the latter tells Wong he had no chance at the contract because a competitor bribed Kelly more).

The settlement ratified by the Board of Supervisors last week dings Wong $1.45 million for contracts he received without benefit of the competitive process and $318,000 in ethics fines and fees. He will also not collect $164,000 in work performed but not yet paid for in an emergency Public Works contract.

Perhaps most consequently, however, the settlement bars Wong from permit-expediting for five years — the maximum debarment period allowed under city law.

The notion of getting replacement parts from Wong for the janky and inadequate cans he provided the city was greeted with some degree of bitter mirth within City Hall. One official liked it to a movie in which a villain is visited in prison — say, Hannibal Lecter — and asked to provide a favor.

Mission Local’s questions to Public Works regarding just how many garbage cans and/or parts one gets for $387,000, and how many years of maintenance this is projected to provide, have not yet been answered.

Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.

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