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• Chaos in the ranks of House Republicans. After three rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy falls far short in his bid to become the new House Speaker. His opponents say he can’t be trusted to drain the swamp.
• California is bracing for a new storm – an atmospheric river expected to bring flooding, winds, and colder temperatures.
• The Wood Street encampment in Oakland is bracing for the storm, and for another city eviction on Monday January 9. The Wood Street encampment in Oakland is bracing for the storm, and for another city eviction on Monday January 9. 
• The California snowpack is off to one of its best starts in 40 years but it’ll take more storms to climb out of the state’s prolonged drought.
• Ultranationalist Israeli Cabinet minister Itamar Ben Gavir pays a provocative visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem.
• And an annual report on racial profiling shows that California law enforcement was more than twice as likely to use force against people they perceived as Black than those they believed to be white.

Image: Jared DeFigh rakes wood chips at the Wood Street Commons to help with mud, after rainstorms flooded parts of the encampment in Oakland. Photo by Corinne Smith / KPFA News

The post Rep McCarthy fails to win Speaker role after three rounds of voting; Northern California expects intense storm, flooding and high winds; Wood Street encampment in Oakland braces for storm and city eviction January 9 appeared first on KPFA.

This post was originally published on KPFA – The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays.