Julie Johnson

Santa Rosa

Reporter at San Francisco Chronicle

Reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. Santa Rosa Press Democrat alumna with 2018 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news.

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Articles

The Valero refinery fire in Benicia was sparked by a broken furnace

5 days ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

Smoke billows from Valero’s refinery in Benicia, as seen on May 5 after a fire broke out at the facility. Anna Buchmann/S.F. ChronicleA fire at Valero’s refinery in Benicia this week, which triggered shelter-in-place warnings in surrounding neighborhoods, started when part of a furnace stack broke off in an area critical to making gasoline, according to a company report.
Native American veterans of Alcatraz occupation react to Trump's plans

1 week ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

A sign reads “This Land Is My Land” during the Native American occupation of Alcatraz, which lasted from November 1969 to June 1971. Vincent Maggiora/S.F. ChronicleA boy creates an outdoor bowling alley during the first few days of the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. Vincent Maggiora/S.F. ChronicleThe jail cell was cold, damp and echoey. But sleeping in the old prison buildings of Alcatraz Island was the first time Robert Free Galvan had a sense of true liberty.
Valero's Benicia refinery could shut down operations by 2026

4 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

Valero Refining Co. has told California regulators that its considering closing its facility in the Bay Area city of Benicia.
Berkeley hills residents must clear vegetation near homes under newly approved rule

4 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

Hundreds of Berkeley hills households will soon have to follow strict landscaping rules after city officials passed new wildfire safety regulations meant to slow a worst-case-scenario blaze burning into town. In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, Berkeley council members agreed to require a five-foot buffer around homes, wood decks and outbuildings in designated areas.
Berkeley poised to ban most plants within 5 feet of homes deemed a fire risk

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

Berkeley is poised next week to ban most plants within 5 feet of homes in neighborhoods near Tilden Regional Park. Called an ember-resistant zone, or zone zero, the concept is tantalizingly straightforward: Clear the area around structures of plants and other flammable materials so that flying embers will land on noncombustible material like rock or concrete and peter out instead of setting the home on fire.
New Trump executive order blasts California's cap-and-trade program

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order targeting state climate change policies, including California’s landmark cap and trade program designed to reduce planet-warming gases.
We asked San Franciscans about Trump’s tariffs. They didn’t hold back

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Sam Whiting |Julie Johnson

“It will affect me a lot because I have a child,” said Maria Tapia of San Francisco, who was waiting for a Market Street bus. “How can I provide for my family? I’m worried about people losing their jobs because everything is getting really rough.”“I think it’s crazy,” said Mike Murphy of Oakley after crossing the street in front of Lotta’s Fountain. “It’s going to cost so many people so much hardship.
Yosemite highway from S.F. to reopen by end of March after landslide

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson

A main route between the Bay Area and Yosemite National Park, shut down by a rockslide, is expected to reopen to one-way traffic by the end of March, state highway officials said on Monday. Highway 140 in Mariposa County has been closed since March 18 when a rockslide covered the roadway in debris. The slide occurred about 15 miles west of El Portal in Briceburg.
PG&E asks California regulators for rate increase to boost shareholder profits

1 month ago | fresnobee.com | Julie Johnson |Danielle Echeverria

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Thursday asked state energy regulators to increase shareholder profits because of the high risk of doing business in California after a historic year of rate hikes sent utility bills soaring. In filings submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E asked that it be allowed a 11.3% return for investors, up a percentage point from the current limit.
PG&E asks California regulators for rate increase to boost shareholder profits

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Julie Johnson |Danielle Echeverria

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Thursday asked state energy regulators to increase shareholder profits because of the high risk of doing business in California after a historic year of rate hikes sent utility bills soaring. In filings submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E asked that it be allowed a 11.3% return for investors, up a percentage point from the current limit.