• Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the oath of office just before noon Eastern Time, with former presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama looking on. "The cry for survival comes from the planet itself," Biden said in his inaugural address, stressing unity and healing. [New York Times]
• The @POTUS Twitter account is being transferred to the new administration without its existing followers, which is not how this worked when Trump inherited it from Obama. [ABC 7]
• Santa Cruz police are seeking the public's help to identify a suspected flasher. [CBS SF]
• The Biden team says they are coming into an Executive branch in a greater state of chaos than anyone understood, and the transition looks to continue to be rocky for a while to come. [Politico]
• The new "Bay Area variant" of the coronavirus intensifies the race to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. [Chronicle]
• There was no Mega Millions winner on Tuesday night, and the jackpot has risen to $970 million. [KRON4]
• Flouting most other traditions about the transition of power, Trump did leave a letter for Biden on the Resolute Desk. [Politico]
• Joseph Maldonado-Passage, a.k.a. Tiger King's Joe Exotic, was expected a pardon from Trump on Tuesday, with a limo waiting outside the prison, but it never came. [KRON4]
• And Trump disappointed some of his cult followers who raided the Capitol two weeks ago by failing to issue pardons for them. [Associated Press]

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