Coronavirus, California

Feb 4, 2020

As coronavirus cases spread across California, CDC warns count will keep growing

 

From the LAT's COLLEEN SHALBY: "After a steady increase in the last week in the number of coronavirus cases in California and across the U.S., officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the virus is likely to spread."

 

“We expect to find other cases in the United States,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases."

 

"The CDC confirmed there are 11 people in the U.S. who have tested positive for the virus, with six cases in California. Five new patients have been discovered in the U.S. since last week’s briefing, officials said, and four of those were in the Bay Area. Health officials in Northern California confirmed three cases Sunday and one Friday, bringing the total number of patients in the state to six."

 

READ MORE on coronavirus: Bay Area officials scramble to contain coronavirus as UCSF accepts two patients -- Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY and CATHERINE HO; Here’s how coronavirus evacuees under quarantine in Riverside County are spending their days -- SANDRA EMERSON in the Press-Enterprise

 

The March 4 primary is coming hot and fast

 

From Capitol Weekly's PAUL MITCHELL: "For Super Tuesday, we are expecting to see an earlier vote than ever before. Over 15 million California ballots are being mailed, mostly today, and we are expecting to see a ton come back in the first week or 10 days."

 

"With three-quarters of the electorate being mailed ballots, we know records will be broken. Based on recent polling, a whopping 75% of by-mail voters say they’re going to vote early. I’m sure they would also say they are going to pay their bills on time and be early to work, but even if this is 60%, this suggests that the early vote will be larger than we have ever seen."

 

"Regardless whether they vote in the first week or the last, we will see a higher share of the electorate voting by mail than in any previous California election."

 

PG&E Surges on Overhaul Plan, But Still Needs to Win Over Newsom

 

MARK CHEDIAK, Bloomberg News: "PG&E Corp. shares surged after the company proposed its most sweeping reform plan yet, offering to overhaul its board with safety experts in a bid to win state approval for its bankruptcy reorganization."

 

"The question is whether it’s enough for California Governor Gavin Newsom."

 

"PG&E detailed the proposed changes in filings late Friday with the California Public Utilities Commission and U.S. bankruptcy court. The plan calls for half the company’s board members to reside in California."

 

California voters to eye expanded rent control in November

 

From AP's DON THOMPSON: "California voters will consider expanding rent control statewide in November, the secretary of state’s office said Monday, as they weigh in on the controversial issue for the second time in two years amid a worsening homelessness crisis."

 

"Secretary of State Alex Padilla said the measure qualified for the fall ballot after election officials determined that a sufficient number of the nearly 1 million signatures submitted by supporters in December are valid."

 

"The initiative would end current restrictions in state law, allowing cities and counties to implement and expand rent control policies that limit how much rents can increase each year."

 

Faculty group to UC leaders: Replace the SAT and ACT with UC-created exam

 

NANETTE ASIMOV, Chronicle: "The University of California should replace the SAT and ACT admissions tests with its own set of exams — but not for nine years — a faculty committee recommended Monday in response to concerns that the tests put low-income students of color at a disadvantage."

 

"The task force rejected the idea of making the controversial standardized tests optional as more than 1,000 universities around the country have done in recent years."

 

"The Academic Senate’s 18-member Standardized Testing Task Force recommended that UC develop a “suite of high school student assessments” to replace the SAT and ACT, a task that could take UC nearly a decade if the regents adopt the idea."

 

Huntington Beach man pleads guilty to scamming L.A.’s Fifth Church of Christ out of $11.5 million

 

From the LA Daily News, JOSH CAIN: "The former chairman and facilities manager of a historic Los Angeles church pleaded guilty Monday to stealing millions of dollars from church members over a decade, using the money to finance buying an expensive mansion and exclusive club memberships for himself."

 

"The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Charles Thomas Sebesta, a 54-year-old Huntington Beach resident, agreed to plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud and bank fraud for orchestrating the scheme to steal at least $11.5 million from the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, a longtime Hollywood-based branch of the Church of Christian Science."

 

"In court Monday, U.S. Central District Judge Stephen V. Wilson described Sebesta’s scheme as “looting” the church of everything it owned."

 

Iowa meltdown: Technical snags fuel chaos at caucuses

 

From MAT VISER and TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, Washington Post: "The long-anticipated Iowa caucuses turned into a debacle Monday night when technical problems delayed the results, prompting presidential candidates to depart before the outcome was clear, spurring one campaign to challenge the integrity of the process and producing a muddled situation instead of what Democratic leaders hoped would be a decisive beginning to their attempt to oust President Trump."