PG&E to Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in Deadly California Wildfire
From the Wall Street Journal's KATHERINE BLUNT: "PG&E Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter charges for its role in starting the deadliest wildfire in California’s history.
The indictment in Butte County, where 85 people died during the 2018 Camp Fire, charges the company with 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire.
The company disclosed the charges Monday morning in a regulatory filing. It filed for Chapter 11 protection last year, citing billions of dollars in liability costs it faces because of its role in sparking wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that collectively killed more than 100 people and destroyed roughly 15,700 homes."
Trump issues major disaster declaration for California as pandemic intensifies
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for California on Sunday to help the state handle the economic and health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The declaration will provide additional aid to the state, including food assistance and more financial help for people who have lost work or faced business losses because of the outbreak. It came hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Trump requesting the action.
Among other provisions, the declaration will allow people like business owners who do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance to apply for disaster unemployment insurance. Trump also approved Newsom’s earlier request to deploy the Navy medical ship Mercy to Los Angeles to help relieve strain on the hospitals there."
READ MORE related to COVID-19 Pandemic: Californians ordered to stay home: Here are the new rules -- LA Times's STAFF; Man behind sequencing of COVID-19 could have keys to the disease -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE; Newsom to Californians: 'Assume you are potentially contagious' -- The Chronicle's MATT KAWAHARA; Grocers should show 'human kindness' and pay older workers to stay home, senator warns --Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Inside the effort to keep home construction going in California during pandemic crisis -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK/DALE KASLER; Starbucks closes in Sacramento, elsewhere. Drive-through, delivery still available -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER; California inmate tests positive as more workers fall victim to pandemic -- Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON; Will 'shelter in place' work to slow pandemic? -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY; Social live wires keep calendars packed via live stream -- The Chronicle's RYAN KOST; Courts give govts wide latitude when epidemics/pandemics, like COVID-19, threaten public health -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; 'This is serious.' Garcetti scolds LA for not staying home as virus spreads -- LA Times's ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE/RUBEN VIVES/LAURA NEWBERRY; What you should know about wearing gloves and a mask -- LA Times's NICOLE SANTA CRUZ
CalPERS faces stunning $69B loss; worst market activity since Great Recession
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "The pot of invested money used to pay for hundreds of thousands of California public employee pensions has shrunk by $69 billion as coronavirus has squeezed global markets.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s fund balance stood about $335 billion Thursday, down from a record high of $404 billion one month ago, according to CalPERS officials.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System likely experienced similar losses, but the system doesn’t publicly report its value as often as CalPERS does. Its value stood about $243 billion at the end of February."
Signature gathering halted for $5.5B stem cell initiative
DAVID JENSEN in Capitol Weekly: "Backers of a $5.5 billion stem cell research initiative in California have suspended their efforts to gather signatures to place it on the November ballot, but are expressing confidence that the proposal will qualify.
In response to questions from the California Stem Cell Report, the campaign said it had run afoul of statewide bans on public gatherings. Voter signatures on petitions to place the initiative on the ballot generally require small gatherings in public places."
"The proposal is intended to refinance the California stem cell agency, which has spent nearly all of the $3 billion it was provided by voters in 2004. It will begin to close its doors next fall unless more funding is provided."
MORE from Capitol Weekly: Podcast: Carmela Coyle on hospitals, COVID-19 -- STAFF
4.8-magnitude quake rattles NorCal coast, USGS reports
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "A 4.8-magnitude earthquake Sunday morning in the Pacific Ocean rattled the Northern California coastline, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
The 7-mile deep quake hit about 30 miles west of Petrolia at 9:27 a.m. Pacific time, according to the USGS. Scores of people from as far away as Chico and Crescent City reported feeling the tremor to the agency, with most reports coming from Eureka and Arcata.
There were no reports of injuries or damage, and no tsunami warning was issued."
READ MORE related to Environment: Marin County closes parks to avoid COVID-19 spread -- The Chronicle's MATT KAWAHARA; City dwellers are fleeing to deserts and mountains in an effort to evade the virus -- LA Times's LOUIS SAHAGUN
California's rural hospitals can't handle a virus wave. 'People will die,' doctor warns
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/JASON POHL: "Mammoth Hospital’s chief medical officer Dr. Craig Burrows didn’t hold back as he urged the 8,234 people living in his Sierra ski-resort town to stay home and avoid crowds.
“Try to imagine 100 people getting sick all at once tomorrow,” Burrows said in an unscripted video message the Mono County hospital posted on YouTube. “If that happens, our small hospital, our small community, will be completely overwhelmed and people will die.
“Let me say that again: People. Will. Die."
Eerie drone photos reveal new stay-at-home landscape
LA Times's STAFF: "With cases of the coronavirus in California nearing 1,500, state officials called on residents to self-isolate and tried to increase the speed of testing.
Amid some reports that people were gathering with friends or not maintaining the recommended social distance, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday pleaded for residents to avoid unnecessary social contact.
The staff of the Los Angeles Times has been documenting the changing landscape of everyday life. Here are views from on high of the Southland in the time of the coronavirus."
Airport traffic suffers amid 'shelter in place'
Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "The coronavirus pandemic that has ground California to a halt is also taking a toll on passenger traffic at airports in the Bay Area and in Sacramento.
Even before the Bay Area’s six-county shutdown earlier in the week and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order Thursday affecting 40 million Californians, carriers were dramatically shedding flights from their schedules while public health officials were discouraging all but essential travel.
How steep the declines were at Sacramento International Airport for the first half of March are yet unclear — traffic data is not available until April, according to airport spokeswoman Samantha Mott — but a troubling report earlier this week from the airport’s biggest carrier could be a sign of what’s ahead."
Stocks jump higher after Fed moves to help businesses
AP's ELAINE KURTENBACH: "U.S. futures jumped and global stock benchmarks trimmed losses Monday after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local government to help them cope with the economic damage created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street futures swung from losses to trade over 2% higher. European markets pushed higher after starting the day sharply lower. Germany's DAX rose 1.5% to 9,059 and Britain's FTSE 100 was flat at 5,190. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1% to 4,087.
In a series of sweeping steps, the Fed said it will set up three new lending facilities that will provide up to $300 billion by purchasing corporate bonds, buying a wider range of municipal bonds, and purchasing asset-backed securities. It also says it will buy an unlimited amount of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in an effort hold down interest rates and ensure those markets function smoothly."
READ MORE related to Economy: Negotiations stall on massive economic rescue package as virus hits Senate -- LA Times's LAURA KING/JENNIFER HABERKORN
COVID-19 will make California's affordable housing problems worse, experts say
LA Times's LIAM DILLON: "California already faced a shortage of more than 1 million homes for low-income families before the novel coronavirus hit. And now many advocates, economists and politicians say the pandemic is only going to make the situation worse.
Major job losses, particularly in low-wage restaurant and hospitality sectors, and what will probably be severely depressed tax revenues for California and its cities, could create an even greater need for affordable housing at a time when government has less money available to help finance it.
“There’s all these households that are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their rent,” said Carolina Reid, faculty research advisor at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. “Well, now that paycheck is gone. And there’s no prospect for when that paycheck is coming back.”"
Congressional rescue talks churn as crisis expands
AP's ANDREW TAYLOR/JONATHAN LEMIRE/LISA MASCARO: "Top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House churned late into the night over a now nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package, as the coronavirus crisis deepened, the nation shut down and the first U.S. senator tested positive for the disease.
As President Donald Trump took to the podium in the White House briefing room and promised to help Americans who feel afraid and isolated as the pandemic spreads, the Senate voted Sunday against advancing the rescue package. But talks continued on Capitol Hill.
“I think you'll get there. To me it's not very complicated: We have to help the worker. We have to save the companies," Trump said."
Pompeo rushes to Afghanistan to try to salvage Taliban peace deal
AP: "Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo was in Kabul on an urgent visit Monday to try to move forward a U.S. peace deal signed last month with the Taliban, a trip that comes despite the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel.
Since the signing of the deal, the peace process has stalled amid political turmoil in Afghanistan, with the country’s leaders squabbling over who was elected president.
President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival in September’s presidential polls, Abdullah Abdullah, have both declared themselves the country’s president in dueling inauguration ceremonies earlier this month."