Is California winning the battle against COVID-19 spread? Here are the surprising numbers
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS/SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Has California turned the corner in its fight to slow the coronavirus?
No public health official is talking quite that boldly. But Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health agency provided The Bee with perhaps the most telling numbers yet that the state is staving off the surge of serious cases that overwhelmed hospitals in New York, China, Italy and Spain.
A Johns Hopkins University modeling program used by Newsom’s health team projected there would be nearly 11,000 patients with COVID-19 symptoms in California hospitals by now."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: So much is unknown about the pandemic because the govt keeps a lid on it -- LA Times's ANITA CHABRIA/JACK DOLAN/BEN POSTON/MATT HAMILTON; Sacramento County launches new coronavirus dashboard, including charts, maps of cases -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH; Study suggests California has 10 times more coronavirus cases than reported. Local experts disagree -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE
'Beyond crazy': Coronavirus turns California's $20B budget reserves into red ink
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California lawmakers are cautiously optimistic they can avoid slashing tens of billions of dollars in spending from government services this year despite the economic hit of the coronavirus outbreak, but a prolonged recession could consume the state’s historic reserves and force deep cuts to programs.
The state’s economy has slowed to a near standstill since Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an indefinite stay-at-home order on March 19, ending nearly overnight the expansion California had enjoyed over the the last decade.
“It’s been a really good, 10-year run,” said Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. “What we didn’t anticipate, and obviously given the size of the pandemic, was how it doesn’t just affect a piece of California, but every part of California and everyone in the country.”
READ MORE related to Economy: Americans can get pandemic payments faster with newly launched IRS site -- LA Times's SARAH D WIRE; Many in the Central Valley will have to wait for their stimulus payments. Here's why -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN; Are you and your employer obeying these 16 stay-at-home rules in Sac County? -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK; With commerce frozen, retail sales plunge unprecedented 8.7% -- AP; Reopening the economy requires testing, and the US still isn't close -- LA Times's NOAM N LEVEY; No sports or concerts? What a post-coronavirus world looks like -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY
Warren is latest former presidential rival to back Biden
AP: "Elizabeth Warren endorsed Joe Biden on Wednesday, becoming the last of the former vice president's major Democratic presidential rivals to formally back him.
The Massachusetts senator dropped out of the race last month, shortly after a disappointing third-place finish in her home state. She refused to immediately endorse Biden or her fellow progressive Bernie Sanders.
Sanders, who suspended his campaign last week, endorsed Biden on Monday, A day later, former President Barack Obama announced his public backing of Biden."
Guatemala health chief says at least half of deportees from US have coronavirus
LA Times's PATRICK J MCDONNELL/MOLLY O'TOOLE/CINDY CARCAMO: "More than half the deportees flown back to Guatemala by U.S. immigration authorities have tested positive for coronavirus, the top Guatemalan health official said Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters in Guatemala City, Hugo Monroy, the minister of health, did not specify a time frame or the total number of deportees who had arrived home with infections.
But hundreds of Guatemalans have been returned in recent weeks, including 182 who arrived Monday on two flights from Texas."
Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui gets married in virtual ceremony
Sac Bee's ROSALIO AHUMADA: "Doris Matsui, the Sacramento area’s congressional representative, originally planned to marry Roger Sant in May. But the pair decided to tie the knot over the Easter weekend in a virtual ceremony that she says celebrated life, even during a global coronavirus health crisis.
Matsui, D-Sacramento, married Sant, a Washington, D.C., billionaire who co-founded Applied Energy Service. She announced her marriage Tuesday afternoon on her Twitter account.
“It was a lovely ceremony joined virtually by our kids and grandkids,” Matsui said on Twitter. “Despite the crisis we are in and the uncertainty of when it will end, love & joy are still a part of this world; life must be celebrated & cherished."
You don't have to go to the DMV: License renewals extended for pandemic
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced on Tuesday it will allow drivers under age 70 with an expiring license to delay renewal until the end of May. That grace period applies to drivers whose licenses expire in March, April and May.
The department also will allow commercial drivers with expiring licenses and certifications until the end of June before requiring renewal. That extension doesn’t include medical certificates for commercial drivers.
The DMV said drivers whose renewal date falls in the months covered will automatically be given the extension, and will not receive a new card or an extension in the mail. The department said it has alerted California law enforcement about the extensions."
Paradise vice mayor accused of sending sexual messages, photos in undercover sting
Sac Bee's ROSALIO AHUMADA: "Paradise Vice Mayor Michael Zuccolillo is accused of sending sexually explicit messages and images to someone he believed was a 16-year-old girl from China in a sting operation that was initiated by someone who was angry with him over “a bad business deal.”
Zuccolillo, 41, turned himself in at Butte County Jail on Tuesday and was later released after posting a $135,000 bail bond.
He is accused of arranging to meet with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd or lascivious behavior, sending harmful material to a minor and communicating with a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct, according to a news release from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office."
How UV light may protect us from the coronavirus
LA Times's AMINA KHAN: "The stealthy new coronavirus has turned face masks into ubiquitous accessories, and that means millions of Americans are looking for ways to keep them clean.
Can ultraviolet light do the job?
Ideally, single-use face masks should be worn once and then thrown away, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s certainly true of the top-of-the-line N95 masks used by healthcare workers that are designed to filter out 95% of tiny particles when properly fitted to a wearer’s face."
READ MORE related to Health: Smoke from recent California wildfires increased risk of cardiac arrest 70%, study shows -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; Bay Area health care workers want more transparency about on-the-job coronavirus exposure -- The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH
Park closed during coronavirus? Look to wetlands to get outdoors
The Chronicle's TOM STIENSTRA: "During shelter-in-place, balancing time outside while staying close to home can be difficult: certain parks are off limits, parking lots are closed and authorities are increasingly on patrol to keep people moving along.
In many cases, marsh wetlands on the shore of the bay can offer an answer.
The greater Bay Area has more than 20 wetland marshes that provide nesting and nursery habitat for resident waterfowl and shorebirds, and food and resting habitat for migrants. Many are within short range of Bay Area residents."
'Distance learning' off to rocky start at SCUSD for students without laptops
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "On the first official day of “distance learning” for Sacramento City Unified, teacher Victoria Carr received emails from students asking when they’ll receive a Google Chromebook so they can begin their work online.
Some of Carr’s students at Fern Bacon Middle School were using borrowed phones from their parents and guardians to connect with their teachers and classmates on Monday.
Terrence Gladney, who serves on the SCUSD Bond Oversight Committee, said he’s fortunate his daughter has a laptop to use on the first day, otherwise “she would have had to write her paper on her smartphone.”
California correctional officers' union tells Feinstein to side with Trump on Iran money
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "The union representing California correctional officers waded into international politics Monday with a letter urging U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to change her position on emergency aid for Iran.
Feinstein, a California Democrat, has supported the International Monetary Fund loaning Iran $5 billion to help the country recover from a coronavirus outbreak. The virus has infected about 75,000 people there and killed about 4,700, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
President Donald Trump plans to block the loan based on concerns that Iran’s leaders could use the money to try to skirt strict U.S. sanctions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. The sanctions have been a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s Iran policy since Trump abandoned a 2015 international nuclear deal with the country."
SF must lease 8,250 hotel rooms for homeless, frontline workers under emergency ordinance
The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI: "San Francisco must procure more than 8,000 hotel rooms for the city’s homeless and frontline workers under an emergency ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The ordinance, which passed unanimously, requires the city to lease 8,250 rooms in hotels and motels by April 26. That is 1,250 more rooms than Mayor London Breed’s staff is currently working to lease.
“If we are successful with everyone in San Francisco who is housed, but not everyone who is unhoused, we will be putting everyone in danger,” Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the bulk of the city’s homeless population, said at Tuesday’s meeting."
READ MORE related to Housing/Homelessness: Berkeley council weighs controversial rules for new housing development -- The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN