Phase 2 of reopening California; striking photos from around the state
LA Times's STAFF: "The images we see on a daily basis still seem difficult to comprehend.
Seniors holding graduation ceremonies via Zoom in their living rooms, Dodger Stadium filled with cars — not for a game but rather storage for rental car companies, and a flight crew walking through Los Angeles International Airport looking ready to tackle a hazmat situation.
California is in the second phase of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four-phase plan to gradually reopen the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic."
READ MORE related to Economy: California minimum wage would continue to go up under Newsom's proposed budget -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER; The price of being 'essential': Latino service workers bear brunt of coronavirus -- LA Times's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS/ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE/MATT STILES/ANDREW J CAMPA; To balance California's budget, state will stick to its most vulnerable citizens -- LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON; Residents fear loss of community post offices to the coronavirus -- AP; Restaurants and bars look ahead -- The Chronicle's SOLEIL HO/JANELLE BITKER/ESTHER MOBLEY; Small businesses say SF's new curbside sales won't change much -- The Chronicle's SHWANIKA NARAYAN/RUSTY SIMMONS
California, western state allies forging their own paths in coronavirus crisis
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "When Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out ground rules that would allow counties with few coronavirus cases to move faster than the state to reopen their economies, he credited Colorado and Oregon with the idea.
“They quite literally — that’s a proof point of the work they were doing in this space — helped guide and advance our work that we are putting out,” Newsom said during a May 4 news conference.
The plan was the product of conversations between five Western states’ governors who formed one of several interstate pacts that are coordinating regional responses to the coronavirus pandemic. But since it was rolled out with fanfare a month ago, the collaboration between California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado has been loose, advisory and largely symbolic. Each state is still crafting its own strategy to lift shutdown measures and following a different timeline to resume public life."
READ MORE related to COVID-19 Pandemic: Coronavirus vaccine within a year is 'far from a sure thing,' expert warns -- LA Times's LAURA KING; Coronavirus vaccine could come from California, with no shot needed -- The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS; Coronavirus vaccine trial by Moderna shows promising early rtesults -- NYT's DENISE GRADY
How a single insurance company came to dominate Newsom's COVID-19 testing team
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/JASON POHL: "As Gov. Gavin Newsom navigates one of his most vexing problems during the pandemic, supplying the state with enough tests for COVID-19, he has relied heavily on a single company: insurance giant Blue Shield of California, a generous campaign contributor and supporter.
Nearly half of the leadership positions on Newsom’s high-priority task force on coronavirus testing are filled with Blue Shield executives. Its CEO, Paul Markovich, is the co-lead, alongside the assistant director of the state Department of Public Health.
All told, employees of the insurance company make up 22 percent of the 68-position team. The company, based in Oakland, has more members on the task force than all of the other private-sector representatives combined."
Underfunded pensions make GOP leaders reluctant to send federal aid to states like California
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Top Washington Republicans determined not to send federal money to states say their biggest fear is Democrats will use it to help reeling public employee pensions funds.
The GOP leaders insist they won’t enable what they call years of mismanagement. Their stance is proving to be an obstacle to federal help for the decimated budgets of California and states and cities all over the country.
“Why should residents of Wisconsin or Tennessee have to pay for the pension benefits of workers in Illinois and California?” asked Rachel Greszler, research fellow in economics at the Heritage Foundation,a Washington-based conservative group."
Health or wealth? Reeps champion economy, and it's likely to pay off
The Chronicle's WILLIE BROWN: "Anytime there’s a crisis, politicians are going to try to make it look like they’ve got your best interests at heart.
In the case of the pandemic, our best interests are twofold: our physical health and our economic health.
So far, Democrats give the impression they hold our health in highest regard. Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and our own Gavin Newsom have been the party’s most vocal supporters of a stay-at-home strategy."
To soften blow of state worker pay cuts, California might suspend $2,600 health deductions
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration could offer some relief from potential pay cuts for state workers by temporarily eliminating one of the paycheck deductions workers see each month, according to an Association of California State Supervisors web post.
Newsom this week proposed reducing state workers’ pay by 10 percent on Thursday in a budget that aims to reckon with a projected $54 billion deficit.
California Human Resources Department Director Eraina Ortega told the association the state could ease the pain a little by pausing workers’ monthly contributions toward the health benefits they receive in retirement, according to the post."
Before the pandemic, Biden offered stability. Now he's talking bold change
LA Times's MELANIE MASON/MARK Z BARABAK: "With the world turned upside down by the novel coronavirus, Joe Biden has refashioned his presidential campaign to shift from an emphasis on steadiness and stability to the promise of big, bold change.
While the fundamentals of Biden’s White House bid remain the same — with a call for such Democratic standbys as expanded healthcare and greater equality — he talks less about restoring things as they were before President Trump’s disruptive time in office and more about where the country heads from this unsettling place.
The more transformative vision is a response to the greatest economic and health crises most Americans have ever faced and the way the toll of COVID-19 has changed public attitudes and opened the door to new political possibilities."
40 years after its famed eruption, Mt. St. helens looms as a marvel and a threat
LA Times's RICHARD READ: "On the morning of May 18, 1980, an earthquake shook Mt. St. Helens and the mountain’s north face collapsed in one of the largest debris avalanches ever recorded.
The slide uncorked the volcano, baring magma that exploded with 500 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb in the most destructive eruption in U.S. history.
The cataclysmic chain of events killed 57 people and thousands of animals, took out 250 homes, 47 bridges and 185 miles of highway, clogged rivers with sediment, flooded valleys and blocked the Columbia River shipping channel."
With Cal State and other colleges moving online, higher ed has to prove its value
The Chronicle's RON KROICHICK: "As colleges and universities grapple with how to conduct business this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, they also face larger, long-term challenges in balancing traditional instruction and digital innovation.
“Higher education rarely faces existential questions about its future,” said Mitchell Stevens, an associate professor in Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, “but this is one of those moments.”
California State University, the nation’s largest four-year system, magnified the moment with Tuesday’s decision to keep nearly all classes online for the fall semester. CSU’s announcement resonated loudly, in part because of the university’s sheer size: The system educates approximately 481,000 students scattered across 23 campuses."
READ MORE related to Education: California schools fear disaster in Newsom's coronavirus budget -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF; AP exams to get new safeguards after widespread reports of technical glitches -- The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI; Hundreeds of UC Berkeley lecturers fear losing jobs -- The Chronicle's RON KROICHICK
Some nursing homes take coronavirus stimulus checks from patients. Can they do that?
Sac Bee's DAWSON WHITE: "If you or a loved one live in a nursing home and are on Medicaid, the Federal Trade Commission wants you to know that the facility is not entitled to take your coronavirus stimulus payment.
Lois Greisman, elder justice coordinator for the FTC, said the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and others have reported that some nursing homes are taking stimulus checks from patients on Medicaid, according to a news release.
Doing so contradicts the CARES Act which categorizes stimulus payments as tax credits, the release said."
California's prisons and jails have emptied thousands into a world changed by coronavirus
LA Times's MATT HAMILTON/JAMES QUEALLY/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: "In short order, the coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a sweeping and historic emptying of California’s overcrowded prisons and jails, as officials have dramatically lowered the number of people held in custody to avert deadly outbreaks.
State data show California’s prisons have released about 3,500 inmates while the daily jail population across 58 counties is down by 20,000 from late February.
The exodus is having a profound and still-evolving effect: Those leaving custody enter a vastly different world in which a collapsed economy, scant job opportunities and the closure of many government offices have compounded the challenges of getting lives back on track."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: Three years after deputies killed Mikel McIntyre, Sacramento sheriff hasn't release records -- Sac Bee's ROSALIO AHUMADA
After pandemic, the race to resume film production goes global
LA Times's STACY PERMAN/ANOUSHA SAKOUI: "Ever since the coronavirus crisis put entertainment production in a deep freeze, Hollywood has been eager to get the cameras rolling again.
After all, box office revenue has sunk to virtually zero and more than 100,000 entertainment industry workers have lost their jobs.
With stay-at-home orders in place and domestic production at a standstill, filmmakers are starting to see a thaw abroad."
WHO's annual meeting begins amid diplomatic wrangling over coronavirus
AP: "The European Union and other countries Monday called for an independent evaluation of the World Health Organization’s response to the coronavirus crisis “to review experience gained and lessons learned.”
The resolution comes as the international body convenes its annual assembly — the agency’s decision-making body — by videoconference Monday. The meeting is shaping up as the latest skirmish between China, where the coronavirus was first detected, and critics like the U.S. over who gets to set the narrative about the origins of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU resolution on an independent assessment has the support of more than half of WHO’s member countries and will be discussed this week at the assembly."
Many US military personnel reenlist amid coronavirus uncertainty
AP: "U.S. Army Sgt. Antonio Gozikowski was planning to leave the military next month and head to college.
After serving for six years, the dental assistant’s goal was to become a dentist, then return to the Army in a few years with his expanded medical skills. But now, with the coronavirus forcing universities to consider virtual or reduced schooling this fall, he decided to take advantage of a new Army program and extend his military service for six more months.
Across the military, uncertainty about future jobs or college opportunities is driving more service members to reenlist or at least postpone their scheduled departures. As unemployment, layoffs and a historic economic downturn grip the nation, the military — with its job security, steady paycheck and benefits — is looking much more appealing."