Coffins of troops killed in accident off San Clemente arrive in Delaware
AP: "The flag-draped coffins carrying the remains of seven young Marines and a sailor who died in a training accident after their seafaring tank sank off the coast of San Clemente have arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for burial preparations.
The Marine Corps said earlier this week that six pallbearers of Marines and sailors escorted each casket aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The body of another Marine was transferred Aug. 5.
Nine troops were killed, including one Marine who died at the scene."
See how close your California county is to getting off -- or on -- the pandemic watch list
Sac Bee's JAYSON CHESLER: "As the California Department of Public Health continues to correct the state’s coronavirus data following the data glitch that complicated COVID-19 reporting at the beginning of August, most of the state’s 58 counties are showing elevated transmission of the virus.
Per capita case data hasn’t returned to the state’s monitoring list of counties, often called the “watchlist,” but data that is available elsewhere on the state website on Thursday showed 46 counties above the per 100,000 resident caseload required.
To avoid the list, counties must meet a number of criteria: a case rate of fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 population over the past 14 days, a positive test rate of less than 8% over the past seven days, a less than 10% increase in COVID hospitalizations over the past three days, and have more than 20% ICU beds available."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Bay Area joins two major coronavirus vaccine trials -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY; California's coronavirus response hampered by high-level resignations -- LA Times's TARYN LUNA/MELODY GUTIERREZ.
Canceled tests, virtual tours: Pandemic changes make college admissions even more stressful
From the Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Between canceled standardized tests, virtual college tours and online classes, the admissions process for the Bay Area’s new high school seniors is swirling with even more uncertainty than usual.
For students, counselors and colleges one change is most pressing: The use of standardized tests, which for most colleges, have become optional as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. After March, many test dates got canceled.
The University of California and California State University systems will be test-optional, as well as private Bay Area universities like Stanford, Santa Clara University, University of San Francisco and St. Mary’s College."
READ MORE related to education: Sac State students, faculty and staff test p;ositive for COVID-19, uni says -- Sac Bee's MARIA HEETER; Could some Bay Area schools reopen by Labor Day? Three counties kick off waiver process -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG; Will the ethnic studies plan include Pacific Islanders and Arab Americans? Eventually -- Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR
California wealth tax could become first of its kind in US under new proposal
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "A group of state lawmakers on Thursday proposed a first-in-the-nation state wealth tax that would hit about 30,400 California residents and raise an estimated $7.5 billion for the general fund.
The tax rate would be 0.4% of net worth, excluding directly held real estate, that exceeds $30 million for single and joint filers and $15 million for married filing separately.
California is facing a big budget deficit because of the health and economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus, and “we can’t simply rely on austerity measures,” to close it, said Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, lead author of AB2088. “We must consider revenue generation.”"
Scott Wiener tries to salvage bill fixing sex-offenders list's inequity toward gay people
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "State Sen. Scott Wiener is mobilizing allies to help revive a bill in the final weeks of the legislative session that would change how the sex offender registry treats gay relationships between young adults and minors.
The measure stalled last year after becoming a political flash point in a legislative race. It has also made the San Francisco Democrat the target of online harassment and false accusations that he is trying to legalize pedophilia. Wiener said he has been hit with “toxic, poisonous hate and homophobia and anti-Semitism” in recent weeks from right-wing conspiracy theorists and others.
“I’ve been the subject of death threats and personal attacks, threatening to decapitate me and send my head to my mother,” Wiener said Thursday during an online news conference. “This kind of slander, not just against me but against my community, is outrageous and we have to speak out against it."
Jerry Brown ran on returning to what worked; he says Joe Biden can do the same
LA Times's EVAN HALPER: "California voters may have a feeling, when they watch this year’s presidential campaign, that they’ve seen this before — not a change election, but one to change back.
The government was in crisis. A brash leader’s years-long effort to blow up the system and make it function like a business had flopped. A logjammed legislature was flailing amid an economic collapse. Voters were incensed — and sick of all the change.
It was a perfect setting for Jerry Brown, a 72-year old former governor and decades-long inside player in Democratic politics, to reemerge in 2010 to argue that he alone could repair a crippled California after the disruptive tenure of Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Answers to questions you have about Biden's VP pick, Kamala Harris
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "She’s the junior senator from California.
She’s now the presumptive Democratic 2020 vice presidential nominee.
But who is Kamala Harris, the woman that Joe Biden selected to be his running mate?"
READ MORE related to Road to VP: Harris makes history as first woman of color on majority party ticket -- The Chronicle's STAFF; Baseless birther attack on Kamala Harris shows how Trump is struggling to define her -- LA Times's MELANIE MASON/MICHAEL FINNEGAN
Stimuluis checks, jobless aid unlikely for several more weeks as Dems, WH dig in heels
LA Times's JENNIFER HABERKORN: "Another round of stimulus checks for Americans and renewal of expired unemployment benefits for the millions left jobless by the coronavirus-induced recession aren’t likely to be approved until at least after Labor Day as lawmakers leave Washington for a summer break without agreement on a relief package.
And even after that, prospects for a deal look grim as each side blamed the other for the breakdown in negotiations. There haven’t been talks between congressional Democratic leaders and the White House since last week, when Trump administration officials walked away and then released four presidential orders that they said would provide enhanced unemployment, defer payroll taxes and halt evictions. The legality and effectiveness of those actions remained in doubt, however.
The Senate officially recessed Thursday until after Labor Day and the House left last week. There is little hope that leaders can hatch a deal in the coming days, but even if that happened, it would require lawmakers to return to Washington to hold votes."
State eviction ban is ending soon. Newsom and lawmakers have 3 weeks to extend it
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers face an 18-day deadline to pass a plan that will keep tenants housed during the coronavirus crisis after the Judicial Council announced Thursday it would allow courts to resume eviction and foreclosure cases on Sept. 2.
The council first voted in April to temporarily halt eviction and foreclosure court proceedings because of the pandemic. After delaying the vote in June to end the moratorium, the council decided in a 19-1 vote this week to expire the rules at the start of next month.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice xstatement that the responsibility to provide the security for millions of California renters should now be determined by the Legislature and Newsom."
Amador tribe cuts gaming deal with Newsom. Does Sacramento region have room for another casino?
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "Sacramento’s casino industry is already a major force in the gambling world, operating about as many slot machines as Reno.
Is there room for another casino?
Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed a deal to allow a casino to open someday in Plymouth. The gaming compact between the state and the Ione Band of Miwok Indians sets the stage for the tribe to open the third casino in sparsely-populated Amador County."
Stanford draws fire for revisions to sexual harassment policies
The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN: "New policies that change the way Stanford University investigates sexual harassment allegations — including an apparent omission of attempted rape from the list of offenses — are drawing heated criticism from the campus community.
The rules, required of all colleges by the U.S. Department of Education and set to take effect at Stanford on Friday, also appear to no longer require students to obtain “affirmative consent” before engaging in sexual activity, according to a 47-page draft document put forward by the university.
The document outlines formal procedures required of students and administrators in the filing and investigating of sexual harassment complaints. Colleges across the country were ordered last spring by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to revisit their policies."
Lake fire raises concern as wildfire season heats up
LA Times's JOSEPH SERNA: "A pillar of smoke and ash rose into the sky over Lake Hughes like an erupting volcano. Firefighters hustled to save nearby structures as flames swirled and feasted on dry brush and timber.
If the explosive blaze that crews battled in the the Angeles National Forest on Wednesday night is any indication, officials say Southern California has entered a new chapter of the 2020 fire season.
“We’re getting to the most critical part ... after a long, hot, dry summer,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Darrell Osby said Thursday."
Weekend heat wave will swell beach crowds -- and coronavirus fears
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE/RACHEL SWAN/BRETT SIMPSON: "The Bay Area is expecting to run a coronavirus-and-heat-wave gantlet this weekend with sun-starved residents heading to parks and beaches in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases that topped 600,000 cases statewide on Thursday evening.
Temperatures are likely to hit triple digits in the Bay Area this weekend, a major worry for health officers who foresee crowds of sunbathing, beer-drinking, Frisbee-throwing beachgoers spreading more sickness around the region.
The number of coronavirus cases has steadily risen in the Bay Area this month, with an average of 1,036 new cases recorded each day — a nearly 27% increase over the daily average of 818 cases in July. That’s much worse than in June, which averaged 393 new cases a day."
Sacramento City Council backs plan to convert Hawthorn Suites to housing for the homeless
Sac Bee's MARIA HEETER: "The Sacramento Housing Authority will seek $12.5 million in state HomeKey program funding to house the homeless and others following city council approval of the plan this week.
If the funding is granted, the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Sacramento — at 321 Bercut Drive in Sacramento’s River District — will be renovated and converted into housing for homeless people and workforce housing. Seven council members voted in favor of the plan on Tuesday. Vice Mayor Jeff Harris voted “no” and Councilman Larry Carr abstained.
Some council members objected to the location of the planned conversion. While agreeing that the Homekey program helps homeless people, Harris said he was voting against the proposal because the River District is already “disproportionately affected by the problems related to homelessness. Try to run a business in the River District, and you will be despondent in no time.
Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones refuses to share pandemic case info with state oversight board
Sac Bee's JASON POHL: "Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is refusing to give COVID-19 testing and case information to an oversight board in charge of monitoring the state’s jails, leaving the public in the dark about how the virus has spread among inmates and staff under his control.
Following months of demands from experts, officials and advocates, the Board of State and Community Corrections recently launched an online dashboard tracking COVID-19 in California jails. The website includes data about the number of inmates with active cases, the number of tests conducted, and how many people are hospitalized.
But Sacramento County is one of just two counties that said it will not provide the information to the state. The other is Tehama County."
READ MORE related to Prisons/Protests/Public Safety: NorCal prison captain contest in harassment case -- Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW; Sheriff Villanueva to fire or suspend 26 people involved in off-duty Banditos fight -- LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN; Crowd horror during George Floyd's arrest captured in new video -- AP
Biden pledge on police immigration contacts would largely make US a sanctuary country
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Sanctuary laws in California, two other states and numerous cities largely prohibit police and jailers from taking part in federal immigration enforcement. They have not yet become a prominent issue in the presidential campaign, but that could change after Joe Biden’s latest proposal.
If Biden is elected president and carries out his plan, a version of California’s sanctuary law will be in effect nationwide.
In an “Agenda for the Latino Community” announced Aug. 4, the former vice president promised to undo President Trump’s enforcement of a law known as Section 287(g). Part of a restrictive immigration bill signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 — and supported by Biden and nearly all of his Democratic colleagues — 287(g) allows local governments to reach agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to aid in enforcing federal law."
Oregon state police withdraw from Portland after 2 weeks of protest duty
AP: "Oregon State Police are leaving Portland after a two-week assignment to help protect a federal courthouse targeted by protesters during months of conflict in Oregon’s largest city.
The state police are “continually reassessing our resources and the needs of our partner agencies, and at this time we are inclined to move those resources back to counties where prosecution of criminal conduct is still a priority,” Capt. Timothy R. Fox told television stations. “Last night was our last night in Portland.”
Nights of unrest centered on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse previously prompted President Trump to dispatch federal agents to guard the building in July, which in turn reinvigorated Black Lives Matter demonstrations that often ended in violent clashes."