Biden takes the lead in Georgia, Pennsylvania as battleground vote counts trickle in
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN/JOE GAROFOLI: "In a presidential election where nearly 150 million votes were cast, the nation was fixated early Friday on the few thousand that gave Democrat Joe Biden the lead in the key battleground of Pennsylvania and Republican stronghold of Georgia.
Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania by more than 5,000 votes in a Friday morning update — a pivotal state that would send him to the White House were the tally to hold, as expected. Still, the state remained uncalled, as analysts ran calculations to ensure confidence that President Trump could not mount a comeback.
With protesters chanting outside their windows and livestream cameras trained on them inside, ballot counters worked overnight in key battleground states as vote results trickled in — sometimes in batches of mere hundreds at a time. But the trend in the numbers was steady: growing for Biden and lessening the likelihood of Trump’s re-election."
READ MORE on election: Biden takes lead in Pennsylvania as campaign prepares to claim victory -- LA Times; A Big Win for Democrats in California Came With a Gut Check for Liberals -- NY Times' THOMAS FULLER, SHAWN HUBLER, TIM ARANGO and CONOR DOUGHERTY
Here's what the election is doing to your brain
The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "On Thursday, as the presidential election uncertainty dragged on, it seemed the collective waiting was driving many to nervous exhaustion.
For the last few days, millions of Americans awaiting the results of what might be the most impactful election of their lifetimes have turned to a familiar online sequence: load,
refresh, obsess, repeat. It can feel impossible to think about anything else — until it’s over.
To cope, experts point out, many of us are doing things that don’t actually help: We’re dizzily zooming into graphs of counties we’ve never heard of, then Zooming with friends and family to do the same thing on multiple screens. We’re obsessively counting, and putting off anything else that doesn’t require constant monitoring. We’re hunting for information, even when there’s nothing new to find."
How 2020 presidential election changed as votes were being counted
The Chronicle's MIKE MASSA/ABHINANDA BHATTACHARYYA: "President Trump was leading several key battleground states by large percentage points at 11 p.m. on election night, leading to an impromptu victory speech. Those large leads, however, dwindled overnight and two of those states were actually called for Joe Biden the following day. Two days after the election, all signs were pointing to a likely Biden victory amid claims by Trump that the Democrats were "stealing" the election. These charts show which candidate was leading in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona at various times — and by how much. All times are PST."
California pays for some employees' internet but not others. A union is considering suing
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "The state attorneys’ union is exploring legal action to try to force California departments to reimburse employees’ telework expenses during the coronavirus outbreak, the union’s president said Thursday.
Eight months into the pandemic, just a few state departments are offering to pay employees for their personal phone and internet usage while they’re working at home.
As a result, some state employees, such as attorneys, are doing similar work under similar circumstances yet are being compensated differently, said Peter Flores, president of California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment."
California forbids insurance carriers from leaving fire-prone communities for 1 more year
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The state insurance commissioner on Thursday issued an order forbidding insurance companies from canceling or declining to renew property insurance policies for one year in communities hit by wildfires.
The move is expected to affect 2.1 million policy holders, nearly a fifth of California’s residential insurance market, who were affected by recent wildfires.
More than 4.1 million acres have burned in wildfires this year, with 31 fatalities and more than 10,400 structures destroyed, according to Cal Fire. Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared several wildfire emergencies this year."
Latino voters overwhelmingly supported Biden in the election. Here's why
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "'The unprecedented support that President Trump received from Latino voters in Florida had many people buzzing on election night.
But a poll of 5,300 Latino voters across the nation — including California, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and Pennsylvania — revealed Latinos overwhelmingly supported former Vice President Joe Biden and Democratic congressional candidates in the election.
An estimated 70% of Latinos polled nationwide said they voted for Biden, compared with nearly 30% who said they supported Trump, according to the American Election Eve Poll. By comparison, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won 66% of Latino voters in 2016, while former President Barack Obama won 71% in 2012 and 67% in 2008, according to Pew Research."
How California's most evenly divided county found its political balance on Election Day
Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW/PHILLIP REESE: "Butte County’s early election results are enough to give someone partisan whiplash.
The local Republican congressman, Doug LaMalfa, is almost certain to win re-election in his vast district, which stretches from the Oregon border to Placer County. But he’ll get fewer votes in Butte County, where his family has deep roots, than his Democratic opponent for the second election in a row.
Meanwhile, the majority of college-town progressives in Chico, Butte County’s largest city, were ousted and replaced by conservatives."
California's far-left activists shocked they beat Prop 25. What's the future of bail now?
Sac Bee's JASON POHL: "Lex Steppling and his team of criminal justice activists knew they wanted to undo California’s law abolishing cash bail. They said it would merely replace one oppressive system with another, worsen racial inequities and give too much power to algorithms and judges.
They were convinced they were right. But he didn’t think they’d actually defeat Proposition 25 — especially not by a nearly 11-point margin.
“We didn’t expect to win, let alone win by so much,” Steppling said in an interview. “I’m still wrapping my head around that part.”"
COVID-19 updates: Shasta County reports 87 more cases, new high for hospitalizations
MATT BRANNON, Record-Searchlight: “Shasta County health officials reported on Thursday that 17 residents are in the hospital due to COVID-19, the highest amount since the start of the pandemic. The previous high was 14. Four of the patients currently hospitalized are in the intensive care unit, officials say.
Meanwhile, another 87 county residents were reported positive for the coronavirus in the county's Thursday update — the highest single-day case tally since mid-October and the third-highest single-day tally since the pandemic began.
The latest cases were discovered in 34 men and 53 women. Here's how they break down by age, according to the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency.”
How California teachers are making bilingual education work online
EdSource's ZAIDEE STAVELY: "Stuck behind a screen for distance learning, California teachers in dual-language classrooms are trying to come up with new ways to immerse their students in two languages.
Hundreds of schools in California have dual-language immersion programs, which teach children both in English and another language, such as Spanish, Korean, Mandarin or Vietnamese. The programs help students fluent in English learn another language, while helping other students retain their native language while learning English. The classes are designed so both groups can become bilingual.
With most instruction now remote and with less class time, students don’t spend as much time exposed to their new language. In addition, students are no longer learning from playing and talking with each other in the classroom and on the playground. An important part of dual-immersion is that both groups model their own languages for each other.
On a day of fading hopes, Trump again relies on lies
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "In an extraordinary White House address Thursday, President Trump falsely accused Democrats and poll workers of conspiring to steal the election for Joe Biden, raising the prospect he could become the first president in American history unwilling to accede to the peaceful transition of power.
“We can’t have an election stolen like this,” he announced. “There’s been a lot of shenanigans, and we can’t stand for that.”
It was perhaps the most brazen example yet of Trump’s willingness to misinform the public, which now stretches from his earliest tall tale as president abouzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzxct the size of his inaugural audience to his evidence-free assertion Thursday that Democrats “are trying obviously to commit fraud” and “never believed they could win this election honestly.”"