He’s also a truly nice guy who won’t be an administration troublemaker, but he can be tough in a fight.
And he’s Washington-ready, not a naïve outsider who needs D.C. training wheels."
California has its most deaths in a single day as virus continues terrifying surge
LA Times's LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "More Californians died of COVID-19 on Tuesday than any other day, the latest milestone in an accelerating pandemic that is infecting and hospitalizing residents at levels far eclipsing any seen before.
Tuesday’s death toll, 219, edged out the previous single-day high of 214, which was recorded July 31, according to data compiled by The Times.
The latest figure may be a harbinger of higher death tolls. Until this past week, California had topped 200 daily coronavirus-related deaths only two times. That number has been exceeded twice in the last five days."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Health officials harassed and threatened over masks as coronavirus grips smaller US cities -- AP; How Bay Area hospitals are coping with a surge of ICU patients and nursing shortages -- The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV; Sacramento region's ICU capacity falls below 15%. COVID stay-at-home order coming -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK/JASON POHL/MICHAEL MCGOUGH/DALE KASLER
Here's how California plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in coming weeks
LA Times's STAFF: "With U.S. approval expected this week for the first COVID-19 vaccine, California could soon begin its historic and complex rollout of millions of immunizations, a much-anticipated turning point in a state where over 20,000 people have been killed by the virus.
Though it is unclear exactly when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will grant approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the move could come as soon as Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week.
California’s first shipment of vaccines will include 327,000 doses — supplying 327,000 people with their first dose — and is expected to reach hospitals between Saturday and Tuesday, he said."
READ MORE related to Vaccines: Pfizer's vaccine faces final hurdle before potential US approval -- AP
Who is Jim DeBoo and why is he joining Newsom's administration?
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/LARA KORTE: "Jim DeBoo will join Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration as a “senior member” in a yet-unannounced role at the start of next year, Newsom’s chief of staff Ann O’Leary announced in a staff email Tuesday night.
O’Leary, widely believed to be under consideration for a job in the Biden administration, didn’t say exactly what DeBoo would do. DeBoo did not return a call seeking comment, but speculation swirled about what role he might play should O’Leary leave.
In her email, O’Leary praised DeBoo’s experience working in California politics."
In Becerra as first Latino health secretary, Biden gets a team player who's tough in a fight
LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON, Column: "In Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden is getting a team player, savvy politician and competent manager — who excels at being in the right place at the right time.
He’s also a truly nice guy who won’t be an administration troublemaker, but he can be tough in a fight.
And he’s Washington-ready, not a naïve outsider who needs D.C. training wheels."
The Golden State's future? Most Californians are pessimistic
LA Times's MARGOT ROOSEVELT: "California may call itself the Golden State, but most Californians see its future as tarnished.
In a wide-ranging new survey of attitudes toward the economy, 6 in 10 residents said they expect California’s children to be worse off financially than their parents.
More than two-thirds said California’s gap between the rich and poor is widening. And nearly 6 in 10 anticipate “mostly periods of widespread unemployment or depression” during the next five years."
READ MORE related to Economy/Reopening: Some unemployed Californians could be forced to repay part of pandemic benefits -- The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER; Californians gloomy about economy but largely back Newsom's handling of it, poll says -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF; Placer County faces bleak winter for jobs as COVID-19 stay-at-home order takes effect -- Sac Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN; What you can and can't do as stay-at-home orders begin in Sacramento region -- Sac Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI
42,000 gallons of gasoline leak into Walnut Creek canal; residents furious
The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI: "Homeowners along the Iron Horse Trail near downtown Walnut Creek are upset over a spill of up to 42,000 gallons of gasoline into a waterway that cuts through their neighborhood, and say pipe operator Kinder Morgan should have done more to notify them quickly.
The spill — which originated on the same line and in the same area as a deadly 2004 pipeline explosion that killed five construction workers and injured four others — flowed about a mile and a half downstream before being detected on Dec. 2 by a city engineer who saw a sheen and smelled gas in the concrete flood control basin. He contacted Kinder Morgan.
Since then, dozens of Kinder Morgan crew members and contractors have worked to vacuum up the spilled gasoline and restart the pipeline that sends gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a combination of all three down to San Jose as part of the company’s network of lines branching off its Concord transfer facility."
READ MORE related to Climate/Environment: Steinberg, City Council tap brakes on moving Sacramento Zoo to North Natomas park -- Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "San Francisco’s school board approved a seismic shift in the city’s school assignment system late Tuesday night, limiting choice, transfers and appeals while trying to increase diversity.
What is now something of a chaotic, random process to get a seat at an elementary school will become a restricted, zone-based system with families guaranteed a spot in one of about 12 schools — but not a specific school.
The Board of Education approved the plan in a 6-1 vote after spending two years studying, discussing and seeking input on a revamped process."
READ MORE related to Education: CSU schools, including Sacramento State, plan return to in-person classesin fall 2021 -- Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR
Oakland formed a task force to help defund the police. Now some members want the city to reconsider
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "When Black Lives Matter protests shook the ground beneath Oakland City Hall this summer, the City Council laid out an ambitious goal: cut the $300 million police budget in half, and invest the savings in social services.
Now, some of the people picked to devise an action plan want the city to change course. In a joint letter, five Black members of Oakland’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force say they don’t want to see the number of police reduced until the task force comes up with a comparable or better solution.
If that means keeping the force intact while test-running another type of response, the group says, so be it."
Senate fails in attempt to block Trump admin's $23B arms deal with UAE
AP: "The Senate fell short Wednesday in trying to halt the Trump administration’s proposed $23-billion arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, despite bipartisan objections to the package of F-35 fighter jets and drones stemming from a broader Middle East peace agreement.
Senators argued that the sale of the defense equipment, which Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo formally authorized last month after the Abraham Accords that normalized relations with Israel, was unfolding too quickly and with too many questions. The administration has billed it as a way to deter Iran, but the Emirates would become the first Arab nation — and only the second country in the Middle East, after Israel — to possess the stealth warplanes.
“Can a lasting peace be purchased with more weapons?” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a speech ahead of the vote."