LA Times's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "The rebellion that took place inside a government building in rural Northern California happened the day before the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors had planned to meet virtually Jan. 5 because of an uptick in coronavirus cases. The supervisors’ chambers in Redding were closed. Seats had been removed. The public speakers’ microphone was disabled.
But, in protest, a newly elected supervisor unlocked the doors. In poured dozens of people, unmasked, to vent their fury. Three supervisors attending virtually watched from afar as threats flew amid the speeches."
Pelosi says House will impeach Trump, pushes VP to oust him
AP's LISA MASCARO/:DARLENE SUPERVILLE/MARY CLARE JALONICK: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday the House will proceed with legislation to impeach President Donald Trump as she pushes the vice president and the Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority force him out, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol.
The House action could start as soon as Monday as pressure increases on Trump to step aside. A Republican senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.”
A stunning end to Trump's final 10 days in office was underway as lawmakers warned of the damage the president could still do before Joe Biden was inaugurated Jan. 20. Trump, holed up at the White House, was increasingly isolated after a mob rioted in the Capitol in support of his false claims of election fraud."
READ MORE related to Impeachment Redux: House to vote on impeachment if Pence does not act to remove Trump -- LA Times's LAURA KING
LA to turn Dodger Stadium into a COVID-19 vaccine site this week
LA Times's LIAM DILLON: "Los Angeles plans to turn its massive coronavirus testing site at Dodger Stadium into a vaccination distribution center this week, with officials hoping to vaccinate up to 12,000 people a day when the site is fully operational, city and county officials announced Sunday night.
Dodger Stadium is the largest testing site in the country, processing thousands of residents a day. The site has administered more than 1 million tests since May.
Testing operations at Dodger Stadium will end Monday, according to a release from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office. City and county officials also plan to end testing at the Veterans Affairs Lot 15 site near Jackie Robinson Stadium to shift personnel, equipment and other resources to vaccine distribution."
DA inspector listens to prisoner's phone call, uncovers huge state unemployment scam
The Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "It was the first break in what turned out to be the biggest jailhouse scam in California history. It involved millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment payments to prisoners and their co-conspirators on the outside. And it happened quite by accident at the San Mateo County Jail.
“It was just before July 4. I was listening to a recording of a call made by prisoner I had been monitoring. About an hour into the call they started talking about this scam,” said Inspector Jordan Boyd, a nine-year veteran of the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
As with all county jails, calls in and out of the San Mateo County lockup in Redwood City are monitored and recorded. The inmate whose call was being monitored this time was facing an armed robbery charge and had a history of directing outside crimes while in custody, Boyd said."
Unemployed Californians to get extra $300 weekly from COVID stimulus. What you need to know
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Millions of Californians are due to get $300 a week added to their weekly unemployment payments — but some will get the extra benefit sooner than others.
There’s good news for almost everyone out of work. The extra payments, part of COVID economic relief legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump last month, will continue for most people through the week ending March 13.
Even when those benefits end, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, created last year to help people who usually cannot qualify for jobless aid, will keep going through early April for those who are still receiving payment as of the week ending March 13 and who continue to be eligible for PUA benefits."
SF office market hits worst slump in decades as coronavirus pandemic rages on
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "San Francisco’s office market had its weakest year in at least three decades in 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic bringing business expansion to a near standstill.
New leasing activity plunged 71% from 2019, according to real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. At 2.2 million square feet, down from 7.7 million, it is the lowest level on record dating to the 1990s.
The pandemic destroyed a nearly decade-long real estate boom, forcing most office workers to stay home and emptying once-bustling downtown streets. Many companies such as Twitter and Dropbox sought to downsize through sublease listings, which now account for more than half of the 16.7% vacancy rate, the highest level since 2005, according to Cushman & Wakefield."
Newsom said he would punish counties for not enforcing COVID rules. Why hasn't he?
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "Gov. Gavin Newsom in July warned local officials they could lose out on $2.5 billion worth of state assistance if they didn’t enforce the state’s coronavirus orders.
“We have made contingent $2.5 billion of resources .... to counties that are unwilling to enforce their local health officers’ mandates,” he said at a July 2 news conference. “If we don’t see the level of enforcement.....that’s precisely why we put up two and a half billion dollars of contingent money.”
The threat was supposed to be part of the state’s effort to fight the virus, which at that time had killed 5,500 Californians."
Send money quickly to schools, businesses and the poor, Newsom urges returning lawmakers
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/HANNAH WILEY/LARA KORTE/KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking lawmakers to hit the ground running as they return Monday, pressing them to act immediately on billions in new spending proposals to help California families harmed by the coronavirus.
The Democratic governor argues the traditional budget process will take too long for families and businesses struggling to make it through the pandemic. Spending approved through the regular 2021 budget won’t kick in until July 1, when the state’s next fiscal year begins.
Instead, Newsom wants lawmakers to consider his plans to spend billions of dollars in higher-than expected revenue, including $2 billion for California schools and $2.4 billion in direct aid to poor families, as soon as they return."
Bay Area funeral homes cope with COVID-19 onslaught, and things could get worse
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "When the pandemic started, Robert Gordon, the CEO of Colma’s expansive Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, purchased refrigerated storage to accommodate an extra 100 bodies.
“When we got months in and didn’t have to use them, I thought, ‘Well, it’s good we’re not,’” he said. “But now, with this last surge, we are starting to use the cooler containers. We are seeing a spike of more than double the number of COVID-19 deaths, during a time of year when deaths are high already. Many funeral homes are pushed past their capacity.”
As fatalities mount from the pandemic’s latest escalation, Bay Area funeral homes are struggling to handle the onslaught. The situation could get much worse with an expected increase of infections from Christmas and New Year’s gatherings which could result in a new wave of deaths later this month and next."
SF braces for possible pro-Trump demonstration at Twitter HQ on Monday
The Chronicle's VANESSA ARREDONDO: "San Francisco police were preparing for a possible pro-Trump demonstration at Twitter’s headquarters on Monday, days after the social media company banned President Trump, citing the risk that he might incite further violence following last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The San Francisco Police Department was aware of a possible protest happening on the 1300 block of Market Street, a spokesman said. Police said they have been in contact with representatives from the tech company and will have sufficient resources to respond to demonstrations and calls for assistance across the city.
A spokesperson for Twitter — whose employees have been working from home since the early days of the pandemic — said that the company’s highest priority was workers’ safety."
Stunned teachers and scared, confused students: How the Capitol insurrection is overtaking lessons
LA Times's MELISSA GOMEZ: "Brianna Davis, a history and government teacher at Rancho Campana High School in Camarillo, was showing a readout of the Declaration of Independence with her students online when she began receiving news alerts about the violent siege on Capitol Hill — live history careening into her government course.
“I don’t know what we’re watching. I don’t know what to do right now,” Davis recalled thinking as she struggled to respond to her virtual class, not about the profound 1776 document under study but the 2021 insurrection before their eyes. “There was no way to analyze the grievances of the colonists as things were going down in Washington D.C.”
The class ended as questions were just beginning, but Davis said she knew she needed a plan to help her students understand what happened."
Biden chooses veteran diplomant William Burns as his CIA director
AP: "William Burns, a well-known figure in diplomatic circles around the world, is President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the CIA, one that will likely be embraced by the rank and file at the nation’s premier spy agency.
A former ambassador to Russia and Jordan, Burns, 64, had a 33-year career at the State Department under both Republican and Democratic presidents. He rose through the ranks of the diplomatic corps to become deputy secretary of State before retiring in 2014 to run the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace.
Amid tumult in the State Department after President Trump took office in 2017, Burns held his tongue until last year, when he began writing highly critical pieces of the Trump administration’s policies in Foreign Affairs and other publications. Burns has been a staunch advocate of rebuilding and restructuring the foreign service, positions with which Biden has aligned himself."
Trump remains defiant amid calls for removal/resignation
AP: "President Trump enters the last days of his presidency isolated and shunned by former allies and members of his own party as he faces a possible second impeachment and calls for his resignation after his supporters’ shocking assault on the nation’s Capitol.
Cut off from the social media channels that have been the lifeblood of his presidency, Trump will nonetheless try to go on offense in his last 10 days, with no plans of resigning.
Instead, he is planning to lash out against the companies such as Twitter and Facebook that have now denied him his favored social-media bullhorns. And aides hope he will spend his last days trying to trumpet his policy accomplishments, beginning with a trip to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and build a border wall."