Following the money

Mar 16, 2021

 

California is about to get $151 billion in federal aid -- but it still has billions unspent

 

Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: " California could get $151 billion in new federal aid from the economic relief plan just signed by President Joe Biden, while an estimated $43 billion remains unspent from last year’s aid packages.

 

The new funding will help pay for vaccination sites, community health centers, schools and colleges, child care providers, help for lower income people with utility bills and more.

 

But critics contend a lot of the money contained in the $1.9 trillion package was unnecessary."

 

Cell phone data reveals how COVID-19 made us hunker down, and start moving again

 

PHILLIP REESE, California Healthline,via LAT: : "For all of our grousing about COVID-19 fatigue, a few novel trends are clear one year into the pandemic.

 

In the early weeks of 2021, Californians are staying home way more than we did in our pre-pandemic life. Even so, we’re heading out to shop, dine and work far more now than in March 2020, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order, or the dark period that followed the winter holidays, when we hunkered down as coronavirus caseloads exploded.

 

And to the extent we are venturing out, we are using cars rather than resuming pre-pandemic commute patterns on buses and trains, a trend with troubling implications for transit services and the environment should it become long-standing." 

 

ICE Detainees in California Now Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccine

 

FARIDA JHABVALA ROMERO, KQED: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees held in state facilities in California will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, according to state public health officials.

 

This comes months after federal authorities said the state is responsible for allocating vaccines to immigrant detainees within its borders, prompting local advocates to push California officials to clarify their plans.

 

Beginning Monday — March 15 — those who reside or work in congregate settings, where outbreak risk remains high, will be prioritized for the vaccine, including those who live in homeless shelters or are held in “incarceration/detention” facilities, according to an update released by state health officials last week."

 

Newesom says he'll name a Black woman to Senate if Feinstein doesn't finish term

 

The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a Black woman to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she does not finish her term, he said Monday.

 

Newsom faced pressure from African American and progressive political leaders to name a Black woman to replace Vice President Kamala Harris when she gave up her Senate seat in January. Instead, he picked California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who became the first Latino to represent the state in the Senate.

 

 

California has help for parents who can't afford child care. Here's how to find it

 

Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Nearly a year after California shuttered public schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures have forced many families to juggle work while caring for children.

 

Some parents were forced to quit their job in order to stay at home with their children during the pandemic, said Mary Ignatius, a statewide organizer at Parent Voices, a parent-run grassroots organization. Others have asked older children to take care of their younger siblings or asked extended family members to babysit.

 

She said the difficulties are particularly apparent in low-income Latino households, who disproportionately work as essential workers and have limited child care options. More than 50% of California public school students in grades K-12 are Latino, according to a California School Boards Association analysis."

 

UC Merced to guarantee freshman admission to eligible local students, a first for the system

 

TERESA WATANABE: "UC Merced announced Monday that it would guarantee a freshman seat to eligible local students, the first University of California campus to do so in an effort to expand college access in one of the state’s most underserved areas.

 

University officials are aiming to motivate more students in the San Joaquin Valley — which lags behind other California regions in high school graduation rates — to pursue college.

Only 30% of Merced Union High School District students complete the college preparatory coursework required for UC admission, said Charles Nies, UC Merced’s vice chancellor of student affairs.

 

"[This] is not a free pass,” UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said Monday at El Capitan High School in Merced. “It is our way of saying to young people ... that make the grade, that have the wherewithal, that make an effort that we’ll have a place for you.”

 

Northern California's largest school district is reopening campuses.  How they did it

 

Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Just over one year after the Elk Grove Unified School District closed campuses – sending shock waves through the region as the COVID-19 pandemic began – students in Northern California’s largest district will begin returning to classrooms on Tuesday.

 

Desks were set apart, drinking fountains taped off, and an entirely new school that was set to open in Fall 2020 will finally bring students on campus.

 

But just as thousands of families in other Sacramento-area districts that are reopening have opted to keep students home, an estimated 30% Elk Grove’s 60,000 students are planning to return this spring."

 

UCD offers students $75 spring break 'staycation' to avoid travel amid COVID-19

 

Sac Bee's ROSALIO AHUMADA: "The University of California, Davis has offered up to 750 students on campus $75 “staycation” grants to keep them in town over spring break and avoid traveling as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

 

Healthy Davis Together, city-campus partnership working to prevent further COVID-19 spread, offered spring break grants. Students can use the $75 at select Davis businesses in four categories: “Get Active, Get Artsy, Home Improvement and Let’s Stay In,” according to announcement earlier this month from UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May.

 

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that while the COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting sick, scientists are still learning how well the vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus to others, even if you do not get sick,” May wrote in a message posted on the UC Davis website."

 

Coaches navigate chaos of COVID-19 testing in scramble mode

 

Sac Bee's JOE DAVIDSON: "It is now wise for high school football programs to post schedules with an asterisk that indicates “Subject to change.”

 

This is the new usual because a scheduled game can be scratched in an instant amid the chaos and confusion of mandatory COVID-19 testing for players and coaches to even get games in. One positive test can sideline an entire team, per contact-tracing protocols. Whitney, Roseville, Del Oro, Galt and Nevada Union all canceled games for opening week. (In NU’s case, it was the junior varsity team.)

 

But the interpretation of contact tracing and if it’s a 10-day or 14-day quarantine for one or all adds to the confusion. Football programs are now making extra sure to videotape practices to help better determine if a player was in contact with someone for long stretches of time, if there’s a positive test later, thus the reasoning for an entire team to sit out a game."

 

‘We prayed this day would come’: California tribes welcome Haaland as first Native American Cabinet member

 

ANNA M. PHILLIPS, LA Times: "On Monday, Rep. Deb Haaland became the first Native American confirmed to serve in the president’s Cabinet — a historic moment celebrated by American Indians throughout the country.