COVID is surging again in California. How CDC's indoor mask guidance will affect the state
Sac Bee, MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued new guidance saying people should once again wear masks in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status, in areas with elevated levels of COVID-19 spread — a classification applying to a vast majority of California by population, including the entire Sacramento region.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, announced the new guidelines in a media briefing Tuesday. Walensky said that due to the risk posed by the Delta variant, masks are recommended in areas with transmission rates classified as “high or substantial.”
The CDC defines “high” transmission as more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, and “substantial” as between 50 and 100 per 100,000."
READ MORE COVID/VACCINE NEWS --- Sacramento-area county returns to indoor mask mandate following update from CDC -- Sac Bee, MICHAEL MCGOUGH; Newsom pulls his kids out of summer camp after maskless photos surface -- Sac Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG; Here's where each Bay Area county stands under CDC's new COVID mask guidelines -- The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA; LA will require city employees get vaccinated or regulary tested for COVID-19 -- LA Times, EMLY ALPERT REYES/MAURA DOLAN/LUKE MONEY; To vaccinate, or not? For US Olympic athletes, the debate creates division -- LA Times, NATHAN FENNO/DAVID WHARTON
As climate changes, alternative energy systems get close look
Capitol Weekly, ERIC FURTH: "Officials with jurisdiction over about 80 percent of California’s power grid say the state faces a grim outlook as summer heat, wildfires and a severe drought intensify.
“When you step back, I think many of us are really recognizing now that climate change and these extreme heat waves happening in the earlier parts of the summer now have forced all of us to do things that we really never imagined just a few years ago,” Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of California’s Independent System Operator, said recently.
“But we’ve entered this new normal, and now it’s really going to take all of us doing our own … part during this important clean energy transition to keep the lights on,” he added."
A Pasadena startuip got billions selling COVID tests, earning execs luxury homes and jets
LA Times, LAURENCE DARMIENTO/MELODY PETERSEN/JACK FLEMMING: "In the last year, executives at a Pasadena startup began flying from Burbank to destinations around the world on a pair of newly registered Gulfstream jets, one a G650 decked out in white plush seats, burnished interiors and other luxury finishes.
Two executives associated with the same company also bought multimillion-dollar homes not far from the startup’s posh headquarters. And when Realtors asked for proof they could pay such prices, one of the executives handed over a bank statement showing a $128-million deposit into the company’s account from the British government.
The recipient of that massive windfall was Innova Medical Group, a company formed at the start of the pandemic that became an unlikely global supplier of COVID-19 tests."
Mendocino is running out of water. The solution might involve a very old train
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The postcard-perfect town of Mendocino, with its Victorian homes, seaside inns and tidy shops and galleries, is bustling with visitors this summer, a model of post-pandemic recovery in California’s hard-hit tourism sector.
But beneath the crowded restaurants and fully booked B&Bs, the fortunes of this popular coastal getaway four hours north of San Francisco have begun to dry up — quite literally.
Because of the drought, dozens of wells in town are producing limited water, or none at all. The nearby city that was providing backup supplies doesn’t have enough to share anymore.
And now, as the community, which relies solely on groundwater, struggles to get by on what remains in the wells, residents and water officials are pinning their hopes on a handful of uncertain, even unusual, ideas."
California electric grid issues Flex Alert, urges conservation, as temps rise
Sac Bee, DALE KASLER: "Another hot day, another plea for conservation by the managers of California’s electricity grid.
The California Independent System Operator has issued a Flex Alert for Wednesday evening, citing high temperatures and a potential strain on the state’s power supplies. The National Weather Service said temperatures will top 100 degrees in parts of the Sacramento Valley sometime Wednesday.
The ISO predicted “an increase in electricity demand, primarily from air conditioning use. The increase can make electricity supplies tight and cause strain on our power grid.”"
READ MORE ABOUT POWER GRID: Flex alert: Californians urged to conserve power on Wednesday -- LAUREN HERNANDEZ, Chronicle
Column: Early recall election could backfire on Newsom
DAN WALTERS, CalMatters: "Gov. Gavin Newsom and his pals in the Legislature thought they were being very clever when they advanced the date of his recall election several weeks to September 14.
At the time, less than a month ago, events seemed to be going Newsom’s way and an earlier election would, they believed, take advantage of those circumstances while giving his enemies less time to persuade voters to oust him.
Newsom had lifted the personal and economic restrictions he imposed to battle COVID-19, the economy seemed to be picking up, he had signed a state budget loaded with cash payments and other new benefits, and he was launching an extensive tour of the state to tell voters that it was “roaring back."
Biden's job approval dips among Californians, but support for his spending agenda is strong
LA Times, MELANIE MASON: "President Biden’s job performance rating among Californians has dipped slightly in recent months, even as his infrastructure and domestic spending plans register as highly popular, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The survey from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times, found that Biden still scores high marks in the state. He earned the approval of 59% of registered voters, down 3 percentage points from the previous poll this spring. Biden’s disapproval rating has ticked up marginally, from 34% three months ago to 37% today.
Californians’ views of the president are deeply stratified by party; 85% of Democrats approve of Biden, while just 11% of Republicans do. Biden received approval from 58% of voters with no party preference."
California unions on board with Newsom's vaccine rules for state workers
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "Several California public sector unions are voicing support for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order requiring state workers to show of vaccination against COVID-19 or accept regular testing for the virus.
Newsom announced on Monday announced the policy, which also applies to private sector health care workers. Employees who decline to show proof of vaccination must continue wearing masks at work in addition to submitted to coronavirus tests.
Newsom said the decision for state workers was well within his authority based on agreements negotiated by public sector unions."
SF is still the priciest place to rent in US - but another city's quickly catching up
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "San Francisco has long had the highest rent prices in the nation, continuing its reign even as the pandemic pummeled the market. But this month, New York City appeared to be significantly closing the gap — trailing San Francisco’s median monthly rent by only $40, according to real estate website Zumper.
The average monthly price for a one-bedroom rental in San Francisco in July was $2,720, while New York’s was $2,680, according to Zumper. In third place was another East Coast city — Boston — where a one-bedroom typically goes for around $2,300. San Jose was the fourth most expensive city at $2,170.
New York is making a faster recovery than cities on the West Coast, according to Zumper’s latest monthy national rent report, fueling its catch-up to San Francisco."
LA's anti-camping law could shift even more power to the City Council on homelessness
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER/BENJAMIN ORSKES/DOUG SMITH: "A controversial new anti-camping law has been billed as a tool that would allow Los Angeles to clean up some long-standing homeless encampments, while also ensuring that the people who live in them find shelter.
Even if that proves to be true, the law could also produce a less-discussed outcome: granting even more power to the City Council to decide which parts of the city receive focused attention on homelessness and which do not.
The ordinance, set for a second and final vote on Wednesday, prohibits sitting, sleeping or storing property on public property near libraries, parks, day-care centers, schools, freeway overpasses, recently opened homeless shelters and other locations. Yet it also states that enforcement in any of those locations cannot take place until the City Council has reviewed the location and given the go-ahead."
After pushback, cost to drop for SF's pricey trash can pilot program to test new designs
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "San Francisco will spend $12,000 per trash can prototype to try out designs of custom receptacles with the hopes of getting a handle on its garbage problems. That price tag is down from a range of $12,000 to $20,000 a piece, after some supervisors pushed back last week on the costs.
When mass-produced, the cost per can will drop to an estimated $2,000 to $3,000.
After struggling to deal with complaints about garbage piling up on the city’s sidewalks and streets, the Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to let Public Works spend more than $400,000, down from $537,000, on the program. That money will cover creating and testing 15 custom-made design prototypes, five each of three different designs, that have been in the works for three years as well as other parts of the program."
SF's 'Transit Boy' has become a leading voice in restoring Muni service
The Chronicle, RYAN KOST: "After some throat clearing during a July meeting of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, Jeffrey Tumlin, the city’s transportation director, tried to explain why the agency was aiming for 85% of pre-pandemic service for the foreseeable future.
The SFMTA, which is lagging behind hundreds of other jurisdictions in restoring service, could move too slowly, he said, and create a “classic transit death spiral.” A sad face emoticon flashed on the screen. He then described “a different kind of transit death spiral” if the agency were to move too quickly, run out of money and have to make sudden cuts. This time a happy face appeared only to be replaced by one with a frown. The goal, Tumlin said, was to “find the Goldilocks space.”
The presentation on the August return-to-service plans continued for another 30 minutes. Finally, the board called for public comment, and a familiar voice announced itself."