Newsom announces plan to spend $350M to vaccinate Medi-Cal recipients
Sacramento Bee, HANNAH WILEY: "California plans to spend $350 million to incentivize COVID-19 shots among Medi-Cal beneficiaries, who disproportionately lag the general population in getting vaccinated.
Nearly 14 million Californians are enrolled in the state-sponsored health care program, according to the Department of Health Care Services. The program offers free or reduced-cost services to income-limited adults and children.
As of July 18, however, Medi-Cal beneficiaries trailed the overall vaccination rate in California. Seventy-six percent of eligible Californians, or those over 12, are at least partially vaccinated, state data show, compared to only 45.6% of Medi-Cal recipients."
READ MORE VACCINATION/PANDEMIC NEWS --- Why are vax rates so low? We found the worst county in each state and asked the politicians -- LA Times, JAWEED KALEEM/TERRY CASTLEMAN/RICHARD READ; Here's when the Bay Area delta variant COVID surge is expected to peak and how bad things might get -- The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY
California Republicans vote against endorsing a candidate to replace Newsom
Sacramento Bee, LARA KORTE: "After months of speculation, the California Republican Party on Saturday voted not to endorse a candidate in the upcoming recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The party for months has supported the Newsom recall, stopping short of publicly throwing its weight behind one particular candidate. Four candidates qualified, including talk radio host Larry Elder, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley of Rocklin and former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose.
A party endorsement would have given the chosen candidate the resources and infrastructure to support their campaign in the coming weeks. But it also would have given some voters a reason not to show up, delegates said."
READ MORE RECALL NEWS --- Newsom wants voters to ignore the recall ballot's second question. They don't have to -- LA Times, JOHN MYUERS/SEEMA MEHTA
Does bill limiting protests at vax sites violate First Amendment?
Capitol Weekly, CALIFORNIA HEALTHLINE's RACHEL BLUTH: "A proposal sailing through the California Legislature that aims to stop people from getting harassed outside of vaccination sites is raising alarms among some First Amendment experts.
The measure was introduced after protesters briefly shut down a mass vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium in January. Now that mass vaccination clinics have mostly folded up, lawmakers worry that vaccination sites with less security than Dodger Stadium — like pharmacies and mobile clinics in parks or fast-food parking lots — are vulnerable. If it becomes law, SB 742 would make it punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a maximum fine of $1,000 to intimidate, threaten, harass or prevent people from getting a covid-19 — or any other — vaccine on their way to a vaccination site.
It’s a sign of how toxic the issue of vaccination has become in a state with a long history of intense and divisive vaccine wars."
Jon Jacobo, rising SF politico, resigns from commission after rape accusation
The Chronicle, CYNTHIA DIZIKES/MATTHIAS GAFNI: "Jon Jacobo, a rising political star in San Francisco and an influential affordable housing advocate, resigned from his building inspection commission seat late Friday and took a leave of absence from his nonprofit work after a woman, in a tweet and an extensive online post, accused him of raping her.
Sasha Perigo, a 26-year-old tenant rights advocate, said she had visited Jacobo at his apartment in the Mission District one evening in early April when he forcibly groped and kissed her that night and raped her the next morning. Perigo said she told Jacobo “no” dozens of times during both encounters, and tried to push him off her and block his advances, but that he repeatedly ignored her pleas and persisted.
In a series of tweets Friday night, Jacobo, 32, said, “My memory of these events is different than her memory. I believed then, as I do now, that our relationship was completely consensual.” He wrote that “every woman needs to be heard” and that he is “deeply saddened by the deep pain being experienced by Sasha Perigo, which she says I caused.”"
Climate change has reached an 'unprecedented' and dangerous level, landmark UN report says
LA Times, SETH BORENSTEIN: "Earth’s climate is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released Monday that the United Nations calls a “code red for humanity.”
“It’s just guaranteed that it’s going to get worse,” said report co-author Linda Mearns, a senior climate scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. “I don’t see any area that is safe. ... Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”
But scientists also eased back a bit on the likelihood of the absolute worst climate catastrophes."
Trump told California to sweep the forest floors. What's Biden's plan to combat wildfires?
Sacramento Bee, GILLIAN BRASSIL/DALE KASLER: "Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Gov. Gavin Newsom stood side by side, in a forest that burned badly a year ago, pledging to work together against California’s raging wildfires.
Vilsack, acknowledging criticisms that the U.S. Forest Service hasn’t done enough to fight fires, said the Biden administration was ready to spend billions beefing up the agency.
“We’re partners,” Newsom said during an appearance last week with Vilsack at the Mendocino National Forest."
READ MORE WILDFIRE NEWS: $2M helos and vintage trucks: How frustrated Napa residents are taking wildfire protection into their own hands -- The Chronicle, ESTHER MOBLEY; Dixie Fire now second-largest wildfire in California state history. Here's what we know -- Sacramento Bee, VINCENT MOLESKI: "
Seeking California unemployment benefits? You may not need to look for work after all
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "sNeed to care for a child? Lose your job in a seasonal shutdown? You may NOT have to look for work in order to get unemployment benefits in California.
The state began requiring job searches for most claimants July 11. But the laws do allow for “good cause provisions,” so there is some flexibility.
“From the other states I have seen, this does seem to be more lenient,” said Jenna Gerry, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project, which studies unemployment issues, of California’s policies."
Bay Area schools brace for wave of pandemic-scarred students: 'We're going to heal together'
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Bay Area schools are expected to fully reopen over the coming weeks, with all students stepping into classrooms full time after more than a year when many learned mostly in a virtual world marked by online chat boxes and Zoom breakout rooms.
But along with new backpacks, too many will be shouldering the impact of 18 months of stress, anxiety and isolation. Students will also be trying to catch up academically if they’ve fallen behind.
Education and mental health experts have been warning about the devastating impact of the pandemic on youth, citing the rising rates of depression, obesity, anxiety and absenteeism as well as academic struggles. They believe teachers and school staff will see a significant fallout for months or years to come."
Delta variant is sucking the joy out of back-to-school 2021
LA Times, HOWARD BLUME: "Back-to-school 2021, with California campuses fully open for 6 million children, was supposed to herald relief — even celebration — for a mostly normal school year ahead. But a surge in the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus has reignited parents’ anxiety — and, for many, the safety and quality of schooling once again feel uncertain and tenuous.
“I wanted to be excited about a new school year, but now I am having to think: ‘Am I putting our health at risk by going to school in person?’” said Irma Villalpando, who has two high school daughters at the Maywood Center for Enriched Studies. “I am feeling very sad because I think that it is going to be another very difficult year.”
Some parents have frantically explored limited online options. And questions over safety protocols are taking on an urgent tone: What happens if someone at my child’s school tests positive? What happens if my child is exposed — will their class be quarantined? Will their school close? Are all teachers vaccinated? What about coronavirus testing?"
As California schools reopen, will there be a surge in independent study?
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Superintendents’ anxiety is rising as they prepare to reopen school not just for students physically returning but also for an unknown number choosing to learn from home.
The Legislature said districts must provide those students with an education, too, and recrafted the provisions for independent study, an alternative for students who need to do their academics outside the classroom. Originally designed to accommodate schedules of child actors and aspiring Olympic athletes or for victims of bullying, it’s now an option for students of all grades fearful of contracting Covid.
But the new independent study law, in the trailer bill elaborating on this year’s state budget, is complex and was designed by legislative staff without a hearing. Most districts have had less than six weeks to prepare. And, with the rapid spread of the delta variant and cases of Covid school infections in the news, superintendents are worried they could be swamped with applications for independent study by parents who then become dissatisfied with what they signed up for."
How to watch the Perseid meteor shower in the Bay Area this week
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: "The Bay Area is in for a treat this week as the meteor shower considered the best of the year by NASA scientists is expected to peak Wednesday night.
The Perseid meteor shower will peak between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday, according to the Oakland-based Chabot Space & Science Center. Stargazers can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour.
“The Moon will set early in the evening on the 11th, so we will have dark skies and potentially very good viewing conditions,” Gerald McKeegan, an astromer with the Chabot Space & Science Center, wrote in a blog post."
Community groups in Richmond file lawsuit against state for inadequate toxic waste cleanup
Daily Californian, RYAN TEOH: "Community and environmental justice groups filed suit against California agencies over proposed housing units to be built on the site of AstraZeneca’s former chemical manufacturing plant in south Richmond.
The groups feel that the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, should not have allowed developers HRP Campus Bay Property LLC to build 4,000 housing units on the toxic waste site.
They noted that the agencies did not adequately evaluate the impacts of sea-level rise and toxicity of trichloroethylene, or TCE, a chemical found in substantial amounts at the site, according to Richmond Shoreline Alliance co-chair Pam Stello."