Over 1,000 people attend rally protesting California's vaccine mandate for children
Sacramento Bee, SAWSAN MORRAR: "More than a thousand parents, students and school staff crowded the west lawn of the state Capitol on Monday morning in protest of California’s upcoming COVID-19 vaccination mandate for eligible K-12 students.
The mandate, which Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Oct. 1, is the first of its kind in the United States — requiring all public and private school students to receive the vaccine when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes full approval of the shots for their age groups. The state is allowing personal belief exemptions.
Parents, children, teachers and organizers crowded the lawn and steps of the Capitol in downtown Sacramento, some holding signs that read, “I will not co-parent with the government.” One parent carried a pole with the state flag upside down. Rally speakers like Parent Union’s Celeste Fiehler of Coachella attended the protest demanding a voice at the table, objecting to the state’s executive decision."
Confronted with losing their jobs, 99% of LAUSD teachers meet COVID-19 vaccine requirements
LA Times, HOWARD BLUME and MELISSA GOMEZ: "Faced with getting a COVID-19 vaccine or losing their jobs, thousands of hesitant Los Angeles school-district employees opted for a last-minute jab, allowing them to access schools and offices on Monday and resulting in 99% compliance among classroom teachers and 97% of all employees.
The high compliance rate — which includes those with an approved medical or religious exemption — fended off the need for a longer-term contingency plan that officials launched Monday in case the final vaccination rates were lower: Thousands of supervisors and staff from central and regional offices were deployed to campuses and classrooms. Some supervised classrooms or filled in for missing custodians and food-service workers. Police officers worked overtime.
Los Angeles — widely viewed as a national leader in COVID-19 safety measures — was among the first major school districts in the nation to issue an ultimatum to all employees amid the summer Delta surge: Get vaccinated or lose your job. The mandate came with the risk of serious disruption in the nation’s second-largest school district, already struggling to fill a high number of teacher and other vacancies."
After a devastating summer of fire, parts of California might get a break this fall
LA Times, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH and LILA SEIDMAN: "After suffering through a devastating summer of wildfires, Californians may catch a break this month as a series of expected storms could effectively end the fire season in the northern and central parts of the state, experts say.
Although it’s not yet clear exactly how much precipitation will fall, weather models are showing a fairly high likelihood that a series of wet storms could drop multiple feet of snow at higher elevations up north through Halloween. Southern California, however, will see far less rainfall, and therefore remain at risk for wildfires.
For much of the state, though, the forecast for late October precipitation “is actually still relatively good news compared to recent years when the fire season statewide lasted well past October, November, December and even the middle of winter last year,” said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain."
Supreme Court says East Bay cop can't be sued for kneeling on prone suspect
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "An Alameda County man cannot sue a policeman who knelt on his back while he lay on the ground awaiting arrest after reportedly threatening his girlfriend and her daughter, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case involving the hotly disputed “qualified immunity” doctrine for law enforcement officers.
The high court reversed a lower-court ruling that would have allowed Ramon Cortesluna to seek damages from the Union City officer. Justices relied on a rule the Supreme Court established in 1982 that protects police from liability — even if they violated an individual’s rights — unless those rights were “clearly established” and would have been known to any reasonable officer.
“To show a violation of clearly established law, Cortesluna must identify a case that put (Officer Daniel) Rivas-Villegas on notice that his specific conduct was unlawful,” the court said in an unsigned, unanimous decision. Because the only case Cortesluna’s attorneys and the lower court cited was factually different, the justices said, “Rivas-Villegas is entitled to qualified immunity because he did not violate clearly established law.”"
Oil company at center of OC spill received millions in federal relief
LA Times, HANNAH FRY and RICHARD WINTON: "The energy company at the center of a massive oil spill off the Orange County coast has received roughly $31 million in federal relief since 2016, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) said during a congressional subcommittee hearing on Monday.
Oil and gas companies pay royalties to the government in exchange for leases on federal property. The government sometimes reduces the amount of those royalties.
Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Amplify Energy, received a $20-million “end of life” royalty discount for two years starting in July 2016 because its wells were close to being tapped dry and were no longer producing as much oil, Porter said."
California Democrat joins race for tossup congressional seat. Will GOP be able to keep it?
Sacramento Bee, GILLIAN BRASSIL: "One of California’s most politically vulnerable congressmen has a formidable new challenger.
Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, announced on Monday that he intends to challenge Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, to contest a southern San Joaquin Valley district where Democrats outnumber Republicans.
Valadao has represented California’s 21st congressional district intermittently since 2013, having lost his seat to Democrat TJ Cox in 2018, but then reclaiming the seat from Cox in 2020. Valadao won the district in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections easily."
Republicans see opportunity over surging inflation
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN and LARA KORTE: "Every incumbent politician’s nightmare is slowly becoming reality — prices are going up, up, up, and consumers are getting angry.
That’s a notable problem for Democrats, who run Congress and the White House as the 2022 midterm elections get closer.
“To the extent that inflation is noticeably bad in the coming months, that could contribute to a negative perception of the White House, which then may have negative electoral consequences or at least contribute to a poor performance,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which analyzes congressional races."
FDA panel updates booster recommendations. Here's what you need to know
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "In another series of meetings this week, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded its guidance on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots beyond certain groups of Pfzier recipients, who had been authorized to get boosters last month.
Here’s the latest.
As of this week, the FDA advisory panel said that recipients of the Moderna vaccine who are over 65, live in a long-term care facility, are over 18 and at risk for a severe case of COVID-19 because of underlying health conditions, or at high risk of exposure due to their job should get a booster shot if they got their second dose at least six months ago. These are the same groups as those currently eligible to receive Pfizer boosters."
Here's what we know about AY.4.2, a delta subvariant that's spiking cases in the UK
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "The delta variant is still the overwhelmingly dominant coronavirus strain in California and the U.S., but one of its descendants is starting to gain traction overseas.
Known as AY.4.2, it’s on the rise in the United Kingdom. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, in a tweet Sunday noted that it now accounts for 8% of sequenced coronavirus cases in that country and said “urgent research” is needed.
“There’s no clear indication that it’s considerably more transmissible, but we should work to more quickly characterize these and other new variants,” he said."
Here's how the air above SF City Hall could be worth up to $45M
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "San Francisco could sell up to a whopping 1.2 million square feet in unused development rights tied to City Hall, allowing developers to increase the size of other projects in downtown.
The Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize the sale, which is expected to take four to five years to complete.
The base price would be $37.50 per square foot, subject to future increases if there is enough demand, according to a city memo. If all the rights are sold, the city would receive $45 million or more in revenue."
California cannabis busts surge despite legalization as agencies target illicit growers
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "Four years after weed became legal in California for adult recreational use, state law enforcement officials have doubled the amount of illicit marijuana plants seized and eradicated in an annual campaign.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced that the California Department of Justice’s annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting program, also known as CAMP, had eradicated nearly 1.2 million illegally cultivated cannabis plants this year.
That’s up from 614,267 plants seized in 2018, the first year that recreational marijuana was legal in California."
SF voters to decide fate of 3 school board members in first city recall election in nearly 40 years
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Three San Francisco school board members will face a recall vote in a mid-February special election, city officials announced Monday.
Officials confirmed they verified enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot, which will determine the fate of President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and commissioner Alison Collins. The Feb. 15 election will also select the city’s next assessor-recorder.
This will be the first local recall election on a San Francisco ballot since 1983, when an effort to oust then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein failed."
Why California is producing more cilantro
Sacramento Bee, KIM BOJORQUEZ: "You can use it to garnish street tacos or pozole. You can add it to pho or pad thai. You can consume its seeds, stems and leaves.
Cilantro, also known as coriander or Mexican parsley, is a staple in Latin American and Asian cuisines.
And California’s Central Coast is growing tons of it."