California nearly back to pre-omicron level of COVID spread, tests and wastewater show
MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee: "Coronavirus numbers in California have fallen almost back to levels observed before omicron became the state’s dominant variant, the latest COVID-19 infections and hospitalization data show.
The daily case rate has cratered to 30 per 100,000 residents, according to a Tuesday update from the California Department of Public Health, one-tenth the peak of 300 per 100,000 on Jan. 10. CDPH reported statewide test positivity at 3.6% Tuesday, down substantially from 22.6% at the omicron peak.
CDPH reported statewide test positivity at 3.6% Tuesday, down substantially from 22.6% at the omicron peak."
Prosecutors union votes overwhelmingly to support Gascón recall
SCOTT SCHWEBKE, LA Daily News: "In a nearly unanimous vote, a union representing about 700 Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Tuesday it will support the recall of District Attorney George Gascón.
With nearly 84% participation from its membership, voter turnout exceeded all previous elections held by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys. About 98% of those who voted support recalling the progressive Gascón.
“This vote is by those who are intimately familiar with how Mr. Gascón’s policies actually play out on a day-to-day basis,” ADDA President Michele Hanisee said in a statement. “We believe the vote of our members will resonate with the voters of Los Angeles as they decide whether to recall Gascón from office and restore public safety as the priority of the District Attorney’s Office.”
Supreme Court will decide whether web designer has a right to turn away same-sex couples
DAVID G. SAVAGE, LA Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether a conservative Christian woman who designs websites has a free speech right to turn away same-sex couples, even though a state civil rights law requires businesses to be fully open to all without regard to their sexual orientation.
Lorie Smith, a Colorado graphic artist and web designer, says she wants to expand her business to design custom websites for weddings, but not for same-sex couples.
She is “willing to work with all people regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, and gender,” her lawyers told the court. “But she cannot create websites that promote messages contrary to her faith, such as messages that condone violence or promote sexual immorality, abortion, or same-sex marriage.”
Three Bay Area counties have improved to ‘moderate’ COVID levels
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "The number of new coronavirus cases in the Bay Area has fallen by nearly 80% since the beginning of the month, but all but three counties in the region still have high or substantial transmission rates, as does most of California, according to federal data.
California is still reporting around 200 lives lost to COVID-19 each day, as Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the case for moving the state out of “crisis mode.” Daily deaths — a lagging pandemic indicator — are up about 10% since the beginning of the month, making California one of a handful of states not to see a steady decline in fatalities coming out of the omicron winter surge.
The latest data Tuesday from state health officials shows the Bay Area is averaging 26 new cases a day per 100,000 residents, down from 127 on Feb. 1. Statewide, the average is now 28 per 100,000 residents, down from 144 over the same period."
California voters lean toward legalizing sports betting in new poll
JOHN MYERS and TARYN LUNA, LA Times: "California voters are open to the idea of creating a legal market for betting on college and professional sports but fewer than half of those surveyed in a new poll are sure of their support, an unsettled finding that serves as a prelude to a multimillion-dollar political battle in November.
A poll released Wednesday by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times finds 45% of voters surveyed would support amending the California Constitution to allow sports betting. One-third of voters said they are opposed to such an effort while the remaining 22% of respondents — more than 1 in 5 — are undecided.
The poll did not ask voters to weigh in on any of the details of how California would establish legal sports betting. As many as three ballot measures on the topic could appear on the statewide ballot in November, each envisioning a different business model. The proposals are backed by rival groups promising to spend what could be a record amount of campaign cash to prevail on election day."
L.A. will reduce speed limit by 5 mph on 177 miles of streets
RACHEL URANGA, LA Times: "For years, Los Angeles traffic planners have been in a bind, largely prohibited under state laws from reducing speed limits even as vehicle deaths climbed to record levels.
But a change in a law last year gave local officials some leeway, allowing Los Angeles for the first time in decades to lower speed limits on major corridors.
On Tuesday, the City Council took action, unanimously approving a plan to lower speed limits by 5 mph on 177 miles, or about 2%, of city streets. The move was hailed by pedestrian advocates and city officials alike as a small but significant step toward safer streets in a city that has been unable to rein in deadly crashes."
Pea-size hail is raining down on the S.F. Bay Area as temperatures start to dip
The Chronicle, Jessica Flores: "Freezing temperatures were expected in parts of the Bay Area this week, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a freeze warning that includes swaths of the region.
The warning will go into effect early Wednesday to Friday morning for interior areas in the Bay Area — such as Concord, Livermore, Santa Rosa, Cloverdale and Napa — and the Central Coast, weather officials said.
Cold temperatures Tuesday helped produce pea-size hail in some places, with people taking to social media to report hail sightings in the North Bay and even as far south as Cupertino in the Bay Area."
LAX passenger was jailed 13 days on warrant for woman with same name, lawsuit alleges
GREGORY YEE, LA Times: "A woman who alleges she was wrongfully arrested and jailed for 13 days last year on a warrant out of Texas for a woman who shares her name is suing police and the city of Los Angeles.
According to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Bethany K. Farber was waiting for a flight to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, on April 16 at Los Angeles International Airport when Transportation Security Administration agents detained her. The agents said that she had an arrest warrant for identity theft out of Texas and that she couldn’t board her flight.
Farber told the agents she didn’t have a criminal record and had never been to Texas, but the agents continued to hold her in a room without food or water for more than two hours until airport police arrested her, according to the suit."
The Chronicle, Kellie Hwang: "A historic brochure for Bel Marin Keys features the tagline: “Where fun and play come home to stay.”
The pamphlet, created sometime in the late 1950s or early ’60s as the community was first being built, marketed the southeast Novato development as offering a perma-vacation lifestyle in “sunny Marin County, refreshingly free from fog or smog.”
Today, the community of about 700 homes just off the San Pablo Bay waterfront retains a similar appeal for home buyers as what was promised back then: a relaxed atmosphere that can feel much more south Florida than Bay Area."
Protesters shout down candidates in raucous L.A. mayor debate
JAMES RAINEY, JULIA WICK, BENJAMIN ORESKES and DAKOTA SMITH, LA Times: "Five leading candidates for mayor of Los Angeles squared off Tuesday night in the first televised debate of the campaign, but the most stinging barbs of the evening were directed at a sixth candidate who didn’t attend — billionaire and civic activist Rick Caruso.
City Atty. Mike Feuer suggested that Caruso had not done enough as chairman of USC’s board of trustees to protect the safety of women on the campus. Councilman Joe Buscaino accused the first-time political candidate of being anti-union, in a city he said was built by organized labor.
The digs came toward the end of an hourlong debate at Loyola Marymount University, where Feuer and Buscaino faced Councilman Kevin de León, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass and former Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Mel Wilson."
The Chronicle, MATTHIAS GAFNI: "Mariposa Castro was with her husband on the famed golf course at Pebble Beach in 2006 when they were nearly struck by an errant golf ball.
They turned to find out who took the shot, and there he was: Donald Trump. The reality TV host and the Gilroy stay-at-home mom had a short and friendly conversation, presaging her fandom and loyalty, according to court records.
Fifteen years later, Castro crawled through a broken glass window at the U.S. Capitol and watched as risoters tore apart furniture, creating weapons used to beat police officers defending the building from supporters of then-President Trump hoping to overturn the election. On Wednesday, Castro, 49, is expected to be sentenced after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of demonstrating inside the Capitol building.
While she faces up to six months in prison, prosecutors are asking for 60 days, and her attorney is seeking probation so she can be with her husband and children, who moved to Tennessee after the historic insurrection. Her case reveals the tension over how severely members of the Capitol mob should be punished and shines a light on how they ended up in infamy."
Ukrainians in Bay Area fear for family back home as Russia moves toward war
The Chronicle, Shwanika Narayan: "Ukrainians in the Bay Area reacted with alarm and fear Tuesday as the threat of war with Russia moved closer to reality amid worsening political tensions.
“I’ve been on the phone with my parents, who have begun preparing for the possibility of leaving their home soon,” said Mick Safron, a Ukrainian immigrant living in San Mateo whose parents live in Kyiv. “They are safe, and Kyiv is safe. For now, at least.”
Diplomatic talks floundered Tuesday as the United States and several European countries announced fresh sanctions against Russia following Putin’s recognition of two separatist, pro-Russian regions in eastern Ukraine — parts of Donetsk and Luhansk — a day earlier."