When will gas prices go down? The answer may discourage you
AMY GRAF, SF Gate: “As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, prices at the pump are exploding across the United States. The national average for a gallon of gas hit $4.17 on Tuesday; that's 55 cents more than a week ago, AAA said.
California's average price rose above $5 a gallon for the first time ever, hitting $5.44 on Tuesday. News of shockingly high prices across the Golden State is spreading. The Chevron in the town of Mendocino was selling regular gas at $8.45 a gallon on Tuesday.
Is there an end in sight to the high gas prices?
Is it too risky for kids to go maskless at school and daycare? What experts say
RONG-GONG LIN II and LUKE MONEY, LA Times: “With mask mandates easing, some parents and schools will have much to think about in the coming weeks.
After Friday night at 11:59 p.m., California will lift its indoor K-12 and childcare mask mandate, and it’ll be up to school and childcare operators to decide for themselves their own masking policy.
Health officials are strongly recommending masks still be worn in indoor public settings, but school operators will have their own power to retain a mask order or to make wearing them optional.”
Students sue Santa Clara University over COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate
JOHN WOOLFOLK, Mercury News: “Two students sued Santa Clara University over its COVID-19 vaccine booster shot requirement Monday.
The lawsuit said sophomore Harlow Glenn, 20, agreed to get her first Pfizer COVID-19 shot last year to comply with the university’s vaccine mandate, but alleges she suffered numbing in her legs, severe headaches, menstrual cycle disruptions, bloody urine, body pains and hair loss. The university, she said, denied her requests for religious and medical exemptions from the shots.
Another sophomore, Jackson Druker, 19, agreed to comply with the initial vaccination requirement and hasn’t suffered a bad reaction, but does not want to take the additional risk of a booster shot, the lawsuit said.”
GM and PG&E to Test Program for Electric Vehicles to Boost Power Grid
KATHERINE BLUNT, Wall Street Journal: “General Motors Co. GM 0.93% and PG&E Corp. PCG 3.14% plan to test the use of electric vehicles to power homes during outages as the California utility works to reduce the impact of wildfires on its customers.
The companies said Tuesday that they plan to test the concept this summer using charging hardware and other technology allowing for two-way power flow from vehicle to home. The companies plan to scale the pilot to include customer trials by the end of the year.
The technology could help PG&E customers retain power during what are known as public-safety power shutoffs, or pre-emptive outages meant to reduce the risk of power lines sparking wildfires during windstorms. PG&E has frequently resorted to such outages in recent years after its power lines ignited a series of wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that killed more than 100 people.
“Not only is this a huge advancement for electric reliability and climate resiliency; it’s yet another advantage of clean-powered EVs, which are so important in our collective battle against climate change,” said PG&E Chief Executive Patti Poppe.”
MICHAEL CABANATUAN, Chronicle: “An 84-year-old San Diego man with an ignominious past won the endorsement of the state Democratic Party over the weekend, despite a history that includes spousal abuse, legal sanctions for being a slumlord and a restraining order keeping him away from an actor on a beloved TV sitcom.
Michael “Mike” Schaefer, who calls himself “The Equalizer,” is running for re-election to the state Board of Equalization, a post he first won in 2018. Schaefer represents five Southern California counties — San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial. The largely unknown board regulates and administers property taxes, alcoholic beverage taxes and taxes on insurers.
The oldest Californian to hold a state constitutional office, Schaefer has a lengthy political past — much of it unsuccessful. An attorney by training, Schaefer has also run afoul of the law multiple times, and has been disbarred in California and Nevada.”
California lawmaker stopped at airport security after loaded gun found in bag
JEREMY WHITE, Politico: “Officials with the Transportation Security Administration last week found a loaded pistol in California Assemblymember Jim Cooper’s luggage and contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, which confiscated the weapon and held it until Cooper returned from his trip, the sheriff’s office confirmed.
Cooper’s office told POLITICO that the state lawmaker, a retired law enforcement officer running for Sacramento sheriff, had accidentally brought a bag containing a loaded firearm to airport security.
Cooper declined to comment on the incident in a brief interview outside the Assembly chambers. But the Elk Grove Democrat stressed that, as a retired law enforcement officer, he was fully within his rights to carry a firearm.”
California courts will relax COVID rules, but want lawmakers to allow remote appearances
BOB EGELKO, Chronicle: “As California eases some of its COVID-19 restrictions, state courts have started to move in the same direction, tightening timetables for civil trials and criminal court hearings. Judicial leaders are also considering restoring rules for in-person criminal trials, but may ask lawmakers to continue to let defendants appear remotely.
After Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted most of the state’s indoor masking requirements Feb. 15, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said last week she would withdraw, effective April 30, several court emergency orders she imposed in March 2020.
One order allows judges in felony criminal cases to hold a preliminary hearing 30 days after a defendant is charged, instead of the previous 10-day deadline. At a preliminary hearing, the judge decides whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to proceed with their case. Another order extended by 60 days the previous deadlines for starting trials in civil cases.”
Criminal inquiry into former Windsor mayor moves forward
ALEXANDRIA BORDAS and CYNTHIA DIZIKES, Chronicle: “Four months after raiding Dominic Foppoli’s home, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has passed off a portion of its criminal investigation into the former Windsor mayor to the California Attorney General’s Office for review.
Sgt. Juan Valencia, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, called the hand-off “a first major step in nearing the completion of the investigation” into sexual assault allegations against Foppoli, 39, a rising politician in Wine Country before a series of Chronicle investigations documented the women’s accusations last year.Valencia said they are working closely with the Attorney General’s Office, which is “reviewing part of the case to see if additional follow up is needed.”
He declined to provide details on which part of the investigation had been handed over or when the inquiry would be complete, saying there was “no timeline yet for when the report is going to be finalized.”
Labor contract for supermarket workers expires with no deal
KEVIN SMITH, OC Register: “Workers with Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions failed to reach a labor agreement with the supermarket chains this week, despite ongoing negotiations.
The employees, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, saw their current contract expire Sunday, March 6, a move that has prompted union officials to prepare strike authorization votes.
UFCW Local 324 member Erlene Molina, a front-end manager at a Ralphs and a bargaining committee member, said workers need to be adequately paid for the risks they have taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
‘It’s more than tacos’: inside LA’s first Mexican food museum
EVA RECINOS, The Guardian: “In Los Angeles, you can easily try cochinita pibil, tamales, tlayudas and more within the span of an evening. Bring your appetite, and the city delivers.
But until recently, the city lacked a formal space dedicated to exploring the rich history of such dishes. That’s changed with the opening of LA Plaza Cocina, billed as the first museum in LA dedicated to Mexican food.
Calling it a “museum” alone doesn’t quite capture the mission of the space. In addition to exhibitions, LA Plaza Cocina, which opened in February, will host cooking classes, demonstrations and cultural events.
San Francisco’s first tiny home village for homeless people opens. At $15,000 a pop, city says it’s cost-effective
SAM WHITING, Chronicle: “One week ago, Ryan Bauer was living in a tent on the hard pavement on Gough Street south of Market. Now he’s living on the same pavement with a dramatic upgrade: He’s moved into his own tiny home, with a mattress, desk, chair and — most luxurious of all — a heater that quickly warms his 64-square-foot abode. That’s almost as crucial as a front door that locks from the inside and by a combination lock on the outside.
“It’s definitely a lot warmer, and I don’t have to worry about my stuff being taken,” said Bauer, 45, who is known on the street as “Nobody.” “I haven’t had a locked area where I could leave my stuff and not have it stolen for who knows how long.”
Bauer has been homeless for 30 years, since he left Illinois at age 17. He’s one of 30 men and women to be promoted from a tent city on the city-leased lot into the tiny structures where they can live for at least a year. Eventually the site will hold 70 units in modular duplexes.”
San Francisco police officer found not guilty in beating of unarmed Black man
GREGORY YEE, LA Times: “A San Francisco police officer has been found not guilty of three felony counts in what is believed to be the first excessive-force trial for an on-duty officer in the city’s history, according to authorities.
Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin said Monday that a jury found Officer Terrance Stangel not guilty on one count each of battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The jury could not reach a verdict on the fourth count, assault under color of authority, Boudin’s office said.”