Infectious Omicron BA.2 now dominant in U.S., with coronavirus spring rise likely
LUKE MONEY and RONG-GONG LIN II, LA Times: “The highly infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now the dominant version of the coronavirus circulating in the United States, according to federal estimates, a development that is triggering fresh concerns of a potential springtime wave.
How big that potential upswing might prove to be remains the subject of much debate. Some experts believe California is well-armored against another significant surge — largely because the vast majority of residents have either been vaccinated or likely have some natural immunity left over from a recent infection.
But BA.2 has fueled substantial increases in other countries, demonstrating how readily the super-contagious subvariant can still spread.”
Should I get a second COVID booster vaccine?
LISA M. KRIEGER, Mercury News: “OnOn BLITuesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster shot for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, citing dwindling immunity in older Americans as a new omicron variant gains a firm foothold in the nation.
So should you rush out and get that new booster? And is that even a possibility yet? Here are some answers:
Q: Who’s eligible for the second booster?
A: Everyone 50 and older, as well as people with certain medical conditions, such as immune deficiencies and organ transplants.”
California lobbyist found dead; Placer County deputies shot suspect at her home
ROSALIO AHUMADA, SacBee: “Authorities are investigating the deaths of a California lobbyist and her boyfriend in connection with an hours-long standoff at the lobbyist’s Loomis home in which Placer County sheriff’s deputies shot an armed suspect.
The Golden State Bail Agents Association said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the deaths of its lobbyist Kathryn Lynch and her boyfriend, Jerry Upholt.
“On behalf of GSBAA, I wish to express our sorrow and sympathy over the tragic murder of our lobbyist Kathryn Lynch and her boyfriend Jerry Upholt,” Albert Ramirez, the bail agents group’s president, said in a news release Tuesday. “Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to their family and friends. Kathy was a brilliant lobbyist and her devotion to her profession and the institution of government was second to none. We are greatly honored to have worked with her and have her as part of our family.”
Black reparations panel could decide who gets compensation
JANIE HAR, AP: “California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations is at a crossroads, with members divided on which Black Americans should be eligible for compensation as atonement for a slave system that officially ended with the Civil War but reverberates to this day.
Some members want to limit financial and other compensation to descendants of enslaved people while others say that all Black people in the U.S., regardless of lineage, suffer from systemic racism in housing, education and employment. The task force could vote on eligibility on Tuesday after putting it off last month.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation creating the two-year reparations task force in 2020, making California the only state to move ahead with a study and plan, with a mission to study the in
Facing discipline after text message review, Northern California sergeant, captain retire
JASON POHL, SacBee: “Facing discipline stemming from a yearlong investigation into a text message scandal, a Northern California police captain and sergeant have both retired from the Eureka Police Department.
City officials on Monday announced Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez and Captain Patrick O’Neill left the department as of Friday.
The retirements, combined with the departure of a third officer last year, largely brings to close a sprawling review of the vile text message banter and the lingering “old guard” culture that some have described as toxic and in need of overhaul. “This investigation is over,” Miles Slattery, Eureka’s city manager, said in an interview Monday.”
Antitrust Bill Targeting Amazon, Google, Apple Gets Support From DOJ
RYAN TRACY, Wall Street Journal: “The Justice Department Monday endorsed legislation forbidding large digital platforms such as Amazon and Google from favoring their own products and services over competitors’, marking the Biden administration’s first full-throated support of the antitrust measure.
“The Department views the rise of dominant platforms as presenting a threat to open markets and competition, with risks for consumers, businesses, innovation, resiliency, global competitiveness, and our democracy,” says a letter to bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, signed by Peter Hyun, the Justice Department’s acting assistant attorney general for legislative affairs.
The letter, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, expresses support for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which the Senate’s judiciary panel approved in January in a bipartisan vote, as well as similar legislation moving through the House.”
Uber Close to Deal for Partnership With San Francisco Taxi Outfit
KELLEN BROWNING, NY Times: “Uber’s plan to lure more taxis onto its platform in the next several years could soon take another big step.
The company is close to completing an agreement with a San Francisco partner, Flywheel Technologies, to allow Uber passengers in the city to call a taxi through the Uber app, according to four people familiar with the matter and a video presentation by the city’s transportation agency that was viewed by The New York Times.
The next step is for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors to approve tweaks to a pilot program at its April 5 meeting. The city’s director of transportation would then need to authorize it, paving the way for Uber and Flywheel, which operates an app used by hundreds of taxi drivers in San Francisco across several taxi companies to accept rides.”
Suspect shot dead by Fresno police at headquarters. He attacked a detective, chief says
JOSHUA TEHEE and THADDEUS MILLER, Fresno Bee: “A man was shot and killed on Tuesday, after police say he attacked a detective in his office at the Fresno Police Department Headquarters.
The incident happened just before noon at the department’s Annex building off of Fresno Street.
During a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Police Chief Paco Balderrama said it was not immediately clear how the man got past the locked gates and passcodes to enter the building, but that he wasn’t supposed to be there.”
J.K. DINEEN, Chronicle: “After nearly a decade of operating a retail business on the 1000 block of Market Street, Warm Planet Bikes owner Kash is not a guy who blushes easily.
Kash, who goes by the one name, has seen and heard and smelled it all: the incessant fentanyl dealing, the daily overdoses, the scams, the screams, the stench, the pop-up marketplaces of hot goods. Recently, an encampment popped up next to his shop and a guy was barbecuing and selling stolen meat.
Yet nothing prepared him for the early morning last August when he received a phone call from a construction worker who had walked by the long, narrow bike shop at 1098A Market St. and noticed that something was amiss. The sign on the door said, “Open by appointment,” and had Kash’s phone number, yet the door was wide open and it looked like the place had been ransacked.”
California oil hub Kern County working with Biden energy agency on transition to green industry
GILLIAN BRASSIL and FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, SacBee: “Kern County in the heart of California’s oil country is working with the Biden administration on a plan that could lead to a clean energy business park.
Local leaders are hoping that, with the help of the United States Department of Energy, they can devise plans that ease the region’s shift from relying on fossil fuels jobs to clean energy ones.
“We need to support our oil industry partners who own these assets, invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our community, and help them figure out what the future looks like,” Lorelei Oviatt, the director of community development for Kern County Planning and Natural Resources, said in an interview with The Fresno Bee on Monday.”
Farmworker leaader: ‘Why won’t Gov. Newsom meet with us?’
JUAN ESPARZA LOERA, Fresno Bee: “United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero did not mince words in questioning by Gov. Gavin Newsom will not meet with farmworker representatives on the birthday of the farmworker movement’s founder.
Romero, speaking at a March 24 ceremony at Fresno State’s Peace Garden to honor César E. Chávez, said the governor vetoed the Agricultural Relations Voting Choice Act last year.
“Those voting choices include letting agricultural workers vote in the comfort and security of their own homes,” said Romero, who became the UFW’s first female – and first immigrant – to serve as leader of the farmworker movement that Chávez and Dolores Huerta launched in 1962 in Delano.””
Is Will Smith’s Oscars slap considered assault or battery under California law?
RACHEL SWAN, Chronicle: “While debate rages on Twitter over whether Will Smith was justified in storming onstage at the Oscars ceremony and slapping comedian Chris Rock, current and former prosecutors said under California law, the slap was clearly a misdemeanor.
But charging Smith for battery would be a waste of time and resources, argued several experts who spoke to The Chronicle Monday.
“This is one of those incidents where nothing good would be accomplished” by prosecuting it, said Rockne Harmon, a former senior deputy district attorney for Alameda County, who now works as a consultant on cold cases. He and others noted that prosecutors have discretion on filing cases, even if the crime can easily be proved.“