Reparations panel, in historic vote, proposes payments, reforms and apology for Black Californians
The Chronicle, JASON FAGONE: "After a contentious and often chaotic day of debate, the California Reparations Task Force adopted a mammoth report during the weekend that proposes cash payments to some Black residents — along with sweeping policy changes and a formal apology — to address historic racial inequities in the state.
Which Black Californians deserve reparations, and how should they be compensated? The task force is the first statewide body of its kind to tackle these questions and offer concrete recommendations for legislators to consider."
Is California giving reparations for slavery? Here’s what you need to know
LA Times, TARYN LUNA: "California’s Reparations Task Force voted on Saturday to recommend that the state issue a formal apology for slavery and potentially provide billions of dollars in cash payments, moving forward a historic effort to enact remedies and compensation for descendants of African Americans who were enslaved in the U.S.
The vote at a public meeting in Oakland marks the beginning of the end of the nine-member panel’s two-year process to craft a report recommending reparations for slavery, which is due to the state Legislature by July 1.
The report will act as a manual for lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who established the task force in 2020 to study and gather evidence of the harms of slavery and lasting discrimination, as state elected officials begin to debate righting the wrongs of the past."
Athletic trainers enter ‘scope of practice’ debate
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "California is the only state in the nation that doesn’t regulate athletic trainers. That could soon change if a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and the California Athletic Trainers’ Association becomes law.
Weber’s measure, Assembly Bill 796, seeks to regulate the athletic training profession in California by establishing the Athletic Trainer Registration Committee within the Medical Board of California.
The bill would require athletic trainers to be registered – but not licensed – with the state in order to practice in California. (Registration is a lesser form of regulation than licensure.) Under the bill’s definitions, an athletic trainer could include a sports medical specialist present at an athletic event, like a National Football League game, but also something someone seemingly disconnected from athletics like a person hired to oversee workers on a production line."
This tribe was barred from cultural burning for decades — then a fire hit their community
LA Times, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: "The land near Yosemite National Park had been tended by Irene Vasquez’s family for decades. They took care of their seven acres by setting small fires to thin vegetation and help some plants to grow.
But the steep, chaparral-studded slopes surrounding the property hadn’t seen fire since Vasquez and fellow members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation were barred from practicing cultural burning on a wider scale some 100 years before.
When a wildfire swept through in July, the dense vegetation stoked flames that destroyed Vasquez’s home and transformed the land into a scarred moonscape. With that, she became one of many Indigenous residents to watch her ancestral territory burn in recent years, despite knowing the outcome could have been different."
Oakland teachers strike continues into Day 3, with no deal yet in sight
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Oakland teachers are continuing their strike, heading Monday to the picket lines for a third day after a weekend with little movement toward contract agreement, district officials said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond stepped in during the weekend as an official mediator in talks between the two sides, but no progress was announced."
A guide to earning college credit while in high school
EdSource, EMMA GALLEGOS: "An increasing number of students in California are graduating from high school with college credits under their belt. The main three ways to do this are through Advanced Placement courses, dual enrollment or International Baccalaureate.
This guide aims to give high school students and their families an overview of college-level coursework in California for young students and how it could affect them in college and their career."
SEC reportedly investigating First Republic executives for potential insider trading
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating trading activity by First Republic Bank executives before the San Francisco institution’s sale to JPMorgan Chase, Bloomberg reported.
The agency is reportedly looking for evidence of improper insider trading. It isn’t clear which executives are the focus of the inquiry, and no one has been charged, Bloomberg reported.
From January to early March, top First Republic executives sold $11.8 million in stock, the Wall Street Journal previously reported."
This huge San Francisco landmark is shrouded in scaffolding for a major renovation
The Chronicle, SAM WHITING: "The fifth Sunday of Easter at St. Ignatius Church offered a reward unavailable during the other four. Parishioners came out after Mass to find scaffolding climbing the south spire, 185 feet above the University of San Francisco.
“I’m delighted,” church member Brian Byrne said as he shielded his eyes from the sun and studied the metal railings and floorboards rising to the sky. The first major renovation of the majestic hilltop church in more than 30 years was finally underway and visible in the framework around the spire points far and wide. “I’m glad we’re putting in the investment to make it last another hundred years.”
The project will take until 2024 as both spires and the bell tower are eventually covered in scaffolding so the surface can be repaired and repainted. Then the incandescent lighting, much of it burned out, will be replaced by a subtle and environmentally friendly LED design, with the lights capable of changing colors, like Coit Tower and City Hall."
Illegal dumping has plagued Watts for decades. Residents are fed up
LA Times, ANDREW DUBBINS, MELISA CABELLO CUAHUTLE: "William Taylor has resorted to photographing the trash.
Recently, it was a huge heap that blocked a Watts sidewalk and included palm branches, a shopping cart, a car tire and bulging garbage bags. He sends his photos to the city of Los Angeles’ sanitation department or calls the 311 hotline to get the illegally dumped items picked up, but says it can take multiple calls and two weeks to get a crew out.
Frustrated, the 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran and Watts native said he sometimes loads the dumped items into his own trash can and hauls it to his curb."
Pamela Price wants to reshape Alameda County’s justice system. So far, it’s been messy.
BANG*Mercury News, JAKOB RODGERS: "New Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price arrived at a courtroom last month with a novel idea: Lop nearly a century off the prison sentence of a man who had been convicted of murder as a juvenile.
The request had little precedent in Alameda County: Should a man sentenced to 114 years for his role in the killing a 15-year-old girl be allowed to walk free after just a decade behind bars?
But before a judge could even take the bench, Price found herself in a pitched confrontation with an unexpected courtroom guest — a prosecutor whom she had placed on administrative leave, but who decided to appear anyway, an apparent act of defiance against Price’s new sentencing recommendation. In a remarkable scene, Price ordered the man to leave the gallery — a demand he flatly refused."
Oakland officers probe sideshows — S.F. police release photos of impounded cars
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "As Oakland officers investigated reports of several illegal sideshows overnight Friday, San Francisco police released photos of three seized vehicles they said were involved in an earlier stunt-driving event.
Oakland officers said they witnessed dozens of vehicles in an illegal sideshow on the 1000 block of Oak Street shortly after 10 p.m. Police said they contained several vehicles in the area as the crowd began to disperse and are investigating the incident.
KTVU reporter Henry Lee posted a video on Twitter showing a Subaru repeatedly ramming another car that was on fire, spreading the flames onto the road. A man also lit fireworks, and the crowd threw bottles at police, Lee said."
Investigators examine ideology of Texas mall shooting suspect, source says
AP, JAKE BLEIBERG, REBECCA BOONE: "Federal officials are looking into whether the gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall expressed an interest in white supremacist ideology as they work to try to discern a motive for the attack, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. The official cautioned the investigation is in its early stages.
Federal agents have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Mauricio Garcia, 33, used and posts that expressed interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, said the official, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Garcia also had a patch on his chest when he was killed by police that read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad,” which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups, the official said."