California first to provide financial aid to undocumented immigrants for coronavirus
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a new program aimed at providing aid to a group that he said makes up 10 percent of the state’s workforce: Undocumented immigrants.
Newsom said that the disaster assistance program would be jointly funded by the state, to the tune of $75 million, and philanthropic partners, who will donate $50 million.
The program will provide individual assistance of $500 and household assistance up to $1,000."
READ MORE related to Economy: 22 million unemployed in 4 weeks -- The Chronicle's ALEJANDRO SERRANO/ANNA BAUMAN/MATT KAWAHARA; Answering your questions on fed stimulus payments -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN; What a store opening looks like during the pandemic -- Sac Bee's DANIEL KIM; Coronavirus may cause a $90M hit to Sacramento's budget. How City Hall is responding -- Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT; More than 1,300 state workers switching jobs to process unemployment claims -- Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER
In California and across the country, coronavirus is making for explosive politics
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "Campaigns across the country, from the presidential race on down, are using the coronavirus to batter their opponents for what they have or haven’t done to fight the pandemic.
With most Americans virtually confined to their homes and the virus death toll rising daily, politicians are betting that worried voters will reward those who are taking their concerns seriously and, equally important, punish those who they don’t believe are doing enough.
It’s a narrow line to walk, said Darry Sragow, a former Democratic campaign strategist who now publishes the nonpartisan California Target Book, which analyzes state political contests."
CA120: California well prepared for vote-by-mail in November
PAUL MITCHELL, Capitol Weekly: "When Californians went to the polls in March, the big news was the consolidation of the Democratic primary contest. Few would have expected that we were also effectively seeing the end of the primary election season — with subsequent elections throughout the spring either cancelled or run under the cloud of a viral pandemic.
Just last week we saw Wisconsin attempt to conduct an election in the COVID-19 era with horrendous results. Tens of thousands were disenfranchised by problems receiving or returning by-mail ballots. Millions more had to decide if they were willing to risk their health to exercise their voting rights, a decision no American should ever be asked to make.
Other states have postponed their elections, but even moving contests to later in April, May or June may be subject to stay-at-home orders or ongoing risks associated with large gatherings, such as standing around at a polling place."
Coronavirus kills California blacks and pacific islanders at excessive rate, numbers show
Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "Black Californians make up 6 percent of the state’s population, but represent 12 percent of those who have died from the coronavirus, according to data released Wednesday by the California Department of Public Health.
The agency has statistics on race and ethnicity for 87 percent of deaths and 65 percent of cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. California has 24,424 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness and 821 deaths as of Tuesday, according to CDPH.
The statistics paint a bleak picture for African Americans since it appears that their illnesses are being diagnosed at a rate matching their representation in the population, but are dying at disproportionate rates."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Charts show what the coronavirus 'curve' looks like for Bay Area counties now -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG/MICHAEL MASSA; How alarming predictions about coronavirus losses in California gave way to guarded optimism -- LA Times's JOE MOZINGO/JAMES RAINEY/NATHAN FENNO; LA County now requires residents to wear face coverings. Here are the details -- LA Times's RONG-GONG LIN II
Coronavirus spreads among workers at California state agencies, striking 'panic' in employees
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Two weeks after the California Department of Motor Vehicles closed its field offices to the public in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency’s director sent a memo to employees that confirmed what many of them had suspected.
“There have been DMV team member cases of COVID-19 in multiple offices in the state, including the Sacramento Headquarters building,” DMV Director Steve Gordon wrote in a message to employees April 9, adding that offices were being cleaned and proper authorities notified “as we maximize telework to the extent possible.”
The response to Gordon’s message was “panic,” said one DMV worker, who asked not to be identified because of a lack of approval to speak publicly. Because the DMV has not said where all infected employees were assigned, employees throughout the agency are concerned about which offices may have been exposed, the worker said."
Trump inaccurately says Pelosi called for parties in SF's Chinatown as coronavirus loomed
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "President Trump took off Wednesday on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, inaccurately saying she invited people to “parties” in San Francisco’s Chinatown in late February after he had taken his first significant steps to try to limit the U.S. spread of the coronavirus.
Trump said at his daily White House news briefing that after he barred travelers from China on Feb. 2 and set up screening rules for U.S. citizens returning from the country, “Nancy Pelosi was trying to have in San Francisco parties in Chinatown because she thought it would be great.”
Trump was misleadingly describing a tour of Chinatown that Pelosi made Feb. 24 with local merchants, having lunch and visiting shops and businesses as customers vanished from the area."
California moves forward with fishing ban in some rural areas to stem virus spread
Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration was granted authority Wednesday to temporarily close the state’s fishing season in some rural counties following a disastrous telemeeting last week that erupted into chaos and slurs.
The California Fish and Game Commission’s unanimous vote over another teleconference will allow Charlton Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, to postpone the spring trout season, which opens April 25, in a few eastern Sierra counties at the request of local officials.
Elected leaders in Mono, Inyo, Sierra and Alpine counties have been urging Newsom’s administration to close the fishing season in their lakes and rivers. They fear that the thousands of out-of-town anglers who normally travel to their regions to fish for mountain trout will bring the coronavirus with them."
Abortion during coronavirus: State bans, closed clinics, self-induced miscarriages
LA TImes's MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE: "Right after she was laid off from her medical job because of thecoronavirus outbreak, a single mother of two in north Texas found out she was pregnant.
The next day, when she called to make an appointment at a local abortion clinic, staff told her it had closed — and no other clinic in the state could provide her an abortion, either.
“They told me the governor had put a halt on it,” said the woman, who asked to be identified by her first name, Kris, after driving 350 miles north to a clinic in Wichita, Kan., this week, crying and trembling with anxiety."
College Board considers switching to digital SAT testing if schools remain closed in fall
The Chronicle's MATT KAWAHARA: "A digital version of the SAT could be used this fall if schools remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The College Board said Wednesday it is developing a remote version of the admissions test that students could take at home “in the unlikely event” that schools don’t reopen in the fall.
The announcement came as the College Board canceled SAT sessions in June. The ACT, another major college admissions test, said it too will prepare an at-home version, the AP reported."
Across California, festivals and fairs fall victims to the coronavirus
LA Times's LUKE MONEY: "The San Mateo County Fair has been closed to visitors only once in its 86-year history — and that was during World War II.
This year will be the second time, as the summertime staple has been scrapped amid the widening coronavirus pandemic.
“We will get through this and emerge stronger and better together,” fair Chief Executive Dana Stoehr said in a statement announcing the cancellation. “We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as the crisis is behind us."
Uber, Lyft hit with claims of more than $630M in back wages
LA Times's JOHANA BHUIYAN: "More than 2,000 California ride-hailing drivers have filed wage claims against Uber and Lyft since February, alleging the companies have illegally treated them as independent contractors and owe them more than $630 million in lost wages, expenses and damages.
By calling attention to the influx of claims, the drivers, organized by Los Angeles labor group Rideshare Drivers United, hope to pressure the state to enforce Assembly Bill 5, a law that established stricter standards for companies that treat workers as contractors rather than employees.
The drivers, along with members of the Transport Workers Union, plan to caravan outside the offices of the California labor commissioner as well as the Employment Development Department in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Thursday to demand that the state enforce AB 5 so they can qualify for unemployment insurance benefits and receive the wages they say they were wrongfully denied through misclassification."
