Leland Yee, convicted in 2015 corruption scandal, released from federal prison
The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN: "Former California senator Leland Yee was released from federal prison on Friday after serving a five-year sentence for a corruption scandal, officials said.
Yee, 71, was released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring, in Texas, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Yee, a Democrat who represented San Francisco, pleaded guilty in 2015 to racketeering charges. He admitted to taking bribes and trafficking guns from the Philippines."
Citing 'existential threat,' House climate action plan has a big focus on California
LA Times's HAYLEY SMITH: "California and other U.S. states face “an existential threat” from climate change that requires a robust government response, a House select committee stated in a 538-page action plan Tuesday.
The ambitious plan, authored by Congress’ first-ever committee dedicated exclusively to climate change, could be a framework for addressing the planet’s warming, depending on the outcomes of the November election.
“Individuals and the private sector cannot achieve unprecedented pollution reductions on their own,” the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis said in its report. “Only through a coordinated national response can the United States deliver the urgent and systemic changes needed to avert the worst consequences of climate change."
The 3 big reasons for Bay Area's coronavirus surge, according to health experts
The Chronicle's STAFF: "California reported more than 8,000 new coronavirus cases on Monday, a single-day record that was 25% more than the previous high set last week. In the Bay Area, several counties are pausing reopening plans amid local spikes in cases and troubling jumps in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19.
In San Francisco, the rate of cases is at 5.9 per 100,000 residents, nearing the marker of concern, according to health officer Dr. Tomás Aragón. Hospitalizations increased 49% during a short period of time. “Because this has increased so rapidly over this short period of time, we’re actually in the red here,” Aragon said.
What’s behind the surge in statewide cases and hospitalizations, and are the same forces at work in the Bay Area? Health reporter Erin Allday discussed the recent trends in an episode of The Chronicle’s Fifth and Mission podcast, and while she emphasized that it’s hard to say just how much we know right now, health officials are citing three main reasons."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: California will 'tighten things up' on coronavirus heading into Fourth, Newsom says -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF; Newsom warns of more coronavirus restrictions, enforcement ahead of July 4th holiday weekend -- LA Times's TARYN LUNA/BENJAMIN ORESKES; A third day of coronavirus surges in LA County brings alarm -- LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY/LUKE MONEY; Sacramento at a coronavirus breaking point. Health officials issue stern July 4th warning -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
State nursing board executives falsified data in report to state auditor, report finds
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Executives at the state Board of Registered Nursing falsified data in reports to the California State Auditor to make it look like the board was properly managing nursing investigations when it wasn’t, the auditor announced Tuesday.
The board is responsible for investigating misconduct by nurses and can take disciplinary action including suspending nurses’ licenses. The auditor found in 2016 that the board was assigning too many cases to each of its investigators and that investigations were often taking more than three years, even in cases including allegations of patient harm.
The auditor determined the board should keep caseloads to 20 investigations per investigator."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Senatorial speculation
CW STAFF: "Senator Kamala Harris looms large on Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s list of potential VP picks – he has said that he will pick a woman as running mate, and Harris is leading the ‘pundit polls’ as the most likely choice. If Harris is selected, and the Biden/Harris ticket goes on to win the November election, she will vacate her Senate seat in January 2021, leaving Governor Gavin Newsom tasked with appointing her successor.
Therein lies the theme of today’s podcast: WHO would Gavin Newsom pick for California’s open Senate seat if Kamala Harris does become Vice President?
Capitol Weekly’s Tim Foster and John Howard spoke with half a dozen political players from across the state, including Garry South, former state senator Fran Pavley, Roger Salazar, Adama Iwu, Karen Skelton and Joel Fox, to get their thoughts on who the Governor is likely to appoint, and who they think he SHOULD appoint. Wild speculation was strongly encouraged, and our interviewees did not disappoint, proposing a fascinating and diverse array of potential candidates and laying out the political machinations behind their reasoning."
NY, NJ, CT restrict travel from California due to coronavirus cases
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Californians looking to visit New York, New Jersey or Connecticut will be expected to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.
The restriction applies to any state with a COVID-19 positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a rolling seven-day average, as well as any state with a 10 percent or higher positive test rate over a seven-day period, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.
California is among 16 states now under such travel restriction, along with Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah."
Appellate court sides with SF on Prop. C -- affirming simple-majority for citizen ballot measures
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "A California appellate court on Tuesday confirmed that San Francisco officials did not break the law when they allowed a 2018 ballot measure that raised business taxes to fund homelessness services to pass with a simple-majority vote.
The ruling, from the First District Court of Appeal, marks a major victory for the proponents of 2018’s Proposition C and for the attorneys and other city officials who have invested considerable time and resources defending San Francisco’s trailblazing stance on citizen-driven tax measures — one that could have effects statewide.
Tuesday’s ruling inches San Francisco closer to being able to utilize hundreds of millions of dollars for homelessness services and permanent supportive housing, urgent issues compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nearly $2 billion hole it’s blown in the city’s budget."
Bay Area vs. Los Angeles: Unemployment hitting hardest in SoCal
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "The lowest unemployment rates in California are in five Bay Area congressional districts, while eight of the 10 hardest-hit districts are in Los Angeles County, evidence that the coronavirus is treating regions of the state very differently.
Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo’s Palo Alto-area district had a 9.3% unemployment rate in May, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Center for Jobs and the Economy. Hers is the only one of California’s 53 congressional districts that showed a single-digit jobless mark.
Every one of the Bay Area’s 10 congressional districts was under the state’s 16.3% average.
READ MORE related to Economy: What has the coronavirus crisis done to Sacramento-area home values? You may be surprised -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
Doctors, nurses angry as coronavirus strains California hospitals
LA Times's STAFF: "For a brief moment, California returned to bars, beaches and Botox. But after a few days, much of the state is reversing course as hospitals see an alarming spike in people sick with COVID-19, raising the specter of an overwhelmed medical system.
“It’s scary,” said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco. “We still haven’t recovered from the first phase, and now we have to get ready for the next one.”
While Chin-Hong and other medical experts said California currently has the capacity it needs to treat patients, the future is uncertain. Coronavirus cases jumped to more than 220,000 Monday, creeping steadily upward in some places, skyrocketing in others and prompting health officials in multiple counties to demand the closure of bars, hair salons and other businesses opened only days ago."
Community colleges struggle with students' food needs as pandemic increases demand
EdSource's BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "With reduced work hours and a baby on the way, Maraya Bermudez stocks up on groceries for the week at the food pantry on her community college campus.
She frequented the Fullerton College food pantry sparingly during the school year, but she now goes every week to pick up bags that often include rice, beans, vegetables, fruits, milk and snacks. A former foster youth, she has also been eligible for debit cards from her college that she can use for groceries and gas. Bermudez, 20, was laid off in March when the pandemic shut down the restaurant where she was working as a waitress. Her only income comes from her clerical job for the campus foster youth office and what her boyfriend earns from a delivery company.
Even before the Covid-19 crisis, California community college students were identified as needing help with getting food. An estimated 40% of community college students experience very low or unstable access to food, according to a 2018 report by the California Speaker’s Office of Research and Floor Analysis. Food insecurity can range from a significant reduction in access to food to less-nutritious food."
READ MORE related to Education: FBI investigating cyberattack that led UCSF to pay $1.14M in ransom -- The Chronicle's ALEJANDRO SERRANO; LA school board cuts school police budget by $25M after student protests -- LA Times's HOWARD BLUME/SONALI KOHLI
LA calls restraining order on LAPD use of batons and projectiles 'unwarranted'
LA Times's KEVIN RECTOR/RICHARD WINTON: "Attorneys for Los Angeles on Tuesday argued against a temporary restraining order to block city police officers from using batons and tactical bullets to control crowds, saying the request was “unwarranted and overbroad” and that police “must be able to respond” to unlawful crowds.
The Los Angeles Police Department used such weapons on protesters at the end of May and in early June, injuring many, and are now being sued for it in federal court by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Los Angeles Community Action Network. The groups requested the restraining order last week, arguing that a court injunction against the use of such weapons was necessary for their clients and other protesters to feel safe exercising their 1st Amendment rights in the city while their lawsuit is pending.
Asst. City Atty. Gabriel Dermer, in response, said that was not the case, arguing that the LAPD has “facilitated numerous peaceful protests” without using such weapons since the incidents in question occurred and represents “no ongoing or actual threats of any kind” to protesters."
READ MORE related to Police, Public Safety & The Post-Floyd Defund Movement: Times sues LA County sheriff over withholding records on deputy misconduct -- LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN
Feds snap up nearly all Gilead's key coronavirus drug -- when will California get its share?
Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "The California Department of Public Health said Tuesday that it is working to get more clarity on changes in how the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services wants it to distribute supplies of an antiviral drug that is crucial in the fight against COVID-19.
On Monday, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced that the Trump Administration had secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of the anti-viral drug remdesivir from Gilead Sciences and would resell those to U.S. hospitals through September.
Hospitals would pay $3,200 per treatment course, the amount Gilead charges on a wholesale basis, HHS stated in its news release on the matter, and they would pass that cost along to Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. On average, patients receive 6.25 vials in one treatment course of remdesivir, HHS officials noted."
