'We have lost control of this fight.' California Democrat wants state back under stay-at-home order
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "As the coronavirus surges through California, which now has the highest number of cases in the country, state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said on Thursday it’s time for most counties in the Golden State to return to a strict stay-at-home order.
“It’s clear that we have lost control of the coronavirus fight,” Glazer said during a Zoom press conference. “And you don’t have to look very far to see it in the numbers.”
Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mask mandate ordered on June 18, and the decision on July 13 to close bars and indoor dining, California reported a record-high 12,807 cases on Wednesday. The state now has more than 413,000 total cases, surpassing the caseload in New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, and those in countries like Iran and Italy, which were also rocked by the virus in the spring."
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California Assembly to allow proxy voting for legislators at risk of coronavirus
The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "When California legislators return from their recess Monday, several will begin casting votes by proxy because they are at elevated risk of health problems if infected with the coronavirus.
The decision by legislative leaders, a sharp departure from precedent in Sacramento, comes as two lawmakers and multiple staffers have been infected with the coronavirus despite efforts in the Capitol to maintain safe physical distancing and repeated cleanings of the building.
Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood (Los Angeles County), said Thursday that the Assembly will pursue a rule change that would allow “very limited” proxy voting."
Workers face layoffs at Cal Expo after pandemic prompts State Fair cancellation
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER/WES VENTEICHER: "Cal Expo plans to lay off at least half its staff after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the California State Fair and intensified what was already a difficult financial situation.
Tom Martinez, the agency’s chief deputy general manager, said Thursday that Cal Expo expects to lay off more than half of its full-time staff. The agency employs about 75 workers. He said he couldn’t provide exact numbers on the layoffs.
“Due to the ongoing and devastating financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must reduce the size of Cal Expo’s workforce,” the agency’s Chief Executive Rick Pickering said in a memo late last week to employees. “The event industry, including Cal Expo, has been decimated. Unfortunately, we do not know when events will return.” The memo said employees will get paid salary and medical benefits through Nov. 12."
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Board recommends parole for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten
AP: "A California panel Thursday recommended that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be paroled after serving nearly five decades in prison.
After a hearing at the women’s prison in Chino, commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings found for the fourth time that Van Houten was suitable for release, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
After a 120-day review process, her case will again rest with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who could deny parole, although that move could be challenged in court."
UCD researcher accused of hiding ties to Chinese military is hiding in consulate, U.S. says
LA Times's MATTHEW ORMSETH: "A UC Davis cancer researcher, suspected of being a clandestine member of the Chinese military, has taken refuge in the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, according to U.S. prosecutors.
The researcher, Juan Tang, is charged with visa fraud, accused of concealing her membership in China’s military and Communist Party in seeking permission to work in a radiation oncology lab at UC Davis. She fled to the consulate after being interviewed by FBI agents in late June, prosecutors said.
Tang is “a fugitive from justice currently being harbored at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco,” a Justice Department spokeswoman said Thursday."
With big lead in polls, Biden shifts search for a running mate
LA Times's JANET HOOK: "Joe Biden is approaching the most important decision of his presidential campaign — choosing the woman who will be his running mate — on political terrain that has changed dramatically since he began the search, and amid intense lobbying that has showered uncommon attention on the contenders.
With the former vice president enjoying a strong polling lead over President Trump, some supporters say Biden is under less pressure to make a game-changing pick to galvanize voters than when he was first struggling to unify the party and Trump seemed stronger.
“We don’t have to shake up the race,” said Wade Randlett, a Biden fundraiser in the Bay Area. “We don’t want to shake up the race — just add an asset. This can be a historic pick and still a do-no-harm pick."
Why Tim McClintock opposes a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Rep. Tom McClintock opposed this week removing Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol — and he explained that his vote is hardly an endorsement of the Confederacy.
Instead, the California Republican explained, it is about a need to practice humility, respect state prerogatives and not see everything as an either-or issue.
Clearly, McClintock said in a House floor speech, “The Confederacy was fundamentally an attack on our Constitution and the founding principles of our nation, and it should never be romanticized or honored. I have no problems with lawfully removing monuments that specifically honor this rebellion.”
Elk Grove mayor faces censure vote over allegations he pressured former campaign manager
Sac Bee's MICHAEL FINCH II: "Elk Grove Mayor Steve Ly could be formally reprimanded by colleagues on the City Council over an allegation that he used surrogates to pressure his former campaign manager into removing a critical post from Facebook last month.
The episode unleashed a wave of other complaints from past political opponents, colleagues and allies who also alleged past mistreatment by Ly that extended beyond his time as the leader of the city.
Local lawmakers addressed the claims for the first time during a regular meeting Wednesday night and will consider censuring Ly at its next meeting. They voted 4-1 to place the item on the agenda as an action item, which allows the censure decision to be put to a vote."
State prison watchdog recommends discipline for supes over use-of-force reports
Sac Bee's MATT KRISTOFFERSEN: "California’s prison inspector general is calling on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to discipline supervisors over faulty use-of-force investigations.
The Office of the Inspector General found that some use-of-force investigations were approved through the command chain even with significant faults.
When oversight officials took a closer look at last year’s approved reports, they found more than 3,000 alleged use-of-force policy violations that reviewers didn’t catch."
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Schools may soon apply for waivers to reopen -- but only with union support
LA Times's NINA AGRAWAL: "School districts, charters and private schools in L.A. County may begin applying within days for waivers that would allow them to reopen elementary schools in person — but public schools will have to show they have union support, county public health officials said Thursday.
The requirement to show union support will likely give some charters and private schools — most of whose teachers are not unionized — an advantage in qualifying for a waiver, potentially exacerbating the divide between well-off students and their more disadvantaged peers, which has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some also said it would needlessly politicize the process."
CCSF raises bar on higher learning by offering Cannabis Studies degree
The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN: "In addition to smoking marijuana, college students can now major in it.
City College of San Francisco announced on Thursday it is planning to offer a degree in cannabis studies, which it says is the first of its kind in the United States.
“The degree is as an introduction to the complex biopsychosocial relationship of humans to cannabis in multiple cultural, institutional and interpersonal contexts,” CCSF officials said in announcing the cannabis studies associate of arts degree, suggesting that marijuana studies can be as much of a grind as any other college major."
Ferry Building, closed under pandemic health orders, to reopen
The Chronicle's SHWANIKA NARAYAN/LAUREN HERNANDEZ: "San Francisco’s Ferry Building reopened the stores and restaurants in its market hall Thursday after the city asked the state to clarify whether the building was a transportation terminal or indoor mall.
The Ferry Building had informed the public on Wednesday that because the building was considered a mall, more than two dozenshops including Dandelion Chocolate, Far West Fungi, Heath Ceramics and Urban Remedy, had to limit themselves to curbside pickup operations. Restaurants and stores with exterior entrances were allowed to continue operating.
But according to John Coté, a spokesman for the San Francisco’s city attorney’s office, the city sought clarification on Monday from the state on how it classifies the Ferry Building."
Trump repeals rule meant to integrate neighborhoods, further stoking racial divisions in campaign
LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN: "With President Trump facing sagging support in the suburbs, his administration on Thursday targeted an Obama-era affordable housing regulation, the latest in a series of appeals to white voters’ fears of crime and declining property values.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would scrap a regulation known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which was implemented by President Obama in an attempt to promote more integrated communities. Under the rule, cities receiving some federal housing aid had to develop plans to address patterns of segregation or risk losing money.
The new regulation from the Trump administration would allow local governments much broader latitude in deciding if their policies were racially discriminatory."
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China orders US to close consulate in Chengdu in retaliatory move
LA Times's ALICE SU: "China ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu on Friday in retaliation for the U.S. shutdown of China’s consulate in Houston.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying the U.S. had “seriously breached international law” and that the Chinese move was a “legitimate and necessary response” that conformed to international law and norms.“
“The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see, and the U.S. is responsible for all this,” the statement said. “We once again urge the U.S. to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track."
