Six weeks for a call back? How California is trying to improve unemployment wait times
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Can’t get the help you need with unemployment benefits on the phones? An Employment Development Department will call you back — in four to six weeks.
“Right now it’s four to six weeks wait time on the call list,” EDD Director Sharon Hilliard told an Assembly budget subcommittee recently.
Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Orange County, asked if she thought that was acceptable."
READ MORE related to Economy: California lawmakers ask Newsom to act immediately on unemployment claims -- LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY; Lawmakers tell EDD to stop treating jobless claimants as guilty until proven innocent -- The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER; Another $200/week for California's jobless? $500? Maybe, say Reeps -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN
California sues Uber and Lyft for driver back wages and bennies -- for the second time
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "The California state labor commissioner added on Wednesday two new lawsuits to the growing stack of state filings against Uber and Lyft, alleging that their drivers have long been mislabeled as independent contractors and denied fair wages and benefits by the ride-hailing companies.
The separate lawsuits, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, allege both companies made a “calculated business decision” to “misclassify” drivers as independent workers, not employees, and therefore needed to pay out owed benefits and compensation.
It follows a separate lawsuit Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed in May seeking to force Uber and Lyft to pay millions in back wages under a new labor law that requires companies to provide employment benefits to more workers rather than labeling them as independent contractors."
California COVID-19 data glitch interferes with contact tracing, school reopening waivers
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/TONY BIZJAK: "A major COVID-19 data glitch in California means counties don’t know how many residents have tested positive in recent days, suddenly making it hard to gauge their success in battling the coronavirus.
The computer problem, which is blocking case data from getting to the state and to counties, is inhibiting local officials from tracking infection spread and could stall Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to let some elementary schools reopen.
While the problem persists, the state has stopped adding and removing counties from its monitoring list, which determines which businesses can be open, California Department of Public Health spokeswoman Ali Bay said."
READ MORE related to Coronavirus: Serious breakdown in California systems cause inaccurate coronavirus numbers -- LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY ; California correctional officer dies after contracting coronavirus -- Sac Bee's ANDREW KUHN; Got COVID-19? Alameda County residents could possibly get paid to stay home -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE; California cases flattening, says Bay Area expert -- but data glitch raises doubts -- The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI; LA battles mansion parties that could spread COVID-19 -- LA Times's RICHARD WINTON/LUKE MONEY/JAKE SHERIDAN; Party houses defying COVID-19 orders may have utilities shut off, mayor says -- LA Times's LEILA MILLER/RICHARD WINTON/LUKE MONEY
Bass faces flurry of attacks as Biden's VP selection enters uncertain final stretch
Sac Bee's DAVID CATANESE: "Last week, allies of Karen Bass saw her vice-presidential prospects on the ascent, believing she had supplanted fellow Californian Kamala Harris as one of the finalists to be Joe Biden’s running mate.
“Kamala is done,” said a Democratic congressman who has privately made the case for Bass to Biden aides.
But then unfavorable aspects of Bass’ past quickly surfaced."
READ MORE related to Campaign Trail: For Newsom & California, there's a lot more riding on Biden's decision than who becomes VP -- LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON
Bay Area health care workers demand more staffing, gear in national coronavirus rally
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH: "Robin Watkins had spent a 12-hour overnight shift caring for coronavirus patients at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center on Wednesday, but the nurse didn’t go straight home after work.
Instead, he rallied in the morning mist to demand more staffing and protective gear.
At least 40 nurses decked in red California Nurses Association shirts and masks marched in front of the hospital, hoisting signs that said “Save Lives” and chanting, “Mighty, mighty nurses, fighting for our patients.” The same cries echoed at two dozen Bay Area hospitals, part of a national movement of unionized workers protesting at 200 U.S. locations Wednesday."
Women break silence, tell stories of rape, groping by Ron Jeremey over two decades
LA Times's JAMES QUEALLY: "Lianne Young still remembers in vivid detail the night Ron Jeremy sneaked up behind her on the Sunset Strip.
The adult film actress, who went by the name “Billie Britt,” was wearing a bikini inside the former House of Blues at a porn industry Halloween party when she said Jeremy shoved her onto a table and forced himself inside her.
The ordeal lasted only seconds — Young says she fought Jeremy off — but there were at least three other people from the industry in the room, she said. None of them reacted. It was the same when she told her story to colleagues years later."
Parents in distress over school opening online
LA Times's ANDREW J CAMPA/HOWARD BLUME: "As a more detailed picture of the new online-only school day in Los Angeles emerges, a crescendo of concerns and questions is arising among parents, whose children will be expected to fire up computers in less than two weeks for the opening of the 2020-21 school year amid a global pandemic.
The broad outline of a tentative agreement between the teachers union and school district is clear: Students and parents will follow a predictable schedule that somewhat mirrors a traditional school day. And there will be more live, face-to-face time, via computer, with teachers and counselors.
But what parents are not seeing — and what many say they desperately need — is assistance with child care, a full school day, supervised activities after school and real-time academic supervision. All would be needed for them to return fully to work and for their children to catch up and keep pace in their studies."
A's sue California agency over alleged pollution at ballpark opponent Schnitzer Steel
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "The Oakland A’s sued California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control on Wednesday over alleged pollution at Schnitzer Steel’s metal shredding facility in West Oakland.
The Schnitzer recycling center at 1101 Embarcadero West is next to Howard Terminal, where the A’s have proposed a new ballpark, along with housing and offices, that Schnitzer Steel and other shipping and trucking groups oppose.
The A’s allege that the state has failed to regulate the shredding facility’s pollution, which includes 200,000 tons of metal residue per year that contaminates the soil, water and air, according to the complaint. The lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court names Schnitzer Steel as a real party in interest. The A’s are seeking the company’s compliance with the Hazardous Waste Control Law and the cost of legal fees."
Bay Area cities reluctantly approve housing in face of state laws
The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "One after another, Castro Valley residents called in to a public Zoom meeting Monday night to oppose an affordable housing development on a grassy lot that had long been targeted for residential building.
Neighbors told the Alameda County Planning Commission that the 6-acre site where developers want to build 72 homes should remain open space. They said the the project would cause traffic jams and lead to an increase in crime. They argued it was out of character with the neighborhood.
A few years ago, this type of development might have been shot down. But despite the opposition, the commission unanimously approved the project. The reason? Under a slew of state laws passed in recent years, cities and counties no longer have the power to reject housing that meets local rules and includes affordable homes."
READ MORE related to Housing: California legislative leaders ask courts to keep coronavirus eviction ban in place -- LA Times's MELODY GUTIERREZ
Record number of homeless died in Sac County last year, new report shows
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "A record number of homeless people died in Sacramento County last year, with Black people taking up a disproportionate share of the deaths, according to an annual report from homeless activists.
The report released today from the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness showed 138 homeless people died in 2019 — six more deaths than in 2018. On average, a homeless person died about every two and a half days last year in Sacramento County.
The report also shows that methamphetamine overdoses were the leading cause of death among the homeless, and that the number of homeless women who died continues to rise in the county."
California housing shortage: More duplexes, apartments in lawmakers' plan
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "The state Senate leader endorsed five bills Wednesday to address California’s housing shortage by boosting construction of duplexes, small apartments and affordable units, even as an economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic has dried up public funding for new projects.
The legislative package was developed by a working group of Senate Democrats, formed in the wake of the high-profile failure of SB50, San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener’s contentious proposal to allow denser residential construction around public transit and in wealthy suburbs.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, backed Wiener’s measure. After it failed on the Senate floor in January, Atkins committed to passing legislation this year that would ramp up housing production in California, which experts estimate has millions of homes fewer than needed."
Sea level rise to choke Bay Area traffic as far away as Santa Rosa, Napa, study shows
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "As global warming dials up sea levels and storm surges, the Bay Area will see not only more flooded streets and shorelines, but more traffic, a new study shows, with commuters converging on drier routes and backups rippling sometimes 20 miles or more from the water.
The research, released Wednesday by Stanford University scientists, suggests that some of the region’s biggest traffic delays from flooding will be in Santa Rosa, Napa and Vacaville, all far from where the flooding occurs.
In these areas, with water just a foot higher along San Francisco Bay, as many as half of commuters would face backups of 30 minutes or more within the next 20 years, the study shows. The higher water could result from any combination of long-term sea level rise and periodically strong surf."
Family of Stephon Clark responds after California prosecutors tell NFL to take down PSA
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON/MOLLY SULLIVAN: "A week after the National Football League released a public service announcement about the killing of Stephon Clark as part of an anti-racism campaign, California prosecutors are asking the league to pull the video because they say it “misrepresents the facts” about Clark’s March 2018 shooting death at the hands of Sacramento police.
The 94-second video is narrated by Se’Quette Clark, Stephon’s mother, lauding her son and describing some of the changes in law enforcement policy in Sacramento and California since Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old Black man, was killed by two officers who later said they thought he was holding a handgun.
“What the world lost was a living example of someone doing the right thing in their day-to-day life,” Se’Quette Clark says on the video."
SCOTUS blocks mandate requiring better coronavirus protections for OC inmates
LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday freed Orange County jails from a federal judge’s order that required social distancing among inmates, regular testing and distribution of cleaning supplies and hand sanitizers.
Acting by a 5-4 vote, the justices granted an emergency appeal from the county’s lawyers and put on hold an order issued in late May by U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal.
As usual, the justices in the majority did not explain their decision. The four liberal justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said inmates had filed statements with the judge contradicting the claims of county jailers that CDC guidelines were being closely followed."
READ MORE related to Police, Prisons & Public Safety: Vallejo police chief supported firing officer over death of Black man shot 55 times -- AP
In a snub to Trump, Obama's Medicaid expansion keeps gaining ground
AP: "President Trump is still trying to overturn Obamacare, but his predecessor’s landmark healthcare law keeps gaining ground in places where it was once unwelcome.
Missouri voters this week approved Medicaid expansion by 53% to 47%, making the conservative state the seventh to do so under Trump and 38th overall. Trump easily carried Missouri in the 2016 presidential election, but the Medicaid vote comes as more people have been losing workplace health insurance in a treacherous coronavirus-hit economy.
That leaves only a dozen states opposed to using the federal-state health program for low-income people as a vehicle for covering more adults, mainly those in jobs that don’t provide healthcare. Medicaid expansion is a central feature of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, covering about 12 million people, while nearly 10 million others get subsidized private insurance."
What caused the Beirut blast seems clear; who, and why, is another question
LA Times's ABBY SEWELL: "Before the mass explosion that rocked Lebanon on Tuesday, many thought the country had already hit rock bottom.
Beirut had begun to resemble the scene of a dystopian film. Thanks to a deepening economic and currency crisis that has led to shortages of essential items including fuel, the streetlights were off.
With government-provided electricity coming sometimes only a couple of hours a day, diesel generators were running nearly nonstop, coating the city in a perpetual haze of smog. The number of beggars on the street — many of them children — had multiplied."
