Monday is the last day to register to vote online in California. Here's how to do it
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "Monday, Oct. 19 is the California deadline for registering to vote in the upcoming general election on Nov. 3.
To be eligible to vote in California, you must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of California, 18 years or older on Election Day, not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and not currently found to be mentally incompetent to vote by a court.
You can register online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov or pick up a paper voter registration application at any DMV, many post offices, public libraries, government offices. You can also request one from your county elections office."
California police got hundreds of calls about abuse in private ICE detention centers. Cases were rarely prosecuted
LA Times's ANDREA CASTILLO/PALOMA ESQUIVEL: "J. Lee stirred awake in early June at an immigration detention facility to find one of his cellmates sliding a hand down his pants.
Lee, 38, had overstayed a tourist visa from South Korea and was now locked in a cell 22 hours each day with two strangers — one of whom had been convicted of soliciting the murder of a family of 10 in Belize. The third cellmate had told Lee that the Belizean man was violating Lee as he slept.
This time Lee felt it."
Fire weather watch issued for North Bay mountains starting late Monday
The Chronicle's VANESSA ARREDONDO: "Dry conditions and gusty offshore winds are expected to create more fire danger in the Bay Area this week.
The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for the North Bay mountains that begins at 11 p.m. Monday and continues until 8 a.m. Wednesday — and it could extend the watch, if offshore winds rise later in the week.
The highest threat is to the mountains of Napa County and northeastern Sonoma County, according to the weather service."
California officials see boon in Biden's climate plan
LA Times's EVAN HALPER/ANNA M PHILLIPS: "Even as California aspires to a more sustainable, climate-friendly economy, the environmental degradation Bahram Fazeli witnesses daily is an unwelcome reminder of how much the state is held back by a federal government pushing in the other direction.
The oil wells, refineries, metal-finishing businesses and hazardous waste facilities in Wilmington and Huntington Park, where the environmental activist works, leave residents of those primarily Latino communities acutely exposed to health risks. Fazeli has lost patience with the pace of change.
“There needs to be a transformative vision that essentially commits to significant investment in phasing out fossil fuels and creating good-paying jobs — what we call a just transition,” said Fazeli, who works for a group called Communities for a Better Environment."
Study says remdesivir not effective against COVID-19; Bay Area scientists disagree
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "Bay Area scientists and physicians were troubled Friday by a World Health Organization study that claims the antiviral drug remdesivir does not appear to help hospitalized coronavirus patients.
The study, a compilation of numerous drug trials involving 11,000 coronavirus patients in 30 countries, said the drug made by Gilead Sciences of Foster City has “little or no effect on mortality” and may not speed up recovery. Measurements of mortality, ventilator support and the duration of hospitalization found no reduction in any of the categories from taking remdesivir.
That’s an alarmingly bleak picture given that the drug is now regularly prescribed by doctors in the United States under an Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
How will California distribute coronavirus vaccines? Bay Area planning for multiple scenarios
The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "California and Bay Area health officials are laying the groundwork for how to distribute coronavirus vaccines, a public health undertaking unprecedented in scale and complexity.
Federal and state agencies have yet to publicly share plans for how they will distribute those vaccines, if and when the Federal Drug Administration authorizes them. But some groups key to shaping vaccine policy are signaling that health care workers may be the first Americans to gain access to vaccinations, with some possibly getting vaccinated early next year.
“There’s not a lot of details yet on which vaccines will be available, when, how they’re going to get to the local health departments,” said Sonoma County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Kismet Baldwin, who described “preplanning” efforts in her county including meeting with state and other local health departments."
Prop. 16 would bring affirmative action back to California. Here's how it works
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "California voters next month will decide whether to bring back affirmative policies in hiring and university admissions through a proposition that would repeal the state’s ban on race and gender preferences.
Proposition 16, placed on the ballot by the Legislature after a wave of protests against police brutality last summer, seeks to provide opportunities for minorities and women.
It would repeal the 1996 ballot initiative that bars the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any person or group based on race, sex, ethnicity or nationality."
California officails subpoena state Republicans for information on ballot drop boxes
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "California officials have issued subpoenas for more information on the state Republican Party’s use of unofficial ballot drop boxes.
In a call with reporters on Friday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Republicans have committed to a number of significant concessions in their ballot collection activities, and the state has asked for more information from the party. The investigation is ongoing, Becerra said, and the state will take legal action if they find credible evidence of wrongdoing.
They declined to specify whether use of ballot-collection boxes is illegal if other criteria are met."
Law enforcement reform roils LA County supervisor race
LA Times's JACLYN COSGROVE: "L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson was early into his bid for a seat on the Board of Supervisors when the endorsements and donations from law enforcement started flowing in. The biggest prize: $500,000 from the union that represents a majority of county sheriff’s deputies.
But that was all before the police killing of George Floyd in late May and a spate of local police shootings that prompted protests and renewed calls for increased police oversight.
The law enforcement endorsements, initially celebrated by Wesson, have now put him on the defensive as his opponent, state Sen. Holly Mitchell, tries to gain ground in a close race that has the two veteran politicians scrambling for a powerful seat long held by Black politicians."
NorCal Rapist suspect's trial begins today
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON: "The attacks began the night of June 22, 1991, in Rohnert Park, where 21-year-old Nicole Earnest was awakened on her couch by a masked man grabbing her and pointing a handgun at her right cheek.
The intruder bound the Sonoma County woman’s hands and feet, placed tape over her eyes and raped her three times that night. Then he apologized, said he would never do such a thing again, and disappeared into the night.
But authorities say her attacker was lying, that over the course of the next 15 years he sexually assaulted eight more women in six Northern California counties, then suddenly stopped, frustrating investigators who had spent decades hunting for a suspect."
In Prop 22's battle between the old economy and the new, taxi drivers look for hope
LA Times's FRANK SHYONG: "The state of California is locked in a $200-million battle with some of the largest companies in the world over a ballot measure that could not only drastically affect Uber and Lyft market share but also change the nature of employment in California.
But Feliz Melkumyan, a taxi driver since 1999, is at peace. The former physicist and Armenian immigrant from Uzbekistan has long enjoyed protection of a higher power.
“If you want to make money, all you need to do is be loved by the taxi gods. And the taxi gods love me,” Melkumyan said, without a trace of irony. “I know that for sure."
Smithsonian honors Kobe Bryant's place in history with display in Washington
LA Times's KEVIN RECTOR: "For the transformative effect he had on the sport of basketball and on American culture more broadly, the late Kobe Bryant will be remembered with a new display at the Smithsonian Institution‘s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.
The display — featuring a Lakers jersey that Bryant wore during the 2008 NBA Finals — was installed in the museum on the National Mall last week and will be revealed to the public for the first time Monday, said Damion Thomas, the museum’s sports curator.
“We wanted to be able to share his impact,” Thomas said. “It really is about the cultural significance of basketball as an expression of the African American fight for greater rights.”"
One oakland neighborhood has seen a surge in positivity rates among Latino and Indigenous populations. Why?
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "A coronavirus testing blitz in Oakland’s Fruitvale district revealed high antibody positivity rates among the neighborhood’s Latino and Indigenous residents, indicating many were likely infected with the coronavirus in the past.
Participants of the study showed an overall antibody positivity rate of 10%. But Latinos had a positivity rate of 12%, compared with 27% among Mayan residents, UCSF said Friday.
UCSF spearheaded the initiative with a coalition of Oakland community organizations. They aimed to track the illness — and its socioeconomic impact — in this predominantly low-income, Latino neighborhood that has struggled with a disproportionately high number of infections since the start of the pandemic."
Top Sacramento County officials held a meeting where few wore masks. Now one has COVID-19
Sac Bee's MARCOS BRETON/TONY BIZJAK: "Sacramento County Executive Navdeep Gill held an hours-long indoor meeting of department heads Thursday where many in attendance did not wear masks – a violation of his county government’s coronavirus health order, The Sacramento Bee has learned.
One person who attended that meeting has since tested positive for COVID-19.
The meeting took place at the headquarters of the County Probation department at 8754 Folsom Blvd. Approximately 40 to 45 people attended for a gathering of county department heads that began at 8:30 a.m. and ended at around 2:30 p.m., said a source who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment on the matter."
Some people in the Bay Area still don't wear masks--they probably won't be fined
The Chronicle's BRYAN MENA: "Take a walk through San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and on any given day a small but notable percentage of joggers and walkers are cruising along John F. Kennedy Drive without masks — despite plenty of signs to encourage covering up.
It’s not exactly the White House, pre-outbreak. And it’s not Shasta County, where the head of a local college has scoffed at masks — and the college has had a major outbreak. But it’s still a cause for concern, since mask-free types often come within 6 feet of others — in violation of a statewide health rule.
What to do about violators is a tricky question. One thing that San Francisco and other Bay Area communities are not doing, however, is issuing fines — partly, perhaps, because it poses risks to law enforcement officers, and partly because it’s unclear how effective penalties are in this situation."
California's conflicted history on slavery is central to reparations push for Black people
The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "To understand the quest for reparations for African Americans in California, supporters say, it’s necessary to take a hard look at the prevalence of slavery in the early days of the “free” state.
California joined the union as a non-slavery state in 1850, but its reputation as a melting pot where racism dissolved in the fields of the Gold Rush was a folklore that masked a grim reality. Hundreds of enslaved people were already living in the state at the time of its admission, forced to work in mines and on plantations.
Many of these first Black residents weren’t set free when the state passed its Constitution, and the state permitted white prospectors from the South to keep slaves if they planned to eventually return to their home states."
Hydrogen fuel could revolutionize airlines. Here's how that could look
LA Times's SAMANTHA MASUNAGA: "Environmentally conscious travelers are in a quandary.
Global airline travel has grown over the decades, and with it, so have the industry’s carbon emissions.
Not everyone has the time to use more eco-friendly travel methods, like Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s famous two-week voyage last year across the Atlantic Ocean on a zero-emissions sailboat."
A look behind the gated affluence of Trump's Palm Beach
LA Times's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "Laurel Baker steered her dark-blue sport utility vehicle through this tony resort town, studded on all sides with tall hedges and metal gates offering stingy glimpses of spectacular mansions.
Private entrances to private beaches read: NO TRESPASSING and KEEP OUT.
Sidewalks are rare in this affluent enclave President Trump calls home, befitting neighborhoods where people eye pedestrians with suspicion."
China's economic recovery gains strength as US continues to suffer
AP: "China’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is gaining strength as consumers return to shopping malls and auto dealerships while the United States and Europe continue to endure painful economic contractions.
Growth in the world’s second-largest economy accelerated to 4.9% in the three months ending in September compared to the same period last year, up from the previous quarter’s 3.2%, official data showed Monday. Retail spending rebounded to above pre-coronavirus levels for the first time, and factory output rose, boosted by demand for exports of masks and other medical supplies.
China, where the pandemic began last December, is the only major economy expected to grow this year while activity in the United States, Europe and Japan shrinks."
