The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI/RITA BEAMISH: "California ordered new pandemic shutdowns on Monday that will curtail many indoor leisure and business activities for nearly 95% of residents as the state struggles to avert the disastrous surge in cases that has swelled over the nation.
The state pulled an “emergency brake” on its reopening plans after cases nearly doubled over the past 10 days and the positive test rate hit 5% for the previous week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a Monday news briefing. Six of the nine Bay Area counties — and 41 of 58 counties statewide — will be in the most restrictive purple tier as of Tuesday, and the remaining three will move to the second-most-restrictive red tier.
Newsom said he did not anticipate the need to issue a new statewide shelter-in-place order, but he was considering a curfew that would forbid some activities, including outdoor dining during certain hours. He noted that the recent spike in cases is “the fastest increase we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic.”"
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Vaccines show 'thrilling' results. But when will they come to the Bay Area? -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO; What Cal ifornia governor said about possible COVID-19 curfews -- CALIFORNIA GOV'R; Newsom weighs a statewide curfew as most of California returns to toughest COVID-19 tier -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER/DALE KASLER; California lawmakers take trip to Hawaii amid COVID surge, travel advisory -- Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Newsom apologizeds for attending French Laundry party: 'I made a bad mistake' -- Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG
Capitol Weekly Podcast: A Post-Mortem of the 2020 Election
CAPITOL WEEKLY STAFF: "Last week Capitol Weekly and the McGeorge Capital Center for Law & Policy presented a Post-Mortem of the 2020 Election, a half-day online conference in which a score of experts and insiders discussed the results of the election and provided a look-ahead at what they mean for 2021 – and beyond.
This event was hosted on ZOOM between 9AM – 2:00PM, Thursday, November 5.
We broadcast audio from each of the presentations as individual episodes of the Capitol Weekly Podcast. A program featuring photos and bios of all the participants can be viewed online here.
Californians must wear face masks when outside of home, new state order says
Sac Bee's KAYTLYN LESLIE: "Californians have to wear masks when outside of their homes, according to new guidance issued by the state on Monday.
The California Department of Public Health issued revised mask rules this week as much of the state tipped back into the most restrictive purple tier of California’s coronavirus reopening criteria.
According to the CDPH, “A face covering is required at all times when outside of the home, with some exceptions.
What does California' s alarming COVID-19 surge mean for schools?
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME/LAURA NEWBERRY: "An alarming rise in new coronavirus cases has prompted major reopening rollbacks that also will stall efforts to reopen campuses throughout Southern California and most of the state — and affect the education of millions of students.
What happens at individual school districts and even schools will vary from county to county as officials grapple with complicated rules, evolving and expensive safety procedures, and infection rates in the communities they serve.
On Monday the number of counties in the strictest tier, purple, more than tripled to 41, including all counties in Southern California."
Without Trump in the White House, what's next for California Republicans?
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson will be the first to tell you that, before last year, state Republicans were losing steam.
The number of registered Republicans in California had been dwindling for a decade. By 2019, more people were registered under “no party preference” than the Republican Party. Steve Schmidt, a California political consultant who ran the late Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, described the party post-election as a “gathering of weirdos, cranks, losers,” and “nut jobs.”
But as of October, California Republicans’ numbers are up, if ever so slightly. The party has about 50,000 more registrants than those who associate with no party. The party has grown registration numbers, donors and volunteers in recent years, Patterson said, and if they continue to support and engage with Republicans at a grassroots level."
'We are long overdue': Leaders press Gavin Newsom to put a Latino in the US Senate
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Latino elected officials and organizers in California continued to push Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday to name a Latino U.S. senator to replace Sen. Kamala Harris as she prepares to become the nation’s next vice president in nine weeks.
“We’re here this morning because we’re united in, respectfully, asking our governor to recognize our community, its contributions and its needs,” said Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, vice-chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus at a press conference in Sacramento’s Cesar Chavez Plaza. “Latinos helped build this state. We grow its food, serve in its national guard (and) contribute so much to its art and culture.”
The campaign was organized in partnership with a myriad of Latino civic engagement and advocacy groups, including the California Latino Legislative Caucus, the Latino Community Foundation and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials."
New case record for California: 13,285
Biden and the Bay Area: Where does president-elect stand on local issues?
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "A Joe Biden presidency could mean big changes for the Bay Area and the state, from new support for coronavirus testing to restored freedom to manage pollution levels. After four years of clashing with the Trump administration over its policies and edicts, local and state officials expect that the region's priorities will soon be more in line with those of the White House. But the Bay Area and most of California are struggling. Will Biden's priorities and ability to work with a divided Congress be enough to lead to recovery? We look at where the president-elect stands on key issues."
Hmong organizer sworn in as California AP IA Affairs Commission's first executive director
Sac Bee's ASHLEY WONG: "Longtime Sacramento community organizer Nkauj Iab Yang was sworn in Monday as the first executive director of the California Commission on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs.
Born in Del Paso Heights to Hmong refugee parents, Yang has more than 10 years of experience in community organizing and policy advocacy for Sacramento’s AAPI community. Yang most recently served as co-director for Sacramento-based Hmong Innovating Politics, and was the California director of policy and programs for Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC).
“I am humbled for the opportunity to serve as the first executive director of the California Commission on (APIA) Affairs Commission,” Yang said in a press release. “The love, guidance, and dedication of my entire village has gotten me here today ... and it is my village, you, who I will continue to lean on to lead and guide the work of the APIA Commission to move California towards healing, equity, and access.”
Faith leaders urge clemency for David Gilbert, father of SF DA Boudin
The Chronicle's MICHAEL WILLIAMS: "A coalition of faith leaders is urging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to grant clemency to David Gilbert — the father of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin — who is serving a 75-years-to-life sentence for his participation in the fatal robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in 1981.
The letter, signed by 45 interfaith leaders and activists, asked Cuomo to show mercy to 76-year-old Gilbert, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because they said Gilbert has taken responsibility for his role in the robbery. Among those who signed the letter are the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Ela Gandhi, the granddaugther of Mohandas Gandhi.
“However long these sentences are, they were not intended to be a death penalty,” the letter to Cuomo said. “We see daily that elders in prison, especially those with compromised immune systems and underlying health concerns, are in grave danger and many have died. For us, like you and your father before you, opposition to the death penalty is a religious and moral principle.”"
Sacramento County may declare racism a public health crisis. Here's what that means
Sac Bee's MICHAEL FINCH II/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution Tuesday that would declare racism a public health crisis, following in the footsteps of several local governments throughout the country after a wave of civil unrest over police shootings and violence.
Black people have higher rates of chronic health conditions — such as high blood pressure, diabetes and strokes — that have intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. The same racial divide can be found in the criminal justice system, housing, infrastructure, and banking.
The Sacramento proposal would acknowledge that the county should have a more active role — when making policy and funding programs — to address longstanding issues around race. Sacramento would join Riverside, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties, among others, which have each passed similar declarations in the past five months."
DACA will live on under Biden. Will he give 'Dreamers' a path to citizenship?
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "When Joe Biden won the presidential election, Vanessa Mejia said she felt hope again.
Hope that she and hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States illegally when they were young can remain in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
President Trump ended DACA in 2017, setting off a tumultuous and lengthy legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and left “Dreamers” — as DACA beneficiaries are often called — in limbo for several years. In recent months, the administration has refused to process new applications and has slashed eligibility for DACA, ignoring court orders.
Here's what can stay open in Sacramento, even in California's strictest purple tier
The Chronicle's MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "Update, Nov. 16: The entire Sacramento region has regressed to California’s strictest shutdown status, the purple tier, after state health officials invoked what is effectively a hard stop on economic reopening Monday due to surging coronavirus numbers.
Thirty-nine of the state’s 58 counties were demoted in total, with 28 moving to purple, including the entire six-county Sacramento region — El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sacramento and the Yuba-Sutter bicounty area."
LA police union spurns City Hall's request to meet on the budget crisis
LA Times's DAVID ZAHNISER/RICHARD WINTON: "The union that represents more than 9,800 Los Angeles police officers has rejected a request from the city’s labor negotiators to meet and discuss the city’s financial crisis, dealing a fresh setback to Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council as they struggle to close a looming budget deficit.
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said in a letter to the city’s chief employee relations officer that the LAPD had already received a $150-million budget cut this year, with some of the savings used to delay reductions at other city agencies.
Lally said in his three-page letter, which was distributed to the union’s members, that officers had spent months on the front lines of the city’s COVID-19 response while contending with “protests, riots and professional sports ‘celebrations’ that devolved into chaos.”"
SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts docks with space station
AP: "SpaceX’s newly launched capsule with four astronauts arrived Monday at the International Space Station, their new home until spring.
The Dragon capsule pulled up and docked late Monday night, following a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
“Oh, what a good voice to hear,” space station astronaut Kate Rubins called out when the Dragon’s commander, Mike Hopkins, first made radio contact. The linkup occurred 262 miles (422 kilometers) above Idaho."
Airbnb IP could generate billions for the Bay Area. How will housing prices react?
The Chronicle's CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "Airbnb unveiled long-anticipated plans to go public Monday, defying concerns that the coronavirus pandemic had permanently hurt its business of short-term rentals and revealing the underlying strength of the San Francisco company’s business.
The stock offering, which could take place as soon as December, will likely make Airbnb’s founders and investors billions and turn many employees into millionaires. While taxes on their windfall and spending by the newly wealthy will bolster state and local coffers at a time when such revenue is badly needed, it is unlikely to cause more than a blip in the already hot local real estate market, observers said.
CEO Brian Chesky had said Airbnb intended to go public in 2020, but the filing was delayed by the pandemic. The company raised $2 billion from investors in April and laid off 1,900 employees in May. Travel rebounded, as did Airbnb’s bookings, with many customers opting for closer-in destinations reachable by car rather than flying to far-off destinations and staying at hotels or resorts."
Will 'Amtrak Joe' Biden bail out California's troubled bullet train? Don't bet on it
LA Times's RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "President-elect Joe Biden is a self-professed train fanatic who estimates that he has ridden more than 2 million miles on 16,000 trains. This fall, he rode the rails to campaign across Ohio and Pennsylvania, part of the “Build Back Better” train tour.
For months, some supporters of California’s troubled high-speed rail project have pined for a Biden presidency, hoping his administration would throw its support behind the planned system between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, with trains running at 220 mph.
But while state officials anticipate more peaceful dealings with the new administration, nobody expects an imminent bailout. Some doubt that the president-elect will make investment in high-speed rail a priority."
BART avoids station closures, weekend shutdowns but could lose up to 40% of staff
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH: "BART riders have likely dodged station closures and weekend shutdowns — at least for now — but the transit agency might lose up to 40% of its staff to early retirement as it struggles to fill a huge budget hole.
BART’s board of directors will vote Thursday on a retirement incentive plan that could slim its workforce by as much as 40% as the agency tries to avert layoffs, though it expects a much smaller share of employees to take the buyout.
Also on Thursday, BART staff will inform the board about service changes going into effect in March. The change would eliminate some round-trip commute trains and reduce the number of Saturday routes to mirror current Sunday service levels. It avoids other proposed options of weekend shutdowns or station closures that transit-dependent riders feared and BART’s leadership said would undermine their mission to serve the public. The change doesn’t need a board vote."
Biden demands Trump and Congress address health and economic crises
LA Times's JANET HOOK: "President-elect Joe Biden, faced with worsening economic and health crises, on Monday called for action from two political forces beyond his control: Congress, which is deadlocked over economic relief, and President Trump, who refuses to concede the election and share information about the pandemic and national security.
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden bluntly warned.
He welcomed news of progress in developing a second vaccine but emphasized how logistically challenging it will be to distribute — an endeavor further complicated by the Trump administration’s resistance to coordinating with Biden officials, who will be tasked with carrying it out. “The vaccine is important,” Biden said, “but it’s of little importance if you are not vaccinated.”"
