With nearly 20,000 dead and economy hit by lockdown, California faces treacherous phase of pandemic
ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, JACK DOLAN, RONG-GONG LIN II, LA Times: "The pandemic that has killed nearly 20,000 Californians and brought a once-booming economy to its knees entered a treacherous phase Sunday as much of the state began a new stay-at-home order and coronavirus cases soared to unprecedented highs that show no signs of slowing down.
The Department of Public Health in Los Angeles County, a hot spot of the coronavirus in California, reported more than 10,500 new cases on Sunday, a staggering number for a single day that underscores fears that the virus spread rapidly during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 neared 3,000 — and L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that number could rise dramatically in the next few weeks as the full toll of the holiday comes into view.
This was the seventh consecutive day of record-breaking COVID-19 hospitalizations in L.A. County, and more than quadruple the number from early October, when there were about 700 hospitalized people with the disease."
He sued the Trump admin over 100 times. Now Biden wants state AG Xavier Becerra in his Cabinet
Sac Bee's KATE IRBY/MICHAEL WILNER/LARA KORTE: "President-elect Joe Biden has selected California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, multiple outlets reported Sunday and confirmed to McClatchy by a source familiar with the decision.
Becerra was a surprise choice and only became the frontrunner in the past few days, according to The New York Times, which first reported the news. He will have to be confirmed by the Senate in order to get the position.
Becerra has become well-known for suing President Donald Trump’s administration on California’s behalf more than 100 times. He’s been on the front lines of trying to defend the Affordable Care Act, preserve environmental regulations and protecting undocumented immigrants."
As virus slams rural California, many still pan restrictions
JOCELYN GLECKER and RICH PEDRONCELLI: “Brenda Luntey is openly violating California’s order to close her restaurant to indoor dining. But she wants her customers and critics to know she isn’t typically a rule-breaker. It’s a matter of survival.
“This is my first episode of civil disobedience in my entire life. My whole family is in law enforcement. I’m a follow-the-rules kind of person,” said Luntey, owner of San Francisco Deli, a popular sandwich shop in Redding, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of the restaurant’s namesake city.
It’s in northern Shasta County, one of several rural California counties that appeared to dodge the virus in the spring but are now seeing some of the most alarming spikes in COVID-19 infections statewide. In an effort to avoid overwhelming hospitals, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a strict new shutdown order that has taken effect in many other parts of California and will likely soon affect Shasta County.”
Essential lawmakers begin session in Sacramento as COVID cases among employees continue
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "As California lawmakers head to Sacramento Monday to kick off the 2021-2022 session during a massive COVID-19 surge, multiple recent cases among Capitol community employees underscore the challenges facing the Legislature ahead of its second pandemic year.
The state has reached a critical point in its fight against the coronavirus. Hospital and intensive care unit beds are filling up, which has triggered new regional stay-at-home orders. California recorded a record 30,075 new cases on Saturday, and it’s seven-day positivity rate has hit 10.3%.
To slow the spread of the virus, the state Public Health Department issued an advisory that warns against non-essential and cross-county travel."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: 1-in-10 test positive, California's highest rate yet -- The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI; COVID-19 is still 'attacking Latino households' in California eight months into the pandemic -- Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ
Column: A GOP governor in California is a long shot. But this year proved anything is possible
GEORGE SKELTON, LA Times: “No Republican can be elected to statewide office in California, right? Everyone knows that. The tarnished GOP brand repels voters.
But that’s not quite as certain an axiom as it was before last month’s election.
And termed-out moderate Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer, 53, of San Diego seems intent on testing the conventional wisdom by challenging Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s expected reelection bid in 2022."
CA police officers would have to be 25 or get bachelor's degree under new proposal
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Anyone who wants to be a police officer in California would have to get a bachelor’s degree or turn 25 before starting their careers under a proposed new law.
Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, who planned to introduce the proposal Monday, said the change could help reduce the number of times police officers shoot or hurt people.
“These jobs are complex, they’re difficult, and we should not just hand them over to people who haven’t fully developed themselves,” said Jones-Sawyer, who is chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee."
California's ban on evictions would last through 2021 under new extension proposal
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California tenants struggling to pay rent due to COVID-19 would have until the end of 2021 to avoid eviction under a moratorium extension a Democratic lawmaker plans to introduce Monday.
At the end of August, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3088 into law, which requires tenants to pay at least 25% of their rent from Sept. 1 to Jan. 31, 2021 to avoid eviction. Tenants weren’t obligated to immediately back-fill payments missed from the start of the emergency in March through the summer, as long as they proved economic hardship, but landlords are entitled to eventually recoup all rent lost.
The law’s protections are scheduled to expire Feb. 1, and landlords can start collecting missed rent in civil court by March."
READ MORE related to Eviction Epidemic: SF lawmaker wants to extend moratorium -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF
Chula Vista gives immigration officials, others access to license plate reader data
From GIUSTAVO SOLIS, Union-Tribune: “For the last three years, the Chula Vista Police Department has allowed other policing agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — to access the data it has collected from license plate readers as part of a previously unreported partnership with a private company.
Until now, Chula Vista’s mayor, City Council and public were not aware of the specifics of this surveillance program.
Chula Vista’s partnership with the company, Vigilant Solutions, began in December 2017 when the police department bought $79,000 worth of surveillance equipment and an annual $10,000 subscription to the company’s Law Enforcement Archival Reporting Network, or LEARN database, which includes data from agencies across the country.”
Chula Vista gives immigration officials, others access to license plate reader data
From GIUSTAVO SOLIS, Union-Tribune: “For the last three years, the Chula Vista Police Department has allowed other policing agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — to access the data it has collected from license plate readers as part of a previously unreported partnership with a private company.
Until now, Chula Vista’s mayor, City Council and public were not aware of the specifics of this surveillance program.
Chula Vista’s partnership with the company, Vigilant Solutions, began in December 2017 when the police department bought $79,000 worth of surveillance equipment and an annual $10,000 subscription to the company’s Law Enforcement Archival Reporting Network, or LEARN database, which includes data from agencies across the country.”
California Democrats look to put squabbles behind them as Legislature returns
The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "Democrats’ grip on power in the California Legislature is as strong as ever. The party held its supermajorities in both chambers in the election, and even padded its margin in the Senate.
But holding more seats doesn’t necessarily equate to legislative success, as Democrats showed this summer, when many of the biggest policy proposals died as they squabbled on their final night of the session.
Legislators return to work Monday to gavel in their two-year session and swear in new members, meeting under the cloud of a worsening coronavirus pandemic. The chambers will meet blocks apart, with the Assembly taking the unprecedented step of convening in an NBA arena in downtown Sacramento due to health concerns. The Senate will gather in its Capitol chambers."
California is set to ban menthol cigarettes on Jan. 1. The industry is out to stop it
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The tobacco industry-funded group behind an effort to undo a pending state ban on the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, has submitted more than 1 million petition signatures.
The California Coalition for Fairness — which is funded by R.J Reynolds Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA and ITG Brands — must submit at least 623,212 verified signatures in order to qualify a referendum on Senate Bill 793 for the 2022 ballot.
The group expressed confidence that it will meet that number as counties verify signatures this month."
California Republicans have a pulse -- and see a way to more victories
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "In any other universe, the November election results would be devastating for the California GOP. It remains in a superminority in the Legislature. Only 11 of the state’s 53 House members next year will be Republicans. And Joe Biden drubbed President Trump in the state.
But many Republicans are upbeat. They see hopeful sparks in those election embers and the promise of more victories to come.
Fourteen years after a Republican was last elected to statewide office, the California Republican Party may have a future."
As Gascon takes office, campaign promises will be put to the test
LA Times's JAMES QUEALLY: "Changes are coming to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. And if recent weeks are any indication, they will not come gradually.
Since he defeated incumbent Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey in November, George Gascón has left little doubt that when he is sworn in Monday he will set to work fulfilling campaign promises to overhaul an office he has criticized as being part of an unfair criminal justice system.
When it was time for his first major meeting after being elected, he did away with expectations that he would turn first to the office’s 1,200 prosecutors and met instead with Black Lives Matter organizers, who were some of Lacey’s harshest critics."
Worker layoffs continue, and Congress isn't acting. How can the state help?
Sac Bee's JEONG PARK: "Hits just keep coming for hospitality workers like Lisa Cavanaugh.
Seven months after she was furloughed from her three-decade job as a server at the Sacramento International Airport, Cavanaugh got word a few weeks ago that her layoff has become permanent.
She said her union is negotiating with her employer to bring her back, but there’s no guarantee that the company will agree to the term. Gov. Gavin Newsom in September vetoed a bill that would have required hospitality companies to first rehire people they laid off.
California wildfire victims start getting PG&E payouts. But the money is coming slowly
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "California wildfire victims are getting their first payments from PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy, but the early flow of money is hardly a gusher.
The Fire Victim Trust, which was established to compensate victims of the Camp Fire and other big fires blamed on PG&E since 2015, said Friday it has distributed $3.5 million to more than 250 homeowners and other victims.
This initial compensation is just that — preliminary payouts of as much as $25,000 each from the $13.5 billion pool PG&E has reserved for victims. Only a sliver of the estimated 80,000 fire victims has received anything yet."
READ MORE related to Energy/Environmental: Red flag alert in Bay Area starting Sunday night, but PG&E outages for Napa and Sonoma counties canceled -- The Chronicle's VANESSA ARREDONDO; Should California ban gas in new homes? A climate battle heats up -- LA Times's SAMMY ROTH
Some Bay Area grocery stores see large crowds ahead of stay-at-home order
The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI: "Some grocery stores reported having large crowds of people stocking up on essentials on Saturday before the Bay Area’s stay-at-home order goes into effect.
Five Bay Area counties — San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Marin — ordered the most severe shelter-in-place directives since March.
Grocery stores can stay open, but starting late Sunday or early next week, depending on the county, their capacity will be limited to 20%. Currently grocery stores can operate at up to 50% capacity, except for Santa Clara County, where it’s 25%."
Preschoolers learning English need to be identified, supported, says California's master plan
EdSource's ZAIDEE STAVELY: "Young children whose first language is Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic or another language other than English could get more help in becoming bilingual in child care and preschool under California’s new Master Plan for Early Learning and Care.
The first step: identifying them.
The plan, commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom and put together by dozens of researchers, with input from educators, child care providers and parents, presents an overarching blueprint for providing more access and higher quality to California’s early education programs serving the state’s 3 million children under the age of 6."
Trump lawyer Giuliani in hospital after positive COVID test
AP's AAMER MADHANI/JONATHAN LEMIRE: "President Donald Trump said Sunday his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the latest in Trump's inner circle to contract the disease that is now surging across the U.S.
Giuliani was exhibiting some symptoms and was admitted Sunday to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The 76-year-old former New York mayor has traveled extensively to battleground states in an effort to help Trump subvert his election loss. On numerous occasions he has met with officials for hours at a time without wearing a mask."
Trump on track to preside over most federal executions in more than a century
AP: "As President Trump’s tenure in the White House draws to a close, his administration is accelerating the pace of federal executions, announcing plans for five starting Thursday and concluding just days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
If the five take place as planned, then a total of 13 executions since July, when the administration resumed putting inmates to death after a 17-year hiatus, will cement Trump’s legacy as the most prolific execution president in more than 130 years. He will leave office having executed about a quarter of all federal death-row prisoners, despite waning support for capital punishment among both Democrats and Republicans.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Atty. Gen. William Barr defended the extension of executions into the post-election period, saying that he was likely to schedule even more before he departs the Justice Department. A Biden administration, he said, should keep it up."
Bob Dylan's entire catalog bought by Universal Music
AP: "Bob Dylan’s entire catalog of songs, which spans 60 years, is being acquired by Universal Music Publishing Group.
The deal covers copyrights to 600 songs, including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “Tangled Up in Blue.”
The influence of Dylan’s body of work may only be matched by that of the Beatles."
