SoCal hospitals resort to ‘crisis care’ practices amid COVID surge
Sac Bee’s KIM BOJORQUEZ: “As California surpasses 2 million COVID-19 cases, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly on Tuesday said some Southern California hospitals have begun making choices that affect patient care.
He said the state is working to keep hospitals from operating in “crisis care” mode for “as long and as much as possible,” and that the state has not seen instances in which health care providers have to decide how to care for two patients with just one ventilator.
But he said hospitals are diverting ambulances and making decisions about whether to provide certain treatment for patients who are likely to die. He said more than 95% of Los Angeles hospitals have diverted ambulances in the last 24 hours.”
READ MORE related to Pandemic: As cases spike, tribal casinos still plan NYE parties – Sac Bee’s SAM STANTON; Data shows California’s coronavirusd surge is worst in nation – by a big margin – The Chronicle’s KELLIE HWANG/ANNA BAUCHMAN
Construction, politics, secrecy clash in Capitol project
CHUCK MCFADDEN in Capitol Weekly: “A fight is brewing in the Capitol – about the Capitol.
It’s all about plans to build a new Visitors Center beneath the domed West Wing and demolish the 68-year-old East Annex, replacing it with one of three proposed buildings.
The East Annex, completed in 1952, contains offices for the 80 Assembly members and 40 state senators along with their staffs, hearing rooms, the governor’s office complex, the lieutenant governor’s office, the news conference room, below-ground parking for legislators and, on the first floor, exhibits from California’s 58 counties.”
Undocumented immigrant children must be released promptly, court rules
The Chronicle’s BOB EGELKO: “Immigrant children caught crossing the border with their parents must be released to relatives or adult sponsors in the U.S. as soon as possible under a 1997 legal settlement, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, rejecting the Trump administration’s attempt to discard the agreement.
The Flores settlement — the result of a lawsuit filed in 1985 by Jenny Flores, a 15-year-old girl who had fled El Salvador — requires immigration officials to place youngsters in the “least restrictive setting available” and release them “without unnecessary delay” to a parent, adult relative or guardian. If none of those is available, they must be freed from confinement and placed with a licensed program that provides education and social services.
The Trump administration asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to end the settlement in August 2019, saying it was unworkable because of an influx of immigrants at the Mexico border and was no longer needed because of new regulations limiting confinement of migrant children. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee disagreed with both arguments, and on Tuesday the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key points of her ruling, though not all of it.”
Senate GOP stalls Democrats’ push for $2,000 stimulus checks
AP: “President Trump’s push for bigger, $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks stalled out Tuesday in the Senate as Republicans blocked a swift vote proposed by Democrats and split within their own ranks over whether to boost spending or defy the White House.
The roadblock mounted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may not be sustainable as pressure mounts. Trump wants the Republican-led chamber to follow the House and increase the checks from $600 for millions of Americans. A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in a runoff election on Jan. 5 in Georgia, have said they will support the larger amount. But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.
Senators will be back at it Wednesday as McConnell is devising a way out of the political bind, but the outcome is highly uncertain.”
Who’s first? Hospitals wrestle with porioritizing COVID vaccines as Newsom vowes crackdown
Sac Bee’s DALE KASLER: “In the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the UC Davis Health system has administered shots to roughly 7,000 of its own employees, including 4,000 doctors and nurses, 200 pharmacists and 100 custodians.
Also included: members of the system’s administrative staff, including two public relations employees.
“I was in the hospital three days last week, and I was around multiple patients,” said one of the PR employees, Marianne Russ Sharp.”
READ MORE related to Vaccines: Vaccines appear safe, effective but key questions remain – California Healthline’s BERNARD J WOLFSON
Will California extend sick and family leave for state workers? New law makes it optional
Sac Bee’s WES VENTEICHER: “Extra paid time off for California state workers affected by the coronavirus runs out Thursday, but the state could extend the benefit expansion for another three months under new federal legislation.
Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in the spring, giving most employees affected by the virus two weeks of paid sick leave and 10 weeks of family leave at two-thirds pay.
The California Department of Human Resources made the expanded leave available to most state workers, with exceptions for emergency responders and health care workers.”
READ MORE related to Laws & Effect: Five new California laws that go into effect in 2021 – Sac Bee’s ANDREW SHEELER
Former Newsom aide Nathan Ballard pleads not guilty in domestic violence case involving wife, daughter
The Chronicle’s MATTHIAS GAFNI: “Nathan Ballard, a longtime aide to Gov. Gavin Newsom and high-profile Democrats, pleaded not guilty to two felony domestic violence charges in Napa County Superior Court on Tuesday morning after his wife alleged he pushed her into a glass door and tried to suffocate their 4-year-old daughter with a pillow.
At Ballard’s initial court hearing, a Napa County prosecutor said Ballard had not been abiding by a stay-away order involving his estranged wife and two young children as recently as last weekend. Ballard’s attorney Tony Brass said he would accept service of a formal protective order and serve it to his client, who appeared for the hearing by Zoom.
“He is to have no contact with the main victims and a minor child,” Napa County Deputy District Attorney Kecia Lind told Judge Scott R.L. Young.”
Want health insurance Jan. 1? Extension lets you sign up through Wednesday in California
Sac Bee’s CATHIE ANDERSON: “If you want health insurance coverage starting Jan. 1, you’ll have to sign up for a policy by midnight Wednesday in California.
While the state’s open enrollment will continue until Jan. 31, any policies started after the Wednesday deadline won’t provide coverage until Feb. 1.
That’s the word from Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee, the leader of the state’s health insurance exchange.”
A remarkable high-desert bird may go extinct in California. What must die to save it
Sac Bee’s RYAN SABALOW: “It’s everywhere, this yellow plague. Grass between the lava rocks. Grass between the knee-high sagebrush clumps. Little shards of crispy grass stick in your socks after just a few steps.
This grass doesn’t belong here. It’s invasive, brought to North America decades ago and scattered across the landscape by livestock and machinery. Now, a remarkable high desert bird, the sage grouse, is at risk of disappearing forever from this rocky wildlife sanctuary — and elsewhere across the West — because of the unrelenting spread of this horrible grass.
All it takes is a spark to ignite catastrophe.”
READ MORE related to Air/Climate/Environment: Weather service warns of dangerous sneaker wavces on Bay Area coast – The Chronicle’s NORA MISHANEC; Packs of wild turkeys are turning heads and blocking traffic in this East Bay city – The Chronicle’s MICHAEL CABANATUAN
Reopening SF schools: City and school district forces to increase testing for teachers and staff
The Chronicle’s JILL TUCKER: “San Francisco officials announced a partnership with the city’s school district to ramp up COVID-19 testing for teachers and other staff — a move they hope will help students return to classrooms sooner.
“Surveillance” testing — done regularly rather than in response to symptoms — will begin in early January at the district’s central office and expand to other locations, officials said.
“We know that getting our students safely back in the classroom is an absolute top priority for our city and our school district right now,” said Mayor London Breed in a statement.”
‘Defund the police’ is more than a protest cry for these youths. They’re helping steer Oakland effort
The Chronicle’s SARAH RAVANI: “Ivan Garcia’s dad wasn’t around for most of his childhood. When Garcia was 6, his father fled to El Salvador after he was accused of shooting someone at a party in Oakland. He came back a few years ago and turned himself in, but then went to prison for three years. Now he’s in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Garcia, 18, can’t help but wonder: Would his father have joined a gang and gotten in trouble with the law if he hadn’t been struggling to make ends meet?
Garcia asked himself this question as he called into Oakland City Council meetings over the summer as protesters and members of the public demanded that the city “defund the police” during mid-cycle budget discussions.
READ MORE related to Police/Prisons/Protests/Public Safety: Vacaville police investigate officer caught on video punching K9 partner – The Chronicle’s LAUREN HERNANDEZ; Vandalized Breonna Taylor sculpture is now missing from Oakland square – The Chronicle’s NORA MISHANEC; Contra Costa DA rules 2018 Pittsburg killing by police legally justified – The Chronicle’s VANESSA ARREDONDO
Beefed-up drug, alcohol rehab program set to launch at Salvation Army in 2021
The Chronicle’s KEVIN FAGAN: “Shaween Sullivan spent much of the past 20 years homeless, off and on, even while working as a truck driver. Hostage to booze, he stumbled through several marriages and backslid out of addiction treatments.
But at age 57, he feels he’s finally nailed down sobriety. He spent the past 18 months at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center residential rehabilitation center in San Francisco and in December completed a peer counseling course. His hunt for a job helping homeless people has begun.
With a little more help, Sullivan said, he will be equipped to make that sobriety permanent — not fall back to the bottle like he did before.”
