Schiff has his eyes on being California’s AG and Pelosi’s on board with it
NATASHA BERTRAND, HEATHER CAYGLE and CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, Politico: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wants to be named California’s next attorney general — and he has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s blessing, according to four Democratic sources familiar with the matter.
Schiff, a Harvard Law School graduate and former prosecutor who currently serves as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has lobbied California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint him to the role, those individuals said. News of Schiff’s interest was first reported by Axios.
The current California attorney general, Xavier Becerra, was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary and will be vacating the post if, as expected, he is confirmed by the Senate."
‘I was just bawling in my PPE’: Surge fades, but anguish remains for healthcare workers
SOUNYA KARLAMANGLA: "Dr. Christine Choi balances the iPad in her hands and scans the callers on the screen. It is a family gathering, pandemic-style: People in the foreground have video-called others, who have video-called a few more. A collage of faces peer back at her.
She asks them if they are ready. Yes, they say. Stoic.
Choi taps the corner of the tablet. The camera switches from her face to that of a lifeless man in a hospital bed. Their loved one, killed by COVID-19."
CHP Outbreak: 9 Officers Test Positive For COVID-19 After Increased Capitol Presence Around Inauguration Day
SCOTT RODD, Capital Public Radio: "Sacramento County is monitoring a COVID-19 outbreak among California Highway Patrol officers in the state’s Capitol, after at least nine tested positive since Inauguration Day.
The outbreak comes after CHP increased officer presence at the California’s Capitol in the days leading up to and after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, just weeks after the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol. CapRadio confirmed the positive cases after obtaining memos sent from the Senate Secretary to Senate staff; these memos go out whenever a worker in the Capitol tests positive for COVID-19.
Officer John Ortega, a spokesperson for CHP, did not comment on the status of the outbreak. He declined to provide the number of officers deployed to protect the Capitol around Inauguration Day, citing security concerns."
CSULB first Cal State campus to establish vaccination clinic for staff, faculty and students
HUNTER LEE, LA Daiy News: "Cal State Long Beach became the first CSU campus with its own coronavirus vaccination clinic and began inoculating staff and faculty on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The university, which has nearly 6,400 full- and part-time employees, expects to administer around 1,170 doses this week at its drive-thru clinic — on the second floor of the Walter Pyramid parking structure — and at a second station for walk-ups, said CSULB spokesman Gregory Woods. The university received about 2,400 doses from Long Beach, which has its own health department.
Under the state’s vaccination plan, the 23 Cal State University system campuses, which have mostly conducted online-only learning throughout the pandemic, must work with the specific health agency that has jurisdiction over them — county agencies mostly, though not in Long Beach’s case — to distribute vaccines to their employees and staff, said CSU spokeswoman Toni Molle."
Gov. Newsom recall backers report raising more than $2.5 million
SEEMA MEHTA, LA Times: "Backers of an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom have raised more than $2.5 million, according to financial disclosures filed with the state through Tuesday. Political analysts say that’s approaching the minimum amount required to gather enough valid signatures to place the matter on the ballot.
Veteran Republican attorney Thomas Hiltachk, who served as the lead counsel on the successful 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis, said the groups attempting to oust Newsom need to raise a minimum of $3 million to $4 million total to be successful.
Hiltachk has not take a position on the Newsom recall. He noted that the financial figures that were disclosed by the three recall groups provide an incomplete picture. But based on what he is hearing about the signature-gathering and fundraising, Hiltachk thinks their odds for success have improved."
Two polls differ sharply on Newsom
DAN WALTERS, CalMatters: "Halfway through a first term as governor dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is Gavin Newsom fighting for his political life or enjoying broad public support?
The question arises because the state’s two leading polling organizations, UC-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the Public Policy Institute of California issued new surveys Tuesday with starkly disparate findings on Newsom’s public standing.
The polls usually track Californians’ attitudes similarly, which makes the differences so puzzling. And they are being released just as those who want to dump Newsom are getting close to having enough signatures to place a recall on the ballot later this year."
READ MORE about recall polling: PPIC survey, unfiltered -- Californians and Their Government -- PPIC; Newsom approval rate drops in two California polls -- JEREMY WHITE. Politico; Political storms swirl around California’s Newsom amid virus -- KATHLEEN RONANYNE, AP
No, Facebook Didn’t Try To ‘Shut Down’ Gavin Newsom Recall Effort
CHRIS NICHOLS, Capital Public Radio: "A conservative blog falsely claimed Facebook tried to “shut down” the campaign to recall Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom when the social media company stopped running political advertisements.
In reality, Facebook stopped accepting political ads regardless of party affiliation last fall to curb misinformation. No one campaign was singled out.
In mid-December, the company made an exception to the ban when it allowed ads in the three weeks leading up to the U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia and then resumed the ban last month."
Newsom’s proposal would create “dual admission” program for community college transfer students
ASHLEY A. SMITH, EdSource: "Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to ease the transfer from community colleges to California’s public universities, and newly released details draw a clearer picture of how that could happen.
Newsom, in his budget proposal, recommends creating a “new stand-alone dual admission program.” It would guarantee that participating first-time community college freshmen are guaranteed a spot as an undergraduate at the California State University or University of California campus of their choice starting in 2023. In the trailer bill released Tuesday, which expounds on his January budget, Newsom proposed a new program that would make it seamless for community college students to transfer.
During a recent forum with lawmakers, UC President Michael Drake and CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro pledged that they would work with legislators and each other to improve transfer pathways from the community colleges. The leaders called on better advising, clearer paths and some form of dual admission to increase the number of transfers. They could not be reached to comment Tuesday."
Oakland approves hazard pay for supermarket workers
CAROLYN SAID, SCHWANIKA NARAYAN: "Should grocery workers, who spend hours indoors in businesses catering to a wide range of customers, receive hazard pay?
Bay Area and other California cities are increasingly saying “yes” to that question, creating momentum that could spread nationwide.
Oakland’s City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to implement an emergency ordinance to add $5 an hour onto the pay of workers at large grocery stores. The San Jose City Council on Tuesday weighed a similar measure. Other Bay Area cities including Berkeley, Concord and Antioch are considering following suit, according to union representatives."
California faces 'real' chance of another surge as coronavirus variants spread
AIDIN VAZIRI: "As Alameda County saw its first known cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant that spread through the United Kingdom, the struggle to find enough vaccine doses continued — and a top health official warned that another surge could be on the horizon.
Alameda County has identified six confirmed or suspected cases of the U.K. variant, which health officials believe is roughly 50% more infectious and might also be more likely to cause death, though further study of that aspect is needed.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has been identified in other parts of the state, mostly in Southern California — with 127 cases found across California so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No other Bay Area counties have announced cases so far, but officials believe the variant is far more prevalent than official figures suggest, since only a tiny fraction of coronavirus infections get genomically sequenced."
