Rep. Kevin McCarthy attended his son’s wedding in California amid deadly COVID-19 surge
PAUL PRINGLE, RONG-GONG LIN II and ADAM ELMAHREK: "Early in the morning on Dec. 5, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mockingly alluded on Facebook to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s widely criticized attendance at a party the month before at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant, a maskless gathering that drew accusations of hypocrisy and elitism.
But hours after publishing his post, McCarthy attended his own maskless gathering — a wedding for his son, Connor, who got married that afternoon at a venue in San Luis Obispo County, The Times has learned. The event appeared to flout longstanding state COVID-19 rules that prohibit wedding receptions and require that masks be worn during wedding ceremonies.
The wedding took place on the day that California announced a forthcoming stay-at-home order for the southern half of the state where the virus was raging and available intensive care unit beds were alarmingly low. The order went into effect the next night, including in San Luis Obispo County."
CA’s funeral homes scramble to handle COVID-19 victims
CHUCK McFADDEN, Capitol Weekly: "COVID 19 is not only overwhelming California’s hospitals, it’s overwhelming cemeteries and funeral homes as well.
Funeral directors across the state are being forced to tell grieving families that they have no more room and cannot serve them.
The California Department of Public Health reports there were 3,243,348 COVID cases in the state as of Jan 31. Total deaths are soaring to more than 44,000, with hundreds more added each day."
The CDC now says you should double mask. Here's the big data point behind the new guidance
The Chronicle's SUSIE NEILSON: "Wearing two face masks significantly boosts protection against the coronavirus, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency conducted experiments on mask-wearing dummies — some fitted with mouthpieces that could simulate coughs — in January to assess how well different combinations and fits of mask protected against aerosols.
According to researchers’ findings, the combination of an unknotted surgical mask and a cloth mask blocked 92.5% of particles when worn by a coughing dummy; by comparison, a single surgical mask blocked just 42% and a single cloth mask 44.3%."
Immigrant detention centers could face new California rules under Democrat’s bill
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "As California prisons and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers struggle to stem the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities, a state lawmaker is introducing a bill that seeks to create safer conditions for prisoners and immigrant detainees.
The bill by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, would require private, for-profit prisons and detention centers operating in the state to meet specific insurance coverage and safety requirements. If they fail, the state could cancel their insurance coverage.
“There’s no reason for any detention center to allow these kinds of conditions so we keep having to strengthen them,” Durazo said. “We are bringing them up to the standards that they should be functioning under.”"
Pricey Los Angeles private school moves ahead of others for teacher vaccinations
HOWARD BLUME, LA Times: "The Wesley School, a private academy in North Hollywood, has been able to get COVID-19 vaccinations for its teachers through what an announcement described as a “special program,” despite current Los Angeles County health department rules that say teachers are not yet eligible.
School leaders wrote of their efforts in an email to parents — to reassure them that they were not putting staff at risk as the school gradually expands its in-person services to students.
“Many parents have expressed concern for the well-being of our teachers in these challenging times,” the administration stated in a communication sent out Tuesday. “Therefore, we wanted to share that through a special program for essential workers and educators, all Wesley employees who wanted to be vaccinated were able to take advantage of an offer last week and received their first dose.”
U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott resigning as Sacramento region’s top federal prosecutor
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON: "U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott, who has served two stints as the Sacramento region’s highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer, announced Wednesday that he is resigning effective Feb. 28.
Scott’s departure had been expected since President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in November’s election, and comes one day after the Justice Department issued a news release titled “ U.S. Attorney Transition Begins” that said Biden would nominate new U.S. attorneys for his administration.
Scott, 58, said he was called Tuesday by Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson and told that the president had asked for resignations of Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys, a customary move with the change in administrations."
Removing a condom without consent could lead to civil damages under California bill
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A California Democrat this week introduced legislation to penalize anyone found guilty of “stealthing,” or the sexual act of removing or damaging a condom without a partner’s consent.
California’s civil code already includes sexual battery, or the “intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact” as a punishable violation.
Under Assembly Bill 453, the law would expand to include those who intentionally cause “contact between a penis, from which a condom has been removed, and the intimate part of another who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed.”"
Coachella institutes ‘hero pay’ for farmworkers: ‘Part of the cultural ethos’
SUHAUNA HUSSEIN and ANDREA CASTILLO: "The city of Coachella late Wednesday passed a mandate for hazard pay for some retail and food workers, including those at grocery stores, restaurants and farms. The city’s mayor said the ordinance is the first in the nation to offer a pandemic pay bump to farmworkers.
The mandate will require agricultural operations, grocery stores, restaurants and retail pharmacy stores within the city to provide a $4-per-hour pay boost to their workers for at least four months, effective immediately. The regulation will apply to businesses that employ 300 or more workers nationally, and more than five employees in the city.
The move comes as California’s grocery industry mounts an aggressive legal challenge to hazard pay ordinances being introduced across the state. Industry executives and representatives say the additional pay, also known as “hero pay,” is unsustainable even for large grocery chains, pitting businesses against local officials and workers’ advocates as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on."
Sacramento County nets $60 million windfall from feds. How money will help fight COVID
Sac Bee's MICHAEL FINCH II/TONY BIZJAK: "The federal government will give Sacramento County close to $60 million to strengthen its response to the coronavirus pandemic as a part of a larger effort to boost public health operations.
The funding will support COVID-19-related efforts around testing, case investigation, contact tracing, surveillance, containment and mitigation from a grant through the California Department of Public Health which will receive more than $1 billion for local health departments.
Jim Hunt, the county’s interim director over the Department of Health Services, said Tuesday that money will help lift up the county’s efforts to control the pandemic. The funding will become available on March 1 and expire in July 2023, Hunt told the Board of Supervisors."
GOP names 4 California Democrats among its top targets for 2022. Can it repeat gains?
Sac Bee's KATE IRBY: "Fresh off an election in which the GOP flipped four California congressional districts, the national fundraising arm of House Republicans on Wednesday announced that it wants to compete for four more seats held by Golden State Democrats.
The National Republican Congressional Committee said it plans to target Reps. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, Josh Harder, D-Turlock, Katie Porter, D-Irvine, and Mike Levin, D-Vista, in the 2022 midterm election.
Republicans are likely to have the advantage in 2022 House races, according to historical trends."
Biden picks California Labor Secretary Julie Su for administration job
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "President Biden has tapped Julie Su, head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to serve as his deputy labor secretary, a potentially critical role as his administration confronts widespread job losses and unsafe working conditions fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Su would help oversee a department that regulates workplace safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, workers’ compensation and job training.
In a statement Wednesday, the White House said Su would be a partner “to the president in building a stronger, more resilient and more inclusive economy that delivers every American a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead.”"
Is 'Hangtown Santa' a Proud Boy? California county argues over political appointee
Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "Scores of El Dorado County residents are alleging that a man just appointed to a county advisory panel is affiliated with or supports the Proud Boys, while others including the supervisor who nominated him contend that the perceived ties to the far-right group are just a misunderstanding.
Chris Cockrell, who was was appointed Tuesday to the county’s Veterans Affairs Commission, attended a Dec. 5 Toys for Tots event in Placerville while dressed up as Santa Claus.
Near the end of the holiday event, about two dozen men arrived to the drive-thru toy drive on foot, most of them clad in black hooded sweatshirts that read “Hangtown Proud Boy” on the back. The Proud Boys have widely been labeled a hate group, and the Canadian government recently declared them a terrorist group."
Did S.F. school board's renaming of 44 schools violate California law?
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "The controversy swirling around the decision to rename dozens of San Francisco schools continues to grow.
The San Francisco Unified Board of Education’s recent vote to rename 44 schools because they bear the names of historical figures linked to racism and oppression has opened the district to potential litigation under California’s meeting-transparency law, according to San Francisco attorney Paul D. Scott.
In a letter Saturday addressed to the board’s president, Gabriela López, Scott demanded that the board repeal the resolution it passed 6-1 at its Jan. 27 meeting. He alleged that the board did not properly notify the public that it was making a final decision to rename the school sites, which include ones honoring Abraham Lincoln and George Washington."
