California could get $150B from federal virus relief bill
ADAM BEAM, AP: "The massive COVID-19 relief bill Congress approved Wednesday will pump more than $150 billion into California’s economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said Wednesday, including a $26 billion windfall for the state’s already burgeoning budget surplus.
Nearly half of the money will go to Californians directly in the form of $1,400 checks and expanded unemployment benefits.
Another $15.9 billion will go to public and private schools while $3.6 billion will boost the state’s vaccination, testing and contact tracing efforts. There’s also money for public transit agencies, airports and child care."
READ MORE on stimulus fiunding: ‘Revolutionary’ federal stimulus bill could cut California child poverty by half -- JACKIE BOTTS, CalMatters; Oakland poised to get up to $192 million in federal funds as it struggles with massive deficit -- SARAH RAVANI, Chronicle; California’s robust budget will get another $26 billion from new COVID-19 stimulus -- JOHN MYERS, LA Times; L.A. expects to receive $1.35 billion from the relief bill. Garcetti is ‘ecstatic’ -- DAVID ZAHNISER, DAKOTA SMITH and JULIA WICK, LA Times
Sacramento to gain $121 million in stimulus. ‘We will put this money to work,’ Steinberg says
DAVID LIGHTMAN and HANNAH WILEY, SacBee: "Sacramento stands to get an estimated $121.6 million, and Sacramento County should receive $301 million, from the COVID relief package that President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law later this week.
The House passed the plan Wednesday, 220 to 211. It includes a total of $350 billion for state and local aid.
California’s state government is expected to get about $26 billion, while local governments in the state should get $16.6 billion."
Does California Have ‘One Of The Lowest’ Covid-19 Death Rates In The Nation As Gov. Newsom Claimed?
CHRIS NICHOLS, Capital Public Radio: "Gov. Gavin Newsom said California’s per capita COVID-19 death rate remained “one of the lowest” in the nation, lower than the national average and rates in Texas and New York.
CDC data placed California’s mortality rate at 137 deaths per 100,000 as of March 9, 2021. That’s lower than the national average of 158 deaths per 100,000 and better than rates in Texas and New York.
But there are 22 other states with a lower death rate than California, meaning the state is closer to the middle than the low end."
California’s unemployment agency woes left out of Newsom’s State of the State
PATRICK McGREEVY, LA Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s State of the State address Tuesday is drawing criticism from some lawmakers, who say it avoided a discussion of serious problems at the state’s unemployment agency that have kept more than 1 million jobless Californians from getting the benefits they need.
Democratic lawmakers downplayed the lack of a direct mention of the state Employment Development Department and said the governor is engaged in trying to fix it. But Republicans highlighted Newsom‘s decision not to acknowledge the EDD problems during the nearly half-hour speech dedicated to pressing problems facing the state.
“It is disappointing the governor did not address EDD’s disaster,” state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Red Bluff) said. “California taxpayers deserve to hear about his plans to implement permanent fixes, so real Californians can receive unemployment benefits, not international crime rings and prisoners.”
Column: Newsom’s State of the State address felt like a campaign kickoff to sink the recall effort
GEORGE SKELTON, LA Times: "Whatever that was in Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, it definitely was not a State of the State address.
The player was way out of position.
It doesn’t matter what Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders thought or pretended."
Major political data firm shuts door on Republicans
CHUCK McFADDEN, Capitol Weekly: "Democrats, who already enjoy an overwhelming lead in California voter registration, now have one more advantage over the state’s beleaguered Republicans.
Political Data Inc., a prominent California company that has supplied campaign data to Democratic and Republican contenders alike for three decades, announced recently it will henceforth only work for “progressives” and Democrats.
PDI is as well known in the political community as it is little known to the general public, and in the ferocious world of political campaigning, its Feb. 25 announcement caught the Capitol by surprise."
Dramatic change in COVID hospitalizations in the Bay Area, California
KELLIE HWANG, Chronicle: "Just a couple of months ago, hospitals across California were overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.
But the situation has changed dramatically: Hospitalizations have plummeted throughout California and the Bay Area since the height of the winter surge.
Statewide, 3,625 confirmed COVID patients were in hospitals on Tuesday, including 992 in the ICU. That’s an 83% decrease from the peak of 21,597 hospitalizations on Jan. 4, and a 80% decrease from 4,868 ICU patients on Jan. 10."
UC Davis: First clinical trial of stem cells to treat spina bifida
DAVID JENSEN, Capitol Weekly: "Backed by $17 million in cash from California’s stem cell agency, researchers at UC Davis this month are launching “the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida before the child is born.”
The effort is the culmination of more than a decade of work by Diana Farmer, who is the world’s first female fetal surgeon, and her colleagues, including Aijun Wang, co-director of UC Davis’ surgical bioengineering laboratory.
California’s $12 billion stem cell agency this month highlighted the Davis effort in a blog item headlined: “A little history in the making by helping the tiniest patients.”
COVID: Santa Clara County stops scheduling first-dose vaccine appointments
EMILY DERUY and FIONA KELLIHER, Mercury News: "Santa Clara County has stopped scheduling first-dose coronavirus vaccine appointments, pointing to a low and unpredictable supply of doses from the state as the reason.
The news comes as a number of Bay Area officials, including in Santa Clara County, push back at the way the state has handled vaccine distribution — from an equity program they argue disadvantages needy areas of the region to tapping giant insurer Blue Shield to help with the state’s vaccine program.
“Due to low vaccine supply from the state and the need to conserve inventory for second dose appointments, the County Health System stopped scheduling first dose appointments on Friday, March 5, except for a limited number of walk-in appointments in community-based locations,” the county said in a statement. “The county will resume scheduling first dose appointments immediately when the vaccine supply received from the state allows us to do so.”
Tensions mount over California’s vaccine distribution plan
FIONA KELLIHER, Mercury News: "The battle over who distributes California’s coronavirus vaccine grew even more tense Wednesday when the state insisted health insurer Blue Shield will play a significant role in determining how vaccines would be allocated in communities around the state, regardless of local objections.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health said Wednesday that counties would not retain control over how vaccines are distributed within their borders under the state’s new, centralized vaccination system. Instead, the spokesman said, the state would determine which hospitals, clinics and other groups get vaccine supply, relying on recommendations from Blue Shield.
That declaration infuriated Santa Clara County officials, who have balked at Blue Shield’s new role in distributing vaccines and earlier in the day believed the state was backing away from forcing counties to sign vaccine contracts with Blue Shield."
3 LA grocery stores run by Kroger to close after city OK’s ‘Hero Pay’ ordinance
KEVIN SMITH, LA Daily News: "Two Ralphs and a Food 4 Less will close by May in Los Angeles, a decision the parent company says was accelerated by a city mandate requiring workers earn an extra $5 hourly in “hazard pay” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cincinnati-based Kroger said it’s shuttering the underperforming stores — Ralphs at 9616 W. Pico Blvd. and 3300 W. Slauson Ave. and a Food 4 Less at 5420 W. Sunset Blvd. The stores will close May 15, affecting 289 employees.
Ralphs spokesman John Votava said the companies hope to move as many displaced workers as possible to neighboring Ralphs and Food 4 Less locations."
Butte College increases in-person attendance to 50 percent for fall semester
JUSTIN COUCHOT, Chico E-R: "Butte College announced on Wednesday that it plans for 50 percent of courses offered in the fall semester to be face-to-face. The 50 percent is an increase from the 20 percent the college offered for courses in the 2020-2021 school year.
Classes for the fall semester begin .Aug. 23, with summer classes beginning June 7. The full schedule of classes for fall and summer is available at www.butte.edu/schedule/.
“This fall, the college has announced it will offer an additional 30 percent of its courses on-ground, which will include transfer-level math and English, science labs and arts classes/labs,” Butte College Vice President of Instruction Virginia Guleff said in a press release."
Some LAUSD parents welcome elementary reopening pact, but others criticize middle/high school plan
LINH TAT, LA Daily News: "Parents of middle and high school students in Los Angeles Unified continued to voice their dissatisfaction with the district’s school reopening plan on Wednesday, March 10, one day after the district and teachers union struck a tentative deal to return students to the classroom.
Under the proposal, students at the secondary schools who wish to return to campus would attend in-person about half the week. Because of the need to keep students in small, stable cohorts, they would remain in the same classroom all day with an advisory teacher.
While there would be some time for peer interactions, lessons focused on social-emotional development and opportunities to explore college and career options, students would spend most of their time learning online while sitting in their classroom and wearing noise-canceling headphones. Their advisory teacher, meanwhile, would lead their own online class during that time."
