The president announced Monday that in three weeks, by April 19, his administration will more than double the number of pharmacies where people can get shots. He also said 90% of American adults will have become eligible for the vaccine by that point, and the final 10% after May 1.
The faster timetable and expanded network of inoculation sites represent an effort to outrun the coronavirus as states loosen restrictions on public gatherings and people are eager to return to normal life. New infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all on the rise, fueled by looser behaviors and the virus’ contagious variants."
Bullet train contractor warns of further two-year delay as state struggles to secure land
RALPH VARTABEDIAN, LA Times: "A major construction team on the California bullet train project notified the state rail authority this month that it will not complete a 65-mile section of the future route in Kings County until at least April 14, 2025 — nearly two years after the date that the state included in a business plan adopted Thursday.
The additional delay could again boost costs and jeopardize the state’s funding plan to complete a partial operating system between Bakersfield and Merced by 2030. The project’s rising price tag has forced the state to repeatedly scale it back and delay indefinitely a goal to have the train running from Los Angeles to San Francisco — at speeds up to 220 miles per hour — by 2020.
The notification of the new delay came in a letter dated March 9 to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. A construction team led by the Spanish firm Dragados described a chaotic system for projecting future construction progress because of state delays in securing land for construction."
COVID-19 vaccine site in Northern California closing for two days to host anime event
MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee: "The Roseville site that serves as Placer’s main county-run vaccination center will be closed this Thursday and Friday as the venue hosts an anime event.
A county webpage showing dates and times for COVID-19 vaccine appointments available at The Grounds, formerly the Placer County Fairgrounds, says the clinic will be closed April 1 and April 2 due to an “event at venue.”
The event in question is a swap meet organized by SacAnime. According to websites for the venue and for SacAnime, the event will be held Friday through Sunday at The Grounds, with face masks required and social distancing protocols observed."
JOE FITZGERALD RODRIGUEZ and MATTHEW GREEN, KQED: "It's been a big day for some Berkeley students and parents who have endured a challenging, seemingly endless year of closed classrooms and online learning. On Monday, nearly all Berkeley public elementary schools resumed in-person classes, opening their doors to children in pre-K through second grade — one of the first districts in the region to do so.
Getting to this point has been no small feat, involving months of tense negotiations between the Berkeley Unified School District and the teachers union, as well as sometimes strained involvement from groups of passionate, increasingly frustrated parents.
The day was a moment of excitement and a huge relief, if not some trepidation, for scores of students and parents, especially those who have staunchly advocated for schools to reopen."
Aryan Brotherhood inmates sue over Sacramento jail conditions as they await trial
SAM STANTON, SacBee: "As leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang await trial in Sacramento on federal racketeering charges, they are raising new legal concerns about the conditions of their confinement, with a lawyer for one declaring Monday that his client is being subjected to “torture.”
In recent weeks, defendants in the case - including some who face potential death penalty prosecutions by the federal government - have complained in legal filings about their access to their lawyers, the lack of access to outdoor recreation and the X-ray body scans they are subjected to before being moved to new cells regularly.
Aryan Brotherhood leader Ronald “Renegade” Yandell, who is serving 50 years to life for murder and faces a potential death penalty prosecution in the federal case, also has complained about the lack of a vegetarian diet at the Sacramento County Main Jail, where he is being held pending trial and plans to represent himself in court."
After three weeks on the run, murder defendant wrongly released from jail is caught in Cypress
MATTHEW ORMSETH, LA Times: "A squad of deputy U.S. marshals, police officers and sheriff’s deputies Monday apprehended a man who three weeks earlier was erroneously released from a Los Angeles County Jail, where he was being held on a murder charge, authorities said.
Steven Manzo, charged with gunning down a man in Long Beach in 2018, was discharged from a county jail in Downtown Los Angeles on March 9, with the stated reason being his case was dismissed, booking records show.
Manzo’s release, which prompted a wide-ranging manhunt and led law enforcement officials to shut down the 101 Freeway at the height of rush hour, was believed to have been caused by a clerical error following his arraignment in a Long Beach courtroom."
