California ban on fracking, other oil extraction method dies in state Senate
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "A proposed California law that would have eliminated most oil extraction in the state died Tuesday after failing to clear its first legislative hurdle.
SB467 would have banned the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, along with some other more common ways of removing fossil fuels from the ground. The bill fell one vote short of passing the state Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee.
Had it become law, SB467 would have been one of California’s most aggressive measures yet to combat climate change, and it won support from a wide range of environmental organizations and climate advocates."
Why aren't more men getting the COVID-19 vaccine?
LA Times's SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA: "A man took his adult children to receive COVID-19 vaccinations over the weekend, knowing it was important for them to be immunized against the disease.
But he didn’t feel concerned about his own risk of catching the virus, despite the fact that older people and men are more likely to die from COVID-19, Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director, said this week. He had not made plans to get vaccinated.
“I was worried about him, and so were his children,” said Ferrer, who encountered the family at a Los Angeles vaccination site. “What’s staggering to realize is that the very group of folks who have the higher mortality rate are now also the group of folks that have the lower vaccination rates.”"
READ MORE related to Vaccine: Here's why Santa Clara County is getting a vaccine windfall this week -- The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV; Driving to Sacramento or Tulare for a COVID vaccine/ Read this before looking outside your county -- The Chronicle's JESSICA FLORES
Lost your job in California? New bill might force these employers to hire back workers
Sac Bee's JEONG PARK: "California workers from an industry devastated by the coronavirus pandemic would have a chance to return to the jobs under a bill advanced by the state Assembly this week.
Under the bill, employers in parts of the hospitality industry would have to offer any available jobs first to qualified employees who were laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Companies would have five days to do so, and workers would then have five days to decide whether they want to accept the offer.
Employers affected would include hotels, large event centers and airports, among others."
Which state is doing more for undocumented residents in COVID era? California or NY?
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, some Democratic-led states have sought to provide state-funded COVID relief for undocumented immigrants who were left out of federal stimulus aid.
New York’s legislature recently allotted $2.1 billion in the state budget for undocumented workers who lost employment or income during the pandemic.
California is home to nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants — nearly twice the size of New York’s undocumented population. It created a $75 million disaster relief program that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last May to help undocumented immigrants and it expanded the state’s social safety net in other ways to help people who missed out on stimulus checks from the IRS."
How Wine Country's insular nature played a role in Foppoli's alleged misconduct
The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY: "In the days since a Chronicle investigation was published that detailed allegations of sexual assault by Dominic Foppoli, the public outcry has focused on removing Foppoli from his office as the mayor of Windsor. He has denied the allegations and said he will not resign.
But Foppoli isn’t just a politician. He has another identity, too, one that often confers quite a bit of status in Sonoma County: a vintner. Since 2012, Foppoli has co-owned Christopher Creek Winery, on the outskirts of Healdsburg, with his brother, Joe. Following the allegations, Joe has asked Dominic to leave the winery.
My colleagues have been looking at how Foppoli rose politically, and in doing so, they’ve also asked me: How did people in Sonoma County’s wine industry see Foppoli? What was his reputation as a winery owner? Is it possible that other winemakers in the county, too, had heard about some of Foppoli’s alleged sexual misconduct, as former Windsor Mayor Debora Fudge had?"
The simple local solution to sea level rise? Mud from the bottom of SF Bay
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "Protecting the Bay Area from sea level rise may all come down to mud.
That’s the finding of a new report from San Francisco Estuary Institute that tries to address a two-part problem related to the looming threat of sea level rise: the lack of natural sediment coming into the bay and the need to reinforce its shorelines to protect the region from rising seas.
There’s a fairly straightforward solution, the nonprofit research organization proposes: Take the sediment that’s dredged from the bay’s shipping channels and barged out to sea or to deep parts of the bay — 2½ to 3 million cubic yards of mud a year — and use it to restore wetlands on the perimeter. The estimated cost is $25 million to $35 million a year, which the authors say is far less expensive than building seawalls or making emergency fixes to flooded highways and airports."
Placerville drops noose on city logo after months of debate
LA Times's LELA SEIDMAN: "Behind a man stooping low to pan for gold, a noose hangs from a tree.
“Old Hangtown” boasts the logo of Placerville, Calif. — a reference to its Gold Rush-era moniker.
The Northern California city has been embroiled in a debate for nearly a year over whether to drop the logo’s macabre symbol, which has been equally described as an indelible part of the area’s history and a shameful reminder of it."
Universities plan a mix of in-person, virtual commencement ceremonies
EdSource's MICHAEL BURKE/ASHLEY A SMITH: "Commencement ceremonies at many of California’s colleges and universities will look a bit closer to normal this year, though with a few twists.
In-person commencement ceremonies across the state were canceled last year because of Covid-19’s spread, and they were instead held virtually. This spring, some University of California and California State University campuses are still planning to keep commencements virtual, but others are hopeful they can celebrate with traditional in-person ceremonies or combine a form of the two.
Improving Covid-19 infection rates encouraged California State University, Fresno, for example, to allow small in-person ceremonies scheduled for May 14 to 16."
READ MORE related to Education: Debate overm $167 housing stipend for medical residents stalls talks between guild, UC Davis -- The Chronicle's ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS; Black students in 14 LA County school districts face seriuous equity barriers, study finds -- LA Times's MELISSA GOMEZ
How will Hollywood get back to fuil speed after the pandemic?
LA Times's RYANN FAUGHNDER/ANOUSHA SAKOUI: "In Los Angeles, Hollywood’s awakening from the COVID-19 pandemic has been visible to anyone walking city streets in the last several months.
The usual signs of activity for the film and TV industry — production crews taking over parking lots, yellow signs telling workers where to go — are back. Movie theaters are open and actually starting to show big films. Prop houses and other local businesses dependent on the film and television industry are returning to life. Major studios have been issuing guidelines for eventually returning to offices.
With vaccinations rolling out across the country and California Gov. Gavin Newsom setting a target to fully open the state’s economy by June 15, there’s a growing sense that things are finally on the mend. That should come as a big relief for the state’s economy, of which entertainment jobs are a key driver."
'White Lives Matter' rallies fizzled. Hate groups still see chance to 'fire up the base'
LA Times's HAYLEY SMITH/HANNAH FRY/ANITA CHABRIA: "When white nationalists failed to turn out in threatening numbers Sunday at a Huntington Beach rally, many counter-protesters viewed it as a victory.
“We’ve won the day,” Los Angeles activist Najee Ali said several hours into the protest. “They’re not going to show up. They’re vastly outnumbered. The community of Huntington Beach won.”
Yet those who track extremist movements say that the truth is more complex and troubling."
Biden to announce plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11
LA Times's DAVID S CLOUID/TRACY WILKINSON: "President Biden is set to announce a plan Wednesday to withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sparked the United States’ longest war.
The plan, which U.S. officials disclosed Tuesday, means that many of the few thousand troops in Afghanistan will remain after May 1, a deadline the Trump administration set last year in a deal with the Taliban.
But two decades after they arrived, U.S. troops appear all but certain to exit Afghanistan within five months, leaving the Afghan government to fight on largely alone against an enemy that has been gaining ground and that has balked at a U.S.-led push for a peace settlement."
Infamous Ponzi master-schemer Bernie Madoff dead in prison at 82
AP's MICHAEL BALSAMO/TOM HAYS: "Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died in a federal prison early Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently from natural causes, the person said. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Last year, Madoff's lawyers filed court papers to try to get the 82-year-old released from prison in the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he had suffered from end-stage renal disease and other chronic medical conditions. The request was denied."
