Newsom launches effort to deal with drought; emergencies declared in two counties
BETTINA BOXALL, LA Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a drought emergency in two Northern California counties as he stood on the dry shoreline of Lake Mendocino.
The declaration gives state regulators expanded powers to curtail diversions in the parched Russian River watershed and relax river flow standards that would require more releases from the region’s shrinking reservoirs.
Newsom has been under pressure from some quarters to declare a statewide drought emergency. But the administration favors a more targeted approach."
How pandemic delivered humbling defeat for California's struggling farmworkers union
Sac Bee, DALE KASLER: "The United Farm Workers had itself a win. But the celebration didn’t last long.
In late January, the legendary labor union obtained a court injunction requiring Foster Poultry Farms to follow COVID-19 rules at its main chicken-processing plant in Livingston, a small farming-dependent town in Merced County. Hundreds of UFW members had been sickened at the plant and as many as nine workers died.
Six days after the judge ruled, the plant’s workers voted the United Farm Workers out."
Some of the biggest names in the California GOP are staying quiet on recalling Gavin Newsom
Sac Bee, LARA KORTE/DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom is a top priority for Republicans across America. The Republican National Committee has donated $250,000 to the effort, and big-name GOP leaders like Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrinch have offered their support and financial backing to the campaign.
But some of California’s best-known Republicans are staying fairly quiet. Eleven members of the state’s congressional delegation are Republicans, and recall organizers say they are not particularly involved in the push to oust Newsom.
“I am very happy with the level of support they’re giving, which is zero,” recall leader Orrin Heatlie said of California’s Republican Congressional delegation. “This is a movement of the people, by the people. This isn’t a party movement, this is a people’s movement. We are not specifically seeking the endorsement of Republican Congress people.”"
State lawmakers, sensing opportunity to undo Roe vs. Wade, propose a flood of abortion bills
LA Times, MELANIE MASON: "Energized by the conservative tilt of the U.S. Supreme Court, legislators in Republican-led states have put forward hundreds of abortion restrictions, including near-total bans, eager to offer the vehicle to achieve a longstanding goal: the unwinding of Roe vs. Wade.
The barrage of bills introduced this year — the first legislative session since Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed last fall, cementing the court’s conservative majority — reflects the growing sense of opportunity among abortion opponents.
“There’s just a lot of hope out there on the pro-life side,” said Arizona state Sen. Nancy Barto, a Republican. “For a long time, we haven’t made a lot of progress. Everybody is seeing the possibilities now. It has emboldened states.”"
As Foppoli faces sexual assault allegations, Windsor officials look to eliminate elected mayor position
The Chronicle, CYNTHIA DIZIKES: "Reeling from sexual assault allegations made against Mayor Dominic Foppoli, Windsor officials said Wednesday evening that they will consider scrapping the position of elected mayor, among other possible steps, as Foppoli refuses to heed their demand for his resignation.
Council member Debora Fudge said she would like to explore a new model that would divide Windsor into five districts instead of four, eliminating the newly-created elected mayor position before the November 2022 election.
"I think it's something we need to work on as soon as possible, and as quickly as possible," Fudge said. Her colleagues, Esther Lemus and Sam Salmon, said they would support such a measure."
Find a COVID vaccine appointment -- and see how many people in California are vaccinated
Sac Bee, AARON ALBRIGHT: "To date, about 17.6 million people in California have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.
The data below offers an at-a-glance view of the current vaccination progress in the state and the country. Use the download button to save and share the information cards as images.
The page will be updated daily. Vaccine appointment availability is updated every 30 minutes."
READ MORE VACCINE NEWS --- When needles strike fear, practice comes before the COVID-19 vaccine -- LA Times, COLLEEN SHALBY
These Bay Area cities offer -- or are studying -- guaranteed income pilot programs
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI/TODD TRUMBULL: "Guaranteed income programs have been around for centuries with a mention in Thomas More’s 1516 book “Utopia.” While the various welfare programs sprung up in the 1930s, a backlash was brewing by time the War on Poverty was launched during the 1960’s. Critics argued that increasing welfare encouraged people to reject work. In 1996, President Bill Clinton passed legislation that added work requirements for aid and capped how much aid a person could get.
Politicians today say the narrative surrounding welfare must change. Support has recently grown for guaranteed income — giving cash payments to those who need it without any strings attached. Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced a proposal during his candidacy to give $1,000 a month to every U.S. citizen over the age of 18. Now, cities throughout the country are creating their own guaranteed income pilot programs.
Supporters argue that city pilot programs will ultimately show the federal government the benefits of these programs. They say that people will work just as hard with an added financial benefit and the extra cash helps keep people from falling deeper into poverty. In the Bay Area, several cities have launched or are in the process of creating guaranteed income program pilots.
California 'burn bosses' set controlled forest fires. Should they be safe from lawsuits?
Sac Bee, RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER: "Across California, property owners and their “burn bosses” are setting fires. When the weather is cool, calm and wet enough, these planned forest fires are designed to clear overgrown vegetation that could accelerate a wildfire in dry months.
They do this knowing they risk financial ruin from a lawsuit if something goes wrong.
Now, Native American tribes, ranchers, timber companies and conservation groups are teaming up to reduce those liability risks in a battle that pits them against the state’s powerful trial lawyers and insurance industries."
READ MORE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS --- Biden opens climate summit with call for steep emissions cuts -- LA Times, CHRIS MEGERIAN; US Forest Service logging challenged in California lawsuit to protect endangered mammal -- Sac Bee, CARMEN GEORGE; Point Reyes plan for cattle ranches, elk herds faces impassioned opposition ahead of key vote -- The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER;
Family of man who died in Alameda police custody says he had no known medical conditions
The Chronicle, LAUREN HERNANDEZ/NORA MISHANEC: "The family of Mario Arenales Gonzalez, an Oakland man who died Monday in Alameda police custody, questioned the police account of the death as a medical emergency, saying 26-year-old Gonzalez was healthy and had no known health conditions.
Gonzalez died Monday morning after suffering a “medical emergency” while officers attempted to place his hands behind his back, Alameda Police Capt. Jeff Emmitt said Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, the family joined a vigil for Gonzalez near Otis Drive in Alameda, where the man’s brother, Gerardo Gonzalez, called for an independent autopsy and demanded the release of audio and video footage of the incident."
SF debates controversial homeless proposal to make city provide shelter to all
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "San Francisco leaders considered a controversial — and costly — proposal Wednesday that would require the city to provide shelter for all unhoused people, which would likely mean expanding sanctioned tent encampments until enough permanent housing is available.
Dozens of advocates, residents and business owners spoke passionately for and against the proposal during an hours-long public comment at a budget committee hearing as the city grapples with worsening homelessness and debates the most effective way to tackle the crisis.
If approved, supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s “Place for All” proposal — introduced last year — would direct the city to create a plan to shelter unhoused people within four months and identify and set up sites within two years. Shelter could be tents, tiny homes or other options, although Mandelman told The Chronicle he believed the city would have to rely at first on Safe Sleeping Sites — sanctioned encampments."
READ MORE HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS NEWS --- Skid Row is skeptical of judge's order to sweep homeless people into shelters -- LA Timed, GALE HOLLAND
Biden under pressure to become first US president to recognize Armenian genocide
LA Times, JENNIFER HABERKORN: "Ahead of Saturday’s annual commemoration of the killing of more than a million Armenians a century ago, Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are pressing President Biden to become the first U.S. president to acknowledge the events as genocide.
Armenian Americans, including the large diaspora in Southern California, have fought for decades to get the federal government to identify the years-long slaughter during the fall of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. But the acknowledgment has remained elusive, falling victim to political worries about destroying an important relationship with what is now Turkey, a NATO ally.
Biden is widely expected to make the declaration in a statement Saturday, according to several people familiar with the conversations. Asked Wednesday whether he would do so, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she didn’t “have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time.”"
The nation lauds Chauvin's verdict in death of George Floyd. But what's next in movement for racial justice?
LA Times, KURTIS LEE: "The screech of an electric screwdriver echoed off downtown skyscrapers as a man peeled the plywood from the front entrance of a hotel. A Minnesota National Guard soldier — unarmed and relaxed — stood nearby next to a Humvee.
A day after jurors convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd, this city, which, like the rest of the nation, spent weeks bracing for a verdict that might ignite unrest, finally exhaled. Stores opened. Barricades were brought down. It felt — from south Minneapolis to the banks of the Mississippi River — as if justice had lived into another day.
But the feeling was fleeting. Lisa Cotton, who has been shining shoes in the lobby of a building here for years, put it this way: “My white clients often ask how I am feeling, how I am holding up,” she said about the past year of upheaval and marches to battle systemic racism and police brutality. “I often flip the question back on them, ‘How are you feeling? What are you going to do to inflict change at this moment?’”"
