SF will require all city workers to be vaccinated. Those who don't could be fired
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: "San Francisco will require all 35,000 city employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus once a vaccine receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, city officials said Wednesday.
The new policy makes San Francisco the first city or county in California — and probably the U.S. — to mandate COVID vaccinations for all government employees.
San Francisco previously announced that it will require employees to be vaccinated in high-risk settings, including hospitals, nursing homes and jails, regardless of whether they work for the city. The new policy will mandate vaccinations for all city employees, from police and firefighters to Muni operators and City Hall clerks and custodians. It does not cover teachers, who are school district employees."
Newsom Misled the Public About Wildfire Prevention Efforts Ahead Of Worst Fire Season On Record
SCOTT RODD, CapRadio: "On Gavin Newsom’s first full day in office, Jan. 8, 2019, the newly elected governor stood before the cameras, clad in jeans and sneakers and surrounded by emergency responders, and declared war on wildfires.
“Everybody has had enough,” the governor said, announcing he’d signed a sweeping executive order overhauling the state’s approach to wildfire prevention. Climate change was sparking fires more frequent, ferocious, and far-reaching than ever before, Newsom said, and confronting them would have to become a year-round effort.
The state’s response, Newsom added, “fundamentally has to change.”
Newsom recall date could come soon as counties update signature totals
JEREMY WHITE, Politico: "A push to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved into its next phase on Wednesday as counties submitted updated signature counts.
State law allows people who sign recall petitions to subsequently withdraw their support. That process saw a grand total of 43 Californians erase their signatures, according to the Secretary of State's office, putting the total at 1,719,900 — more than 200,000 beyond what is necessary to force a vote.
This was something of a formality. Newsom's team had already conceded that the signature withdrawal window would not prevent the recall from qualifying."
California eviction moratorium still in limbo ahead of June 30 expiration
LAUREN HEPLER and Alexei KOSEFF, Chronicle: "A push to extend California’s eviction freeze for struggling tenants is down to the wire, with less than a week before the current moratorium is set to expire on June 30.
Even with the impending deadline, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have struggled to come up with a plan that can satisfy both tenant advocates warning of a looming eviction wave and property owners who want to tighten eligibility requirements.
Because bills must be in print for at least 72 hours before the Legislature can vote on them, lawmakers have until Sunday at the latest to reach a deal that can be passed by the end of the month. Progress toward an agreement this week has been halting, with attention divided by state budget negotiations that face the same deadlines and differing views of how successful California has been in reviving its economy after the worst of the coronavirus pandemic."
Sac Bee, MOLLY SULLIVAN: "Placer County officials unanimously voted Tuesday to submit letters to Gov. Gavin Newsom voicing support for resolutions to end the COVID-19 statewide emergency and curtail the governor’s use of emergency executive powers.
The resolutions, written by Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, and state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore would allow the state legislature to “declare that the state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor on March 4, 2020, is at an end, thereby terminating the emergency powers granted to the Governor as a result of that proclamation,” according to SCR-5, introduced by Melendez.
“Placer County is in full support of those letters,” Supervisor Suzanne Jones said in a board meeting. Jones represents the Granite Bay area."
This $41M Lake Tahoe property with a tie to Sen. Feinstein is up for sale
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "A $41 million Lake Tahoe compound linked to Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband, investment banker Richard Blum, is up for sale, according to Realtor.com.
The gated property, set on 4.75 acres, includes three homes totaling 10,343 square feet of living space, 278 feet of private, white sand beach, a 172-foot pier extending into the water, and a boatlift and two buoys.
With its $41 million price tag, the property pencils out at $3,964 per square foot. The median list price for South Lake Tahoe is $461 per square foot, according to Realtor.com."
Judge blocks FBI from keeping cash, gold and silver seized in Beverly Hills raid
MICHAEL FINNEGAN, LA Times: "A federal judge has blocked the FBI from confiscating some of the valuables it seized from safe deposit boxes at a Beverly Hills business, saying the government appeared to be violating the owners’ rights.
The temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner marked a setback for the FBI in its attempt to keep as much as $86 million in cash and millions of dollars more in jewelry, gold and other valuables that agents took from 369 safe deposit boxes at the U.S. Private Vaults store on Olympic Boulevard.
The FBI has claimed the owners of the cash and valuables were engaged in criminal activity that justifies the confiscation of their property. The agency, however, has not publicly disclosed evidence to support the allegation."
Richmond mayor says city manager, city attorney illegally spent tax dollars investigating him
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "The mayor of Richmond called for the ouster of both the city manager and city attorney on Wednesday, saying the city officials illegally spent thousands of dollars in city funds to investigate him.
Mayor Tom Butt said City Manager Laura Snideman and City Attorney Teresa Stricker authorized spending $45,000 in public funds to hire a lawyer and a private investigator to probe whether Butt took an illegal payout.
In a statement emailed to his constituents and news media, the mayor called on Snideman and Stricker to resign over the “unnecessary and illegal investigation,” which he said was launched in late 2019 without City Council approval and in violation of the city’s charter. If they do not resign, Butt said he will push to fire the two city leaders at a City Council meeting on June 29, noting that he had “lost all trust and all faith in both.”"
A new Postal Service proposal could slow down the mail. How long will you have to wait?
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "You might be waiting longer for that package to arrive under a proposal announced earlier this month by the U.S. Postal Service.
Under the proposed 10-year plan, a third of first class packages will be delayed up to five days, an increase from the existing first class service standard of one to three days.
The U.S. Postal Service, led by Postmaster Louis DeJoy who was appointed under then-President Donald Trump, contends the change is necessary because the existing service standards are unattainable."
Newsom wil face a recall after only 43 Californians withdrew petition signatures
Sac Bee, LARA KORTE: "Only 43 of the more than 1.7 million Californians who signed a petition to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom withdrew their signatures over the last several weeks, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
The remaining count still meets the threshold to initiate a recall election, which will almost certainly be held sometime this year.
Recall proponents had already turned in a sufficient number of verified recall signatures in April. However, in accordance with California election law, voters were given a 30-day period from April 26 to June 8 to request county officials remove their signatures from recall petitions."
New California national monument near Santa Cruz to open next summer
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The new and much-anticipated national monument in Santa Cruz County, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, will open to the public as soon as next summer, according to a plan released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
The long-awaited debut of the sprawling coastal hills and redwood forests is the culmination of a decades-long effort to turn what was once private ranching, logging and mining land into a high-profile public destination and preserve.
The Bureau of Land Management’s plan for the nearly 6,000-acre monument calls for two entrance points along Highway 1 that welcome hikers, bikers and horseback riders to 27 miles of new trails. Construction of the primitive visitor facilities is expected to begin this fall with a portion completed by next summer."
Grading changes, other COVID accomodations await Gov. Newsom's signature
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "California students would have an opportunity to mitigate the academic harm from the pandemic under legislation headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until the first week in July to decide whether to sign it.
Assembly Bill 104, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales, D-San Diego, would create several options to counteract the negative impact on grades and graduation credits. They include changing low grades to a pass or no pass option, taking an extra year of high school and waiving local district graduation requirements that exceed the state credit and course minimums for students who were juniors or seniors in the 2020-21 school year. Families of a student with failing grades could also formally request their school to allow their child to repeat the grade. The Legislature approved the bill Monday.
“Kids who struggled with distance learning during the pandemic shouldn’t be penalized for falling behind during such a difficult year,” Gonzalez said in a statement."
Regents alter policy with religious hospitals -- requires UC doctors be allowed to perform certain procedures
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "University of California Regents, facing criticism for contracts with religious hospitals that refuse to provide abortions, sterilizations or transgender surgery, adopted a new policy Wednesday that retains the contracts but requires the hospitals to let UC physicians perform those procedures when patients can’t be transferred safely to another hospital.
The university is fighting legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would require it to end contracts with religious health facilities — like Dignity Health, California’s largest hospital chain — unless the hospitals changed their policies or did not apply them to UC physicians and students working there.
Wednesday’s regents vote moves in that direction, though it does not require termination of any of the contracts the university says it has with 77 hospitals and other health facilities in California. UC officials say the contracts allow its medical staff to provide care for 35,000 patients, many of them low-income Californians with little access to hospital treatment."
Sacramento airports to receive nearly $50M in FAA grants
Sac Bee, VICTORIA HSIEH: "The Sacramento Department of Airports was awarded $48.6 million in federal grants Wednesday to help in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cindy Nichol, director of airports for Sacramento County, said the money from the Federal Aviation Administration will help keep workers employed and assist the continued recovery of “our airlines and tenants as more of our customers begin traveling again.”
More than $43.1 million of the money will go to airport recovery efforts and approximately $5.5 million will go to rent relief for in-terminal businesses. These grants were part of the Airport Rescue Plan Act of 2021, intended to aid in the economic recovery of the national airport system."
