California's highest COVID infection rates shift to rural counties
KHN, PHILLIP REESE: "Most of us are familiar with the good news: In recent weeks, rates of COVID-19 infection and death have plummeted in California, falling to levels not seen since the early days of the pandemic. The average number of new COVID infections reported each day dropped by an astounding 98% from December to June, according to figures from the California Department of Public Health.
And bolstering that trend, nearly 70% of Californians 12 and older are partially or fully vaccinated.
But state health officials are still reporting nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than two dozen COVID-related deaths per day. So, where does covid continue to simmer in California? And why?"
COVID-19 hospitalizations worsen for Black LA County residents
LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II/LUKE MONEY: "Coronavirus case and hospitalization rates are worsening for Los Angeles County’s Black residents, a troubling sign less than a month after California fully reopened its economy.
Between mid-May and mid-June, the COVID-19 case rate over a two-week-period rose 18% among Black residents but declined 4% for Latino residents, 6% for white residents and 25% for Asian Americans. And the hospitalization rate for Black residents — who are less likely than other racial and ethnic groups to be vaccinated — grew by 11% while declining for Asian American residents by 12%, Latino residents by 29% and white residents by 37%.
Experts expressed shock and alarm at the rise in hospitalizations among Black residents. The trend underscores how — despite L.A. County’s devastating autumn-and-winter surge — many unvaccinated and susceptible people remain. Doctors warn the latest figures could be a prelude to rising deaths in the coming weeks and months."
California is restoring electric car rebates, but some environmentalists aren't happy
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "California is slated soon to reinstate funding for subsidies that encourage drivers to buy electric cars, a program advocates say will help the state prepare for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
But who exactly will get rebate checks has created a divide between some state legislators and environmental activists, who say more money should be directed to help low-income drivers go electric.
Under the budget legislators sent Newsom last week, the state will spend $525 million over three years on its main rebate program, which offers electric car buyers incentives of around $2,000 on new electric vehicles."
This week's heat wave could bring triple digit temps to parts of the Bay Area
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "The Fourth of July weekend brought pleasant weather for most of the Bay Area and Northern California, but that summer relief won’t last.
A heat wave is expected to ramp up temperatures across the region and state, particularly inland areas, though meteorologists were unsure Monday of the incoming heat’s severity.
San Francisco will experience a peak of 74 degrees Thursday with sunny conditions, and low 70s into the weekend. Temperatures in Oakland and Berkeley will peak in the low to mid 70s by the end of the week."
Firefighters battle blazes across California as hot, dry weather raises concerns
LA Times, MARISSA EVANS: "Hot and dry conditions in California are worrying fire and weather officials as crews work to contain multiple fires statewide.
As of Monday, the Tumbleweed fire in the Gorman area, which started over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, had burned 1,000 acres of brush and was only about 10% contained, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Although the fire can be seen from Interstate 5, the department does not currently have plans to close the area. The fire has not damaged any structures, and no buildings appeared to be in danger, a department spokesman said.
“We’re trying to increase that percentage of containment to make sure the fire doesn’t advance or jump out of the area that it’s already burned,” Capt. Ron Haralson said."
Fire crews get upper hand on Lava and Tennant wildfires
MATTHIAS GAFNI, Chronicle: "Fire crews began to get the upper hand on two of three large fires burning in the northern expanses of the state Monday.
The Lava and Tennant fires in Siskiyou and Shasta counties mostly burned pockets of fuel within the blazes’ perimeters, keeping them from gaining much size. Crews had the Lava Fire contained to 71% and 25,000 acres Monday, up from 52% containment the day before. The Tennant Fire jumped to 53% containment, up from 29% containment 24 hours earlier, officials said. Progress allowed Caltrans to reopen Highway 97 by 6 p.m. Monday.
Meanwhile, the Salt Fire, on the northern edge of Shasta Lake, is at 20% containment and approaching 12,000 acres burned, fire officials said."
Colleges prepare for incoming freshmen with high school learning loss
LARRY GORDON, EdSource: "Beyond the usual efforts to get new students off a good start, college and university campuses in California and across the nation this fall face special challenges in welcoming freshmen who have not been in a real classroom for a year and a half.
Campuses say they are concerned that many freshmen have suffered some or even significant learning loss as a result of all the remote high school instruction during the pandemic. Colleges and faculty plan to provide extra tutoring, more academic counseling, some changes in courses and, if necessary, a slower teaching pace at first to help students rebuild their academic and social strengths.
“Of course, they are not going to have the skills they were supposed to have. There will be some gaps in their learning from senior year in high school. We have to get ready for that,” said Tina Jordan, Sacramento State University’s assistant vice president for strategic success initiatives."
Rep. Mike Garcia's voting record: Will it be an obstacle to reelection?
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA: "As Rep. Mike Garcia reflected on his first year in office, he highlighted stands that many Californians would favor: Urging the repeal of a Trump-era tax measure that hurts residents in high-tax states. Fighting against federal funding for the state’s troubled high-speed rail project. Helping military spouses maintain professional licenses when they move.
“One year in, and we are just getting started. California is home, and it’s too good to give up on,” Garcia wrote in a May article in Santa Clarita’s the Signal newspaper. “We owe it to our children to make sure that they have the same incredible opportunities and assured security that this nation and this state afforded us.”
The congressman, whose district includes northern Los Angeles County, omitted other parts of his record: Voting against the certification of electoral votes in Pennsylvania and Arizona that helped cement Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Opposing the impeachment of President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Standing against legalizing Dreamers and reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Cosponsoring legislation that would effectively ban all abortion and some forms of birth control."
Battery-powered trains could be a climate game changer. Is everyone all aboard?
LA Times, RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "Colossal freight locomotives are a fixture of the American landscape, but their 4,400-horsepower engines collectively burn 3.5 billion gallons of diesel annually, at a time when railroads and other fossil fuel users face pressure to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
With little fanfare, however, the industry has begun operating locomotives that run on stored electrical power, moving toward a future in which toy shops are not the only source of battery trains. American passenger lines could also be transformed by the technology, though California rail officials say it will not work for the state’s bullet train.
In a just-completed test, BNSF ran a freight train from Barstow to Stockton with an experimental battery locomotive, coupled with two diesel locomotives, and achieved an 11% reduction in fuel consumption, along with similar reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxides, small particulates and greenhouse gases. An upgraded future operational version is expected to improve fuel efficiency by 30%."
Law gives California students ways to repair low grades from pandemic year
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "A new law offers California students several ways to make up for lost learning after the profound disruptions of the pandemic year.
Under AB104, signed into law Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, K-12 students have a number of options to make up for the 2020-21 school year. They include retaking a grade level, changing low grades to pass or no pass, or enrolling in a fifth year of high school for juniors or seniors.
Data has shown that the 2021-22 school year resulted in significant learning loss for many California students in English language arts and math. The San Francisco Unified School District released data in January showing that low-income and minority groups lost the most academic ground as schools shifted to full-time distance learning — a finding echoed statewide by an analysis from the PACE nonpartisan research center."
As economy reopens, Bay Area venues 'left behind' by bungled federal program
The Chronicle, LILY JANIAK: "Jason Hoover has developed a routine when it comes to dealing with the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, the pandemic-spurred federal program meant to aid struggling theaters and concert halls.
Each workday, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre managing director and his English bulldog, Wynonna, make their rounds inside the 961-seat Marina venue. The two have been its lone occupants since the theater’s Paycheck Protection Program loan ran out in October and Hoover had to furlough his five employees.
Then, between scraping gum off seats, dusting stage lights and other sundry maintenance, Hoover logs in “probably three times a day” to the grant portal — a program of the Small Business Administration — to check on his application. He’s been told he’ll get an email if his status changes, but the stakes are so high he keeps checking anyway. If he’s accepted, the theater can get up to 45% of its 2019 revenue, or $870,000."
Oakland police overwhelmed with July Fourth violence: '12 hours of nonstop chaos'
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "Oakland police responded to seven shootings, two deaths and a huge sideshow overnight on the Fourth of July in “12 hours of nonstop chaos,” Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said Monday.
The seven shootings took place from 6:30 p.m. Sunday until 10 a.m. Monday. Six were in East Oakland and one in North Oakland. One victim was a 16-year-old boy.
One shooting led to the city’s 67th homicide this year after a 48-year-old man died on the street just after midnight. Another man died of blunt trauma to the head, the cause of which is under investigation. A female victim was in grave condition Monday and not expected to survive."
More than a dozen Angelenos dead in bloody Fourth of July weekend
LA Times, SONJA SHARP: "When Kena Evans heard gunshots early Monday morning outside her Venice apartment, the first thing she did was call her son.
Ty Bray, 18, a 2021 Venice High School graduate, had been driving home with a friend in his lovingly restored 1979 Cadillac when shots rang out about 2:30 a.m., she said.
“The [passenger] was the one who answered the phone,” Evans said. “She didn’t know where she was.”"
Hate crimes soared against Black Californians last year. Were Trump and racist backlash to blame?
The Chronicle, SHWANIKA HARAYAN: "An alarming rise in anti-Asian attacks in California may have obscured another bleak statistic for the state last year: hate crimes against Black people increased to their highest number in more than a decade.
According to a report released last week by the California Department of Justice, 457 hate crimes with an anti-Black or anti-African American bias were reported to law enforcement in 2020. That represents a nearly 88% increase from 2019.
While crimes with an anti-Asian bias experienced the largest year-to-year increase from 2019 to 2020 at 107%, the number of actual crimes was comparatively smaller, with 89 reported last year."
