Tesla to move headquarters to Texas from Palo Alto
RUSS MITCHELL, LA Times: "Tesla is moving its Palo Alto headquarters to Austin, Texas, Chief Executive Elon Musk said Thursday.
Speaking at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, he added little detail and did not explain why he’s making the move or how the move will affect the headcount at the Palo Alto offices, which include research and development operations.
However, Musk emphasized that “this is not a matter of leaving California” and said the Fremont auto assembly plant and the Nevada plant near Reno will each grow by 50%, though he gave no timeline. “Our Fremont plant is jammed, whoa,” he said. “We’re continuing to expand in California significantly.”
Newsom veteos bill giving prisoners visitation rights
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "Legislation to give prisoners in California a legal right to visits from family and friends, and limit state officials’ authority to restrict visitation, was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the bill went too far.
California’s nearly 99,000 inmates currently can receive visitors under rules set by state prison officials. Their regulations allow in-person visits three days a week, but bar visitors who have recent felony convictions or current arrest warrants and those who took part in the inmate’s crimes. Visits are limited to specified hours, although some prisoners are allowed longer, private visits with family members.
State law requires officials to consider the value of visits in improving prison safety, maintaining family relations and preparing inmates for future release, but allows them to set whatever limits they consider appropriate and does not declare any right for inmates to challenge those rules."
California judge blocks 1100-home development near San Diego, citing wildfire hazards
Sacramento Bee, DALE KASLER: "A judge has blocked a major Southern California housing development in part over concerns over wildfire risks — the latest example of the courts stepping in when construction creeps into fire-prone areas of the state.
Ruling on a challenge to the 1,100-home Otay Ranch development near Chula Vista, in San Diego County, a judge late Thursday rejected the environmental impact report the county was required to prepare before signing off on the project.
Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney said the report failed to adequately examine multiple potential impacts of the project, including the possibility of a major fire. In particular, the judge scolded the county for not recognizing the risks that would come with adding 1,100 homes in a remote area, with “humans being an ignition cause of wildfire.”"
These are the deadliest national parks in the US
The Chronicle, MATTHIAS GAFNI/NAMI SUMIDA: "Below North America’s tallest peak lies six million acres of wild land in the heart of untamed Alaska. Denali National Park & Preserve entices some of the hardiest and experienced climbers and backpackers.
But for every 1 million people that visit the jewel of Alaska more than nine have died, the most deadly rate of all the National Park Service’s parks or recreation areas over the last 14 years where at least 20 people died.
Almost four out of every 10 deaths there are from falling. Many climbers are seduced by the 20,310-foot snow-covered Denali peak. The park had about 6.5 million visitors from 2007 to 2020, and 61 deaths (4.4 annually). Virgin Islands National Park, with its beautiful beaches and coral reefs, had the next highest death rate. It saw 4.7 deaths per 1 million visitors during that same time span, nearly half from drowning."
California senator insists immigration reform still possible despite budget setback
Sacramento Bee, GILLIAN BRASSIL: "One of Congress’ fiercest advocates for immigration reform says protections for undocumented people will be included in a sweeping year-end budget bill despite a decision from a Senate official who found the proposals don’t belong in the spending package.
The $3.5 trillion package, known as the budget reconciliation bill, aims to set funding aside for social spending, such as for paid leave, tax deductions and these immigration provisions. Democrats want to use it for immigration reform because they can pass a spending bill without any Republican votes.
“I haven’t given up on the reconciliation opportunity at all,” California Sen. Alex Padilla said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee on Thursday."
This neighborhood in Marin is the most segregated in the Bay Area
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "For many Bay Area residents, Marin County conjures up images of large single-family homes nestled in hilly woodlands, populated by affluent, mostly white families. The county’s median household income is $115,000, making it the third-highest earning county in California. It’s also the whitest county in the Bay Area, with 66% of its population identifying as non-Hispanic white.
But there’s one neighborhood in the county that’s less than 5% white, and over 90% Hispanic: the Canal Area in San Rafael.
This neighborhood is the most racially segregated in the Bay Area, according to a new analysis by the Othering and Belonging Institute, a research organization that is part of UC Berkeley. The institute seeks to measure how residential segregation in the modern U.S. concentrates people of color in neighborhoods with fewer resources, with negative consequences for life expectancy, earnings potential and overall well-being."
Paperwork is holding up California's cannabis industry. Will $100M fix it?
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "As thousands of provisional marijuana license holders in California struggle to secure a full annual license, the state is kicking in $100 million to help cities and counties to address the backlog.
California voters in 2016 voted to legalize the sale of adult-use cannabis, opening the door for a legal recreational cannabis market in the state. The state began issuing licenses in 2018, including provisional licenses.
Provisional licenses were intended by the state to be a stepping stone to help marijuana cultivators, retailers and distributors enter the legal cannabis marketplace. They are intended to be replaced by full annual licenses."
California's COVID cases are lower in other states that are more vaccinated. Why?
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "California, the U.S. coronavirus hot spot early this year, in recent weeks has recorded some of the lowest case rates in the country.
How did that happen? And why does it appear to have reversed positions with states that fared better through the winter surge?
One clear example is the New England states of Vermont and Maine. Relatively shielded from the worst of the nation’s previous surges, they have struggled against the delta variant, which has sent their case rates soaring."
Even in Bay Area, mask fatigue is rising fast
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: "Dr. Grant Colfax was about halfway into a community meeting on how San Francisco has weathered the pandemic when the topic of masks, perhaps inevitably, came up.
Wearing them indoors, in spaces where everyone is vaccinated, feels performative, said Manny Yekutiel, owner of Manny’s, the Mission District restaurant hosting the event last week with San Francisco’s head of public health. Yekutiel gestured around the space, where three-dozen people — all of whom had provided proof of vaccination before coming inside, all wearing face coverings — gathered on sofas and folding chairs to listen.
Colfax couldn’t say when mask mandates might be lifted, though he and his peers are now expected to offer some guidance on Thursday. At the meeting, Colfax conceded masks might be around in some high-risk settings for the foreseeable future. Yekutiel said he understood, but after nearly two years of living under the fear and uncertainty of a pandemic and facing down four surges, he was exhausted."
Cruise ships to return to SF after 18-month pandemic pause
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "In a first since the pandemic began in 2020, a cruise ship will sail into the Port of San Francisco on Monday.
The event may have particular resonance in the Bay Area, where a coronavirus crisis aboard a different cruise ship 18 months ago first helped bring the reality of the pandemic home for millions in the U.S.
But officials are touting the comeback of cruises as more than symbolic — they say it’s crucial to San Francisco’s economic recovery."
Poll: One in six people in Sacramento area are food insecure
Sacramento Bee, ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "About 16% of people in the Sacramento region say they have low food security or very low food security, according to a new poll published Monday by Valley Vision and Capital Public Radio.
Researchers found that people are struggling to find and purchase healthy food at a higher rate than the national average, with disparities in access along racial and economic lines and among age groups. The poll, reflecting responses from nearly 900 residents from across the six-county capital region in late July and early August, was administered by Sacramento State’s Institute for Social Research.
“The idea of our region as the farm-to-fork capital is very aspirational,” said Valley Vision CEO Evan Schmidt said. “But how are we delivering on that in people’s everyday lives?”"
