“We’ve got to be mindful of the winter months,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference in Oakland, where he got a booster shot on a live webcast.
The coronavirus, he added, “continues to throw us curveballs.”
Although he’s not a national leader, he can still be influential by pointing to California’s success in transitioning from fossil fuels while maintaining a strong economy, said former Gov. Jerry Brown.
“He’s there to bring attention to the climate successes of California, showing we can have a very strong economy and a very vigorous climate action program,” Brown said."
The grandson of a musician and the son of a banker, Cheney named his production company Thomasville Pictures, which he co-owns with business partner Ryan Donnell Smith, and filmed movies featuring the likes of Machine Gun Kelly and Mel Gibson in southern Georgia.
Now, another movie with Cheney and Smith’s names attached is drawing the worst kind of attention. On a call sheet obtained by the Los Angeles Times, they are credited as executive producer and producer, respectively, on the film “Rust.” On its New Mexico set, actor and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza."
“Fire season is not officially over,” said Christine McMorrow, a spokesperson with Cal Fire.
“While we did get quite a bit of rain, especially here in Northern California, that’s not enough to completely end fire season.”"
Our built environment contributes to extreme heat. Why some communities have it worse than others
LA Times, TONY BARBOZA/RUBEN VIVES/GENARO MOLINA: "It was a typical summer day in Los Angeles, but a satellite orbiting hundreds of miles above the Earth could detect that it was getting much hotter in some neighborhoods than others.
In a majority-white area of Silver Lake — where median household income is more than $98,000 a year and mature trees dapple the hilly streets with shade — the surface temperature was 96.4 degrees.
Less than a mile away, in a corner of East Hollywood, it was 102.7 degrees. The predominantly Latino and Asian area, where median household income is less than $27,000 a year, is packed with older, 2- and 3-story apartment buildings. It has few trees big enough to provide shade, and less than one-third the canopy of Silver Lake, ranking it among the lowest coverage areas in the city."
California is short on social workers. Here's how that affects your ability to get benefits
Sacramento Bee, JEONG PARK/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "With the pandemic not yet over, millions of California are still relying on CalFresh to help pay for their food.
In August, nearly 250,000 applied for the food stamp benefit, known federally" as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to data from the California Department of Social Services.
“We’re hearing from some of the counties ... that they’re seeing a huge influx of people enrolling in SNAP because those individuals are looking for additional resources to get by,” said Melissa Cannon, a senior advocate with Nourish California.
Economic titans pledge $300M to protect forests and battle climate change
The Chronicle, JD MORRIS: "Salesforce on Thursday announced $300 million in new climate-related commitments from the company and its CEO Marc Benioff, along with his wife Lynne.
The Benioffs will personally contribute $200 million, much of it aimed at supporting forest-protection efforts in other countries. Salesforce will put another $100 million toward grants for nonprofits working on restoring ecosystems and climate justice issues.
“We’re in a planetary emergency — a climate crisis that impacts everyone, especially for the most vulnerable among us,” Benioff said in a news release. “More than half of global GDP is exposed to risk from the nature loss effects of climate change. And it will only get worse unless we collectively take bold steps now to limit global warming. We need to apply every strategy possible to protect and preserve our planet.”"
US economic growth slowed to a 2% annual rate last quarter in face of COVID
AP, MARTIN CRUTSINGER: "Hampered by rising COVID-19 cases and persistent supply shortages, U.S. economic growth slowed to a 2% annual rate in the July-September period, the weakest quarterly growth since the recovery from the pandemic recession began last year.
Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — declined sharply from the 6%-plus annual growth rates of each of the previous two quarters.
But now, with confirmed COVID-19 cases declining, vaccination rates rising and more Americans venturing out to spend money, many economists think GDP is bouncing back to a rate of 6% or even better in the current fourth quarter."
CDC Chief: Definition of 'fully vaxxed' could change
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "If you’ve received a two-dose course of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccines, or a one-and-done Johnson & Johnson shot, you’re considered by health officials to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
For now.
But that could change as eligibility for booster shots continues to expand. Last week, COVID boosters were approved for Moderna recipients and all who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and everyone can now choose their own brand of booster shot."
79% of Sacramento city employees are vaxxed against COVID-19, according to new data
Sacramento Bee, ROSALIO AHUMADA: "More than 3,500 City of Sacramento employees, 79% of its workforce, have been vaccinated to help prevent COVID-19 infection, according to new data released Wednesday.
City officials said 3,537 of Sacramento’s 4,494 employees confirmed they received the COVID-19 vaccine, and 849 workers reported they’re unvaccinated.
City workers were required to report their vaccination status by Oct. 15; 72 employees did not submit their vaccination status. City officials said the majority of employees who failed to submit their vaccination status either work part-time or seasonally."
UCSF: We;re opening a $535M guided tour in a brain research facility
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "UCSF on Thursday marks the opening of the Weill Neurosciences Building, a groundbreaking facility that — once all the crates are unboxed — will bring patients, physicians, medical scientists and researchers together under one roof in the hopes of treating brain diseases that have until now proved largely intractable.
The 282,500-square-foot building at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus is unlike any other in America for its multi-disciplinary approach, said Dr. Stephen Hauser, director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, which was founded in 2016 and will be housed in the new complex. It will be the largest integrated neurology and neuroscience center in the U.S.
“It’s anchored and focused on bringing together new technology, tools and expertise,” Hauser said. “As part of that, we are also opening our doors to everyone with good ideas.”"
These cities were named California's best. See how home prices in each metro have grown
Sacramento Bee, MILA JASPER: "San Francisco might be a great place to live, but its home prices sure aren’t welcoming.
When U.S. News and World Report ranked its “Best Places to Live for 2021-2022,” San Francisco came out on top compared to other cities in California.
But in a state where housing costs are already intimidating, San Francisco had the largest increase in home prices out of all of the top 10 cities since Jan. 1, 2021 — 18.29% change in median home price — according to data from Redfin."
