A stormy holiday delivery: Flash flood warnings, potential debris flows on tap
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "The powerful storm that has been pelting Northern California with rain and snow arrived Thursday in the Southland, where wet, wintry weather is likely to linger well into the holiday weekend.
The storm snarled travel and created icy hazards to the north, with officials in Tuolumne County on Thursday issuing an evacuation advisory after cracks were reported in the Twain Harte Lake Dam.
Southern Californians were also on edge as the storm made its arrival and threatened to bring flash floods and debris flows in several areas, including those near streams, rivers and wildfire burn scars."
Many Californians will likely get infected during Omicron surge. How bad will it get?
LA Times, RONG GONG LIN-II/LUKE MONEY: "The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is now spreading rapidly across California, fueling fresh upticks in infections across the state.
However, the full scope of this latest wave remains to be seen.
Cases are expected to spike, perhaps to unprecedented levels. Some hospitals are likely to again come under stress from a renewed influx of COVID-19 patients."
Lawmakers agree: Little change in CA’s mental health care system
SIGRID BATHEN, Capitol Weekly: "In a lengthy, often emotional legislative hearing on California’s badly broken mental health system, lawmakers and dozens of witnesses agreed that very little has changed, despite decades of new laws and huge infusions of public funds.
If there was any consensus on solutions during the grueling, all-day Dec. 15 joint hearing of the Assembly Health and Judiciary Committees, it was that the system urgently needs major overhaul — although legislators have long failed to agree on the details of systemic change.
Testimony from the hearing is expected to serve as a template for yet another round of new bills – and some recycled measures – on one of the most vexing issues facing lawmakers in the coming year."
Your guide to California’s changing rules on COVID-19: Masks, vaccines and schools
ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week unveiled the state’s latest mandate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring that all health care workers setting get the COVID-19 vaccine booster by Feb. 1.
It’s the latest of several orders Newsom has handed down as part of the state’s effort to grapple with a pandemic that continues to spread, with new variants such as the delta and omicron variants proving particularly contagious.
For Californians looking to keep up with the governor’s orders and combat the spread of COVID-19, here’s a rundown of all the state COVID-19 mandates and their current status.
‘An invisible addiction.’ Amid pandemic, a rise in gambling addiction emerges
LA Times, KURTIS LEE: "The last bet Lou Remillard placed was a $2,000 online sports wager on a Major League Baseball game. The 46-year-old Las Vegas restaurateur was drunk and broken at the time and said that he no longer cared to be alive.
Having lost that final bet and facing tens of thousands of dollars in debt, Remillard for the first time walked into a 12-step meeting for gambling addiction the next day. It was Oct. 1, 2018.
“That’s the date I protect,” Remillard said on a recent afternoon from the crepe restaurant he owns that is a short drive from the Las Vegas Strip. He agreed on that Monday to stay sober, stop gambling and help counsel those facing the same predicament."
Bay Area hospitals say they are ready for omicron surges
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV/ERIN ALLDAY: "With the omicron variant spreading rapidly around the world and the federal government warning that U.S. hospitals could be swamped with new COVID-19 patients, Bay Area hospitals say they are equipped to handle a winter surge if it happens.
“We’ve learned to be prepared. We have a lot of levers in place,” said Dr. Michael Vollmer, Kaiser’s regional hospital epidemiologist for Northern California.
Vollmer and other hospital leaders say they are relying on techniques they’ve honed since the pandemic began nearly two years ago: monitoring case numbers to try and keep staffing at necessary levels — despite a widespread shortage of nurses made worse by the pandemic. Being ready to shut down nonemergency surgeries at a moment’s notice if needed, as was done early in the crisis. And, always, pushing COVID prevention through vaccination."
Is it safe to eat at restaurants amid Omicron surge? Here’s what the experts say
RONG-GONG LIN II, LUKE MONEY and HAYLEY SMITH: "With the Omicron variant now spreading fast across California, is it still safe to dine out?
Public health officials have stressed they don’t intend to impose any new lockdown restrictions of the kind that were ordered last year, such as closing down indoor restaurant areas. Some cities, such as Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Francisco and Berkeley, have instead imposed rules requiring customers to show proof of vaccination to eat in indoor dining rooms.
Overall, the decision on dining out comes down to a personal assessment of risk — something that could be affected by how old you are, your underlying conditions, local rates of coronavirus transmission and the effect on your family, friends and work should you become infected."
30 COVID-19 cases tied to Davis holiday party in Yolo omicron outbreak
MICHAEL McGOUGH and ROSALIO AHUMADA, SacBee: “Yolo County, which detected the Sacramento region’s first confirmed case of the COVID-19 omicron variant less than two weeks ago and late last week identified an outbreak of six cases linked to a high school classroom, has discovered 42 additional cases of the highly contagious variant, many of them linked to a different outbreak.
The Healthy Davis Together initiative, which tests most positive samples across Yolo County for variants, in a news release Wednesday said it discovered those cases across Davis, El Macero, West Sacramento and Woodland between Dec. 12 and Saturday.
The prior seven cases had only been found in West Sacramento. An outbreak of at least 16 cases has been linked to “a single workplace holiday party” in Davis, Healthy Davis Together and Yolo County public health officials announced in a joint statement.
Tuolumne County dam cracks as rain, snow pummel California
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Persistent rains drenching much of Northern California and the Bay Area will briefly give way to clearer conditions on Friday morning, before another wet weather system comes through late Friday into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Wednesday night and Thursday morning’s rain brought “nuisance flooding” to areas in San Mateo County and along the coast, Sean Miller, a meteorologist for NWS said.
“The key thing for folks to keep in mind would be to be aware of that, especially when you’re out and about,” he said. “Allow extra time, because there is water on the roadway, and it might make your commute slower.”"
More recalls are coming in 2022, but the push for reform could lose steam by November
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Californians were salty after spending $276 million of taxpayer money to hold the September recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom, which he easily beat back. Nearly 80% of likely voters told pollsters afterward that it was a gigantic waste of money — not to mention time and focus during the pandemic and lurching economic recovery.
Many called for changing California century-old recall process and the supermajority Democrat-dominated Legislature responded by holding a series of hearings to determine what to do next. But its decision might not happen until the spring — a potential six-month gap that is a memory-fading lifetime in politics. It could be even longer before potential changes come before voters in November.
Could the momentum dissipate by then?"
Breed’s Tenderloin emergency for overdose deaths wins approval despite protests over policing
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "After a marathon Board of Supervisors meeting that lasted until the early hours of Christmas Eve, Mayor London Breed won key approval after a majority of the board said they’d support the mayor’s declaration of a state of emergency in the Tenderloin to address the tragic spike in overdose deaths.
Eight of 10 supervisors present voted in favor.
The declaration would put the city’s emergency management department in charge of the public health crisis response and speed up Breed’s ability to open a service center within weeks where outreach workers can refer people on the streets to housing and treatment."
Sacramento-area woman pleads guilty to punching Southwest attendant on San Diego flight
ROSALIO AHUMADA and MOLLY SULLIVAN, SacBee: “A Sacramento County woman on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to punching a Southwest Airlines flight attendant after she was told to fasten her seat belt, stow her tray table and wear her face mask properly, prosecutors said.
Vyvianna M. Quinonez, 28, of Antelope pleaded guilty to a charge of interfering with a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
Her conviction was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Initially, Quinonez was charged in federal court with one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of interfering with a flight crew, both felonies.”
How SFO is impacted by omicron-induced cancellations from United, Delta
The Chronicle, LAUREN HERNANDEZ: "The extremely contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus is taking a toll on airline staffing, leading to dozens of cancellations each from Delta and United nationwide on Christmas Eve.
Asked about the impact to its hub at San Francisco International Airport, United pointed to the website FlightAware, which reported that 10 outbound flights (2% of the airport’s total) were canceled on Friday, and 16 flights (3% of the total) were canceled inbound. Those figures cover all airlines, not just United, though most appear to involve United.
An airport duty manager who answered the phone at SFO was not able to immediately provide information on the cancellations."
US to lift travel ban on 8 southern African countries
The Chronicle, ASHRAF KHALIL: "The U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year's Eve, the White House announced Friday.
The restrictions, imposed last month, were meant to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant.
The Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi."
