Lawmakers, still at odds with Newsom over gas price relief, pass placeholder budget to keep getting paid
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: “California lawmakers on Monday passed a placeholder budget that ensures they get paid even though they remain in a stalemate with Gov. Gavin Newsom over how to provide relief for high gas prices and inflation.
The budget bill lawmakers passed would boost funding for education to record levels, increase spending on homelessness, build new infrastructure and put $37 billion into reserve accounts. It would also send $200-per-person payments to families making less than $250,000 per year and individuals making less than $125,000 to provide relief from inflation.
The Newsom administration largely agrees with the Legislature’s budget plan, including its spending on education and housing, but inflation relief continues to be a sticking point, said Erika Li, who represented the Newsom administration during a Monday morning budget hearing.”
Bottoms up: Should California bars serve booze until 4 am?
Capitol Weekly, WILL SHUCK: “Jerry Brown said the bill would cause “mayhem” and vetoed it, now its author has another plan to extend bar closing hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. – this time limiting it to cities that already want it.
“There is no mayhem,” Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said of Brown’s memorable phrase. “That was our grumpy governor. And I love him to death, but he was wrong about this.”
In 2018, then-Gov. Brown vetoed Wiener’s Senate Bill 905, which would have done essentially the same thing, with a succinct, damning, message:”
Xavier Becerra isolating in Sacramento after testing positive for COVID-19 during LA summit
OWEN TUCKER-SMITH, SacBee: "U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive Monday for COVID-19 in Sacramento, the secretary’s second infection in a month.
Last week, the secretary was in Los Angeles at the Summit of Americas, alongside a slate of officials including Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden. In a statement, Health and Human Services spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim wrote that Becerra and his office are following CDC guidelines.
“He is fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, and is experiencing mild symptoms,” Lovenheim wrote. “He will continue to perform his duties as HHS Secretary, working in isolation.”
In contrast to Boudin recall, three East Bay progressive supporters of criminal justice reform lead races
RYAN KOST, Chronicle: "Over the weekend, Yesenia Sanchez jumped above the 50% threshold in her bid to become Alameda County’s next sheriff. If her lead holds, she’ll claim the job and avoid a November run-off, beating a long-time incumbent on a reform-minded platform that included more programs and job training for prisoners, increased transparency and new approaches to crisis intervention and de-escalation.
Her potential win would be another sign that criminal justice reform is alive in the Bay Area despite San Franciscans ousting progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. In the East Bay, voters rallied behind Sanchez as well as two progressive district attorney candidates: Diana Becton won a second term in Contra Costa County, while civil rights attorney and community activist Pamela Price held a commanding lead in Alameda County and will head to a run-off.
If elected, Price would be the county’s first non-white district attorney. Activists say these results should make people think twice before writing off support for progressive prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
Why toxic algae blooms are on the rise across California — and expected to get worse
The Chronicle, YOOHYUN JUNG: “Rising temperatures and stagnant water generally signal trouble for human life, but they make for a great environment for the bright, blue-green scum often found in lakes, rivers and reservoirs that flourishes and blooms in hot weather.
These scum blooms, known as harmful algal blooms, are natural parts of the ecosystem, but can also release toxins that sicken or even kill people and animals. They’re becoming more common as temperatures rise and water systems are starved and disrupted, threatening not only public and wildlife health, but the state’s water supply, as well as beloved recreation areas like Lake Merritt in Oakland.
“With climate change, it’s clear that this issue will get more severe,” said Marisa Van Dyke, a senior environmental scientist with the State Water Resources Control Board working on harmful algal bloom issues. Besides hot weather, a primary cause of the toxic blooms is excess nutrients in bodies of water, which, in California, often come from agricultural runoff.”
Detained immigrants can be held indefinitely, Supreme Court rules
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: “Federal immigration law allows the government to keep migrants locked up indefinitely while awaiting deportation hearings — but the Constitution may enable them to argue, at least individually, for release on bond after six months, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
In one of two cases decided Monday, the court overturned a lower-court ruling that allowed undocumented immigrants who claimed fear of persecution in their homeland to appear before an immigration judge, after six months in U.S. custody, and ask to be released on bond while awaiting a final hearing on deportation.
The court had ruled in 2001 that federal law allows immigrants, in most cases, to be released on bond within six months unless they are found to be dangerous or likely to flee. But in an 8-1 ruling Monday, the justices said a statute saying immigrants in some cases “may be detained beyond the removal period,” the legal term for deportation, allows them to be held without bond.”
Hellish fires, low pay, trauma: California’s Forest Service firefighters face a morale crisis
LAT, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: “Chris Mariano became a federal wildland firefighter because he wanted to help protect the Northern California landscapes and communities he’d grown to love.
Years later, after working his way up to squad boss of the elite Truckee hotshot crew for the U.S. Forest Service, Mariano resigned in a viral letter that is the latest example of how low pay, grueling work and mental stress are driving experienced professionals out the door at a time when extreme wildfires are becoming more destructive.
“It almost feels as though we’re out there doing the very best we can, but it’s not enough,” Mariano said. “And that’s tough, to know that you’re giving everything you have, and communities are still being lost.””
Smoke harms air quality as Sheep fire near Wrightwood swells to 990 acres
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: “Crews on Monday were making progress against a 990-acre wildfire burning in the Angeles National Forest, officials said.
The blaze, dubbed the Sheep fire, sparked Saturday evening near Wrightwood in heavy dry vegetation and prompted evacuation orders in San Bernardino County.
It was 18% contained Monday afternoon, according to Angeles National Forest spokeswoman Dana Dierkes. Nearly 700 personnel were attacking the fire from the air and ground.”
One year after California's reopening, ‘wily’ COVID still stymies return to normal
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: “June 15, 2021, dawned cool and carefree across the Bay Area, where for the first time in well over a year, it finally looked like there might be a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic — and it might not be too far off.
California officially “reopened” that day last year, dropping almost all public health restrictions that had been keeping people mostly at home and preventing the economy from humming back to life. Coronavirus cases were at their lowest levels since the pandemic’s earliest weeks. Hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID had plummeted. Nearly half of all Californians were considered “fully” vaccinated — a remarkable achievement just six months after the vaccines had been authorized.
“This is not mission accomplished,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom on the eve of reopening. But the message was clear in the Bay Area and across the state: The pandemic wasn’t quite over, but with vaccines widely available California was on a path back to normal. The end was in sight.”
Ivermectin ineffective against coronavirus, new study shows
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI/ANNA BUCHMAN: “Leaders of the organizations that served San Francisco’s Latino community during the pandemic urged city officials Monday to halt plans to eliminate COVID assistance funding from the budget, saying the “disinvestment” will only lead to further health inequities. Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chair of medicine, says his wife, Katie Hafner, is doing “not great” weeks after getting COVID-19 and is suffering brain fog and other symptoms.
A new trial of ivermectin shows that the antiparasite drug does not meaningfully reduce recovery time from COVID, the New York Times reported. The study, posted online Sunday, is the largest of several clinical trials to show that the drug, which gained popularity early in the pandemic as an alternative treatment, is ineffective against the coronavirus.
More than 1,500 COVID patients participated in the new trial by researchers at Duke and Vanderbilt universities, with about half getting the drug and half getting a placebo. “Given these results, there does not appear to be a role for ivermectin outside of a clinical trial setting, especially considering other available options with proven reduction in hospitalizations and death,” Dr. Adrian Hernandez, the executive director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute who led the trial, said in a statement. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.”
S.F. plan to cut $9.5 million in COVID funds would worsen equity gap, Latino nonprofit leaders say
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: “Leaders of the organizations that served San Francisco’s Latino community during the pandemic urged city officials Monday to halt plans to eliminate COVID assistance funding from the budget, saying the “disinvestment” will only lead to further health inequities.
Several dozen members of the Latino Task Force and the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition, which consists of more than 20 nonprofits, said at a news conference at City Hall that nonprofits were crucial to the city’s COVID response and economic recovery plan, and that their work is critical in helping Latino and Black residents who were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.
Mayor London Breed recently announced her nearly $14 billion budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The budget eliminates $9.5 million in COVID assistance funding given to at least 25 nonprofits in an effort to equitably offer testing, vaccination, COVID care and other services to the city’s low-income resident, many of whom are people of color.”
Big help coming for youth mental health crisis, but far from enough, surgeon general says
LAT, HOWARD BLUME: “A major entertainment studio says it will feature plotlines about mental health in teen-targeted shows. Celebrity athletes say they will help destigmatize talk about mental health among young people. A Los Angeles nonprofit is expanding training for professional youth mentors.
Big tech, media companies, local groups, youth leaders, basketball players and educators are pledging to come together in response to the U.S. surgeon general’s public health advisory last December, warning of an “urgent” need to address a national youth crisis.
During a visit to Los Angeles on Tuesday, Surgeon Gen. Dr. Vivek Murthy unveiled a list of at least 30 entities with promising intentions.”
Calls overwhelm disability benefits call centers
CALMatters, GRACE GEDYE: “Christina Cedillo has a sticky note on her computer, reminding her what buttons to press when she calls California’s employment department with questions about disability benefits.
But at this point, she doesn’t need it. After calling hundreds of times, she can recite the whole phone tree from memory.
Cedillo, who works as a bartender, gave birth to a girl in October 2021 and immediately filed for disability benefits, which cover pregnancy. By mid-December, though, the payments stopped.”
Bill would give $25,000 to aspiring school counselors, social workers
EdSourced, CAROLYN JONES: “Bailey Adling would stay up some days until 3 a.m. studying for his master’s degree in school counseling, and then wake up at 7 a.m. to work a full day as a substitute teacher. He was so exhausted he often considered dropping out of the program.
While Priscilla Park was enrolled full-time in her graduate school counseling program, she taught school during the day and gave up her social life, while still paying off her six-figure undergraduate loans.
Even the state’s top educator, Superintendent Tony Thurmond, struggled to make ends meet while earning his master’s in social work 20 years ago. If he hadn’t had a paying internship, he said, he never would have managed.”
Amazon drones may start to deliver packages in Northern California this year
LAT, JONAH VALDEZ: “Amazon plans to begin delivering some packages by drone to homes in a few Northern California communities this year, the company said Monday.
Residents of San Joaquin County farming towns Lockeford and Acampo, as well as parts of Lodi, will be able to order “thousands of everyday items” online and can expect a drone to drop them in their backyards in less than an hour, said Av Zammit, an Amazon spokesperson.
The Amazon Prime Air drones can carry packages that weigh 5 pounds or less — such as beauty and cosmetic items, office and tech supplies, batteries and household items — and will typically be the size of a large shoebox, Zammit said.”
Home sellers are cutting list prices as more buyers take pause: ‘The market is not the same’
LAT, ANDREW KHOURI: “Home sellers are increasingly cutting their asking prices as buyers, constrained by higher mortgage rates and overall inflation, have become less willing to jump into the housing market at any cost.
The growing number of price cuts, a trend showing up in data from Southern California and across the nation, is one of the strongest signs yet that the previously red-hot market, fueled by low mortgage rates and all-cash bidding wars, is cooling.
The price reductions don’t mean overall home values are dropping. In Southern California and the wider U.S., they make up a minority of listings, and most homes still sell for more than the list price.”
Berkeley to consider placing a vacant-home tax on the ballot. Will it help with the housing crisis?
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: “Berkeley voters could decide in November whether to tax thousands of vacant homes in a bid to address the region’s housing crisis by pressuring property owners into renting their properties. If landlords choose to keep the units vacant, they’d be taxed to raise money for affordable housing.
Vice Mayor Kate Harrison will introduce a proposal at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that would ask voters to weigh in on whether to tax the owners of multiunit buildings, single-family homes and condominiums owned by a corporation or LLC. Accessory dwelling units will be exempt. Units must have been empty for more than a year.
Harrison said the proposal will help address the city’s housing crisis because it will encourage property owners to rent out empty units.”
A for-profit mission to house the poor, homeless earns praise but takes flak over upkeep
LAT, DOUG SMITH: “The day that Star Owens welcomed a swarm of dignitaries and TV cameras into her new home in South Los Angeles last fall marked the debut of a bold challenge to the city’s way of building homeless housing.
The 28-unit Avalon apartments — constructed without taxpayer money in less than half the time and at less than half the cost of a typical subsidized project — would house nearly 60 formerly homeless adults and children.
Its developer, SoLa Impact, is the brainchild of Martin Muoto, an entrepreneur who had spent nearly a decade investing in one of the most neglected parts of the city, rehabilitating distressed rental properties and, now, building new ones.”
Jan. 6 hearing shows Trump’s election claims were ‘complete nonsense’ and he was told so repeatedly
The Chronicle, TAL KOPAN: “Over roughly two hours on Monday, the Jan. 6 committee shredded former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud, establishing that Trump’s close advisers repeatedly told him the claims were bunk and that he persisted in repeating them anyway.
With Democratic San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren directing the testimony and evidence, the commission played clip after clip of officials from the Trump campaign and the Department of Justice and members of the former president’s family making clear there was not one bit of proof for his claims and recounting attempts to drive the point home to Trump. But those officials were spurned by Trump, who was fixated on overturning the election and raising money for his campaign, Lofgren said. The hearing closed with a clip of rioters participating in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, repeating those same debunked conspiracy theories.
In one video of a previous deposition, former Attorney General Bill Barr called some of those theories “disturbing” and “complete nonsense.””
