California’s fire season is so unusually quiet that it resembles a ‘normal summer’
The Chronicle, EMMA TALLEY: “Despite fears that California could see its “absolute worst” fire season, it's been a relatively quiet fire year — so far.
State and federal data show that the massive blazes Californians have become accustomed to aren’t as massive this year. So far in 2022, wildfires have scorched 35,135 acres, according to combined data from Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. That’s less than 20% of the acreage burned over the same time frame last year, and it’s significantly lower — roughly 10% — of the 5-year average over that time period.
The state has also seen 858 fewer fires compared with this time last year, according to the data. Firefighters have fought 4,409 fires so far in 2022, compared with 5,267 in 2021. Generally, it’s been a large number of small fires, plus a few more significant blazes such as the Washburn Fire still burning in Yosemite National Park.”
House approves bill to protect same-sex marriage — can it pass in Senate?
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: “The U.S. House voted Tuesday to protect same-sex marriage from a potential future rollback by the Supreme Court, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a Senate version of the legislation, with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, among the coauthors. But it faces long odds in the Senate even though some Republicans did back the House bill.
The legislation responded to the high court’s June 24 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1972 decision that declared a constitutional right to abortion. Though Justice Samuel Alito insisted in the majority opinion that the court was not casting doubt on other rights it had recognized, he questioned the existence of a constitutional right to privacy — the basis of past rulings that legalized marriage and sexual relations between same-sex couples, and access to contraception. Justice Clarence Thomas in a separate opinion flat out said that the court should repeal those rulings.
“In overturning Roe v. Wade, the conservative Supreme Court majority indicated it is willing to attack other constitutional rights, including same-sex and interracial marriage,” Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement announcing a bill that supporters called the Respect for Marriage Act.”
Health care premiums to rise an average of 6% on California’s individual marketplace
LAT, CHRISTIAN MARTINIZ: “Individual health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 6% on the state marketplace next year amid rebounding demand for medical care and uncertainty surrounding federal financial assistance, Covered California said Tuesday.
The hike is the largest in the last few years on the individual marketplace, which includes Covered California customers.
Each year from 2020 to 2022, rates in the state rose by less than 2%, Covered California said in a release. But California’s average 6% increase for 2023 is below the national average due to the program’s 1.7 million enrollees and “the state’s healthy consumer pool.””
Covered California insurance rates to increase
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA: “Premiums for health insurance plans sold through the state marketplace will increase an average of 6% next year, Covered California officials announced today.
This rate hike is the largest California has seen since 2019. In the last three years, insurers had kept average increases under 2%.
Rate changes vary by region — from an 11.7% increase in Imperial, Inyo and Mono counties to zero change in Fresno, Kings, and Madera counties.”
Got an eviction notice? This California website will help you file a response.
CALMatters, MANUELA TOBIAS: “In April, Juan Carlos Cruz Mora received an eviction notice from his landlord that alleged he caused property damage and dirty, unsafe living conditions in the Sacramento suburb duplex he had called home for the last 10 years. He had only five days to file a response in court.
Mora, who blamed his landlord for those issues, tried to file an answer with the court himself but feared a mistake could land him, his wife, and his two young children on the street. He said he paid a lawyer $1,000 to help.
“With one word I could lose the case,” he said in Spanish.”
S.F. supervisors approve $14 billion budget that preserves Breed’s police hiring plans
The Chronicle, JD MORRIS: “San Francisco supervisors have approved a massive budget deal that preserves Mayor London Breed’s plans to recruit more police officers and invest in the city’s economic core while also steering more money toward affordable housing and various social programs.
The spending plans adopted 10-1 by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday total about $14 billion for each of the next two fiscal years. Supervisors signed off on Breed’s top budget priorities, which included funding the hiring of 220 police officers — to fill vacant jobs — and allocating $47.4 million to promote the city’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
Supervisor Dean Preston was the lone dissenter, repeating his decision to vote against the budget last year. Just as in 2021, Preston cited the budget’s spending on police as his reason for voting against the deal. The latest budget grows the police department budget by more than $50 million, to about $714 million in fiscal year 2023, according to the mayor’s office.”
Amid new COVID surge, confusing mix of rules
CALMatters, EMILY HOEVEN: “Another month, another COVID surge.
As the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 spreads across California and the country — pushing the Golden State’s seven-day test positivity rate to 16.7% as of Thursday — all levels of government seem to be sending mixed messages about how we should respond.
Case in point: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Friday extended the country’s COVID public health emergency order for the tenth time. But on Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its COVID monitoring program for cruise ships, noting, “Cruise ships have access to guidance and tools to manage their own COVID-19 mitigation programs. Additionally, cruise travelers have access to recommendations that allow them to make informed decisions about cruise ship travel.””
A study asked Americans if they could support political violence. Half said they think a civil war is coming
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: “The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol may be just the beginning of an increasingly violent chapter in America’s history.
One in five Americans believes that violence can be at least sometimes justified “to advance an important political objective,” and half believe that a civil war is on the way “in the next few years,” according to a new nationwide survey by researchers at UC Davis’ California Center for Firearm Violence Prevention.
The survey dug into some of the potential motivations for political violence — and many revolve around issues important in conservative circles.”
COVID in California: Infections in state up 36% over past month
The Chronicle, AIDIN AZIRI/RITA BEAMISH/CATHERINE HO: “Local experts say it makes sense that the Bay Area is not following suit, at least now, as Los Angeles County moves toward likely reinstatement of an indoor mask mandate. With growing evidence that the Bay Area’s latest COVID surge could be the biggest yet, and as new coronavirus variants emerge, concerns are rising that repeat infections will become part of living with COVID.
Latest updates:
Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins regrets getting COVID vaccine”
L.A. County goes it alone in push for new coronavirus mask rules, igniting familiar debate
LAT, LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II: “Sustained growth in coronavirus-positive hospitalizations has Los Angeles County on the brink of a new public indoor mask mandate, a move officials say could help curb still-widespread transmission, but it has raised some concerns among business groups and sparked questions about its necessity.
Though the count remains well below the peaks of earlier surges, hospitalizations have swelled. In L.A. County, 1,299 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized as of Monday — up 60% since the start of the month. The story is much the same in intensive care units, where the latest daily census, 137, is far below the highs of previous waves but has increased almost 51% since July 1.
Although they’re not as high as during the peak of previous waves, the current number of coronavirus-positive patients in ICUs is roughly the same as when L.A. County last implemented an indoor mask mandate, on July 17, 2021. On that date, there were 134 coronavirus-positive patients in intensive care units.”
S.F. D.A. Jenkins to dismiss drug paraphernalia cases, saying they shouldn’t have been filed
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY/DOMINIC FRACASSA: “San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Tuesday she will dismiss charges against at least 17 people recently accused of possessing drug paraphernalia, saying in a statement that the cases were brought “out of accordance with our office’s policy” on prosecuting such crimes.
Her announcement followed a scathing reproach from Public Defender Mano Raju, who in a press release accused Jenkins of risking a regression into the “inhumane, cruel, and costly war on drugs.”
However, Jenkins’ office said the charges represented mistakes and that the cases were filed both just before she took office July 8, under her predecessor Chesa Boudin, and shortly after she was sworn in. All involved either people accused of possessing drug paraphernalia, like pipes.”
Affordable housing showdown: S.F. Mayor Breed’s allies challenge progressives’ streamlining measure
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: “A San Francisco housing advocacy organization allied with Mayor London Breed is challenging the Board of Supervisors’ affordable housing streamlining measure that is poised to appear on the same November ballot as the organization’s measure, potentially creating confusion among voters.
The Breed-backed Housing Action Coalition got its measure on the ballot through signature-gathering after the supervisors failed to advance the mayor’s previous efforts to voters.
The letter sent to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, a possible first step on a road to a lawsuit, is the latest battle in the war between Breed and her allies and the progressive majority of the board over dueling measures as city leaders bicker over how to fix San Francisco’s massive affordable housing crisis.”
Oakland council allows delayed housing project near West Oakland BART to move forward
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: “The Oakland City Council on Tuesday voted to allow a 222-unit housing project near West Oakland’s BART Station to move forward after a 10-month delay that prompted a state investigation.
The council voted unanimously to reject an appeal filed by a coalition of four local unions that argued for more environmental analysis. Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and Council Member Carroll Fife, who represents the district where the project is located, did not attend the meeting.
The council had previously supported the appeal and asked for additional environmental review of the project, which had undergone the state-required California Environmental Quality Act review. The project is slated for a vacant parcel at 1396 Fifth St., across the street from the West Oakland station. The council’s support of the appeal delayed the project, prompting the California Department of Housing and Community Development to look into whether Oakland was failing to live up to its housing commitments under state rules.”
Column: As professionals flee antiabortion policies, red states face a brain drain
LAT, MICHAEL HILTZIK: “A few days ago, a university headhunter reached out to Elizabeth T. Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona, to gauge her interest in moving to a leading university in Texas.
Under normal circumstances and in professional terms, the opportunity would have seemed intriguing. “It was an attractive situation,” Jacobs told me. “It was at an institution I have a lot of respect for, and I would not have dismissed it out of hand.”
But the political environment in Texas is not normal, in Jacobs’ view. She informed the recruiter that “under the current state leadership I didn’t think my family would be safe in that state.””
After making racist statement, S.F. school board member apologizes
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: “A San Francisco school board member apologized Tuesday after she made a racist statement, saying one of the biggest challenges in educating Black and brown students was their “unstable family environments” and “lack of parental encouragement to focus on learning.”
Ann Hsu, who was appointed by Mayor London Breed to fill a vacancy after the February recall of three board members, made the comments in a candidate questionnaire for a parent group endorsement process for the November election.
The backlash to the comments was swift, with parents and community members saying her comments were harmful and racist and repeated false ideas that Black and brown parents are not as involved in their kids’ educations as white and Asian families.”
New pathway to a diploma opens doors for students with disabilities
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: “Megan Glynn’s son, Liam, started playing piano at age 4. With perfect pitch, he sails through Mozart and Vivaldi, can play anything he hears on the radio and shines when performing with the school orchestra.
But because he has a significant developmental disability, he cannot earn a high school diploma, and therefore his dream of becoming a classroom music aide is just that — a dream.
“He’s not being prepared for college and career, like other students are,” said Glynn, who lives in San Diego. “Just about every job is off limits to him, except maybe being a Walmart greeter. He doesn’t have the options that other students have, and that’s upsetting for all of us.””
A Bay Area priest spent 17 years protesting the Catholic Church. The Vatican finally cut him loose. He’s not going quietly
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: “He spent 17 years as a priest in exile, railing against what he said were the misdeeds and cover-ups of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, until the Vatican finally cut him loose in March.
Months later, Tim Stier delivered his final salvo: a scorching “farewell letter” that condemned several bishops, criticized the Catholic clergy for retrograde attitudes toward gender equity and LGBTQ civil rights, and cited specific allegations of sexual abuse that Stier says the church ignored or tried to conceal.
His missive became a new flare-up for an institution grappling with public controversies over abortion and civil rights, and with the fallout from a painful history of abuse that has jolted parishes throughout the country.”
It’s not just dogs: L.A. shelters struggling with cats and hamsters, volunteers allege
LAT, DAKOTA SMITH: “Dogs doubled up in city kennels. Kittens dumped at shelters. Hamsters going overnight with no food or water.
A Los Angeles City Council committee hearing Tuesday brought forth new details and allegations about the dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals at city shelters.
The three-hour meeting brought relief to many volunteers — the unpaid members of the public upon whom the city relies to walk dogs and perform other chores at the shelters — who say they have been raising concerns to city leaders for years.”
