Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s continued absence is impacting judicial nominees
The Chronicle, SHIRA STEIN: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has missed 58 Senate votes since getting sick in late February with the painful, but non-life-threatening shingles virus.
Her extended absence, along with that of Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, has made it more difficult for the Senate to confirm President Biden’s nominees and pass legislation. The Senate has a 51-49 party split favoring Democrats, but the absence of multiple senators changes how many votes are needed for a measure to succeed. Vice President Kamala Harris has cast three tie-breaking votes this year in her role as president of the Senate."
How California’s most powerful politicians did spring break
The Chronicle, EMILY HOEVEN: "California lawmakers returned to Sacramento on Monday after their annual week-and-a-half-long spring recess — which, along with their month-long summer recess in July, often serves as an opportunity for mixing business and pleasure. Last year, for example, lawmakers traveled to Egypt, Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Israel and Canada (twice).
This spring break was no exception: While state lawmakers traveled to Denmark and Japan, Gov. Gavin Newsom took a trip of his own, swinging through Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama to promote his new political action committee, the Campaign for Democracy. Newsom campaign spokesperson Nathan Click told me it aims to “boost Democrats across the country,” particularly in red states where progress on LGBTQ, reproductive and voting rights “is basically being destroyed.”"
Better to Win: The wit and wisdom of Bill Wong (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Friend of the Pod Bill Wong joins us to chat about his new book, Better to Win. Wong, a renowned strategist to a bevy of major California Democrats, provides candid and occasionally Machiavellian advice to those who aspire not only to fight for justice, but to win those fights.
Wong’s story is filled with names familiar to followers of California politics, and gives the fascinating backstory to public fights, like the clandestine – and ultimately successful – effort to derail the appointment of Dan Lungren as State Treasurer."
Discovery of antibiotic-resistant superbugs in L.A. wastewater sparks worry
LA Times, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: "Bacteria that are resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, have for the first time been detected in Los Angeles County wastewater, suggesting that the germs are circulating more widely in the community than previously thought, according to researchers at USC.
The superbugs were discovered during surveillance of wastewater — a practice that took off during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to track the presence and transmission of infectious agents within a community.
The pathogens appeared in samples of untreated water taken from two of Los Angeles County’s largest treatment plants: the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson and the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey. The facilities serve a total of about 7.5 million people."
A ‘dry’ Pacific storm is on tap this week. Here’s what it means for the Bay Area
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "After one of the warmest weekends of the year for the Bay Area, a cooling trend begins Monday, thanks to gusty northwest winds. From Tuesday onward, temperatures will struggle to crack 60 degrees west of San Francisco Bay, with a few low 60s possible to the east. A few light rain showers are possible Monday night and Tuesday near the Pacific coast and San Francisco Bay, but that will be the extent of precipitation this week.
A ‘dry’ Pacific storm
The high-pressure system that kept the Bay Area warm and dry this weekend is beginning to move off to the east toward the Rocky Mountains, opening the door for clouds and moisture from the Pacific Ocean."
What are these blue creatures washing up on Southern California beaches?
LA Times, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ: "Thousands of dark blue creatures have been washing ashore at beaches across the state, littering the shores and bewildering passersby from Marin to Orange county.
The oval-shaped, flat creatures with tiny blue tentacles may look like little jellyfish but are in fact hydroids called Velella velella, more commonly known as “by-the-wind sailors.”
With a sturdy, transparent sail running across the top of their bodies, the marine creatures travel in large numbers at the top of the open sea, drifting with the help of winds that, most recently, have pushed thousands of them to California beaches."
‘Millions’ of bizarre blue blobs wash ashore on California beaches. What are they?
Sac Bee, DON SWEENEY: "Waves of unusual blue blob-like creatures resembling jellyfish are washing ashore on California beaches, but what are they?
Known as velella velella or by-the-wind sailors, the blobs are not jellyfish but colonies of polyps similar to the Portuguese man o’ war, according to JellyWatch.
They feed on zooplankton and algae using their tentacles, but are not dangerous to humans."
Biden ends national COVID-19 emergency one month early, raising concerns over health care costs
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "On Monday, President Biden signed a bill authored by Republican lawmakers ending the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic a month earlier than planned.
The new legislation, a largely symbolic measure, immediately terminates the national emergency declaration established in March 2020 under the previous administration."
What can California do about abortion pill ruling? Not much
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "California’s Democratic lawmakers have spent the past year enacting legislation to protect abortion rights in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s reversal, but a ruling today by a Texas federal judge is one thing they can’t touch.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decades’-old approval of mifepristone, arguing that it was flawed and invalid. Kacsmaryk issued a temporary stay on his ruling for seven days to allow the Biden Justice Department to appeal, which it quickly did. The ruling is likely to pull the drug from pharmacy shelves unless a higher court intervenes while the case moves through the appeal process."
California stockpiles abortion medication misoprostol after Texas court ruling
LA Times, HANNAH WILEY, JULIA WICK: "Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California will stockpile an emergency supply of 2 million abortion pills known as misoprostol in response to a federal judge in Texas ruling against the authorization of another medication that has been used to terminate pregnancies for decades.
“In response to this extremist ban on a medication abortion drug, our state has secured a stockpile of an alternative medication abortion drug to ensure that Californians continue to have access to safe reproductive health treatments,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California.”"
Tainted pills from Mexican pharmacies kept killing Americans even after U.S. knew of threat
LA Times, KERI BLAKINGER, CONNOR SHEETS: "There was the teenager from Texas. The father from San Diego. The runner from Indiana.
They went for a day trip. Or a wedding. Or a winter vacation. But they all died after taking counterfeit pain pills purchased at drugstores in Mexico. And they all got those medications in the more than three years between the time the federal government learned of the threat and officials finally warned the public.
A Times investigation published last month showed that both the U.S. State Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration have known since at least 2019 that some pharmacies in Mexico are selling pills made of powerful drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine and passing them off as legitimate pharmaceuticals."
Advocates push Los Angeles Unified to better support its Black Student Achievement Plan
EdSource, KATE SEQUEIRA: "Growing up, Lindsey Weatherspoon was used to attending largely Black elementary and middle schools. But at Venice High School, where she is now a junior, the student body is just 13% Black.
Though it’s a significant Black population for a high school in Los Angeles Unified, she’s still one of the few Black students in many of her classes. And creating a sense of community in high school wasn’t as easy as she believes it should’ve been. So she felt encouraged when the district announced it would be launching a plan known as the Black Student Achievement Plan to provide socio-emotional and academic support to its Black students.
Under that program, schools with sizable Black student populations — at least 200 students — are supposed to have a BSAP team of counselors, climate advocates and psychiatric social workers, though some positions remain unfilled. The first two rounds of funding were given to 110 elementary, middle and high schools."
Berkeley Public Health leads alliance to improve health equity
Daily Californian, MATTHEW YOSHIMOTO: "The California Alliance of Academics and Communities for Public Health Equity, a coalition led by the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, works with schools and programs across the state to advance health equity.
Executive director Michael Rodriguez said that the alliance focuses on communities with a history of health disparities and works closely with them. The alliance also works with the community’s governmental organizations such as local health departments and nongovernmental organizations such as climate change civic groups.
“The idea is that together they are stronger than individually,” Rodriguez said. “By partnering together across a host of different public health issues, the alliance can more effectively be able to help address the many different pressing health issues that we face today and make us more prepared for the future health challenges we may have tomorrow.”"
L.A. County’s eviction moratorium has expired. What does that mean for renters?
LA Times, PALOMA ESQUIVEL: "The last day of March marked the end of Los Angeles County’s pandemic-era eviction protections.
Even before then, evictions had been on the rise. In the last year, eviction filings across the county have returned to pre-pandemic levels of more than 3,000 per month, according to Kyle Nelson, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA.
For landlords, the end of the pandemic-era rules comes as a relief, said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles."
$375k in fines for construction firm seeking San Jose council project approval
BANG*Mercury News, GABRIEL GRESCHLER: "A Bay Area construction company seeking San Jose City Council approval for a redevelopment project at its facilities in the southern part of the city was sued earlier this year for releasing toxic pollutants into two of San Jose’s waterways and has agreed to pay a $375,000 penalty.
The council is set to vote Tuesday on the redevelopment proposed by Graniterock — a move that would allow for a major expansion in the output of raw materials for concrete and asphalt that helps build the Bay Area’s skyscrapers and roads.
The request by Graniterock, a well-known Watsonville-based firm established over a century ago, comes less than two months after it was sued by the Santa Clara County District Attorney in February for unleashing harmful toxins that threatened sensitive species of fish, frogs and salamanders in Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek."
San Jose police chief makes first public statement on union fentanyl scandal
BANG*Mercury News, AUSTIN TURNER: "San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata broke his silence on the recent arrest and firing of Joanne Segovia, the longtime executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association accused of trafficking fentanyl from her office.
“The recent arrest of a civilian administrative employee of the San Jose Police Officers Association, a union separate from the City of San Jose government, by agents of the Department of Homeland Security has rightfully caused concern from our community that the actions of this one individual may be indicative of illegal activity or complicity by others,” Mata’s said in a statement over the weekend.
“As Chief of Police, the most important thing to me is that members of this community have the highest trust and confidence in the San Jose Police Department. I have never turned away from outside scrutiny of our actions, and I have dealt with instances of misconduct by our own employees firmly and decisively.”"
A California law forced police to release shooting footage. Now videos follow the same script
CALMatters, NIGEL DUARA: "Ken Pritchett clicks his mouse and the logo of a Southern California police department pops up on a computer monitor the width of his shoulders. Another click and the image flips to a three-dimensional map. A glowing orange arrow indicates the direction a man ran as he tried to evade police.
“Right here, this is the path he took in the alley,” Pritchett said, switching from the map to a still image highlighting an object in the man’s hand. “Then you can see him turn toward the officers. He wants to die. This is suicide.”
This incident, like all of the videos Pritchett produces in his home office, ended in a police shooting. Pritchett has made more than 170 of these for police departments and sheriff’s offices, mostly in California."
Crowd demands justice for slain toddler Jasper Wu, calls for ouster of D.A. Pamela Price
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "A rally on the steps of Alameda County’s main courthouse Monday drew more than 100 people who waved signs and chanted — not only to demand justice for the family of Jasper Wu, a 23-month-old slain by a stray bullet on an Oakland freeway, but to call for the ouster of District Attorney Pamela Price.
Chants of “Justice for Jasper” alternated with cries of “Recall Pamela Price” and “Do your job” at the rally outside the courthouse at noon. People standing on the top steps waved signs reading “2 young 2 die,” “Victims matter” and “Hold criminals accountable.” Several signs featured a photo of Jasper in a Superman outfit.
Rally organizers, who said they are not associated with a particular group, held the rally to object to what they said they fear will be a lenient prosecution of the three men accused of killing Jasper in a 2021 freeway shooting."
Exclusive: Sacramento County foster kids have been living in cells for 6 months
Sac Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "Sacramento County officials have for six months housed foster children in cells in a former juvenile detention facility, in violation of state law.
A state agency in February sent the county a letter, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, requiring them to remove the children from the Rosemont “jail-like” unlicensed facility.
County officials still have not done so. Instead they’re asking the state for a license to keep housing children in the facility while they await placement, despite receiving a letter six months ago from a state official strongly advising against it."
Lawyer says man accused of beating ex-S.F. fire official was pepper sprayed first
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "A man accused of bludgeoning a former San Francisco fire commissioner remains in jail awaiting his first court hearing Thursday, while the victim recovers from injuries that will leave him “disabled for life,” according to a close friend.
Garrett Doty, 24, faces a raft of charges including assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with serious bodily injury, for the attack that left 53-year-old Don Carmignani with a fractured skull and jaw, requiring emergency surgery and 51 stitches. The beating, which occurred on the heels of the high-profile fatal stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee in wealthy Rincon Hill, drew condemnation from local politicians, and widespread apprehension about violence and chaos in San Francisco."
San Francisco must improve disability access at Main Library, other facilities, court rules
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "San Francisco needs to make its main library and two other city facilities more accessible to people who use wheelchairs or have other physical disabilities, and a judge must examine other possible disability barriers at 10 recreational centers and the city’s Botanical Garden, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
A lawsuit initially filed by a disabled woman in 2007, and now a class action on behalf of at least 21,000 residents, said San Francisco was violating federal law at its facilities with steep entrance ramps and parkways, restrooms without grab bars and other equipment enabling full use, and a lack of fully accessible indoor seating."
