California researchers vie for millions in stem cell dollars
Capitol Weekly, DAVID JENSEN: "Nine California research organizations will vie behind closed doors this week as the state’s stem cell agency scores their bids to kick off what would be a first-in-the-nation, $80 million manufacturing network to speed the development of revolutionary medical therapies.
The effort is aimed at breaking down production bottlenecks and linking academia with business to “advance California as the world-class hub of cell and gene therapy manufacturing.”
“‘Because these therapies are ‘living medicines,’” the agency says, “they are complex and costly to produce” and present a major challenge to industry."
California bills to expand state tax credits could send $1 billion to low-income families
CALMatters, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "When Reyna Bonilla lost her job cleaning hotel rooms in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, she used tax credits and other pandemic relief to chip away at past-due rent so she and her two children could stay in their Koreatown apartment in Los Angeles.
This year things are different. Bonilla cleans homes a few days a week but only makes about $10,000 a year. Most of her pandemic aid has phased out, so she struggles to keep up with expenses.
Add to that, her youngest child turned 6 in November, making Bonilla ineligible for California’s Young Child Tax Credit. Her tax refund will be $1,083 less this year, squeezing her already tight budget."
California Supreme Court rejects challenge to Newsom’s CARE Court plan to address mental illness
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "The state Supreme Court declined Wednesday to block a law sponsored by Gov. Gavin Newsom requiring thousands of mentally ill Californians to accept court-ordered treatment, a program that disability-rights groups said would force people into care arbitrarily and violate their privacy and autonomy.
Legislation establishing Newsom’s Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, or CARE Court, is scheduled to take effect in October in San Francisco and six other counties, and in the rest of the state by December 2024. It allows family members, health workers and others, including police, to refer people with schizophrenia or a number of other psychotic illnesses to the newly established court system."
Second COVID bivalent booster shots set to roll out. Here's what you need to know
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "After much anticipation and waffling, federal officials have authorized another round of booster doses for the updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, aimed at older Americans and people with weakened immune systems.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the move Tuesday. With Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, signing off on the plan shortly after a CDC vaccine advisory panel met and expressed support Wednesday, the additional shots could be available as early as this week."
Kevin Kiley says Julie Su would bring California’s labor chaos to the nation
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Julie Su’s ascension to U.S. labor secretary would be the “final front” in imposing failing, harmful California labor law on an unwilling nation, Rep. Kevin Kiley warned Wednesday.
The Rocklin Republican chaired a hearing of his workforce protections subcommittee and stressed how the state’s 3-year-old employee rights law, referred to as Assembly Bill 5, have badly hurt independent contractors’ ability to find work.
Su is scheduled to appear Thursday for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. The former state Secretary of Labor and the Workforce needs Democratic help to be confirmed, and at least two of the party’s senators are undecided."
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan dies at 92
LA Times, JEAN MERL: "Richard J. Riordan, the take-charge venture capitalist who as mayor shepherded Los Angeles’ rebound from the 1992 riots, expanded its Police Department and masterminded its recovery from the Northridge earthquake, has died at his Brentwood home.
The last Republican mayor of what became a liberal city, Riordan was 92. Relatives said he died shortly after 7.30 p.m. Wednesday with family, friends, caregivers and his beloved dogs around him.
A moderate, pro-choice Republican, Riordan made a fortune as an investment broker and became a civic and political donor before emerging as a first-time, outsider candidate at the age of 62."
SFMTA board member illegally lobbied city officials
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "The San Francisco Ethics Commission has censured the vice chair of the Municipal Transportation Agency’s board for illegal lobbying.
In 2020, Gwyneth Borden, a longtime commissioner, illegally contacted members of the city’s Planning Commission and a city supervisor as a paid consultant for an Inner Sunset restaurant, according to the Ethics Commission."
Los Gatos revokes commissioner’s censure over ‘rich, white, anti-housing men’ comments
BANG*Mercury News, HANNAH KANIK: "Los Gatos Town Council voted Tuesday to revoke its censure of a planning commissioner after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue the town for violating that commissioner’s First Amendment rights.
Mayor Maria Ristow said at the meeting that the council did not consider Commissioner Kylie Clark’s right to free speech when choosing her punishment.
“The process by which we came to the censure was not the smoothest, and we already know we need to look at our process,” Ristow said. “I really do think that the censure was too strong, but it’s where the council landed. The ACLU made a good point that we trampled the First Amendment rights of one of our residents.”"
Dollar Tree settles California lawsuit alleging sale of expired drugs. Here’s how much it owes
Sac Bee, JACQUELINE PINEDO: "Dollar Tree will pay $2.9 million to settle a California lawsuit that alleged the discount chain sold expired over-the-counter drug products.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud and Environmental Protection Division filed the civil complaint in San Joaquin Superior Court. The suit was settled Friday in conjunction with the San Joaquin County and San Bernardino County district attorneys’ offices.
The settlement payout would go to civil penalties, restitution and investigation costs, according to a Tuesday news release."
Fox News settled Dominion defamation case for $787 million. Should it have apologized as well?
LA Times, STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel isn’t a fan of Fox News. He frequently hammers the conservative network and its personalities in his opening monologue.
But Kimmel expressed disappointment with the news Tuesday that Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle the landmark defamation case.
The reason? The agreement did not come with a requirement that the network’s stars apologize publicly for the false claims they made about the Denver-based company using its voting machines to manipulate votes during the 2020 election."
Writers strike fears and studio cutbacks cause filming slowdown in Los Angeles
LA Times, ANOUSHA SAKOUI: "A wave of cutbacks and layoffs at studios, coupled with fears of an impending writers strike, slowed Hollywood production for a third consecutive quarter.
On-location film production in Greater Los Angeles fell 24% to 7,476 shoot days from the same period last year, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit that handles film permits for the city and county. That’s down 17% from the region’s five-year first-quarter average, FilmLA said in a Wednesday report.
The biggest decline was in TV production, which had driven a rebound in the industry in the wake of shutdowns forced by the COVID-19 pandemic."
After the deluge: Floods may taint more drinking water in California
CALMatters, ALASTAIR BLAND: "When Kelli and Tim Hutten made an offer for a house in the quiet Monterey County town of Moss Landing last summer, they looked forward to mild weather, coastal views, trails along nearby wetlands and being a bit closer to family. Unfortunately, the Huttens also knew that something wasn’t right with the neighborhood’s groundwater.
“We knew there were water contamination issues,” Kelli Hutten said. “During escrow we did as much research as we could, but there’s a lot to learn.”
By the time they moved in with their newborn baby, the details were clear: Their private well water contained five times the federal government’s limit for nitrate, which usually leaches from farms. The Huttens immediately signed up for delivery of drinking water, paid for by a state program, and installed a filtration system. Nitrate in water can cause a dangerous circulatory condition in infants called blue baby syndrome, and it has been linked to cancer, too."
California invests $5M in new desalination projects
The Hill, SHARON UDASIN: "California will be investing $5 million in three new desalination projects - in a bid to protect water resources from the effects of climate-driven weather extremes, state agencies announced on Wednesday.
"California is taking action to adapt to the extremes in weather we're seeing across the state, reshaping our water systems to meet these new challenges and better protect our communities," Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement.
The funds will go to projects in Los Angeles, Fresno and Mendocino counties and will support the design of three different types of facilitates that remove salts and minerals from seawater and "brackish" water - salty water located underground."
Striking before-and-after satellite photos show the great California snowmelt underway
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN: "As California’s wet winter has given way to warmer spring weather, the state’s record snowpack has begun to melt.
Though the accumulated snow still measures 249% of normal as of April 18, new satellite photos show that the white blankets enveloping mountains across the state have started to recede.
The Southern Sierra continues to be the standout region, with snow levels on slopes there at more than 300% of normal."
National wave of anti-CRT measures trickles into California schools
EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: "Anational conservative movement to limit the teaching of race and racism is finding its way into California schools, leading to worry that teachers are being muzzled.
Elected officials nationwide introduced at least 563 measures to restrict teaching about race in 2021 and 2022, and 241 of those passed, according to “CRT Forward: Tracking the Attack on Critical Race Theory,” a recently released report from the UCLA School of Law. Almost all the measures impacted K-12 education, and 70% sought to control teaching and curriculum in the classroom. The most common consequence for a breach was withholding funding.
“We are now living in a country where books and ideas can be banned in the name of freedom and censorship can be applauded as a means to combat indoctrination, and teachers can be fired for trying to teach any idea that someone deems divisive,” said Cheryl Harris, vice dean for community, equality and justice at UCLA Law during a webinar last week."
Should S.F. build a 55-story condo tower near Ocean Beach? How thousands responded to the contentious proposal
The Chronicle, HALEY FULLER: "A proposal to build a 55-story, 646-unit skyscraper in the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco has unleashed a torrent of responses across the city, reigniting the debate over just how far the city must go to meet its housing goals.
The project's architect has released illustrations showing what the massive tower would look like: a thin but tall building with rounded edges soaring above the neighborhood of mostly two- and three-story homes.
We asked Chronicle readers if they think San Francisco should allow massive condo towers like this one to get built. Out of more than 4,000 voters, 60% of them selected “Yes,” 38% selected “No,” and only 1% of respondents selected “Not sure.”"
Why San Francisco is bracing for a traffic nightmare this week
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "A trifecta of high-traffic events and the prospect of pleasantly mild weather threatens to overwhelm San Francisco streets Thursday, as 4/20 celebrations and two sporting events — a critical Warriors-Kings playoff game and a Giants game against the Mets — converge on the city.
With 18,000 people expected to fill the Chase Center for another hotly anticipated face-off between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings, and tens of thousands more expected to descend on the Giants’ Oracle Park and the annual 4/20 cannabis celebration at Golden Gate Park, the city’s public safety agencies said they are prepared for an influx of revelers."
Compton — the ‘mecca of street takeovers’ — vows to take action on illegal car shows
LA Times, NOAH GOLDBERG: "Compton is known as the “mecca of street takeovers,” and city officials and residents are fed up with the illegal car shows.
Compton Mayor Emma Sharif and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are vowing to take action.
Residents descended on Compton City Hall on Tuesday to voice their frustration, anger and heartbreak over street takeovers, the most recent occurring over the weekend. The takeovers led to a chaotic night of burglaries Saturday, according to the Sheriff’s Department."
Controversial statue in downtown San Jose will be gone by May
BANG*Mercury News, GABRIEL GRESCHLER: "San Jose is finally preparing to remove a divisive statue downtown almost a year and a half after a decision was made to take it down.
The controversial Thomas Fallon statue on St. James Street is expected to be dismantled by May 4 — the result of a decadeslong effort from those who consider it a symbol of American imperialism and the persecution of Mexican and indigenous community members. City officials said that the 16-foot-tall, 12,000-pound bronze statue will be placed in storage — and cost $450,000 to dismantle.
The artwork, which depicts the former San Jose mayor and captain in the Mexican-American war on horseback raising the American flag, is worth $6,000. City officials said there are currently no plans for another piece of art at the location — and the spot will be replaced with a traffic median. The dismantling costs include blocking off the road for traffic, jackhammering the concrete foundation, utilizing a crane, transporting the statue, then cleaning up and repairing the disfigured site."
Former VP Mike Pence talks up energy independence at Nixon Library
OC Register, HANNA KANG: "Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday, April 19 touted the energy accomplishments of the Trump administration to a friendly audience at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda.
Pence, a former Indiana governor who said he grew up in “a gas station family” and worked as a gas station attendant, said he has always felt “a personal connection to American energy.”
Standing before a packed ballroom, Pence said “U.S. energy independence” achieved under the Trump/Pence administration created American jobs and bolstered the U.S. military."
Orange County entrepreneur accused of organizing ‘fighters’ for Jan. 6 riot takes plea deal
SCNG*OC Register, SEAN EMERY: "A Ladera Ranch entrepreneur has admitted to teaming up with a former Orange County police chief and members of an extremist group in order to organize a group of “fighters” to travel to the U.S. Capitol, and on Wednesday pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Russell Taylor admitted during a hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington D.C. to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. He had previously faced numerous other federal charges, including obstruction, entering a restricted building and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds.
The plea deal requires that Taylor cooperate with law enforcement agencies, and notes that the charge he admitted to carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison."
