After a 6.4-magnitude quake, a 5.4 powerful aftershock rattles L.A. area this morning
From the LAT's RONG-GONG LIN II: "A magnitude-5.4 earthquake was reported early Friday near Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was one of the strongest of hundreds of aftershocks following the largest earthquake with an epicenter in Southern California in two decades.":
"The latest quake, at 4:07 a.m. and five miles from Ridgecrest, was felt as far away as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Laguna Hills, San Bernardino, Fresno and Las Vegas, according to crowdsourced reports on the USGS’ Did You Feel It? website."
"It was strong enough to jolt some people out of their sleep in Los Angeles. The quake, at a depth of 4.3 miles, occurred 33 miles from California City, 63 miles from Tehachapi, and 64 miles from Barstow."
READ MORE related to Waiting for The Big One: Expect more earthquakes, possibly even stronger ones, seismologists say -- LA Times's KAREN KAPLAN/RONG-GONG LIN II; Sacramento residents report shock waves from SoCal quake, felt as far north as Chico -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
Bay Area celebrates Independence Day with sunny parades, foggy fireworks
The Chronicle's JOHN KING/ROLAND LI: "The rockets’ red glare was more of a blurry glow Thursday as San Francisco’s Fourth of July fireworks fought a losing battle with the fog and low overcast that covered the bay."
"Even with the haze, the holiday fireworks brought laughs, groans and cheers at Pier 39. The fog blocked much of the high-flying sparkles, but about half of the explosions were visible."
"The city’s famous summer fog made its usual way into the city’s annual Independence Day celebration, bringing overcast skies and drippy weather to the thousands of spectators who lined up along the waterfront to try and watch the fireworks."
READ MORE related to ID4: Trump's Fourth of July speech inserts politics and protests into national celebration -- LA Times's CAROLINE S ENGELMAYER
OP-ED: Flexibility, security for independent contractors
TONY XU in Capitol Weekly: "I started DoorDash for people like my mom, who worked in a Chinese restaurant after immigrating to the United States. Working alongside her instilled in me a passion to help hard-working families and small businesses struggling to get ahead."
"Today, hundreds of thousands of Californians deliver with DoorDash to earn extra income while retaining the freedom to dictate when, where, and how much they work. They can begin making money within days of signing up, and can deliver by car, bike, or scooter. At the same time, brick-and-mortar businesses can reach new customers through our platform, generating billions of dollars of economic activity annually."
"Who are these “Dashers” delivering with DoorDash? They’re stay-at-home parents earning extra money while kids are in school, retirees boosting a fixed income, and families making ends meet by adding to their principal source of income amidst California’s high cost of living."
Trump says officials working on holiday on census dispute
The Chronicle's MARK SHERMAN/JILL COLVIN: "President Trump said administration officials were working on Independence Day in hopes of finding a way to have the 2020 census include a citizenship question even though the government has begun the process of printing the questionnaire without it."
"So important for our Country that the very simple and basic ‘Are you a Citizen of the United States?’ question be allowed to be asked in the 2020 Census,” Trump said in his first tweet of the holiday."
"Trump’s administration has faced numerous roadblocks to adding the question, including last week’s Supreme Court ruling that blocked its inclusion, at least temporarily. The Justice Department had insisted to the Supreme Court that it needed the matter resolved by the end of June because of a deadline to begin printing census forms and other materials."
Newsom signs anti-hair discrimination law
Sacramento Bee's ELIZABETH SHWE: "Californians who experience discrimination because of their ethnic hairstyles can sue their employers under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Wednesday."
"The law expands the definition of discrimination to include hair textures and hairstyles commonly associated with race, such as braids, twists and locks. It allows students and employees to file discrimination lawsuit, but does not include any specific fines or penalties."
"Black employees and students should not “need to alter that to meet someone else’s comfort level or meet someone else’s perception of what’s professional in the workplace because all of us up here are quite professional every day,” said Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, who sponsored the law."
Amid fears of mass deportation of immigrants, State Bar warns of potential legal fraud
Sac Bee's JAIMIE DING: "If you’re looking for legal representation, make sure you’re not being scammed, the State Bar of California warns."
"The State Bar issued a news release Wednesday warning immigrants of potential legal fraud amid fears of mass family deportation."
"In June, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would commence a large-scale deportation of undocumented immigrants in major cities around the country starting the morning of June 23."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Appeals court: Trump can't use Pentagon cash for border wall -- AP's ELLIOT SPAGAT; Medi-Cal for immigrant children stalls, then falls. Is fear to blame? -- CHL's ANA B IBARRA; Trump admin ending in-person interpreters immigrants' first hearings -- The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN
Trump admin still holding on to $9M owed to California fire depts
Sac Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "California still has not heard from the Trump administration about $9 million the state believes local fire departments are owed for work fighting wildfires last year, according to the Office of Emergency Services."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday demanding that the administration “finally settle the outstanding debts with the state” and reopen negotiations on a firefighting agreement."
"Pelosi’s letter underscores a similar letter that Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent to the Trump administration in May."\
A deadly fungus is killing millions of bats in the US. Now it's in California
LA Times's LOUIS SAHAGUN: "A mysterious fungus that has killed millions of bats in the eastern United States and left caves littered with their tiny carcasses has arrived in Northern California and appears poised to spread throughout the state, according to officials."
"Government biologists confirmed Friday that a number of bats found near Lassen Volcanic National Park had tested positive for the germ that causes white-nose syndrome — a relatively new disease that leaves a trademark smudge of white on the infected animal’s muzzle."
"The illness, which is caused by a cold-loving fungus, appeared suddenly in the Northeast just over a decade ago and has moved steadily west. The fungus has devastated North American bat species in some regions and pushed the natural pest controllers toward extinction."
California wipes out $58.6M in student debt and helps poor patients access doctors
Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "The state of California will be paying off $58.6 million in student loans this year for 247 physicians who, in exchange, committed to serve a greater percentage of the state’s poorest and frailest residents: those covered by Medi-Cal."
"By removing the burden of student loan debt, this program will encourage more providers to make different choices when entering the health care market and be able to provide care for the Medi-Cal population,” said Jennifer Kent, director of the Department of Health Care Services, the agency administering the loan repayment program."
"Those who accept the awards agree to ensure that Medi-Cal patients represent 30 percent of their caseload for five years. That proportion of Medi-Cal patients would be something of a gold standard, according to research by Janet Coffman, a professor in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco."
READ MORE related to Education: Ugly academic war ends with unprecedented apology from USC, $50M settlement -- LA Times's HARRIET RYAN/TERESA WATANABE
As tensions flare over monuments, universities target California's mission past
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "About 100 people gathered closely under dozens of towering redwoods one recent morning to witness the removal of a California mission bell from the UC Santa Cruz campus."
"Getting to that point took more than a year of discussions between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the university, and it may have been the first removal of one of hundreds of iconic cast-iron bell markers dotting the landscape from San Diego to Sonoma County."
"I passed by this bell a lot,” said Julisa Lopez, 22, a 2018 UC Santa Cruz graduate and member of the Amah Mutsun. She traveled from Seattle to attend the ceremony. “Just walking by and knowing that this is what’s valued in society was really tough."
