California is finally winning coronavirus battle, even as deaths keep rising
LA Times's RONG-GONG LIN II/IRIS LEE/SEAN GREENE: "Three months into California’s battle with the coronavirus, there are growing signs that the outbreak is ebbing even as the state death toll continues to climb past 3,400.
While deaths remain a stubborn challenge, other metrics analyzed by the Los Angeles Times show significant progress — enough that even some of the most cautious local health officials have agreed to begin reopening the economy.
The number of newly identified coronavirus cases across California has declined last week from the previous week, dropping to 12,229 cases from 13,041 the previous week. That’s a notable achievement, given the amount of increased testing."
The pandemic is hurting pediatric hospitals, too
BERNARD J WOLFSON in Capitol Weekly: "Children have largely escaped the ravages of COVID-19, but children’s hospitals have not eluded the financial pain the pandemic has wrought on health care providers."
"Pediatric hospitals offered themselves as backups to their adult counterparts in case of a surge of coronavirus patients. They suspended nonemergency surgeries and stockpiled protective gear and virus test kits, according to hospital executives and financial analysts."
"But, in many regions, the surge was smaller than anticipated – or hasn’t materialized. And children’s hospitals that have offered to take sick kids off the hands of adult hospitals, or extend the age of people they admit, have not seen an influx of patients to fill the beds they emptied. As a result, numerous pediatric facilities, like many of the adult ones, face sharply declining revenues and extra expenses."
Coronavirus has altered the global warming trajectory. But for how long?
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The disruption caused by the coronavirus has been so profound that it’s altered the trajectory of global warming.
Not since World War II — and perhaps never before — have the emissions of heat-trapping gases dropped as much around the planet as they have during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The latest and most detailed study yet on the pandemic’s impact on climate pollution, published Tuesday and authored by the research group Global Carbon Project chaired by Stanford University’s Rob Jackson, finds that the Earth will see up to a 7% decrease in carbon dioxide this year. The dip is five times the decline in emissions in 2009, when the recession choked the world’s economy, and double what it was in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union."
Trump EPA's targeting of SF pollution may bring investigation
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "The nation’s environmental watchdog may investigate federal enforcement of water policy in California after Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of “irregular” interference targeting San Francisco, according to a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But the investigation would not come until this fall at the earliest, if it happens at all, the letter said.
The inspector general for the Environmental Protection Agency was responding to a request from the San Francisco Democrat and San Mateo Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier to look into the agency’s decision to issue a notice of violation to San Francisco for allegedly discharging waste into the bay and ocean."
Ammo background checks in California uncover 'ghost' guns, heroin and more
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A ‘ghost’ gun assault rifle in Pioneer.
More than 15,000 rounds of ammunition in Auburn.
Six large-capacity magazines and a gram of methamphetamine in Bakersfield."
How the Bay Area's coronavirus death rate compares with other US regions
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG/MIKE MASSA: "The Bay Area reported zero deaths from COVID-19 for two consecutive days this week, the first time that has happened since early March. Fourteen deaths were reported on Tuesday but two days without any fatalities was a hopeful sign as counties begin to reopen.
While there have been deadly clusters in certain communities, the Bay Area’s overall COVID-19 mortality rate currently is among the lowest of major U.S. metropolitan areas. Los Angeles’ mortality rate is nearly four times higher. The national average is five times higher. And New York’s mortality rate is nearly 49 times that of the Bay Area.
As of May 19, there were 390 total deaths confirmed in the Bay Area, or about five deaths per 100,000 people. In New York City, there have been more than 20,000 deaths reported, which translates to 242 deaths per 100,000 people."
Newsom's budget gives governor too much power over COVID-19 spending, top Democrat says
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "A top-ranking Democratic lawmaker is pushing back against part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal, arguing it would curtail the Legislature’s power over COVID-19 spending decisions.
Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, raised concerns during a Monday budget hearing about nearly $3 billion that Newsom is proposing to spend on COVID-19 response, including on protective equipment like masks, critical medical supplies and hospital surge preparations.
Lawmakers should be involved in the decisions to spend that money, but the governor’s proposal doesn’t give them enough of a say, said Mitchell, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee."
Justice Dept warns California coronavirus rules may violate religious freedoms
LA Times's MATTHEW ORMSETH/ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: "The measures Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus and his plans to unwind them may discriminate against religious groups and violate their constitutional rights, the U.S. Justice Department warned in a letter Tuesday.
In a three-page letter to the governor, Eric S. Dreiband, an assistant attorney general and the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said Newsom had shown “unequal treatment of faith communities” in restricting their abilities to gather and ultimately reopen.
“Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Dreiband wrote."
Courts nationwide awash in lawsuits over COVID restrictions on business, religion
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON: "A Rio Linda gym owner filed a suit Monday over California’s stay-at-home order, saying it is unconstitutional and has cost him $100,000 since the coronavirus pandemic began.
A student at the Sacramento-based for-profit Carrington College filed a suit last week, saying the school’s move to online teaching because of COVID-19 has deprived him of the in-person instruction he expected for his $4,000 spring tuition payment.
An Orange County woman sued Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 8, saying his stay-at-home order “ruined her idyllic wedding plans to get married” last month in Dana Point."
First-of-its-kind clean hydrogen plant planned for LA County
LA Times's SAMMY ROTH: "An energy company with big ambitions to produce the clean fuel of the future announced a deal Tuesday with Lancaster officials to make hydrogen by using plasma heating technology — originally developed for NASA — to disintegrate the city’s paper recyclables at temperatures as high as 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Solena Group’s process has no commercial track record, and the company has not yet secured financing to build its $55-million facility in Lancaster, in northern Los Angeles County. Solena is one of many firms looking for ways to cheaply produce hydrogen without generating planet-warming gases in hopes that the clean-burning fuel will one day replace oil and gas for transportation or heating.
But the company’s process, which uses so-called plasma torches, caught the attention of Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris."
IRS sends stimulus payments on debit cards, hires staff for new phone line
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "The Internal Revenue Service has started sending out stimulus payments on prepaid debit cards and staffing a phone line to answer questions about the payments, but as of yet, there’s no option to talk to a live person on that number.
This week, the IRS began sending nearly 4 million economic-impact payments by prepaid debit card, instead of by paper check. The card comes from Metabank.
People can use the prepaid cards to “make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees. They can also check their card balance online, by mobile app, or by phone without incurring fees,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a news release Monday."
Coronavirus hit California's self-employed hard. More money is on the way
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "More emergency benefits started coming Wednesday to gig workers, self-employed people and others who lost their jobs or had their hours cut because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state’s Employment Development Department began Phase 2 of its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which will not only boost payments to those eligible for more money, but pay them retroactively for benefits they missed.
When the PUA program began in California April 28, the state provided only a minimum amount of $167 weekly, plus $600 from another federal emergency program, to those eligible."
California bill to cap home mortgage deductions dies
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "A proposal to cap the tax break for California homeowners to raise money for homelessness programs has died without receiving a vote.
Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, pulled his bill to limit the mortgage interest deduction on Tuesday, a day before it was set to be heard in the legislative committee on housing that he chairs.
The move indicates that Chiu’s measure lacked support among enough members of the committee to pass. Because it raised taxes, the bill ultimately would have required a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, a heavy lift even before the coronavirus pandemic pushed California into an economic crisis."
The school year is ending. Can parents continue to get pandemic unemployment benefits?
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Parents who had to stop working or trim their hours so they could take care of children due to closed schools have been eligible for special federal unemployment benefits — as long as the school year lasted.
Now the school year is about to end, and federal guidelines are somewhat vague as to whether the benefits can continue.
Chances are they will for most people."
The woman behind 'Roe v. Wade' didn't change her mind on abortion. She was paid
LA Times's MEREDITH BLAKE: "When Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, came out against abortion in 1995, it stunned the world and represented a huge symbolic victory for abortion opponents: “Jane Roe” had gone to the other side. For the remainder of her life, McCorvey worked to overturn the law that bore her name.
But it was all a lie, McCorvey says in a documentary filmed in the months before her death in 2017, claiming she only did it because she was paid by antiabortion groups including Operation Rescue.
“I was the big fish. I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they’d put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say. That’s what I’d say,” she says in “AKA Jane Roe,” which premieres Friday on FX. “It was all an act. I did it well too. I am a good actress.”
New Sacramento coronavirus order to allow small outdoor parties. Restaurants, malls can open
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "Sacramento County announced Tuesday afternoon it has been given state go-ahead to reopen restaurants for indoor and outdoor dining, as well as stores for in-store shopping.
That includes reopening Arden Fair mall and strip malls for the first time in two months, and allowing families and friends to begin gathering outdoors in groups of up to 10 people just in time for Memorial Day weekend.
County health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson, however, said he is not giving the green light for those businesses or activities until Friday afternoon when he publishes a new county health order with detailed information about restrictions involved in those activities."
LA is uneasy about order to move homeless people from freeways. 'There's ethical issues'
LA Times's BENJAMIN ORESKES/DAVID ZAHNISER: "A federal judge’s sweeping order to move thousands of homeless people away from freeways in Los Angeles is drawing objections from advocates and Mayor Eric Garcetti who fear it could lead to confrontations with police and endanger the health of those living on the streets during the coronavirus outbreak.
In the order issued last week, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter called for the relocation of up to 7,000 people living near overpasses, off-ramps and on-ramps, saying they face severe health risks from tailpipe emissions and car crashes.
If carried out, it would mark a major shift in policy in a city and county that have seen a record number of people living in tents and makeshift shelters in recent years. Following a series of court rulings and legal settlements, efforts to clear encampments from sidewalks and other public spaces have been heavily restricted."
Trump uses coronavirus crisis to visit swing states
LA Times's ELI STOKOLS: "President Trump will fly to Michigan on Thursday to visit a Ford Motor Co. factory that launched a crash program last month to build ventilators and personal protective gear for the coronavirus crisis.
Last week, he visited a distribution facility in Pennsylvania that ships medical supplies around the country. And a week before that, he toured a factory in Arizona that makes respirator masks.
It’s no coincidence that Trump’s first events outside Washington since early March focused on three swing states that may determine who wins the November election."
