A revolt against wearing masks creates a new danger as California reopens
LA Times's LUKE MONEY/HANNAH FRY/STEPHANIE LAI/RONG-GONG LIN II: "As California rapidly reopens its economy, health officials have made clear the only way to avoid a wave of new coronavirus infections is with strict safety rules, including social distancing, limits on the capacity of businesses and wearing face coverings when around other people.
But a mask rebellion is underway in some parts of the state, with residents pushing back on mandatory face-covering rules even with coronavirus cases on the rise and as more businesses open their doors and some people yearn to return to old routines.
The potency of mask politics became clear this week in Orange County, where the health officer resigned after weeks of attacks — and a death threat — over her mandatory mask rules. Her replacement on Thursday rescinded the rules amid intense pressure from the Board of Supervisors."
Did stay-at-home orders stop coronavirus? What study found in tiny California town
Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "In the isolated Northern California town of Bolinas, no more than three out of every 1,000 residents had antibodies indicating they previously had a case of COVID-19, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
The research team found in earlier diagnostic testing that Bolinas reidents were negative for active infections with the new coronavirus. It’s more formally known as SARS-CoV-2, it causes COVID-19, and researchers were interested to learn how the new coronavirus spread such a small Marin County town.
“Our goal with this study was to understand how widely the novel coronavirus had spread in a relatively isolated community like Bolinas before or soon after the stay-home orders went into effect,” said study leader Dr. Bryan Greenhouse, an associate professor in the UCSF Division of HIV, Infectious Disease and Global Medicine. “These antibody results, along with the previously reported PCR data, suggest that few if any people in Bolinas had ever been infected by the virus as of the end of April.”
READ MORE related to Pandemic: California records highest number of new cases in a day -- The Chronicle's ALEJANDRO SERRANO; How San Joaquin Valley became a worrisome COVID-19 hotspot in California -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK/DALE KASLER/JAYSON CHESLER/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS; If you attended a Bay Area protest, should you self-quarantine? Get a coronavirus test? -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG; From picnics to pools, coronavirus experts rate the risk of popular Bay Area activities -- The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI; Nearly 160 vaccines are in the works. Here's a closer look at the science -- LA Times's THOMAS CURWEN; Coronavirus transmissions keep rising in LA County, bringing new dangers for hospitals -- LA Times's RONG-GONG LIN II/COLLEEN SHALBY
National Guard deployment during Floyd protests cost California nearly $25M
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Deploying the National Guard to Sacramento, Los Angeles and other California cities last week cost the state nearly $25 million, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told the Legislature on Thursday.
The deployment to Los Angeles cost the state $18 million, while the deployments to other cities cost about $6.5 million total, Finance Director Keely Bosler wrote to lawmakers in a letter requesting permission to transfer funds to cover the costs.
Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said he didn’t have a breakout of the costs for Sacramento, specifically, where about 500 National Guard troops were deployed last week. City officials requested the troops after about 130 businesses were vandalized and broken into over the weekend in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody."
READ MORE related to Public Safety/Criminal Justice Reform/Defund Police Movement: Under protocol, LAPD responded to protests with aggressive force -- LA Times's STAFF; (OP-ED) Defund the police? Not while law enforcement is funding Democrats' political campaigns -- GIL DURAN in Sac Bee; LAPD use of projectile launchers on protesters sparks claims of excessive force -- LA Times's JAMES RAINEY
PG&E purchase option for downtown Oakland office tower: nearly $900M for new HQ
BANG'S GEORGE AVALOS: "PG&E has an option to buy a downtown Oakland office tower for nearly $900 million as part of the embattled utility’s deal to shift its headquarters from San Francisco to the East Bay’s largest city, a new regulatory filing shows.
San Francisco-based PG&E has struck a deal with an affiliate of veteran developer TMG Partners to lease the office tower at 300 Lakeside Drive in downtown Oakland, and according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the transaction also gives PG&E an option to purchase the highrise for $892 million.
The SEC filing also details the complex nature of the deal for PG&E to move its head offices to a 1960s-era office tower in Oakland that has undergone a wide-ranging renovation."
Campgrounds to reopen at 28 California state parks
BANG's PAUL ROGERS: "Nearly three months after California closed campgrounds at all of its state parks due to the coronavirus, campsites at 28 state parks are scheduled to reopen Friday and have begun taking reservations.
Most are in Southern California, along beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego County, although several are around the Lake Tahoe Area and two are in the Greater Bay Area — Little Basin, a former Hewlett-Packard retreat center near Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County, and Half Moon Bay State Beach on the San Mateo County Coast.
“We’re pleased that state parks will begin to provide additional recreational opportunities to the public,” said Gloria Sandoval, deputy director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. “This is just the beginning.”
READ MORE related to Environment/Climate: Lake Tahoe's famous clarity is fading, report finds -- The Chronicle's GREGORY THOMAS
Jury trials resume next week at Sacramento Superior Court. Here's what you need to know
Sac Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "Jury trials will return to Sacramento courtrooms Monday, Sacramento Superior Court officials announced Thursday in the latest thawing of court operations that were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first criminal jury trial will begin Tuesday, court officials said.
Jury trials were shut down in Sacramento on March 20 – one day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide shelter-in-place order – as courts across California were halted to shield against COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. On Monday, jurors will reconvene with new demands and new policies in place at Sacramento downtown courthouse. Sacramento Superior Court has also released videos on YouTube in Englishand Spanish."
Nurses lie outside SF City Hall, call for health care reform
The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN: "Mariana Rivera worked an overnight shift caring for critical patients in the hospital, slept a few hours and then drove from San Jose to San Francisco with two co-workers-turned-friends.
For months, the 33-year-old nurse has been on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus — caring for patients on ventilators, dealing with a shortage of personal protective equipment, serving as the eyes and ears for family members forbidden from being with their dying relatives.
But on Thursday night, Rivera and hundreds of other nurses from around the Bay Area rallied against what many described as a different pandemic: racism."
Suspect in Santa Cruz ambush linked to federal officer killing in Oakland; charged with 19 felonies
BANG's NATE GARTRELL/JULIA PRODIS SULEK: "A U.S. Air Force sergeant accused of ambushing Santa Cruz County deputies is also believed to be the gunman who shot a federal officer in Oakland, a law enforcement source confirmed Thursday, linking the extraordinary tragedies that may have been spurred in part by extremist, anti-law enforcement views found in the dark corners of social media.
The explosive claim connecting the cases comes the same day that Steven Carrillo, 32, was charged with 19 felonies, including murder, attempted murder, explosives charges and carjacking after the deadly rampage Saturday afternoon that terrorized the mountain community of Ben Lomond, where Carrillo grew up and lived with his father.
In a 14-page criminal complaint filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, Carrillo — who was on active duty at Travis Air Force Base — was charged with murder in the death of Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and with the attempted murder of Deputy Alex Spencer, who was critically injured and remains hospitalized. They had been responding to a call from a concerned citizen in nearby Boulder Creek who reported seeing firearms and explosives in Carrillo’s white van."
Community college presidents aim to address 'tremendous racial inequities' on campuses
LA Times's PALOMA ESQUIVEL: "The presidents of 60 California community colleges have formed an alliance that aims to combat racism and educational inequities on campuses where the majority are students of color.
The move follows mass protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, which have prompted calls for institutions around the country to take a hard look at issues of racism and racial inequity within their own walls.
The newly formed California Community College Equity Leadership Alliance will work with the USC Race and Equity Center to train college representatives on topics like hiring and retaining faculty of color, fostering inclusive classrooms and integrating race across the curriculum. The members will also have access to online tools like case studies and readings on racial equity and will participate in campus surveys to assess how students, faculty and staff feel about their campus climate when it comes to issues of inclusion and diversity."
USC removes name of Rufus von KleinSmid, a eugenics leader, from prominent building
LA Times's TERESA WATANABE/TOMAS MIER: "With its soaring arches, international flags and globe-topped tower, the Von KleinSmid Center for International and Public Affairs is one of the most prominent buildings at USC. Its namesake, the late Rufus B. von KleinSmid, has held a place of distinction as the university’s fifth president.
But on Thursday, USC announced it had stripped Von KleinSmid’s name from the building as the university at last reconciled with his disturbing leadership role in California’s eugenics movement.
The scholar, who is credited with expanding the university’s academic programs and international relations curriculum as president from 1921 to 1947, believed that people with “defects” had no ethical right to parenthood and should be sterilized. His “Human Betterment Foundation” was instrumental in supporting the 1909 California legislation that authorized the forced sterilization of those deemed “unfit” — essentially anyone non-white, said Alexandra Minna Stern, a University of Michigan history professor and expert on eugenics."
UC Berkeley has nearly 500,000 tribal artifacts and remains. It isn't giving them back quickly
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The University of California at Berkeley has nearly 500,000 Native American artifacts and remains in its possession, yet it has returned just a fifth of that to tribes, the result of inadequate policies and oversight, according to a state audit released Thursday.
State and federal law establishes the requirement that Native American graves be protected, and that Native American human remains and cultural objects in university possession be returned to recognized tribes with a traceable connection to them. The University of California system has hundreds of thousands of such remains and artifacts in its collection.
The state audit looked at three universities, UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Davis, and found that each campus takes a different approach when being responsive to those state and federal laws."
New proposal offers broader tenant protections for Californians
BANG's LOUIS HANSEN: "Lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a measure for long-term eviction relief for renters struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, as a state judicial council delayed a decision on dropping a temporary ban on renter-landlord court hearings.
Bay Area lawmakers proposed a statewide ban on evictions for back rent owed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The measure would give stressed renters up to 15 months after the health emergency has lifted to pay back debts, while allowing landlords to pursue civil claims to recoup lost rent. The measure, AB 1436, also encourages tenants and landlords to reach private agreements to settle accounts.
Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said the pandemic has put millions of California renters at risk for eviction. Increasing homelessness and stacking families into tighter quarters would compound health risks, he said. Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, also endorsed the measure."
Amazon Fresh workers' uniforms, workplaces not sanitized properly, suit says
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Amazon, the nation’s second-largest employer, says the safety of its 840,000 workers during the coronavirus pandemic is its first priority. But a new lawsuit in San Francisco says the technology giant does little to sanitize the workplaces or clean the uniforms of employees who work on grocery orders at Amazon’s food-delivery outlet.
The pickers who fill and prepare orders for Amazon Fresh wear full-body freezer suits to protect them from low refrigerator temperatures and then simply hang them on a rack for the next worker without any sanitation, a San Francisco employee said in a suit filed Thursday in Superior Court. It said there were no baskets for dirty suits or logs indicating when a suit was last cleaned.
“Pickers have been told not to clean up messes and have not been instructed to sanitize the work area,” the employee’s lawyers said. “Furthermore, the carts and baskets that pickers are required to use to collect items are not sanitized or cleaned between users."
Tucker Carlson's BLM remarks alienate Fox News advertisers
LA Times's STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson is causing static with the network’s advertisers again.
The conservative-leaning news channel has seen several companies say they will no longer run their commercials in the top-rated prime-time program “Tucker Carlson Tonight” due to the host’s recent comments on Black Lives Matter, the movement denouncing police brutality and racial bias that has gained substantial support among protesters nationwide in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd.
While much of the country and the media have taken a sympathetic view of the demonstrations spurred by the video of Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died on a Minneapolis street with his neck under the knee of a police officer, Carlson has been a harsh skeptic."
