Water crisis looms as California households struggle to pay bills, suppliers lose revenue
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Unpaid water bills are piling up across California as the pandemic continues to rage, leaving water agencies out hundreds of millions of dollars and nearly 1 in 8 families with rising debt — and worse, a possible water shut-off.
In the Bay Area alone, tens of thousands of households have missed a water payment recently. San Francisco reports more than three times as many delinquent water customers at the end of last year as compared to March, shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began. That’s pushed the city’s total outstanding balance up six times what it was, to more than $7 million.
The financial hardship is even worse in parts of the Central Valley and Southern California. A statewide moratorium on service shut-offs, put in place indefinitely by Gov. Gavin Newsom in April, protects many residents from losing water for not making payments. But some water agencies are reporting that revenue shortfalls are threatening their bottom line and could soon disrupt operations."
It could take until June to vaccinate Californians 65 and older, health officials say
Sac Bee's JEONG PARK: "It could take 20 to 22 weeks — until June — for California to vaccinate those 65 years and older at its current pace, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Wednesday.
Pushed by the federal government to speed up its pace of vaccinations, which has been among the slowest in the nation, California last week agreed to vaccinate everyone over age 65 in the tier following health care workers and those in long-term care.
But Pan’s remark at the state’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting reflects the shortage in vaccine hitting states across the country, especially after the Trump administration disclosed last week that it did not have a stockpile of vaccines it had been promising to release."
READ MORE related to Vaccine: California to resume Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, health officials say -- Sac Bee's JEONG PARK; Has Florida done better than California in fighting COVID-19? Here are the facts -- Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/LARA KORTE
More than 50 Bay Area restaurants, wineries sue Newsom over dining ban
LILA SEIDMAN, LA Times: "A group of more than 50 wineries and restaurants across Napa and Sonoma counties are suing to overturn a state ban on in-person dining, saying their constitutional rights are being trampled as they slip into financial ruin.
It’s the latest litigation brought over the restrictions that have blanketed much of the state since early December, when coronavirus cases began skyrocketing.
The Wine Country Coalition for Safe Reopening filed the suit Tuesday against Gov. Gavin Newsom. It arrives just over a month after intensive care unit capacity dipped below 15% in the San Francisco Bay Area, triggering a regional order that shut down outdoor dining — and drinking — among other restrictions. Tomás Aragón, director of the California Public Health Department, is also named in the lawsuit."
Biden issuing pandemic plan that aims to expand access to testing and vaccines, reopen schools
WaPo's AMY GOLDSTEIN/ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER/LAURA MECKLER: "President Biden plans Thursday to issue a new national strategy to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and to take executive actions intended to make tests and vaccines more abundant, schools and travel safer, and states better able to afford their role in the long road back to normal life.
On his second day in office, aides said, Biden will sign an additional 10 executive orders, plus presidential memorandums, dealing with many aspects of the public health crisis the new president has defined as his top priority.
Alex Padilla sworn in as California's newest senator
The Chronicle's STAFF: "Alex Padilla was sworn in as California’s newest senator Wednesday, becoming the first Latino to represent the state in the upper chamber of Congress.
Padilla, 47, and two other new Democratic senators, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, were sworn in by new Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Padilla replaced. The former California secretary of state used his mother’s Bible in taking the oath.
“As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico, I watched my parents work resiliently hard for 40 years, my father as a cook and my mother as a housekeeper, to give my sister, my brother and I a better chance in life,” Padilla said in a statement. “Today and every day, I will work as hard as my parents did to build a better future for the next generation and give every California family a fair shot at the American dream.”"
California Senate Republicans replace vocal Trump supporter Shannon Grove as their leader
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Just days after tweeting a false claim about this month’s mob storming of the U.S. Capitol, state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, a staunch supporter of former President Trump, was replaced Wednesday as the leader of the California Senate Republicans after having served in the position for two years.
Grove will be succeeded by state Sen. Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita. Her ouster as leader by the Senate Republican Caucus came after two of its 11 seats changed hands in the November election.
“California is facing unprecedented challenges and Senate Republicans stand ready with solutions,” Wilk said in a statement. “For everyday Californians there is no greater priority than the pandemic — the health crisis it has created, its economic devastation and educational challenges for our students.”
Opinion: Can a Republican mayor beat Newsom?
Sac Bee's GARRY SOUTH: "For almost three decades, California Republicans have nurtured political fantasies about what I call their “great white hopes” — big-city Republican mayors that they believe would make peachy-keen candidates for statewide office. After all, they were elected and re-elected as chief executives of major, diverse cities. So, what could possibly go wrong if they try to step up to statewide office?
When I moved to California in the early 1990s, the GOP’s great white hope was newly elected San Diego Mayor Susan Golding, the first Jewish chief executive of the state’s second-largest city. Golding, a relatively progressive former San Diego councilmember and county supervisor, was almost instantly considered a potential candidate for governor or United States Senate.
For a while, she lived a charmed political life. She even lured the 1996 Republican National Convention to her balmy city. But her star dimmed, partially because of public anger over a financially disastrous deal to keep the San Diego Chargers in the city. After announcing a run against Sen. Barbara Boxer in the 1998 election, she unceremoniously dropped out in January of that year, after raising less than a million dollars and running a distant third in polls."
How Biden's immigration plan works, and what it would mean for California
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "President Joe Biden on his first day in office sent Congress an extensive immigration proposal that could have big implications for California, which is home to the largest undocumented immigrant population in the nation.
The plan, known as the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, would provide a pathway to citizenship to the 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States. About 2 million of them live in California.
Biden’s proposal would have the biggest repercussions for recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and temporary protected status (TPS) holders, said Kevin R. Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Bay Area residents applaud Biden's immigration plan -- The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ; How California schools can help undocumented middle and high schoolers receive legal aid -- EdSource's ZAIDEE STAVELY
Fingerpointing, outrage after Trump pardons USC father in college admissions scandal
LA Times's MATT HAMILTON: "Federal prosecutors had accused Robert Zangrillo, a Miami developer, of a costly and criminal effort to secure his daughter’s entry to USC.
In 2017, Zangrillo hired associates of Newport Beach consultant Rick Singer to secretly complete his daughter’s high school classes. Later, Zangrillo paid others to complete his daughter’s community college classes. And to get his daughter accepted to USC as a transfer student, prosecutors alleged, he opted for Singer’s notorious “side door,” paying $250,000 as part of a scheme to falsely cast his daughter as a crew recruit.
A trial was scheduled for later this year in Boston on charges related to fraud, bribery and money laundering."
READ MORE related to Education: In inaugural address, Biden says it's possible to teach children 'in safe schools' -- EdSource's LOUIS FREEDBERG
At the WH, an impersonal 'transfer of families' as the Trumps leave town
WaPo's DAVID NAKAMURA/ANNE GEARAN/ANNIE LINSKEY: "It was America’s first split-screen transfer of power.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump waved goodbye and boarded Air Force One on Wednesday, and successor Joe Biden, along with wife Jill, emerged from Blair House, the presidential guest quarters across from the White House.
Television news cameras caught the dueling images as the Bidens headed to a morning church service and the Trumps flew to their new home at Mar-a-Lago in South Florida — bolting town without staying to welcome, or even acknowledge, the new occupants of the nation’s most prominent address."
READ MORE related to Inauguration Day: Biden becomes the 46th POTUS, vowing to heal and unite a nation in crisis -- LA Times's JANET HOOK/JENNIFER HABERKORN; In speeches and with champagne toasts, many across the world bid Trump 'good riddance' -- LA Times's KATE LINTHICUM/ERIK KIRSCHBAUM/VICTORIA KIM; Biden's inauguration sows doubt among QAnon backers -- AP's MICHAEL KUNZELMAN/AMANDA SEITZ/DAVID KLEPPER
Biden withdraws panned Trump admin report promoting 'patriotic education'
LA Times's COLLIN BINKLEY: "President Biden on Wednesday withdrew a recent Trump administration report that aimed to promote “patriotic education” in schools but that historians mocked and rejected as political propaganda.
In an executive order signed on his first day in office, Biden disbanded his predecessor’s 1776 Commission and withdrew a report it released Monday. Trump had established the presidential commission in September to rally support from white voters and as a response to the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” which highlights the lasting consequences of slavery in America.
In its report, which Trump hoped would be used in classrooms across the nation, the commission glorifies the country’s founders, plays down America’s role in slavery, condemns the rise of progressive politics and argues that the civil rights movement ran afoul of the “lofty ideals” espoused by the Founding Fathers."
A look inside Biden's Oval Office
WaPo's ANNIE LINSKEY: "President Biden has filled the Oval Office with images of American leaders and icons, focusing the room around a massive portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt that hangs across from the Resolute Desk. It is a clear nod to a president who helped the country through significant crises, a challenge Biden now also faces.
The Oval Office is synonymous with the power and majesty of the American presidency. All incoming presidents change the decor of the largely symbolic room to offer a sense of their personality and the type of presidency they hope to have. Biden’s is notable for the sheer number of portraits and busts of well-known American historical figures.
Some are paired, with paintings of former president Thomas Jefferson and former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton hung near each other — the two men frequently disagreed and were placed together to illustrate the benefits that come from differing views. Biden’s office said the paintings were twinned as “hallmarks of how differences of opinion, expressed within the guardrails of the Republic, are essential to democracy.”"
Army falsely denied Flynn's brother was involved in key part of military response to Capitol riot
WaPo's DAN LAMOTHE/PAUL SONNE/CAROL D LEONNIG/AARON C DAVIS: "The Army falsely denied for days that Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the brother of disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was involved in a key meeting during its heavily scrutinized response to the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Charles Flynn confirmed in a statement issued to The Washington Post on Wednesday that he was in the room for a tense Jan. 6 phone call during which the Capitol Police and D.C. officials pleaded with the Pentagon to dispatch the National Guard urgently, but top Army officials expressed concern about having the Guard at the Capitol.
Flynn left the room before the meeting was over, anticipating that then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who was in another meeting, would soon take action to deploy more guard members, he said."
