The “Golden State stimulus” payments provided under the state proposal, which will be expedited for legislative approval next week, are in addition to the $600-per-person stimulus checks already approved by Congress and would be on top of direct payments of up to $1,400 per person that have been proposed by House Democrats.
The package put forward for immediate action also provides more than $400 million in new federal funds for stipends of $525 per enrolled child for all state-subsidized child-care and preschool providers, which serve some 400,000 children in subsidized care statewide."
The percentage of coronavirus tests that came back positive over the past seven days — a closely watched indicator for reopening the economy — has dropped to 3.5%. That’s down from over 11% a month ago.
Hospitalizations for coronavirus patients have dropped 38% over 14 days, and the rate of infection in the state has fallen to 0.65 — meaning each infected person infects fewer than one other person."
COVID vaccine updates: Supply issues pop up even as California’s overall pace improves
MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee: "California is about nine weeks into the mass vaccination campaign to combat the coronavirus pandemic and officials say that while the pace is improving, supply uncertainty remains the main obstacle.
The California Department of Public Health on its vaccine tracker reported Wednesday providers have administered 6,435,184 of the 8.4 million doses distributed to hospital systems and health offices, an increase of 172,403 doses. From Friday through Tuesday, the state reported administering an average of about 188,000 shots per day.
The state public health numbers don’t distinguish between first and second doses. According to vaccination data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, close to 4.8 million people have received at least one dose in California, which means about 12% of the state’s 40 million residents are at least partially vaccinated. More than 1.5 million, about 4% of the state’s population, are fully vaccinated."
Here's where the Bay Area's wealthy are temporarily relocating amid COVID-19
AMY GRAFF, SF Gate: "While most people have hunkered down at home through the COVID-19 pandemic, some members of the wealthy set have fled their shut-down cities for far-flung destinations, and they're sparing no expense, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
Jack Ezon, founder of Embark Beyond, told Bloomberg the luxury getaways he's planning for clients — including those on the West Coast who are escaping to Arizona and Mexico — average about $70,000 a month, with most people booking two- to four-month stays.
Californians in particular jetted to sunny locales with their laptops in tow when Gov. Newsom issued the regional stay-at-home order in mid-December."
California needs to home deliver COVID-19 vaccines to seniors and people with disabilities
GEORGE SKELTON, LA Times: "They’re going to home deliver COVID-19 vaccinations to shut-in seniors and people with disabilities. That’s what they say, anyway.
We’ll see.
Great idea. The Newsom administration’s follow-through on its ideas, however, hasn’t always been that great.
Orange County to launch third mass vaccination site at Anaheim Convention Center
IAN WHEELER, OC Register: "Orange County plans to launch its third mass vaccination Super POD (point of dispensing) at the Anaheim Convention Center next week, opening a new front in the county’s campaign to protect millions of residents from the coronavirus.
Starting Wednesday, Feb. 24, the convention center will serve as both a COVID-19 testing and immunization site.
The convention center will join other nodes in a growing regional web of large, small, public and private vaccination centers on the frontlines of a vast public health campaign to immunize as many people as possible from COVID-19, starting with the most vulnerable."
117-year-old St. Francis Hotel hopes S.F. tourism rebounds this year: 'I keep telling people to hang on'
HEATHER KNIGHT, Chronicle "The tourists packing the lobby to check into one of the hotel’s 1,200 rooms have almost entirely vanished. The locals visiting for a cocktail aren’t venturing out much these days. Nobody’s uttering that famous San Francisco phrase, “Meet me at the clock!” and finding their date for the evening at the hotel’s huge timepiece.
Wandering around the eerily empty St. Francis Hotel on San Francisco’s Union Square the other day sparked memories of a joyful, thriving city, but was also somewhat depressing.
The glass elevator had the same stunning views of the city skyline, but it was a lonely ride. To see one of the city’s oldest, most glamorous hotels looking like a ghost town — particularly on the top floor’s ballroom where nobody’s danced in a long time — was a reminder of how far San Francisco must travel to return to any semblance of normal."
UCLA student with extremist views who FBI says sat in Pence’s chair is charged in Capitol riot
RICHARD WINTON, LA Times: "A UCLA student who posted white supremacist views online and founded an ultra-right campus organization has been charged with federal crimes for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
The student, Christian Secor, was captured on video sitting in the chair that Vice President Mike Pence had hastily vacated after a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol, according to the FBI.
FBI agents, assisted by a SWAT team, arrested Secor, 22, at his Costa Mesa home Tuesday morning after searching the residence, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman.
High Demand For Natural Gas Nationwide Means A Shortage In San Diego
TOM FUDGE, KPBS: "Severe freezing weather in other parts of the country has dramatically increased demand for natural gas. That means San Diego is facing a shortage in its own energy supplies.
Natural gas used in San Diego comes primarily from the Permian Basin in Texas, a state which has been hit hard by extreme weather. Company records show that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) received significantly less gas Tuesday than was used by customers, so they had to dip into their storage capacity.
As a result, SDG&E and SoCalGas, which ships natural gas to San Diego, have been reaching out to big customers, like San Diego State University, to warn them of possible disruptions. They also asked them to conserve energy."
While S.F. school officials tout sunny reopening picture, critics ponder board recall
JILL TUCKER, Chronicle: "For weeks, the pressure has been building on San Francisco school officials to reopen classrooms, with national media berating them and parents and politicians threatening a shake-up of the school board over what they say is dysfunctional and tone-deaf leadership.
On Wednesday, district leaders defended their approach and emphasized their commitment to bringing students back by showing off an elementary school that’s ready to reopen.
Superintendent Vincent Matthews and board President Gabriela López held a news conference Wednesday to reiterate the ongoing effort to resume in-person learning as soon as possible, but declined to guess when the first students might be back. The district said recently the goal is to have six weeks of partial live instruction before the school year ends June 2.
Newsom’s proposed budget could stave off cuts for some school districts
ALI TADAYON: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cost-of-living adjustment for school districts — part of his $89.2 billion 2021-2022 education budget pending before the Legislature — could turn the tide for some cash-strapped districts that were bracing for budget cuts.
In 2020, when California’s Department of Finance anticipated a major tax revenue shortfall due to the pandemic, county superintendents delivered stern warnings to school districts: plan for zero cost-of-living adjustments for the foreseeable future. That would have left school districts to grapple with the added costs of distance learning but with less revenue from the state.
But even as millions of Californians lost their jobs and small businesses shuttered, stock market prices surged — driving up capital gains tax income. This helped Newsom to put forth a $227.2 billion budget — the largest in state history. Among the $89.2 billion set aside for education is a 3.84% cost-of-living adjustment for K-12 schools."
LAUSD officials call for vaccines to be prioritized for school employees
LINH TAT, LA Daily News: "Prioritizing school employees for vaccines was the theme of the day on Wednesday, Feb. 17, as Los Angeles Unified School District officials and representatives from some of their labor employee groups gathered at the Roybal Learning Center near downtown LA to mark the opening of the district’s first vaccination center.
District officials also used the occasion to announce plans to run a second, much larger vaccination center at SoFi Stadium, in partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, Hollywood Park, the city of Inglewood and Anthem Blue Cross and Cedars-Sinai.
If the county’s public health department approves that plan, the megasite would have the capacity to vaccinate up to 10,000 people a day and would focus its efforts on administering shots to teachers and school staff — regardless if they work in public or private schools — throughout the county."
L.A. Unified gets 100 doses but needs thousands to reopen schools
HOWARD BLUME, LA Times: "One hundred employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District received a coronavirus vaccine Wednesday as officials demanded more so that schools could reopen — and as the City of Long Beach expects all employees at public elementary campuses to be vaccinated by Friday.
The small number L.A. vaccines represented a milestone — the district’s first school-based vaccine clinic — the new purpose for an otherwise-unused student gymnasium at Roybal Learning Center, just west of downtown. The students who would normally be using that gym were attending school online as they have since campuses shut down nearly a year ago.
In a folding chair behind a clear plastic face shield sat Raymundo Armagnac, educational resource aide at Denker Avenue Elementary in Gardena, who turned 65 three weeks ago.
Vaccines were available only to school district employees 65 and older — there are about 3,500 in this age group — and to district employees working at a vaccine or coronavirus testing site. The district operates about 40 testing sites."
