California is looking at closing more prisons
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has plans to shut down two prisons, but more closures could soon be on the way because of the state’s rapidly shrinking inmate population.
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the state could close a total of five prisons by 2025, which in turn could save an estimated $1.5 billion in annual spending. The corrections department, which has a budget of $16 billion, oversees 34 prisons and more than 50,000 employees.
New criminal sentencing laws over the last decade gradually reduced the state’s prison population from about 144,000 inmates in 2011 to about 120,000 last year. The number of inmates in state custody plummeted in the coronavirus pandemic, dropping to about 95,000 this month."
READ MORE related to Prisons/Public Safety/Protests: CO's death exposes toxic culture at California prison -- Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER; Vigil for two men killed by police draws crowd outside SF's Mission High -- The Chronicle's NORA MISHANEC; San Leandro police officer in Steven Taylor killing failed to de-escalate situation, report says -- The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ
Price tag in Newsom recall battle starting to grow
JAMES ARANGUREN, Capitol Weekly: "An effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has not even reached the ballot, but foes and backers of the governor already have raised or spent about $7.5 million, with the likelihood of much, much more to come.
Newsom’s committee fighting the recall has raised a healthy $3,1 million, while the two main fundraising arms of the recall effort, the California Patriot Coalition (CPC) and Rescue California (RC) have raised $2.3 million and $2.1 million, respectively, according to financial disclosure documents on file with the state’s elections officer.
The fundraising is a work in progress but all but certain to expand exponentially if, as expected, the effort makes the ballot and an election is held later this year. Apart from the recall, Newsom is up for reelection anyway in 2022."
See map of California's highest vaccination rates as access opens to ages 16+
Sac Bee's JAYSON CHESLER: "California has continued to progress on its COVID-19 vaccination process, with more than 48% of California residents receiving at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine as the state looks to open vaccines up to all residents 16 and older on April 15.
The state has administered 566 vaccine doses per 1,000 residents. That number is bolstered by high vaccination rates in the Bay Area and in San Diego County. Sacramento County sits slightly below the average rate at 528 doses administered per 1,000. Most Central Valley counties are below the statewide rate.
The state, and the nation as a whole, are facing new challenges in its COVID-19 vaccination effort with U.S. health officials pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine after isolated reports of blood clots."
READ MORE related to Vaccination: Stanford enrolls children as young as 2 in Pfizer vaccine trials -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO; 'Pent-up demand' in Sacramento as doses open to 16-and-older, official says -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH; California works to track cases of COVID among the vaccinated -- Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG; What's different about Johnson & Johnson's vaccine that might explain its blood clot risk? -- LA Times's KAREN KAPLAN; Vaccine side effects information -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG/ANNIE VAINSHTEIN
California lawmakers taking a softer tone on restoring a tax break Californians lost under Trump
LA Times's SARAH D. WIRE: "Conscious of how it could affect Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stance in negotiations, California Democrats aren’t drawing the same red line as their East Coast colleagues who are demanding that President Biden’s infrastructure package include a full repeal of the $10,000 cap set during the Trump administration on state and local tax deductions.
California, where taxpayers face higher property, local and state taxes than most other states, was among those hit the hardest by the cap that Republicans put in place in 2017. The state is also represented by the largest congressional delegation in the country, leading some to question why it isn’t throwing its weight behind demands to repeal the cap.
In interviews, multiple California Democrats acknowledged how not being able to deduct the full amount of state and local tax, also known as SALT, has impacted middle and upper class residents in their districts, saying that they want to see the cap repealed. But they said it’s too soon to draw a line in the sand on a specific policy when the legislation hasn’t even been written. It’s not even clear yet whether the tax and infrastructure portions will be one bill or two."
Payments to PG&E wildfire victims now up to $141M -- but process is moving slowly
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "Thousands of California victims of wildfires linked to PG&E Corp. have received payments totaling $141.3 million from the utility’s bankruptcy — but are being warned that the payout process is proceeding slowly.
In a letter to victims filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Fire Victim Trust said this week that it has sent money to 7,547 victims of the 2018 Camp Fire and other wildfires that drove PG&E into bankruptcy in 2019. That represents a little more than 10% of the victims of the fires, which date to 2015.
About two-thirds of the money disbursed so far has been the “preliminary payments” geared toward victims who are considered “vulnerable and struggling because of the fires and impacted even more by the COVID-19 crisis,” the fund’s trustee John Trotter said in his letter. Those payments are capped at $25,000."
Lawsuit: Sacramento officials broke law by delaying launch of Mayor Steinberg recall
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "City of Sacramento officials violated city code when they rejected paperwork to launch a recall campaign against Mayor Darrell Steinberg, a new lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the Sacramento Homeless Union, raises the issue of when elected officials in Sacramento can be targeted for recall.
Anthony Price, attorney for the homeless union, tried to submit the paperwork with the city on Feb. 25, according to emails attached to the complaint. But the city clerk’s office sent him an email saying he had to wait until June 15 — the date when Steinberg will be six months into his current term."
Caitlyn Jenner, a porn star and more: The Gavin Newsom recall is getting crowded
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "What do a Redding businesswoman, a Roseville insurance broker, a tech entrepreneur-turned-pastor, and a porn star all have in common?
They all want to be the governor of California.
They’ll get a chance if the effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom triggers a special election this year. California has a low bar to enter a recall election — a candidate can simply pay about $4,000 — and that presents a golden opportunity to would be-governors or fame-seeking social media influencers."
Confusion lingers over Windsor governance, as council grapples with accused mayor’s defiance
MARY CALLAHAN, Press Democrat: "Opening the door to the faint possibility he may resign, Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli said Thursday he was “thinking and praying” about what to do after a six-hour meeting in which he was subject to scathing denunciations from dozens of residents seeking his ouster.
Closing out a drama-filled week that opened with explosive allegations that he was a repeat sexual assailant and ended with an imminent recall campaign and demands from his own council that he quit, Foppoli responded to a request for comment with a simple text message.
“I’ll be spending the next few days talking to residents, thinking, and praying about my decision of what comes next,” he wrote.
Windsor residents express outrage, level additional sexual misconduct allegations against Mayor Foppoli
The Chronicle's ALEXANDRIA BORDAS/CYNTHIA DIZIKES: "Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli told his Town Council colleagues that he would ignore their demands that he resign and then listened calmly as dozens of speakers strongly urged him to quit, some even cursing him, during an extraordinary emergency meeting held by the town Wednesday evening.
Foppoli, who was accused of sexual assault by several women in a recent Chronicle investigation, was positioned in a center square on the screen during the public Zoom meeting, surrounded by the same Town Council colleagues and employees who called the meeting to demand his resignation.
As mayor, Foppoli ran the first half of the meeting even though it was about his own alleged misbehavior, ushering speaker after speaker through the public comment segment, reminding people to unmute, only to have them unload on him after they did. They sobbed, hurled profanities at him, and called him a “gross joke,” a “sociopath,” a “narcissist” — and a “rapist.” Several people accused Foppoli of additional sexual misconduct."
SEIU union at SCUSD sets strike date. Teachers plan sympathy strike
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "The union representing hundreds of workers in the Sacramento City Unified School District announced a two-day strike, after the union and district officials could not agree on child care, stipends and physical distancing guidelines. The Sacramento City Teachers Association pledged their support to join with a sympathy strike.
More than 90% of the 1,900 SEIU 1021 members voted to reject the district’s proposal on how to safely return to campus, and set a date to strike on April 22 and April 23.
The strike date falls on the the first day middle and high school students are returning to their campuses for the first time in more than a year. About 58% students in the district have returned or are returning to in-person instruction."
READ MORE related to Education: New micro-scholarships in San Jose build bank acocunts and mindsets for college -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD
'La Gran Madre' helps child migrants separated from their families -- because she was one
LA Times's MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE: "The Great Mother’s phone is ringing.
Zoom fatigue is real and even worse for women. Stanford researchers explain why
The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "Zoom fatigue is real — but it’s even more acute and intense for women, new research from Stanford shows.
In the first large-scale paper analyzing Zoom fatigue, Stanford researchers found that feelings of exhaustion following long spans of time spent on Zoom calls are more severe for women than for men.
The paper, released Tuesday on the Social Science Research Network, surveyed 10,322 participants in February and March to get a sense of burnout from technology across demographics."
