Justice Dept: Alameda County violates rights of mental health patients, inmates
The Chronicle, RAHEEM HOSSEINI/NORA MISHANEC: "Alameda County is violating the U.S. Constitution by “unnecessarily institutionalizing” people with mental health needs and by subjecting them to “prolonged” solitary confinement in the county jail, the Justice Department concluded after a five-year investigation.
The Justice Department delivered its strongly worded findings to Alameda County and its Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, along with an attachment that summarized the ways in which inadequate mental health care traps Alameda County residents who need it in a cycle of jail and psychiatric institutionalization.
“Santa Rita Jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate mental health treatment, resulting in worsening mental health conditions for prisoners with serious mental health needs, repeated stays at John George (Psychiatric Hospital), and, at times, serious physical harm and death,” the Justice Department summary states. “Santa Rita Jail subjects prisoners with serious mental illness to prolonged periods of restrictive housing under conditions that place them at a substantial risk of serious harm. The Jail also denies prisoners with mental health disabilities equal access to programming and transition services."
Biden admin gives California back its power to regulate vehicle emissions
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The feud over vehicle emissions between California and the federal government that started during the Trump administration appears to be coming to an end.
As President Biden seeks to make climate change a top priority, the federal Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it will drop its rule and subsequent legal effort to prevent California and other states from regulating heat-trapping gases spewed from cars and light trucks.
California has been a pioneer on climate pollution, long setting vehicle emissions standards that are stricter than the federal government’s. Two years ago, however, the Trump administration blocked the authority of states to go their own way on emissions, prompting California to sue and kicking off a protracted court fight that is now bound to draw to a close."
Newsom reportedly planning phase-out of fracking permits in California
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER/J.D. MORRIS: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is preparing a plan to phase out the oil extraction method known as fracking in California, according to environmentalists who were briefed on the effort.
Newsom is facing pressure to act from environmentalists who oppose fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, after a bill that would have banned it and some other extraction methods died in the Legislature last week.
Several members of environmental groups told The Chronicle on Thursday that they had been notified of an imminent announcement by Newsom to rein in fracking. Politico, citing unidentified environmental, legislative and industry sources, said the governor would ban new fracking permits starting in 2024."
California Republican's 'cancel culture' bills fail as Democrats reject 2 proposals
Sac Bee, KIM BOJORQUEZ: "California Democrats this week shot down a Republican’s effort to make political beliefs a protected class under the state’s anti-discrimination laws, a bid that the GOP lawmaker described as an attempt to take on “cancel culture.”
Two bills, authored by Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, would have extended discrimination protections of a person’s political affiliation and political beliefs in the state’s workplace, businesses and public schools.
The bills failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on party-line votes on Tuesday."
How Windsor officials failed to uncover an allegation that Dominic Foppoli assaulted a woman in a hot tub
The Chronicle, CYNTHIA DIZIKES/ALEXANDRIA BORDAS: "By repeatedly declining to investigate a 2017 email in which a woman accused Mayor Dominic Foppoli of sexual misconduct, Windsor’s top officials and police failed to uncover a more serious accusation that the politician had sexually assaulted the woman in a hot tub at his winery outside town, a new Chronicle investigation has found.
The woman said in an interview that, as she sat in the hot tub at Christopher Creek Winery with Foppoli and a group of her friends in 2013, Foppoli “clapped” off the lights, exposed his penis underwater and thrust it into her hand. The group had rented the guesthouse at Christopher Creek, which Foppoli co-owns, for a birthday celebration."
“I felt a little bit like I was internally spiraling — I felt nauseous, shocked, in disbelief,” said the woman, a 34-year-old San Francisco resident who asked to be identified by her middle name, Jane. “It felt like he had done this before, like it was choreographed and timed.”
Do you still need to wear your face mask outdoors? Here's what experts are saying
Sac Bee, DAWSON WHITE: "The weather is warming up, and with the expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, there’s growing hope for a post-pandemic America to soon be reality.
More than 89 million people in the U.S. — about 27% of the total population — have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, many are wondering whether they can safely ditch the mask when they step outdoors this spring.
Masks have been recommended in public for more than a year now, and while some states have lifted mask mandates, several still require masks to be worn outside when social distancing isn’t possible."
DA George Gascon's new vision for taking on LA County gangs draw confusion, criticism
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY: "Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón says he’s going to fundamentally change the way the largest prosecutor’s office in the nation handles gang crime.
After weeks of rumors that he would eliminate the office’s Hardcore Gang unit — long a treasured spot for veteran prosecutors hoping to take on some of the most violent crimes in Southern California — Gascón finally confirmed Tuesday the unit would be reduced in size, renamed and reorganized.
The new Community Violence Reduction Division will “integrate the most serious gang crimes and most prolific violent offenders with prevention, intervention and community involvement efforts,” according to a copy of an internal memo reviewed by The Times. The new unit will have 26 prosecutors, as opposed to the 40 who staffed the prior unit, officials said."
UC and CSU campuses could require COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as the fall semester
Sac Bee, SAWSAN MORRAR/DALE KASLER: "California State University and the University of California announced Thursday that the COVID-19 vaccine will be required for anyone who returns to campus as soon as the shots are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The requirement will affect 33 campuses across the state.
Both the CSU and UC already have several immunization requirements, but university leaders said they could not implement a policy on COVID-19 vaccinates until it received FDA approval. Currently, the FDA only issued emergency-use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic."
California lost a huge number of students amid the pandemic. What does it mean for schools?
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "California’s public schools lost more than 160,000 students amid the pandemic, a striking decline in enrollment that could have a long-term impact on the financial stability of districts across the state.
The decline was mostly among kindergarten through third grade, which lost 107,000 students this school year.
State officials said they were “drilling down” to identify where those families went — and if they would be back."
Long Beach Convention Center opens as temporary facility for unaccompanied migrant children
LA Times, ANDREA CASTILLO: "Federal officials on Thursday prepared to receive 150 migrant children at the Long Beach Convention Center, one of several structures in California and other states being repurposed as temporary intake facilities to cope with an overflow of unaccompanied minors at the southern border.
Sleeping areas were set up inside the Convention Center’s exhibit halls, with rows of cots draped with white sheets and stacked with folded blankets and pillows, photos shot by a media pool photographer showed.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said children would receive a medical checkup, clothing, toiletries and food upon arrival. The 1,000-bed facility will house girls under 17 and boys under 12."
After judge orders Iraqi man's release, agents whisked him to custody in Bakersfield
Sac Bee, SAM STANTON: "Omar Ameen was ready to go home to his family for the first time since his August 2018 arrest.
A federal magistrate judge ordered his immediate release Wednesday from the Sacramento County Jail, declaring that the government had failed to make its case that Ameen was an ISIS commander who should be extradited back to Iraq to face charges of murdering a police officer.
His lawyers had visited him to deliver the news, did a round of celebratory media interviews outside the jail and waited for his release."
Paul Flores' father moved Kristin Smart's body from under home, her family claims in lawsuit
LA Times, RICHARD WINTON: "The parents of Kristin Smart on Thursday sued the father of Paul Flores, who was charged last week with killing the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student in 1996.
The civil lawsuit accuses Ruben Flores of intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that he moved Smart’s body from beneath his deck last year to try to cover up her 1996 killing.
James Murphy, attorney for Stan and Denise Smart, filed the lawsuit within hours of Ruben Flores’ release on $50,000 bail from San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s custody. He was charged with being an accessory after the fact in Smart’s killing. Paul Flores was arrestedand subsequently charged with murder, and remains behind bars. Both have denied wrongdoing."
