Homicides suddenly spiked last year in California after long decline. What's going on?
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "California officials recently released data showing that homicides in the state were up 31% in 2020. But the reasons for the spike — the largest percentage increase in years — are still unclear.
The surge — while not unique to California — comes after a yearslong downward trend in the state’s homicide rate. But 2020 was an exceptional year, and crime experts, government officials and advocates alike wonder whether the spike can be attributed to the economic and social strain caused by the pandemic.
“We’re really talking about highly unusual times that really upended our lives in so many ways,” said Magnus Lofstrom, a policy director and senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California."
Democrats are in control at California’s Capitol. Why is the state budget still not done?
SOPHIA BOLLAG, SacBee: "California’s fiscal year started more than a week ago, but lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom still don’t have a budget deal.
They’ve enacted placeholder legislation to keep the government running while they hash out the final details, but the delay leaves Californians waiting for details on how money for critical areas including wildfires and infrastructure will be spent.
It’s a different situation than the budget stalemates of past decades, when state government had to cut deals with banks to ensure state workers were paid even as budget negotiations dragged into the fall. But it’s still causing frustration for many closely watching or involved with the process, including Assemblyman Vince Fong of Bakersfield."
In troubling spike, LA County sees 3,000 new coronavirus cases in three days
LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II: "Los Angeles County has recorded more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases in three days, part of a troubling rise in cases as viral transmission increases among unvaccinated people.
It was the first time since early March that the county reported three consecutive days with more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases.
The numbers underscore growing concerns about how the highly contagious Delta variant is spreading among unvaccinated people. Officials have said those who have received vaccinations have an excellent chance of being protected."
Assembly weighs mandating vaccines after statehouse COVID outbreak
The Chronicle, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "The California Assembly is exploring whether to require its members and employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, after a small outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the state Capitol during the week of June 28.
“It’s something that’s under consideration,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in an interview Thursday. “There’s a couple of different models that other entities have adopted. We have to talk it over, not only with our public health folks, but also with our employment attorneys as well.”
Rendon, a Democrat from Lakewood (Los Angeles County), said mandatory vaccines was one of “several possibilities that we’re looking at” as legislative leaders try to tamp down the spread of the virus amid the rise of the more infectious delta variant."
Northern California wildfire grows, destroys homes amid extreme conditions
ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, LA Times: "A wildfire in Northern California continued to grow overnight amid an intense heat wave and increased winds that were expected to complicate firefighting efforts.
Authorities received reports of homes destroyed in multiple communities, but no official figures have been released, said Lisa Cox, public information officer for the Beckwourth Complex fire. Video posted to social media showed homes ablaze in the town of Doyle. A damage assessment team was working on a tally.
The Sugar fire, which ignited July 2, had spread to 83,256 acres as of Sunday morning and remained at 8% contained. The fire, now the state’s largest of the season, was one of two sparked by lightning in the Plumas National Forest that have together been dubbed the Beckwourth Complex fire. The other, the Dotta fire, started June 30 and was 670 acres and 99% contained by early Sunday."
CDC issues guidance on masks in classrooms, but here's what California schools will do
Sac Bee, AMELIA DAVIDSON/MATIE CAMERO: "The CDC issued new guidance for schools on Friday, saying that vaccinated students and teachers could remain unmasked during in-person learning. But mask mandates will not be going away just yet in California schools, according to the California Department of Public Health.
In new guidance issued Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reiterated its priority that all schools return to in-person learning in the fall after more than a year of distance learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Those who are not fully vaccinated, including children younger than 12 years old who are not yet eligible to get a shot, should continue to wear masks inside, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: The Bash
Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly: "The Bash (AKA The Back to Session Bash) has been a Capitol tradition for close to two decades now. The 2020 edition – the biggest ever – was held as usual in January, before COVID was a concern. Twelve months later, a January 2021 Bash was out of the question. The question then was: cancel?
Quintana joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster this episode to talk about expectations and limits for Wednesday’s event, doing shots with Lil Jon, Taiko drummers, Kings dancers, the best – and worst – moments in Bash history. Plus: Who had the #WorstWeekCA?"
California heat wave causes misery as temperature records fall
LA Times, JAMES RAINEY/ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: "Anthony Wainscott has known his share of hardship, living the last two years on the streets of the Antelope Valley. But his personal misery index reached a new plateau during a weekend of record-setting heat.
“It’s extra hot. It’s abnormally hot,” said Wainscott, crouched in the meager shade of a palm tree on the edge of a shopping center parking lot Sunday in Palmdale, where the temperature hit 107 degrees. “I don’t even know how to explain it. But there’s something extra playing with the environment right now. And it’s not good.”
The 33-year-old Massachusetts native accepted the occasional donation from drivers, who briefly rolled down their windows to offer some change or a dollar or two. He used a dwindling supply of bottled water to fill a dish for his panting pit bull, Roscoe"
Newsom administration denies fracking permits -- a California first for climate change
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "California state regulators have denied a string of applications to drill for oil using the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, a move Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office described Friday as the beginning of the end for fracking in the state.
The 21 fracking applications, which sought new operations in the oil-rich fields of Kern County, were turned down Thursday because of what the California Department of Conservation cited as a need to protect public health and address climate change.
Supporters of the move called it the first time the state has significantly limited fracking for health and climate purposes. Many have been pushing for such action for years."
To beat climate change in California, rural farming needs to move North
The Chronicle, JEREMIAH RAMIREZ: "Twenty-five years ago, at age 18, I followed my uncle to the top of Mount Lassen for a 10,000-foot view of Northern California’s Fourth of July fireworks. We watched the revelry start over Reno and Lake Tahoe, and move seemingly to our feet at Lake Almanor. Then the North Valley’s sky popped like a brick of firecrackers.
The thrills continued when my uncle tried to ski down the southern face of this active volcano. Back then, Lassen Peak was mostly covered in snow through midsummer, so a die-hard skiing down its face in July was hardly notable. But doing so by moonlight was — and remains — half-baked, pun emphatically intended.
Nowadays, the peak’s snowpack succumbs to the summer sun much sooner, and thus is more suitable for an e-bike daredevil with a death wish. The Lassen Ski Area resort, where my professional ski-bum uncle originally took up the sport, closed in 1993, in part because of poor snowfall."
Scuffle breaks out at Rep. Katie Porter's town hall
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA: "A melee broke out at Rep. Katie Porter’s district town hall meeting Sunday, with her backers scuffling with supporters of former President Trump who were loudly interrupting the congresswoman as she spoke.
Porter, a Democrat from Irvine, said that the acts of the protesters were premeditated and that all attendees had been given the opportunity to ask questions.
“It is disappointing that a small but vocal group of attendees, who advertised a ‘confrontation rally,’ created unsafe conditions at a planned family-friendly event,” Porter said in a statement. “While I absolutely respect their right to disagree, their disturbance disrespected all the families who attended and were ready to engage in a thoughtful, civil and safe way."
NEWS --- Fast-moving wildfire burning toward critical route to Yosemite park -- LA Times, THOMAS CURWEN; When Lava Fire flared back up, questions started about Forest Service's firefighting strategy -- The Chronicle, JULIE JOHNSON
Newsom appoints two new judges to serve at Sac Superior Court
Sac Bee, SAM STANTON: "Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed two new judges to Sacramento Superior Court, tapping Benjamin Galloway from the federal defender’s office and former Deputy District Attorney David Bonilla to fill the slots of two judges who have retired.
Galloway, 47, is the chief assistant federal defender and has worked in that office since 2007. He most recently won an order, along with co-counsel Rachelle Barbour, that would have required federal prosecutors to release Omar Ameen, an Iraqi refugee, from custody.
Ameen was being sought by Iraqi officials in the slaying of a police officer there, a charge Ameen and his lawyers have denied. Ameen was ordered released rather than extradited back to Iraq, but federal immigration officials intervened and had him held in Southern California pending deportation proceedings."
'We need to fix this city': Post-Garcetti LA at a crossroads
LA Times, THOMAS CURWEN: "On the 26th floor of City Hall, one lesson in the history of Los Angeles is abundantly clear. Accomplishments of the past are never greater than the problems of the present.
Hidden in the corridors of this granite aerie are portraits of nearly 50 former mayors. Most are strangers, whose legacies have been overshadowed by the never-ending demands of an ever-evolving city.
Eric Garcetti is about to join this gallery, and his premature departure — ambassadorship, India — means Angelenos must again look to the future and consider a new mayor whose agenda will be more urgent and complicated than ever before."
How California's new universal transitional kindergarten program will be rolled out
EdSource, KAREN D'SOUZA: "In the wake of the pandemic, which shined a spotlight on the essential nature of early childhood education and care, universal transitional kindergarten is poised to become a reality in California.
Championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and several lawmakers, the $2.7 billion universal transitional kindergarten program will be gradually phased in over the next five years, until it includes all the state’s 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. Currently, transitional kindergarten, or TK, serves about 100,000 children, primarily those who turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2. How the expanded TK program will be rolled out is detailed in SB 130, the TK-12 education trailer bill Newsom signed Friday, clarifying policies related to the state budget for 2021-22.
Although some of the state’s largest districts already offer expanded transitional kindergarten, experts say making a year of pre-kindergarten available to all is a watershed achievement in early education."
Newsom signs law to send schools record funding, add new grade, summer programs
Sac Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed into law legislation to send a record $123.9 billion to California schools, which will fund a new transitional kindergarten grade and more opportunities for summer and after-school teaching.
Newsom and lawmakers still have not announced a final budget deal, but the bill Newsom signed Friday represents agreement on a huge part of the state budget. California law requires much of the state’s tax revenue to go toward education, so Newsom and lawmakers have limited control over the overall dollar amount, but they can dictate how the money is spent.
The bill Newsom signed creates a new grade in California public schools called transitional kindergarten, which Newsom and lawmakers say will create a better education foundation for the state’s children. The law aims to implement transitional kindergarten for all California 4-year-olds by 2025."
As California wineries lose insurance, some fear this fire season will be their last
The Chronicle, ESTHER MOBLEY: "Winemaker Matt Naumann expected his fire insurance costs to skyrocket.
The annual premium to insure his small vineyard and winery in Placerville (El Dorado County) had risen steadily over the last three years, from $7,000 per year to $8,500 to $10,000. After last year’s catastrophic fire season, “I figured, maybe they’ll even rise by 50% or 100%,” said Naumann, the owner of Newfound Wines.
Instead, his fire insurance was revoked entirely. When Naumann’s broker tried to find other carriers, he met more denials. For now, he’ll be entering wildfire season uninsured."
Can Trump prevail in his lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook? The odds are not in his favor
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "Federal lawsuits filed by former President Donald Trump on Wednesday against Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube are seeking to address what he claims are unfair censorship practices against himself and other conservatives.
Legal experts and scholars said the cases likely have a slim chance of succeeding, but that they may be more important as political messaging and in spotlighting how central social media has become to government figures.
The suit tries to paint the social media giants as state actors bound by and in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits government limits on free speech."
