Why California is hoping people keep wearing masks even as coronavirus cases fall
LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II and LUKE MONEY: "Even as California begins to loosen its mask requirements, some top health officials are strongly recommending the public still wear face coverings, saying the state’s earlier pandemic experiences illustrate the need for continued vigilance.
With the Omicron wave still fresh in the minds of residents and policymakers alike, officials are casting Wednesday’s lifting of a statewide indoor mask mandate in a cautiously optimistic light — a departure from the more celebratory tone seen eight months ago, when California lifted virtually all coronavirus-related restrictions on businesses and public spaces.
“Unlike June 15th, I think it’s a really strong part of the message that masks are a valuable tool,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary, referring to the state’s “reopening” day."
‘DearCAStaffers’ shuts down as quickly as it began
WILL SHUCK, Capitol Weekly: "In its brief, giddy existence, the anonymous Instagram account “DearCaStaffers” attracted thousands of followers and shared scores of secrets about lawmakers and their staff, before suddenly going dark.
Beginning last week, each day brought hundreds of new followers, many of whom wrote anonymous posts about bad bosses and abusive work environments. The account garnered tales of drunken lawmakers and belligerent supervisors, long hours and involuntary campaign work.
Sprinkled among the lurid tales and vitriol were calls for union representation, a right afforded to all other state workers but denied to those in the Legislative branch. Nearly 600 people piled on as followers during the weekend. The last observed total was more than 3,300."
‘Freedom convoy’ in California? Sacramento supervisor tried to organize COVID protest
JASON POHL, SacBee: "A Sacramento County supervisor attempted to help organize a mass-protest against vaccine mandates inspired by a demonstration that brought scores of truckers to Canada’s capital city and caused mass disruption for weeks. Calling herself a “freedom fighter” Supervisor Sue Frost recently joined a Telegram social media channel to help plan a protest, according to screenshots posted online.
People participating in the channel called for a California “Peoples Convoy,” one of several rumored U.S. trucker protests that have thus far failed to materialize.
“I am a Sacramento County Supervisor who is communicating with many freedom groups who want to support the convoy. I’m a freedom fighter, Connected with parents faith community, business,” the post says.
Some California school districts are defying mask mandate
DIANA LAMBERT, EdSource: "California ended its mask mandate for fully vaccinated people Tuesday for all but school staff and students, prompting protests across the state. Most school districts are sending unmasked students home, but the number of schools that are welcoming them is growing.
The state will likely drop its school mask mandate sometime after Feb. 28, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced at a news conference Monday. Over the next two weeks, state health officials will review student vaccination rates, Covid case numbers, hospitalization rates and national and global trends to determine an appropriate time to drop the mandate, he said.
But some districts are not waiting. School district officials at most of California’s small rural districts have decided to stop disciplining or excluding students from school if they don’t comply with requests to wear masks, said Tim Taylor, executive director of the California Small School Districts’ Association, which represents 600 school districts and charter schools."
We counted masks at grocery stores on the day California’s mandate lifted — here’s what we found
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN, RYCE SOUGHTENBOROUGH, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN AND NANETTE ASIMOV: "To breathe freely again! And to not worry about getting sick — or worse, landing in the hospital.
Such freedom is what many vaccinated people hoped for on Wednesday, when California and all Bay Area counties except Santa Clara lifted most indoor mask mandates as coronavirus cases continue to decline.
Masks are still required for unvaccinated people and remain compulsory for everyone in airports, hospitals, K-12 schools, medical settings and shelters. But gone is the rule that people mask up when visiting, say, a shop, theater or government office."
California’s largest wildfire of 2022 grows uncontained to 1,800 acres near Bishop
LA Times, GREGORY YEE: "A wind-driven wildfire that broke out near Bishop in the Owens Valley spurred evacuations and grew to 1,800 acres by Wednesday night, officials said, quickly becoming California’s largest fire of the year so far.
The Airport fire was first sighted at 4:06 p.m. near Airport Road and East Line Street, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
No injuries have been reported, said Battalion Chief Alison Hesterly, a spokesperson for Cal Fire."
Is California’s Prop. 13 racist? Homeowners in white neighborhoods of one city may get triple the tax benefit
The Chronicle, LAUREN HEPLER: "California’s famous 1970s-era cap on property taxes, Proposition 13, has long been a lightning rod in the state’s housing wars.
For critics like Phil Levin, a recent Oakland homebuyer who started Prop. 13 mapping initiative the Tax Fairness Project, voters’ decision to effectively freeze tax bills as property values soared amounts to a big annual giveaway that undercuts entire communities.
“We’re subsidizing the people who have already won the jackpot,” Levin said. “We’re paying for this in the form of lower teacher pay, larger classroom sizes and deteriorating educational facilities.”"
Karen Bass takes early lead in L.A. mayor’s race, poll finds
LA Times, BENJAMIN ORESKES: "Voters would advance Rep. Karen Bass to the November runoff by a wide margin if the Los Angeles mayoral primary were today, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
About four months from primary day, June 7, who would join her in the runoff is anybody’s guess.
Just under a third of likely voters said Bass would be their first choice to replace Mayor Eric Garcetti."
San Francisco school board recall puts Mayor London Breed under huge pressure: ‘Voters will hold her accountable’
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH and JILL TUCKER: "The landslide recall of three San Francisco school board members on Tuesday shifted the spotlight to Mayor London Breed, who has the sole responsibility of appointing replacements.
Breed likely has a few weeks to select her picks, given that ousted board members Gabriela López, Alison Collins and Faauuga Moliga will continue to serve until 10 days after the Board of Supervisors accepts the results — with appointees taking office March 11 at the earliest.
Breed addressed next steps at a Wednesday morning news conference at City Hall, saying she’s already met with parents about what they want to see from the school board. She said she has not discussed potential replacements or interviewed any potential candidates."
Los Angeles D.A. modifies policy on juvenile cases in wake of controversy
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY: "Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón has modified his blanket ban on trying juveniles as adults due to a pending state Supreme Court case and continuing backlash over a decision to allow a 26-year-old to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a child in juvenile court last month.
Under the new policy, which was circulated throughout the office on Tuesday, prosecutors must notify Chief Deputy Sharon Woo if a defense attorney seeks to move a case from adult court to juvenile court, and seek her permission to object to that motion. The document also directs prosecutors to notify Woo of cases where a defendant is “already an adult when proceedings are initiated in juvenile court.”
The latter circumstance seems to mirror the controversial case of Hannah Tubbs, who was sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility last month for sexually assaulting a child in Palmdale in 2014. Tubbs was 17 at the time of the crime, but was not linked to the assault until 2019, when her DNA was entered into a database due to an arrest in another state."
S.F. Police Chief Scott says he and D.A. Boudin are working on interim police-probe plan
The Chronicle, LAUREN HERNANDEZ and MEGAN CASSIDY: "San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Wednesday that he and District Attorney Chesa Boudin are negotiating an interim agreement over how investigations into serious police use-of-force cases are handled.
Scott told the San Francisco Police Commission that he and the Boudin agreed to work with state Attorney General Rob Bonta to hammer out an interim agreement that would kick in if the existing memorandum of understanding expires next week. That MOU, which has been at the center of a dispute between Scott and Boudin, is set to expire on Feb. 23 without intervention from the Police Commission.
Scott said the interim agreement would “make clear what protocols will be in place in the interim that allow” the D.A.’s office and the police department to conduct their respective investigations while the agencies negotiate a “fair, impartial, transparent” memorandum of understanding over how police abuse cases are investigated."
Exclusive Q&A: S.F. police chief weighs in on Boudin, the Tenderloin, police morale and more
The Chronicle, Staff: "San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott spoke to Chronicle reporters and editors for two hours on Tuesday, during a time of immense challenges for him and his department. He faces public pressure to fight a drug overdose crisis and rates of property crime that have consistently ranked among the highest in the nation. He’s dealing with reduced staffing and flagging morale among rank-and-file officers.
And now he’s in a dispute with District Attorney Chesa Boudin after moving to terminate an agreement — known as a memorandum of understanding or MOU — that allows prosecutors to take the lead in investigating police killings and other use-of-force cases.
Scott says the DA’s office violated that agreement by withholding information it is supposed to share with police. He cites recent trial testimony by a DA’s office investigator, Magen Hayashi, who said she was regularly told that her office’s relationship with the police force was “not a two-way street,” despite provisions in the MOU that require certain information to be shared. Boudin denies that his office violated the agreement, and said it would continue investigating potential police brutality — with or without the deal."
Senate Republicans move to downplay race in looming Supreme Court battle
LA Times, NOLAN D. McCASKILL: "Some Senate Republicans are predicting a civil but tough Supreme Court battle in which their members largely steer clear of the nominee’s identity as a Black woman, a historic element that Democrats have played up as they tout the need for a more representative judiciary that looks like America.
But that marks a shift from recent weeks, when several Republicans drew criticism for comments made after President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to nominate a Black woman to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the high court.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) quipped that he wanted “a nominee who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog.”"
Suge Knight’s former attorney takes plea deal, is barred for life from practicing law
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY: "Marion “Suge” Knight’s former attorney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and perjury charges Wednesday and will be barred from practicing law for life after prosecutors accused him of plotting to bribe witnesses so they would lie for the rap mogul when he faced murder charges in 2016.
Prosecutors originally accused Matthew Fletcher, 57, of conspiracy to suborn perjury, obstruct justice and bribe witnesses after obtaining a warrant to listen in on jailhouse phone calls between the attorney and Knight in 2015. He also was charged as an accessory after the fact in Knight’s case and faced an unrelated count of bribery in connection with testimony he gave at a disciplinary hearing before the State Bar of California in 2016.
Jurors began weighing the charges against Fletcher earlier this week following a two-month trial, but a plea deal started to come together Wednesday morning before a verdict could be reached, according to Fletcher’s co-counsel, Alexandra Kazarian."
