California Policy and P  olitics This Morning  

COVID vaccines: All Californians 16 and older are eligible starting Thursday – how to get yours -- Fourteen months after San Jose resident Patricia Dowd became the first person in the United States to die from COVID-19, the historic pandemic has killed more than 560,576 Americans — more fatalities than the U.S. experienced in World War I, World War II and the Korean War combined. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ Rong-Gong Lin II, Colleen Shalby, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

30% of California adults fully vaccinated, 20% partially vaccinated against COVID-19 -- As the state sprints toward 24 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine given, California hit another pair of remarkable milestones Wednesday: more than 30% of its adults are now fully vaccinated, and over half have one dose of a two-shot inoculation. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/15/21

Newsom: J&J pause won't undermine California's vaccine goals -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said the pause should not affect California’s goals of opening vaccine eligibility to most people this week and broadly reopening the economy in June. Victoria Colliver Politico -- 4/15/21

Nearly 50,000 COVID cases likely went unreported in a Northern California county -- A study with Stanford University to better understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in Placer County found that about 68% of cases went unreported. Molly Sullivan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/15/21

'Breakthrough' cases of vaccinated people who get COVID may be key to unlocking immunity -- These cases should be rare — and are fully expected. The vaccines are not 100% effective, and with the virus still circulating fairly widely across California, a few cases in people who are fully vaccinated are bound to happen. California doesn’t yet publicly report breakthrough cases, but a survey of Bay Area counties found more than 100 confirmed or suspected. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

Stanford enrolls children as young as 2 in Pfizer vaccine trials -- Stanford Medicine on Wednesday began administering shots to children ages 2 to 5 in a trial for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, marking another step forward in getting younger children vaccinated. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

Deaths among Latino immigrants soared by 90% as COVID tore through this California county -- Pedro Cruz Mendoza developed a cough and fever in March. Yet he continued to toil in the Central Valley’s fields for four days, even as his symptoms worsened. Nadia Lopez in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/15/21

Gavin Newsom calls for full reopening of California schools by fall, urges extended class time -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday urged schools to prepare for “full, in-person instruction” this fall as coronavirus rates drop and vaccinations ramp up across the state, but he stopped short of saying he’d hand down an executive order to force open classrooms. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/15/21

Open  

San Francisco releases huge, detailed list of new reopenings and expansions -- San Francisco is taking new steps in opening up the city, easing restrictions April 15 to allow indoor music concerts, graduation ceremonies, conferences and more to resume. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/15/21

San Francisco reopens further with live shows, conferences and ‘masks on’ messaging -- San Francisco will allow indoor performances and private conferences and receptions to resume Thursday as coronavirus rates remain low and residents continue to get vaccinated. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Many Southern California churches to ease back into normalcy despite court ruling -- Several Southern California churches and faith leaders said Wednesday, April 14, they will take their time to ease back into normalcy even after the state lifted its limits on indoor worship services on Monday following U.S. Supreme Court rulings that struck down COVID-19 public health mandates. Deepa Bharath in the Orange County Register -- 4/15/21

PG&E  

California power regulators cast doubt on utility’s plans -- The anticipated rebuke from the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday would serve as official notice to PG&E that it hasn’t been doing enough to reduce the risks posed by a combination of crumbling equipment and overgrown trees susceptible to touching or toppling into nearby power lines. Mike Liedtke Associated Press -- 4/15/21

COVID Economy  

How will Hollywood get back to full speed? After the pandemic, some things may never return to normal -- In a business that spent the bulk of 2020 either in partial closure or inching toward recovery, there’s a palpable, if cautious, sense of optimism, although some of that was dampened on Monday when the owner of the popular ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres announced its locations would not reopen. Ryan Faughnder, Anousha Sakoui in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Policy & Politics 

Windsor residents express outrage, level additional sexual misconduct allegations against Mayor Dominic Foppoli -- 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. Alexandria Bordas, Cynthia Dizikes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

People injured by police would be eligible for crime victim funds under bill by Chino lawmaker -- Californians injured by police or family members of those killed in such encounters may qualify for financial compensation from the state crime victims fund under a controversial bill making its way through the state Legislature. Tony Saavedra, Joe Nelson in the Orange County Register -- 4/15/21

Is Kamala Harris 'missing at the border'? She says she's focused on where migration starts -- On opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue at the same moment Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with Latin America policy experts as House GOP leaders displayed to reporters a “missing” milk carton with her face on it. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Noah Bierman, Tracy Wilkinson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Port of San Diego has ‘blown right through’ years of savings -- Once flush with proceeds, the Port of San Diego’s savings account is projected to nosedive to a far-lower-than-allowed balance by the end of the next fiscal year — or around $27 million less than what is required of the agency’s reserve fund. Jennifer Van Grove in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Workplace  

Biden quietly reversed Trump’s ban on worker visas. Will it help or hurt the U.S. economy? -- Many pro-immigration advocacy groups had urged Biden to abolish the ban on so-called guest workers as soon as he entered the White House. Instead, without fanfare, Biden waited almost three months and let the ban expire at the end of March as scheduled. Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Street  

‘White Lives Matter’ rallies miss their mark. Hate groups still see chance to ‘fire up the base’ -- When white nationalists failed to turn out in threatening numbers Sunday at a Huntington Beach rally, many counterprotesters viewed it as a victory. Hayley Smith, Hannah Fry, Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Cathedral Catholic apologizes for football players’ racist photos aimed at Lincoln High -- One photo shows someone wearing a t-shirt that says “Catholics vs. Convicts III,” another shows Cathedral players making a gang sign. Kristen Taketa, John Maffei in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Smith: There’s a fight over the direction of Black Lives Matter. The timing couldn’t be worse -- It’s unfortunate and yet somehow also entirely predictable that the airing of Black Lives Matter’s dirty laundry would happen during the trial of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin. Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Uber passenger who coughed on driver in viral video pleads not guilty to assault charges -- The 24-year-old defendant, Arna Kimiai was arrested with her friend in March after their Uber driver, Subhakar Khadka, shared a video of the passengers hitting, coughing on and ripping off his mask after he ended the ride because one of the women was not wearing her mask. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

Dozens charged in massive investigation into illicit San Diego gambling parlors -- A massive investigation into dozens of illegal gambling parlors in San Diego ended with a series of morning raids Wednesday and charges against 47 people, according to a series of federal indictments. Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Former priest charged with sexually abusing children in Palmdale and Redondo Beach -- A former Catholic priest has been charged with sexually assaulting four children in Los Angeles County while serving at churches in Palmdale and Redondo Beach in the late 1990s and early 2000s, prosecutors said Wednesday. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Paul Flores killed Kristin Smart in dorm room during attempted rape, DA says. LAPD investigated local cases -- The grim details of how Smart is believed to have died while a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo came on a day when Flores was formally charged with first-degree murder in the case and accusations surfaced that he has assaulted other women in the decades after allegedly killing Smart. Matthew Ormseth, Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Sheriff’s Dept. to announce jail deaths within 24 hours, after autopsies -- San Diego County policy change comes after news stories, complaints from deceased inmates’ relatives. Kelly Davis, Jeff MCDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Water  

‘A scary scenario’: Water bills in San Jose headed for costly, decade-long spike starting this summer -- The water district claims that the increases are necessary to purchase water during the state’s worsening drought and to complete maintenance and upgrades to its aging infrastructure. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/15/21

Education 

State's fiscal crisis team sounds alarm on the ability of CCSF to stay afloat -- City College of San Francisco is at risk of insolvency and a takeover by the state because it has lost control of its payroll expenses, a new report obtained by The Chronicle says. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

UC San Diego plans to hold in-person graduation in June -- UC San Diego announced Wednesday that it will hold an in-person commencement in June, but all participating students and guests will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or show they recently tested negative for the virus. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Why mental health is the key to dealing with learning loss -- The best way schools can help students catch up academically after a year of distance learning is to ensure they feel relaxed, safe and connected to their friends and teachers as they return to the classroom. Carolyn Jones EdSource -- 4/15/21

Homeless  

Oakland 'not adequately prepared' to deal with homeless encampments, city audit finds -- A city audit of how Oakland conducts homeless interventions found that the city lacked an effective strategy in dealing with a growing number of unsheltered residents living on city streets, and failed to give policy directions and adequate funding to handle the crisis. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/15/21

Rocks installed to discourage new homeless tents alongside Oceanside street -- City crews installed large rocks alongside South Oceanside Boulevard on Wednesday morning in an attempt to keep homeless people from erecting tents where a large encampment had been cleared the previous day. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/15/21

Landlords and Tenants   

Proposed L.A. law banning landlords from harassing renters clears a key hurdle -- The proposed ordinance, which advanced through a key committee on Wednesday, would prohibit landlords from targeting renters in a range of ways, including threatening tenants with physical harm, telling others about their immigration status, falsely telling renters they have to clear out of a unit, and failing to follow standards to protect them from dust and asbestos. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21

Also . . .   

Several Huntington Park finance employees put on leave, one arrested in data breach probe -- Almost the entire roster of Huntington Park’s Finance Department was placed on administrative leave and one staffer was arrested as part of an investigation into a records breach that has sparked competing claims of wrongdoing by city employees. Adam Elmahrek, Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/15/21