Updating . .
‘Open today, closed tomorrow’ is the new normal for hair, nail salons due to coronavirus -- In his “last lifetime,” Travis Vu closed his hair salon after the coronavirus forced state leaders to impose a lockdown in a reeling California in late March. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
They defied health rules for a storybook San Francisco wedding. The virus didn’t spare them -- The doors were locked. Rows of pews were taped off. The guests were arriving, as instructed, from an underground parking garage through a back door that led to the church interior. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
Outdoor religious gatherings draw warnings and rebukes from health officials -- Along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, electronic road signs were programmed to read: CANCELED SATURATE OC. Alex Wigglesworth, Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
When contact tracing fails: Testing delays thwart California COVID-19 trackers -- A surge in COVID-19 cases and a shortage of contact tracers has for weeks hampered Sacramento County’s efforts to contact and warn people exposed to coronavirus. Now, an additional hurdle is inhibiting the county’s contact tracing: testing slowdowns. Sophia Bollag, Tony Bizjak, and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/26/20
Coronavirus cases trickle into California’s addiction treatment centers; some workers worry -- As the quest for sobriety continues during the pandemic, state-licensed and certified addiction treatment facilities have reported 89 COVID-19 cases at 55 different sites, according to data from the Department of Health Care Services. Teri Sforza in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/26/20
SF may erase presidents’ names from schools -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt — each name in this pantheon of presidents faces possible purging from a San Francisco school, according to a recently released working paper drawn up by the school district’s Names Advisory Committee. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
California public health officials battle a water park that won't close -- For nearly two months, a back-and-forth battle has been waged between Shasta County health officials and the WaterWorks Park in Redding. Katie Dowd in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
They made a home under L.A.’s freeways. But soon they could be forced to move -- The 105 Freeway roared overhead as homeless outreach worker Daniel Ornelas knelt to speak with Genia Hope. Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
Bay Area college students trapped in pre-coronavirus leases -- Before the pandemic, San Jose State University student Betty Lee signed a lease at 27 North, a modern downtown apartment tower close to campus, for her senior year. As the school shut down and transitioned to online classes, Lee lost her part-time jobs and moved home to Brentwood. With money tight, she asked to renegotiate her lease. Louis Hansen, Erin Woo in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/26/20
By easing its bar exam score, will California produce more Black and Latino lawyers? -- For more than three decades, California has clung to one of the nation’s toughest testing standards for law school students hoping to practice law in the most populous state in the country. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
The Pandemic Is Putting A Squeeze On The Sacramento Housing Market -- As the pandemic has forced people to spend more time in their homes, it's also made it much more difficult to find a new house if you wanted to move. Both nationwide and in the Sacramento area, housing inventories are down significantly. Kacey Sycamore Capital Public Radio -- 7/26/20
Coronavirus pandemic puts a spotlight on Stockton’s guaranteed income experiment -- If there was ever a good time to convince people guaranteed income can make a difference, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs figured it’d be in the middle of a pandemic that is taking a heavier toll in poor neighborhoods and among Black and Latinx communities. Laurence Du Sault CalMatters -- 7/26/20
Top White House officials say Congress might need to rush narrow relief bill to avoid unemployment aid lapse -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that Congress might have to pass a narrow piece of legislation this week to ensure enhanced unemployment benefits don’t expire for millions of Americans. Erica Werner and Jeff Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 7/26/20
California Policy & Politics Sunday Morning
Police windows smashed, courthouse lobby set ablaze following huge Oakland rally -- Downtown Oakland was on high alert Saturday night following a protest that drew thousands of people in a show of solidarity against racial injustice and in support of protesters in Portland, Ore. Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
Los Angeles police declare tactical alert in response to protests downtown -- Los Angeles police issued a citywide tactical alert Saturday night in response to protests downtown, a move that allows the department to have more officers and resources available. Paloma Esquivel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
Coronavirus cases seep into the ranks of Newport Beach first responders -- The Newport Beach Fire Department is feeling the effect of the coronavirus among its own ranks. Ten firefighters and 11 lifeguards had tested positive for the virus, Fire Chief Jeff Boyles confirmed Friday. Hillary Davis in the Los Angeles Times$ Scott Schwebke in the Orange County Register -- 7/26/20
Los Angeles firefighter dies from complications of COVID-19 -- A Los Angeles firefighter died Saturday from complications of COVID-19, the first in the department to die from the disease, fire officials said. Firefighter-Paramedic Jose J. Perez was 44 and had been with the LAFD for more than 16 years, officials said. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/26/20
California requires masks, but not everyone wears one. Here’s how to fix that -- Everyone in California is supposed to wear a mask these days — in stores, on sidewalks, when socializing with others. But many don’t. Anna Kramer in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
To mask or not to mask? El Dorado County faces a coronavirus reckoning this week -- For a month now, El Dorado County has been the only county in the Sacramento region that has avoided landing on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “watchlist” of counties that require tighter restrictions to fight the coronavirus. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/26/20
Saturate OC revival meeting held in Huntington Beach despite city orders to cancel -- Hundreds gathered on the sand at Huntington Beach on Friday evening for the fourth week in a row to participate in a revival meeting called Saturate OC despite a city order earlier in the day to cancel the event because officials said organizers failed to obtain permits or follow coronavirus health mandates. Deepa Bharath in the Orange County Register -- 7/26/20
San Diego to take part in Moderna’s massive COVID-19 vaccine trial -- From San Diego to St. Louis to Savannah, researchers are gearing up for Moderna’s 30,000-person COVID-19 vaccine trial, set to begin Monday. Jonathan Wosen in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/26/20
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass canceled as organizers plan to move festival online -- The 20th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival is officially canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the free concert’s organizers plan to start a new initiative called Let the Music Play On in its place. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
Four months in, coronavirus travel restrictions strain cross-border relationships -- Travel restrictions have played havoc with many of the 4 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans living along the southwestern border. Wendy Fry in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/26/20
Black people still few and far between in San Diego’s biotech industry -- An industry known for tackling tough problems still hasn’t cracked one: diversity. Jonathan Wosen in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/26/20
Policy & Politics
Newsom economic task force has star-studded cast. Why can't it solve the reopening? -- Almost 100 days ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped Apple’s Tim Cook, Disney’s Bob Iger, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and scores of other business and labor luminaries to chart the state’s economic recovery. The public is still waiting for a road map. Carla Marinucci and Katy Murphy Politico -- 7/26/20
Willie Brown: We’re creating separate and very unequal school systems -- Distance teaching is turning into what could be a giant step back to the days of de facto segregation in American education. Willie Brown in- the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/26/20
Walters: State pressures locals on housing crisis -- California’s Department of Housing and Community Development is getting tough with local officials about addressing the state’s chronic shortage of housing. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 7/26/20
POTUS 45
Trump directs a campaign ad in Portland -- President Donald Trump is conjuring up an American dystopia — using the government and his supporters as producers. Tina Nguyen Politico -- 7/26/20
Beltway
RNC, Trump campaign told to stop using President Reagan to raise money -- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute formally asked the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee to stop using the 40th president’s name and image to raise money. Colby Itkowitz in the Washington Post$ -- 7/26/20
-- Saturday Updates
This county knew coronavirus could ravage its farmworkers. Why didn’t officials stop it? -- As coronavirus cases began to grow in San Joaquin County in June, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs proposed requiring citizens to wear a mask in his city in the center of the fertile valley, where agriculture is king and poverty pervasive. Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/25/20
Is it less dangerous to reopen elementary schools than high schools? -- As the start of the school year approaches, we are still largely in the dark about the relationship between the coronavirus and children, but there's growing evidence that it may be less dangerous to send younger children back to the classroom than tweens and teenagers. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/25/20
Schools can seek waivers to reopen from San Diego County but criteria is unclear -- There is a way some schools can get permission to reopen despite a state school closure order, but the exact criteria for getting that permission have yet to be finalized in San Diego County. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/25/20
California had a plan to bring clean water to a million people. Then the pandemic hit -- The water is too contaminated to safely drink, but residents of this farmworker community in the Central Valley pay $74 a month just to be able to turn on the tap at home. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/25/20
Growing artists hub in the San Fernando Valley closes its doors, done in by coronavirus -- The sound system had been sold to a local museum. And the gallery t-walls, broken down by a demolition company into nothing more than wood pieces, were shipped out. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 7/25/20
Pro-business campaign criticizes ballot language on California property tax initiative -- A business-backed group fighting an initiative that would raise taxes on multi-million dollar commercial properties is criticizing how the measure is presented on the ballot language voters will see this fall, contending it obscures a tax hike. Matt Kristoffersen in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/25/20
Lopez: He had a box cutter, ignored commands, and a cop shot him six times. Were there better options? -- Ten years ago, after a controversial case in which an LAPD officer shot and killed a man armed with a knife, the department offered me a chance to virtually experience what it’s like to make a split-second decision about when to shoot. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/25/20
A boy walks to a corner store and is shot in the chest. ‘I don’t think we could ever heal’ -- The evening of July 3, Otis Rayjon Williams left his family’s apartment in the Florence-Firestone area, headed for the store on the corner of Central Avenue and Century Boulevard. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/25/20
Tesla referral code for you to use -- https://www.tesla.com/referral/john93948 to get 1000 free Supercharger miles. -- jk