Updating . .   

California again breaks record for most coronavirus deaths in a single day -- California has again broken a new record for the most coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, with 174 deaths reported on Tuesday. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Iris Lee, Priya Krishnakumar in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

How to cut California coronavirus spread in half? Wear your mask, top health official says -- Widespread mask wearing could cut coronavirus transmission in half, a top California health official said, as many policymakers aggressively push the importance of face coverings to help get the state’s worsening COVID-19 cases under control. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

California won’t conquer the coronavirus, and fully reopen, until it can protect essential workers -- Five months into the pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly clear that California is not going to conquer the coronavirus until it dramatically improves safety measures for essential workers at the epicenter of the health crisis. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Misinformation on the virus is proving highly contagious -- The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the crisis through English-language websites. David Klepper Associated Press -- 7/29/20

L.A. County shuts down three food businesses over unreported COVID-19 outbreaks -- Los Angeles County public health officials, in a move that could signal tougher enforcement of coronavirus reporting rules, ordered the closure this week of three food distribution facilities that they say failed to report outbreaks that sickened more than 140 employees. Jaclyn Cosgrove, Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

California county with highest COVID death rate violated court rules for evictions -- Imperial County, the rural county in southeastern California beset with overrun hospitals and the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the state, has allowed landlords to pursue court-ordered evictions during the novel coronavirus pandemic — despite state judicial rules barring such proceedings. Matt Levin CalMatters -- 7/29/20

Health crisis looming inside a health crisis: People are avoiding going to the doctor -- These days, Los Angeles acting teacher Deryn Warren balances her pain with her fear. She’s a bladder cancer patient who broke her wrist in November. She still needs physical therapy for her wrist, and she’s months late for a cancer follow-up. John M. Glionna California Healthline via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Unemployed  

As coronavirus unemployment ends, sidelined Bay Area workers ask: What now? -- Even though he’s been out of work for nearly five months — and the threat of coronavirus continues to loom over every facet of his life — things have been OK for Davey Herrick. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

These Californians are especially worried about paying rent during coronavirus. Is help coming? -- Latino and Black tenants in California are much more worried than their white and Asian counterparts about paying their rent in the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to data taken by the U.S. Census Bureau. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/29/20

School 

OC Board of Education to sue Newsom as it seeks the full reopening of schools -- The suit will seek in-person teaching and the resumption of campus activities. The board voted 4-0 during a closed session Tuesday night, July 28, to file the lawsuit. Roxana Kopetman in the Orange County Register -- 7/29/20

L.A. families in limbo as teachers, school district debate reopening plans -- With the Aug. 18 start of the school year fast approaching, there is no agreement between the Los Angeles teachers union and district officials on how online instruction will be carried out with campuses closed, increasing frustration for families scrambling to make plans for the fall. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Schools scramble to teach teachers how to educate virtually -- School systems across the state at every level have either created their own training for teachers or paid someone else to do it. They hope it makes this fall’s distance learning more effective than the spring’s. Mikhail Zinshteyn CalMatters -- 7/29/20

Less stress, better grades: With schools closed, some kids thrive -- Things changed, too, for Marcos Adame, whose grades improved because he could spend more time on problematic subjects. They changed for Sebastian Hernandez, 15, who has more energy, and for 10-year-old Jacob Lalin, who discovered he could mix schoolwork with Lego. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

You still have to get your kids vaccinated even if their California school goes online -- Most California kids will kick off the 2020-2021 academic year with distance learning due to the coronavirus, but the state’s strict vaccination laws still require students be up-to-date on their shots before starting class. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/29/20

Homeless  

Theo Homeless at Age 7 -- Theo pops his head through the door of his tent and scrunches his nose against a cold breeze. A mop of coarse black hair sticks up as the 7-year-old rubs his eyes and puts on his glasses. No time to waste. The school bus will arrive in minutes. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Policy & Politics 

Who should choose UC campus chancellors? Faculty protest proposal to reduce their role -- In a highly unusual protest, University of California faculty leaders are collectively opposing a proposal to alter the search process for campus chancellors, which they believe will significantly reduce their role and potentially affect the quality of the UC system. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Office rents will likely drop — but not apartment rents, survey finds -- California office spaces are expected to keep getting emptier and their rent prices will likely keep declining for years as the fallout of the pandemic persists, according to a new survey of commercial real estate developers and financiers. Taylor Avery in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

San Francisco will put ‘CEO tax’ on the ballot this November -- Large companies in San Francisco with executives taking in seven-figure salaries could be forced to spare a penny for the city’s general fund if voters approve a new tax this November. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

Orange County Republicans hold in-person fundraisers even as coronavirus spreads -- Candidates say they're being careful, but a yacht party, cigar reception and other events raise flags for health experts — and some GOP strategists. Brooke Staggs in the Orange County Register -- 7/29/20

Also . . .   

Here’s how Snap’s diversity stacks up against Silicon Valley -- For years, as major tech companies shared regular reports on the diversity of their workforces, Snap Inc. kept that data secret. Sam Dean in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Guilty plea in Northern California Ponzi scheme that fooled Warren Buffett, NASCAR drivers -- DC Solar, a Benicia company that made solar-powered mobile generators, ran one of the largest and most audacious Ponzi schemes in Northern California history — a $1 billion ripoff that took in the likes of paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, two NASCAR drivers and a coast-to-coast collection of banks. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/29/20

Meet Perseverance, JPL’s newest Mars rover -- Weighing in at just over a ton and loaded with the most sophisticated instruments ever sent to the red planet, the six-wheeled vehicle has already survived a hurdle no previous rover has had to face: a global pandemic. Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

 

California Policy & Politics Wednesday Morning  

California withholds virus money from 2 defiant cities -- Newsom blocked nearly $65,000 from Atwater in Merced County and more than $35,000 from Coalinga in Fresno County, the first installments of $2.5 billion in federal funds that cities and counties across the state risk losing if they don’t toe the line on coronavirus safeguards. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 7/29/20

Cost of ignoring coronavirus rules is rising: How each Bay Area county enforces health orders -- On Tuesday, Costa Costa joined Napa and Marin counties in allowing fines to be issued for health order violators. Kellie Hwang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

$100 for not wearing a mask? Contra Costa approves fines for health order violators -- The county’s board of supervisors passed an urgency ordinance establishing fines for individuals starting at $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second and $500 for each additional violation within one year of the initial violation. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Top health official: More mask wearing could cut California coronavirus spread up to 60 percent -- The spread of coronavirus across California could be cut at least in half with a modest increase in the number of people wearing masks, one of the state’s top public health experts said Tuesday. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

Hospital Exec Wants San Diegans To Remember What’s At Stake During Pandemic -- A local hospital executive said he worries the public is becoming desensitized to the rising number of San Diegans who have lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic and many are being too relaxed or defiant toward policies to prevent its spread. Tarryn Mento KPBS -- 7/29/20

Coronavirus cases across the Bay Area top 50,000 -- The Bay Area topped 50,000 coronavirus cases Tuesday, an ignominious milestone in a seemingly interminable year loaded with misfortune, heartache and numbing restrictions on people’s movements that are likely to continue for some time. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

July is now the deadliest month of the pandemic in San Diego County -- With 14 additional COVID-19-related deaths announced Tuesday, July became the deadliest month for the coronavirus pandemic in San Diego County since it started in mid-February. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/29/20

Orange County reports 15 coronavirus deaths, the highest single-day count since June -- The Orange County Health Agency on Tuesday reported its highest number of daily deaths related to COVID-19 in more than a month. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Palm Springs orders all restaurants, bars to close early -- Starting Friday, Palm Springs revelers gathering in restaurants, bars, wineries, distilleries and breweries will be asked to leave early due to the persistent threat of the novel coronavirus, city officials said in a news release. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

UCSF to offer free coronavirus testing at Mission BART station -- UCSF infectious disease specialists and community partners are setting up a free pop-up testing site at the 24th Street and Mission Plaza BART station in San Francisco, aimed at the Latino population. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Humans are notoriously bad at assessing their risk. In a pandemic, that’s a problem -- In the first few weeks of the pandemic, the familiar options of everyday life narrowed to almost nothing. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

California will track coronavirus’ toll on LGBTQ community, after months of delay -- Months after advocates warned that the coronavirus pandemic could take a severe toll on LGBTQ people, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is telling health professionals to track the disease’s impact on the community. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Workplace 

San Joaquin Valley company ‘encouraging’ COVID-19 infected employees to work, lawyer says -- The company “disregarded inescapable evidence of rising infection levels among its workers,” the lawsuit says. Manuela Tobias CalMatters -- 7/29/20

Policy & Politics 

California Legislature to consider new tax on millionaires for schools, other services -- Democrats in the California Legislature have unveiled a new effort to significantly raise tax rates on taxable income of $1 million and higher, an effort they say would provide billions of dollars to improve K-12 schools and a variety of government services vital to the state’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Audit: Don’t make it easier to force mentally ill Californians into treatment — just improve treatment -- California’s half-century-old involuntary mental health treatment law isn’t broken, but much of the system meant to serve those with serious mental illness is, state auditors concluded in a much-anticipated report released today. Jocelyn Wiener CalMatters -- 7/29/20

That email asking you to check your California voter information? It’s legit -- With the prospect of a virtually all-mail election looming this fall, more than 6 million Californians received an email from the secretary of state this week asking them to check online to make sure their voter registration information is up to date. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Walters: Reading test bill should be shelved -- The pandemic-truncated 2020 legislative session, which resumed this week, has no shortage of business to conduct and just a month to do it — unless Gov. Gavin Newsom grants an extension. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 7/29/20

San Jose scraps ballot measure to give Mayor Liccardo more power, 2 extra years -- In a unanimous decision that capped off an 8-hour discussion on Tuesday, the city council reversed course from a strongly-contested move last month to go forward with the measure, and instead opted to establish a charter revision commission that would vet the two proposals before putting them before voters. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

L.A. could pull money away from fund tied to beleaguered Councilman Jose Huizar -- Los Angeles lawmakers could yank money away from a fund that was controlled by the office of Councilman Jose Huizar, who has been accused by federal prosecutors of heading a pay-to-play scheme fueled by bribes. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

San Francisco passes sales tax measure to save Caltrain. San Mateo says it’s dead on arrival -- The three counties that fund Caltrain have reached an impasse that may shut down the Peninsula rail line, which is limping through the COVID-19 pandemic while carrying 5% of the passengers it had last year. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Amid pandemic, California ballot measures facing tough sell -- Qualifying a proposition for the ballot – much less convincing millions of voters to support it – is always a Herculean task. In the best of times, it requires a near limitless supply of money, talent and luck. Rich Ehisen Capitol Weekly -- 7/29/20

SF tax on companies with highly compensated CEO’s goes to ballot in November -- San Francisco companies whose top executive rakes in more than 100 times the salary of their average employee would be subject to a special tax under a measure city voters will approve or reject in November. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

California sues to stop Trump’s order to keep undocumented immigrants from census count -- Citing the constitutional mandate to count “the whole number of persons” in the census, California and the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland joined the wave of lawsuits Tuesday challenging President Trump’s order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Court rules pet owners may sue producers of prescription pet foods over price inflation -- A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit Tuesday by dog and cat owners who accused sellers of “prescription pet food” of consumer fraud and price inflation by advertising their products as medically approved. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Santa Clara County launches basic income program for foster youth -- Dozens of young adults about to age out of Santa Clara County’s foster care system were given $1,000 cash payments on Monday as part of the county’s new basic income program — the first of its kind in the nation. Laurence Du Sault in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

Former L.A. County Assessor John Noguez again faces corruption charges -- The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has refiled charges against former county Assessor John Noguez, reviving the long-running bribery and public corruption case after an appellate court ordered its dismissal on a technical violation. Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Fox: Polling the Environment that Surrounds Covid-19 and Social Justice -- The Public Policy Institute of California is out with its regular “Californians and the Environment” poll, but this time the environment measured were attitudes around the three headline grabbing issues of the last few months: effects of the coronavirus; social justice issues; and the economy. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 7/29/20

$600 benefit 

California could create its own $600 weekly unemployment benefit -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to damage the California economy, state lawmakers are weighing whether to provide a supplemental unemployment benefit with the extra $600 per week provided by the federal government expiring this month. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

If feds let jobless benefits drop, key California Dems have “backdoor borrowing” idea to extend them -- California’s constitution requires a balanced budget, leaving the state few options to stimulate the economy or help people without jobs. Democrats, however, have found a loophole: “borrowing” federal dollars to continue benefits for the state’s unemployed. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 7/29/20

California’s recession could get worse if Congress cuts unemployment aid, studies say -- Unemployed California workers stand to lose about 43% of their weekly benefit — and the state’s already-reeling economy is likely to lose billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs — if the Republican plan to dramatically cut jobless payments becomes law, new studies reported Tuesday. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/29/20

Street  

Stunning allegation against Vallejo police: Officers bent badges to mark people they killed -- A former Vallejo police captain is accusing the department of firing him for flagging misconduct that included concerns that some officers bent their badges to mark fatal shootings and that a former police chief told an underling to “burn” a kidnapping victim he wrongly accused of orchestrating a hoax. Anna Bauman and Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

SF offers broad outline for redirecting funds away from Police Department -- San Francisco officials provided a glimpse into the city’s intentions for improving the lives of its Black residents on Monday by using money taken from the Police Department’s budget, as Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton have pledged to do. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

New rules aim to make San Diego commissions more diverse, transparent, prominent -- Years of frustration that San Diego’s four dozen city boards and commissions lack ethnic diversity and operate haphazardly have prompted a series of fundamental changes that the City Council approved Tuesday. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/29/20

Oakland City Council OKs task force — with goal of defunding police by 50% -- The Oakland City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to form a task force that will work on a plan to reconstruct public safety in Oakland — with the goal of reducing the police department budget by 50% over the next two years. Jon Kawamoto in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

San Jose: Video of cop kicking and dragging woman prompts fresh calls for police reforms. But some worry it won’t be enough -- Video that surfaced last week of a San Jose police officer kicking and dragging a woman in a parking lot has prompted fresh outcry over the department’s use of excessive force, invigorating a push by city and community leaders for a slate of police reforms proposed in the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/29/20

Layoffs  

Genentech to cut 474 Bay Area jobs -- The company described the cuts as permanent and said in a filing with the California Employment Development Department the move affects “a subset of employees in South San Francisco and the field-based sales force.” Chase DiFeliciantonio in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Coronavirus shutdown leads to Oracle Park, Chase Center workers being fired -- The 2,154 food-service employees of Bon Appétit were informed Monday evening via email that their positions were eliminated. The employees had been on furlough status since the coronavirus shutdown began. Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Stressed Business  

The coronavirus devastated the Market in SF’s Twitter building. It’s still expanding -- The coronavirus has crippled sales at the Market grocery store and food hall in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters building — but the Market is pressing forward with an expansion. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Wildfire  

California fires prompt evacuations as they explode in size and threaten homes -- Residents in a rural area of San Luis Obispo County have been evacuated as a brush fire exploded and burned at least one structure Tuesday afternoon. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/29/20

Child Care  

How the Coronavirus Could Shrink the Number of Child Care Providers -- Outside the daily routine at Baby Steps, the entire child care industry has taken a seismic jolt. Parents are grappling with the decision of whether to send their kids back to day care, and persistent low enrollment endangers the long-term health of the field. Laura Klivans KQED -- 7/29/20

Education 

The SF schools plan: Weeks — or more likely months — of distance learning -- San Francisco students will spend several weeks if not months in distance learning, followed by limited return to in-person instruction, with no more than a third of the district’s 53,000 school children allowed back on any given day. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

How Los Angeles and San Diego Unified Started Driving State Education Policy -- Coronavirus had upended schooling and many important questions, beyond even money, would have to be answered over the course of the pandemic. In the absence of few concrete guidelines from the state, Los Angeles and San Diego Unified’s new partnership was actually setting them up to drive education policy across California. Will Huntsberry Voiceofsandiego.org -- 7/29/20

Quarantine, social bubbles will define on-campus experience for Bay Area college students -- For UC Berkeley students, move-in day this fall will lack much of the commotion of a regular year. There will be no meeting roommates, no families unloading cars and carrying boxes through the halls. This year’s cohort will have an entirely new set of challenges. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/29/20

Point Loma Nazarene University drops plans for in-person classes, will stay online -- The school is hoping the pandemic eases in time for a partial fall return of online instruction. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/29/20

California charter schools sue state for not funding additional students this year -- Four growing charter school organizations are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and the California Department of Education, charging that the state’s formula for funding K-12 schools during the pandemic will illegally deny payments for additional students in their schools. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 7/29/20

Trump administration refuses to accept new applications for DACA program -- After the Supreme Court ruled last month that the Trump administration’s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program nearly three years ago, was “arbitrary and capricious,” undocumented youth who have been barred from applying to the program while it was being litigated were hopeful that new applications would once again be accepted by federal immigration authorities. Betty Márquez Rosales EdSource -- 7/29/20

Also . . .   

'Horrific tragedy' on Sierra reservoir: Lightning kills man on jet ski, burns son -- Lightning struck and killed a Nevada man while he was on a jet ski during a weekend outing on Stampede Reservoir in Sierra County. The man’s son, who was in the water next to the personal watercraft, was knocked unconscious and "severely burned" by the blast of electricity, according to an eyewitness. Mike Moffitt in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 7/29/20

POTUS 45  

‘He just needs to win 60 percent of the next 100 days’ -- After a week in which the president was more willing to stick to a script, to temporarily eschew some of his more fact-challenged medical statements and to keep many of answers to reporters’ questions uncharacteristically succinct, Trump’s more typical behavior is starting to show through. Meridith McGraw Politico -- 7/29/20

Beltway   

Biden's notes: ‘Do not hold grudges’ against Kamala Harris -- Joe Biden was uncharacteristically tight-lipped on Tuesday about the final stretch of his search for a vice president. But the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee seemed prepared to talk about at least one leading contender: California Sen. Kamala Harris. Bill Barrow and Andrew Harnik Associated Press -- 7/29/20

 

-- Tuesday Updates   

‘Underserved and underfunded’: Inside California’s county hit hardest by COVID-19 -- The high infection rates can make it feel like nearly everyone knows or knows of somebody who has contracted COVID-19 or died from it. As most of California begins a second shutdown over the pandemic, no place has been hit as hard as Imperial County. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/28/20

Coronavirus ravages California’s Central Valley, following a cruel and familiar path -- The demographics of those getting sick in the rural hamlets of America’s famed agricultural zone are the same as those who have been hit hard in big cities and suburbs: Essential workers — many of them Latino — who cannot stay home for financial reasons when they fall ill on the job and also have a hard time isolating in housing that can be crowded and multigenerational. Rong-Gong Lin II, Melody Gutierrez, Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/28/20

Researchers identify six different ‘types’ of COVID-19 -- Symptoms developed within the first week of the onset of a COVID-19 infection can determine the likelihood of a patient requiring serious medical attention by the end of week two, according to researchers at King’s College in London. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/28/20

Church services move to California beaches, sparking fears of coronavirus outbreaks -- With the coronavirus continuing to surge in California, officials imposed limits on indoor church services in many areas. But now, there are concerns about several large church services being held on beaches. Alex Wigglesworth, Paul Sisson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/28/20

Hobo and Dreamer: A homeless man and his dog hoped to finally go home. Then COVID-19 arrived -- Leland “Hobo” Goodsell might have just been another homeless man on the streets of Goleta, Calif., but he had gained something of a reputation over the 14 years he’d lived there. Tiffany Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/28/20

Even Silicon Valley startups are struggling during the pandemic -- By all appearances, Sri Ramaswamy was doing everything right. She founded an AI company in Silicon Valley when it had one of the hottest economies in the world to help insurance companies with fraud detection and litigation. By early March, she had three clients and was set to raise her first outside funding, $1 million from angel investors. Leonardo Castañeda in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/28/20

As pandemic upends childcare plans, here are ways Sacramento families make do -- With schools closed since mid-March, some parents working from home and others busier than ever as essential workers, the pandemic has been a complicated time for childcare. Jasmine Kerber in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/28/20

For Biotech Firms, Keeping Up With COVID-19 Testing Demand Is A Daily Struggle -- The first stop in a La Jolla laboratory’s COVID-19 testing process is Bootes. Named for the star constellation and pronounced like the footwear, he’s an automated liquid handling platform developed by the company Hamilton. Tarryn Mento KPBS -- 7/28/20

Census  

California sues Trump over census policy that could exclude 2 million residents from count -- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Tuesday a new lawsuit against the Trump administration over a memorandum it released last week that aims exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census formula used to calculate the number of congressional seats each state is given. Kim Bojórquez in the Sacramento Bee$ Jeremy B. White Politico -- 7/28/20

Policy & Politics 

Hundreds of cases involving LAPD officers accused of corruption now under review -- Hundreds of criminal cases involving three city police officers charged earlier this month with falsifying evidence are now under review by prosecutors after corruption allegations sparked questions about whether their past police work could be suspect. Kevin Rector, James Queally, Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/28/20

In L.A. race, is this incumbent a ‘progressive fighter’ or a knockoff? -- When L.A. City Council candidate Nithya Raman pledged not to accept any political donations from police unions, she tweeted a photo of herself, head bowed, signing the document. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/28/20

California will be on the ballot, too, if Kamala Harris or Karen Bass is Biden’s VP pick -- Joe Biden has said he’ll pick a running mate as early as Saturday, and two Californians — Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Karen Bass — are on his short list. If he chooses either one, it will be the first time a California Democrat has been on the party’s national ticket. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/28/20

Also . . .   

Mysterious seed packets, possibly from China, arriving in Southern California mailboxes -- Mysterious, unsolicited packets of seeds possibly from China are arriving in some Southern California mailboxes, prompting state officials to urge recipients to refrain from planting them. Scott Schwebke in the Orange County Register -- 7/28/20

 

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