California Policy & Politics Saturday Morning  

“Go on Medi-Cal to get that”: Why Californians with mental illness are dropping private insurance to get taxpayer-funded treatment -- In dozens of interviews, families, attorneys, judges, therapists and public officials agree: People with serious mental illnesses often do better dropping private insurance and qualifying for taxpayer-funded treatment. It seems counterintuitive. Jocelyn Wiener CalMatters -- 8/1/20

Virus   

California reports the first death of a teen from COVID-19 -- California on Friday reported the first death of a minor under age 18 from COVID-19. The teen was between 13 and 17 years old and had “underlying health conditions,” according to the California Department of Public Health. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 8/1/20

California surpasses 500,000 coronavirus cases, capping off deadliest month yet -- The state reported 267,974 new cases in July — more than half of the state’s total cases since the start of the pandemic, and more than double the previous monthly record of 120,177 in June, according to Chronicle data as of Friday afternoon. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

L.A. County reports 69 new coronavirus deaths, significantly higher than last week’s average -- Statewide, the number of cases surpassed 500,000, according to The Times’ coronavirus tracker. There have been 9,100 deaths. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/1/20

Two North County gyms cited for health order violations -- Code enforcement officials were ordered to serve an immediate closure notice to the MetroFlex Gym in Oceanside and a cease-and-desist order to The Gym in Vista, according to a county spokesman. The actions came just two days after the county ordered a Pacific Beach workout spot, also called The Gym but with different owners, to close. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/1/20

Workplace   

Employers require coronavirus liability waivers as conflict mounts over workplace safety -- After spending a May day preparing her classroom to reopen for preschoolers, Ana Aguilar was informed that the tots would not have to wear face masks when they came back. What’s more, she had to sign a form agreeing not to sue the school if she caught the coronavirus or suffered any injury from it while working there. Harris Meyer in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

Policy & Politics 

California Democrats want to tax millionaires: top state tax rate would be 16.8% -- A bill introduced in the Legislature this week would raise California’s top personal income tax rate — already the highest in the nation at 13.3% — to 16.8%, retroactively to Jan. 1. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

SFMTA votes down Caltrain sales tax proposal, bringing train system closer to a shutdown -- After a long board meeting Tuesday night, two San Francisco supervisors — Shamann Walton and Aaron Peskin — posted a Twitter selfie with a toy train, bragging that they had approved a November sales tax measure to save Caltrain. By Friday afternoon, the measure appeared to be dead, and the Peninsula rail system in severe danger of shutting down. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

San Diego signs first-ever ‘project labor’ deal to help revive stalled $5B Pure Water project -- San Diego officials have agreed to the first “project labor agreement” in city history to help resolve legal challenges that have stalled Pure Water, a $5 billion sewage recycling system that would produce one-third of the city’s water. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/1/20

Kamala Harris settled with a top aide who lost her job, and both sides agreed to keep quiet -- Under then-Attorney General Kamala Harris’ direction, the California Department of Justice paid a nearly $35,000 settlement to Harris’ former chief deputy attorney general after a dispute related to her termination in 2011, documents show. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/1/20

Fox: Sacrificing for the Environment—To a Point -- The Public Policy Institute of California’s extensive environmental survey revealed that Californians are strong on environmental protections, but some answers make you wonder how far residents will go to back-up their pro-environment views. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/1/20

Street  

San Francisco plans to redirect $120 million from law enforcement to Black community -- The money is intended as a gesture of reparations for decades of city policymaking that have created or exacerbated deep inequities for San Francisco’s African American residents. Dominic Fracassa and Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

Order issued ahead of protest in La Mesa forbids access to civic center, ‘implements of riot’ -- Less than 24 hours before a planned protest in La Mesa, the city announced Friday night an order that forbids access to the police station, City Hall and surrounding civic center. David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/1/20

New Normal  

Hospitals Juggle Resources, Continue Surgeries As California’s COVID-19 Cases Rise -- Hospitals throughout California were stockpiling gowns and masks, pulling hospital beds out of storage and cross-training nurses this spring in case droves of COVID-19 patients appeared at their doors. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 8/1/20

School   

School is about to start, but Bay Area teachers’ unions and districts still can’t agree on key details for online learning -- Frustrated Bay Area families already know classes will be online when school starts in the coming weeks, but many still have no idea when their K-12 students will have to log on for lessons or how many hours of live instruction they would get. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

Stressed Business  

Some of SF’s most popular restaurants are turning away diners as COVID cases surge -- At a time when restaurants in the Bay Area are struggling to generate revenue, some of San Francisco’s most celebrated chefs and restaurant owners are doing what previously might have been unthinkable: telling diners to stay away. Justin Phillips in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/1/20

A new gentrification crisis -- When the newly retired firefighter opened South L.A. Cafe in November, he was the latest in a string of Black entrepreneurs hoping to contain the spread of gentrification in South Los Angeles. Tracy Jan in the Washington Post$ -- 8/1/20

Also . . .   

Jon Kelly dies at 84; former KCRA 3 owner also founded Sacramento-based River City Bank -- Sacramento business icon Jon Kelly, the former owner of KCRA 3 and founder of Sacramento-based River City Bank, died July 25 from cancer, according to his family. Kelly, a longtime Sacramento resident before relocating to Southern California, was 84 years old. Rosalio Ahumada in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/1/20

POTUS 45  

Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal System Ahead of Voting -- Welcome to the next election battleground: the post office. Michael D. Shear, Hailey Fuchs and Kenneth P. Vogel in the New York Times$ -- 8/1/20

Beltway   

Lobbying Intensifies Among V.P. Candidates as Biden’s Search Nears an End -- Two women, Representative Karen Bass and Susan Rice, the former national security adviser, are among the most formidable contenders on Joe Biden’s list. Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns and Katie Glueck in the New York Times$ -- 8/1/20

Biden likely to name his running mate in second week of August -- Joe Biden will most likely announce his running mate in the second week of August, again breaking a self-imposed deadline for unveiling the choice, according to two people familiar with his plans. Annie Linskey in the Washington Post$ -- 8/1/20

 

-- Friday Updates   

California’s effort to buy thousands of COVID-19 ventilators falls behind schedule -- The state Department of General Services has received 188 ventilators out of 8,000 promised by Ashli Healthcare Inc. of Bakersfield, the state’s main supplier, department spokeswoman Monica Hassan said this week. Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/31/20

July was California’s worst month of the pandemic -- With one day left to go, July has already amounted to California’s worst month of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of cases and deaths. But, as it comes to a close, there are signs that the spread of the virus had begun to slow. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/31/20

These 8 Southern California doctors, nurses sacrifice to help hospitals fight coronavirus -- They work at frantic paces and risk infection of themselves and their families, but keep reporting to the 'front line of the pandemic' David Downey, Ryan Carter, Martin Wisckol in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 7/31/20

Imperial County was a warning for California. Will its shutdown be a model? -- A month ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Imperial County to do something he hadn’t asked any other part of the state to do: halt the reopening of its economy and move backward. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/31/20

Fears grow that releasing thousands of California prisoners will spread COVID-19 into communities -- Missteps by corrections officials handling releases from state prisons are fueling fears in some California counties that thousands of inmates eligible for early release will spread the coronavirus in their communities. Anita Chabria, Richard Winton, Kim Christensen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

School   

School is about to start, but Bay Area teachers’ unions and districts still can’t agree on key details for online learning -- Frustrated Bay Area families already know classes will be online when school starts in the coming weeks, but many still have no idea when their K-12 students will have to log on for lessons or how many hours of live instruction they would get. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/31/20

Workplace   

31 workers at 4 Bay Area Costcos are infected by COVID-19; stores stay open -- Health officials are investigating after 31 people who work at four Costco stores in Silicon Valley contracted the coronavirus. It’s likely those infected contracted the virus not at Costco, but elsewhere in the community, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the Santa Clara County COVID-19 testing officer, told reporters. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

L.A. County’s tracing team repeatedly failed to detect coronavirus outbreaks at workplaces -- One by one workers at the Farmer John pork processing plant began getting sick with the coronavirus in March. Melody Petersen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

As COVID-19 cases surge, L.A. librarians join the ranks of contact tracers -- Lupie Leyva is good at tracking things down. A kind of detective, if you will. Dorany Pineda in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

Coronavirus deaths among L.A. County food processing workers bring dire plea from health officials -- With coronavirus deaths now surpassing 9,000 across California, health officials in Los Angeles County are investigating a deadly outbreak at a food processing plant in Commerce and issued another urgent plea for businesses and employees to report COVID-19 cases. Colleen Shalby, Leila Miller, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

Policy & Politics 

Fact check: This ad about Tom McClintock gets more than one thing wrong -- Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove holds one of the safest Republican seats in California. But he has a well-funded 2020 challenger in businesswoman Brynne Kennedy, who has released her first ad attacking McClintock’s stances on Medicare, Social Security, COVID-19 relief and masks. MacKenzie Hawkins in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/31/20

The Karen Bass Los Angeles Knows -- The congresswoman is one of Joe Biden’s lowest-profile VP contenders. But in L.A., she’s known as a community-driven operator whose limited national exposure is part of her effectiveness. Sandy Banks Politico -- 7/31/20

CA120: DMV voter registrations hit slow lane -- The coronavirus pandemic has had clear impacts on our elections, with California launching a first-time system in which every voter will be mailed a ballot for November, both major political parties scrapping their traditional big summer conventions (replaced by what sounds like massively boring online affairs), and a halt to campaign rallies, fundraisers and local coffees. Paul Mitchell Capitol Weekly -- 7/31/20

Hiltzik: California’s ballot measures will produce a deluge of special-interest cash -- You can lay the hand-wringing about the failing condition of the American economy aside for a moment, because one sector is blazingly fat and likely to become even more so between now and election day. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

Street   

Protester had hands up when LAPD officer shot him in head with projectile, video shows -- Footage from a Los Angeles police officer’s body camera shows a man with his hands up being shot in the head with a tactical round as officers advanced on a crowd of fleeing protesters in late May. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

How the debate about police reform could remake Oakland’s City Council -- When Richard Santos Raya announced his bid for Oakland City Council, he embodied a fervent moment of protest and generational conflict. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/31/20

Pastor says AME church struck by racist vandalism will move on as FBI investigates -- “I was just flabbergasted, just appalled .... It really hurts that someone would feel that way towards us when we’re open to the community and all we want to do is serve and help however we can for hurting people,” said Grizzell, who leads Murph-Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Highlands outside Sacramento. Jake Sheridan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/31/20

Stressed Business  

Some of SF’s most popular restaurants are turning away diners as COVID cases surge -- At a time when restaurants in the Bay Area are struggling to generate revenue, some of San Francisco’s most celebrated chefs and restaurant owners are doing what previously might have been unthinkable: telling diners to stay away. Justin Phillips in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/31/20

Why San Francisco’s oldest restaurant Tadich Grill is going dark -- Tadich Grill’s crisp white tablecloths, bubbling bowls of cioppino and cold martinis will have to wait. The 171-year-old Financial District restaurant’s last day in business for the foreseeable future is Friday. Janelle Bitker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/31/20

Pitching Sacramento   

Sacramento courts Bay Area tech workers: If you have to work from home, why not move here? -- With a 12.8% unemployment rate and a lengthy stretch of economic uncertainty looming, Sacramento is struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic about as poorly as most other metro areas. But the region’s business leaders believe the coronavirus also carries with it an economic silver lining — a chance to lure thousands of high-tech workers from the Bay Area. Dale Kasler and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/31/20

 

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