Updating . .   

California nears COVID-19 vaccine target that would ease more reopening rules -- California is on the precipice of administering 4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in its most disadvantaged areas — a hurdle that, when cleared, would trigger a rewrite of the state’s reopening blueprint to make it easier for counties to more widely reopen businesses and other public spaces. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

L.A. Unified to open 25 community vaccination clinics as part of school reopenings -- The Los Angeles school district plans to open 25 community vaccination centers, starting with three this week, an effort to reach families through their local schools — trusted places of daily interaction, Supt. Austin Beutner said Monday. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Can sleep or stress impair your COVID-19 vaccine? -- COVID-19 vaccines are enormously effective at warding off the deadly virus. Is there a way to make them even better? Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/5/21

What to know about new virus detected in India that's in SF Bay Area -- The variant found in India features a combination of two mutations in the spiky protein that have been identified in other variants: the L452R mutation first detected in California that is believed to be 20% more transmissible, and the E484Q that's dominant in Brazil. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/5/21

Landlords and Tenants   

Landlords are waiting for rent payments — and some can’t hold on much longer -- As COVID-19 took root and jobs vanished, officials sought to avoid a wave of evictions, homelessness and the spread of deadly disease that could result. Governments from federal to local enacted rules allowing people whose finances have been affected by the pandemic to keep their housing if they don’t pay rent. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Opening   

L.A. County reopening: What to know about bars, indoor concerts, theaters and more -- With coronavirus cases continuing to drop along with COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, large parts of California are reopening at a rapid clip. Alex Wigglesworth, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Chase Center is ramping up plans to reopen for live audiences. Here’s an exclusive look at what’s ahead -- Preparations were already under way to welcome fans back to San Francisco’s Chase Center before Friday, April 2, when California issued new guidelines allowing for indoor-seated live events, concerts and professional sports to resume starting April 15. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/5/21

Closing   

Jewish community dismayed at Kroger’s closure of Ralphs in Pico-Robertson -- Owner Kroger Co. is shutting down the Ralphs, as well as another store in South L.A. and a Food 4 Less in East Hollywood, after the Los Angeles City Council voted in February to require large grocery stores to pay workers an extra $5 an hour for about four months. The stores will close May 15. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Policy & Politics 

In California, political leanings predict vaccination rates better than income -- California’s vaccination rates vary widely by county — from just 24,000 doses administered per 100,000 residents in Lassen County in northeast California to over 97,000 in Alpine County in the Sierra Nevada. Susie Neilson, Nami Sumida in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/5/21

SF Schools     

S.F. schools chief - who was set to retire - decides to stay amid controversy and crisis -- San Francisco schools Superintendent Vince Matthews announced Monday he would remain on the job for another year, delaying his retirement as the embattled school district navigates a series of crises. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/5/21

EDD Backup   

Amid California’s unemployment crisis, a tech gold rush -- The contracts are part of a nationwide unemployment gold rush, as tech companies and consultants pitch overwhelmed public agencies new solutions for fraud and outdated claims systems. Lauren Hepler CalMatters -- 4/5/21

Housing  

Bay Area home prices soar on suburban land rush -- Buying a Bay Area home has almost become a million-dollar pursuit for the typical family. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/5/21

San Diego Home Prices Hit New Record, Increases Among Highest In Nation -- With its sandy beaches, warm weather and world-class attractions, San Diego County is a picturesque place to buy a home. That’s part of the reason why San Diego home prices rose the third fastest in the nation for major cities this year, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. Jacob Aere KPBS -- 4/5/21

Nixing Single-Family Zoning: Will It Make Housing More Affordable? -- On the edge of the Vaca Mountains west of Sacramento, construction crews are digging utility trenches for dozens of new homes in a subdivision in the Yolo County city of Winters. A small fraction of them will be duplexes. These two-unit homes with a shared wall will sell in the $400,000s, about 20% percent less than the standard single-family homes in the subdivision. Chris Nichols Capital Public Radio -- 4/5/21

Water  

Before-and-after photos of California reservoirs show looming drought -- Case in point: Lake Shasta, the state's largest water reserve, is at 53% of capacity as of April 3. On the same date last year, it was at 80% of capacity. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/5/21

Taxes & Fees  

Pelosi supports restoring tax break that benefited Californians -- As Democrats are looking to pass a massive infrastructure package proposed by President Biden, many are also eyeing an opportunity to restore a tax break that could line pockets in California. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/5/21

Rich Californians pay higher tax rates than anyone else in America. Is that a model for Biden? -- California’s where the LeBron James and Elon Musks of the world face ultra-high state income tax rates that the government uses to provide money to help the homeless, the poor and the unemployed. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/5/21

Street  

San Diego County agrees to pay $3.5M to settle 2018 jail death -- San Diego County will pay $3.5 million to the family of a mentally ill man who died three years ago after sheriff’s deputies tried to forcefully remove him from a jail holding cell. Kelly Davis, Jeff MCDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/5/21

Also . . .   

Have you seen a doctor lately? Delays likely to trigger deaths, poor health -- Other than COVID-19, Californians are still dying at about the same rates from heart disease, cancer and other disorders. But doctors fear the year-long delays in medical care could lead to early deaths and severe health problems. Ana B. Ibarra CalMatters -- 4/5/21

California prisons grapple with hundreds of transgender inmates requesting new housing -- Kelly Blackwell longs to escape her life as a transgender woman in a California men’s prison, where she struggles every day to avoid being seen in her bra and panties and says she once faced discipline after fighting back when an inmate in her cell asked for oral sex. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

California Policy and P  olitics Monday Morning  

An apparent fourth wave of COVID-19 is centered in the East. Will it hit California? -- What appears to be a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has struck Michigan, the New York region and New England, and experts are uncertain if it will remain contained. Luke Money, Maura Dolan, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

How COVID-19 vaccine gets from the manufacturer to your arm — and why it’s taking so long -- 'There's no rhyme or reason to how vaccine is being allocated from week to week,' says one pharmacy executive. Emily DeRuy in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 4/5/21

Opening  

After a year of loss, L.A.’s Black churches celebrate their second pandemic Easter -- On Easter Sunday, Denice Daye listened to her pastor’s voice booming from a computer. Kailyn Brown, Donovan X. Ramsey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Easter crowds force temporary closure of Griffith Park -- Authorities closed Griffith Park for nearly an hour Sunday afternoon due to holiday crowds. Officials were forced to turn people away, a parks official said. Adam Elmahrek in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

School  

California teachers’ latest demand: Free child care -- California teachers are ready to go back to the classroom. But the state’s largest union has a new ask: free child care for their own kids. The demand is salt in the wound for parents who struggled with distance learning at home amid intense reopening negotiations that have dragged on for a year. MacKenzie Mays Politico -- 4/5/21

Policy & Politics 

Walters: Despite favorable poll, Newsom faces recall test -- Gov. Gavin Newsom got some good news last week with a new statewide poll indicating that just 40% of California voters would support a recall were the election to be held now. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 4/5/21

Skelton: Drought is upon us. California’s Senate leader has a plan to keep it from becoming a crisis -- California’s big reservoirs are about half empty. We’re heading into another drought. But Sacramento’s vault is overflowing while Washington is pumping in more dollars. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Street  

Amid outcry, states push mental health training for police -- The officer who Cassandra Quinto-Collins says kneeled on her son’s neck for over four minutes assured her it was standard protocol for sedating a person experiencing a mental breakdown. Farnoush Amiri Associated Press -- 4/5/21

Asian American ‘randomly’ stabbed to death while walking her dogs. Police don’t suspect race was a motive -- Ke Chieh Meng was spending her Saturday morning as the animal-loving Californian often did: Walking her two small dogs through her suburban Riverside neighborhood. Tim Elfrink in the Washington Post$ -- 4/5/21

Border 

A Car Crash in the California Desert: How 13 Died Riding in One S.U.V. -- In one of the deadliest border-related crashes in decades, many who died illustrate a new dynamic on the border: more migrants from Mexico. Miriam Jordan, Ariana Drehsler in the New York Times$ -- 4/5/21

Education 

Local assessments an option if statewide tests aren't viable during pandemic, California officials signal -- California education officials have been told verbally that the state may not need to submit a waiver application to the U.S. Department of Education, thus opening the door for more flexibility this spring when it comes to standardized testing, as school districts continue to navigate reopening plans during the pandemic. Sydney Johnson EdSource -- 4/5/21

Homeless  

A young talent killed, a neighborhood fed up, and a new flashpoint in L.A.'s homeless crisis -- At a time of intense frustration around L.A.'s homelessness and mental illness crisis, in the wake of the controversial clearing of encampments along Echo Park Lake, and amid emerging conversations about how best to handle poverty and the unhoused as the city begins to pull out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Donnay’s killing has become a particularly emotional flashpoint. Kevin Rector, Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/5/21

Environment  

Solar panels atop canals? UC Merced study finds big potential. What do MID, TID think? -- Placing solar panels atop Central Valley canals could get the state halfway to its goal for climate-friendly power by 2030, a new study suggests. And the panels could reduce enough evaporation from the canals to irrigate about 50,000 acres, the researchers said. They are from the Merced and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California. John Holland in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/5/21

Also . . .   

Deal with Elon Musk could bring high-speed internet to rural San Bernardino County -- Reliable high-speed internet could soon come to remote parts of San Bernardino County that have struggled without in a time when business and schoolwork make it all but essential. That’s the goal of an agreement signed between the county and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink — a program to use low-flying satellites combined with ground receivers to provide high-speed internet close to the level urban areas enjoy. Ryan Hagen in the San Bernardino Sun$ -- 4/5/21

Candlelight vigil is held for victims, families at scene of Orange mass shooting -- Four large photos of the victims lined a chain-link fence blocking entrance into the front of the office building where the shooting unfolded Wednesday. Above the photo of a smiling Matthew Farias, the boy who died: A stuffed animal dog and a small Spider-Man costume. Tess Sheets in the Orange County Register -- 4/5/21

Grieving husband says wife slain in Orange shooting wanted ‘perfection’ for their 2 young sons -- Jenevieve Arlene Raygoza, one of four people killed in a shooting at a business complex in Orange last Wednesday, cherished holidays with her two boys. Josh Cain in the Orange County Register -- 4/5/21

KKK fliers found in Huntington Beach -- Some Huntington Beach residents were dismayed to find flyers promoting the Ku Klux Klan near their homes Easter morning, Sunday, April 4, about a week before “white lives matter” demonstrations promoted on social media were scheduled to take place around the country. Eric Licas in the Orange County Register -- 4/5/21

James Mills, state legislator who championed public transit, historic preservation, dies at 93 -- The Mills Act, named after him, has been credited with saving thousands of historic residential and commercial buildings from destruction in California by reducing property taxes for owners who preserve them. John Wilkens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/5/21