Updating . .   

S.F misses yellow tier, but will lift some COVID restrictions soon -- San Francisco missed the yellow tier by the slimmest of margins last week, but the city will relax a few more pandemic restrictions soon anyway, public health officials said. Meghan Bobrowsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

These San Francisco neighborhoods saw biggest exodus during pandemic -- San Franciscans fled the city last year. Previous reporting has shown that many of them left for roomier homes in more affordable regions; our analysis finds that they also left the densest parts of the city in droves, hollowing out downtown and other once-bustling neighborhoods. Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

New kind of criminal charges against PG&E for wildfires cites danger from smoke and ash -- Sitting in the criminal defendant’s dock is nothing new for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which has been prosecuted for causing wildfires and a lethal explosion. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Open  

Lopez: A doctor left her family for a year to protect them from COVID-19. Now, she’s back home -- We’ve all made sacrifices during the pandemic. But physician Bobby Sasson, who was exposed daily to the threat of COVID-19 in her job at a UC Irvine medical center, made a particularly difficult one last spring. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

In 5-4 vote, Supreme Court lifts California’s COVID ban on group Bible study in homes -- The Supreme Court, citing religious liberty has lifted another of California’s COVID restrictions, holding the state may not prevent people from gathering in homes for Bible study and prayer meetings. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

School  

California school unions seeking extra pay, childcare help as classes reopen -- As districts across California prepare to welcome students back to classrooms after nearly a year of remote learning, school employees are seeking extra pay, safety measures and childcare assistance to offset the challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/10/21

High school revisited: Students reflect on their year away from campus -- Attending Zoom classes during the pandemic has been difficult for teens, but they are a resilient group. Will there be prom? Will they be able to walk through graduation? What will the start of college be like? Here are their stories in their own words: Christina House, Genaro Molina, Mel Melcon, Francine Orr in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Policy & Politics 

California’s embattled high-speed rail could get a lift from Biden plan, Buttigieg says -- The sweeping $2.3 trillion infrastructure-investment program put forth by President Joe Biden doesn’t have a lot in the way of specifics, but his transportation secretary said Friday that California’s ambitious – and embattled – high-speed rail project is something that may stand to benefit. Tim Sheehan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/10/21

Borenstein: BART auditor faces Trumpian obstruction by board members -- BART’s new inspector general, describing a Trumpian “culture of suppression,” says transit agency directors and labor unions are hindering her ability to conduct independent oversight mandated by Bay Area voters. Daniel Borenstein in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/10/21

Pension  

San Diego ready to reverse Proposition B pension cuts, potentially ending 9-year legal battle -- The nearly nine-year legal fight over San Diego’s Proposition B pension cuts came to an apparent end Friday when supporters of the 2012 ballot measure declined to appeal a court ruling that ordered the city to overturn the cuts. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/10/21

Street  

Arson suspected after fire torches Chinese church in downtown Sacramento; no one injured -- A three-alarm fire ripped through a small church Saturday morning in downtown Sacramento, the cause of which is under investigation. Molly Burke in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/10/21

LAPD rejecting most complaints against officers from summer protests; others still under review -- Internal affairs investigators reviewing hundreds of allegations of misconduct and excessive force by other Los Angeles police officers during last summer’s mass protests against police brutality are ruling on the side of the officers in most cases. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Water  

San Diego’s soaring water rates have avocado, other growers eyeing break with county -- Many avocado growers in San Diego have gone out of business in recent years as they struggle with the rising cost of water, says Charlie Wolk as he walks through a recently forsaken grove in Rainbow that he tended for more than a decade. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/10/21

Also . . .   

Low-fare Avelo Airlines launches in Burbank this month -- The nation’s largest airlines lost a combined $46 billion last year as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the travel industry to its knees. Hugo Martín in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

How to get a job as an extra in a movie or TV show -- Marci Dean has been in dozens of movies, including films with Meryl Streep, Eddie Murphy, Reese Witherspoon and Jude Law. But you probably don’t know her name. She is one of thousands of part-time actors who make money as movie extras. Kathy Kristof in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

California Policy and P  olitics Saturday Morning  

Orange County announces test run for its own COVID-19 vaccine passports -- As public health leaders across the country weigh the pros and cons of so-called “vaccine passports” – a record meant to show a person has been inoculated against COVID-19 – the OC Health Care Agency is planning a field test to figure out how proving immunity would work in the real world. Ian Wheeler in the Orange County Register -- 4/10/21

High court halts California virus rules limiting home worship -- The Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings. Jessica Gresko Associated Press -- 4/10/21

San Francisco opens up vaccines to those 16 and older in select ZIP codes -- The move by the San Francisco Health Network, the health care delivery arm of the city’s Department of Public Health, comes just before all Californians 16 and older become eligible for the vaccine next week. Meghan Bobrowsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Mobile clinic to bring COVID-19 vaccine to Central American Indigenous L.A. residents -- Central American Indigenous communities in L.A. have been hit hard by the pandemic; many work in low-wage and essential service sector jobs. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Blue Shield Of California Has Taken Over The State's Vaccine Roll-Out. Here’s What That Means -- Whether or not California can reopen its economy after a year of COVID-19 restrictions depends heavily on how many of the state’s residents can become fully vaccinated against the illness. It’s an increasingly challenging situation with fluctuating vaccine supply and new, more infectious strains of the virus becoming dominant. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 4/10/21

Open  

Bay Area traffic is now back in full force. Here's a look at the data -- Five of the Bay Area’s eight toll bridges — the Bay, Richmond-San Rafael, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez and Antioch — all registered better than 90% of pre-pandemic traffic levels passing through their toll plazas as of the week of March 21 of this year. Michael Cabanatuan, Nami Sumida in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

School  

Many Sacramento Students Are Choosing To Continue Learning At Home Despite School Openings -- Just over half of families who responded to the Sacramento City Unified School District opted to send their kids back this month. But there’s wide variation — by grade level and along racial lines — when it comes to who will be attending in-person. Pauline Bartolone Capital Public Radio -- 4/10/21

EDD Fraud  

Female trio in Inland Empire charged with fraud over $1.2 million in COVID benefits to inmates -- Federal prosecutors have charged three Inland Empire women in separate schemes in which they allegedly raked in a combined $1.2 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits using the names of California inmates who they pretended were unemployed due to the pandemic. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

COVID Economy  

California jobless claims surge 36.6%, undercutting hopes for recovery -- New unemployment claims in California rose sharply last week, an indication that the state’s hoped-for economic recovery could still be undercut as employers slash payrolls and even close permanently. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Policy & Politics 

Garofoli: Caitlyn Jenner is no Arnold Schwarzenegger. And she's no threat to Newsom -- Jenner, whose manager denied in February that she would be a candidate, has suddenly gained a flurry of national attention, with reports that she’s considering the idea after all and is consulting with Republican strategists including former Donald Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

California workplace safety chief tapped to lead OSHA -- President Joe Biden will nominate California's workplace safety chief, Doug Parker, to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the White House said Friday. Rebecca Rainey and Eleanor Mueller Politico -- 4/10/21

San Diego mayor proposes police reforms, lays out public safety priorities -- Among 11 proposed reforms were recommendations to eliminate existing gang injunctions, explore alternatives to arresting low-level offenders. Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/10/21

'He is a predator': Windsor leaders, local congressmen, demand Foppoli resign after sexual assault allegations -- Calls grew louder Friday for Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli to resign, with every colleague on the town’s elected council and the North Bay’s two congressional representatives saying the young winemaker could not continue to lead in the wake of a Chronicle investigation detailing sexual assault allegations brought by four women. Alexandria Bordas, Cynthia Dizikes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Gig Work  

How Proposition 22 Blocks Cities and Counties From Giving Hazard Pay to Gig Workers -- For the first time since the pandemic started, Jacqueline Lopez and her family have money in their savings account. She and her husband both work in grocery stores around Los Angeles and they’re each getting an extra $5 per hour hazard pay. Sam Harnett KQED -- 4/10/21

Back Wages  

Roofing company in Orange pays $758,166 in back wages, penalties -- A recent investigation of Saddleback Roofing Inc. by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the privately-held company’s owner paid some employees flat salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked. Kevin Smith in the Orange County Register -- 4/10/21

Exodus  

Silicon Valley Is Flooding Into a Reluctant Austin -- Since the pandemic started, a subset of the California-based tech industry has declared the need to relocate, citing the state’s high taxes and prices, ineffectual government, and endemic wildfires. A few investors and executives loudly decamped to Miami, but an analysis of LinkedIn user data shows that about six times as many tech workers went from the San Francisco Bay Area to Austin. Lizette Chapman Bloomberg -- 4/10/21

Street  

‘Dudes I offed a fed’: Four alleged Boogaloo followers charged with obstructing federal probe into Bay Area police killings -- Four alleged members of a militia group associated with the so-called Boogaloo movement have been indicted on obstruction charges related to the killing of two law enforcement officers in California, prosecutors announced Friday. Nate Gartrell in the San Jose Mercury$ Richard Winton, Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Lawsuit alleges Orange County D.A. ‘sabotaged’ Robicheaux sexual assault case -- An investigator who led the probe into sexual assault allegations against a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend is accusing Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer of sabotaging the prosecution of the case and retaliating against her for investigating the couple, according to a lawsuit filed against the county this week. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

California Justice Department charges LAPD officer in illegal gambling operation -- The California Department of Justice’s Fraud and Special Prosecutions section filed felony charges of bookmaking Wednesday against Officer Robert Felix, 49, Francisco Martin del Campo, 52, and Gabriel Martin del Campo, 51, the LAPD said Friday. The alleged incidents took place from February 2018 through January 2020 in L.A. County. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Two more reports find fault in LAPD’s handling of summer protests -- Two more reviews have found glaring problems with the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of last summer’s mass protests against police brutality, with both concluding that poor planning, inadequate training and inconsistent leadership contributed to disorder in the streets. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21

Water  

S.F. Baykeeper sues Biden administration to list local longfin smelt as endangered species -- Scientists and environmentalists say that reduction is a direct result of too much water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system being diverted to farms and other water users rather than flowing through the bay to the Pacific. If the fish were to be protected as an endangered species, that would likely have to change. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Border 

Biden expelling asylum-seeking families with young children to Tijuana after flights from Texas -- After Border Patrol apprehends the families in Texas, they are flown to San Diego and sent to Tijuana, a city they do not know. Kate Morrissey in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/10/21

Education 

USF expels student who hung noose on dorm balcony -- USF President Paul J. Fitzgerald and two other officials announced the expulsion, effective immediately, in a letter posted on the university website Friday afternoon. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

She exposed decades of alleged sexual abuse at elite Bay Area high schools. Now, she's speaking out -- Daphne Greene was mingling with her former classmates during a reunion at Branson, the private high school in Ross, when her former soccer coach arrived. She spun around and her smile flattened. It had been four decades since Rusty Taylor, the nation’s winningest prep soccer coach, allegedly sexually abused her. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Homeless  

California converts hotels, vacant buildings - they now house 8,000 homeless people -- The Homekey program, which was launched last summer with money from the federal coronavirus relief package, awarded nearly $800 million to dozens of California cities and counties to purchase sites and convert them into housing with supportive services by the end of 2020. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/10/21

Develop  

He’s working on L.A.’s next great skyscraper, Angels Landing -- Real estate developer Ricardo Pagan has made his mark in New York City and Detroit, but the biggest project of his career aims to change the skyline of downtown L.A. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/10/21