April 27, 2020

27Apr

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Stanislaus County efforts to lift coronavirus closures create confusion for some

Modesto Bee

The new rules eventually will reopen Woodward and Modesto reservoirs — but only to people with watercraft. Her family loves the lakes. But they don’t own a boat.

See also:

Modesto, area cities brace for major budget shortfalls due to coronavirus crisis

Modesto Bee

The new coronavirus crisis hit while Turlock officials, facing budget troubles, considered a sales tax measure to maintain public services.

Coronavirus update: Turlock care home reports cases; city budgets see losses

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County has five deaths among the 286 people who have tested positive for the virus. Another 4,257 tested negative. Sixty-nine people have been hospitalized, and 202 have recovered.

California State Fair canceled to stem coronavirus spread. First closure since World War II
Sacramento Bee

The corn dogs, blue ribbons and roller-coaster rides will have to wait a year. The 2020 California State Fair was canceled Friday, the latest big event on Sacramento’s entertainment calendar to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See Also:

Golf courses can reopen, SJ County says

Stockton Record

The San Joaquin County Department of Public Health has allowed golf courses to reopen, effective at noon Friday, as part of the county’s updated order regarding outdoor public gatherings, outdoor activities and providing clarification on essential businesses.

STAPLEY: Why Patterson mayor broke from Stanislaus mayors on coronavirus, in her own words

Modesto Bee

When seven of the nine mayors in Stanislaus County recently signed a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking to aggressively reopen businesses here, I wondered why two didn’t. We have fairly conservative leadership in these parts. All nine mayors and all five county supervisors are Republicans.

EDITORIAL: Right now, Stanislaus nonprofits need their state money more than an ‘army of volunteers’

Modesto Bee

It’s a Catch-22 for some California nonprofits: They can’t meet their contract obligations without violating the stay-home order.

Central SJ Valley:

When will the Fresno region reopen from coronavirus? Here’s how it could happen

Fresno Bee

The uncertainty of the growth curve of the coronavirus pandemic, in the Valley and throughout the state, also means uncertainty for answering the questions that so many people have: When will stores, restaurants, churches, businesses and more — many of which have been mostly closed for more than a month — be able to reopen?

Poor air quality and job loss. Coronavirus a double-threat to Fresno area, groups say

Fresno Bee

Fresno-area environmental advocates say they fear efforts to lower pollution standards could harm Valley communities that already struggle with respiratory issues, and now, coronavirus-related financial trouble.

Fresno council approves more funds for small-business funds

Business Journal

The Fresno City Council approved additional funding of $1.5 million for the Save Our Small Business Program that was implemented at the end of March to provide assistance to local businesses affected by the coronavirus.

See also:

ABC 30 News

Board of Supervisors voluntarily reduces its own pay amid pandemic

Hanford Sentinel

The Kings County Board of Supervisors announced its decision to voluntarily reduce its own pay to assist with COVID-19 cost impacts.

‘Morons That Run Our City’ Fresno Restaurant Flyer Sparks Attention

GV Wire

Full O Bull Subs & Pizza near Nees Avenue and First Street has posted flyers recently that indicate a growing frustration over Fresno’s shelter-in-place orders. The first flyer focused on the media and the next one took clear aim at City Hall.

Pet grooming salons in Clovis can now open from Monday

abc30

The city of Clovis is allowing pet groomers to open their doors, even though the CDC reports cats and dogs can contract and spread COVID-19.

See also:

South SJ Valley:

Bakersfield Mayor Goh urges patience, unity before opening city back up for business

KGET

Mayor Karen Goh urged patience in a video message to the city Friday afternoon, saying that while the business community is anxious to get back to the business of business, it is also united in its determination to do it right.

Census delay could put off new voting districts, primaries

Bakersfield Californian

The U.S. Census Bureau needs more time to wrap up the once-a-decade count because of the coronavirus, opening the possibility of delays in drawing new legislative districts that could help determine what political party is in power, what laws pass or fail and whether communities of color get a voice in their states.

State:

Gov. Gavin Newsom expresses hope he can start loosening stay-at-home order soon

Modesto Bee

California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed cautious optimism about being able to begin reopening the state soon at his daily coronavirus press conference.

See Also:

California Farmworkers Need Protection During Coronavirus Crisis; Here’s a Relief Package to Help

GVWire

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House is reportedly working behind the scenes to reduce wages for farmworkers. According to a recent National Public Radio report, the Trump administration claims that cutting wages for farmworkers will help agricultural businesses struggling during the current crisis.

ACLU petitions Newsom, Becerra to reduce jail populations, freeze ICE transfers amid pandemic

Sacramento Bee

The American Civil Liberties Union filed two lawsuits against California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra late Friday, demanding a reduction in jail populations and a freeze on ICE transfers due to the coronavirus. 

California cities warn of widespread layoffs and service cuts

San Francisco Chronicle

California cities expect to lose nearly $7 billion over the next two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, a fiscal emergency they warn could lead to widespread cuts in staffing and services without more federal and state aid.

New memos shed light on how California Legislature may operate upon return

Politico

As the California Legislature prepares to return May 4 under pressure to pass a state budget and respond to a new coronavirus world, legislators and lobbyists alike are discussing monumental changes to Capitol business like remote voting and limited in-person testimony to protect constituents — and the lawmakers themselves.

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Column: In the coronavirus crisis, California isn’t under one-party rule, it’s under one-man rule

Los Angeles Times

California no longer has one-party rule in Sacramento. It now has one-man rule. Gov. Gavin Newsom has told everyone who doesn’t have an “essential” job to stay home and protect themselves and others from the coronavirus. If they must venture out, he lectured, stay six feet from anyone.

WALTERS: Who should pay for pandemic impacts?

CalMatters

The COVID-19 pandemic and the severe economic recession it induced are disasters unparalleled in recent generations and it will take years to fully recover from their human and financial tolls. Already, however, they are spawning legal and political conflicts, over whom, if anyone, should be accountable for their impacts.

EDITORIAL: California Democratic Party chair must reveal sex abuse report’s findings – or resign

Modesto Bee

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks says he wants to protect victims. Shielding victims from “further damage,” is why he decided to bury the party’s official investigation of the sexual misconduct charges that ended former party chair Eric Bauman’s reign in 2018, he says.

Federal:

White House aiming for Trump pivot from virus to economy

Fresno Bee

After two months of frantic response to the coronavirus, the White House is planning to shift President Donald Trump’s public focus to the burgeoning efforts aimed at easing the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

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Congressional Watchdog To Review Federal Coronavirus Response

VPR

The CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus response legislation Congress approved late last month, calls for a government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, to monitor the spending and the overall federal response to the pandemic. And while President Trump has pushed back on other oversight, it will be difficult for him to block the GAO’s work.

See also:

Trump: ‘We Are Getting Through This Challenge’

Capital Public Radio

President Trump has signed the latest economic relief package, this one aimed at small businesses and hospitals.

See Also:

Speaker Pelosi: President Trump’s Effort To Sideline The WHO Is ‘Dangerous’

Capital Public Radio

The House speaker criticized the president’s effort to withhold funding for the World Health Organization. She said the administration is isolating itself amid a global health crisis.

Social limits needed through summer, Birx says, as some states ease coronavirus restrictions

Los Angeles Times

Social distancing must continue through the summer, White House coronavirus-response coordinator Deborah Birx said Sunday, even as some states began moving to ease shutdown and stay-at-home guidelines meant to stem the spread of the pathogen.

See Also:

Lawmakers warn coronavirus contact-tracing is ripe for abusive surveillance

Los Angeles Times

It is a big promise from Silicon Valley to a nation looking for ways to be freed from home confinement: Smartphones could discreetly detect those who may have COVID-19 and nudge them to quarantine, blunting renewed outbreaks as Americans start to once again venture out.

Trump won’t approve Postal Service loan unless agency raises charges for Amazon

Los Angeles Times

President Trump said Friday that he won’t approve a $10-billion loan for the U.S. Postal Service unless the agency raises charges for Amazon and other big shippers to four to five times current rates.

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Experts question legal basis for Barr’s plan to challenge shelter orders

San Francisco Chronicle

Conservatives rallying against state governors’ shelter-in-place orders have found an ally in President Trump’s attorney general, William Barr.

Public health expert: US ‘near the end of the beginning’ of pandemic

The Hill

Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Sunday that the U.S. was likely at the “end of the beginning” of the coronavirus pandemic but said Vice President Pence’s prediction of reaching the end stages of the crisis by Memorial Day was overly optimistic.

Trump calls reports he may fire Alex Azar ‘fake news’

Washington Post

President Trump pushed back Sunday evening on reports the White House is weighing whether to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as “Fake News.”

See also:

Trump floats another bogus coronavirus cure — and his administration scrambles to stop people from injecting disinfectants

Washington Post

The federal government scrambled Friday to stave off a potential wave of public health emergencies sparked by President Trump’s dangerous suggestion that injecting bleach or other household disinfectants into the body might cure people of the novel coronavirus.

See also:

Americans Are Generally Skeptical Of Government, But Want It To Intervene In A Crisis

NPR
Americans are generally skeptical of too much government intervention. Over the past three decades, the number of people saying they want the government to do less usually outnumbers those saying they want it to do more, according to Gallup.

Trump Signs Coronavirus Stimulus Bill as Focus Shifts to State Funding

Wall Street Journal

Lawmakers sparred Friday over providing hundreds of billions of dollars in relief to states and cities hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, assistance that Democrats see as a critical piece of the next round of stimulus spending but some Republicans have viewed skeptically.

OPINION: States Are Being Crushed by the Coronavirus. Only This Can Help.

New York Times

State governments are facing a fiscal crisis born of collapsing revenues, increased demand for safety-net programs like Medicaid and the direct costs of leading the Covid-19 response. If nothing changes, states will soon be forced to make deep cuts in vital public services, worsening the recession and slowing the ensuing recovery.

Coronavirus Trackers:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) in California

Covid19.ca.gov

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called coronavirus.

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Elections 2020:

Science Becomes A Dividing Issue In Year Of Election And Pandemic

Capital Public Radio

As COVID-19 takes over the political conversation, Americans’ ambivalence about science — and “experts” in general — is likely to come to the forefront.

See also:

Joe Biden says corporate America is ‘greedy as hell’

Business Insider

Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden called corporate America “greedy as hell” in an interview with Politico’s Michael Grunwald. He criticized big companies and banks, saying that “this is the second time we’ve bailed their asses out.”

See also:

The Trump campaign makes its pitch to Catholic voters

Economist

The trump campaign’s big push to woo Catholics, who helped elect the president in 2016, did not get off to a great start in 2020. Even before the kick-off rally for “Catholics for Trump”, scheduled for mid-March, became one of the first political casualties of social distancing, a high-profile church leader in an important swing state had given the outfit a gentle kicking. 

The Very Real Threat of Trump’s Deepfake

The Atlantic

When people began talking about the political implications of deepfake technology—manipulating a video to transpose one person’s face on another’s body—they usually assumed that deepfakery would be deployed by some anonymous, hostile non-state actor, as a no-return-address, high-tech sabotage of democracy.

Why Americans Don’t Vote Their Class Anymore

New York Magazine

Declining unions — and rising educational attainment — have left college-educated whites more left-wing than non-college-educated ones.

REMOTE VOTING concerns for CA Legislature

Politico

Carla’s story this weekend detailed how Assemblyman Bill Quirk, in a letter to Speaker Anthony Rendon, has made a strong argument for remote voting. He wrote that “failure to make accommodations for legislators who are over 65 years old, pregnant, immunocompromised, or care for children or loved ones who are at risk or otherwise vulnerable raises serious concerns around democracy, representation, and equity,” according to a letter obtained by POLITICO.

Coronavirus’s Grip Poses Parallel Problems for Trump, Biden

Wall Street Journal

President Trump was near the end of his daily White House coronavirus briefing Thursday when he was asked how the crisis might affect this fall’s election. He took the opportunity to launch an attack on the man who will oppose him then.

Census delay could put off new voting districts, primaries

Associated Press

The U.S. Census Bureau needs more time to wrap up the once-a-decade count because of the coronavirus, opening the possibility of delays in drawing new legislative districts that could help determine what political party is in power.

Poll: 69 percent of voters support Medicare for All

Hill

Popularity for Medicare for All grew slightly among Democratic voters, with a 2 percentage point increase from 2018. Support among independent voters was steady at 68 percent. However, support among Republican voters declined 6 percentage points over the course of two years, from 52 percent support in 2018 to 46 percent in 2020.

Commentary: Coronavirus is also a threat to democratic constitutions 

Brookings

It has become a truism to assert that the pandemic highlights the enduring importance of the nation-state. What is less clear, but as important, is what it does to nation-states’ operating systems: their constitutions.

Other:

White House stops short of recognizing Armenian Genocide, despite push from Devin Nunes

Fresno Bee

President Donald Trump stopped short of recognizing the Armenian Genocide in a White House statement issued Friday, the Day of Remembrance for the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915-18.

CVMD Hires Community Heritage Center Coordinator

Clovis RoundUp

The Clovis Veterans Memorial District is welcoming former city employee Andy Soldo as its Community Heritage Center Coordinator.

Fresno and the 1918 pandemic

Fresno Bee

Fresno State history professor Ethan Kytle discusses Fresno’s response to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19.

Fake News In The Time Of COVID-19

VPR
One of the most important tools to fight a pandemic is a well-informed public, but much of the information online is questionable or outright false. FM89’s Kathleen Schock discussed how to separate fact from fiction with Donald Barclay, a UC Merced librarian and the author of Fake News, Propaganda and Plain Old Lies. 

See also:

Are Masks Just for Liberals?

New York Intelligencer

In early April, I did some essential shopping at a chain pharmacy in the exurban Georgia town where I have been more or less confined for over a month, thanks to family exposure to COVID-19. I was standing near the door, having already checked out, waiting for my wife to finish her shopping. 

What Donald Trump Could Learn from Herbert Hoover

Politico

A 1932 fight over an economic relief agency has parallels to today’s politics—and the electoral fortunes of both Democrats and Republicans.

Boris Johnson Set to Return to Work After Recovery From Covid-19

Wall Street Journal 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returns to work on Monday after recovering from a serious coronavirus infection to face critical decisions over how and when to reopen the country’s paralyzed economy.

Column One: Did a Bakersfield nursing student invent hand sanitizer?

Los Angeles Times

Over the last decade, the legend of Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield has bounced around the medical world. Haven’t you heard? She’s the student nurse who invented hand sanitizer. Or so the story went.

Opinion: Coronavirus Means the Era of Big Government Is…Back

Wall Street Journal 

History shows that big national shocks have a way of changing the role of government in lasting ways—and any shock as big as the coronavirus pandemic inevitably will alter political life and philosophies in America.

Commentary: America can’t face China alone

AEI

You can’t beat something with nothing. But America seems determined to try. America’s attempt to integrate China into the global economy as a “responsible stakeholder” failed. China’s economy has become more statist, its political system more repressive, its foreign policy more bullying, its ambitions more outsized than they were 20 years ago. 

Commentary: Freedom and privacy in the time of coronavirus

Brookings

The ravages of the COVID-19 virus have forced nations all over the globe to curtail their citizens’ freedom of movement. The U.S. and its municipalities have been no exceptions. To combat the virus, people have been required to remain at home, to refrain from going to work or school, and to engage in the new process of social distancing. 

Commentary: Can public policy incentivize staying at home during COVID-19?

Brookings

More than a quarter of the world’s people are in quarantine or lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Tens of millions are required to stay at home, with many of them laid off or on unpaid leave. Given the highly contagious nature of the virus and the absence of a vaccination or cure, the mandatory nature of lockdowns and quarantines—to maintain physical distance—is understandable. 

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, May 3, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: Groundwater Banking: Saving for a Not-So-Rainy Day – Guest: Alvar Escriva-Bou with the Public Policy Institute of California. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, May 3, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: Groundwater Recharge: Regionwide Challenges, Local Solutions? – Guest: Alan Hofman, General Manager of the Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, May 3, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: Como Entender las Reservas del Presupuesto Estatal – Guests: Jacqueline Barocio & Lourdes Morales, investigadores de LAO y Alexei Koseff, Reportero de San Francisco Chronicle. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Workers at Hanford meat packing plant infected with coronavirus

Fresno Bee

A Hanford-based meat packing plant has confirmed “several” employees have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) and are being quarantined, a company official said Sunday. 

‘No mask, no sale’: Fresno’s Vineyard Farmer’s Market has new COVID-19 policy

abc30

The Vineyard Farmer’s Market in northwest Fresno is making changes to increase safety, while still giving people a chance to buy fresh produce. The market now has a policy stating that all customers must wear a mask.

Arvin looks to benefit from hemp ordinance following $1 billion ‘bust’

Bakersfield Californian

After the Kern County Sheriff’s Office destroyed 459 acres of hemp plants near Arvin they said was actually $1 billion worth of marijuana, city officials took note.

California restaurants to get public money for healthy meals

Hanford Sentinel

California restaurants will get taxpayer money to feed millions of seniors during the coronavirus pandemic, but only if they can offer meals with fresh fruit, vegetables and no sugary drinks.

California Wants Restaurants To Prepare Meals For Vulnerable Seniors 

Capital Public Radio

Gov. Gavin Newsom detailed a partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday that would provide nutritional meals to seniors and get hospitality workers back on the job.

See also: 

Does cooking food kill coronavirus? An expert weighs in

Los Angeles Times

Since writing about how to wash produce during the pandemic, I’ve gotten questions from readers asking if cooking food kills any possible coronavirus on it. I also have received requests for “100%-certain facts.”

‘Appreciation caravans’ honor California’s essential farmworkers

NBCNews

Farmworkers in Watsonville, California, known as America’s strawberry capital, will look up from the fields on Saturday to see a line of cars honking, waving, holding posters and shouting “thank you” in several languages.

USDA let millions of pounds of food rot while food-bank demand soared

Politico

Tens of millions of pounds of American-grown produce is rotting in fields as food banks across the country scramble to meet a massive surge in demand, a two-pronged disaster that has deprived farmers of billions of dollars in revenue while millions of newly jobless Americans struggle to feed their families.

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In Another Hit for Farmers, Coronavirus Crushes Ethanol Market

Wall Street Journal

Plummeting energy demand during the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the ethanol industry. The timing for U.S. farmers couldn’t be worse.

2 million chickens to be killed because there aren’t enough workers to kill them

Sacramento Bee

Farms in Delaware and Maryland are preparing to humanely slaughter up to 2 million chickens, The Baltimore Sun reports. The problem? In the coronavirus pandemic, there aren’t enough workers at processing plants to kill the chickens to turn them into meat.

Opinion: Who grows our food and harvests it? Coronavirus causes us to look the hands that feed us

Fresno Bee

Isolation. That’s the reality of this pandemic period we’re all living through. We farmers live with isolation. We work in open spaces, much of the labor is done individually and alone.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

Suntrapak: April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Sadly, kids are trapped at home due to COVID-19

Fresno Bee

Experts warn of the likelihood of increased incidences of child abuse as we fight COVID-19, particularly during these shelter-in-place orders. The very recommendations useful to control the spread of COVID-19 — isolation and social distancing — will make it harder for child abuse victims to seek help or to be noticed by a teacher, a neighbor, a pastor.

CHP Visalia sees 378% increase in citations for speeding over 100 mph

abc30

Between March 19th, when California’s stay-at-home order took effect, to April 19th, the CHP has reported an 87% increase in citations for driving over 100 MPH compared to the same time period last year.

Warszawski: Fresno shootings way up during stay-at-home order during coronavirus. What can be done?

Fresno Bee

Gun violence in Fresno doesn’t shelter in place during the coronavirus scare. Rather, it goes looking for trouble. At a time when Fresno residents are strongly encouraged to stay home, shooting incidents are up 67% from the previous year. No, that’s not a typo: 67%.

Public Safety:

CHP citing people for parking illegally near Fresno County lakes

abc30

As temperatures continue to warm up, officials are seeing more people heading to local lakes, despite the ‘stay at home’ order. CHP officers are now warning people if they park in undesignated areas, they will be cited.

Dispatcher with Fresno County Sheriff’s Office tests positive for COVID-19

abc30

A first responder dedicated to helping others is now in need of help himself after testing positive for COVID-19. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office confirmed one of their dispatch supervisors tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week.

Grocery stores seeking masks for ‘essential’ workers confront shortages, federal interference

Los Angeles Times

The day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early April advised everyone to cover their faces in public, the co-owner of a small network of grocery stores in Wisconsin logged into Facebook and began a post: “HELP!”

Lawmakers warn coronavirus contact-tracing is ripe for abusive surveillance

Los Angeles Times

It is a big promise from Silicon Valley to a nation looking for ways to be freed from home confinement: Smartphones could discreetly detect those who may have COVID-19 and nudge them to quarantine, blunting renewed outbreaks as Americans start to once again venture out.

U.S. Supreme Court sidesteps major gun rights ruling

Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a challenge to New York City restrictions on handgun owners transporting their firearms outside the home, meaning the justices for now will not be wading into the battle over the scope of the right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

See Also:

Fire: 

CAL Fire: Burn Permits Required in Madera County as of May 1

Sierra News

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit (MMU) encourage residents to continue their hazard reduction burning in Eastern Madera County.

Program aims to fill California’s wildfire and forestry workforce gap

California Economic Summit

One of the critical solutions to California’s wildfire crisis is creating healthier, sustainable forests. Yet, this vital undertaking faces a major barrier: the lack of a trained workforce. An innovative partnership in Central California seeks to fill that void. 

How Is the Pandemic Affecting Wildfire Prevention in California?

PPIC

Catastrophic wildfires in recent years set off a wave of efforts to reduce this risk across the state. Fortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic will not impede vegetation management or wildfire control—though it could complicate the work.

The Benefits of Headwater Forest Management

PPIC

Forests in California are increasingly vulnerable to major wildfires and droughts that threaten the benefits they provide. Improving the health of headwater forests in the Sierra, in particular—where most of the state’s surface water supplies originate—will provide an array of social, economic, and environmental benefits across multiple sectors and geographies.

ECONOMY/JOBS

Economy:

Fresno businesses will get coronavirus loans. City officials hope to provide more relief

Fresno Bee

Over 100 business owners were notified Friday that they’re recipients of loans or grants from the city of Fresno’s “Save our Small Business” program in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

See also:

Pandemic is the second hard knock on this Fresno business community, leaders say

Fresno Bee

As federal, state and local governments roll out programs to help businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic, some of Fresno’s Southeast Asian leaders fear that for their community, help will be too little too late.

A flood of business bankruptcies likely in coming months

Fresno Bee

The billions of dollars in coronavirus relief targeted at small businesses may not prevent many of them from ending up in bankruptcy court.

Scaling Economic Solidarity: The Pandemic, Nonprofits, and Power

NonProfit Quarterly

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how a disease can reveal an underlying sickness—and in America, that means our failure to provide universal health care, our marginalization of immigrants and others, and our devaluation of the caring work that makes lives possible.

Positive Economic Views Plummet; Support for Government Aid Crosses Party Lines

PEW
Amid record unemployment claims and the disruption of commercial activity caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the public’s assessments of the U.S. economy have deteriorated with extraordinary speed and severity. 

See Also:

California cities project 2-year losses of $6.7 billion

CNBC
California’s 482 cities say they will collectively lose $6.7 billion over the next two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting layoffs and furloughs for public workers and potential cuts to basic services such as sanitation, public safety and housing.

Pandemic Shutdown Is Speeding Up The Collapse Of Coal

NPR

Since the coronavirus hit the U.S., coal mines across the country have begun shutting down, laying off workers and slowing production. Bankruptcies loom everywhere in the industry.

Opinion: After COVID-19, let’s invest in Fresno’s potential for an economy that works for all

Fresno Bee

Fortunately, Fresno has a head start on creating a more inclusive economy — one that works for all residents — but that momentum is under threat with the current crisis.

Opinion: Open up our Yosemite Gateway communities

Sierra Star

This is “season” in our gateway communities and our hospitality businesses need to have the option to open now. Whether they actually do open would certainly be up to them.

Newsletter: A backlash against cities?

Los Angeles Times

On Wednesday, the U.S. will release its first set of GDP data for first quarter of 2020. The release is expected to show the effect that the pandemic is having on the U.S. economy.

WALTERS: Perfect storm clobbers California cities

CalMatters

California’s nearly 500 cities had been hurting financially even before the COVID-19 pandemic clobbered the state’s economy and triggered a downward spiral of tax revenues. Although their revenues had climbed sharply during the previous decade, cities had seen even sharper increases in spending for employee pensions and health care and an epidemic of homelessness.

Opinion: California Cannot Sustain Great Depression 2.0 Much Longer

Hoover Institution

California’s employment level has been set back to 2010, which was the trough of California’s last recession and a time of enormous state and local government cutbacks, including the distribution of “IOUs” to vendors because the state simply did not have the money to pay its bills.

See also:

Commentary: Federal passivity won’t reopen the economy

AEI

If President Trump’s primary goal is to reopen the economy, he is going about it the wrong way. Out of a misplaced conception of federalism, or perhaps to avoid responsibility for problems that are messy to solve, he is deferring to the states on testing and building an effective virus tracking and isolation program. 

Commentary: We won’t do this for 12 to 18 months

AEI

Economist Herb Stein was famous for a great many things, but most prominent among them was “Stein’s Law.” It is elegant in its simplicity: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

Commentary: Bankruptcy and the coronavirus

Brookings

Less than two months into the coronavirus crisis, and despite the massive infusion of federal funds, a rise in business bankruptcies has already begun. Even if the current efforts by Congress, the Federal Reserve, and Treasury to counteract the economic shutdown are effective, an enormous wave of bankruptcies may come.

Jobs:

IRS offering incentive pay to employees who return to work

abc30

The Internal Revenue Service is asking thousands of employees to voluntarily return to work. The IRS said it needs more workers on-site to perform what it calls essential functions, including opening mail and processing paper returns.

See also:

Many Californians may not be receiving unemployment benefits

abc30

Over a recent five-week period, between the week ending March 21 and April 18, California saw about 3.35 million people — or 17% of the state’s labor force — apply for unemployment benefits.

See also:

Plan to change workers’ comp rules for employees with COVID-19 angers business, ag groups

Merced Sun-Star

A proposed executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom to substantially expand protections for coronavirus-infected employees who qualify for workers’ compensation insurance is raising concerns among leaders in the agriculture and business communities, who say it could cost billions of dollars. 

California to borrow federal money to cover soaring jobless claims

Los Angeles Times

California has been approved to borrow what is expected to be billions of dollars from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits to those left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic, raising concerns about the cost of repaying the debt.

See also:

With Millions Jobless, Is the USA Ready for UBI?

Capital & Main

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating in March, Congress scrambled to design a more than $2 trillion economic package that would prop up private companies, keep the financial system liquid, and, at the same time, provide financial help to individuals whose income was evaporating as the result of states issuing stay-at-home orders and temporarily shuttering nonessential businesses.

Laid Off? Considering Business Downsizing Or Closure Due To COVID-19?

Rapid Response Services

Information will be provided about: Job Search, Unemployment Benefits, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, Covered California, PG&E Programs, Budget & Credit Counseling And more!

Is COVID-19 covered by workers’ comp?

CalMatters

Labor and business groups are gearing up for a fight over whether employers — through workers’ compensation — should pay health costs for essential workers infected by COVID-19, with Gov. Gavin Newsom expected to decide the multibillion-dollar debate soon.

1 in 6 Americans has lost their job during the coronavirus pandemic

CBS News

About 4.4 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, raising the total number of workers who have lost their jobs since the coronavirus outbreak to more than 26 million. The fallout has left roughly 1 in 6 workers without a job.

See also:

Unemployment around the US will reach 16% this year, CBO says

CBS News

Unemployment around the U.S., near a 50-year low before the coronavirus struck, will surge to 16% by September as the economy withers under the impact of the outbreak, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. 

EDUCATION

K-12:

What will Clovis schools do about graduation ceremonies in the wake of coronavirus?

Fresno Bee

Fresno-area school officials have been looking for alternative ways to honor graduating seniors who are missing proms and traditional commencements in the wake of the coronavirus health crisis.

Fresno schools face big budget cuts amid coronavirus. Should they trim police funding?

Fresno Bee

California schools are bracing for multi-million dollar budget shortfalls in the wake of economic destruction sparked by coronavirus.

Local teacher makes video for students missing Camp KEEP

abc23

Camp KEEP has become a time-honored tradition for students in Kern County. Now with the coronavirus pandemic, that tradition is put on hold.

SUSD board looking at hiring McLaughlin to help with superintendent search

Stockton Record

The Stockton Unified School District Board of Education is looking to hire controversial former Superintendent Jack McLaughlin as a consultant through the end of the year to assist the district in the wake of the current superintendent’s resignation.

Richer schools not necessarily faster to set up distance learning

CalMatters

As countries across the globe began shuttering campuses to combat the spread of a deadly new coronavirus, superintendent Michelle Rodriguez knew it eventually would come for her schools, too. So, weeks before the March 16 closures in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Rodriguez and educators in this community about an hour south of San Jose sprang into “an all-hands-on-deck mentality.” 

Why distance learning is a success in one California district

EdSource

Never in his 25-year teaching career did Greg Platt imagine he would someday be working full-time through a computer screen. But much has changed in the last few weeks as schools around California closed their doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor Extends LCAP Deadline to December 15, 2020

AALRR

On April 23, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-56-20, giving school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools (collectively “LEAs”) until December 15, 2020 to adopt next year’s Local Control Accountability Plans (“LCAP”). 

As schools shift to online learning amid pandemic, here’s what we know about disabled students in the U.S.

Pew Research

Disabled students are served under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees students with disabilities the right to free public education and special services. Here is what the data shows about disabled students in the U.S.

The COVID-19 Slide and What It Could Mean for Student Achievement

EdNote

When students, educators and administrators return to school after the COVID-19 school closures, classrooms will be a changed landscape.

Commentary: How school boards should respond to coronavirus

AEI

AJ Crabill, 2019 recipient of the prestigious James Bryant Conant Award, is a national school board guru and director of governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. Prior to this, AJ served as deputy commissioner in Texas. I recently had the chance to talk to AJ about the role of school boards during the coronavirus. Here’s what he had to say.

Commentary: How will COVID-29 change our schools in the long run?

Brookings

In the midst of an unprecedented crisis, it can be hard to see more than a few days into the future. It’s as if we were wandering around in a dense (and deadly) fog.

Higher Ed:

‘Back at square one’: College seniors face professional uncertainties in midst of pandemic

Bakersfield Californian

Cal State Bakersfield senior business management major Ethan Borden pictured himself moving to Chicago after his May commencement ceremony to start his career in the human resources, logistics or travel industry.

Can Colleges Survive Coronavirus? ‘The Math Is Not Pretty’

NPR

Most campuses in the United States are sitting empty. Courses are online, students are at home. And administrators are trying to figure out how to make the finances of that work.

Private colleges brace for downturn amid pandemic fallout

Stockton Record

The news from the two schools — one a Catholic university that was the first in California to admit women in 1868, the other a fine arts academy that counts photographer Annie Leibovitz among its alumni — highlights the financial challenges facing the state’s small private colleges as the pandemic imposes new costs and throws the admissions cycle into turmoil.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environment:

Hot weather draws big crowds to Pismo Beach despite county’s stay-at-home order

Fresno Bee

Unexpected hot weather drew hundreds of people to Pismo and elsewhere along the coast, despite the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

See also:

Coronavirus prompts Gov. Gavin Newsom to suspend California’s plastic bag ban

Los Angeles Times

Gov. Gavin Newsom has suspended California’s ban on grocery stores providing single-use plastic bags amid concerns that clerks may be at risk for exposure to the coronavirus if shoppers are required to supply their own reusable bags to carry their purchases home.

See Also:

Using Trees To Build A Better World

Forbes

I worked in Hawaii for five years for a man who owned plantation forests. Inevitably, I ran into people who complained when it was time to harvest these forests. They simply didn’t distinguish between tree farming and clear-cutting of old growth forests. To them, cutting down trees was bad. Period.

For Earth Day, how Americans see climate change and the environment in 7 charts

Pew Research

This year’s Earth Day comes at a unique moment. People in many countries remain under stay-at-home orders to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, and the resulting shifts in transportation, industrial activity is leading to a decline in carbon emissions.

EDITORIAL: California has a chance for a green future after the coronavirus. Don’t waste it

San Francisco Chronicle

Bears are taking over Yosemite meadows, and coyotes are wandering city streets. Hilltop sunsets never looked more pure and bright. Around the world, smog-glazed skies are giving way to blue vistas and fresh air. A deadly pandemic is slowing human activity and boosting wildlife in startling ways.

Energy:

Commentary: What drove oil prices through the floor this week? 

Brookings

The coronavirus pandemic has sent crude oil prices plummeting, so much so that the price for West Texas Intermediate oil dropped below zero dollars earlier this week. In this special edition of the podcast, Samantha Gross joins David Dollar to explain the factors influencing recent changes in demand for oil and the long-term effects the coronavirus could have on U.S. oil production and the development of renewable energies.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Fresno County’s coronavirus count increases by double digits in a day

Fresno Bee

There are 15 new cases of COVID-19 in Fresno County, according to the latest update provided by the Fresno County Department of Public Health on Saturday. That brings Fresno County’s total to 458 positive tests for the novel coronavirus.

See also:

Coronavirus pandemic is ‘near the end of the beginning’ in the US, health expert says

Fresno Bee

The United States is nearing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic’s beginning, according to one health expert, but the number of new cases is still high.

Child vaccinations drop at a dangerous rate during coronavirus pandemic, doctors say

Fresno Bee

Hundreds of millions of kids around the world may miss out on their vaccinations during the coronavirus pandemic, which may put us on the precipice of a new crisis, doctors fear.

Staying home means cooking more. But burn accidents are on the rise, UC Davis doctor says

Fresno Bee

While California’s stay-at-home order is helping to slow the spread of the coronavirus, its also having some unintended consequences: New cooks and distracted cooks are getting burned in the kitchen.

California nearly doubles COVID-19 testing per million residents, now ranks 27th in US

ABC 30

There are big improvements for California on the novel coronavirus testing front. The state nearly doubled its number of processed tests this week per million people compared to last week.

‘No Evidence’ Yet That Recovered COVID-19 Patients Are Immune, WHO Says

VPR

The World Health Organization has pushed back against the theory that individuals can only catch the coronavirus once, as well as proposals for reopening society that are based on this supposed immunity.

See Also:

What to Do If You Think You Have Coronavirus Symptoms

Consumer Reports

With the novel coronavirus spreading rapidly in the U.S., it’s understandable that people who develop a cough or fever might wonder whether they have COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

What to Do About Your Relatives in Long-Term Care During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Consumer Reports

We consulted a number of experts to find out what families should take into consideration before pulling a loved one from long-term care—plus what you can do to help take care of relatives from afar.

The Truth About Off-Label Prescribing and Coronavirus

Consumer Reports

Giving a patient a drug not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for a particular condition is called off-label prescribing. While that practice is legal—even common—it’s also sometimes controversial.

Why Coronavirus Won’t Be the End of It

Capital & Main

The Aedes aegypti mosquito, a black and white-spotted insect no longer than the width of a human fingernail, sickens more people every year than the novel coronavirus, influenza and cancer combined. It lands lightly on an infected host and carries its potentially deadly payload – in the form of any number of viruses – to its next victim without a sound.

Keeping Safe and Sane in a COVID-19 ICU

Capital & Main

Peter Sidhu’s latest video diary entry reveals that morale among his fellow nurses is steadily improving, even as the number of COVID-19 patients in his ICU has tripled. However, concerns about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) run high, especially as not every COVID-positive patient is supplied with N95 masks.

See also:

Controversial idea to speed coronavirus vaccine gains ground

The Hill

An idea that might seem outlandish at first is gaining some ground as a way to speed development of a coronavirus vaccine: intentionally infecting people with the virus as part of a trial.

See also:

America needs to win the coronavirus vaccine race Wall Street Journal

VA under fire as coronavirus infections among veterans, staff surge

Hill

The Department of Veterans Affairs is coming under fire as the number of veterans and health care workers infected with coronavirus within its system continues to mount.

See also:

A Fever in the Dust

Methods

Valley Fever isn’t contagious. It doesn’t spread from person to person like the common cold or flu. All it takes to get Valley Fever is a single breath of the fungus when it’s swept up by the wind.

All Coronavirus Questions, Answered

Time

One of the worst symptoms of any plague is uncertainty—who it will strike, when it will end, why it began. Merely understanding a pandemic does not stop it, but an informed public can help curb its impact and slow its spread. It can also provide a certain ease of mind in a decidedly uneasy time. 

See also:

“Immunity passports” in the context of COVID-19

World Health Organization

Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an “immunity passport” or “risk-free certificate” that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work.

First known coronavirus victim in U.S. died of ‘burst’ heart, pathologist says

Sacramento Bee

A Santa Clara County woman now believed to be the first person in the United States killed by the coronavirus died of a ruptured heart caused by her body’s struggle to defeat the virus, her autopsy shows.

Testing remains scarce as governors weigh reopening states 

New York Times

In both red and blue states, governors, health departments and hospitals are finding innovative ways to cope, but still lack what experts say they need to track and contain outbreaks.

Do Lockdowns Save Many Lives? In Most Places, the Data Say No

Wall Street Journal

The speed with which officials shuttered the economy appears not to be a factor in Covid deaths.

Special Report: As virus advances, doctors rethink rush to ventilate

Reuters

When he was diagnosed with COVID-19, Andre Bergmann knew exactly where he wanted to be treated: the Bethanien hospital lung clinic in Moers, near his home in northwestern Germany.

EDITORIAL: Who do we save from coronavirus and who do we let die? Take wealth, race and disability out of that brutal equation

Los Angeles Times

Alarmed by Italy’s experience, many U.S. cities and states have gone into a virtual lockdown to slow the infection rate and spare their doctors the ethically fraught choices their Italian counterparts had to make.

Human Services:

Emergency room at Fresno’s largest hospital sees drop in patients. Doctors think they know why

Fresno Bee

During a Fresno County virtual town hall-style meeting on Friday, doctors said patients who are not infected by the coronavirus should not be afraid to seek medical attention in the emergency room. 

See also:

COVID-19 has brought havoc to nursing homes. Will pandemic end ‘warehousing’ the elderly?

Fresno Bee

Stories of isolation, uncertainty, frustration and fear are shared by the families of approximately 400,000 Californians who are cared for each year in licensed long-term care facilities.

See also:

Protecting The Valley’s Vulnerable Populations From COVID-19

VPR
COVID-19 is disproportionately hurting vulnerable communities like seniors, ag workers and the homeless. 

Younger blacks and Latinos are dying of COVID-19 at higher rates in California

Los Angeles Times

Black and Latino Californians ages 18 to 64 are dying more frequently of COVID-19 than their white and Asian counterparts relative to their share of the population, a Times analysis of state health department data shows.

See also:

U.S. deaths soared in early weeks of pandemic, far exceeding number attributed to covid-19

Washington Post

In the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, the United States recorded an estimated 15,400 excess deaths, nearly two times as many as were publicly attributed to covid-19 at the time, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health.

Saint Agnes Medical Center furloughs 175 employees

abc30

More than a hundred staff members at Saint Agnes Medical Center have been furloughed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The Fresno hospital says it had to furlough around 175 employees at different positions.

See also:

CEO steps down at Clinica Sierra Vista

Bakersfield Californian

Clinica Sierra Vista’s chief executive has abruptly resigned his position, the Bakersfield-based chain of community medical clinics confirmed Friday.

Central California Blood Center Is Asking Recovered COVID-19 Patients For Plasma

VPR

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient as an experimental treatment for those sick with the coronavirus. The treatment is based on the concept that the recovered person now has antibodies to fight the disease.

See also:

Coronavirus Could Force Private Practices To Close Or Sell — Raising Costs

Capital Public Radio

Faced with empty clinics and a cash crunch, independent physicians are worried about closing their doors or selling their private practices — a prospect that could lead to higher patient costs.

Court rules insurers can collect $12B under health care law

abcNews

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that insurance companies can collect $12 billion from the federal government to cover their losses in the early years of the health care law championed by President Barack Obama.

The Doctor Will Zoom You Now

Wall Street Journal

With most of the U.S. under some kind of directive to stay home, these are boom times for digital doctors. Besides worried patients whose symptoms sound like Covid-19, there are plenty of asthmatics, diabetics and discoverers of alarming rashes who still need prescriptions, even if they’re not allowed within two yardsticks of a live physician.

See also:

Helping Employers and Employees Save on Healthcare

Wall Street Journal

Companies have spent much of 2020 racing to shore up supply chains as the coronavirus shut down much of the world, but business leaders say they expect problems to remain even as countries start to reopen their economies.

Commentary: Frontline workers need PPE to keep saving lives in battle against COVID-19

CalMatters

If there is anything worse than an emergency room crowded with sick COVID-19 patients, it’s an emergency room crowded with doctors, nurses and essential hospital staff too sick to care for them. California must take immediate and aggressive action to keep health care and other frontline workers safe or that nightmare scenario could very well become our reality. 

Commentary: Managing health privacy and bias in COVID-19 public surveillance 

Brookings

Most Americans are currently under a stay-at-home order to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. But in a matter of days and weeks, some U.S. governors will decide if residents can return to their workplaces, churches, beaches, commercial shopping centers, and other areas deemed non-essential over the last few months.

IMMIGRATION

McFarland City Council grants appeal, allows immigrant detention centers in city

Bakersfield Californian

Facing an economic crisis, the McFarland City Council voted to allow a private prison company to convert two state prisons into detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a virtual meeting Thursday.

Applying For Asylum In The United States During The Pandemic: One Couple’s Story

VPR

Last June, Roxana Espinoza Trigueros and her wife Carolina Espinoza Trigueros applied for asylum in the United States after living in Mexico for three years. The women said they were discriminated against for being a couple.   

Trump sued for denying checks to Americans married to immigrants

Los Angeles Times

President Trump was sued over a provision of the coronavirus relief package that could deny $1,200 stimulus checks to more than 1 million Americans married to immigrants without Social Security numbers.

Newsom plays ‘anti-Trump’ by helping undocumented immigrants — but will $125 million really help?

San Francisco Chronicle

An undocumented immigrant from Santa Rosa, she was forced to abandon her job as a housekeeper after the state issued a shelter-in-place order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The 39-year-old doesn’t know how she and her husband will pay rent. She’s afraid she’ll lose her car. 

Stephen Miller has long-term vision for Trump’s ‘temporary’ immigration order, according to private call with supporters

The Washington Post

Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller told White House supporters in a private call this week that the president’s new executive order curbing immigration will usher in the kind of broader long-term changes to American society he has advocated for years.

In Reversal, California Farm Town Approves ICE Detention Centers

New York Times

Leaders of a cash-strapped California farm town, home to many undocumented immigrants, have voted to convert two privately run state prisons into immigration detention centers, just two months after public opposition appeared to have derailed the proposal.

Commentary: To reject immigrants would be a choice for rapid American decline

AEI

One should hope that President Trump’s temporary immigration suspension will be just that, temporary. Even if so, it reinforces the harmful and wrong nationalist populist notion that immigrants are economic liabilities, no matter how they get here. 

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Could COVID-19 mean a summer with no spray parks, public pools or camp activities?

Bakersfield Californian

In normal times, spray parks and pools would open about a month from now. But in COVID-19 times, that seems highly unlikely.

See also:

What park-goers are saying as Modesto, Stanislaus County loosen orders

Modesto Bee

Sierra National Forest Issues Update on Recreation Closures

Sierra News

The Sierra National Forest Closure Order, issued by Regional Forester Randy Moore on March 25 for all developed recreation sites across all National Forests in the area, will remain in effect through April 30, according to a press release issued late Friday (April 24) by forest officials.

Housing:

Fresno City Council extends COVID-19 protections for renters, but will they cut checks?

Fresno Bee

The Fresno City Council voted 4-3 Thursday to secure $3 million to help families and small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. They also voted unanimously to extend an eviction protection ordinance.

Despite crisis, apartment tenants hang on

Bakersfield Californian

It wasn’t a stretch to assume that local apartment tenants would be late on their April rent — if they were able to pay at all — after California’s stay-at-home order hit March 19 and the governor placed a moratorium on evictions.

Homeowner fears losing property over solar loan

Bakersfield Californian

Larry Miller thought the solar panel-financing deal he was being offered in 2016 was a no-brainer. As the Lake Isabella homeowner recalls it, a salesman told him 26 rooftop panels would cost him $200 per month — $100 less than his typical electric bill — and after that his power provider would be paying him money.

Building dense cities was California’s cure for the housing crisis. Then came coronavirus

Los Angeles Times

California’s push for density, supporting policies to encourage using transit and building housing near job centers, has a new enemy: the coronavirus.

PUBLIC FINANCES

If you’re still waiting on your $1,200 stimulus check, here are key dates for the next set of payments

Washington Post

With May’s bills coming due soon, many people are still waiting to get their $1,200 stimulus payment as part of the trillions in federal assistance meant to help Americans suffering from the financial fallout of the coronavirus.

Perfect storm clobbers California cities

CalMatters

California’s nearly 500 cities had been hurting financially even before the COVID-19 pandemic clobbered the state’s economy and triggered a downward spiral of tax revenues.

The State Pension Funding Gap: 2017

PEW

After nine years of revenue growth and strong investment performance, the pension funding gap—the difference between a retirement system’s assets and its liabilities—for all 50 states remains more than $1 trillion, and the disparity between well-funded public pension systems and those that are fiscally strained has never been greater.

Many Low-Income Families Left Out of Federal Stimulus Benefits

Public Policy Institute of California

Nearly 20% of families are unlikely to receive a stimulus check. Because the payments phase out as incomes rise, most of these families are above the income cutoff. But nearly a third are among the state’s lowest income families.

A Tale of Two Pandemics: The Rich Are Getting Richer

Capital & Main

While most Americans are facing financial setbacks amid a pandemic that’s wreaking havoc on the economy, the wealthiest are faring much better.

Commentary: California needs a pay equity czar

CalMatters

Pay disparities are more than a numbers game. Equitable wages help parents feed their children and pay the rent. Or, what a timely notion: build a reserve for emergencies.

TRANSPORTATION

No, Cars Did Not Save California from the Worst of Coronavirus

StreetsBlogSF

Albany, in southwestern Georgia, currently has the highest-per capita deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. There is no subway in Albany and most people live in low-density housing. Obviously, an over reliance on cars for transportation is why that city has fared so poorly in the fight to stop the pandemic.

California provides funding for “transformative” rail and public transportation projects

RT&S

Seventeen “transformative” rail and public transportation projects in California received $500 million in capital grants from the California State Transportation Agency.

‘Quarantine fatigue’: Researchers find more Americans venturing out against coronavirus stay-at-home orders

The Washington Post

Researchers tracking smartphone data say they recently made a disturbing discovery: For the first time since states began implementing stay-at-home orders in mid-March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans are staying home less.

“Xtra”

Fresno Grizzlies to go from Triple-A to Class-A? Here are pros, cons of possibility

Fresno Bee

Are the Fresno Grizzlies in danger of getting demoted? That’s perhaps the greatest concern that Fresno’s professional baseball franchise might face as Major League baseball and Minor League Baseball negotiate a new Professional Baseball Agreement.

Mile High-bound for former Fresno State guard Netane Muti. Broncos take him in Round 6

Fresno Bee

Former Fresno State guard Netane Muti was taken in Round 6 (191st overall) by the Denver Broncos. He was the second Bulldogs player to be drafted this year.

Will Child Care Be There When States Reopen?

PEW

Child care centers, home daycares and after-school programs nationwide are struggling to stay open as families stay home to avoid spreading the coronavirus. As some governors prepare to lift stay-at-home orders, child care advocates warn that if businesses like Alvarez’s cannot survive, it’ll be harder for parents to return to work. 

Drive-in service lets Modesto congregation be together but apart

Modesto Bee

Most stayed in their vehicles, windows down and singing along as the worship band played. Others sat in lawn chairs just outside their cars, or perched in pickup truck beds for a better view. Some held up their smart phones to capture video and photos.

Senior sewing circle comes together — while working apart — to construct 1,000 masks

Bakersfield Californian

It started out with a request for 100 cloth face masks from a local doctor. The shortage of masks was real, and even non-medical grade masks began to be seen as better than no mask at all.

Stargazing in your backyard is easy with these apps and gear

Los Angeles Times

Night sky gazing is something we can all do from our backyards or local park. But what gear can help you find Venus or even the man-made International Space Station when you look to the heavens?

The computer algorithm that was among the first to detect the coronavirus outbreak

CBS News

When you’re fighting a pandemic, almost nothing matters more than speed. A little-known band of doctors and hi-tech wizards say they were able to find the vital speed needed to attack the coronavirus: the computing power of artificial intelligence.

How to Choose and Wear a Mask During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Consumer Reports

The CDC recommends homemade face coverings for the general public, but it’s important to choose the right fabric and fit, and to wear and care for it properly. Here’s what government agencies and experts on infectious disease and materials science advise.

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