POLICY & POLITICS
REGISTER TO VOTE IN CALIF
Calif Secretary of State
Check if you are registered to vote. Check where you are registered to vote. Check your political party preference. Check your language preference for election materials. Check the status of your vote-by-mail or provisional ballot. Find your polling place. Find information for upcoming local and state elections. Find contact information for your county elections office. Choose how you want to receive your state and county voter guides before each election.
North SJ Valley:
State withholds funding from Atwater, Coalinga for defying public health orders
abc30
Keeping businesses open is coming at a cost for some Central Valley cities. Coalinga and Atwater have received notice that they won’t get emergency state funding as a result of their local ordinances allowing businesses to stay open.
See also:
· State Withholds COVID-19 Relief Funds for ‘Sanctuary City’ Atwater GVWire
Coronavirus outbreak a crisis for Latinos in Stanislaus County. What’s being done?
Modesto Bee
Nelson Gomez was among the first residents in Stanislaus County to suffer a serious case of coronavirus. Today, he’s using his radio station to educate fellow members of the Latino community and Spanish-speaking residents about the dangers of COVID-19 illness.
See Also:
● Stanislaus County hits 90 deaths, nears 8,000 positive cases Modesto Bee
● Coronavirus update: Another death from coronavirus in Stanislaus County
● Modesto Bee
Pastor, promoter, ex-councilwoman vie to replace Kristi Ah You on Modesto Council
Modesto Bee
Three well-known candidates are running in the November election to replace Councilwoman Kristi Ah You, whose district encompasses central Modesto. Ah You — who is completing her first term representing Council District 3 — recently announced she is running for mayor, making her one of eight candidates challenging Mayor Ted Brandvold, who is seeking a second term.
Garth Stapley: Personal freedom to refuse masks? What about everyone else’s right to live?
Modesto Bee
A favorite childhood thing for me was riding in the back of a pickup. The wind, the sun, the combination of speed, motion and sense of freedom — that was living. Bicycle and motorcycle helmets were for sissies. Seatbelts? Most cars didn’t have them in those days.
Central SJ Valley:
Fresno leaders pushed to reopen some businesses early. Then COVID-19 cases surged, records show
Fresno Bee
In late May, pressure from the local business community was building to reopen Fresno County’s economy after two months of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of records obtained by The Fresno Bee through a Public Records Act request detail the often contentious discussions that took place behind the scenes leading up to the county’s reopening plan request to the state, and soon after.
‘Lives are in danger.’ Latino leaders want audit of Fresno County’s coronavirus spending
Fresno Bee
With the coronavirus pandemic ravaging Latino communities across Calif, some state and local leaders are worried counties with high concentrations of migrant and essential workers aren’t acting quickly enough to combat the spread.
See also:
· Latinos are more likely to get COVID-19 and diabetes. What does the combination mean for health? Sac Bee
Fresno Bee
Calif’s Office of Emergency Services director is asking the city of Coalinga in Fresno County to rescind a local resolution to keep businesses open or risk being ineligible for state coronavirus relief funding.
COVID-19 update: Increase in cases, recoveries; Rite Aid offers testing
Porterville Recorder
While there was another huge increase in COVID-19 cases in Tulare County on Friday, there was also a huge increase in the number of recoveries. Tulare County Health and Human Services reported on Friday there have now been 8,210 COVID-19 cases in the county. That’s an increase of 334 cases over the 7,876 that was reported on Thursday. Over the last three days, the department has reported nearly 1,000 new cases over the last three days.
Hundreds gather in downtown Fresno for ‘Let Us Worship’ outdoor service
Fresno Bee
Hundreds of worshipers gathered near City Hall on Saturday night as Christian musician and activist Sean Feucht brought his “Let Us Worship” tour to downtown Fresno. Some sat on the lawn or grass berms in front of the city government complex while others were scattered nearby and at Mariposa Mall.
See Also:
● Worship and prayer event held outside Fresno City Hall abc30
● Worship rally held in Sanger after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent shutdown order abc30
EDITORIALS: Debate over funding Fresno police is healthy. A better department can be the result
Fresno Bee
Elected leaders in Fresno are wrestling with a question being asked in communities around the nation: Should the police be defunded? The issue will come up as Mayor Lee Brand and the City Council finish out a budget for 2021. Informing their thinking will be the findings of the city’s new Police Reform Commission.
GOP Rep. Devin Nunes: Democrats are “against white people”
Fox News
In an excerpt with Fox News, Central Valley Congressional Representative Devin Nunes accuses Democrats of being ‘against white people’ due to their policy and allegiance.
Valley Voices: How can one support those discriminated against in Fresno? Simply, take action now
Fresno Bee
At 13, I remember reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night” and thinking, if I were alive then, I would have done something to stop the Germans from murdering Jewish people. I was young and naive, but I believed wholeheartedly I would’ve found the moral courage to act.
South SJ Valley:
State places new coronavirus restrictions on Kern County
Bakersfield Califn
Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed Friday that Kern has been placed on a list of 34 counties where additional restrictions are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. Newsom’s announcement of the listing at a noon teleconference came after Kern’s coronavirus metrics topped the state’s prescribed limits for six consecutive days starting Saturday.
See Also:
● Coronavirus ‘likely increasing’ and spreading faster in Kern compared to other Calif counties KGET
Kern business owners deem new restrictions unworkable
Bakersfield Califn
Bakersfield business owner Becky Burum was thinking Thursday about what she would have to do to keep her downtown salon open amid new state restrictions expected to be imposed on Kern County starting Friday.
Bakersfield sees entertainment district proposal as ‘final piece’ of Mill Creek vision
Bakersfield Califn
After years of starts and stops, the city of Bakersfield is ready to complete the “final piece” of a plan to revitalize a portion of downtown. In a recent meeting, the City Council moved forward with the development of a lot that’s stood vacant for years across the street from Maya Cinemas.
PRICE: Exactly 100 days out, Valadao is charting a course that keeps Trump at a safe distance
Bakersfield Califn
We’re exactly 100 days out from the November election, and though we won’t see the full-on biennial deluge of advertising for another six weeks or so, the pace of hyperbolic, down-ballot finger-pointing should start catching up with the presidential contest any day.
State:
Calif becomes an epicenter, nearly 7,000 in state hospitalized
Fresno Bee
This week, Calif became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, which itself is the nation leading in worldwide infection numbers. Calif now has more total infections than NY, which had long been seen as the de facto virus hotspot owing to the state’s dense population and economic import.
Can Gov. Newsom regain control of the state’s coronavirus crisis?
Sac Bee
In his second year as Calif governor, Gavin Newsom finds himself dealing with an unprecedented crisis: the coronavirus pandemic. Despite early success in bending the curve, coronavirus infections, and COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, are now surging in Calif.
See also:
· Newsom: Calif on “the edge of a cliff” — more executive orders likely CalMatters
Calif Leg vows return with new precautions after several Capitol infections
Politico
As lawmakers return Monday to the state Capitol for the final month of the legislative session, they have two priorities: working through some 700 bills and avoiding the coronavirus. Those twinned imperatives will test the Leg’s ability to navigate an unprecedented public health crisis, and it is pushing them into uncharted procedural territory: on Thursday, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced that the lower house will allow lawmakers to vote by proxy, in which select members can vote on behalf of other members.
See also:
· Little time, big agenda when Calif lawmakers return Fresno Bee
Bill Would Require Rental Owners To Give Nonprofits Right Of First Refusal In Sale
Business Journal
The Calif housing market has been rife with talk of crisis for years, and the coronavirus pandemic certainly hasn’t helped. With “non-essential” businesses shut down and the state in lock-down mode, it became difficult to arrange sales, home showings or even open houses. According to a June report from the Calif Association of Realtors, year-to-date statewide home sales were down by 12.9% in May.
‘Where do we draw the line?’ Some Calif church leaders question order barring indoor worship
Sac Bee
As Calif Gov. Gavin Newsom once again bars houses of worship in much of the state from conducting indoor religious services, some Christian leaders are critical of the governor’s decision.
Walters: Becerra slants two ballot measure titles
CalMatters
Calif’s attorneys general, the state’s top legal officers, have developed a bad habit in recent years — skewing the official titles of ballot measures. Since all have been Democrats for the past two decades, that’s meant writing favorable titles for measures their party leaders favor and unfavorable ones for those Democrats oppose.
Federal:
White House pushes narrow virus aid; Pelosi blasts GOP delay
Stockton Record
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday assailed Republican “disarray” over a new pandemic relief package as the White House suggested a narrower effort might be necessary, at least for now. The Calif Democrat panned the Trump administration’s desire to trim an expiring temporary federal unemployment benefit from $600 weekly to about 70% of pre-pandemic wages. “The reason we had $600 was its simplicity,” she said from the Capitol.
$1-trillion coronavirus aid package coming soon, including $1,200 checks in August, Mnuchin says
LA Times
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Saturday that Republicans were set to roll out the next COVID-19 aid package Monday and assured that there was backing from the White House after he and President Trump’s top aide met to fine-tune the $1-trillion proposal that had floundered just days before.
As $600-a-week benefit nears end, White House suggests short-term unemployment bill
LA Times
With a $600-a-week unemployment benefit expiring this week, senior White House aides continued to suggest Sunday that a jobless benefit that was too generous would discourage people from going back to work. The officials said a stopgap bill might be needed to keep federal benefits from expiring entirely while Congress sought agreement on a broader package.
See Also:
● Extra Unemployment Aid Expires As Virus Threatens New States Business Journal
● GOP to Propose Aid Bill, With Extra Jobless Benefits Set to Expire WSJ
● Senate Republicans, White House seek to reduce weekly unemployment benefit from $600 to $200 Wash Post
● Top White House officials say Congress might need to rush narrow relief bill to avoid unemployment aid lapse Wash Post
House sends four spending bills to Senate, defying Trump veto threat
Roll Call
The House passed its first batch of appropriations bills Friday after a truncated process with big batches of en bloc amendment votes, foreshadowing a similar whirlwind of activity on the floor next week when the chamber takes up a massive seven-bill bundle.
Ballooning Fed balance sheet sparks GOP concerns
The Hill
A group of Senate Republicans are raising red flags over the rapid expansion of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, which they worry could impact interest rates, the strength of the U.S. dollar and the overall U.S. economy before colleagues realize it’s a serious problem.
Reparations to Black Americans for Slavery Gain New Attention
WSJ
Weeks of racial-justice protests are pushing the concept of reparations for Black Americans from the political margins toward the center of the national debate, with policy makers from Capitol Hill to city halls weighing compensation plans for slavery and longtime discrimination.
House GOP’s pleas to Republican National Committee for financial help go unanswered
Wash Post
Senior House Republicans are pleading with the deep-pocketed Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign to provide financial help as Democrats vastly outraise the GOP, but top campaign officials are so far declining to commit.
John Lewis makes final journey across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma
Wash Post
Fifty-five years ago, Alabama state troopers beat John Lewis and hundreds of protesters as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. On Sunday, troopers saluted the late civil rights leader after he made his final journey across the span.
Editorial: Trump has declared war on American cities
LA Times
President Trump campaigned in 2016 against an imaginary nation of 1970s-era “inner cities” beset by fear and violent crime. The narrative worked for him then, so he’s doing it again — but this time he has the power to make his dark vision real by sending federal agents dressed like military commandos into those same cities.
Op-Ed: Donald Trump, a true Reagan Republican
LA Times
The brutal murder of George Floyd has forced Americans to wrestle with the structural racism that undergirds every aspect of this society and economy. The searing news of the disproportionate rates of COVID-19 among Black Americans has added to the urgency of this moment.
Column: They’re fed up with the ‘tyranny’ of face masks. But Portland? That’s about ‘law and order’
LA Times
If there’s one thing I had hoped most Califns could agree on, it’s that federal agents snatching American citizens off the streets, throwing them into unmarked vehicles, taking them to undisclosed locations for interrogation and then releasing them without an explanation is a bad thing.
Coronavirus Trackers:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Calif
COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called coronavirus.
See also:
● Calif Department of Public Health
● Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic – WHO
● John Hopkins University & Medicine John Hopkins University
● Tracking coronavirus in Calif LA Times
● Coronavirus Tracker SF Chronicle
● Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count NY Times
● How many coronavirus cases have been reported in each U.S. state? Politico
● Coronavirus Daily NPR
● Coronavirus tracked: the latest figures as the pandemic spreads Financial Times
● Coronavirus in Calif by the numbers CalMatters
Elections 2020:
REGISTER TO VOTE IN CALIF
Calif Secretary of State
Check if you are registered to vote. Check where you are registered to vote. Check your political party preference. Check your language preference for election materials. Check the status of your vote-by-mail or provisional ballot. Find your polling place. Find information for upcoming local and state elections. Find contact information for your county elections office. Choose how you want to receive your state and county voter guides before each election.
100 days to Election Day: Trump faces challenges as November nears, polls show
abc30
With the November election 100 days away, more Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction than at any previous point in Donald Trump’s presidency, putting the incumbent in a perilous position as his reelection bid against Democrat Joe Biden enters a pivotal stretch.
See also
· 100 Days: Democrats see clear path to Senate majority The Hill
· 100 Days to Go: Six Key Questions About Trump vs. Biden – The Calbuzz Election ForecastNewsmaker
· What Polling Can Tell Us 100 Days From the Election WSJ
· Approval of Trump’s handling of coronavirus hits new low The Hill
· Trump supporters more enthusiastic than Biden’s: poll The Hill
· Spin, deride, attack: How Trump’s handling of Trump University presaged his presidency Wash Post
How Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Supreme Court could play a role in the presidential race
LA Times
It is a rare thing to have so many people be so attentive to the health and well-being of an 87-year-old they don’t know and have probably never met. But Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no ordinary octogenarian. As the oldest member of the U.S. Supreme Court, and a stalwart of its liberal wing, the vitality of the jurist is of exceeding importance to those eager to fashion the nation’s highest court after their own views and ideology.
Biden Tax Plan Targets Profitable Companies That Pay Almost Nothing
WSJ
Profitable companies like Amazon.com Inc. could no longer use legal breaks to drive their U.S. tax bills almost to zero under Joe Biden’s proposal to increase and overhaul corporate taxes.
Election Officials Are Vulnerable to Email Attacks, Report Shows
WSJ
Many of the thousands of county and local election officials who will be administering November’s presidential election are running email systems that could leave them vulnerable to online attacks, a new report has found.
See also:
· OPINION: How to minimize 2020 election chaos Wash Post
Media coverage of the 2016 campaign was disastrous. Now’s the last chance to get 2020 right.
Wash Post
How did the news media mess up in the 100 days leading up to the 2016 presidential election? Let me count the ways. Journalists relied too much on what opinion polls were saying and often presented a skewed interpretation of their meaning. That fed the sense that Hillary Clinton would be the inevitable winner.
At least 76% of American voters can cast ballots by mail in the fall
Wash Post
The coronavirus pandemic is set to change the way millions of Americans can vote in November, as states expand access to mail-in voting as a safer alternative to in-person voting. As of now, nearly 180 million Americans who are eligible to vote would be able to cast a ballot by mail. Of those, 22 million live in states that will accept fear of the coronavirus as an excuse to vote absentee, or have switched to become “no excuse” states.
See Also:
● Election Day is in 14 weeks. Here’s what the experts know about mail-in ballots. Poynter
● Does voting by mail lead to higher turnout in red, blue and purple states? It’s not that simplePolitiFact
● Voters Start Casting Ballots in about Eight Weeks National Review
Calif gears up for blockbuster year of ballot measures
Politico
Existential battles over the cash bail industry and gig work titans like Uber and Lyft. Historic opportunities for voters to reconsider affirmative action and long-inviolable property tax limits. New rounds in recurring fights over rent control and kidney dialysis. A criminal justice redo that overlaps with a national reckoning over policing.
Other:
McClatchy’s new owner plans to keep all employees but CEO will depart, sale agreement says
Fresno Bee
McClatchy Co.’s new owner will keep all employees and most senior leaders and honor existing union contracts while continuing to operate news organizations in 30 U.S. markets, according to an agreement filed Friday in federal bankruptcy court.
See also
· As McClatchy family begins separation from company, it looks to philanthropic support for local news Fresno Bee
Bill to support local newspaper attracts bipartisan support
Bakersfield Califn
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have lent their support to new legislation that would help support local journalism by offering limited-time tax credits to newspapers, their subscribers and their advertisers. HR 7640, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, was introduced July 16 by its lead sponsors, Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. Fifteen other members of the House of Representatives — 10 Democrats and five Republicans — have joined them as co-sponsors.
Fewer Americans self-identify as conservative: Gallup
The Hill
The number of Americans who identify themselves as conservatives has decreased over the first half of the year, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.
Sinclair TV stations delay airing interview with ‘Plandemic’ researcher amid backlash
Wash Post
After facing intense scrutiny for planning to air a baseless conspiracy theory that infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci helped to create the coronavirus, conservative TV broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Saturday that it will delay the segment to edit the context of the claims.
Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?
NYer
At ten o’clock on a weekday morning in August, Mark Zuckerberg, the chairman and C.E.O. of Facebook, opened the front door of his house in Palo Alto, Calif, wearing the tight smile of obligation. He does not enjoy interviews, especially after two years of ceaseless controversy. Having got his start as a programmer with a nocturnal bent, he is also not a morning person. Walking toward the kitchen, which has a long farmhouse table and cabinets painted forest green, he said, “I haven’t eaten breakfast yet. Have you?”
New Yorker
When Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was first argued before the Supreme Court, on March 24, 2009, it seemed like a case of modest importance. The issue before the Justices was a narrow one. The McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law prohibited corporations from running television commercials for or against Presidential candidates for thirty days before primaries.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Experimental treatment could save Calif citrus
Bakersfield Califn
The Central Valley’s citrus industry is hailing a potential breakthrough in the fight against a so-far incurable bacterial disease threatening to wipe out Kern’s mandarin, orange and lemon groves. A researcher at the University of Calif, Riverside has identified a naturally occurring protein compound that appears to not only treat trees infected with the disease but also immunize them against it.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Safe and sane? City grapples with illegal fireworks
Porterville Recorder
When it comes to safe and sane fireworks, Porterville City Council member Milt Stowe made the following observation: “They call it safe and sane but I don’t know how safe it is,” he said. The council continued to tackle the problem of the proliferation of illegal fireworks in Porterville at its meeting on Tuesday. Council members and city staff at the meeting admitted if something effective was to be done to curtail illegal fireworks in the city, it would have to be done at the county level.
Calif weighs steep new fines to combat illegal cannabis sellers
LA Times
Alarmed that unlicensed cannabis sellers continue to dominate Calif’s pot market, state lawmakers are moving toward imposing steep new fines on businesses that provide building space, advertising platforms and other aid to illicit operations.
Public Safety:
EDITORIALS: Debate over funding Fresno police is healthy. A better department can be the result
Fresno Bee
Elected leaders in Fresno are wrestling with a question being asked in communities around the nation: Should the police be defunded? The issue will come up as Mayor Lee Brand and the City Council finish out a budget for 2021. Informing their thinking will be the findings of the city’s new Police Reform Commission.
‘Egregious:’ Officials say Calif prison transfers, testing may be fueling COVID-19 outbreak
Sac Bee
Health officials in Lassen County said state contractors testing for COVID-19 in prisons have been using unreliable methods to collect samples, a misstep that officials worry could have exacerbated an outbreak in the rural Calif county.
Barbara Boxer: DHS was a mistake. I regret voting for it.
Wash Post
Here are the three words that no elected official, serving or retired, wants to say: “I was wrong.” Throughout my career, I was known for taking some very lonely votes. But I made a mistake in 2002 when I voted to create the Department of Homeland Security, which had been recommended by a number of members of Congress in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 the year before.
Fire:
Gold Fire in northern Calif grows to 21,000 acres
Wildfire Today
Friday, on the fifth day since it started, the Gold Fire chewed through another 2,000 acres to bring the total up to 21,000. Most of the growth was to the southeast but the prediction from fire personnel is that on Saturday it will be pushed to the east and southeast toward Ash Valley and Coyote Flat Draw. Red Flag Warning weather conditions are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday which could increase fire activity. Evacuations are in effect.
ECONOMY/JOBS
Economy:
Fresno leaders pushed to reopen some businesses early. Then COVID-19 cases surged, records show
Fresno Bee
In late May, pressure from the local business community was building to reopen Fresno County’s economy after two months of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of records obtained by The Fresno Bee through a Public Records Act request detail the often contentious discussions that took place behind the scenes leading up to the county’s reopening plan request to the state, and soon after.
Outdoor dining when it’s 108? Valley restaurants turn to misters to beat the heat
Visalia Times Delta
Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom banned indoor dining across Calif, forcing restaurants to seat guests outside where, the thinking goes, social distancing is easier and the risk of transmitting COVID-19 is lower.
Kern business owners deem new restrictions unworkable
Bakersfield Califn
Bakersfield business owner Becky Burum was thinking Thursday about what she would have to do to keep her downtown salon open amid new state restrictions expected to be imposed on Kern County starting Friday.
As pandemic ends fundraising galas, Modesto nonprofits go virtual to bring in money
Modesto Bee
The Society for Disabilities counts on several fundraisers each year to bring in roughly a third of its $1 million budget, allowing it to serve about 1,500 disabled children and adults as well as run a program that lends wheelchairs, hospital beds and other durable medical equipment to those in need.
Downtown Turlock street closes for outdoor dining, shopping weekend events
Modesto Bee
Families dined in the middle of a downtown Turlock street Thursday evening as crews set up canopies for an outdoor business event scheduled to continue over the next three weeks. With a block of West Main Street closed, organizers said restaurants are expanding their outdoor seating areas and providing a safe atmosphere to support local vendors, too.
‘Open today, closed tomorrow’ is the new normal for hair, nail salons due to coronavirus
LA Times
In his “last lifetime,” Travis Vu closed his hair salon after the coronavirus forced state leaders to impose a lockdown in a reeling Calif in late March. The casually stylish Vu, 47, turned off the lights on the custom metal and concrete chandeliers gracing his industrial six-seat space.
Republicans look to virus relief to avert economic and electoral disaster
Roll Call
This month, key virus relief programs that have kept millions out of poverty and propped up the U.S. economy expire. Yet, Republicans and Democrats remain miles apart on whether they should continue or, if not, what should replace them.
Even before coronavirus recession, the economy under Trump never grew by 4%
PolitiFact
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to secure 4% growth for the national economy. But he hasn’t succeeded, even before the coronavirus pandemic sent the economy into a recession.
Jobs:
Calif Governor pledges support for essential workers
Fresno Bee
Calif Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged Friday to do more to protect farm workers, grocery clerks and other essential workers — many of whom are Latino — from the health and economic harms of the coronavirus as the infection spreads through their communities.
See Also:
● Gov. Gavin Newsom Hopes Calif Lawmakers Will Make Worker Protections Permanent Capital Public Radio
● This county knew coronavirus could ravage its farmworkers. Why didn’t officials stop it? LA Times
● Newsom signals more protections coming for essential workers, including hotel rooms for farmworkers CalMatters
Sen. Hurtado wants EDD lines open 24/7 for families hurt by pandemic closures
Visalia Times Delta
South Valley Senator Melissa Hurtado wants Calif’s unemployment lines to remain open 24/7 to answer a record number of calls sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and business closures.
State Unemployment Agencies Could Take Months To Adapt To WH Proposal, Memos Show
Capital Public Radio
Ancient state unemployment systems that struggled to handle the first round of COVID-19 relief payments could take months or more to adopt a White House proposal for modifying the benefits, according to memos obtained by NPR.
Calif workplace safety rules are likely to change due to coronavirus fears
LA Times
With many of Calif’s workplaces facing significant changes fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are considering whether labor laws need to evolve too. Legislators have proposed expanding workers’ compensation eligibility so that more employees will be covered if they are diagnosed with COVID-19, increasing the number of sick days for food service workers and requiring employers to pay a portion of utility and internet bills for teleworkers.
Work requirement waivers undermine pledge on Medicaid cuts
PolitiFact
Despite Donald Trump’s campaign promise, his administration has taken several steps to scale back Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health insurance to low-income Americans.
AEI
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the US workforce system struggled to support workers and job seekers in a strong economy. It is not designed to support the millions of newly unemployed workers that will be seeking jobs as the economy reopens.
EDUCATION
K-12:
Should Fresno Unified postpone the start of the school year? Why some teachers say yes
Fresno Bee
With the new school year just weeks away, the Fresno Unified School District has not finalized a distance learning plan. Fresno Unified teachers who spoke with The Bee on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation, said they are anxious and don’t think there’s enough time to prepare for another semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Central Unified offers new home school option for students
abc30
Central Unified is giving parents the chance to take the lead in their child’s education. Long before schools knew they’d be starting the fall with distance learning, Central Unified was coming up with a new idea.
Chowchilla schools announce changes to instruction
Madera Tribune
The goal for opening schools in the Chowchilla Union High School District has been to conduct in-person, on campus instruction when doors open on Aug. 18. As a school district and educators, CHUSD believes that the best education comes from in-person daily instruction.
Some Mountain Area schools change plans to hold in-person classes after governor’s order
Sierra Star
Some Mountain Area schools had plans to bring students to campus in the fall, but will have to make changes after Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered schools on the state’s watchlist closed until coronavirus cases decline.
Online learning: the new classroom environment
Modesto Bee
K-12 schools across the US migrated to virtual learning after shutting in-person classrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s a look at what online learning is.
What Stanislaus districts are doing, what families can, to ensure they’re wired for school
Modesto Bee
Like pretty much everything else that distance learning involves, ensuring internet connectivity requires a partnership between schools and student families. That means that in addition to teachers and principals working to welcome kids to a richer distance-learning environment, tech staffs are getting devices into student hands and making sure families can use them and get online.
These Calif moms were never going to send their kids to school in a pandemic. Here’s why
Sac Bee
Sac mom Erin Gottis knew she wasn’t going to send her 9-year-old son Mason back into the classroom this fall well before his school district announced plans to start the academic year with distance learning.
Want to home-school your children? Here are six steps to start
Sac Bee
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted parents to consider home schooling as an option. Here are tips whether it is right for you and how to get started.
Willie Brown: We’re creating separate and very unequal school systems
SF Chronicle
Distance teaching is turning into what could be a giant step back to the days of de facto segregation in American education. No one thinks internet schooling was a success last spring, and the news that the academic year is going to start up with virtual instruction has parents scrambling.
The 2020 Back-to-School-But-Stay-at-Home Tech Shopping List
WSJ
Classrooms are going to look a little different in the coming months. As many schools stick with distance learning to prevent the spread of coronavirus, more students will be getting an education from home.
CDC director concedes schools in ‘hot spots’ face tougher call on reopening
Wash Post
The leader of the nation’s premier public health agency Friday amplified President Trump’s call for schools to reopen, releasing new documents edited by the White House that gloss over risks and extol the benefits of in-person learning.
The Challenges to Opening Schools This Fall Start at the Bus Stop
RealClear Policy
School district leaders feel the mercilessness of the Coronavirus Pandemic in ways most of us can’t appreciate. With school just weeks away, they face not only determining what school will look like but also how to retool existing systems to provide it.
The COVID Slide: How to Help Students Recover Learning Losses
Rand
More than 50 million schoolchildren in the United States alone have spent the past several months not sitting in class, not studying with friends, not working through math problems with a teacher by their side. Educators are bracing for a “COVID slide” in performance when—or if—students return to school in the fall.
How are schools planning to reopen? What precautions are they taking?
PBS
It’s complicated. Some schools have pushed back starting dates, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach. States have said they plan to reopen for in-person classes. Others will offer a combination of in-person and virtual learning, and still others have committed to online-only classes for the fall.
See also:
· Commentary: To reopen safely, schools must protect more than just students and teachersBrookings
Higher Ed:
Community College receives full status
Madera Tribune
A process and plan years in the making became reality as the Calif Community Colleges Board of Governors voted unanimously to recognize Madera Community College as the 116th campus of the state’s community college system.
Fresno Pacific University to continue online for the Fall 2020 semester
Hanford Sentinel
Fresno Pacific University announced today it will continue online instruction for the Fall 2020 semester. After the COVID-19 pandemic closed colleges and universities across the country in March 2020, FPU began providing virtual instruction while carefully monitoring the situation with the goal to welcome students, faculty and staff back to its campuses in Merced, North Fresno, Southeast Fresno (including the Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary), Visalia and Bakersfield.
CSUB officials praise approval of ethnic studies and social justice requirement passed by CSU board
Bakersfield Califn
Cal State Bakersfield officials are praising the CSU board of trustees for its vote earlier this week approving an ethnic studies and social justice general education requirement for students. This marks the first significant change to the CSU’s general education requirements in 40 years.
Colleges plan for virus testing, but strategies vary widely
Bakersfield Califn
For students heading to Colby College in Maine this fall, coronavirus testing is expected to be a routine part of campus life. All students will be required to provide a nasal swab every other day for two weeks, and then twice a week after that. All told, the college says it will provide 85,000 tests, nearly as many as the entire state of Maine has since the pandemic started.
Colleges Are Walking Back Reopening Plans — But Can They Keep Campus Employees Safe?
Capital Public Radio
As Calif colleges rethink their back-to-school plans amid a statewide spike in coronavirus cases, it’s not just their students they need to worry about protecting. Many campus employees are decades older than the students they teach and support, putting them at higher risk of complications if they contract the virus.
See also:
· Colleges are walking back reopening plans — but can they keep campus employees safe?CalMatters
Financial Aid Appeals Surge As Students Cope With Pandemic Hardships
Capital Public Radio
UCLA student Dulce Jimenez didn’t file a federal student aid application for the 2020-21 school year; she was set to graduate in spring, and thought the days of worrying about paying for school would be behind her. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Jimenez found herself dropping a class, then needing to make it up during the summer — just when her parents’ work hours had been reduced.
Cal Poly ethnic studies experts oppose new CSU course requirements. Here’s why
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal Poly’s Ethnic Studies Department interim chair and professors said they oppose the new requirements approved Wednesday by Calif State University’s Board of Trustees. Trustees voted 13-5 to replace one of the three-unit social science course requirements with a class in Native American, African American, Asian American, or Latino and Latina studies.
By easing its bar exam score, will Calif produce more Black and Latino lawyers?
LA Times
For more than three decades, Calif has clung to one of the nation’s toughest testing standards for law school students hoping to practice law in the most populous state in the country. But this month, the Calif Supreme Court, which oversees the state bar, agreed to lower the passing score for the exam, a victory for law school deans who have long hoped the change would raise the number of Black and Latino people practicing law.
Valley Voices: Fresno City College leader speaks out for civil rights, educational opportunities
Fresno Bee
Our colleges and our communities are severely challenged in these uncertain times. We are in the midst of a pandemic, a looming economic crisis and extreme political divisiveness. On top of that is the realization that systemic racism has occurred far too long.
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY
Environment:
Calif’s giant swamp rodent problem on track to get a lift from Congress
Modesto Bee
It looks like Calif is about to get more money to eradicate giant swamp rats that have infiltrated the Central Valley. The House of Representatives is voting Friday on a bill that includes a $1.75 million pot of money that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can tap into to kill the rats, called nutria. It also opens up about $300 million in funding to address restoring environments they’ve destroyed.
Return of the Calif condor to Sequoia National Park signals another Endangered Species Act success
CalMatters
If you want to experience the power of the Endangered Species Act for yourself, go to Sequoia National Park and look up. There, gliding high on the thermals, you’ll see the embodiment of this extraordinarily successful law: Calif condors. As the planet grapples with how to combat an extinction crisis that threatens more than 1 million species, the recovery of the condor should serve as a reminder of what can be accomplished when the hard work of conservationists is backed by political will.
Latest climate study predicts disaster for oceans, coastlines and life as we know it
The Hill
A disturbing new climate change study predicts global temperature increases of up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit as atmospheric carbon concentrations double. Humanity, it’s clear, is close to missing the chance to avoid the worst ravages of fossil fuel pollution.
Energy:
New data shows nearly two-thirds of Calif’s electricity came from carbon-free sources in 2019
Calif Energy Commission
Calif remains ahead of its clean energy goals according to newly released data from the Calif Energy Commission(CEC). The CEC estimates that in 2019, 36 percent of the state’s retail electricity sales were provided by Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS)-eligible sources such as solar and wind. That exceeds Calif’s 33 percent requirement of retail sales come from RPS-eligible sources by 2020.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
Fresno County adds 400-plus coronavirus cases; hospital has 323 workers sidelined
Fresno Bee
Fresno County reported more than 400 additional positive results for COVID-19 on Saturday, a day after a local hospital delivered an alarming update on how the coronavirus pandemic is infecting and affecting its staff.
See Also:
● COVID-19 update: Tulare County case levels still ‘extremely high,’ hospitals fill Visalia Times Delta
● Kern public health: 369 additional COVID-19 cases, totaling 14,571, and 50 new recoveriesBakersfieldNow
● Kern County reports 369 new coronavirus cases Sunday Bakersfield Califn
Yes, COVID-19 is a threat to youngsters, Valley Children’s Hospital officials say
Visalia Times Delta
While the majority of serious COVID-19 cases are occurring in adults and those with existing medical conditions, Valley Children’s Hospital is seeing cases of children having to be hospitalized due to the coronavirus, officials said in a press conference Thursday.
More anxiety, more sickness, more stress: Inside Bakersfield Memorial as COVID-19 cases surge
Bakersfield Califn
From outside the sliding glass doors of an ICU room on the third floor of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, nurse Jaclyn Moore peered in at a patient. The woman, a COVID-19 patient connected to a breathing machine, had been shifting her head back and forth moments earlier. Now, she seemed calm. “It’s the first time all day she doesn’t seem uncomfortable,” Moore said.
Thoughts Of Suicide, Other Mental Health Struggles Still High For LGBTQ Youth
VPR
Forty percent of young LGBTQ people have considered suicide in the last year; that rises to more than half for trans and non-binary youth. That’s according to the second annual survey on LGBTQ youth mental health by The Trevor Project. The non-profit organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25.
Pandemic’s toll: Anxiety, trauma surge among young
Stockton Record
Children and adolescents have seen their summers altered, if not ruined, by the novel coronavirus pandemic. They were separated from their friends for the final quarter of the school year, and then saw camps, organized sports, swimming pools, family vacations, entertainment centers and other activities that form the fabric of lifelong summertime memories suddenly and unexpectedly cease to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Latinos are more likely to get COVID-19 and diabetes. What does the combination mean for health?
Sac Bee
Medical researchers are still studying exactly how the coronavirus affects people with diabetes. One thing, however, is already clear: both diabetes and COVID-19 are affecting Latinos more than other Califns.
Can Masks Save Us From More Lockdowns? Here’s What The Science Says
NPR
The American conversation around masks and COVID-19 has taken a dizzying turn. For months, wearing masks has been politicized as a sign of liberal leanings. But in recent days, ever more governors — many of them Republican — have moved to mandate masks. This week President Trump — arguably the nation’s most visible mask un-enthusiast — started referring to wearing them as “patriotic.”
See also:
· Noses usually catch COVID-19 first, so keep them covered with face masks, experts say Miami Herald
· Azar: If we wear masks, we can avoid further shutdowns The Hill
Donald Trump wrong to say U.S. has “one of the lowest mortality rates in the world” from COVID-19
PolitiFact
President Donald Trump defended his performance in fighting the coronavirus during an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, insisting that the mortality rate from COVID-19 in the United States is among the world’s lowest.
Human Services:
This Fresno lung doctor describes what he’s seeing in COVID-19 patients and hospitals
Fresno Bee
A Fresno pulmonary disease and critical care doctor for Community Medical Centers said COVID-19 patients are facing pneumonia, low oxygen levels, neurological symptoms such as confusion and clotting as hospital staff work under stressful conditions and scramble to keep medications stocked.
When contact tracing fails: Testing delays thwart Calif COVID-19 trackers
Fresno Bee
A surge in COVID-19 cases and a shortage of contact tracers has for weeks hampered Sac County’s efforts to contact and warn people exposed to coronavirus. Now, an additional hurdle is inhibiting the county’s contact tracing: testing slowdowns.
More Than 320 Community Medical Centers Staff Out Due to COVID-19
GVWire
Community Medical Centers is down more than 320 staff members as coronavirus cases continue to surge in Fresno County. On Thursday, CMC’s website showed 40 staff members had the coronavirus. But by Friday, that same dashboard reported 104 had tested positive while another 219 members of the staff were in self-isolation.
Without A Vaccine, Researchers Say, Herd Immunity May Never Be Achieved
VPR
As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S. and beyond, many are wondering: How on earth will this end? In an interview televised this week, President Trump reiterated his belief that sooner or later the virus will burn itself out. “I will be right eventually,” the president told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “It’s going to disappear, and I’ll be right.”
County trying to keep up with COVID-19 contact tracing
Turlock Journal
While area hospitals are dealing with a crush of COVID-19 cases, the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency is straining to keep up to date with data and contact tracing, said Stanislaus County Public Health Officer Dr. Julie Vaishampayan during an online community briefing.
South county COVID-19 test site moves to Tracy Sports Complex
Stockton Record
Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday. Due to significant community response, tests will be conducted until the maximum capacity is reached each day, according to Planned Parenthood Mar Monte that is providing the testing.
The coronavirus surge is back. Calif hospitals face familiar worries about PPEs and beds
Sac Bee
Look at nearly any point on the map in Calif and you can see an area that has a hospital with a battle on its hands. Coronavirus cases are surging in the rural borderlands of Imperial County and in LA. The southern San Joaquin Valley along Highway 99 – Fresno, Kings, Merced counties – is now emerging as another hot spot. Farther north, Lodi Memorial Hospital and Stockton’s St. Joseph’s Medical Center scramble to handle the numbers of cases inundating San Joaquin County.
Trump makes new pledge to restrain drug prices, but consumers aren’t likely to see relief soon
LA Times
Laboring to address one of his largest unfulfilled campaign promises from 2016, President Trump made a new pledge Friday to rein in prescription drug prices with a series of four executive orders he signed at the White House.
See Also:
● OPINION: Trump’s Drug Price Panic WSJ
LA Times
In Wash and on Wall Street, hopes for full social and economic recovery from the pandemic now hinge on the development of a coronavirus vaccine. With several large ongoing clinical trials and more than 165 vaccine candidatesin development, chances are good that one will eventually prove to be effective.
OPINION: Covid Shows the Need for a Diagnostic Stockpile
WSJ
A surge in demand for Covid-19 tests is straining supplies, and patients have to wait too long for results. LabCorp, which handles about 25% of U.S. Covid testing, is adding more machines and employees and is running 180,000 tests a day, up from a few thousand a week in March. Quest and BioReference Laboratories are also overextended.
Wash Post
The New England Journal of Medicine reported this month that the covid-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 induced robust antibody responses among participants in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. With multiple potential vaccines in the pipeline, cautious optimism is emerging that a safe and effective covid-19 vaccine is within reach.
Commentary: How investing in health has a significant economic payoff for developing economies
Brookings
The COVID-19 pandemic has not just exposed the cracks in our global health systems but demonstrated how much health matters for our economies. Many developing economies are at risk of being hit hard by dual health and economic shocks with forecasts suggesting a cost of up to 8 percent in global GDP in 2020.
IMMIGRATION
Four months in, coronavirus travel restrictions strain cross-border relationships
LA Times
News was just trickling out that the U.S. and Mexico would soon close their shared border to all nonessential travel to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Not waiting to hear specifics of the travel restrictions, Castañeda, a driver for Greyhound, hugged her 52-year-old mother goodbye and headed for the pedestrian crossing to San Ysidro, not knowing when they would see each other again.
Trump faces multiple lawsuits over directive to exclude undocumented immigrants from representation
Wash Post
A flurry of lawsuits have been filed challenging President Trump’s directive to block undocumented immigrants from being counted in congressional apportionment. The government watchdog organization Common Cause and several cities, groups and individuals filed a complaint, Common Cause v. Trump, on Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
See Also:
● Cities, advocates sue Trump to block census immigrant memo Roll Call
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
Yosemite employee has coronavirus. The national park hasn’t told the public
Fresno Bee
A Yosemite National Park resident has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an email from National Park Service leaders to some employees last week. It’s the first known case of someone testing positive for coronavirus at the popular Calif destination that had more than 4.5 million visitors last year.
See Also:
● ‘I’m not willing to die for their profit.’ Yosemite workers worry as eviction moratorium endsFresno Bee
No resting on laurels: Land Office restoration latest in string of projects at Pioneer Village
Bakersfield Califn
With a tobacco pipe resting on the weathered roll-top desk and a brass spittoon waiting on the floor, the newly restored land office exhibit at the Kern County Museum almost makes you think clerks and surveyors could show up any minute to begin work.
Housing:
Struggling with rent or possible eviction in Fresno? Sharing your experience can help
Fresno Bee
Central Calif Legal Services and a collective of churches and organizations known as the Christian Community Development (CCD Collective) have launched a public survey of Fresno and the surrounding community to gauge concern around evictions and possible homelessness as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19.
This motel will become permanent housing for homeless in Tulare County
Visalia Times Delta
A Tulare motel will become a permanent housing project for people experiencing homelessness across Tulare County. The 99 Palms Inn & Suites off Highway 99 near Tagus Ranch will provide 56 units for homeless individuals — about 7% of the county’s homeless population, according to last year’s census.
Newsom announces housing program for farmworkers with COVID-19
Visalia Times Delta
The state is expanding protections for essential workers who have risked their health to continue working throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday. The state is increasing housing options foragricultural workers who must isolate or quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, Newsom said.
Merced residents critique five-year housing plan, some say it enforces segregation
Merced Sun-Star
Merced City Council recently fielded grievances from community members alleging that the city’s affordable housing plans enforce policies of disparity and segregation. Comments came as the council reviewed Merced’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan and First-Year Annual Action Plan in preparation of final approval at the Aug. 3 City Council meeting.
‘Tsunami’ Of Evictions Feared As Extra $600 Unemployment Payments End
Capital Public Radio
Merry Collins lost her job as a home health aide in Dallas after the coronavirus outbreak hit. Before she started getting $600 a week in extra federal unemployment benefits, she got behind on the rent. And in June her landlord took her to court to evict her.
See also:
· As eviction bans end, renters and landlords urge fiscal help Roll Call
· Trump’s chief economic adviser says federal eviction ban will be extended Wash Post
Calif Forum: Calif’s housing crisis was the state’s most serious political issue before COVID-19
Sac Bee
For the last half-century, the state government has attempted — without much success — to steer housing development in Calif via periodic calculation of local “needs.”
See also:
· WALTERS: State pressures locals on housing crisis CalMatters
OPINION: Trump’s Fair Housing Restoration
WSJ
The Trump Administration on Thursday rolled back an Obama regulation that federalized local zoning and land-use policies. This deserves more explanation than it’s getting because critics are distorting what it means.
Coronavirus pandemic puts a spotlight on Stockton’s guaranteed income experiment
CalMatters
If there was ever a good time to convince people guaranteed income can make a difference, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs figured it’d be in the middle of a pandemic that is taking a heavier toll in poor neighborhoods and among Black and Latinx communities.
PUBLIC FINANCES
Extra $600 unemployment payments are ending — will they ever return? Here’s what we know
Sac Bee
That extra $600 weekly payment for unemployed workers Congress allocated in March ends on Saturday, and no one knows when at least a portion of that payment may return. That means the maximum benefit in Calif will revert back to $450 next week, instead of the $1,050 those unemployed workers earning the maximum have received in weekly checks since the end of March.
TRANSPORTATION
Will you ride a train after COVID-19? Calif transit agencies want you back on board
Sac Bee
How can the state’s public transit authorities woo passengers back to their trains, buses and metro lines in the middle of a pandemic? Ridership across Calif’s major transit agencies is down. Revenues have slumped. And the state’s two biggest agencies — Bay Area Rapid Transit and the LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority — say they’re facing an uncertain future in the years ahead.
WATER
Central Valley could get federal aid for drinking water crisis. Will Trump support it?
Fresno Bee
Central Valley neighborhoods are a step closer to new money to fix broken water systems and access clean, safe drinking water — if the White House and Congress agree on an infrastructure package currently moving through the U.S. House of Representatives.
Federal agency reaffirms support for how MID, TID want to operate Don Pedro Reservoir
Modesto Bee
The owners of Don Pedro Reservoir have reached a key milestone in determining how much of its water goes to human uses and how much to Tuolumne River fish. The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stated its support once again for the fishery releases proposed by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts.
Calif had a plan to bring clean water to a million people. Then the pandemic hit
SF Chronicle
The water is too contaminated to safely drink, but residents of this farmworker community in the Central Valley pay $74 a month just to be able to turn on the tap at home. Their bills are even higher if they use more than 50 gallons a day, a fraction of daily water consumption for the average Calif household.
Expanding Access to Clean Water for the Rural Poor: Experimental Evidence from Malawi
National Bureau of Economic Research
Using data from an 18-month randomized trial, we estimate large and sustained impacts on water purification and child health of a program providing monthly coupons for free water treatment solution (diluted chlorine) to households with young children.
“Xtra”
Crush of boat buyers seek recreation, safety during pandemic
Fresno Bee
Brandon Mitchell had big plans to visit family in Michigan and take his wife and three kids to Disney World. The pandemic put those plans on ice. So they bought a boat instead.
‘It’s something out of our hands’: Kings Faire is latest event to be canceled
Hanford Sentinel
When the 42nd annual Renaissance of Kings Faire was canceled on Monday, it was the latest in a long string of events to be scrapped due to the coronavirus. “[It was] pretty tough just to the fact that this would’ve been the 42nd year of doing the faire,” Hanford Parks and Recreation Supervisor Armando da Silva said. “Usually most faires you have your Ren Faire Families that’s committed to that faire, so it was tough letting them know that unfortunately this year we have to cancel.”