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Updating . .   

California unemployment claims rocket higher, pointing to weak job market -- Unemployment claims in California have skyrocketed to their highest level in more than a month, officials reported Thursday, a grim sign that coronavirus-linked business shutdowns continue to weaken the state’s frail job market. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

California DMV hit by data breach, exposing millions of drivers' personal information to hackers -- A billing contractor, the Seattle-based Automatic Funds Transfer Services, was hit by a ransomware attack in early February. The DMV has worked with the organization since mid-2019 "to correct and verify vehicle registration addresses," according to the department. Joshua Bote in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/18/21

Virus   

Prep sports decision from Gov. Newsom’s office expected ‘in next 48 hours,’ advocates say -- Serra coach Patrick Walsh: ‘We’re on the 1-yard line and we believe a positive announcement is going to be coming up’ Darren Sabedra in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

Did L.A.’s COVID-19 hospital surge cause unnecessary deaths? ‘The public deserves an answer’ -- During the worst moments of the the autumn-and-winter coronavirus surge in Southern California, doctors and nurses frantically trying to save patients at overcrowded hospitals made terrifying warnings about what they were seeing. Rong-Gong Lin II, Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

Priest at Bay Area Catholic church that flouted public health orders dies of COVID-19 -- The Rev. Bob Stein, a pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in the San Francisco neighborhood of North Beach, died early Tuesday, according to an announcement on the church’s website that thanked parishioners for their prayers and support. Jennifer Lu in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

California’s COVID vaccine shipments are being delayed by winter storms pounding U.S. -- The extreme winter weather blanketing most of the United States is delaying shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine to California, but the full extent and expected duration of those delays are not yet entirely clear. Michael McGough and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ Michael Williams, Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/18/21

Do I still need to wear a mask after being vaccinated? We answer your questions -- The pace of COVID-19 vaccinations is picking up across California, a hopeful turning point in the pandemic that nevertheless raises a new question: What precautions do those who are immunized need to take? Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

Am I eligible for California’s $600 COVID-19 stimulus check and other aid? -- The “Golden State stimulus,” an ambitious COVID-19 relief program, will be expedited for legislative approval next week after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a deal on the plan Wednesday. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

California is now the only state to widely ban indoor dining - here's when it might resume in the Bay Area -- California now has the distinction of being the only state where indoor dining is almost universally shut down, with only five rural counties that have met certain thresholds for lowered coronavirus transmission offering it. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

San Francisco homeless to get vaccinated soon through mobile program -- In recent weeks, San Francisco has opened vaccination sites in neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Next, the city hopes to bring vaccines directly to homeless people, regardless of their age. Meghan Bobrowsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

School    

California schools stalemate drags on as Gavin Newsom, teachers keep talking -- Over a week after lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom said they were approaching a deal on school reopening, negotiations over how to return California’s students to classrooms have yet to yield any results. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

San Diego area elementary schools could soon apply to reopen -- However many schools will stay closed, waiting for school employee vaccines or for case rates to fall further. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/18/21

Policy & Politics 

California GOP delegates seek to censure David Valadao for voting to impeach Trump -- Rep. David Valadao will face an attempt to censure him at the California GOP convention this weekend for his vote to impeach Donald Trump. He is the latest Republican elected official to draw criticism from a state party over disloyalty to the former president. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

Sacramento GOP expels Proud Boys member from post he won last March -- Sacramento County Republican officials formally expelled Proud Boys member Jeffrey Perrine as a member of the party’s central committee Wednesday night, saying his views are “categorically inconsistent with the values of the Republican Party.” Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

‘Team Biden’ firm could be paid for 2020 California election work in budget maneuver -- California has yet to pay the bills on a $35 million contract with a political consulting firm it hired to promote mail-in voting, but a proposed change to a 2020 budget bill hopes to fix that. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

New bill would require California agencies to award 25% of state contracts to small businesses -- State Assemblyman David Chiu is introducing a bill Thursday that would require agencies to award 25% of state contracts to small businesses, in hopes of amplifying equity efforts for the business sector left reeling by the pandemic. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

California’s REAL ID deadline is back. The DMV is bracing for a surge of late applicants -- The federal government last year gave California drivers a one-year reprieve from a deadline to obtain a REAL ID, conceding to fears that requiring millions of people to visit the DMV in a pandemic would spread the coronavirus. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

Workplace      

Bacteria found again in water at CalPERS’ Sacramento headquarters -- Legionella bacteria showed up again in December in the water at CalPERS’ Sacramento headquarters, according to test results. High levels of bacteria in a cafe sink and lower levels from other sources show the bacteria persists in water where it was identified at high levels a year and a half ago. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

Short Term Rental  

New crackdown on rentals could make it much harder to snag an Airbnb or Vrbo in Lake Tahoe -- It’s part of a region-wide reckoning for an industry that, fueled by the proliferation of rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo, many locals say has transformed their quiet communities into year-round party zones for out-of-towners. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

 

California Policy and P  olitics Thursday Morning  

Gavin Newsom reaches $9.5 billion stimulus deal with checks to families and help for businesses -- California will send an extra $600 to low-income families and provide $2 billion in grants to small businesses hurt by the pandemic as part of a stimulus deal Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers announced Wednesday afternoon. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ Kathleen Ronayne and Don Thompson Associated Press Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Do you qualify for California’s new $600 COVID-relief payment? -- Simply put, Democratic leaders in Sacramento expanded what Newsom originally proposed. Now under the plan, called the “Golden State Stimulus,” the following groups will be eligible to receive funding, on these timetables: Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

California's positivity rate drops sharply, a promising indicator for reopening -- The percentage of coronavirus tests that came back positive over the past seven days — a closely watched indicator for reopening the economy — has dropped to 3.5%. That’s down from over 11% a month ago. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Coronavirus cases fall 90%, Bay Area counties move closer to reopening -- California continued to show a dramatic decline in the number of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and in the Bay Area, several counties were moving closer to making their first progress in months in the state’s reopening tiers — back to a world where indoor dining, movie theaters and other activities are once again allowed. Evan Webeck, Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

Here's where the Bay Area's wealthy are temporarily relocating amid COVID-19 -- Jack Ezon, founder of Embark Beyond, told Bloomberg the luxury getaways he's planning for clients — including those on the West Coast who are escaping to Arizona and Mexico — average about $70,000 a month, with most people booking two- to four-month stays. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/18/21

Priest at S.F.'s Sts. Peter and Paul Church dies after contracting the coronavirus -- The iconic North Beach church will remained closed, church officials said, until at least Feb. 23. The church said it would close last week after the three priests tested positive for the coronavirus — leaving too few priests to oversee worship services. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Vaccine  

COVID vaccine updates: Supply issues pop up even as California’s overall pace improves -- California is about nine weeks into the mass vaccination campaign to combat the coronavirus pandemic and officials say that while the pace is improving, supply uncertainty remains the main obstacle. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

Santa Clara County teachers, other essential workers soon eligible for COVID-19 vaccine -- Various Santa Clara County essential workers, including teachers and farmworkers, will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the month, health officials said Wednesday. Fiona Kelliher in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

Winter storms freeze region’s COVID-19 vaccine supply -- San Diego County officials said Wednesday that nationwide winter storms will force a temporary shutdown of some local vaccination clinics. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/18/21

Skelton: California needs to home deliver COVID-19 vaccines to seniors and people with disabilities -- They’re going to home deliver COVID-19 vaccinations to shut-in seniors and people with disabilities. That’s what they say, anyway. We’ll see. Great idea. The Newsom administration’s follow-through on its ideas, however, hasn’t always been that great. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

‘Operation Immunity’ Chula Vista Firefighters Bringing Vaccinations To South Bay Seniors -- In Chula Vista, first responders are delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to seniors just steps away from their homes and, in some cases, bringing them to homebound residents. Matt Hoffman KPBS -- 2/18/21

Orange County to launch third mass vaccination site at Anaheim Convention Center -- Orange County plans to launch its third mass vaccination Super POD (point of dispensing) at the Anaheim Convention Center next week, opening a new front in the county’s campaign to protect millions of residents from the coronavirus. Ian Wheeler in the Orange County Register -- 2/18/21

Staying Afloat  

117-year-old St. Francis Hotel hopes S.F. tourism rebounds this year: 'I keep telling people to hang on' -- The tourists packing the lobby to check into one of the hotel’s 1,200 rooms have almost entirely vanished. The locals visiting for a cocktail aren’t venturing out much these days. Nobody’s uttering that famous San Francisco phrase, “Meet me at the clock!” and finding their date for the evening at the hotel’s huge timepiece. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Policy & Politics 

Biden administration sides with California in allowing union reps access to farmworkers -- Reversing former President Donald Trump’s position, the Biden administration is backing California in a Supreme Court case by growers challenging state regulations that allow union representatives onto their property to talk to farmworkers during nonworking hours. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Republican Kevin Faulconer blasts Newsom for 'failed leadership' on school reopening -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Faulconer campaigned outside a closed high school in San Francisco on Wednesday to criticize Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “failed leadership” on reopening schools during the pandemic. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

32 California lawmakers urge Newsom to let museums reopen indoors -- More than 30 legislators signed a letter that says California is the last state in the U.S. to allow museums to reopen indoors at some capacity. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Bay Area advocates applaud dropping 'illegal alien' in reference to undocumented immigrants -- Bay Area immigration advocates on Tuesday praised a Biden administration directive that removes the word “alien” from government documents and communications and urges more “inclusive” language when referring to non-U.S. citizens. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Capitol Siege  

UCLA student with extremist views who FBI says sat in Pence’s chair is charged in Capitol riot -- The student, Christian Secor, was captured on video sitting in the chair that Vice President Mike Pence had hastily vacated after a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol, according to the FBI. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ Josh Cain, Eric Licas, Jonah Valdez in the Orange County Register -- 2/18/21

Evicted  

High Number of Evictions Prompts Richmond to Consider Stronger Protections -- Despite statewide protections that prevent tenants from eviction for nonpayment of rent if they claim a financial hardship, evictions are still happening, including in the city of Richmond. Contra Costa County evicted 135 people between the beginning of the pandemic and the end of 2020, the second-highest number of evictions across the Bay Area. Molly Solomon KQED -- 2/18/21

Texas Fallout  

High Demand For Natural Gas Nationwide Means A Shortage In San Diego -- Natural gas used in San Diego comes primarily from the Permian Basin in Texas, a state which has been hit hard by extreme weather. Company records show that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) received significantly less gas Tuesday than was used by customers, so they had to dip into their storage capacity. Tom Fudge KPBS -- 2/18/21

Californians are being asked to conserve energy to help Texas and the Midwest -- The California Independent System Operator urged residents of the state to voluntarily conserve energy during the evening for the next few days “to help ease stressed grid conditions in the Midwest, Texas and the Southeast” as those regions experienced power shortages related to cold weather conditions. Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Street  

City sues ‘ghost gun’ maker Polymer80; LAPD says more than 700 seized weapons are tied to its parts -- When two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were wounded by a gunman near the Compton Metro station last year, it was seemingly unconnected to a killing of three people during a home invasion robbery in Glendale a year before. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

Education 

While S.F. school officials tout sunny reopening picture, critics ponder board recall -- For weeks, the pressure has been building on San Francisco school officials to reopen classrooms, with national media berating them and parents and politicians threatening a shake-up of the school board over what they say is dysfunctional and tone-deaf leadership. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

With Deadline Looming To Approve California’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum, Educators Distance Themselves From State’s Revisions -- California public schools may soon have a model for teaching ethnic studies, but not before more controversy over its proposed curriculum. Now, after hundreds of revisions, the original writers of the curriculum are demanding their names be removed from the document that the state is hoping to approve next month. Sarah Mizes-Tan Capital Public Radio -- 2/18/21

How will expanded transitional kindergarten roll out? -- Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget calls for a $500 million investment, a down payment toward the ultimate goal of offering transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds in the state. Karen D'Souza EdSource -- 2/18/21

Newsom’s proposed budget could stave off cuts for some school districts -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cost-of-living adjustment for school districts — part of his $89.2 billion 2021-2022 education budget pending before the Legislature — could turn the tide for some cash-strapped districts that were bracing for budget cuts. Ali Tadayon EdSource -- 2/18/21

School  

L.A. Unified gets 100 doses but needs thousands to reopen schools -- One hundred employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District received a coronavirus vaccine Wednesday as officials demanded more so that schools could reopen — and as the City of Long Beach expects all employees at public elementary campuses to be vaccinated by Friday. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

LAUSD officials call for vaccines to be prioritized for school employees -- Prioritizing school employees for vaccines was the theme of the day on Wednesday, Feb. 17, as Los Angeles Unified School District officials and representatives from some of their labor employee groups gathered at the Roybal Learning Center near downtown LA to mark the opening of the district’s first vaccination center. Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/18/21

Police officers will no longer be stationed at LAUSD campuses -- In a move aimed at improving campus climate, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education voted Tuesday, Feb. 16, to keep officers out of secondary school campuses, ban them from using pepper spray on students and to eliminate 133 positions, including 70 sworn officer positions, from the district’s school police department. Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/18/21

California Economy  

These two Bay Area cities fall in ‘best performing’ report -- San Jose and San Francisco have lost ground to up-and-coming tech hubs in the West and South, according to the Milken Institute, which says both cities have fallen to “Tier 2” in its annual report on best performing cities. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

Homeless  

S.F. homeless advocates, supervisors push city to acquire more hotels to house homeless -- A coalition of more than 50 homeless advocate organizations and a city supervisor is pressing the San Francisco mayor’s office to acquire hotels to house the homeless and move more people into permanent housing. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/18/21

Also . . .   

Dr. Huey P. Newton Way dedicated on West Oakland’s 9th Street -- On what would have been former Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton’s 79th birthday, a section of a West Oakland street now bears his name. Jane Tyska in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/18/21

Nevada County sheriff releases video of deputy fatally shooting mother holding knife -- The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday released video that shows a deputy fatally shooting a woman holding a knife as she chased after another deputy in front of her children two weeks ago. Rosalio Ahumada in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/18/21

POTUS 46  

Biden takes swing at immigration reform with bill on citizenship path for 11 million -- President Biden will make official on Thursday his aggressive opening salvo in a decades-long effort to reform a broken U.S. immigration system, which ground to a near-halt under his predecessor. Molly O’Toole in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/18/21

Muddled promises on schools pose political problem for Biden -- President Joe Biden is in a political firestorm over how and when to get more schools open amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Republicans seizing on confusion surrounding Biden’s goal to reopen a majority of schools within his first 100 days to paint the president as beholden to teachers’ unions at the expense of American families. Alexandra Jaffe Associated Press -- 2/18/21

-- Wednesday Updates

L.A. elementary schools can finally reopen, but it will be complicated, uneven -- The announcement this week that Los Angeles County coronavirus rates have finally dropped low enough to allow for the immediate reopening of elementary schools is leading to an uneven return to class — fast in districts serving more affluent communities, but just one step in an arduous climb for school systems elsewhere, including in L.A. Unified. Howard Blume, Paloma Esquivel, Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/21

When will Bay Area counties move out of the purple tier? -- It has been more than three weeks since California Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the regional stay at home order, allowing Bay Area counties to reopen several business sectors including outdoor dining and some indoor personal services such as haircuts. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/17/21

Texas Power  

Why Texas’ power outages are plaguing California, and Ted Cruz is clamming up -- The power grid problems plaguing Texas as the state endures unseasonably frigid temperatures have struck vulnerable Californians and their doctors, too. That’s because the primary data center for Medi-Cal, which provides health insurance for millions of the Golden State’s low-income residents, is located deep in the heart of Texas. Emily DeRuy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/17/21

Ted Cruz mocked California during the summer blackouts. Now Twitter is calling him a hypocrite -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz invited a torrent of scorn on social media in recent days after Twitter users resurfaced a tweet he wrote last year mocking California’s electricity woes. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21

Why the massive power outages in Texas are so much worse than California's summer blackouts -- Californians are familiar with large power blackouts, but Texas’ energy grid failures this week are on a much vaster scale, leaving millions of residents shivering for days. Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21

Vaccine  

Who’s ‘essential’? COVID-19 vaccine rollout leaves high-risk workers behind -- Millions of front-line workers in California are falling through the cracks of an undersupplied COVID-19 vaccine distribution system, putting entire communities at prolonged risk of illness and raising the question among workers: Who counts as “essential,” and who gets to decide? Suhauna Hussain, Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/21

White Californians receiving vaccine at twice the rate of Black, Latino residents -- Black and Latino residents are receiving far fewer doses than white residents in Sacramento County, according to new data released by state officials Friday, reflecting a trend of racial disparity that has come to define the coronavirus pandemic. Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

Everywhere you can get a coronavirus vaccine in the Bay Area -- It’s been two months since the first Californian received a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 5 million of you have managed to get the coveted shot since then. Emily DeRuy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/17/21

Reopen  

Coronavirus cases plummet to pre-Thanksgiving levels. Are more reopenings next? -- In a sign of how quickly conditions have improved following the devastating winter surge, Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted that more counties may emerge next week from what the state calls the purple tier — the strictest of California’s four-rung reopening roadmap for businesses and other public spaces. Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/21

School  

Failing grades. Rising depression. Bay Area children are suffering from shuttered schools -- Before the pandemic, her son was thriving at San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, where he was in the vocal music program and the robotics team. But after schools closed in March, “everything came tumbling down,” Buitoni said. He has stopped going to Zoom school. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21

Some San Diego area schools are testing wastewater, floors for coronavirus -- The testing not only allows for faster results than traditional COVID testing, but UC San Diego researchers say it could be less costly and easier to implement in communities with families who may not want their children tested in schools, out of fear or a lack of trust. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/17/21

Left out  

California considers stimulus for undocumented workers left out of federal aid -- As Congress debates President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, state lawmakers have been negotiating their own plan to send cash to struggling Californians, splitting over whether to target the cash to undocumented workers left out of federal relief. Jackie Botts CalMatters Kim Bojórquez in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

Bay Area advocates applaud dropping 'illegal alien' in reference to undocumented immigrants -- Bay Area immigration advocates on Tuesday praised a Biden administration directive that removes the word “alien” from government documents and communications and urges more “inclusive” language when referring to non-U.S. citizens. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21

Policy & Politics 

California Republicans are fighting on how to endorse a candidate in Newsom recall -- The effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to trigger an election, but California Republicans are already fighting about how they might endorse someone to replace him. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

Veteran sheriff’s captain says he wants to succeed Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones -- Sacramento sheriff’s Capt. Jim Barnes formally announced his campaign Wednesday to replace Sheriff Scott Jones, who is leaving the post after three terms in office. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

San Diego council president calls recall campaign against her reckless, divisive, expensive -- San Diego Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell says the recall campaign against her is reckless, divisive, expensive and a distraction from city efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/17/21

Citing climate emergency, California Democrats introduce a bill to ban fracking by 2027 -- The bill, introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, also would prohibit the issuance of new permits for fracking, acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming and water and steam flooding beginning in 2022. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Debra Kahn and Colby Bermel Politico -- 2/17/21

California could sue cities over homeless plans under proposed law -- California cities could face lawsuits for failing to follow through on plans to dramatically reduce homelessness under a proposal from San Francisco Democrat that aims to help end the humanitarian emergency by 2029. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

California legislative plan: Reopen K-6 in red tier, boost teacher vaccine priority -- The state Legislature has crafted a school reopening plan that would force schools to offer in-person instruction to K-6 students in red tier counties starting in April and would put teachers in classrooms "first in line" for vaccines, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty announced Tuesday. MacKenzie Mays Politico -- 2/17/21

Street  

Law enforcement confronts an old threat: far-right extremism in the ranks. ‘Swift action must be taken’ -- After an Orange County sheriff’s deputy was spotted on a protest skirmish line wearing a far-right Oath Keepers patch last summer, the department started to look for ways to better address extremism in its ranks. Kevin Rector, Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/21

Embattled Oakland business owners arming themselves, arrest made after shots fired --A 36-year-old shop owner in Oakland was arrested and charged Monday with felony assault after intervening in a robbery. Joshua Bote in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21

Rent  

With COVID still raging, Sacramento sets $31.7 million fund to help renters. How to apply -- The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved a $31.7 million fund to help residents pay their rent as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy. The item is in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

Sacramento Real Estate  

Inside Sacramento’s wild real estate market, where homes sell in hours and buyers have no shot -- Infused with buyers escaping the Bay Area’s high prices during the COVID-19 teleworking moment and with maturing millennial couples starting families, Sacramento’s real estate market has tilted dramatically toward sellers over buyers. Houses sometimes get 10 or more bids, and typically sell within days at more than the asking price. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/21

SF Exodus

People are leaving S.F., but not for Austin or Miami. USPS data shows where they went -- Instead, the majority of those escaping the city during the pandemic relocated to other Bay Area counties. The top six destinations for those fleeing the city were all Bay Area counties: Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Sonoma. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/21