Updating . .   

California may not reach herd immunity for years. But vaccines will make the coronavirus more manageable -- If everything goes according to plan, much of California could come close to herd immunity levels of vaccination by late summer. Within weeks, the effects could be dramatic: very low case rates, people comfortably allowed to gather again, maybe even some looser rules around mask-wearing. Of course, little about this pandemic has stuck to the plan. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21

No quick path to reopening L.A. Unified is emerging as school year slips away -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new plan to vaccinate school staff more quickly does little to move campuses toward reopening in Los Angeles, where the teachers union remains opposed until community infection rates drop further and vaccines take full effect for returning workers — calling into question whether a robust return to in-person instruction is possible before the end of the school year. Howard Blume, Stephanie Chavez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Prep volleyball players, coaches say state’s new sports plan is a ‘slap in the face’ -- Anger. Confusion. Frustration. Those are the emotions players, coaches and parents of regional volleyball on Friday. That’s when the California Department of Public Health announced that the most visible fall sport would be moving from the moderate orange color tier to yellow, which, in effect, could spell the end of a season that never got going. Cameron Salerno in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/21/21

Waiting and hoping: COVID-19 vaccine chasers seek out leftover doses in Sacramento -- About a dozen people lingered outside Sacramento State’s University Union around 3 p.m. Tuesday, waiting not for Starbucks or a student government meeting but for a chance at COVID-19 immunity. The “vaccine chasers,” as their counterparts in other cities have been dubbed, didn’t have immunization appointments. Many of them wouldn’t be eligible to make one anyway. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/21/21

Low coronavirus transmission rates show a pandemic in decline, but for how long? -- Estimates of coronavirus transmission in San Diego County and across the state reached new lows last week, providing a bit of good news after the deadly holiday surge, which continues to deliver deaths nearly a month after daily case totals started to fall. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/21/21

California’s coronavirus infections continue to decline, nearing pre-surge levels -- With the coronavirus vaccine rollout underway, metrics suggest California may be nearly through the winter COVID-19 surge which ravaged the state early in the year. Daily infection reports continue to drop after seeing tens of thousands new cases each day at the height of the surge in December and January. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/21/21

Kaiser is expanding who it’s vaccinating. Here’s what you need to know -- Kaiser CEO Greg Adams announced late Saturday that California officials had increased the healthcare giant’s vaccine allotment to more accurately match its large share of the state’s healthcare market. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/21/21

Coronavirus: When will there be enough vaccine? -- With shortages hitting vaccination sites from San Francisco to San Diego, news that Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine could win emergency authorization this week comes as a relief to health officials worried about the spread of dangerous new variants, and raises hopes there could be enough doses this spring to vaccinate anyone who wants a shot. But is that a realistic timeline? John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/21/21

If COVID rules allow, Six Flags Magic Mountain aims to open in spring -- The company is hiring park workers and working with government officials to set a date for reopening in California, as well as in Illinois, Massachusetts, Mexico City and Canada, it said. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Disparate testing, vaccination rates in San Diego and Baja show challenges of re-opening -- Nearly a year after the coronavirus forced Nadley Morales into a harsh and lonely isolation, public health officials showed up on her door-step in one of Tijuana’s upscale neighborhoods. Wendy Fry in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/21/21

Capitol Siege  

Before far-right UCLA student stormed Capitol, he faced furor over incendiary tweets -- In March 2020, UCLA student Matthew Richard went on Twitter and called for the university to investigate and expel fellow undergrad Christian Secor. He posted a thread with 21 recent tweets from the account of Secor, who founded America First Bruins, a far-right student group. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Policy & Politics 

In post-Trump convention, California Republicans keep calm and carry online -- There were no boozy late-night cocktail parties at this weekend’s California Republican Party convention. Missing too were the bullhorn and placard-toting protest marches, the cameo appearance of rightwing Internet celebrities, the raucus parliamentary brawls between college Republicans. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 2/21/21

Street  

New policy dictates San Diego Police Department’s response to protests -- The San Diego Police Department this week implemented a policy that sets parameters on officers’ actions during demonstrations, from when they give dispersal orders during protests deemed unlawful to when they fire less-lethal rounds. David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/21/21

Homeless  

San Diego pays top dollar and near-top dollar for hotels to house the homeless -- The city of San Diego appears to have paid above-market rates for the two Residence Inn hotels it purchased late last year for just over $106 million, properties that city officials are relying on to help reduce the homeless population across the community. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/21/21

Environment   

Will EPA fix for Tijuana River keep pace with growth? -- Reports of Tijuana sewage leaking over the border into the San Diego region stretch back at least to the 1930s. The fundamental issue hasn’t changed all that much over time. Plumbing still isn’t keeping pace with population growth. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/21/21

California Seeks to Save Its Redwoods From Wildfires -- Giant redwoods that date back centuries and even millennia are among what’s left in a state park near here that was decimated by a massive wildfire last year. Now rangers and conservationists are developing plans to better protect them out of fear that the world’s tallest trees may not survive future blazes that are almost certain to come. Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 2/21/21

Also . . .   

At 113, she’s California’s oldest native. She got through a tough 2020 and is still going strong -- There were roughly 2.16 million people living in California in 1908. Only one of them is known to still be here, alive and breathing in the Golden State. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Bay Area-based Air Protein makes “meat” from thin air using space-age science -- A new entrant to the edible protein scene, the Berkeley-based startup Air Protein makes a meat alternative using NASA-inspired fermentation technology to transform CO2 — what we exhale into the air — into a complete edible protein. Emily Harwitz in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/21/21

California Policy and P  olitics Sunday Morning  

L.A. County coronavirus numbers continue to drop as more cases of U.K. variant are reported -- Los Angeles County officials continue to report a decline in new coronavirus cases but say the emergence of a more transmissible, potentially more virulent variant underscores the importance of sticking with safety measures like masking and distancing. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Return of high school sports in Southern California: What you need to know -- The California Department of Public Health announced its youth sports update on Friday, which provides a path forward for a resumption of high school sports beyond the purple tier sports of cross-country, golf, tennis and track and field. Eric Sondheimer in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

In Bay Area nursing homes, 'the vaccine is already saving lives' -- The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on Bernadette Yee, who lives at Laguna Honda, San Francisco’s largest skilled nursing facility. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21

Kaiser expanding who it’s vaccinating. Here’s what you need to know -- After weeks of lagging behind in its distribution of coronavirus vaccines to seniors, Kaiser Permanente is looking to make up some ground starting this week. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/21/21

Costco begins offering COVID-19 vaccines in the Bay Area -- Starting this week, Costco will be administering vaccines, typically Moderna, at select stores across California, including one in Marin County, according to a company statement released Saturday. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/21/21

More children suffer ailment linked to virus after Bay Area's winter surge in infections -- Mirroring national trends, local cases of a coronavirus-linked inflammatory syndrome in kids have risen after a surge in infections in the Bay Area in December and January. Meghan Bobrowsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21

Watchdog calls for LA County nursing home crisis plan in light of ‘serious’ deficiencies, gaps -- A Los Angeles County watchdog is calling for the Public Health Department to create a nursing home crisis and response plan in light of major safety problems that surfaced during the coronavirus pandemic. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/21/21

Policy & Politics 

Walters: Prosecutors feud over criminal sentencing laws -- The starkest aspect to California’s evolution from a relatively conservative state into a blue bastion has been an evolving attitude toward crime and punishment. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 2/21/21

School  

Oakley parents push for classroom reopenings after school board resigns -- Outraged parents gathered in front of Oakley City Hall for a rally Saturday to demand that the city reopen its schools after the mass resignation of the city’s school board. Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21

San Francisco teachers gather for vigil on reopening plan as negotiations continue -- Dozens of San Francisco educators and supporters gathered in Civic Center Plaza Saturday evening after five straight days of union negotiations over returning to classrooms. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21

Rally goers demand that LAUSD schools not reopen until more safety measures in place -- Students, parents, educators and community members rallied in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 20, to demand that schools not reopen amid the pandemic until stronger safety measures are in place. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/21/21

Drought  

‘Mega-miracle’ will be needed to overcome dry February in Los Angeles -- February is normally the wettest month of the year in downtown Los Angeles, when 3.8 inches of rain would usually fall. This year, next to nothing has fallen. L.A.'s rainfall to date has been 4.39 inches, less than half of normal for this point, which is 9.71 inches. Paul Duginski in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/21/21

Also . . .   

Knight: San Francisco's cable cars are part of the city's identity. We need a plan to bring them back soon -- Cable car No. 11, painted red and festooned in Lunar New Year decorations, sat at the Powell Street turnaround the other afternoon, on display and ready for selfies. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/21/21