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Updating . .   

LAUSD to resume limited in-person classes, hoping for wider elementary school reopening in April -- Los Angeles schools will resume some services next week for a small percentage of students with special needs, Supt. Austin Beutner announced Monday. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Sacramento City Unified announces target dates to reopen schools -- The Sacramento City Unified School District announced students could be back on campus in early April. Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/22/21

California coronavirus variant possibly more infectious, might cause more serious illness, S.F. studies show -- A California-bred variant that has spread widely across much of the state since the start of the year appears to be more infectious than other versions of the coronavirus, and may also cause more serious illness and be somewhat resistant to the body’s immune response, according to two studies released Monday. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Why wealthy spots like Beverly Hills, San Marino have the highest COVID vaccination rates -- Striking inequities are emerging in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, with residents of wealthy areas receiving far more vaccinations than those in poorer neighborhoods, data show. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Gov. Newsom touts Long Beach as model for coronavirus vaccinations -- Gov. Gavin Newsom urged health officials across the state to prioritize vaccinating educators against the coronavirus so they can quicken when schools can reopen for in-person learning, touting Long Beach on Monday morning, Feb. 22, with being a model for the rest of California. Chris Haire in the Orange County Register -- 2/22/21

Terrifying 'post-COVID syndrome' is next focus for researchers in Bay Area and beyond -- The end of the pandemic feels tantalizingly near as vaccines arrive and the pace of new infections slows. But a new coronavirus mystery is set to keep researchers busy in the Bay Area and across the country for years to come. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

We might need to keep wearing masks into 2022 to defeat COVID-19 -- Despite a sharp decline in coronavirus cases and continued success with COVID-19 vaccines, it’s looking likely we will still be wearing masks for some time to come. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s coronavirus czar, said it’s possible masks could be needed until 2022. Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Immigration detention centers showcase California’s vaccine chaos -- Who takes responsibility for vaccinating detainees? “I don’t know,” said California’s surgeon general. Facing such confusion, some county officials are sending doses to immigrant detention centers, while others are awaiting state guidance. Ana B. Ibarra CalMatters -- 2/22/21

Restaurants, schools, sports: Your guide to COVID restrictions in the Sacramento region -- Rates of coronavirus infection have been improving for weeks throughout California and within the capital region, bringing counties closer to loosened business and activity restrictions and schools potentially closer to reopening campuses. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/22/21

EDD Delays  

Unemployed Californians face months of delays when appealing denial of jobless benefits -- Californians who believe their unemployment benefit claims have been wrongly denied are facing significant delays in having their appeals addressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, waiting an average of 92 days for assistance — more than double the wait time before the pandemic put millions of residents out of work. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Policy & Politics 

How California Democrats could delay a Gavin Newsom recall -- Democrats can’t control whether an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom qualifies for the ballot, but they could influence when Californians vote. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/22/21

Housing  

Cheaper rent in San Francisco? For some Oakland tenants, the city across the Bay is more affordable now -- Since March, when government stay-at-home orders began emptying downtowns of workers and shoppers, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco has dropped nearly 30%, the largest decrease in the country. The tech capital has hundreds of thousands of employees well positioned to work remotely, and they have. Outside the city. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

East Bay city wants to open a homeless RV site at a mostly vacant mall. Neighbors aren't happy -- Richmond is pushing to open a “safe” parking site with services for homeless people living in RVs at Hilltop Mall, a mostly vacant shopping center. But the program may be in jeopardy after nearly 1,700 neighbors signed a petition urging the council to abandon the plans at the site and look elsewhere. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Bullet Train  

A ‘low-cost’ plan for California bullet train brings $800 million in overruns, big delays -- A 65-mile section of California’s bullet train through the San Joaquin Valley that a contractor assured could be constructed much more cheaply — with radical design changes — has become another troubling and costly chapter in the high-speed rail project, a Times investigation found. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Education    

Faced with lawsuits, San Francisco pauses renaming schools to focus on reopening classrooms -- Just weeks after the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education pledged to rename dozens of schools associated with slaveholding and oppression, the board president announced it would pause the effort to focus instead on reopening classrooms. Faith E. Pinho in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Also . . .   

Garcetti pledged $250 million to communities of color. Did he deliver? -- As protests erupted last year over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he would slash $250 million from city departments and put the money toward Black communities and other communities of color. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

‘Just living with pain’: Women’s healthcare waylaid by COVID-19 pandemic -- When Stephanie Fajuri, 36, had an abnormal Pap smear a decade ago, her doctor advised her to come in for annual screenings to keep an eye on her health. She was diligent about doing so regularly — until she was confronted by a pandemic. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Burgeoning child care union secures COVID-19 relief funding approval -- The state Senate budget committee approved disbursement of $144 million in federal funds to give child care providers some financial relief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. If approved by the Legislature, it will be a major win for Child Care Providers United, which is still negotiating a master contract with California. Elizabeth Aguilera CalMatters -- 2/22/21

Up in smoke: Burns in San Joaquin Valley vineyards, orchards may finally end -- California’s air board will vote this week on stopping burns that spew plumes of smoke that can trigger asthma attacks. The move is long in coming — it was supposed to end a decade ago under state law. Rachel Becker CalMatters -- 2/22/21

 

California Policy and P  olitics Monday Morning  

Governor admits problems with vaccine rollout in Latino and Black communities -- Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Sunday that state and local health officials have stumbled in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine equitably among Latino and Black communities in California. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Newsom touts new Southern California vaccine pop-ups as counties transition to Blue Shield network -- Newsom, flanked by several local elected leaders, said the mobile vaccination sites are vital to amp up the state’s ability to deliver vaccines equitably to the state’s poorest neighborhoods, where case rates among Latinos and Blacks far surpass more affluent and Whiter areas and where vaccination rates lag far behind. Ryan Carter in the Orange County Register -- 2/22/21

Orange County will start setting aside vaccine for education, food, agriculture workers -- The county plans to dedicate 30% of its vaccine allocation to workers in those sectors, as well as to those in emergency services. The remaining 70% will go to residents 65 and older, Jessica Good, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said Sunday in an email. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

L.A. city-run coronavirus vaccine sites will reopen Tuesday, Garcetti says -- Mayor Eric Garcetti said Sunday, Feb. 21, that doses of COVID-19 vaccine delayed by the crippling storms in the East and South have now been shipped to Los Angeles, and all six city-run vaccination sites will resume operations on Tuesday, Feb. 23, after being closed through the weekend. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/22/21

Why some senior living communities are struggling to get COVID-19 vaccines for their residents -- General Manager Sachiko “Koko” Woods struggled for weeks to get the COVID-19 vaccine for dozens of mostly elderly residents living in her San Gabriel Valley retirement community. Brenda Gazzar, Tim Haddock in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/22/21

Key reasons coronavirus cases are plunging across the Bay Area and California -- As dramatically as coronavirus numbers spiked across the Bay Area, California and U.S. during the winter surge, those numbers have plummeted in the past month. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

L.A. County continues to see decline in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths -- Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 1,465 new cases of the coronavirus and 93 related deaths, noting that case numbers are usually lower on the weekends because not all laboratories report results. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Six Flags Magic Mountain announces plans to reopen with roller coasters and thrill rides -- Six Flags Magic Mountain has announced plans to reopen with roller coasters and thrill rides after more than 11 months of coronavirus closures that have left the Valencia amusement park shuttered except for a string of drive-thru events. Six Flags Magic Mountain plans to return with rides in spring 2021, according to the park’s Twitter account. Brady MacDonald in the Orange County Register -- 2/22/21

Policy & Politics 

Walters: Pandemic relief package has a downside -- The immense drop in state revenue that Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators anticipated last year when COVID-19 struck the state never materialized. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 2/22/21

Skelton: Take it from me: The longer kids are out of classrooms, the more they’ll suffer academically -- This is guaranteed: Many kids locked out of classrooms by the pandemic will suffer academically from being forced to learn at home. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Sacramento City Councilman Eric Guerra announces 2022 run for California State Senate -- Dr. Richard Pan, a Democrat currently representing California’s Sixth State Senate district, will have his term expire in 2022 and he will be unable to run for re-election due to term limits, leaving the seat vacant. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/22/21

Street  

Gun, credentials stolen from FBI agent's car in East Bay, feds say -- The agency said it is working with the Lafayette Police Department to recover the .40 caliber Glock 22 pistol, law enforcement badge and credentials “in the interest of public safety.” Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Education 

S.F. school board pauses renaming process for 44 schools after coming under fire -- Facing intense pressure on multiple fronts including school reopenings and a recent decision to halt merit-based admissions at Lowell High School, San Francisco’s school board president has signaled that its members are pausing controversial efforts to rename 44 district schools. Kellie Hwang , Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Effort launched to recall three S.F. school board members -- In recent months, the Board has faced mounting pressure to safely reopen schools — while also stirring anger for efforts to rename 44 district schools and halt merit-based admissions at Lowell High School. As of Sunday, the renaming process has been put on hold. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Financial aid applications lag among California high school seniors -- With just a couple of weeks to go before the state filing deadline, far fewer California high school students have completed college financial aid applications than is typical. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 2/22/21

Immigration / Border / ICE   

At the border, confusion, anxiety and hope as U.S. unveils new process for asylum seekers -- Angelina Baltazar, stranded here since August 2019 while waiting for her asylum case to move forward, was fiddling with her smartphone, having little success in registering online to cross the border to wait instead on the U.S. side with her family. Patrick J. MCDonnell, Gabriela Minjares in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/22/21

Environment   

How About Wind? California Explores Plan For Wind Energy Along Coast To Combat Climate Change -- About an hour-and-a-half southwest of Sacramento, hundreds of nearly 20-stories tall windmills line the Montezuma Hills in Solano County. On back roads through these rolling peaks, the windmills’ shadows steadily move with the sun over farms, sheep and cows. Ezra David Romero Capital Public Radio -- 2/22/21

Can struggling oyster population be revived using shells on a string? -- A marine science experiment is underway in the Alamitos Bay, with boaters from the Long Beach Yacht Club giving a helping hand to the Orange County Coastkeeper for a project that hopes to boost spawning of the once-abundant Olympia oyster. Laylan Connelly In the Orange County Register -- 2/22/21

Also . . .   

S.F. parade follows 139-year-old Victorian's trek to new home -- Early on Sunday morning, a two-story Victorian house lurched out across five lanes of San Francisco’s Franklin Street and got snagged by a banner on a light pole. Sam Whiting in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

Chronicle photographer Gabrielle Lurie wins award as 'local photographer of the year' in prestigious contest -- The contest by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism recognized the best photojournalism, online presentation and visual editing of 2020. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/22/21

-- Sunday Updates

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