Updating . .   

More kids in the hospital with COVID renew fears for medically fragile children -- Whenever someone tells Jamie Chong that COVID-19 isn’t a serious threat to children, she reminds them that the common cold can send her child to the hospital. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

Some Bay Area companies urging, but not requiring, COVID-19 boosters as omicron surges -- As a sushi chef and restaurant owner who’s a former cancer researcher, Randy Musterer doesn’t take the issue of vaccines lightly. But in the midst of the omicron surge, he said he has to balance health concerns like mandating the shots with having enough people to keep his doors open. Chase DiFeliciantonio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

A father’s death, a son’s despair: How COVID upended a family -- He became a wrestler because his father was a wrestler. He planned to work at the same power plant as his dad when he graduated from high school. It seemed fitting that they shared the same name: Anthony Michael Reyes. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

Minimal damage in Southern California after tsunami advisory in the West -- The eruption of an underwater volcano Saturday in a remote corner of the South Pacific touched off a powerful tsunami that roared across a large swath of the globe, putting millions of people from New Zealand to Canada on alert and forcing the closure of beaches and harbors in California and along the rest of the West Coast. Harriet Ryan, Ian James, Robert J. Lopez, Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

Policy and Politics  

Garofoli: Single-payer health care advocates rip Gavin Newsom for ‘flip-flop’ -- The California Nurses Association didn’t just endorse Gavin Newsom for governor in 2018; the powerful union drove a giant red bus around the state with Newsom’s face plastered on the side of it. Written underneath: “Nurses Trust Newsom. He shares our values and fights for our patients.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/16/22

Lobbyists told state insurance chief they represented company at center of campaign scandal, new filing says -- Two former state lawmakers now working as lobbyists spoke personally with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and his senior deputy, contrary to what state officials have said in a public-records lawsuit unfolding now in a Los Angeles courtroom. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/16/22

Arellano: In Orange County, hating L.A. is an obsession that now comes with a hashtag: #NoLAinOC -- Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer showed up to our meeting last week with a busted upper lip. A razor cut from shaving, he sheepishly admitted, a deep one that had crusted up enough so Spitzer winced just a little bit while sipping coffee. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

California forcibly sterilized people for 70 years. Survivors can now get compensation -- Arcadia resident Mary Franco was in her first year of middle school in 1934 when she was forcibly removed from her home and institutionalized. Her parents didn’t know it at the time, but by committing her to a state hospital in Pomona, they were also signing away her reproductive rights to the state of California. Nadia Lopez in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 1/16/22

McManus: Time to start over on voting rights and election security -- After months of wrangling, the U.S. Senate plans to vote this week on an ambitious Democratic bill on voting rights. The bill is already doomed. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

 

California Policy and Politics Sunday Morning  

L.A. County reports highest number of daily coronavirus deaths in more than 9 months -- Los Angeles County public health officials reported 66 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, the highest number in more than nine months. The number of coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized increased to 4,386, and 41,765 new positive cases were reported. Paloma Esquivel, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

COVID cases are rising quickly among S.F. teenagers. What’s going on? -- The omicron COVID-19 wave has overwhelmed San Franciscans of all ages. But positive cases among teenagers are outpacing the city’s overall case rate, a Chronicle analysis found. Susie Neilson, Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/15/22

O.C. woman wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19. After 6 months in the hospital, her outlook changed -- At first Wynter Ho thought it was the flu. Her head throbbed and she had trouble breathing. The 26-year-old struggled walking up and down the stairs of her townhouse. She had grown up with asthma, but it never felt this severe. Priscella Vega in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

Rapid coronavirus tests are hard to find — unless you work for Google or play in the NBA -- While many Americans scramble to track down increasingly scarce rapid at-home coronavirus tests, they are abundant for white-collar employees of some of the country’s biggest companies. Workers at corporate giants such as Google and JPMorgan Chase can request tests be sent to them free. Gerrit De Vynck and Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post$ -- 1/15/22

The Covid Race to Watch: Vaccines vs. Variants -- With uneven Covid-19 vaccine uptake in the developed world and slow rollout in poorer nations, virologists say the virus has ample avenues to generate more variants that could challenge immune defenses developed through vaccination, infection or both. Daniela Hernandez, Sarah Toy and Jason Douglas in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 1/15/22

Tsunami     

Tsunami reaches California coast with high waves, local flooding and dangerous currents -- The ocean waves triggered by a major volcanic eruption near Tonga traveled more than 5,000 miles to Bay Area coastlines Saturday, causing tsunami surges and violent surf from dawn until past dusk. Jill Tucker, Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Harriet Ryan, Ian James, Robert Lopez, Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

Surfers rescued from tsunami-roiled waters after ignoring warnings to stay out of ocean -- At one popular beach in San Francisco, rescue swimmers braved churning waves and strong currents on Saturday afternoon to save two surfers who had challenged nature to a duel — and lost. Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/16/22

Policy and Politics  

Ken Calvert, one-time foe of same-sex marriage, wants to represent LGTBQ haven Palm Springs -- GOP Rep. Ken Calvert’s campaign once sent pink-colored mailers asking whether his gay Democratic challenger would be “a congressman for Riverside … or San Francisco?” Almost 30 years later, Calvert, who also voted to ban same-sex marriage, wants to represent Palm Springs, one of America’s most LGBTQ-friendly cities. Jeff Horseman in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 1/15/22

Walters: California tries new approach on social maladies -- While it deals with the stubborn COVID-19 pandemic, California is also contending with a smorgasbord of equally resilient social pathologies, including chronic illness, homelessness, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and street crime. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 1/16/22

Street  

After more than six years of federal oversight, dangerous problems persist in L.A. County jails -- Many inmates with serious mental illnesses in Los Angeles County jails continue to suffer in isolation and with little treatment, more than six years after the sheriff’s department reached a settlement with the federal government. Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

Want to hand out food or clothes in San Jose parks? You may need to pay the city first -- People have called the city policy hateful and cruel and said it represented “nimby liberalism.” Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/15/22

Seized cellphones uncover breadth of brother-sister Sinaloa cartel cell in San Diego, feds say -- Buried cash, extravagant watches are the latest seizures in an investigation that already revealed a massive cache of millions of dollars, drugs and ammo. Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/15/22

Homeless  

Here’s what happened in the Tenderloin when S.F. got laser-focused on a few troubled blocks -- Crews are cleaning Tenderloin streets and sidewalks and outreach workers are offering homeless people shelter as part of Mayor London Breed’s push to improve conditions in the troubled neighborhood. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/16/22

Also . . .   

A good virus comes to the rescue of California’s abalone -- ‘Bacteria eater’ protects the treasured sea snails from crippling disease. Elyse DeFranco in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/15/22

 

Saturday Updates   

Tsunami advisory issued for California coast; beaches closed, strong waves expected -- A tsunami advisory was in effect along the California coast Saturday morning due to a volcano erupting near the South Pacific nation of Tonga. Several beaches and marinas from Orange County to the Bay Area were temporarily closed as a precaution because of higher than normal waves, officials said. Officials urged people to stay out of the water and away from the shore. Harriet Ryan, Robert Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Shomik Mukherjee in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/15/22

Downtown S.F., North Beach included in new Bay Area tsunami hazard zones -- If a once-in-a-millennium tsunami hit the Bay Area, waves could inundate more of the waterfront than scientists previously feared. While alarming, new tsunami hazard maps created by the California Geological Survey are aimed at showing people how to find out if they’re in a vulnerable area and how to get to safety — that often means only walking a few blocks. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/15/22

What is the expected impact from California coast tsunami event? Here’s what we know -- What is the expected impact? Officials are expecting waves of 1 to 2 feet in parts of Southern California, but widespread inundation or flooding is not expected. However, it is expected to produce strong currents “that may be hazardous to swimmers, boats, moorings and coastal structures,” the National Weather Service said. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

COVID  

Emergency rooms nearing ‘crisis levels’ in parts of California as Omicron surges -- Emergency rooms are nearing crisis levels in parts of California, and officials are forecasting weeks of strain in hospitals even as there are glimmers of hope the Omicron wave may soon peak in the northern part of the state. Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II, Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

COVID School  

California schools under intense strain, fighting to stay open during Omicron surge -- Educators across California are in triage mode working to keep campuses open and the state’s 6 million children in class as Omicron-fueled coronavirus cases surge. Save for some notable exceptions, they are managing to do so. Melissa Gomez, Paloma Esquivel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

LAUSD adopts modified quarantine for students -- The Los Angeles Unified School District has, in recent days, updated its COVID-19 safety protocols to allow for students and employees who were in close contact with an infected person to remain on campus under a “modified quarantine” as well as announced other changes impacting student athletics. Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 1/15/22

Policy and Politics  

If elected mayor, Rep. Karen Bass wants to house 15,000 homeless people in first year -- Bass unveiled a plan Friday calling for 15,000 people to be housed in her first year in office — though she didn’t specify exactly what proportion of those people would go into permanent housing, as opposed to interim housing such as bunk-style shelters, tiny homes or rented hotel rooms. Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

Street  

Sexual assault of 10-year-old sparks latest criticism of L.A. district attorney’s policies -- A 26-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in Palmdale might be sentenced to a short stay in juvenile hall or granted probation at a court hearing this month, sparking another round of outrage over Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s all-or-nothing criminal justice reform platform. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/15/22

Dead wife’s relatives seek part of Robert Durst’s fortune -- A quest for the fortune left behind by multimillionaire murderer Robert Durst is underway just days after his death. A lawyer for the family of his first wife, who vanished and was declared legally dead, notified the real estate tycoon’s trust that it would be seeking more than $100 million from Durst’s estate and widow. Brian Melley Associated Press -- 1/15/22