California passes $1.1B COVID-19 emergency response package
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom late Monday secured $1.1 billion in emergency funds for the state’s fight against the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has infected hundreds of Californians and killed at least six.
The California Assembly approved the main funding bills freeing up money for the state’s coronavirus response on a 68-0 vote, and the Senate passed it on a 32-0 vote.
Lawmakers took up the bills in unusual circumstances. Newsom on Sunday advised Californians over age 65 to isolate themselves at home because of the new coronavirus’ potential to harm older people."
READ MORE related to COVID-19: Legislature suspends session in response to outbreak -- Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Newsom beefs up services for seniors, a day after telling them to stay home -- The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN; Self-isolation hits California during COVID-19 spread. Here's expert advice on how to plan -- Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW/TONY BIZJAK/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS; Courts confront COVID-19 spread -- Sac Bee's DARRELL SMITH; Sacramento confronts life with COVID-19 -- Sac Bee's DALE KASLER; Newsom moves to protect renters, utility customers as COVID-19 spreads -- Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY; What's open and what's closed with new 'shelter in place' order -- The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN/ROLAND LI; Your food and grocery questions answered -- The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN/ESTHER MOBLEY; Will the Bay Area run out of food? Nope. The supply chain is healthy -- The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY/SHWANIKA NARAYAN; DMV offices to stay open during shutdown; grace period likely for extensions -- The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER; How 'silent spreaders' are fueling the pandemic -- LA Times's MELISSA HEALY
Here's why Tom McClintock voted against the virus aid package.
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The coronavirus relief package now moving through Congress is a threat to any economic recovery and “opens the door for anyone who wants to game the system,” saidRep. Tom McClintock, one of only 40 lawmakers to vote against the plan.
The bill, passed by the House last week and will soon be considered by the Senate, is a sweeping package that includes assurances of paid emergency leave for people affected by the coronavirus outbreak. It also has help for states to pay unemployment benefits and Medicaid, and funds food aid for seniors and lower income people.
It passed 363-40, with 140 Republicans joining 223 Democrats voting yes. All 40 no votes were Republicans. California’s five other Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Devin Nunes, voted yes."
With masks at the ready, ICE agents make arrests on first day of California's lockdown
LA Times's BRITTNY MEJIA: "In the darkness of the early hours Monday, about a dozen immigration agents gathered outside a Starbucks in Bell Gardens.
For the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who make daily arrests, it was supposed to be business as usual.
But that morning, they greeted one another with elbows instead of handshakes; the Starbucks where they rendezvoused was only grab and go; and they passed freeway signs that read: “Wash your hands stay healthy avoid COVID-19."
SCUSD says substitute teacher has died of COVID-19
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR/TONY BIZJAK: "A temporary volunteer and substitute teacher who worked at Sutterville Elementary School in February and tested positive for coronavirus died on Sunday, according to a statement released by the Sacramento City Unified School District.
The district announced last week that the substitute tested positive for the virus, and responded by deep cleaning the school.
“Today the Sacramento City Unified School District was deeply saddened to learn that the individual who worked as a temporary volunteer and a substitute teacher in our district has passed away,” said district Superintendent Jorge Aguilar. “We join the family, friends, colleagues and students in grieving this tragic loss. This death underscores the seriousness of this current public health emergency. Sac City Unified will continue to implement any and all measures recommended by public health leaders to protect the health and safety of our students, our staff, and our community."
Kamala Harris tops the VP list. Here are some other possibilities
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Now that Joe Biden has committed to naming a woman as his vice presidential candidate — and Bernie Sanders has responded that “in all likelihood,” he would, too — it is time for the way-too-early Democratic veepstakes.
Biden, who is on a roll in the primaries and has taken the lead in the delegate count, is getting plenty of advice. One person who probably carries a great deal of weight is South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, whose endorsement before the state’s primary last month pulled Biden’s campaign off life support.
“I’ll never tell you who I’m going to advise him,” Clyburn told Axios, “but I would advise him that we need to have a woman on the ticket, and I prefer an African American woman."
Nia Wilson murder trial: John Lee Cowell ruled sane at time of attack, faces life in prison
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "The judge overseeing the Nia Wilson murder trial took an extraordinary step Monday by halting what would have been the third day of jury deliberations and rendering a verdict himself: John Lee Cowell was sane when he fatally stabbed the 18-year-old woman at an Oakland BART station in 2018.
Judge Allan Hymer’s verdict was announced in a closed Alameda County courtroom a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom directed people 65 and older to isolate themselves at home due to the coronaviruspandemic. Several of the 12 jurors — as well as Hymer — are over 65.
While Wilson’s family and prosecutor Butch Ford cheered the judge’s swift action, the circumstances of the ruling almost certainly set the case up for an appeal by defense attorneys. Ford said prior to Hymer’s verdict that jurors were leaning 11 to 1 toward a sanity finding."
Hollywood production has shut down. Why thousands of workers are feeling the pain
LA Times's STACY PERMAN/WENDY LEE/ANOUSHA SAKOUI: "For 30 years, Frank Novak has weathered recessions, strikes and the slump following the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
But the owner of L.A.-based prop house Modernica said he’s never experienced the kind of business fallout currently confronting the entertainment business, as movie and TV productions grind to a halt due to the speading coronavirus pandemic.
“This is the great unknown,” he said."
COVID-19 strikes at Amazon's operational heart in Europe
LA Times's STAFF: "At least five workers at Amazon.com Inc. warehouses in Europe have contracted the novel coronavirus, a sobering development for a company already struggling to deal with a surge in orders for food and household essentials from customers hunkering down at home.
Cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, have appeared at Amazon warehouses in Spain and Italy, two countries hard-hit by the spreading disease. In both nations, the company has opted to keep the three facilities open, prompting criticism from unions that Amazon is putting sales ahead of worker safety; on Monday workers at Amazon’s main Italian logistics hub in Castel San Giovanni called for a strike.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the world’s largest online retailer is struggling to recruit enough people to pick, pack and deliver the surge in orders — and on Monday announced plans to hire 100,000 workers and raise pay in the U.S. and Canada by $2 an hour through April."
White House reportedly seeks $850B economic stimulus
AP: "The White House is proposing a roughly $850-billion emergency stimulus to address the economic cost of the new coronavirus, sources tell the Associated Press.
The request will be outlined to Senate Republicans on Tuesday and will aim to provide relief for small businesses and the airline industry and include a massive tax cut for wage-earners, the sources said.
Two people familiar with the request described it to AP on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly."
