"Guilty, your honor."

Jun 17, 2020

PG&E pleads guilty to manslaughter charges for Camp Fire, deadliest in California history

 

Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "The names were read aloud, their photographs projected on a courtroom wall, the victims of the deadliest wildfire in California history.

 

Paul Ernest. Joanne Caddy. Larry Brown. Rose Farrell, Robert Quinn, Vernice Regan and all the rest.

 

After each name was read, the chief executive of PG&E Corp. solemnly answered: “Guilty, your honor.”"

 

Amid pandemic, hospitals face financial peril

 

LANA SCHWARTZ in Capitol Weekly: "California’s hospitals are experiencing unprecedented financial stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with net losses projected to hit $14.6 billion by the end of 2020.

 

The losses are “way above anything anyone could have anticipated… the costs have been nothing like we have ever seen before,” said Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman, for the California Hospital Association, which represents about 400 hospitals, large and small.

 

“The dramatic slowdown of non-emergency services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting dramatically reduced margins that damage hospitals’ financial strength, are expected to present unprecedented challenges to hospitals’ abilities to serve their communities and remain financially viable,” reports  a new study commissioned by the hospital association."

 

Columbus statue to be removed from California Capitol at direction of top Democrats

 

Sac Bee's MATT KRISTOFFERSEN: "Top California lawmakers on Tuesday ordered the removal of a marble sculpture depicting explorer Christopher Columbus and his patron, Queen Isabella, from the Capitol Rotunda.

 

The statue has been in the Capitol for more than a century. Top lawmakers called for its removal a day after a statue showing white settler John Sutter was taken down in front of the Sacramento hospital that bears his name.

 

“Christopher Columbus is a deeply polarizing historical figure given the deadly impact his arrival in this hemisphere had on indigenous populations. The continued presence of this statue in California’s Capitol, where it has been since 1883, is completely out of place today,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement."

 

CW Podcast: Maeley Tom

 

Capitol Weekly STAFF: "The Capitol Weekly Podcast welcomes Maeley Tom, a longtime legislative staffer and Democratic Party stalwart who played a pioneering role as one of the first Asian women in California’s capitol. Tom chats about her new memoir, I’m Not Who You Think I Am, and she joins (from a safe social distance) editor John Howard to chat about her career in Sacramento and the amazing backstory that led her there.

 

The daughter of Cantonese Opera stars, Tom’s childhood was anything but average, and she gained a resilience that served her well when she entered the nearly all-white, nearly all-male world of the state Legislature in 1974. Tom knew and worked with many leading political figures, including Lou Papan, Art Torres, Maxine Waters, Willie Brown, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Through triumphs and scandal, Tom has maintained her commitment to giving the Asian American community a stronger voice in public affairs."

 

For the first time, a drug is found to reduce virus death rate

 

The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "A steroid long used in hospitals to control inflammation significantly reduced fatalities in seriously ill COVID-19 patients during a drug trial, marking the first time any coronavirus treatment has proven to prevent deaths, said a University of Oxford study released Tuesday.

 

The drug dexamethasone reduced deaths among patients on ventilators by one-third and cut fatalities for people receiving oxygen by one-fifth in a drug trial involving 6,425 coronavirus patients in the United Kingdom, university scientists said.

 

“Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19,” said Peter Horby, an infectious disease expert at the University of Oxford, in a statement. “The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients."

 

READ MORE related to Pandemic: These California counties have seen a surge in cases since reopening -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY/MIKE MASSA; 'I have broken no laws.' How defiant NorCal church thwarted COVID-19 trackers -- Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW/TONY BIZJAK; Foster youth face even more challenges amid pandemic -- EdSource's ASHLEY A SMITH

Youth protest may be key to racial transformation in the United States

 

EdSource's LOUIS FREEDBERG: "June 16 — Youth Day in South Africa — commemorates the day in 1976 when black youth in Soweto rose up against the apartheid regime.

 

The triggering impulse was their rejection of being forced to take classes in Afrikaans in their schools, a language most closely identified with the white minority government.

 

But it reflected a broader rejection of hundreds of years of racial rule — and, in their view, the failure of their parents and prior generations to stand up to sufficiently to injustice."

California DOJ would investigate more police shootings under Dem's plan

 

Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Amid national protests over police brutality and calls for changes to how officers do their jobs, a California Democrat wants the state Department of Justice to more often handle independent investigations into incidents of deadly force.

 

Assembly Bill 1506 would allow local law enforcement agencies and district attorneys to more regularly request the attorney general to launch a formal review of situations where an officer used force that resulted in death or harm. The Department of Justice would have to review the incident and, upon its conclusion, could pursue prosecution should that force be found unwarranted.

 

The proposal would also create a new police practices division by 2023 in the department that would specifically handle requests by local agencies to review policies and practices related to use-of-force."

 

Red flag warning issued for high fire danger across much of Northern/Central California

 

Sac Bee's JASON ANDERSON: "The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Tuesday due to high fire danger across much of Northern and Central California.

 

Forecasters said gusty north winds coupled with dry conditions and low humidity will create critical fire conditions over the next couple of days in portions of the Central Valley and Delta regions. The weather service said the warning would be in effect from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Thursday, when lighter winds are expected to arrive.

 

The warning was issued for the Sacramento Valley, the surrounding foothills, the Delta region and the northern San Joaquin Valley, stretching from Redding to Modesto. The warning applies to fire zones in Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba counties."

 

READ MORE related to Wildfire Season: Wildfire zooms to 1k acres near Copperopolis ahead of red flag warning for California -- Sac Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI

 

Renegade restaurants and maskless partying at bars set off new coronavirus alarm

 

LA Times's STAFF: "California has been aggressively reopening businesses in recent weeks, with health officials saying social distancing and other safety rules are essential in preventing the further spread of the coronavirus.

 

New cases continue to increase in California, but health officials say that’s because of more testing and not community spread from reopened businesses.

 

But they fear new outbreaks, especially if people take part in risky behavior."

 

Healdsburg mayor resigns after refusing to support inquiry into police policies

 

The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The mayor of Healdsburg resigned Monday night in the face of growing criticism over comments she made two weeks ago, denying the city had a problem with systemic racism and refusing to review the Police Department’s use-of-force policies.

 

Leah Gold submitted her resignation hours after the City Council met and attention was given to her statements, which prompted a protest and petition demanding her resignation.

 

Gold dismissed the need for an inquiry when asked during a June 1 online meeting of the council to call for a city investigation into police practices. The affluent Sonoma County city, known for its wineries and vineyards, quickly found itself embroiled in a controversy regarding police brutality, systemic injustice and white privilege."

 

Sacramento supes OK 'placeholder' budget amid pandemic and myriad calls to defund sheriff

 

Sac Bee's ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "Sacramento County has approved a placeholder budget to last the next three months, as county staff continues to assess the financial fallout of the coronavirus and elected officials face calls to reallocate Sheriff’s Office funding amid ongoing protest of police brutality.

 

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend its current more than $4 billion budget, giving county staff more time to assess the impacts of the pandemic and plan for potential department cuts.

 

That means funding levels will stay the same across departments through the summer."

 

SF Mayor Breed proposes parcel tax to fund teacher wages, pivot around lawsuit

 

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "Mayor London Breed said Tuesday she’s proposing a $288 parcel tax for the November ballot that would generate $50 million annually for the San Francisco Unified School District’s teachers.

 

The measure, which Breed has named the “Fair Wages for Educators Act,” comes amid a punishing budget crisis for the district that’s forcing school officials to confront a projected $148 million deficit in the 2021-22 fiscal year — a 16% reduction from the district’s current budget.

 

The measure would replace a nearly identical parcel tax San Francisco voters passed in 2018. That measure, Proposition G on the June 2018 ballot, was intended to give SFUSD teachers a $5,500 salary boost. Prop G succeeded with more than 61% of the vote. But the measure has been tied up in litigation over the simple-majority voter threshold used to pass it. San Francisco resident Wayne Nowak challenged the city’s use of the lower threshold, with the backing of the multinational law firm Greenberg Traurig."

 

SF supes pick Larry Bush for Ethics Commission -- other appointments not so smooth

 

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco supervisors Tuesday unanimously appointed longtime local-government watchdog Larry Bush to the Ethics Commission, the body charged with enforcing the city’s campaign finance and anti-corruption laws.

 

Bush’s confirmation fills the last vacant seat on the Ethics Commission at a time when the shadow of the Mohammed Nuru corruption scandal still looms over San Francisco government. Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and charged with wire fraud in connection with an alleged attempt to bribe a San Francisco airport commissioner.

 

Bush said he hopes to rally his colleagues on the Ethics Commission to police the city’s good-government laws and advocate for systemic changes. The commission has been criticized for the slow pace of its investigations and for nibbling around the edges of public accountability — levying fines for minor violations while major wrongdoings continue."

 

China aims to 'lead the world' by winning the coronavirus vaccine race

 

LA Times's ALICE SU: "They weren’t just vaccine volunteers. They were “revolutionary comrades in arms,” nearly 200 mostly young, brave souls putting their bodies on the line for China and for the world.

 

“I’m not afraid,” said Zhang Jing, a vaccine trial volunteer, as she and her husband, Zhao Wei, rolled up their sleeves to receive injections, according to a report in the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily. Zhao worried that their child would be orphaned if they didn’t survive. But Zhang said: “I believe in the motherland.”

 

Such is the heroic narrative Beijing is promoting as China, having largely contained the coronavirus outbreak within its borders – though fears of a second wave recently struck the capital – sets its sights on the ambitious goal of developing the first COVID-19 vaccine."

 

Suspected cop killer, charged in fatal shooting of Oakland security guard, linked to right-wing extremist group

 

The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI/ALEJANDRO SERRANO: "On the morning of May 29, federal authorities say, as protests erupted nationwide over the police killing of George Floyd, a Travis Air Force Base staff sergeant and purported follower of the anti-government extremist Boogaloo movement sat at his computer at the Fairfield base plotting how to target law enforcement during the civil unrest.

 

“Go to the riots and support our own cause,” Steven Carrillo typed into a Facebook post, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Tuesday. “Show them the real targets. Use their anger to fuel our fire. Think outside the box. We have mobs of angry people to use to our advantage.”

 

Later that night, federal investigators say, as angry protesters marched through downtown Oakland streets in the city’s most chaotic night of police clashes, Carrillo took advantage of the distraction, spraying a guard shack outside the Oakland federal building with bullets from the open door of his van with his handmade assault rifle. Robert Alvin Justus Jr., a Millbrae man he’d met for the first time only hours before, drove the two away as an exhilarated Carrillo yelled, “Did you see how they f—ing fell!” according to the affidavit."

 

READ MORE related to Militia Uprising: What we know about the 'Boogaloo Bois' -- The Chronicle's ALEJANDRO SERRANO; Suspected murderer posted criticism of police in hours leading up to shooting -- The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI/ALEJANDRO SERRANO; California city confronts racist reputation after self-proclaimed militia shows up -- Sac Bee's JOHN HOLLAND

 

Bay Area home salkes fall by half in May vs. last year; prices off 2.5%

 

The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "The coronavirus pushed Bay Area home sales off a cliff in May.

 

The number of existing, single-family home sales that closed last month fell 51.1% compared with the same month last year and the median price dropped 2.5%, according to a report issued Tuesday by the California Association of Realtors.

 

Between April and May, sales fell 6.7% and the median price dropped 1.5% to $965,000, said the report, which excludes condominiums, newly built homes and homes that were not advertised on a Multiple Listing Service."

 

Unarmed non-police specialists would handle mental health and substance abuse calls in defunding initiative

 

LA Times's DAKOTA SMITH: "Several Los Angeles City Council members called Tuesday for a new emergency-response model that uses trained specialists, rather than LAPD officers, to render aid to homeless people and those suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues.

 

A motion submitted by City Council members Nury Martinez, Herb Wesson, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Bob Blumenfield asks city departments to work with the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to develop a model that diverts nonviolent calls for service away from the LAPD and to “appropriate non-law enforcement agencies.”

 

The LAPD now has a “greater role in dealing with homelessness, mental health and even COVID-19-related responses” the motion states, blaming budget cuts to social service programs for the city’s increased reliance on police officers."

 

READ MORE related to Public Safety, Police Brutality Protests & The Defund Movement: Activists, students, parents rally for end to LA school police -- LA Times's SONALI KOHLI/HOWARD BLUME; They documented the '92 LA uprising. Here's how the post-Floyd BLM movement compares -- LA Times's GREG BRAXTON; CHP overtime costs for Floyd protests estimated at $38.2M -- Sac Bee's SAM STANTON/SOPHIA BOLLAG; Lawsuit claims Sac police need racial training after holding teens at gunpoint -- Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT

 

Bay Area food automation goes from niche to necessity during pandemic

 

The Chronicle's JUSTIN PHILLIPS: "Before the coronavirus pandemic, Chowbotic’s salad-making robotnamed Sally was mostly seen in the food world as a quirky, non-essential gadget capable of stealing headlines for any business using one. But in a new dining landscape shaped by social distancing and increased sanitation practices, Sally is a necessity.

 

The same can be said for a Bay Area robot called Chef B, which makes more than three dozen 12-ounce smoothies in an hour without human assistance. Similarly, a state-of-the-art indoor farming startup is gaining traction in San Jose, and a San Francisco burger restaurant is making waves for serving takeout orders through a pressurized transfer chamber, which incorporates a miniature conveyor belt. It’s the first of its kind in the city.

 

As Bay Area residents focus more on cleanliness during the pandemic, food automation, which removes a significant amount of human contact with food in the preparation process, has jumped from a niche commodity to a pillar of the region’s dining culture. And much of the innovation can be traced to the Bay Area."

 

In a pear orchard, reminders of Japanese Americans imprisoned at Manzanar

 

LA Times's LO UIS SAHAGUN: "The orchards planted in the 1920s around the old town of Manzanar have faced drought, flooding, wildfires, pests, marauding elk and trespassers armed with chain saws.

US & Mexico agree to extend border restrictions for an extra month

 

LA Times's ALEXANDRA MENDOZA: "Travel restrictions at the U.S-Mexico border will remain in place through July 21, officials said Tuesday.

 

“Mexico and the United States have agreed to extend for 30 days more restrictions on nonessential land traffic on their common border, after reviewing the development of the spread of COVID-19 in both countries,” Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

 

“The restrictions will remain in the same terms as implemented since March 21. Both countries will continue coordinating sanitary measures in the border region."

 

Trump admin sues to stop release of John Bolton book

 

AP: "The Trump administration sued former national security advisor John Bolton on Tuesday to stop the publication of a book that the White House says contains classified information.

 

The civil lawsuit in Washington’s federal court follows warnings from President Trump that Bolton could face a “criminal problem” if he doesn’t halt plans to publish the book, which is scheduled for release next week. The administration contends that the former advisor did not complete a pre-publication review to ensure that the manuscript did not contain classified material.

 

The Justice Department is requesting that a federal court order Bolton to “instruct or request” that his publisher further delay publication of the book to allow for a completion of the national security review process and “retrieve and dispose” of existing copies in a manner acceptable to the government."

 

GOP Senate sites on broad gay rights bill as high court bans LGBTQ job bias

 

The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "Even as the Supreme Court banned employment discrimination against LGBTQ people Monday, Congress remains far from passing legislation that would do the same in other facets of life.

 

The House approved a bill barring discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender identity in May 2019, with all Democrats and eight Republicans in favor. But the Equality Act has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate, where it has only one GOP co-sponsor.

 

Now, advocates say, the Supreme Court ruling extending employment protections for gay, lesbian and transgender Americans shows the need for more action by Congress."

 

Vegas is waking up. This California town on the road is struggling to come back to life

 

LA Times's STEPHANIE LAI: "Lazarus Dabour used to arrive at the Mad Greek Cafe before the sun rose above the desert sky. He’d scan the 24-hour restaurant’s parking lot, clean the bathrooms, monitor the cash register, and prep fan-favorite breakfast items such as strawberry shakes or La Bomba breakfast burritos.

 

On a busy day, the restaurant’s 29-year-old general manager could serve as many as 1,200 customers before straggling off after a 16-hour shift.

 

But this was not a normal day. It was June 4 and Las Vegas casinos had just reopened after the coronavirus shut down the famed Strip, along with much of the country. His family’s restaurant had not seen a customer in more than two months. This Mojave Desert town on the way to Las Vegas became so dead that the Dabours simply closed down to renovate."