Chaos in California’s largest state government union as VPs lock out Local 1000 president
WES VENTEICHER, SacBee: "California’s largest state employee union reached a new level of disarray Monday as three top officers locked the union’s president out of the organization’s Sacramento headquarters.
The lockout came after the three elected vice presidents of SEIU Local 1000 took action Sunday to suspend President Richard Louis Brown. Brown said Monday he would not recognize the suspension.
The effort is the latest attempt from within the divided organization to remove Brown, who was elected in May on promises of dues reductions, pay raises and major changes to the traditional way of doing things at the influential public employee union. A group of board members has been trying to strip Brown’s leadership powers since October, and filed a lawsuit last month seeking to compel the change.
Father kills 4, including his 3 daughters, before shooting himself at Sacramento-area church
ROSALIO AHUMADA and SAM STANTON, SacBee: "Five people are dead, including three children, after a man opened fire inside a Sacramento-area church Monday night before turning the gun on himself.
The 39-year-old gunman, who was the father of the children, then shot and killed himself inside the church, where a supervised visit was to take place.
The three girls killed were 9, 10 and 13, said Sgt. Rodney Grassmann, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
READ MORE on slayings: Sacramento mass shooter wasn’t supposed to have a gun. His restraining order didn’t stop him -- SAM STANTON, SacBee.
California snow levels plummet in February, ensuring third year of drought
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "With California’s wet season nearing its end, snow levels across the state remain disappointingly low, and state officials are warning that a lack of melt-off will mean another year of difficult water shortages.
Officials with the California Department of Water Resources, who are scheduled to conduct their monthly snow survey on Tuesday, will find snowpack in the state’s mountains measuring less than 65% of average for the date. The reading bodes poorly for the scores of reservoirs that fill with melted snow — the source of almost a third of California’s water.
The unenviable situation follows an unusual eight-week dry spell at the heart of the wet season. Some parts of the state have seen record stretches without winter rain along with record heat. While the winter began with several promising storms, with the cumulative snowpack climbing to 160% of average on Jan. 1, the firehose shut off after the new year started, shattering hopes that two years of drought would come to a close."
L.A. County will align with state to end school mask mandate after March 11
HOWARD BLUME, LA Times: "Los Angeles County health officials on Monday said they will align with the state’s move to end indoor school masking requirements after March 11, giving officials in the county’s 80 schools districts — including L.A. Unified — the ability to make their own decision about whether to continue with local mandates.
The decision sets up a likely conflict in L.A. Unified between those who favor indoor masking rules and those who don’t. The teachers union on Monday said it would be premature to end the mandate.
As recently as last week, county officials had not committed to a quick end to the school mandate, citing the continued prevalence of coronavirus infection in the community, despite rapidly declining infection and hospitalization rates."
California is lifting more indoor mask rules. What does this mean for me?
RONG GONG LIN II and LUKE MONEY, LA Times: "With the Omicron wave of the coronavirus flattening, California is about to make more big moves in its mask rules.
Officials said masks will be strongly recommended — but no longer required — for unvaccinated individuals in most indoor settings starting Tuesday.
The statewide requirement that unvaccinated people remain masked in indoor public settings has remained consistent since California fully reopened last June. But the rule has received comparatively less attention, since the state hasn’t required businesses to verify vaccination status for most customers."
California says even unvaccinated now can unmask indoors
The Chronicle, Catherine Ho: "California will no longer require unvaccinated residents to wear masks in most indoor public settings starting Tuesday, state officials said Monday, removing one of the last COVID-19 restrictions regarding face coverings in the nation’s most populous state.
The state had dropped its universal indoor mask mandate on Feb. 16, allowing vaccinated people to stop wearing masks in most indoor settings, but the easing did not extend to unvaccinated people — they still were required to wear masks at that time. Monday’s announcement is the first time health officials explicitly said that unvaccinated people can go mask-free in most indoor public settings.
For everyone, masks will still be required on public transit and in shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities and long-term care facilities, which is required by federal rules. The state will continue to “strongly recommend” masks for vaccinated and unvaccinated people in most indoor settings, emphatic wording that nonetheless stops short of a mandate."
Cost-of-living increases for CalPERS pensions rise to highest level in 30 years, driven by inflation
WES VENTEICHER, SacBee: "CalPERS is adding the largest cost-of-living increases to retirees’ pensions in 32 years due to high inflation.
Public employees who retired between 2006 and 2014 and some others will receive a 4.7% bump this year, according to figures the California Public Employees’ Retirement System posted to its website Thursday.
That’s the largest increase since 1990, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics figures on which CalPERS’ calculations are based.
Blame game over O.C. oil spill heats up as pipeline company sues shipping firms
LAT, LAURA J. NELSON/CONNOR SHEETS: "Two cargo ships that allegedly dragged an oil pipeline with their anchors during a winter storm should be held liable for a disastrous October oil spill that sent thousands of gallons of crude into the waters off Orange County, the operator of the ruptured pipeline said in a lawsuit filed Monday.
In a 35-page complaint filed in federal court, Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. accused two shipping companies and their subsidiaries — based in Switzerland, Panama, Liberia and Greece — of improperly allowing their cargo ships to drop anchor near the pipeline and of failing to notify authorities after the damage occurred.
Without the presence of the cargo ship anchors, “the pipeline would not have been displaced or damaged and thus would not have failed,” Amplify said in the complaint."
He pleaded guilty to voter fraud charges. That hasn’t stopped one operative from building a signature-gathering army
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "A political operative whose company is gathering signatures for two of the state’s most contested ballot measures this year was previously convicted of falsifying his voter registration in California and has been accused of using misleading tactics in multiple states.
Mark Anthony Jacoby, 38, who owns petition firm Let the Voters Decide, announced this month that his company is paying canvassers $7.50 to $8.50 per signature, or $16 total, for each person they persuade to sign two ballot initiatives, including one related to tax increases and another that would allow tribes to expand gambling.
“A lot of money to be paid out between these two issues alone,” Jacoby posted in a private Facebook group for his signature-gatherers. “We will be paying out between $40 million and $50 million in the next 90 days.”"
California EDD improves language access for non-English speakers
The Chronicle, CAROLYN SAID: "Californians whose primary language is not English have faced huge barriers in seeking unemployment benefits — unable to communicate or forced to rely on sometimes-predatory go-betweens.
Now they should find it easier to apply to the state Employment Development Department for benefits, thanks to a settlement the agency made with several advocacy groups and a $21 million two-year budget allocation.
It’s a massive issue. California is the nation’s most linguistically diverse state with 7 million residents who speak a language other than English at home. While most are Spanish speakers, 2.4 million speak one of more than 200 other languages. Many are low-wage service workers."
UC Berkeley’s resident falcon is missing. Researchers are worried she may be dead
The Chronicle, RYCE STOUGHTENBOROUGH: "The beloved female peregrine falcon that made her home atop UC Berkeley’s bell tower has been missing for nearly a week, according to a statement from the college.
Annie, who first nestled into the Berkeley’s Campanile in 2016 with her mate, Grinnell, has not been seen in her makeshift home since last Wednesday.
Sean Peterson, a UC ornithologist, said that given her long absence, it’s most possible that Annie has flown the coop. Despite Annie’s absence, Grinnell still remains in their home and seems “totally healthy.”"
S.F. teachers union official sparks controversy by sharing a social media post blaming the U.S. for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "A top official in San Francisco’s teachers union landed in the center of a corrosive political divide in the city after sharing a social media post that blamed the U.S. and NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“While we do not support the Russian invasion, we reserve our strongest condemnation for the U.S. government, which rejected Russia’s legitimate security concerns in the region, with total intransigence that they knew could provoke such a war,” read the post by Leela Anand of the U.S. Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Frank Lara, executive vice president of the United Educators of San Francisco, amplified the statement by sharing it on his Facebook page on Feb. 24."
Head of Oakland police union blames staffing crisis on City Council’s ‘anti-police rhetoric’
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "The head of the Oakland police union sent a scathing letter Monday to the president of the City Council citing a police staffing crisis and calling on her to “stop the anti-police rhetoric” — to which the City Council president fired back to say she and others value the Police Department’s work.
In a letter addressed to City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Barry Donelan, the head of the police union, said the staffing crisis is “fueled by the anti-police rhetoric continually streaming from your City Council meetings, which is driving hardworking, dedicated Oakland police officers to leave in droves at a time when Oakland residents are facing decade-high levels of violent crime.”
In his letter, Donelan said that from 2010 to 2020, the city lost an average of 60 officers per year, mostly due to retirement. In 2021, the Oakland Police Department lost 86 officers — 37 transferred to different law enforcement agencies, 22 left law enforcement and 27 retired."
Russian missiles pound Kharkiv as Ukraine talks bring no breakthrough
LAT, NABIH BULOS, HENRY CHU: "Russia and Ukraine’s first round of talks Monday failed to ease Europe’s biggest ground war in 75 years as Russian missiles pounded Ukraine’s second-largest city, troops pressed closer to the capital, Kyiv, and more than half a million Ukrainians fled the country.
International efforts to punish and isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin intensified and took aim at his country’s most important finances. Even traditionally neutral Switzerland joined the growing coalition of nations imposing a raft of sanctions on Putin and associates, demanding Russia withdraw its troops immediately.
But Putin seemed to remain impervious to the pressure and insisted Russia was not targeting civilians in its attacks despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Rather than back down, Putin may be driven to increasingly brutal tactics, several experts warned."
