May 4, 2020

04May

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

Business owners plead with local officials to ‘Reopen Turlock’

Turlock Journal

As hundreds rallied in front of the California State Capitol on Friday in protest of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders, a Facebook group created by Turlock business owners who want to go back to work continued to gain momentum online.

EDITORIAL: Calls to reopen Stanislaus County muffled by Turlock nursing home coronavirus calamity

Modesto Bee

The nightmare unfolding in Turlock serves as a caution to us all. Last week, seven of the nine mayors in Stanislaus County called for an aggressive business reopening here.

Coronavirus update: Latest numbers; city offices closed; a chance for educators?

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County deaths increased to 14 on Saturday. A total of 400 people have tested positive for the virus. Another 6,339 tested negative. Eighty-five people have been hospitalized, and 254 have recovered.

Officials extend closure of Tenth Street Place, the government center in Modesto

Modesto Bee

Modesto and Stanislaus County will continue to keep Tenth Street Place, the downtown city-county administration center, closed to the public at least through May 18.

Modesto rally brings out those who support reopening local businesses closed in pandemic

Modesto Bee

Michael Wood’s family has owned Southside Vacuum in Modesto since 1991. Two weeks ago, Wood said police were called to the store and tried to close the shop because they weren’t essential.

Central SJ Valley:

Fresno is growing, but how much? New data reveals San Joaquin Valley’s population trends

Fresno Bee

Fresno maintained its status as California’s fifth-largest city, while neighboring Clovis earned a place as one of the fastest growing cities in the state over the past year.

See also:

Fresno mayor extends shelter in place and outlines plan to reopen businesses

Fresno Bee

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand on Friday extended the city’s shelter in place order until May 31 and outlined the city’s methodical approach to allowing businesses to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.

See also:

Coronavirus updates: The region’s weekend numbers; Can state, federal aid keep farms afloat?

Fresno Bee

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavius continued to rise in the central San Joaquin Valley over the weekend, though at a slightly slower pace than the previous week, which saw large daily increases.

Bass Lake sees plenty of weekend visitors despite COVID-19 guidelines

abc30

With Valley temperatures climbing toward the 100-degree mark next weekend, the Sierra National Forest has announced extending its recreational closures through mid-May in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

City of Parlier one of first to re-open barbershops and hair salons

yourcentralvalley.com

The City of Parlier has become one of the first in the state to re-open barbershops and hair salons. On Friday, the city signed a proclamation to allow barbershops and hair salons to re-open.

Chowchilla City Council announces launch of new program for businesses

Madera Tribune

Pursuant to the adoption of Resolution No. 34-20, the Chowchilla City Council authorized the creation of the “Save Our Community Businesses Program” and allocated funds totaling $100,000 to be administered as a grant program by the Community and Economic Development Department.

Madera County Extends COVID-19 Health Order Until May 31

Sierra News

Madera County Department of Public Health Officer Dr. Simon Paul has extended until May 31 the County’s Health Order to “monitor, test and treat” febrile respiratory illness — coronavirus — for health care providers, county employers and county residents.

MAGA Mayday rally urges Newsom to reopen state

Visalia Times Delta

From Tulare County to New Jersey, there has been a flare-up of protests against stay-at-home orders issued by governors. On Friday afternoon, it was Visalia’s turn on the protest stage.

Mendota Mayor Fears COVID-19 Case Numbers Are Higher Than Officials Say

VPR

Mendota currently has 8 confirmed cases of the coronavirus but Mayor Rolando Castro says he thinks the number is higher. Rural farm towns like Mendota are home to large populations of undocumented people. Many of those undocumented residents think getting tested will lead to other problems, Castro says.

Rep. Nunes: California Gov. Newsom ‘declared war on open space’ with park, beach closures

Fox News

House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, told “Fox & Friends Sunday” that California Gov. Gavin Newsom has “declared war on open space” after he announced additional closures of beaches and state parks, prompting loud protests over the weekend.

VALLEY VOICES: Valley’s common ground, uncommon solutions: A regular column by Jenny Toste in The Bee

Fresno Bee

After weeks of daily COVID-19 updates, I was happy to think about the future. It reminded me that every challenge presents an opportunity, and while some of us may be thanking our lucky stars for surviving the pandemic thus far, so many others in this region of extreme poverty are not.

South SJ Valley:

Why rural communities across California want to reopen early

Visalia Times Delta

In the Kern County oil city of Taft, officials are careful when explaining their stance on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bid to stem the spread of coronavirus by shuttering much of the economy.

Give Big Kern pivots focus online to aid local nonprofits

Bakersfield Californian

In its fifth year, Give Big Kern hopes to be a “ray of hope” during a time of much uncertainty. That’s according to Louis Medina, director of community impact with Kern Community Foundation.

Anti-government shutdown protest springs up in downtown Bakersfield

Bakersfield Californian

A strong contingent of Kern County residents came out Friday to Bakersfield City Hall to protest the statewide shutdown ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

County Public Health: Local order rescinded in anticipation of governor’s directions

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County Public Health Services sent a news release Saturday night stating that a local health order issued April 2 was rescinded effective immediately.

See also:

●     Kern County Public Health Officials Urge Residents to Follow Stay-at-Home Orders VPR

County’s testing capacity — a possible path out of shutdown — set to grow

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County’s capacity to test for the coronavirus is ramping up, which will eventually provide a more accurate picture of the pandemic’s local reach and pave the way for reopening locally.

Price: In Kern, as elsewhere, science trumps restlessness every time

Bakersfield Californian

A commercial has been airing on national television for the past three weeks that promotes something I’ve not seen advertised before: science. Not a product that has wrapped itself in the idea of “science.” Not a service that owes its existence to an exciting, new advancement in “science.” Just “science.”

State:

Criticism grows over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s management of the coronavirus crisis

Los Angeles Times

Advocates for seniors and people with disabilities blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration last week for advising hospitals to prioritize younger people with greater life expectancy for care during the coronavirus outbreak, saying the state’s medical shortage guidelines were discriminatory and crafted without their input.

See also:

32 arrested in California Capitol protest demanding end to stay-at-home order, CHP says

Fresno Bee

In the most intense protest yet against California’s stay-at-home order, demonstrators crowded the Capitol on Friday and scuffled with California Highway Patrol officers who had ordered them to disperse.

See also:

2 California counties set to reopen despite stay-home order

Bakersfield Californian

Yuba and Sutter counties north of Sacramento would join Modoc County, which began allowing hair salons, churches, restaurants and the county’s only movie theater to reopen Friday as long as people stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.

See also:

Fact check: Newsom didn’t mention that jobless payments for self-employed will come in phases

Sacramento Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised quick payments for anguished constituents from a new program funded by Congress aimed at instantly helping people not eligible for regular unemployment insurance who lost their jobs or faced cutbacks because of the coronavirus outbreak.

California Could Be ‘Many Days, Not Weeks’ From Modifications To Stay-At-Home Order

Capital Public Radio

Newsom said some changes could come as soon as next week, but did not provide specifics on what those may be. The announcement came as demonstrators protested at the Capitol.

See also:

How Coronavirus Is Busting California’s $187 Million Census Campaign

Capital Public Radio

Despite investing more than any other state, California’s response rate is off more than 10% from the final 2010 count. Even with extensions, there’s a possibility for a record low turnout that would sink the state’s $187 million investment.

See also:

COVID-19 finally came. Armed with a plan, Mariposa County was waiting to fight back

Los Angeles Times

Dr. Eric Sergienko was already in his office early last Tuesday when his cellphone pinged with the message he had been both expecting and dreading.

California legislators return for grim session upended by coronavirus

San Francisco Chronicle

Legislators return to the state Capitol on Monday for the first time in nearly two months, confronting an urgent need to deal with coronavirus legislation and a formidable budget deficit.

See also:

Walters: State budget will take a very big hit

CalMatters

General fund revenues — principally personal income taxes paid by affluent Californians — dropped by about 20% and to maintain basic services, the Legislature and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ran up deficits and covered them with borrowed money.

Walters: Who should pay for pandemic impacts?

CalMatters

The COVID-19 pandemic and the severe economic recession it induced are disasters unparalleled in recent generations and it will take years to fully recover from their human and financial tolls.

EDITORIAL: In reversal, California Democratic Party to release parts of sexual misconduct report

Sacramento Bee

It was a necessary shift to ensure accountability for Bauman and Democratic officials who apparently ignored the powerful leader’s abuse for years.

Federal:

Trump Says U.S. Death Toll Could Reach 100,000

New York Times

President Trump predicted on Sunday night that the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the country might reach as high as 100,000 in the United States, far higher than he had forecast just weeks ago, even as he pressed states to begin reopening the shuttered economy.

See also:

Trump wants to switch focus, push for economic reopening

Fresno Bee

Anxious to spur an economic recovery without risking lives, President Donald Trump insists that “you can satisfy both” — see states gradually lift lockdowns while also protecting people from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 66,000 Americans.

See also:

Senate set to re-open as virus risk divides Congress

Fresno Bee

The Senate will gavel in Monday as the coronavirus rages, returning to an uncertain agenda and deepening national debate over how best to confront the deadly pandemic and its economic devastation.

See also:

Obstacles mount for deal on next coronavirus bill

The Hill

Lawmakers are set to start returning to Washington on Monday nowhere near an agreement on the next coronavirus relief bill. Instead, they are facing a quick pile up of potential obstacles to a deal as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offer “red lines” and competing priorities for the next piece of legislation.

See also:

Opinion: Government Punts to Business Wall Street Journal

Opinion: The Coming GOP Spending Split Wall Street Journal

Commentary: The next COVID-19 relief bill must include massive aid to states, especially the hardest-hit areas Brookings

Boom-and-bust federal funding after 9/11 undercut hospitals’ preparedness for pandemics

Washington Post

Days after 9/11, Congress awarded Washington Hospital Center millions of dollars to design a new emergency department that would treat mass casualties from a terrorist attack or infectious disease and serve as a model for hospitals across the country.

Commentary: Don’t Dismiss the Protests

Fox & Hounds

Despite rallies against stay-at-home orders popping up all over California there is a tendency to dismiss protestors as a small slice of the electorate, especially in light of recent polls that show backing for Governor Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus crisis at 70% approval.

Commentary: Six COVID-related deregulations to watch

Brookings

The Trump administration has undertaken a series of deregulatory measures to address various challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brookings’ Center on Regulation and Markets is actively tracking these actions alongside the administration’s broader deregulatory agenda. We asked scholars from the Brookings Economic Studies Program for their thoughts on some of the most impactful COVID-related deregulations to date.

Opinion: The next victim of the coronavirus? American exceptionalism

Washington Post

The rise of Donald Trump, and the embarrassing failure of the American state to respond effectively to the coronavirus, has proved to the world that the United States is no longer exceptional nor, in President Barack Obama’s word, indispensable.

Hello, justice, do you hear me? Supreme Court meets by phone

Fresno Bee

It’s a morning of firsts for the Supreme Court, the first time audio of the court’s arguments will be heard live by the world and the first arguments by telephone.

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Coronavirus Trackers:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) in California

Covid19.ca.gov

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called coronavirus.

See also:

Elections 2020:

The six states at the center of the battleground map six months from Election Day

Fresno Bee

Six months from Election Day, most Americans have set aside a presidential campaign that’s been upended by the worst pandemic in modern history.

Biden, Warren: There’s no oversight of coronavirus relief — because that’s what Trump wants

Modesto Bee

Sixty-four thousand dead. Thirty million people out of work. Small businesses collapsing. Communities of color hit exceptionally hard.

Millions skipped California’s 2020 primary. Will coronavirus change who votes in November?

Los Angeles Times

California’s 2020 presidential primary officially entered the history books Friday, as state officials certified a final tally and a rate of voter turnout that, while one of the highest in recent elections, still saw fewer than half of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot.

Joe Biden gets backing of influential labor activist Dolores Huerta

Los Angeles Times

Dolores Huerta, the labor and civil rights leader who co-founded what eventually became the United Farm Workers union, endorsed Joe Biden for president on Friday. Huerta, who is based in Los Angeles and is one of the nation’s most prominent Latino activists, offered her support on International Workers Day and as Biden’s campaign seeks to improve support among Latino voters.

Pandemic could push politics to the left, progressives hope

San Francisco Chronicle

Six months ago, government-sponsored income and health care sounded like pipe dreams from failed presidential candidates. In a post-coronavirus world, progressives hope, they aren’t so far-fetched.

Amy Klobuchar has inside track to be Joe Biden’s running mate

San Francisco Chronicle

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s common-sense style could help bring not just her home state of Minnesota but other swing states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania into the Biden fold.

Joe Biden ‘unequivocally’ denies sex assault allegations

San Francisco Chronicle

Six weeks after a former employee accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her when she worked in his Senate office in 1993, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee tried to defuse criticism and reassure supporters by finally addressing her allegations directly in a TV interview Friday.

See also:

California finally certifies March primary election results

CalMatters

In case anyone remembers the March primary two months ago, the results were certified Friday, with 9,687,076 Californians casting ballots — a primary record. And 38.4% of eligible voters cast ballots, the second-highest primary turnout percentage in the past 38 years.

Two-Thirds of Americans Expect Presidential Election Will Be Disrupted by COVID-19

PEW

Over the past two months, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has had a devastating impact on nearly all aspects of life in the United States. And now, most Americans expect it will disrupt the presidential election in November.

Biden campaigns from his basement. Harding ran for president from his porch.

Washington Post

“If you want to be elected, stay at home during the campaign,” a U.S. senator from Colorado joked to the presidential candidate. “That fits right in my idea,” replied Sen. Warren G. Harding (R-Ohio). In 1920, Harding ran the last “front porch” campaign by a U.S. presidential candidate from his home at 380 Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, Ohio, just north of Columbus.

Amid Coronavirus, Senate Election Trends Inch in Democrats’ Favor

Wall Street Journal

In a week marked by indicators showing the economic havoc wreaked by the coronavirus, a potentially important political indicator arrived as well, to less attention.

Coronavirus Forces Change in Trump’s Courtship of African-American Voters

Wall Street Journal

The coronavirus pandemic has complicated President Trump’s plan to attract more black voters, as the virus is hitting minority communities disproportionately hard, while draining years of economic gains and forcing political campaigns online.

Opinion: Trump Can’t Postpone the Election

Wall Street Journal

‘Mark my words, I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow,” Joe Biden recently said of President Trump during an online fundraiser. To “try” is one thing. But there are constitutional and legal reasons why a president can’t delay a federal election or extend his term of office, which should dispel any worries.

Other:

American public space, rebooted: What might it feel like?

Fresno Bee

And the American people returned to the American streets, bit by bit, place by place. And in the spaces they shared, they found a world that appeared much the same but was, in many ways, different — and changing by the day.

In rural Northern California, pandemic crushes newspapers that delivered news and warmth during winter cold

Los Angeles Times

Eight days after the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in rural Plumas County, something happened that sent shock waves through the small health department trying to keep people updated during the pandemic.

Cellphone monitoring is spreading with the coronavirus. So is an uneasy tolerance of surveillance.

Washington Post

A smartphone app in Turkey asked for Murat Bur’s identity number, his father’s name and information about his relatives. Did he have any underlying health conditions, the app wondered, presenting him a list of options. How was he feeling at the moment, it asked. It also requested permission to track his movements.

53% of Americans Say the Internet Has Been Essential During the COVID-19 Outbreak

PEW

The coronavirus outbreak has driven many commercial and social activities online and for some the internet has become an ever more crucial link to those they love and the things they need.

See also:

Most Americans say COVID-19 has changed news reporting, but many are unsure how it’s affected the industry

PEW

A solid majority of Americans say the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way journalists report the news, but they are far less certain about how the outbreak is affecting news organizations’ bottom lines, according to an April 20-26 survey conducted among 10,139 U.S. adults as part of Pew Research Center’s Election News Pathways project.

Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation

PEW

Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

What Americans Think of the News—and What That Means for Democracy

Rand

Which news source do you use the most? Do you think the news is reliable? RAND researchers asked Americans these questions and more to learn about how they consume the news. The responses provide some clues about how to address “Truth Decay,” the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life.

Cisco virtual roundtable: How to solve the digital divide impacting remote workforces and online classrooms

TechRepublic

Due to the spread of the coronavirus and the consequential lockdown measures, much of our standard day-to-day has shifted online for the remote teleworkforce and for virtual classrooms. As a result, networks have seen a surge in web traffic.

We Can’t Afford to Lose the Postal Service

The New Yorker

I am probably one of the least consequential things my mother has ever delivered. She has two other daughters, for starters—one’s a public servant and the other is a special-education teacher. But she’s also spent her working life delivering love letters, college acceptances, medications, mortgage papers, divorce filings, gold bars, headstones, ashes, and care packages.

Opinion: Can Republicans bet on a comeback?

Washington Post

Rarely have polls painted as consistent a portrait of President Trump’s and Republicans’ standing: Terrible. In multiple polls, former vice president Joe Biden has a comfortable lead nationally, and a small but consistent lead in battleground states ranging from Pennsylvania to Michigan to Arizona (!) and North Carolina.

Commentary: The pandemic will make America stronger

AEI

Arguing that America is in decline has been fashionable for at least three decades, since the pinnacle of the nation’s Cold War victory. Six in 10 Americans told pollsters last year that they believed the United States would be less important in the world in the future.

Commentary: The scariest poll finding

AEI

The year was 2008. Americans were riveted to news about the financial crisis, and they were following developments very closely. In a Gallup/USA Today question from late September, 41 percent said they were afraid. After the presidential election, concern deepened. Gallup found that 40 percent were worried “a great deal” about the possibility of the economy sinking into depression.

Commentary: Destroying trust in the media, science, and government has left America vulnerable to disaster

Brookings

For America to minimize the damage from the current pandemic, the media must inform, science must innovate, and our government must administer like never before. Yet decades of politically-motivated attacks discrediting all three institutions, taken to a new level by President Trump, leave the American public in a vulnerable position.

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, May 10, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: Unintended Consequences:  Do Open Meeting Laws Undermine Good Decision Making? – Guest: Carole D’Elia, Former Executive Director of Little Hoover Commission. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, May 10, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report – Valley Views Edition: Sunshine (Laws) in the Valley: A Good Thing? – Guests: Nate Monroe (UC Merced Professor), Paul Hurley (Former Editor, Visalia Times Delta), and Hilda Cantu Montoy (Fresno-area Attorney and former City Attorney for the City of Fresno). Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 a.m. on UniMas 61 (KTTF) – El Informe Maddy: El Censo y la Redistribución de Distritos Electorales  – Guests: Joe Hayes, Investigator del Instituto de Politicas Publicas de California, Secretario de Estado Alex Padilla y Margarita Fernandez Jefe de Relaciones Publicas de la oficina de la Auditora de California. Host: Maddy Institute Program Coordinator, Maria Jeans.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Democrats propose protections for farm workers

Roll Call

Domestic farm workers, many of them undocumented immigrants, would be covered by a bill of rights for essential workers that advocates and a group of House Democrats want included in any future economic relief bill that moves through Congress.

Executive Order on the Food Supply Chain and the Defense Production Act: FAQs

Congressional Research Service

On April 28, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to address the food supply chain for meat and poultry products during the national emergency caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Billions in coronavirus aid will go to farms. But is it enough to keep farmers afloat?

Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday a $3.6 million program to help farms and food banks stay afloat, coupled with a philanthropy pledge of $15 million. That promise came on the heels of a much larger federal aid package of $19 billion for farmers and ranchers across the country.

Grocery giveaway planned for 1,000 families in Fresno with bread, pasta, more

Fresno Bee

Groceries – including bread, pasta, fruit and more – will be given away Sunday to 1,000 families in Fresno. The U Matter drive-thru giveaway runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 2 at the Fresno Adventist Academy.

See also:

Going out to buy groceries in Fresno? Don’t forget your face mask

abc30

If you plan to head outside to visit your local grocery store or pharmacy, you may be stopped at the door if you’re not wearing a face mask.

34 more Ruiz Food employees test positive for COVID-19

abc30

34 more employees of Ruiz Foods have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of workers at the frozen food company who have contracted the coronavirus to 77.

City working to open dispensaries amid pandemic

Turlock Journal

The City of Turlock’s cannabis pilot program that will bring four retail dispensaries into town is moving forward during the coronavirus pandemic, albeit rather slowly.

Modesto pantry sees demand for food triple as more people lose jobs in pandemic

Modesto Bee

In a typical month, Interfaith Ministries of Greater Modesto hands out about 60,000 pounds of canned goods, bread, eggs, peanut butter, fresh fruits and veggies, frozen chicken and other staples through its pantry and other food programs.

Billions in coronavirus aid will go to farms. But is it enough to keep farmers afloat?

Sacramento Bee

Ryan Indart says this fall he may have to kill off some of the sheep at his east Clovis ranch. With restaurants shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, he has no market for his animals. When a new flock arrives in October, he says, he won’t have enough space in his pasture if his current flock is still there.

California to provide more food benefits for schoolchildren during the coronavirus crisis

Los Angeles Times

With California campuses closed because of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that low-income families would receive $365 per child to buy food during the next two months to make up for the loss of free and reduced-priced lunches previously provided by the schools.

Governor’s promise to immediately feed seniors hasn’t yet delivered

CalMatters

It’s the latest example of an ambitious statewide coronavirus plan that was announced before it was ready to launch. Cities and counties were caught off-guard, even though they have to implement it. The total cost could reach billions of dollars per month.

High Times owner scores 13 California marijuana dispensaries

Chicago Tribune

The owner of High Times is going to start selling marijuana after championing its use in the pages of its magazine for nearly half a century. Hightimes Holding Corp. said Tuesday is acquiring 13 dispensaries from Harvest Health and Recreation, one of the largest multi-state producers and sellers of cannabis in the U.S.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

California man arrested three times in one day, given citation and released due to state zero-bail policy

Fox KTVU

Officers with the Glendora Police Department arrested a man three times in one day due to California’s new zero-bail policy. The police department says on Wednesday, April 29th around 8:28 a.m. officers responded to a call of a man who was attempting to break into a vehicle on the 1400 block of South Grand Ave.

Opinion: COVID-19 highlights the need to protect health for all by ending mass incarceration

Sacramento Bee

It’s widely reported that incarcerated populations are at acute risk for mass infection. It’s pretty simple. People in jails and prisons can’t social distance and they can’t self-isolate. They don’t have hand sanitizer, Clorox or even enough soap and water in many cases.

See also:

Public Safety:

Public safety is more important than Constitution, ex-Fresno judge says of shutdown lawsuits

Fresno Bee

Former U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger of Fresno is casting doubt on whether lawsuits against California’s shelter-in-place order could be successful in court.

Crowded Prisons Are Festering ‘Petri Dishes’ For Coronavirus, Observers Warn

VPR

On Monday, April 6, an inmate named Dennis stayed up late at Indiana’s Plainfield Correctional Facility. He wrote to his wife, Lisa, and told her he was scared. “I can tell you right now, with nearly 100% certainty, that I am going to get this virus,” he wrote. Lisa says Dennis suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which could cause complications if he gets COVID-19. (NPR agreed to omit their last names because they fear retaliation from prison staff.)

Safety Advice for Reopening: How to Reduce Your Risks as Coronavirus Lockdowns Ease

Wall Street Journal

As communities and businesses across the country begin to reopen, more people are weighing whether—and how—they should head into work and, perhaps, visit restaurants, retail shops and hair salons.

Fire:

After COVID Pause, Forest Service ‘Moving Forward’ with Prescribed Burn Operations

Sierra News

After a temporary halt prompted by COVID-19, the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region is “moving forward with prescribed fire operations as conditions and resources permit,” according to a press release issued Friday by the agency.

Drought makes early start of the fire season likely in Northern California

Los Angeles Times

Expanding and intensifying drought in Northern California portends an early start to the wildfire season, and the National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above-normal potential for large wildfires by midsummer.

As PG&E Fire Survivors Near Deadline to Vote on Settlement, Some Still Don’t Have Ballots

KQED

With less than two weeks to go in a six-week vote by Northern California fire victims on a multibillion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E, some are still waiting to receive ballots.

ECONOMY/JOBS

Economy:

Trying To Get Back To Business When Business Has Ground To A Halt

VPR

Normally, spring is the time when Gillson Trucking’s fleet of 150 trucks are at their busiest, transporting strawberries and lettuce from the farms of California’s Central Valley to restaurants in the Northeast and Midwest.

Modesto adds $500,000 to loan program for small businesses reeling from pandemic

Modesto Bee

Modesto has an additional $500,000 to lend to small businesses reeling from the new coronavirus and will spend several hundred thousand more dollars helping others — including tenants who can’t pay their rent, nonprofits and homeless shelters — that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Some California businesses reopen in defiance of coronavirus stay-at-home orders

Los Angeles Times

As the state prepares to enter the seventh week of stay-at-home restrictions, signs of fatigue are becoming evident.

Auto Lenders Try to Lure Borrowers With Generous Terms—For Some

Wall Street Journal

Auto lenders are dangling easy financing terms to try to revive halted car sales. The catch: Those terms are typically just for people with strong credit histories. Those at the other end of the spectrum are finding it harder to get loans.

Job or Health? Restarting the Economy Threatens to Worsen Economic Inequality

New York Times

Efforts to quickly restart economic activity risk further dividing Americans into two major groups along socioeconomic lines: one that has the power to control its exposure to the coronavirus outbreak and another that is forced to choose between potential sickness or financial devastation.

West Coast business groups form reopening coalition

Politico

As companies brace for the challenges of reopening their workplaces, West Coast business leaders are forming a coalition to work with governors in California, Oregon and Washington while the three states coordinate their approach to easing restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

How This Gig Economy Law Threatens Coronavirus Response And Economic Recovery

Investor’s Business Daily

Gloria Rivera is among California’s front-line health care workers unable to find work in hospitals — even amid the coronavirus pandemic — due to AB5, a controversial new labor law targeting the gig economy.

The Economic Recovery Rests on Getting Consumers to Spend. It Won’t Be Easy.

Barron’s

Yet another economic indicator is now the worst on record: On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending dropped 7.5% in March, the biggest one-month drop since the government began tracking in 1959.

The geographic inequity of small business coronavirus aid

Axios

The second round of Payroll Protection Program loans for small businesses got under way Monday — and disparities between the haves and the have-nots are becoming more stark.

See also:

Some business owners say they have to defy coronavirus closure orders to stay afloat

CNN

Despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home-order, some California business owners have begun reopening their doors to customers, saying their companies — and livelihoods — are becoming unsustainable.

Rep. TJ Cox: A strong COVID-19 recovery starts with support for small business

Bakersfield Californian

Since this crisis began, I have heard from dozens of small businesses, farms and, in particular, minority borrowers who have been shut out of federal economic stimulus funds. As one constituent put it, “My tax dollars are as green as Ruth’s Chris’, this is just not fair.”

Commentary: Opening the Economy? Ask Us How, Business Groups Tell Governors

Fox & Hounds

From a California perspective, at least, it’s possible that the business coalition was formed because of fear that business concerns would be ignored  by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.

Commentary: After the pandemic, America must again embrace creative, competitive capitalism

AEI

It’s understandable that the coronavirus pandemic has made some people gloomy about America’s economic future. The Great Recession was followed by a long recovery, but a sluggish one. What might the Greater Recession hold for us? Brace yourselves.

Commentary: Which city economies did COVID-19 damage first?

Brookings

From skyrocketing unemployment claims to new estimates of contracting GDP in the first quarter of 2020, there has been little respite from the growing awareness that COVID-19 is exacting unprecedented damage on both lives and livelihoods.

Jobs:

Help Wanted: Job opportunities in the Central Valley

abc30

With so many people’s jobs in the Central Valley impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis, we’ve compiled a list of available job opportunities for anyone looking for work. If you are an employer and you would like us to add your job to the page (or if a job has been filled and needs to be removed), simply fill out the form on the bottom of the page.

Gig workers are now eligible for special unemployment benefits. But many won’t get them

Los Angeles Times

The good news for nearly 3 million self-employed Californians, gig workers and independent contractors is they are now eligible for special unemployment benefits.

See also:

Coronavirus energizes the labor movement. Can it last?

Los Angeles Times

In Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, thousands of laid-off janitors and hotel workers besieged elected officials with petitions seeking future job guarantees. Nurses took to the streets in San Francisco, Santa Monica, Irvine and Oceanside to shame hospitals for failing to protect them against the coronavirus.

Governor’s quandary: Who should get California workers’ comp benefits for COVID-19?

CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom is deciding whether to order that essential employees who contract coronavirus be presumed to have done so on the job — and thus automatically qualify for workers’ comp benefits. Businesses warn that could cost billions.

5 Types Of Suits Employers Are Bracing For Post-Pandemic

Law360

Employment attorneys are forecasting a wave of novel litigation once the dust settles from the COVID-19 pandemic, including suits alleging employers shorted newly remote workers on pay or refused to provide time off guaranteed by the coronavirus leave law.

Call It Hero Pay or Hazard Pay, Essential Workers Want More of It

Wall Street Journal

Businesses are starting to reassess the bonus pay for hourly employees who have been going into work through the coronavirus pandemic. Companies temporarily boosted wages for grocery workers and other employees in recent months to recognize their efforts and ensure attendance when millions of Americans were asked to stay home.

See also:

Did the Paycheck Protection Program Hit the Target?

National Bureau of Economic Research

This paper takes an early look at the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a large and novel small business support program that was part of the initial policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We use new data on the distribution of PPP loans and high-frequency micro-level employment data to consider two dimensions of program targeting.

EDUCATION

K-12:

New graduation ceremony plans announced for Clovis students amid pandemic

Fresno Bee

Coronavirus has changed how graduation looks. Clovis Unified has announced dates for a larger graduation ceremony in July. The district announced smaller graduation ceremonies at individual schools in May, June

Frustrated parents say Fresno schools have no plan for special education students

Fresno Bee

Julie Rodriguez hired a tutor for her first grade son since the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools across the nation. The Fresno mother has been online a lot lately, trying to figure out how to properly teach her son, who uses special education services at Figarden Elementary.

The search for teaching tools

Madera Tribune

Faced with the challenge of continuing instruction while students had no place to go during the COVID-19 Crisis, Madera Unified administrators gave Internet access and computers first priority.

McLaughlin withdraws from SUSD consideration after outcry from board, community

Stockton Record

Jack McLaughlin, who had a controversial two-year tenure as Stockton Unified superintendent 12 years ago, has withdrawn from consideration in returning to the district.

VUSD high school summer classes to be held remotely

Visalia Times Delta

Visalia Unified will hold its high school summer courses through distance learning, as COVID-19’s continued effect on the classroom remains uncertain.

With BCSD learning packets not being graded, parents ask ‘what’s the point?’

Bakersfield Californian

Then the Bakersfield City School District announced Monday on Facebook that students won’t be graded on the work completed in the packets or online coursework, per Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order.

For Fresno’s Foster Youth, ‘Shelter In Place’ Means A Struggle To Stay Connected

VPR

It’s hard enough for any kid to shelter in place. They can’t go to school, do team sports, or physically hang out with their friends. But for foster kids already struggling to maintain relationships, social distancing can be even more challenging.

See also:

New Wrinkles in Old School Fights

CalMatters

The semi-shutdown of California’s social, economic and institutional life, that was ordered to arrest the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, seems to be working — albeit at immense cost.

California’s homeless students at risk of falling through the cracks during pandemic

EdSource

As schools rush to provide students with tablets, worksheets and regular check-ins with teachers during the pandemic, one group is proving elusive: those without permanent homes.

Youth, Disconnected: Coronavirus Shutdown Leaves Some Behind

PEW

After two weeks of “mental toughness” training, 20 teenagers and young adults in a YouthBuild daily program in Enid, Oklahoma, were on the cusp of turning their lives around.  Out of school and out of work, they proved to organizers that they could be punctual, follow instructions and work hard.

California teachers resist Newsom’s ‘unrealistic’ call for July start

Politico

California teachers unions are fighting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s suggestion that schools open this summer and making clear that they will have a say at the bargaining table.

Commentary: A blueprint for back to school

AEI

Families and communities need schools to be ready to reopen as soon as public health officials signal it is safe. When public health officials give the green light, schools should be prepared to reopen. And a number of public health officials have indicated that they expect schools will likely be able to reopen this fall.

Commentary: Webinar — A blueprint for back to school: How should schools prepare?

AEI

Reopening schools in a manner that is safe and responsive to the needs of families and communities will involve novel challenges. AEI scholars John P. Bailey and Frederick M. Hess collaborated with more than a dozen former public officials and leaders, with experience from the White House to the schoolhouse, to determine how to reopen schools this fall.

EDITORIAL: Coronavirus shutdown is a golden opportunity to reinvent school learning

Modesto Bee

Put “education” on the growing list of things that could radically change because of the coronavirus, in Modesto and beyond.

Higher Ed:

Unimpressed by online classes, college students seek refunds

Fresno Bee

They wanted the campus experience, but their colleges sent them home to learn online during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, students at more than 25 U.S. universities are filing lawsuits against their schools demanding partial refunds on tuition and campus fees, saying they’re not getting the caliber of education they were promised.

FPU senior class to hold commencement ceremony on Zoom

abc30

Graduation ceremonies have been postponed for many members of the graduating class of 2020. That includes Fresno Pacific University, which was supposed to hold its commencement next weekend.

CSUB names Vernon B. Harper Jr. provost and vice president for academic affairs

Bakersfield Californian

Vernon B. Harper Jr. has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cal State Bakersfield, effective immediately. Harper has served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs since January 2019.

Making A Decision About College When You Can’t Even Visit The Campus

VPR

May 1 is College Signing Day for many students, although some universities have extended their deadlines.

Anxiety builds as California colleges consider how and when to resume on-campus fall courses

EdSource

Millions of California college students and their families are anxiously waiting to hear whether on-campus classes will resume this fall while college administrators are weighing the options to safely return students and faculty to campuses.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environment:

Weather service warns of heat risk as temperatures climb into 90s this week in Modesto

Modesto Bee

Hope you enjoyed a weekend with highs in the upper 70s. Because above-average temperatures return to Modesto this week, reaching well into the 90s by Friday, the National Weather Service predicts.

See also:

When will national parks reopen? Some will start Monday

Los Angeles Times

Three national parks will open their gates in coming days, and the National Park Service announced Thursday that it would start “increasing access and services in a phased approach across all units of the National Park System.”

Lessons from the Pandemic for Addressing Climate Change

PPIC

Clear skies and less air pollution. Dramatic drops in harmful greenhouse gases. What can these environmental “silver lining” aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about addressing climate change?

“Murder hornets” have now entered the U.S. — and they could decimate the honeybee population

CBSNews

A roughly 2-inch long insect known as the “murder hornet” has made its way to the U.S. for the first time ever, researchers said. The Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, has been known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan, according to The New York Times, and has the potential to devastate U.S. bee populations, which have already been declining.

Commentary: Promoting electric vehicles for the future ignores the need for cleaner fuels today

CalMatters

Re “We can clearly see that reduced emissions should be a California goal”; Commentary, April 27, 2020. I appreciate Mike Gatto’s article regarding clean air and find multiple articles indicating people are visibly seeing a cleaner skyline or better view of the mountains.

Energy:

Eastern Fresno County Fuel Break Project to Begin in July

Clovis RoundUp

This summer, work is expected to begin on the Blue Rush Site Preparation and Stand Maintenance Project. The project is a shaded fuel break in the Blue Canyon downslope from communities including Shaver Lake, Cressman’s, Pineridge and Dinkey Creek in Fresno County and is scheduled to begin in July.

California Solar Industry Loses Over 15,000 Jobs, Companies Now Reopening and Rebuilding

Capital Public Radio

The California solar industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing hundreds of businesses to shed or furlough an estimated 15,000 clean energy jobs.

See also:

County launches effort to reinstate local oil permitting

Bakersfield Californian

In a first step aimed at reinstating a local oil-and-gas permitting system effectively struck down earlier this year in appeals court, Kern County this week began soliciting input on how to proceed with a comprehensive environmental review of drilling and other oil field activity around the county.

California Oil Producers Fighting Newsom Proposal for Stronger Industry Oversight

KQED

A leading energy industry group is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to hold off on efforts to strengthen oversight of oil and gas production in order to soften the pain fossil fuel companies are experiencing during the coronavirus pandemic.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

More coronavirus cases reported in Fresno and Tulare counties over the weekend

Fresno Bee

Fresno and Tulare counties each reported more cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, with smaller or no changes elsewhere in the central San Joaquin Valley.

See also:

Fresno City College Will Be New Site for Free COVID-19 Tests

GVWire

Fresno City College has been selected as one of 80 COVID-19 testing sites in California, marking an expansion of the state’s test capabilities, Fresno County Health Director David Pomaville said Friday morning.

Remdesivir will be available to treat coronavirus patients this week, company says

Fresno Bee

Daniel O’Day, chairman and chief executive officer at Gilead Sciences, said Sunday on CBS’ “Face The Nation” that the company intends to get its drug remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has shown promise as a COVID-19 treatment, to coronavirus patients who need it early this week.

See also:

COVID-19 vaccine hunt heats up globally, still no guarantee

Fresno Bee

Hundreds of people are rolling up their sleeves in countries across the world to be injected with experimental vaccines that might stop COVID-19, spurring hope — maybe unrealistic — that an end to the pandemic may arrive sooner than anticipated.

See also:

Researchers Explore Using Common Blood-Plasma Treatment to Fight Coronavirus

Wall Street Journal

Researchers are investigating whether a common blood-plasma product used in treating immune-system disorders could also be effective in coronavirus patients and potentially shape future trials of new treatments specific to Covid-19.

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis

Washington Post

Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, America is on the verge of another health crisis, with daily doses of death, isolation and fear generating widespread psychological trauma.

See also:

What to Expect If You End Up in the ER During COVID-19

Consumer Report

Much about life in the U.S. has changed because of COVID-19, but some things haven’t: If you experience a serious injury or health crisis, such as a potential stroke or heart attack, you should still call 911 right away.

What the 1918 flu pandemic shows us about social distancing

PolitiFact

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders have prompted protests. Whitmer has said she will base decisions on how and when to relax Michigan’s social distancing guidelines on facts and science.

Coronavirus Kills People an Average of a Decade Before Their Time, Studies Find

Wall Street Journal

People dying of Covid-19 could have expected to live on average for at least another decade, according to two studies that help fill in the developing picture of the human cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus spares one neighborhood but ravages the next. Race and class spell the difference.

USAToday

Train tracks run above the intersection of Kinzie Street and Ashland Avenue, two major streets that meet on Chicago’s West Side. On one corner of the intersection, there’s a trampoline park and new brewery. On the opposite corner, empty buildings for lease.

EDITORIAL: How the coronavirus pandemic is even worse than we thought

San Francisco Chronicle

Having passed 60,000, eclipsing every other country’s losses as well as our casualties in Vietnam, the known count of U.S. coronavirus deaths is high by any measure except perhaps one: the actual toll.

Commentary: Let’s find out right away whether or not children are passing this virus to adults

AEI

One review of scientific studies about children and the coronavirus found no evidence of children passing the coronavirus to adults. But the review, by the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, doesn’t prove that children can’t get or pass on the virus, and some scientists are reacting to it by downplaying it and urging caution.

EDITORIAL: How the coronavirus pandemic is even worse than we thought

San Francisco Chronicle

Having passed 60,000, eclipsing every other country’s losses as well as our casualties in Vietnam, the known count of U.S. coronavirus deaths is high by any measure except perhaps one: the actual toll.

Human Services:

Fresno County to get new COVID-19 testing site

Fresno Bee

Fresno County public health officials announced an eighth COVID-19 death on Friday – an 86-year-old woman who was a nursing home resident – along with a new coronavirus testing site planned to open at Fresno City College next week.

See also:

Feeling anxious? Coronavirus support groups are helping people connect and cope

Fresno Bee

Every day, new numbers emerge detailing the toll coronavirus is taking on our communities, but there’s also an emotional cost.

Costco to Enforce Face Mask Policy

Clovis RoundUp

Costco announced that beginning Monday, May 4, it will only allow people wearing face masks or face coverings to enter its stores. The policy states that “all Costco members and guests must wear a face covering that covers their mouth and nose at all times while at Costco,” and excludes children under two years old and people whose medical conditions disable them from wearing face coverings.

See also:

Nurses in Modesto, Turlock join national protest over protective coronavirus gear

Modesto Bee

Nurses in Stanislaus County joined in a national protest Friday calling for better protective gear while treating coronavirus patients. The rallies took place during shift changes outside Doctors Medical Center in Modesto and Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock.

Cue The Debunking: Two Bakersfield Doctors Go Viral With Dubious Covid Test Conclusions

Business Journal

They dressed in scrubs. They sounded scientific. And last week’s message from two Bakersfield doctors was exactly what many stuck-at-home Americans wanted to hear: COVID-19 is no worse than influenza, its death rates are low and we should all go back to work and school.

East Kern aerospace company joins with NASA to fight COVID-19

Bakersfield Californian

Now one of those companies with huge research and testing facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port is joining forces with NASA to focus their talent and resources on something more earthbound: battling COVID-19.

Why California dentists can’t fix your teeth right now: The state took their face masks

Modesto Bee

In mid-March, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration appeared to throw a lifeline to thousands of dentists who were terrified they’d have to close their offices, leaving cavities unfilled, cleanings unscheduled and dental diseases undetected.

Coronavirus separates moms from newborns in California hospitals: What you need to know

Modesto Bee

In mid-April, Sarita went to awaken her 4-day-old and the baby felt cold to her touch and wasn’t breathing. The baby’s father called 911 and the dispatcher directed him to start CPR. The baby immediately started crying and was brought by ambulance to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in south Los Angeles County.

Coronavirus patients could be cash cows for nursing homes

Los Angeles Times

The nursing home industry has been devastated by the coronavirus, with outbreaks killing thousands of elderly residents and likely setting the stage for both increased regulations and huge legal liabilities.

The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Pew Research Center’s global polling

PEW

Over the past several months, the coronavirus outbreak has become a global pandemic that has disrupted the lives of billions of people and left governments, businesses and even “fact tanks” like Pew Research Center struggling to adapt to a new reality.

The challenges of using real-time epidemiological data in a public health crisis

PEW

Pew Research Center has been documenting shifts in U.S. public opinion during the COVID-19 outbreak using our American Trends Panel, a randomly selected group of adults who take our surveys online. But a number of important questions can’t be answered by survey data alone. For instance: How is someone’s proximity to COVID-19 cases or deaths related to their perceptions of the crisis and the government’s response?

Will Child Care Be There When States Reopen?

PEW

Emilu Alvarez closed her private Miami preschool and kindergarten in late March as the new coronavirus began to spread and worried parents began to keep their kids at home. She kept paying her staff as she applied for federal small business loans and local foundation grants.

See also:

Telemedicine key to US health care even after pandemic ends

Roll Call

As thousands of patients struck by COVID-19 rushed to seek treatment in overcrowded New York City hospitals, intensive care specialists more than 350 miles away at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center stepped up to provide remote assistance to beleaguered

Health vs. Wealth? Public Health Policies and the Economy During Covid-19

National Bureau of Economic Research

We study the impact of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions (NPIs) like “stay-at-home” orders on the spread of infectious disease. NPIs are associated with slower growth of Covid-19 cases. NPIs “spillover” into other jurisdictions. NPIs are not associated with significantly worse economic outcomes measured by job losses.

colleagues in New York.

We Asked All 50 States About Their Contact Tracing Capacity. Here’s What We Learned

NPR

States are eager to open up and get people back to work, but how do they do that without risking new coronavirus flare-ups? Public health leaders widely agree that communities need to ramp up capacity to test, trace and isolate.

Most enlistees not eligible to join California Health Corps

Associated Press

For days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the all-volunteer California Health Corps, he provided updates on how many retired medical workers had signed up and marveled at the numbers — 34,000 in the first 48 hours, 82,000 a week later.

Opinion: COVID-19 is taking a toll on medical professionals. Let’s invest in their well-being

Sacramento Bee

To help address the factors that create and cause burnout for health care professionals, the California Medical Association has partnered with the Service Employees International Union and the United Nurses Association of California to push for state funding to support Care 4 Caregivers Now.

IMMIGRATION

Judge criticizes ICE for failing to ‘respond meaningfully’ to coronavirus crisis

Fresno Bee

A federal judge this week criticized U.S. immigration authorities in charge of two California detention facilities — including one in the San Joaquin Valley — saying the agency failed to address the “obvious health risk to detainees” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Caravan winds through downtown in support of immigrants

Fresno Bee

A caravan for those who work in the fields, food processing plants and construction was held by Coalition for the May 1st March for Immigrants’ Rights in downtown Fresno Friday, May 1, 2020.

Judge’s Ruling Allows People Detained At Bakersfield Detention Center To Apply For Release

VPR

Advocates, lawyers and people detained inside a Bakersfield ICE Detention Center have been pushing for the release of detainees who are considered at risk of contracting the coronavirus. On Wednesday, a judge made a ruling in favor of those efforts.

Migrant Advocates Call For More Testing Before Deportations

VPR

Migrant advocates say more testing must be done in the U.S. and Mexico before deportees are sent back to their home countries. At least 100 Guatemalans infected with the coronavirus were deported from the U.S. from mid-March through mid-April.

Coronavirus separates moms from newborns in California hospitals: What you need to know

Modesto Bee

Because pregnant women and newborns have compromised immune systems, they are generally at higher risk of complications and death from infectious diseases, including SARS and MERS caused by related coronaviruses. Early in the pandemic, the concern was the novel coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, would cause similar problems.

Green card bill would bring more foreign doctors, nurses to US

Roll Call

A bipartisan group of senators introduced new legislation Thursday to grant 40,000 unused green card slots to foreign health care workers needed to help U.S. medical professionals fight the coronavirus pandemic.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Californians are moving inland. Here are the new boom towns around Sacramento, Valley

Sacramento Bee

More people now live in Roseville than Pasadena. Elk Grove has passed Rancho Cucamonga. And Sacramento is the second fastest-growing major city in the state. New population figures released Friday by the state Department of Finance show Californians are continuing to move inland, fleeing the coast for the Central Valley, and reinforcing population booms in greater Sacramento and other parts of the Central Valley.

Construction Work Resumes, But Demand Weakens

Wall Street Journal

Contractors are returning to work across the country following a monthlong shutdown that many expect to foreshadow a severe slump in construction later this year as the U.S. economy staggers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Housing:

After months of delays, opening day for Kern County’s homeless shelter approaches

Bakersfield Californian

After months of delays, Kern County’s new homeless shelter is nearly ready to begin accepting its first clients. Community Action Partnership of Kern, which will manage the facility for the county, is in the process of moving onto the site to prepare for operations.

‘Someone Will Contract The Virus Here:’ Meet Homeless Californians Trying To Survive A Pandemic

Capital Public Radio

People who are homeless in California share their stories of being unhoused during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As Tight Living Conditions Bring Coronavirus Risks, Farms Secure Housing to Isolate Workers

Wall Street Journal

Farmworkers across the U.S. often live in tight conditions, with multiple families inhabiting a single dwelling or dozens of workers sharing dormitory-style housing.

‘Survival’: Tenants, landlords brace for largest rent strike in decades

NBCNews

Kenia Alcocer is used to sitting down at the kitchen table to crunch her family’s monthly budget and figure out how she can make ends meet. But this month is different. Alcocer, 34, gave birth in January to her second child, a boy named Genaro, whose numerous health issues have added a huge financial strain on her family.

3.4 Million Homeowners Skip Payments. But Many Are Scared, Say Congress Needs To Act

NPR

Jasmine Esposito-Gullo lost most of the income she makes arranging concert tours for musicians. The coronavirus pandemic has shut down those tours. Like many other homeowners, she says her lender told her that if she skips mortgage payments on her Long Island, N.Y., home — as Congress says she can — the consequences will be punishing.

Commentary: Coronavirus cost me my job; without rent forgiveness, it will cost me my home

CalMatters

It was a few weeks into the coronavirus pandemic when I got the call from my boss. I could tell from the sound of her voice what I was about to hear: She had no choice but to let me go. Just like that, I’d lost my job — a job I loved, that I did well, and that I needed to feed my two kids and pay my rent.

Commentary: Bailout needed in the form of rent and mortgage forgiveness

CalMatters

After the Great Recession of 2008, Congress enacted a federal stimulus package that bailed out the banking and auto industries. This time around, Angelenos and the American people need a bailout in the form of rent and mortgage forgiveness.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Will pensions be ‘on the chopping block’ in recession? California Supreme Court to hear case

Fresno Bee

This week, with state and local budgets teetering amid the coronavirus outbreak, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could determine in part whether Brown’s prediction will come true.

California no longer pays more to Washington than it gets back

San Francisco Chronicle

Ten years ago, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was complaining that California received only 78 cents back for every tax dollar it sent to Washington, arguing that the state’s budget woes would disappear if the federal government would only play fair with funding.

COVID-19’s class divide creates new political risks

The Hill

The COVID-19 outbreak ravaging the United States is exacerbating the nation’s class divide, closing small businesses and bankrupting households while many in the nation’s elite emerge relatively unscathed.

Millions of baby boomers are getting caught in the country’s broken retirement system

Washington Post

They went to work every day and built a life for themselves, put money away in a savings plan and paid their taxes. And then they got divorced or hurt on the job or sick or widowed or just plain unlucky — and found themselves in the same boat as millions of Americans who are now approaching retirement with most of the financial props knocked out from under them.

Forget what you’ve heard. Here are the new rules for post-pandemic retirement.

Washington Post

Experts used to talk about retirement being based on a three-legged stool: a pension, Social Security and personal savings.

A timeline of IRS stimulus payment glitches

Washington Post

During an extreme economic crisis, the Treasury Department and the IRS said $207 billion in stimulus payments have been delivered to 130 million individuals in less than 30 days.

See also:

Where’s My Refund? State AGs Step in to Help

PEW

The fountains of the Bellagio in Las Vegas danced in his head as William DeBlasio, a painter, carpenter and volunteer firefighter from Berlin, Connecticut, planned a romantic four-day April vacation with his wife, Lynn, to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

Income, Liquidity, and the Consumption Response to the 2020 Economic Stimulus Payments

National Bureau of Economic Research

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the US government brought about a collection of fiscal stimulus measures: the 2020 CARES Act. Among other provisions, this Act directed cash payments to households. We analyze households’ spending responses using high-frequency transaction data.

Commentary: California Counties Brace for Post-Virus Property Tax Crunch

Bloomberg

The coronavirus pandemic mildly dampened property tax payments to California counties by an April 10 deadline, but counties are bracing themselves for a bigger hit next year if owners seek lower property valuations amid the economic downturn.

See also:

TRANSPORTATION

Solo truckers struggle to get rolling with stimulus fund

Fresno Bee

Truck drivers are an essential cog in the nation’s vast supply chain. They move more than 11 billion tons of freight annually and during the outbreak have kept grocery stores stocked and other businesses supplied.

Need a job? High-speed rail agency to open training center in Selma

Fresno Bee

Selma has been selected as the site for a workforce development center to train workers for high-speed rail construction in the San Joaquin Valley. The city of Selma and the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced the project Tuesday.

Stay-home order could cost California $370 million in gas tax for road fixes: ‘A heavy hit’

Sacramento Bee

California’s stay-at-home order could mean a loss of $370 million in funds that help pay for highway construction and maintenance as well as aid for transit, a new study from UC Davis’ Road Ecology Center reported Friday. Researchers found that vehicle miles driven have plunged more than 75 percent in the state since the coronavirus outbreak shut down much of California in mid-March.

“Build The Density And Transit Will Come” Says Transportation Expert

The Silicon Valley Voice

At an April 22 study session Planning Commissioners welcomed transportation consultant, Karen Mack who gave a presentation on proposed changes to the City’s Transportation Analysis Methodology. The impetus for the session is Senate Bill 743, which mandates cities to abandon using Level of Service in transportation analyses by July.

Warszawski: Hate waiting for trains in central Fresno? Good news. But underpasses come at a cost

Fresno Bee

A century-old dream died a silent death last week in California’s fifth-largest city. The cause: bureaucratic asphyxiation. Few paid attention to its passing, and no services were held. The remains will now be diverted to another project.

Commentary: California public transit services face existential crisis with COVID-19 pandemic

CalMatters

California’s public transit agencies deliver a vital service every day, and especially during times of emergency – providing critical mobility options for millions of frontline health care, public safety, grocery and restaurant workers fulfilling essential roles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commentary: Coronavirus has shown us a world without traffic. Can we sustain it?

Brookings

There are few silver linings to the COVID-19 pandemic, but free-flowing traffic is certainly one of them. For the essential workers who still must commute each day, driving to work has suddenly become much easier.

WATER

Why State Water Contractors sued California over restrictions on water deliveries

CalMatters

California needs to make foundational investments to ensure our water infrastructure is operating with the flexibility and capacity to provide the maximum benefit for our residents, farms and environment.

Sierra Snow Pack Levels Below ‘Normal’

Sierra News

The latest –and final — seasonal state snow pack survey confirmed that California had a drier-than-normal winter.

“Xtra”

CRMC staff honored with a parade of first-responders

Fresno Bee

Fresno Fire, Fresno Police, and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office honored Community Regional Medical Center staff with a parade organized by Front Line Appreciation Group (FLAG) outside the hospital Friday, May 1, 2020 in Fresno.

Back to the future: Drive-in movie theaters see resurgence during coronavirus pandemic

Fresno Bee

As some states begin to reopen restaurants and other businesses from coronavirus lockdowns, a relic of the 20th century is making a comeback: the drive-in movie theater. While many of them struggle to be profitable, hundreds still exist in the country and are experiencing a resurgence during the era of social distancing guidelines, media outlets reported.

Kings County And Chowchilla Cancel Fairs: Fresno, Tulare Still On

Business Journal

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, plans are still underway for several county fairs in the Valley — which will be held in and around fall — while the fairs in Chowchilla and Kings County scheduled for this month have been cancelled.

Do-it-yourselfers make the most of the quarantine, shore up home improvement projects

Bakersfield Californian

People are doing projects they’ve thought about but never had time for. Parents see it as an opportunity to teach their kids how to use tools — and get them outside.

Jon Stuebbe: Let’s present our city to travelers the right way

Bakersfield Californian

Over the last several years we have all been witnessing a huge amount of street and highway construction as a result of the Thomas Road Improvement Program funds. While it has inconvenienced us at times, it does promise an increase in drivability in Kern County when finished. Some significant improvement can already be seen.

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