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The Nooner for Wednesday, December 30, 2020, presented by SYASL Partners
Happy New Year's Eve eve, or something like that. I did get out from behind the desk in the afternoon yesterday for a longer walk. Walking down 7th Street, I looked down at that building from yesteryear, whenever that was. Anyway, it looked so "normal." When I posted the slightly askew (hey, it's 2020 -- the world is askew) picture to IG and Facebook, I noted that things return Monday but under the same restrictions on members, staff, and the public as were in effect when the 2019-2020 Legislative Session adjourned in the early hours of September 1. A few folks reminded me that when the 2021-22 Legislature convened on December 7, both houses agreed to push back their return to Monday, January 11. Okay, folks really didn't remind me. I just missed the announcement. Nevertheless, the year will still start off in the same situation where staff coming into the Capitol per legislator and per committee will be limited, policy committees will be limited to two hearings unless given permission by Rules, elevator capacity will be limited, etc. Anyway, it'll at least start out as another Zoomtastic legislative session. Downtown was of course quiet, although most of the Kay Street restaurants still in business were serving take-out orders. There were ominous buzzards flying high above Kay Street in their familiar circular pattern. Allspicery has been pleading for customers that have made online or phone orders to pick them up as they're running out of space in the small shop. Goodie Tuchews was still dishing out delicious cookies, although I took a pass this time around. I was masked door to door and would estimate 75% of folks were. Anyway, for those who usually are downtown on weekdays, the Capitol says "I miss you!" DO YOU RECALL? Politico's Jeremy B. White reports on the odd $500,000 contribution that was reported yesterday in support of the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. Here is the contribution, which was found on yesterday's daily filing of large contributions: Jeremy writes:
I've been watching California campaign finance for 26 years, and I believe this is the first time a chapter and verse of the Bible has made a contribution. It gives new credence to those that suggested that 2020 may signal the Armageddon. Jeremy continues:
Me thinketh so. Also, I would surmise the "consulting" company that has no other trace is a shell to allow donors to obscure their donations and remain off Governor Newsom's "naughty" list. That would be illegal for a candidate campaign, but is allowable for a ballot measure campaign. As of the sixth reporting period closing 12/07/20, proponents submitted 442,195 unvalidated signatures. Backers must collect 1,495,709 valid signatures by March 17, 2021 to trigger a recall election, which is 12% of the votes cast combined for all candidates in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Like the gaming and plastics initiatives, the deadline was extended because of public health orders limiting traditional signature gathering. UNDOCUMENTED CHILDREN: The Chron's legal eagle Bob Egelko reports that the Ninth Circuit has upheld most of a district court judge's ruling ordering the release of undocumented children.
Here is the ruling, which was 3-0 including two Clinton-appoint judges and one appointed by George W. Bush. SIN AGUA CON LA NIÑA: In the Chron, Kurtis Alexander reports that state officials will be surveying the snowpack today to see if the picture has gotten any better, but it's believed that they will find a worrying situation for California's hopes of avoiding a return to drought conditions.
CAPITOL CONSTRUCTION: For Capitol Weekly, Chuck McFadden looks at the suspense behind the rebuild of the Capitol's East Annex and construction of an underground visitor's center with fights between preservationists and lawmakers who believe the existing Annex lacks accessibility and modern safety requirements. Can I add bathrooms and water bottle refill stations? COVID-19, cakeday and classifieds after the jump... IF YOU LIKE THE NOONER AND DON'T ALREADY, CONSIDER A SUBSCRIPTION, ADVERTISING, OR OTHERWISE SUPPORT THE WORK USING SQUARE, PAYPAL, OR CHECK. ONLY 11% OF READERS ARE CURRENTLY PAID SUBSCRIBERS. EVEN A $5 or $10 QUICK "TIP" VIA SQUARE OR VENMO TO "Scott-Lay" HELPS DURING THIS LOW-ADVERTISING 2020.
Sorry for the nags and I know it's irritating, but I also know you're seeing them across media properties. At least I do every day including all the ones that take money from my account monthly. COVID-19: California added 442 deaths yesterday for a total of 24,987 since the pandemic began. Many of the new deaths yesterday were carried forward from the weekend when reporting was limited because of health departments closed for the holiday and an internet outage Saturday in Los Angeles County. The catch-up from the reporting lag over the holiday weekend continues and LA County reported in its release yesterday "Public Health anticipates confirming additional deaths due to the backlog of death reports over the next two to three days." As we've talked about several times, because of the inconsistency of daily reporting, the 14-day rolling average of each of the five indicators are what's important. That said, on deaths later today we should have a good assessment of the dailies from Christmas through yesterday, which will be informative. Here are the 14-day rolling averages of the major indicators with data through yesterday, posted at 11am today:
On positivity rate, here are the recent 14-day rolling averages positivity rates, with the number of tests on the cited date in parentheses. Positivity rate amidst broad testing is the most leading of indicators. All data is from the state dashboard.
* within the 14 days, tests were up to 395,234 pre-holiday and with a 48- to 72-hour timeframe for most results, there was a big dip Monday-Tuesday, since few tests were administered Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Here are the data for Sacramento County:
-What ICU availability means: In the Chron, Erin Allday and Dominic Fracassa looked at how "ICU capacity" (availability) is measured on the Chron's Fifth and Mission podcast.
-Regional stay-at-home: --Stay-at-home documents: --Update on 12/03 with Governor Newsom and HHS Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly: --Update on 12/07: --Dr. Ghaly update on 12/08: --Governor Newsom update on 12/18: --Governor Newsom update on 12/28: --Dr. Ghaly update on 12/29: --Governor Newsom update on 12/30 (K-6 school reopening): --the regions: Here are the regions with the latest ICU capacity (available physical beds and necessary staffing). The benchmark to avoid falling under the stay-at-home order is 15% capacity.
-tiers for fears: Yesterday, Humboldt County moved from the most restrictive purple tier to the less restrictive red tier.
-School reopening: Governor Newsom's 10am presser was to announce a financial incentive for school districts in red and purple counties to reopen elementary schools for in-person instruction on a phased-in basis based on grade level with precautions, including routine testing of teachers, staff, and students. In stay-at-home counties, only schools that were granted a county public health waiver to reopen are allowed to offer in-person instruction. This should be the link to the recorded YouTube video of the announcements. For Edsource, John Fensterwald and Louis Freedberg have more details and there are lots of nuances. During the announcement, State Board of Education president Linda Darling-Hammond suggested that school districts will be supported to offer instruction during the summer for "make-up time," something I wrote about the other day. In follow-up questions, Governor Newsom said that the January budget proposal will include funding to address "learning loss," specifically in the summer. He was also cautious to not get into details since they haven't been shared with key legislators, but it's clear that it's been put to bed. The Governor's Office and Department of Finance tries to wrap by Christmas and we can never forget that New Year's Eve budget drop by Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, although I wouldn't expect that to happen tomorrow night. -Disproportionate hospitals: A team at the Times report on the Los Angeles County hospitals seeing a disproportionate share of low-income and Latino and Black individuals presenting with COVID-19.
This has been a longstanding issue of health equity in "normal" times that the state has sought to remediate through the Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) program, or "dish" in state budget parlance. LA: travel quarantine: There was a lot of confusion when new travel quarantine requirements in Los Angeles County were slipped into Monday's daily press release. Yesterday, the new order was published (item 3(f) beginning on page 5), and reads: -LA: outdoor dining: In the LAT, Lila Seidman writes that the 2nd District Court of Appeal has paused the trial court's order that Los Angeles County provide a cost-benefit analysis of its ban on outdoor dining, which pre-dated the state's stay-at-home order. A full hearing on the issue is back in the trial court February 10.
-LA: TV and film: The LAT's Wendy Lee reports that Los Angeles County public health officials are urging a pause in TV and film production for a few weeks amidst the surge and impacted hospitals.
Cakeday and classifieds after the jump... CAKEDAY: Happy birthday to Mark Dierking, Tina Cannon Leahy, and Josefina Notsinneh! ClassifiedsAdd your classified now both in The Nooner and online for $50/week or $150/month by emailing scottlay@gmail.com, with a headline, a summary of up to 200 words, and what you'd like the end date to be. You can attach a PDF or provide a link for a bigger job description/info to apply. [Other advertising options]Grants Program Director – California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council Division Monthly salary: $8,173.00- $9,280.00 Application Deadline: Tuesday, December 22, 2020. Expert in grant management directs all operations of grant programs, including developing and delivering public facing interactions with eligible grantees to provide technical guidance and evaluating data related to grant programs for the purpose of reporting and influencing statewide policy. For more information about this position and to apply online please visit: https://jobs.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=225782 For questions contact: Debbie Gutman McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific Built on the foundation of nationally ranked and world class programs, McGeorge School of Law offers an online master (MSL) degree for individuals seeking in depth knowledge of law and policy, but who do not require a traditional law degree. Our MSL’s two concentrations in Government Law & Policy and in Water & Environmental Law offer students the flexibility to work while they learn and still engage in a highly interactive master’s program. To learn more and to sign up for our monthly webinars, please visit our website, Online.McGeorge.edu, or contact us at graduatelaw@pacific.edu. Statewide Coalition Manager – Preschool Development Grant Are you a relationship builder? Do you love policy analysis? Do you have a background in public policy, public administration, child development, or a similar field? Do you want to work somewhere that makes a difference in the lives of children across the state? Then YOU’RE the person we’re looking for! Come join us at Child Care Resource Center as our new Statewide Coalition Manager! You will work in partnership with regional Resource and Referral (R&R) hub agencies throughout the state of CA to nurture and build out the partnerships of Regional Hubs and their local R&R partners. This position will focus on expanding regional and local relationships and building regional strategies for the delivery of early childhood services, including Parent Café and Early Childhood Café programs, throughout California, and will also coordinate the development of other regional partners including California Quality Consortia, California County Offices of Education and Tribal partners appropriate to each region. Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, this position utilizes a high level of collaboration and relationship building to create effective internal and external relationships, communicate the CCRC Mission, Values and Vision to external stakeholders, and work in collaboration with other CCRC Departments and organizational partners. Political Data Inc. For 30 Years PDI has been California’s premier data vendor. Now, you can get live online trainings on the newest PDI software every week: |