California

The omicron variant has driven COVID-19 cases to new heights in California, but in the workplace it is more difficult than ever to be paid to stay home if infected. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cutting the recommended quarantine time from 10 days to five in many circumstances and the California Department of Public Health in agreement, workers are less likely to be paid to stay home from work for longer even if they might be infectious. Earlier this month state workplace safety regulator Cal/OSHA tweaked its rules to reflect the change. During the monthly meeting of Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board Thursday, labor advocates and business groups disagreed over whether cutting paid time away from work during a surge in virus cases was the correct approach. “It was disappointing,” said Stephen Knight, executive director of the worker safety nonprofit Worksafe, during the meeting. The current rules for protecting California workers from the virus at work require … [Read more...] about California workplace safety board hears debate on cutting back quarantine during surge

After a wet December, California water officials say state reservoirs will likely be able to provide cities and farms more than the scant emergency supplies initially projected for 2022. The Department of Water Resources announced Thursday that the State Water Project now has enough water in storage to meet 15% of the water requests from across California, still a dismally small figure but better than the 0% allocation announced last month . The State Water Project, made up of nearly three dozen storage facilities that pipe water hundreds of miles, including massive Lake Oroville in Butte County, delivers water to 29 municipal and agricultural suppliers, several of which are in the Bay Area. Over the past two years, however, drought has shrunk project supplies and water agencies have had to make do with less project water. “December storms enabled DWR to convey and store water in San Luis Reservoir, which allows for a modest increase in water deliveries this year,” said DWR … [Read more...] about California drought: State officials plan to deliver more water than the 0% first expected

3 SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced legislation Thursday to allow young people ages 12 to 17 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot without the consent of a parent. The proposal, SB866, is the first major vaccine-related bill to be introduced in the California Legislature this year and comes as infections and hospitalizations surge across the state due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Wiener, D-San Francisco, said widespread misinformation about the vaccine has caused a startling number of parents to deny their children access to potentially life-saving immunizations. He said there are about 1 million youths between ages 12 and 17 who have not received coronavirus immunizations, either because their parents oppose vaccines or haven’t taken them to a clinic yet. “COVID is a deadly virus even for young people,” Wiener said. “While teens will do better, on average, than older people, there are teens who end up in … [Read more...] about California could let teenagers get COVID vaccine without parental consent

San Francisco 49ers fans will likely enjoy NFL Network and Fox Sports pundit Peter Schrager’s prediction for this weekend’s divisional round matchup vs. the Green Bay Packers. They may also find an extended riff on the California “wine and cheese crowd” less enjoyable. In a nearly five-minute-long segment that aired Friday on NFL Network’s "Good Morning Football ," Schrager, wielding a pointer stick for whatever reason, introduced “this team from Northern California” with as many jokes about California as one could conceivably cram into a sentence. DIVISION QUEST: @PSchrags makes his 49ers-Packers pick. @gmfb ) pic.twitter.com/PX6U6bAYrp — NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 21, 2022 “Wine and cheese crowd,” he says. “Tech billionaires with electric cars and reservations at French Laundry.” Of course, the “tech billionaire/wine and cheese” class makes up a small percentage of 49ers fans and Californians more broadly (and it is unclear how big of a 49ers … [Read more...] about NFL pundit picks 49ers over Packers while invoking Gavin Newsom, California ‘tech billionaires’

3 One of California’s last family-owned ski areas was sold this week, after being run by the same mom-and-pop owners for the past 45 years. For a generation, Dodge Ridge Ski Area , an 862-acre resort in the mountains east of Sonora (Tuolomne County), has been synonymous with Frank and Sally Helm, who live in the area and have decided to retire. The resort sold for an undisclosed amount to a new pair of owners: Invision Capital , a private investment firm in Chicago, and Karl Kapuscinski, president and CEO of Mountain High Resort , a similarly modest ski area in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles. “Dodge Ridge has truly been a love in our life. We’ve put our heart and soul into this place,” said Sally Helm, 65, who was CEO of the resort. Frank, 82, was the resort’s board chair. “We’re at a good point now where we can say we’ve had a good run, we have a great team and we have a great new owner.” Kapuscinski, born in Vermont, worked … [Read more...] about One of California’s last old-school, family-owned ski areas to change hands

2 If everyone in the room at your workplace is vaccinated, you don’t have to wear face coverings and you can skip socially distancing after July 31, according to revised state guidelines to be voted on Thursday. Those are some of the takeaways as California workplace safety regulators have updated the rules on what companies must do to protect employees from the coronavirus at work. The draft rules , issued Friday, come after the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health — or Cal/OSHA — Standards Board issued sweeping changes around masking, social distancing, testing and notification of workers potentially exposed to the virus at work late last year, bringing them in line with rules for protecting health care workers from airborne diseases. “If everyone’s vaccinated, it will feel more normal” at most workplaces, said Elena Hillman, a senior counsel at Cozen O’Connor in San Francisco. Both she and Michele Ballard Miller, chair of the West … [Read more...] about No masks at work? California proposal says employees don’t have to, if everyone is vaccinated

This project explores the transnational struggle for human rights and democracy and its impacts on the Filipino American community, which participated in and grew in response to the Marcos regime (1966 to 1986). HANDOUT A California Humanities grant will fund a curated digital exhibition of 25 to 30 archival political posters produced by participants in the Philippines anti-martial law movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s. “Never Forget: Filipinx Americans and the Philippines Anti-Martial Law Movement,” Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles, will be led by project directors Karen Umemoto and Lucy Burns. A series of events will complement the exhibition and provide a platform for public dialogue and learning about an important but little-known chapter of California history, when the state became a hotbed of Filipino overseas opposition to the Marcos dictatorship. This project explores the transnational struggle for human rights and democracy and its impacts on the … [Read more...] about California Humanities funds exhibition of anti-martial law posters in U.S.

Orange County is postponing its biannual homeless count until the end of February in light of the COVID-19 surge, officials said. “The county of Orange is among several Continuums of Care in Southern California that have been approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reschedule the 2022 Point in Time to the last 10 days of February due to the impacts of COVID-19,” according to a statement issued by the county last week. The sheltered count will begin the night of Feb. 21. The unsheltered count, for which volunteers hit the streets, will begin the morning of Feb. 22 and last through Feb. 24. Orange County is the latest jurisdiction in California to delay its count. Los Angeles County last week announced it would delay its annual homeless census by a month. Several parts of the San Francisco Bay Area have announced or are considering delaying their counts as well. San Diego did so this week. Advertisement This is the second time the … [Read more...] about Orange County delays homeless count amid COVID-19 surge

LOS ANGELES — Tired legs still led to two points. The Avalanche wasn’t nearly at its best through a consecutive-night stretch but used strong goaltending and timely goals to finish 2-0 on its Southern California road trip. The Avs capped their SoCal sweep with a 4-1 victory on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Western Conference-leading Colorado, despite being outplayed through the first two periods, extended its points streak to 11 games (10-0-1). The Avs (27-8-3) finished 5-0 in an exhausting seven-day stretch. “We were not good through two periods, even just the simplest tasks, plays, breakouts, regroups — we were not moving the puck efficiently. We were beating it up,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And to me, that’s a sign of fatigue. Didn’t look like we had a lot of energy. I could tell from our bench, we had a lot of guys that were fighting the puck. It looked like we were low on energy and it’s understandable.” A night after goalie Pavel … [Read more...] about Avalanche escapes Kings to sweep Southern California road trip

Los Angeles police are offering a total of $100,000 in rewards for information on three hit-and-run crashes this month in the Jefferson Park area that left two people injured and a third dead. The first crash occurred around 5:40 p.m. Jan. 5 on 30th Street near 4th Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A midsize, silver SUV lost control while trying to turn right onto southbound 4th Avenue, police said. The SUV jumped the curb and hit 46-year-old Nallely Oregel, who was walking her dog on the sidewalk. Oregel was injured and taken to a hospital, police said. The driver continued southbound on 4th Avenue without stopping. Advertisement There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the driver’s arrest and prosecution, police said. California Hundreds died in L.A. traffic crashes in 2021. Is Vision Zero a failure? Traffic deaths climbed again in Los Angeles in 2021, raising doubts about Mayor Eric Garcetti’s program to end … [Read more...] about LAPD offers cash rewards for information in three Jefferson Park hit-and-run crashes