3 Newly Elected San Bernardino County Supervisors Take Their Seats

12/9/2020 3 newly elected San Bernardino County supervisors take their seats

NEWS 3 newly elected San Bernardino County supervisors take their seats Paul Cook, Dawn Rowe and Joe Baca Jr. sworn in during Monday ceremony

Martin Estacio Victorville Daily Press Published 4:24 p.m. PT Dec. 8, 2020

A trio of newly elected San Bernardino County supervisors were sworn into office in front of a sparse crowd Monday afternoon.

Paul Cook, Dawn Rowe and Joe Baca Jr. each were read their oaths of office by family members.

“This is a joyous occasion for the county and historic,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Curt Hagman. “I mean, usually chambers are overflowing with friends and supporters, and obviously we have to do some adaptations today because of being 2020 COVID.”

Cook, a U.S. Congressman who previously represented California’s 8th District since 2013, was sworn in by his wife, Jeanne.

“I am very, very honored to be here,” he said. “Local government is where it all begins. This is part of the reason I got involved — to make a difference.”

A retired Marine Corps colonel, Cook will represent the 1st District, which encompasses Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia and Victorville, among other communities.

Robert Lovingood — who served in the seat since 2012 — announced last year he wouldn’t run for reelection.

Cook won the March primary with an overwhelming 64.66% of the total vote, preventing a run-off election.

Rowe, the only incumbent in the group, was sworn in by her father, Robert Haynes.

“I would like to thank the voters. It is an honor to be here. It has been a long journey for me since the time I was appointed in December 2018,” she said. https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2020/12/08/3-newly-elected-san-bernardino-county-supervisors-take-their-seats/6499536002/ 1/2 12/9/2020 3 newly elected San Bernardino County supervisors take their seats

Rowe was selected that year by the Board’s unanimous vote to fill a seat left vacant by James Ramos.

But the appointment proved controversial following allegations that it violated the Ralph M. Brown Act.

A San Bernardino Superior Court judge ruled the appointment unlawful but the decision was stayed after a California Court of Appeals ruling in November 2019, according to a previous Daily Press report.

Rowe will represent the 3rd District, which covers the cities of Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Loma Linda and Twentynine Palms, among others. She also won the March primary with almost 55% of the total vote.

Baca Jr. was sworn in by his father Joe Baca Sr., a former seven-term Congressman.

“These are challenging times, and I’m looking forward to taking on the challenge and working with all of you and working for this community,” he said afterwards.

Baca Jr. was a Rialto City Councilman since 2006. Before that, he served as a California state assemblyman from 2004 to 2006.

Baca Jr. is a physical education teacher at Rialto High School, according to the school’s website.

He won in a November runoff, earning about 58% of the total vote against challenger Jesse Armendarez.

Baca Jr. will represent the 5th District, which covers the cities of Colton, Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino — a population of about 433,000 people.

Josie Gonzales had represented the District since 2004.

“I thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to serve (and) to get to know you,” she told residents and county staff at a Nov. 17 meeting. “I am a much better person because of all of you.”

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2020/12/08/3-newly-elected-san-bernardino-county-supervisors-take-their-seats/6499536002/ 2/2 12/9/2020 Bloomington will see ongoing public safety, recreation, and road services | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldnews.com

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/bloomington-will-see-ongoing-public-safety-recreation-and-road- services/article_1893886c-397a-11eb-ade0-2f9fe0f446bf.html Bloomington will see ongoing public safety, recreation, and road services

Dec 8, 2020

Josie Gonzales, who is leaving public oce after 16 years as a supervisor, is pleased that Bloomington will see many improvements in the upcoming years.

Bloomington will soon reap signicant public safety, recreation, infrastructure, and anti-blight benets from a nine-year, $8.9 million investment strategy developed by recently retired San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales and a team of county government departments.

"One of the many goals I had for my time as Fifth District supervisor was to bring long-needed amenities and other improvements to Bloomington," said Josie Gonzales, who served as Fifth District supervisor until her retirement on Dec. 7 after 16 years in ofce. "It pleases me greatly to see additional steps taken toward bettering the lives of the people who call this wonderful community their home."

The Bloomington Investment Program, which goes into effect on July 1 at the start of the 2021-22 scal year, will include:

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/bloomington-will-see-ongoing-public-safety-recreation-and-road-services/article_1893… 1/2 12/9/2020 Bloomington will see ongoing public safety, recreation, and road services | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldnews.com --Dedicated Sheriff Patrol assigned exclusively to Bloomington, seven days a week.

--Dedicated Code Enforcement services, including legal support and after-hours and weekend service as needed.

--Recreational services, including enhanced programming and upgrades at the Ayala Park Community Center, and expanding the front-desk position to full-time service.

--Public Works projects, including the resealing of roads, additional asphalt berms, paved shoulders for drainage improvements, inll sidewalks, and resources to address Hazmat spills, illegal dumping, and expanded street sweeping of debris after storms.

Annual funding for the program will start at $830,000 for the rst year and gradually increase each year to almost $1.2 million for scal year 2029-30. Additional funding will be set aside to cover ination and special one-time programs or projects.

The ultimate goal is to create a Community Facilities District that will provide ongoing dedicated funding to provide these services beyond the life of the investment program, the county said in a news release.

The funding will come from community benet agreements with proposed industrial developments and an agreement stemming from the West Valley Logistics development in southeastern Fontana. Revenue from the West Valley Logistics agreement commences next May.

The Bloomington Investment Program is the latest effort by Gonzales and the county to provide the caliber of services usually found only within incorporated cities to unincorporated Bloomington.

In 2012, Gonzales and the county initiated an endeavor to focus investment in Bloomington. The county team included the County Administrative Ofce, Community Development and Housing Department, Special Districts Division, County Counsel, Public Works, County Library, Real Estate Services Department, Economic Development Department, and the Land Use Services Department.

The effort led to the Valley Boulevard Corridor Specic Plan, which fostered trafc improvements, sewer and water projects, a new and larger library, and a mixed generational affordable housing complex -- Bloomington Grove and Lilian Court.

The teamwork between Gonzales and the county team also led to a comprehensive and proactive effort to eliminate illegal trucking operations within Bloomington, as well as the relocation of Ayala Park.

"It makes me happy to know that Bloomington is a better place than it was when I took ofce 16 years ago, and that it has a brighter future," Gonzales said. "This is an ongoing team effort, and I give thanks to the county employees and departments who have helped.

"But the greatest thanks go to the people of Bloomington, who patiently provided input and supported this work."

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/bloomington-will-see-ongoing-public-safety-recreation-and-road-services/article_1893… 2/2 12/9/2020 San Bernardino County goes to court to fight Measure K, which passed in November | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldnews.com

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/san-bernardino-county-goes-to-court-to- ght-measure-k-which-passed-in-november/article_26f54db6-39aa-11eb-888b-df2a9a0c627b.html San Bernardino County goes to court to ght Measure K, which passed in November

Dec 8, 2020

San Bernardino County is ghting Measure K in court.

Voters in San Bernardino County overwhelmingly passed Measure K in the November election, but now the county is ghting the measure in court in order to try to keep some of its provisions from being implemented.

Measure K seeks to create a single four-year term limit on future members of the Board of Supervisors and drastically limit the pay they would receive.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/san-bernardino-county-goes-to-court-to-fight-measure-k-which-passed-in-november/ar… 1/3 12/9/2020 San Bernardino County goes to court to fight Measure K, which passed in November | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldnews.com Both provisions may violate the California Constitution and state laws, the county said in a news release.

The measure received 516,184 "yes" votes in the election (66.84 percent), and there were only 256,098 "no" votes (33.16 percent).

One of the key proponents of Measure K was Nadia Renner, a business owner from Fontana who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

In the ofcial ballot argument in favor of Measure K published by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters prior to the election, Renner and three other persons said that voting yes would "nally attract representatives interested in public service and committed to following the will of the people."

Renner and the others claimed that the Board of Supervisors has "chosen to ignore voters and their rights. They imposed new taxes, specically property taxes, without your consent. That's taxation without representation and it's just wrong."

Renner said that supervisors collect a salary and benets package of more than $250,000 annually, "nearly six times the median income of San Bernardino working families. This initiative provides the same income that a working family receives" -- $5,000 a month.

In response, the ballot argument against Measure K said in part: "The Board of Supervisors oversees all aspects of the county's emergency response to COVID-19, riots, wildres, and other natural disasters. Paying members of the Board of Supervisors the equivalent of a part-time salary will put the health and safety of our communities at risk due to poor leadership during times of crisis. Part- time pay will create part-time results."

The county said in early December that it has asked the Superior Court to determine whether enacting the recently approved Measure K would be in compliance with the California Constitution, state statutes, and all other applicable laws.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/san-bernardino-county-goes-to-court-to-fight-measure-k-which-passed-in-november/ar… 2/3 12/9/2020 San Bernardino County goes to court to fight Measure K, which passed in November | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldnews.com The impartial analysis provided in the Voter Information Guide for last month’s election questioned whether key elements of the measure are lawful, the county said.

“This measure would have long-term impacts on the county’s ability to serve county residents, so it is vitally important to ensure that the measure is lawful before it is incorporated into the County Charter,” said County Public Information Ofcer David Wert. “An impartial ruling from the court will provide needed direction to the County and is preferable to the County taking action on its own.”

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/san-bernardino-county-goes-to-court-to-fight-measure-k-which-passed-in-november/ar… 3/3 12/8/2020 San Bernardino County coronavirus hospitalizations set record for 6th time in 7 days – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS • News San Bernardino County coronavirus hospitalizations set record for 6th time in 7 days The county had 996 COVID-19 patients in hospitals as of Monday, Dec. 7

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD || [email protected] andand NIKIE JOHNSON || [email protected] || TheThe SunSun PUBLISHED: December 8, 2020 at 3:23 p.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: December 8, 2020 at 3:23 p.m.

ThisThis criticalcritical coveragecoverage isis beingbeing providedprovided freefree toto allall readers. Support reporting like this with a subscription to The Sun. Special Offer: 99¢ for 3 months.

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On a day when the Governorʼs Office of Emergency Services sent a mass alert to phones across Southern California urging residents to stay home, San Bernardino County on Tuesday, Dec. 8, continued reporting coronavirus figuresfigures thatthat showshow thethe virus is more widespread than ever.

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/san-bernardino-county-coronavirus-hospitalizations-set-record-for-6th-time-in-7-days/?utm_medium=soc… 1/5 12/8/2020 San Bernardino County coronavirus hospitalizations set record for 6th time in 7 days – San Bernardino Sun New numbers show the county reported an average of 61.1 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents per day in the week that ended Nov. 28. While that figure represents a 33% increase over the week prior, the adjusted case rate – which the state uses to assign counties to color-coded tiers and regulate what kinds of business operations are allowed – more than doubled, from 23 cases per 100,000 residents per day to 54.2, because the countyʼs testing volume decreased.

At 54.2, San Bernardino Countyʼs latest adjusted case rate is the fourth-highest in thethe state,state, afterafter onlyonly threethree smallsmall counties:counties: Sutter,Sutter, LassenLassen andand Alpine.Alpine.

Meanwhile, the 16.9% positivity rate reported Tuesday marks a local high since thethe statestate startedstarted trackingtracking thethe statisticstatistic atat thethe endend ofof August.August.

Also, for the sixth time in seven days, the county set a record for hospitalizations, with 996 confirmed coronavirus patients as of Monday, Dec. 7.

In a briefing Tuesday, state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Southern California has 10.1% of ICU capacity available.

Here are the latest numbers, according to county and state public health officials.

San Bernardino County

Confirmed cases: 108,946108,946 total,total, upup 1,0181,018 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 2,1202,120 reportedreported per day in the past week

Deaths: 1,2071,207 total,total, upup 1919 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 11.111.1 reportedreported perper dayday inin thethe past week

Hospital survey: 996996 confirmedconfirmed andand 104104 suspectedsuspected patientspatients hospitalizedhospitalized Monday,Monday, includingincluding 216216 confirmedconfirmed andand ninenine suspectedsuspected patientspatients inin thethe ICU.ICU. TheThe numbernumber ofof confirmed patients is up 16% from a week earlier.

People tested: 1,232,4571,232,457 total,total, upup 12,05112,051 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 15,82415,824 reportedreported per day in the past week

Resolved cases (estimate): 96,79996,799 total,total, upup 552552 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 1,4751,475 perper day in the past week

Metrics tracked by the state:

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/san-bernardino-county-coronavirus-hospitalizations-set-record-for-6th-time-in-7-days/?utm_medium=soc… 2/5 12/8/2020 San Bernardino County coronavirus hospitalizations set record for 6th time in 7 days – San Bernardino Sun

ICU availability: 10.1% across Southern California New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 61.1 Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 54.2 Test positivity rate: 16.9% (20.6% in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods) What that means: Southern California is under a stay-home order becausebecause ofof thethe lowlow ICUICU availability.availability. WhenWhen thatthat isis lifted,lifted, SanSan BernardinoBernardino CountyCounty willwill return to a color-coded tier withwith restrictionsrestrictions basedbased onon thethe otherother metrics.metrics.

To see a map and list of cases, deaths and per-capita rates by community, click here..

Here is a look at how the countyʼs numbers have changed each day:

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Brian Whitehead | Reporter Brian Whitehead is a reporter for The San Bernardino Sun, covering Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Rialto and San Bernardino. He previously covered prep sports and the cities of Buena Park, Fullerton and La Palma for The Orange County Register. A Grand Terrace native and Riverside Notre Dame alumnus, he earned his journalism degree from Cal State Fullerton in 2010. Since joining The Sun in late 2017, he has reported on development, education, homelessness, marijuana, political strife and the myriad issues facing San Bernardino post- bankruptcy.

[email protected]

 Follow Brian Whitehead @bwhitehead3

SPONSORED CONTENT https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/san-bernardino-county-coronavirus-hospitalizations-set-record-for-6th-time-in-7-days/?utm_medium=soc… 3/5 12/9/2020 UPDATE: Fontana continues to see troubling rise in coronavirus cases and deaths | News | fontanaheraldnews.com

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/update-fontana-continues-to-see-troubling-rise-in-coronavirus- cases-and-deaths/article_9a8d5206-38dc-11eb-9e52-0b6e52f0a06c.html

FEATURED UPDATE: Fontana continues to see troubling rise in coronavirus cases and deaths

Dec 7, 2020

This is a view of Fontana looking north from the Jurupa Hills area. The city has seen a disturbing rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. (Contributed photo by Jerry Soifer)

Fontana continues to see a troubling rise in coronavirus cases and deaths.

A total of 14,257 COVID-19 cases and 124 deaths have been reported in Fontana since the pandemic began earlier this year, according to a report by the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health on Dec. 7.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/update-fontana-continues-to-see-troubling-rise-in-coronavirus-cases-and-deaths/article_9a8d5206-38dc-11… 1/2 12/9/2020 UPDATE: Fontana continues to see troubling rise in coronavirus cases and deaths | News | fontanaheraldnews.com In just the past seven days (since the start of December), there have been 1,446 cases and seven deaths.

In San Bernardino County, there have been 107,928 cases and 1,188 deaths, the Department of Public Health said on Dec. 7.

The number of coronavirus infections has skyrocketed in recent weeks throughout Southern California, and as a result, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay at home order which is scheduled to last three weeks.

San Bernardino County health ofcials are urging all residents to be tested for COVID-19.

There are two testing sites available on weekdays in Fontana:

• Jack Bulik Center, 16581 Filbert Street;

• Jessie Turner Center, 15556 Summit Avenue.

Testing is free and does not require insurance. Symptoms are not required to test.

Due to an increased demand in COVID-19 testing, walk-ins are no longer accepted at the testing sites at this time. Testing is available by appointment only by visiting sbcovid19.com.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/update-fontana-continues-to-see-troubling-rise-in-coronavirus-cases-and-deaths/article_9a8d5206-38dc-11… 2/2 12/9/2020 California playgrounds to stay open amid COVID restrictions - Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA

In a reversal, state says playgrounds can remain open under COVID-19 restrictions

A signs warn that playground equipment is o limits at Lake Balboa/Anthony C. Beilenson Park in Encino on Friday. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By LUKE MONEY | STAFF WRITER

DEC. 9, 2020 | 9:27 AM https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-playgrounds-stay-open-covid-19-restrictions 1/9 12/9/2020 California playgrounds to stay open amid COVID restrictions - Los Angeles Times

Following outcry from parents and some legislators, California has reversed course on closing playgrounds to contain a surge in coronavirus cases.

According to the updated state guidance, “playgrounds may remain open to facilitate physically distanced personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise” — an about-face from the previously announced rules , which stated they would be closed in regions where critical care services were strained due to COVID-19.

Though several aspects of California’s latest regional stay-at-home order have come under fire since Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled it last week, the closure of playgrounds sparked particular backlash — with parents expressing outrage and confusion about why their children’s play areas would be off-limits while places like malls remain open.

CALIFORNIA Gov. Newsom faces backlash for closing playgrounds as part of stay-at-home order Dec. 4, 2020

In a letter to Newsom last week, some California lawmakers also noted that lower- income areas would be hit hardest by the rule because many residents don’t have backyards and other open spaces to take their kids.

“While we must appropriately consider best practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, we also must ensure the children across the state are not unfairly deprived of their opportunities for outdoor access and play,” said the letter, which was signed by a dozen legislators. “The broad closure of playgrounds unfairly negatively impacts children and families.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-playgrounds-stay-open-covid-19-restrictions 2/9 12/9/2020 California playgrounds to stay open amid COVID restrictions - Los Angeles Times One of the letter’s signers — Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) — greeted the state’s reversal Wednesday with an emphatic, “Yay!”

“Thank you to all the legislators who joined me in asking the state to review playground closures,” she wrote on Twitter.

Lorena Gonzalez @LorenaSGonzalez

Thank you to all the legislators who joined me in asking the state to review playground closures. And thank you Dr. Ghaly for your patience with my advocacy. Thank you @GavinNewsom for listening! Yay! Playgrounds.

Nathan Fletcher @nathanfletcher State just updated guidance that playgrounds may remain open. Thank you @GavinNewsom for making this important adjustment to help our kids. Now we must all be responsible and safe! twitter.com/nathanfletcher…

It remains to be seen how the state’s turnabout will trickle down to the local level. Generally, counties are allowed to adopt regulations that are more restrictive, but not more lenient, than the state’s.

Los Angeles County, for instance, closed outdoor public playgrounds prior to the state’s order as part of its own set of restrictions meant to slow an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.

Though the county has not publicly linked outbreaks to playgrounds, officials previously said they believed the closures were necessary.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-playgrounds-stay-open-covid-19-restrictions 3/9 12/9/2020 California playgrounds to stay open amid COVID restrictions - Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA Angry parents won’t let officials slide over closed playgrounds, packed malls Dec. 3, 2020

Before issuing the regulations, health officials “went back and forth for many days” about how to handle reports from local parks departments about crowding, children playing without masks and the difficulty of sanitizing playground equipment, according to L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

“I know the playgrounds have been, really for many, sort of not well understood, and [their closure] creates a lot of hardship again for families,” she said last week.

CALIFORNIA COVID-19 PANDEMIC

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Luke Money

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Luke Money is a Metro reporter covering breaking news at the Los Angeles Times. He previously was a reporter and assistant city editor for the Daily Pilot, a Times Community News publication in Orange County, and before that wrote for the Santa https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-playgrounds-stay-open-covid-19-restrictions 4/9 12/9/2020 Intensive Care Beds Are Nearing Capacity Across the Country, New Data Shows - The New York Times

https://nyti.ms/3n51mZG

Intensive Care Beds Are Nearing Capacity Across the Country, New Data Shows

By Lauren Leatherby, John Keefe, Lucy Tompkins, Charlie Smart and Matthew Conlen Dec. 9, 2020

Share of I.C.U. beds occupied

75% 80% 85% 90% 95% No data

Use two ﬁngers to pan and zoom. Tap for details.

Source: New York Times analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data. · Note: Shows 7-day average patient count by hospital service area.

In El Paso, hospitals reported that just 13 of 400 intensive care beds were not occupied last week. In Fargo, N.D., there were just three. In Albuquerque, there were zero.

More than a third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are running critically short of intensive care beds, federal data show, revealing a newly detailed picture of the nation’s hospital crisis during the deadliest week of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Hospitals serving more than 100 million Americans reported having fewer than 15 percent of intensive care beds still available as of last week, according to a Times analysis of data reported by hospitals and released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/09/us/covid-hospitals-icu-capacity.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage 1/4 12/9/2020 Intensive Care Beds Are Nearing Capacity Across the Country, New Data Shows - The New York Times Many areas are even worse off: One in 10 Americans — across a large swath of the Midwest, South and Southwest — lives in an area where intensive care beds are either completely full, or fewer than 5 percent of beds are available. At these levels, experts say maintaining existing standards of care for the sickest patients may be difﬁcult or impossible.

“There’s only so much our frontline care can offer, particularly when you get to these really rural counties which are being hit hard by the pandemic right now,” said Beth Blauer, director of the Centers for Civic Impact at Johns Hopkins University.

Sharp increases in Covid-19 patients can overwhelm smaller hospitals, she said. “This disease progresses very quickly and can get very ugly very fast. When you don’t have that capacity, that means people will die.”

The new dataset, released on Monday, marks the ﬁrst time the federal government has published detailed geographic information on Covid-19 patients in hospitals, something public health ofﬁcials have long said would be crucial to responding to the epidemic and understanding its impact.

Where hospitals are at capacity

High-population areas All hospital service areas

Search by zip code or service area …

COVID I.C.U. COVID PATIENTS PATIENTS HOSPITAL I.C.U. PER 100K ▼ PER 100K OCCUPANCY OCCUPANCY National Average 30 5 59% 72%

White Plains, N.Y. 175 31 79% 79%

Troy, Mich. 135 15 79% 87%

Abington, Pa. 132 30 77% 102%

Fort Thomas, Ky. 121 31 146% 82%

Amarillo, Texas 117 42 78% 94%

Saginaw, Mich. 117 23 98% 99%

Oak Lawn, Ill. 112 23 71% 78%

Paterson, N.J. 110 17 71% 50%

Jonesboro, Ark. 109 28 78% 94%

Altoona, Pa. 103 19 94% 94%

Note: Locations shown represent hospital service areas, and the national averages are of service areas where data exist. Percentages above 100 may occur when hospitals report patients beyond their normal limits.

Hospitalization figures collected by the Covid Tracking Project show that the number of people hospitalized with the virus nationwide has doubled since the beginning of November. But existing state-level figures have obscured vast differences within states, making it difficult to recognize local hot spots.

The new data shows that some areas — like Amarillo, Texas, Coral Gables, Fla., and Troy, Mich. — are seeing rates of serious illness from Covid-19 that approach the levels seen in New York City during the worst weeks of https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/09/us/covid-hospitals-icu-capacity.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage 2/4 12/9/2020 Intensive Care Beds Are Nearing Capacity Across the Country, New Data Shows - The New York Times the spring.

Covid-19 patients per 100,000 people

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 No data

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Political leaders in many states are ramping up measures to try to slow the spread. Last week, California issued stay-at-home orders for regions where hospitals surpassed 85 percent intensive care occupancy. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, where I.C.U.s are full across the state, is expected to soon announce that hospitals can ration care based on who is most likely to survive.

Doctors and researchers said the shortages are already causing serious damage.

In North Dakota, which for weeks this fall had the worst rate of infection per capita in the country, the number of unoccupied I.C.U. beds across the whole state at times dipped into the single digits in early November. In the small city of Minot, the local hospital, Trinity Health, devoted more than an entire ﬂoor of its six-ﬂoor hospital to coronavirus patients.

Other North Dakota hospitals would normally accept transfers to help ease the burden, but when Dr. Jeffrey Sather, chief of medical staff, called around for help, he found that everywhere else was also full.

Patients kept coming, piling up in his emergency room. “There’s no place for them to go,” he said at the time.

Survival rates from the disease have improved as doctors have learned which treatments work. But hospital shortages could reverse those gains, risking the possibility of increasing mortality rates once again as patients https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/09/us/covid-hospitals-icu-capacity.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage 3/4 12/9/2020 Intensive Care Beds Are Nearing Capacity Across the Country, New Data Shows - The New York Times cannot receive the level of care they need.

Thomas Tsai, an assistant professor of health policy at Harvard University, said that when resources are critically constrained, healthcare workers already facing burnout are forced to make emotionally wrenching decisions about who receives care.

There is some evidence physicians are already limiting care, Dr. Tsai said. For the last several weeks, the rate at which Covid-19 patients are going to hospitals has started decreasing. “That suggests that there’s some rationing and stricter triage criteria about who gets admitted as hospitals remain full,” he said.

In California, where a shortage of hospital beds triggered a lockdown in much of the state by Monday, hospital workers are bracing for the next few months. More than 10,000 Covid-19 patients are now hospitalized in the state, more than 70 percent above levels of two weeks ago, and the effects of the Thanksgiving holiday may not have been fully felt yet.

At the University of California San Diego Medical Center, just nine intensive care beds were unoccupied on Monday. The mood in the hospital was one of resignation, said Dr. Chris Longhurst, associate chief medical ofﬁcer. For months, health workers have watched much of the public ignore their advice to take precautions and avoid the spread of the virus, he said, and now, inevitably, they are seeing ever more people arriving sick at their door.

“A lot of healthcare workers have been concerned about this, about the lack of compliance, and now we’re seeing it play out, and you just sort of feel resigned,” he said. “You’ve got to go to work every day and help the people who need hospital care, but we wish that it had stopped upstream.”

So far, policymakers have relied heavily on data on testing and cases to make policy decisions, including whether schools and businesses should remain open. But the new, detailed data on hospitals may lead to a rapid shift in what leaders consider as they make decisions, Ms. Blauer, of Johns Hopkins, said.

“If you’re living in a place where there’s no I.C.U. bed for 100 miles, you have to be incredibly careful about the social interaction that you allow the community to take,” she said.

Represents seven-day averages for the week ending Thursday, Dec. 3. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Beds counts are based primarily on staffed beds, but rely on total beds when staffed beds are not reported. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both conﬁrmed and suspected Covid-19 patients.

Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Dartmouth Atlas Project; Pinar Karaca Mandic, Covid-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/09/us/covid-hospitals-icu-capacity.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage 4/4 12/9/2020 California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions - The New York Times

https://nyti.ms/36Z7lK1

California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions Frustrated over an order to temporarily ban outdoor dining across Los Angeles County, many elected ofﬁcials have fought back — with votes to form their own health departments.

By Adam Popescu

Dec. 9, 2020 Updated 11:16 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES — Until late last month, outdoor dining — no masks required — was the closest thing to pre-pandemic normal for the 10 million residents of Los Angeles County. But amid a record-busting surge in hospitalizations and cases of the coronavirus, the county’s health department recently said outdoor dining must come to a complete halt for the ﬁrst time since May.

This time, angry at the order and worried it would be the death knell for many of the 30,000 eateries sprawled across the vast county’s patchwork of 88 independent jurisdictions, several cash-strapped municipalities have pushed back and banded together — with votes to form their own health departments.

“It’s kind of like a mini secession,” said Raphael J. Sonenshein, the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. “Their complaint is the county has a one-size-ﬁts-all prescription.”

The discussions speak to the growing frustration over a countywide order that many elected ofﬁcials said was inherently a hyperlocal issue.

While largely symbolic because there is no process for local jurisdictions to easily create their own health departments, city councils across the county have in recent days passed resolutions to do exactly that — or to annex and join a city that already has its own.

Hawaiian Gardens, a working-class Latino hamlet, was forced during the coronavirus pandemic to close a casino that is the city’s main employer and revenue generator. Philip Cheung for The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/coronavirus-california-outdoor-dining-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage 1/5 12/9/2020 California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions - The New York Times West Covina’s City Council was among the ﬁrst to take such a vote. Lancaster, home to 158,000 in the high desert, followed suit last week, as did Beverly Hills. Now hard-hit Hawaiian Gardens, Commerce, Inglewood, West Hollywood and others are debating similar moves.

In West Covina, a San Gabriel Valley hub of 105,000 residents, Mayor Tony Wu called the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s outdoor dining ban, a three-week order that began the night before Thanksgiving, the spark that set off a state already in the throes of a major economic crisis.

“We’ve done everything they told us to do and now telling us to shut down isn’t right,” Mr. Wu said. “Look, I’m an immigrant mayor trying to do the right thing and that means a local policy for a local issue.”

In Beverly Hills, which has seen tourism dwindle and which faces a $27 million budget shortfall compared with last year, Mayor Lester Friedman said the county had “lost touch” with Angelenos.

And in Hawaiian Gardens, a working-class Latino hamlet forced to close a casino that is the city’s main employer and revenue generator, the city manager, Ernie Hernandez, said residents could not afford to eat or pay their bills. “I don’t know what the right answer is,” he said, “but shutting down again doesn’t seem to be it.”

Across the state, daily case reports have tripled in the past month, with more than 25,000 new infections reported on Tuesday. About 8,500 of them were in Los Angeles County, which now has more daily cases than at any point in the pandemic, setting daily records for nearly a week straight. On Tuesday, the county had about 3,000 people hospitalized, with nearly a quarter in intensive care units.

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently issued a three-week lockdown order, which went into effect for much of the state on Monday, that also banned outdoor dining and superseded the Los Angeles County restrictions.

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The county is a freeway-connected sprawl, with the city of Los Angeles’s four million residents an island within it. There are so many invisible borders for the dozens of municipalities within its limits that motorists often do not realize when they enter one town or leave another — confusion that could be exacerbated if there were multiple ordinances and orders across the county.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/coronavirus-california-outdoor-dining-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage 2/5 12/9/2020 California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions - The New York Times

Daily virus case reports in California have tripled in the past month. Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

Many cities in the county operate their own law enforcement, ﬁre and other government services, though only Pasadena and Long Beach have separate health departments — and the decision-making power that comes with it. (Pasadena offered outdoor dining until last week; Long Beach, citing rising coronavirus cases, did not.)

But local mayors lack authority over public schools, transportation and public health — control that largely rests with the county’s board of supervisors, which upheld the health department’s decision.

Last week, Judge James Chalfant of Los Angeles County temporarily agreed with the board of supervisors but ordered health ofﬁcials to produce evidence supporting the ban. Then, in a decision on Tuesday, Judge Chalfant sided with the restaurants, limiting the ban to three weeks to prevent an “indeﬁnite” closure order.

Although the state ban still supersedes this ruling, health ofﬁcials now have about a week to provide a risk-beneﬁt analysis in order to extend the closure. Epidemiologists have said prolonged gatherings without masks, even outside, drive spread.

It was not too long ago when California’s elected ofﬁcials — among the ﬁrst to impose wide-ranging lockdowns — took pride in an approach that had appeared to stave off the coronavirus.

Then came a series of dining gaffes that undermined pleas to avoid crowds, including Mr. Newsom and others failing to heed their own rules. In recent days, businesses and ofﬁcials have seen a disparity in the most recent dining ban, with outdoor ﬁlm crew catering spots remaining open, for example, while restaurants a few feet away are without a single diner.

Despite more than 1.3 million virus cases and roughly 20,000 deaths statewide since March, anger is bubbling, with recent protests against the new restrictions staged outside the homes of the county’s health director, county supervisors and Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Many elected leaders said that while they had not yet sorted out what it would take to create new health departments, they were nonetheless forging ahead, with many city councils meeting this week to discuss a range of ideas, such as contracting for services in an à la carte approach.

Starting a department would not be easy — or without great ﬁnancial cost. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/coronavirus-california-outdoor-dining-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage 3/5 12/9/2020 California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions - The New York Times Health departments inspect, grade and enforce restaurant safety, plus prepare and respond to health emergencies and outbreaks. Expensive to build from scratch — especially during a health crisis — they are staffed by specialists in short supply during a pandemic.

A commercial space for lease in Hawaiian Gardens, one of several cities in Los Angeles County debating whether to start its own health department. Philip Cheung for The New York Times

Plus, cities would need approval from the state’s public health department. Erica Pan, the state’s acting public health ofﬁcer, who called this moment of rising cases “a critical tipping point where inaction and division could lead to loss of life,” said there was currently no process for approving new local health jurisdictions.

The spate of council decisions is not the ﬁrst push to decentralize the county system. The city of Los Angeles proposed a health department in 2013 but shelved the idea after learning it would take up to two years to build and cost at least $333 million annually to operate, a plan that former County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called “crazy, stupid” and “dangerous to the public health.”

The financial and infrastructure requirements were “impossible for us to implement,” said Miguel Santana, the city’s former chief administrative officer who is now the chief executive of Fairplex, a nonprofit space turned coronavirus testing center.

Los Angeles currently projects a budget shortfall of $675 million by June and is planning deep cuts. Mr. Garcetti has not spoken publicly about a new health department, and did not respond to requests for comment, but representatives said he continued to support the existing framework.

“If L.A. didn’t feel the need to have its own department, with all its power, money and size, that says something,” said Mr. Sonenshein, who has published three books on Los Angeles politics. “The dissatisfaction cities are expressing should be taken seriously, but you don’t necessarily need to redo everything.”

Rather than start from scratch, Mayor James Butts of Inglewood said, one option is regional alliances, like a collective South Bay health agency that is “focused on dining and retail.”

The South Bay Cities Council of Governments, a joint powers authority of 16 cities and communities in unincorporated Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, is weighing “annexing with a city that already has a health department,” he said. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/coronavirus-california-outdoor-dining-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage 4/5 12/9/2020 California Towns Rebel Against Pandemic Restaurant Restrictions - The New York Times A West Hollywood councilman, John D’Amico, acknowledged that creating a health department would be difﬁcult but said elected leaders would keep pushing, hoping to move the county toward “sensible actions sooner to keep our community viable in 2021.”

While modifying blanket ordinances may have merits, the virus knows no borders. And with hospitals bracing for a post-Thanksgiving surge while also awaiting vaccine shipments, the wisest choice may be to exercise patience, some elected leaders said.

“Forming independent health departments on the ﬂy, how many expert health ofﬁcials do you think are out there to be hired?” asked Mayor Kevin McKeown of Santa Monica, one of the few mayors aligned with the county. “How many cities without money could hire them?”

“There’s so much coronavirus that being in a relatively open place in the company of other people is inherently not safe,” he continued. “We’ve had a tremendous resurgence in Southern California. We haven’t seen the worst of it. Not yet.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/coronavirus-california-outdoor-dining-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage 5/5 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times

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California coronavirus cases spike to new daily high. ‘This is the start of the Thanksgiving bump’

Medical assistant Ana Ivette Zacarias, 25, walks to her car to change clothes after working at South Central Family Health Center on Saturday in Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

By LUKE MONEY | STAFF WRITER

DEC. 8, 2020 | 11:27 AM UPDATED 2:28 PM

California has again demolished a daily record for newly confirmed coronavirus cases, continuing a relentless onslaught of infections that has already sent more people to the https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 1/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times hospital than at any point during the pandemic.

The state reported 34,490 new daily coronavirus cases Monday, a figure stratospherically higher than any daily case count, according to data compiled by The Times.

So large is the gap between Monday’s report and the previous single-day record — set Friday, when 22,369 cases were tallied — that the difference of the two numbers, 12,121, would have ranked among California’s highest before the latest surge.

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Nov. 30, 2020

The record-shattering report coincides with when officials said they expected to begin seeing the consequences of travel and gatherings for the Thanksgiving holiday. The numbers also may foreshadow a time when daily infection counts equaling the size of a small city could be more the norm than the exception.

“I would say this is the start of the Thanksgiving bump,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 2/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times The latest increases, she said during a briefing Monday, “reflect actions we took in late November, and we can’t take those actions back. What we can do is change our actions today so that, two to three weeks from now, we’re not reporting a similarly disastrous cascade of events.”

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Over the last week, California has averaged 22,220 new coronavirus cases per day — a 78% increase from two weeks ago, according to The Times’ county-by-county tally of infections.

The rate at which coronavirus tests are confirming infection has also soared in recent weeks. California’s seven-day positivity rate is now 10.5%, the latest state data show, up from the 14-day average of 8.4%.

Officials are quick to note that cases themselves are not a byproduct of testing, because screenings merely confirm whether someone is already infected. But the ballooning case count, combined with a greater proportion of tests coming back positive, makes clear that coronavirus transmission is widespread throughout the state, experts say.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 3/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times The extent of infections in California is particularly troubling because about 12% of those who test positive will fall ill enough to require hospitalizations two to three weeks later. If case counts remain high for an extended period of time, the worry is that hospitals will be inundated, stretching bed capacity and the ability for trained staff to care for the flood of new patients.

Coronavirus cases statewide » As of December 8, 2:31 p.m. Pacific 1,395,332 20,102 confirmed deaths

Statewide deaths by day 200

100

0 Jan. 26 Dec. 7 California » L.A. County » Orange County »

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Overworked staff and overtaxed facilities threaten to erode the quality of care for everyone, not just those battling COVID-19, officials say.

“Unfortunately, we are shattering records, every day,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer for Santa Clara County. “Many of our hospitals have already elected to cancel elective surgeries and other procedures in order to be able to care for the influx of COVID patients.”

There are now 10,567 coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized statewide, and 2,417 are in intensive care, state data show. Both of those figures are all-time highs.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 4/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times The current number of hospitalizations has doubled in less than three weeks.

“I think everyone at this point really shares with me this deep concern about how do we make sure that people understand, if the numbers don’t start to go down ... you look at what I say are horrific scenarios that end up playing out, not just in our county, but across the state,” Ferrer said.

Those, she said, would be “where your morgue can get backed up, where you’re delaying care for people who really need care.”

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Given all the distressing data points seen during the recent surge, one relatively bright spot had been that the most devastating metric — the number of deaths — had remained relatively low. But that’s no longer the case.

The state has averaged 120 COVID-19 deaths a day over the last week, a rate not seen in months, according to data compiled by The Times.

Nearly 1,300 Californians have died from COVID-19 in the last 14 days, Times data show. Those deaths combined to push the state past a milestone Monday: 20,000 cumulative coronavirus-related fatalities.

It’s against this backdrop that Gov. Gavin Newsom last week unveiled a fresh round of restrictions , to be implemented when a region’s available ICU capacity drops below 15%. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 5/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times ADVERTISEMENT

The new stay-at-home order would require affected communities to limit most retail capacity to 20% and close hair salons, nail salons, public outdoor playgrounds, card rooms, museums, zoos, aquariums and wineries. Restaurants would be able to offer only takeout or delivery as indoor and outdoor dining would be banned.

“Our message is: As much as you can, stay at home,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary, said during a briefing Tuesday. “We know that it works. We know that we can bring our transmission rates down.”

As of Tuesday, two state-defined regions — Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley — had seen their available ICU capacities tumble low enough to trigger the order. Those restrictions took hold at 11:59 p.m. Sunday and will remain in place for at least three weeks.

Five Bay Area counties — San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda and Marin — also announced last week that they would proactively implement the new restrictions and planned to keep them in place until at least Jan. 4.

Combined, those regions are home to some 33 million Californians, representing 84% of the state’s population.

Ghaly said all residents — even those in areas not covered under a regional stay-at- home order — should heed the call.

“Right now, we’re seeing such high levels of transmission that almost every activity — I should say every activity — that could be done differently and keep us at our home, not mixing with others, is safer,” he said. “Those are going to be the tools that help us get this under control.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 6/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services sent cellphone emergency alerts emphasizing that point to residents across Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley on Tuesday afternoon.

Ghaly added that he thinks the early move on the part of some Bay Area counties is a recognition “that the sooner some of these changes go into effect, the hope is that the impact is greater and that we can shorten the time that these orders are in place.”

That’s particularly true given the lagging nature of the virus. Those who are hospitalized now were largely infected two to three weeks ago, when case counts, though high, were significantly lower than today.

“We anticipate not just the ongoing slope of increase that we’ve seen now, [but] we are [also] worried about a rapidly accelerating increase and pressure on our hospitals,” Ghaly said. “If we thought we were sort of peaking at this level, some of the regional stay-at-home orders may not have been necessary.”

CALIFORNIA Some restaurants are defying California lockdown rules: ‘We have to make a living’ Dec. 8, 2020

Ghaly said earlier this week that cases stemming from “dinner tables or activities and plans, travel through Thanksgiving, are going to show up right about now,” and “we know we’ll be seeing that for many days to come.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 7/14 12/8/2020 California coronavirus cases explode to new daily high - Los Angeles Times Ferrer reiterated that point Tuesday, telling the L.A. County Board of Supervisors that “we anticipate continuing to see these very high numbers of cases now as we’re moving into a reflection of actions people took over the Thanksgiving week.”

Though the latest numbers are painting an increasingly bleak picture of the pandemic in California, officials emphasize that everyone — residents and businesses alike — can do their part to help stymie the surge.

Taking simple steps, such as wearing a mask in public, regularly washing your hands and staying home when you’re sick, as well as keeping distance from, and avoiding gatherings with, those outside your household can all make a significant dent, experts and officials say.

There’s also hope on the horizon, as the first COVID-19 vaccines are slated to arrive in California shortly. Newsom said Monday the state was planning to receive 2.16 million doses this month — with deliveries expected to start by next week.

Ferrer said L.A. County will likely get 84,000 doses of the vaccine in its first allocation from the state, possibly next week.

Though the next few weeks may be tough, it’s not too late to turn things around, she said.

“While we know we’re going to see significant increases for the next two to three weeks, it can turn itself around at the moment we all start getting back into the game,” she said Monday. “We don’t have to actually just say, ‘This is inevitable. We’re going to see an overwhelmed healthcare system.’ ... We have time, but very little, to get ourselves to a place where that will not be the case.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/california-coronavirus-cases-explode-to-new-high 8/14 12/8/2020 L.A. County could get 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by next week - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. County could get 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by next week

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/la-county-could-get-84-000-covid-19-vaccine-doses-by-next-week 1/9 12/8/2020 L.A. County could get 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by next week - Los Angeles Times

Neal Browning receives a shot March 16 in a safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19 at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

By JACLYN COSGROVE, LUKE MONEY

DEC. 8, 2020 | 1:31 PM UPDATED 1:31 PM

Los Angeles County will likely get 84,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in its first allocation from the state, hopefully by as early as next week, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday.

The county could receive a second round of doses in late December and might allocate some of those vaccines for nursing home residents and employees, Ferrer said.

The goal is to vaccinate as many essential healthcare workers as possible, in hopes of completing the first phase of the county’s vaccine plan by the end of January, she said.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/la-county-could-get-84-000-covid-19-vaccine-doses-by-next-week 2/9 12/8/2020 L.A. County could get 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by next week - Los Angeles Times After the county receives its third allocation of vaccines, it could start getting weekly allocations of vaccine, Ferrer said.

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With COVID-19 infections surging to alarming levels, a vaccine is seen as an essential strategy for recovery, though it is clear it will likely take months for many people to get access. Priority is expected to be considered for older people, first responders, essential workers and those with preexisting conditions.

California reported 34,490 new daily coronavirus cases Monday, a figure much higher than any previous daily case count, according to data compiled by The Times.

So large is the gap between Monday’s reported cases and the previous single-day record — set Friday, when 22,369 cases were tallied — that the difference of the two numbers, 12,121, would have ranked among California’s highest before the latest surge.

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/la-county-could-get-84-000-covid-19-vaccine-doses-by-next-week 3/9 12/8/2020 L.A. County could get 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by next week - Los Angeles Times

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Over the last week, California has averaged 22,220 new coronavirus cases per day — a 78% increase from two weeks ago, according to The Times’ county-by-county tally of infections.

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Jaclyn Cosgrove

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Jaclyn Cosgrove is the L.A. County government reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Her coverage focuses primarily on human services, including mental health, child welfare, homelessness, criminal justice reform and indigent care. Cosgrove is originally from Arpelar, Okla., and graduated from Oklahoma State University. Send her tips privately on Signal at (213) 222-6625.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/la-county-could-get-84-000-covid-19-vaccine-doses-by-next-week 4/9 12/8/2020 L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns – Daily Bulletin

NEWS •• News L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns The annual count relies on thousands of volunteers gathering and going out in teams to visually count tents, vehicles and people who are experiencing homelessness.

Volunteers Blanca Plascencia, Betty Doumas-Toto and Ryan Roberts survey the campus of CSUN in Northridge, CA., during the Los Angeles County homeless count Tuesday, Jan 22, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

By ELIZABETH CHOU || [email protected] || DailyDaily NewsNews PUBLISHED: December 8, 2020 at 2:42 p.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: December 8, 2020 at 2:42 p.m.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/l-a-officials-want-to-cancel-january-homeless-count-amid-coronavirus-concerns/?utm_source=twitt… 1/6 12/8/2020 L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns – Daily Bulletin A homeless count typically conducted in the Los Angeles area that relies on the help of thousands of volunteers during the month of January could be canceled amid concerns that it would be unsafe and impractical in the middle of a pandemic.

InIn recentrecent years,years, thethe LosLos AngelesAngeles HomelessHomeless ServicesServices AuthorityAuthority (LAHSA)(LAHSA) hashas beenbeen conducting the count annually. The count is only required every two years — in the odd-number years — when the agency applies for funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That means 2021 was the scheduled year for the count to be done to meet federal guidelines.

The homeless services agency, a partnership between Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles, is expected to request that this year it not be required to do the part of the homeless count that involves sending volunteers out over several nights in January to tally people who are without adequate shelter.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved a motion,, authoredauthored byby newnew boardboard chair Hilda Solis, calling for the county to send a letter signed by all five members of the board to HUD to support LAHSA’s request for an “exception” from the requirement.

“Los Angeles County, like much of the world, is still navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic and has firm public health orders in place given the surge in COVID-19 cases,” Solis said in a statement.

She said that doing the count of unsheltered people “would be a risky and challenging activity at best and a dangerous, superspreader event in the worst- case scenario, quickly infecting a high number of people with a very contagious and deadly disease.”

During the counts, volunteers would typically gather for a brief training session,, and then form small groups that would ride in cars together to methodically scan each census tract assigned to their team.

The counts are supposed to be done visually,, andand peoplepeople areare notnot requiredrequired toto andand often do not leave their vehicles.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/l-a-officials-want-to-cancel-january-homeless-count-amid-coronavirus-concerns/?utm_source=twitt… 2/6 12/8/2020 L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns – Daily Bulletin

Czarina Barrios, a housing navigator for Los Angeles Family Housing, was part of a volunteer team conducting a homeless count in Northridge. She looks down the railroad tracks,tracks, butbut doesdoes notnot seesee anyany encampmentsencampments onon Tuesday,Tuesday, Jan.Jan. 22,22, 2019.2019. (Photo(Photo byby Elizabeth Chou)

Most counts involving spotting a tent or a vehicle that appear to be used by someone as a home, and noting that down. Occasionally a person, who may show some marker usually listed in the training as indicating the person may be homeless, is included in the tally. Those numbers are then used with data obtained through in-person interviews with people living in those tents to extrapolate an overall estimate that is later reported to the public.

LAHSA officials say the number of people staying in shelters or who are enrolled inin otherother interiminterim housinghousing programsprograms couldcould stillstill bebe talliedtallied accurately.accurately. ThoseThose numbersnumbers are reported to the agency each year by the operators of those programs.

But the majority of the Los Angeles area’s homeless population live in tent encampments or vehicles, and canceling the count in January raises questions as to whether public officials would have enough data to make decisions about where to put funding to most effectively provide services and housing to people experiencing homelessness.

The issue of homelessness can also become polarizing, making data that reflecting the scope and nature of the issue a key component in determining the direction of conversations around the issue.

But public officials said there does not seem to be much of a choice this year. Dana Vanderford, a homeless policy deputy for Supervisor Kathryn Barger, said there was a “doubt that the count could be done safely or accurately.” https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/l-a-officials-want-to-cancel-january-homeless-count-amid-coronavirus-concerns/?utm_source=twitt… 3/6 12/8/2020 L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns – Daily Bulletin She added that making this move, calling to suspend the count this year, was “difficult.”

“It is unfortunate we won’t have the most up to date information to make decisions,” she said.

The county still has this year’s homeless count data released in June, which includesincludes numbersnumbers determineddetermined throughthrough thethe three-daythree-day “point-in-time”“point-in-time” countcount ofof unsheltered people down 11 months ago in January — prior to the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

That count found there were 66,000 people experiencing homelessness. It was a dramatic increase from the nearly 59,000 people counted the year prior, and with the pandemic expected to have affected many households’ financially, the figures were expected to rise even higher in the following year.

LAHSA staff last week recommended that the unsheltered count be canceled, telling the agency’s commission thatthat thethe county’scounty’s DepartmentDepartment ofof PublicPublic HealthHealth has stated that it “would be dangerous to do a count, especially surveys.”

They also reported homeless services providers and municipalities gave feedback saying “they do not have bandwidth to support an unsheltered count this year and are concerned with the health risks for their staff and volunteers.”

They also argued that the count, which HUD is requiring be done at night, could also conflict with the state’s curfew, put in place as part of stay-at-home order that limits people’s ability to go out at night for nonessential activities.

LAHSA staff also suggested that some efforts to arrive at a figure could be attempted. These might include doing much shorter observation-only surveys, spread the count over a longer period of time, using statistical sampling and potentially pull from other databases, including the agency’s own Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/l-a-officials-want-to-cancel-january-homeless-count-amid-coronavirus-concerns/?utm_source=twitt… 4/6 12/8/2020 L.A. officials want to cancel January homeless count, amid coronavirus concerns – Daily Bulletin To use the HMIS data, the region delivering the services would need to get permission first, the staff wrote in its presentation.

LAHSA’s own count does not include the cities of Pasadena, Long Beach and Glendale, but when reporting the countywide homelessness numbers, the agency does also includes results from counts in those municipalities.

The other municipalities apply for their own HUD funding to pay for homeless services in their own areas, known in HUD lingo as a “continuum of care.” Like LAHSA, which is overseen by a commission appointed by elected officials from the Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles, those cities have also been doing the counts annually despite only being required to do it every two years to receive the “continuum of care” funds.

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Tags: community,, Coronavirus,, Education,, government,, homeless,, homelessness,, Top Stories Breeze,, Top Stories IVDB,, Top Stories LADN,, Top Stories LBPT,, Top Stories PSN,, Top Stories SGVT,, Top Stories WDN

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/l-a-officials-want-to-cancel-january-homeless-count-amid-coronavirus-concerns/?utm_source=twitt… 5/6 12/8/2020 Judge says LA County acted ‘arbitrarily’ closing outdoor dining in tentative ruling – Daily Bulletin

NEWS •• News Judge says LA County acted ‘arbitrarily’ closing outdoor dining in tentative ruling Two lawsuits were filed against the county, one by the California Restaurant Association and another from the owner of the downtown Engine Co. No. 28 restaurant, attorney Mark Geragos.

Amara Barroeta, owner of Amara Chocolate and Coffee on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, says that she only makes schedules for her workers a day in advance since they are not sure if they will have to close down on Saturday December 5, 2020. (Photo(Photo byby KeithKeith Durflinger,Durflinger, ContributingContributing Photographer)Photographer)

By BRADLEY BERMONT || [email protected] || PasadenaPasadena Star-NewsStar-News PUBLISHED: December 8, 2020 at 12:08 p.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: December 8, 2020 at 12:55 p.m.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/judge-says-la-county-acted-arbitrarily-closing-outdoor-dining-in-tentative-ruling/?utm_campaign=so… 1/4 12/8/2020 Judge says LA County acted ‘arbitrarily’ closing outdoor dining in tentative ruling – Daily Bulletin

InIn aa tentativetentative rulingruling issuedissued Tuesday,Tuesday, Dec.Dec. 8,8, aa judgejudge saidsaid LosLos AngelesAngeles CountyCounty actedacted “arbitrarily” and without a proper “risk-benefit” analysis when it closed all outdoor dining atat restaurantsrestaurants toto reportedlyreportedly slowslow thethe spreadspread ofof thethe coronavirus.coronavirus.

Still, because of the state’s overriding regional stay-at-home order, which includes an in-personin-person diningdining ban,ban, “outdoor“outdoor restaurantrestaurant diningdining inin thethe countycounty cannotcannot reopenreopen atat thisthis time,” Superior Court Judge James Chalfant said in a 53-page tentative decision.

“By failing to weigh the benefits of an outdoor dining restriction against its costs, the county acted arbitrarily and its decision lacks a rational relationship to a legitimate end,” Chalfant wrote in the tentative ruling, which will be discussed at a 1:30 p.m. hearing.

The tentative ruling comes after two lawsuits were filed against the county, one by the California Restaurant Association and another from the owner of the downtown Engine Co. No. 28 restaurant, attorney Mark Geragos.

“The balance of harms works in petitioners’ favor until such time as the county concludes after proper risk-benefit analysis that restaurants must be closed to protect the healthcare system,” Chalfant wrote.

The judge noted that the county has shown surging COVID-19 cases are “burdening the health care system and action is necessary.” He also said the county has presented “generalized evidence” of transmission risk from outdoor dining.

But he said the county’s assertion that the virus can be spread in restaurants by patrons spending extended periods of time without masks “only weakly supports the closure of outdoor restaurant dining, because it ignores the outdoor nature of the activity, which the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says carries only a moderate risk, and less with mitigations.”

While the state’s order will be in place until Dec. 27, at a minimum, the county could foreseeablyforeseeably extendextend itsits ownown outdooroutdoor diningdining banban setset toto expireexpire onon Dec.Dec. 1616 toto extendextend beyond the state’s order — but only “after conducting an appropriate risk-benefit analysis,” the judge said.

Chalfant wrote that he can’t dictate what that analysis should entail, but suggested that the county “could be expected to consider the economic cost of closing 30,000 restaurants, the impact to restaurant owners and their employees and the psychological and emotional cost to a public tired of the pandemic and seeking some formform ofof employmentemployment inin theirtheir lives.”lives.”

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/judge-says-la-county-acted-arbitrarily-closing-outdoor-dining-in-tentative-ruling/?utm_campaign=so… 2/4 12/8/2020 Judge says LA County acted ‘arbitrarily’ closing outdoor dining in tentative ruling – Daily Bulletin The tentative ruling comes one week after the judge asked county lawyers to produce evidence thatthat shuttingshutting downdown outdooroutdoor diningdining wouldwould inin factfact stemstem thethe spreadspread of the virus.

The move was somewhat telegraphed in court proceedings last week when attorneys for the restaurateurs said county officials lacked any data, save for theoretical evidence based on simulations, to justify the closure. The judge, they said, was looking for more.

Before the state’s stay-at-home order was enacted last week, Los Angeles and Long Beach health departments closed outdoor dining, sparking outrage from restaurant owners and some government officials whowho warnedwarned ofof financialfinancial devastation. devastation.

After such a dismal year for business, many restaurants that close may not come back, they argued, particularly because the closure order came down right before the holidays when restaurants often have their best weeks of the year.

Still, the move didn’t stop Pasadena fromfrom keepingkeeping itsits outdooroutdoor diningdining open.open. AlthoughAlthough the Crown City operates its own health department, it tends to stay in line with the county’s policies; this marked Pasadena’s most significant divergence yet.

One week before the county closed outdoor dining, it limited restaurants to 50% of their outdoor capacity. Pasadena did not follow suit, arguing the rule was vague and ineffective,ineffective, insteadinstead optingopting toto increaseincrease enforcementenforcement ofof coronavirus-relatedcoronavirus-related restrictions.

ItIt waswas ableable toto dodo that,that, citycity officialsofficials said,said, becausebecause PasadenaPasadena hashas aa fewfew hundredhundred restaurants while the county has over 30,000. Enforcement isn’t feasible at that scale, they argued.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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Tags: business,, Coronavirus,, coronavirus closures,, restaurants,, Top Stories Breeze,, Top Stories IVDB,, Top Stories LADN,, Top Stories LBPT,, Top Stories PSN,, Top Stories SGVT,, Top Stories WDN https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/12/08/judge-says-la-county-acted-arbitrarily-closing-outdoor-dining-in-tentative-ruling/?utm_campaign=so… 3/4 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times

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Column: What in tarnation is going on with Southern California sheriffs and coronavirus?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 1/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times

Orange County Sheri Don Barnes talks to a reporter at his oce in Santa Ana on Feb. 19, 2019. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

By GUSTAVO ARELLANO | COLUMNIST

DEC. 9, 2020 | 6 AM

There are reasonable, respectful ways for politicians to oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus shutdowns.

And then there’s the way Southern California’s sheriffs do it.

In November, the top lawmen in Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Orange and Los Angeles counties announced that they wouldn’t enforce a 10 p.m-to-5 a.m. curfew implemented to thwart a rise in coronavirus cases.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 2/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times All said then that they’d rather take an educational rather than punitive approach to violators. But now that the governor has shut down in-person dining and severely limited businesses as cases hit record-breaking highs, some sheriffs are advocating insurrection.

In my Orange County, Don Barnes said in a Dec. 5 news release that his department wouldn’t cite any maskless people or packed restaurants because public compliance with this latest state order “is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement.” He also opined that for Newsom to expect O.C. deputies will serve as his personal snitch squad is “contradictory and disingenuous” because the governor keeps “criticizing law enforcement and taking away tools to do our jobs.”

East on the 91 Freeway in Riverside, Chad Bianco wasn’t as conciliatory.

In a Dec. 4 video better suited for Infowars than a public agency, the first-term sheriff blasted Newsom’s “dictatorial attitude” and derided stay-at-home orders as “flat-out ridiculous” because “the medical field is so split about this virus.” Therefore, Bianco proclaimed his department wouldn’t be blackmailed or bullied by the “hypocritical” Newsom to be “used as muscle” against the public if people violate coronavirus protocols.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 3/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times The two make L.A.'s Xerox machine of bad news, Sheriff Alex Villanueva, look good on the coronavirus. On Tuesday, my colleague Alene Tchekmedyian broke the news that Villanueva knew about a massive, illegal house party in Palmdale yet allowed it to happen before his deputies swarmed in to arrest more than 100 people.

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But it’s Barnes and Bianco that corona-crazies now hail as heroes for their tough talk. If this were a western movie, the sheriffs would be Gary Cooper’s character in “High Noon” — lone men willing to take on evil as cowards hide — while Newsom would obviously be a foppish villain a la Hedley Lamarr in “Blazing Saddles.”

But the two should be shamed, not praised. They and their fellow sheriff resisters represent some of the worst offenders of the pandemic.

When we need collective sacrifice, they espouse selfishness. When we need law and order, they encourage anarchy by deciding which rules are valid and which aren’t. When we need officers who follow the policy recommendations of medical experts, they instead decide to become judge, jury and non-executor on subjects over which they have no knowledge whatsoever.

When we need Andy Griffith, Barnes and Bianco give us Barney Fife.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 4/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times

Riverside County Sheri Chad Bianco (Riverside County Sheri’s Department)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 5/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times You cannot find two worse spokespeople against the shutdown than them.

I figured Bianco was going to justify his stance by citing a love of civil liberties more than espousing coronavirus trutherism when I requested an interview. But, no, his emailed responses showed Bianco graduated from the Scott Atlas college of dodgy science.

When I asked him to clarify what he meant about doctors being “split” on the coronavirus, Bianco responded, “If you seek information from more than one news source, these opinions are easy to find. Doctors and other medical professionals have differing opinions on benefits of masks, social distancing, and lockdowns.”

It’s a weird thing to say, given Bianco himself urged Riverside County residents in his Dec. 4 video to “wear your mask and practice social distancing.”

Bianco doesn’t believe this lockdown “is going to be effective at all,” even though coronavirus rates fell the last time California saw such a similar closure. And then he got all epidemiologist, which I didn’t know they taught at sheriff school.

He wrote, “Not everyone is going to get the virus, and 99.8[%] of those who do, will get over it. Common sense would say we should be looking to identify and save that 0.2[%].”

The thing is, Sheriff, knowing whom the coronavirus will kill isn’t as easy as picking out a crook from a lineup because he’s wearing a grimy beanie and holding a bag with a dollar sign. The virus hits everyone, and can kill the healthy and infirm alike.

Bianco should know: Two of his own deputies died of COVID-19 in April.

There’s also this: In Riverside County, the COVID-19 fatality rate right now for those who contract the disease is 1.2% — and its death rate per 100,000 places it ninth out of

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 6/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times California’s 58 counties.

Bianco’s coronavirus truthiness is surprising. His department hasn’t faced many controversies over the last two years. And Bianco made national news over the summer when he and some of his deputies knelt during a Black Lives Matter rally in Riverside.

He told reporters then, “This is a huge divide, and the leaders of this have to work with us to make a difference.”

If only he felt the same about leaders banding together to fight the coronavirus.

Yet Bianco is nowhere near as hypocritical in his stance as Barnes.

Since May, O.C.'s sheriff has proclaimed to anyone who’ll listen that he doesn’t run the “mask police” because his department would rather go after actual criminals. Now, he’s appearing on Fox News to claim Newsom’s lockdowns don’t stand “the constitutional test.”

Caring about the law of the land is rich coming from Barnes. Over his 31-year law career in Orange County, the Sheriff’s Department has careened from one corruption scandal to another. A federal jury found that one former boss, Brad Gates, acted with “reckless disregard” for the Constitution by allegedly issuing gun permits to political supporters; another, Michael Carona, spent time in federal prison for witness tampering.

Barnes, meanwhile, was in the inner circle of his predecessor, Sandra Hutchens, when multiple convictions were overturned after public defender Scott Sanders discovered that deputies had procured illegal confessions from inmates through the use of jailhouse informants.

This year alone, O.C. deputies have been charged with stealing credit cards, mishandling evidence and repeatedly burglarizing a dead man’s home.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 7/13 12/9/2020 Column: California sheriffs defend coronavirus disorder - Los Angeles Times Barnes’ office didn’t return a request for comment.

In Hollywood’s version of the Old West, sheriffs were usually the good guys, the ones who brought order and justice and peace to towns in the midst of chaos. But Barnes, Bianco, Villanueva and others actually recall a stock character from a different genre, one they have updated for modern times.

They’re the Keystone corona-Kops.

Except their tomfoolery endangers us all.

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Gustavo Arellano

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Gustavo Arellano is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, covering Southern California everything and a bunch of the West and beyond. He previously worked at OC Weekly, where he was an investigative reporter for 15 years and editor for six, wrote a column called ¡Ask a Mexican! and is the author of “Taco USA: How Mexican

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-sheriffs-coronavirus-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR3G2-bihjC1i4-byK1F6fB0kygu3SmSLCDdEB… 8/13 12/8/2020 Sheriff did not stop house party in Palmdale. Why? - Los Angeles Times

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Sheriff’s officials knew about a massive house party in Palmdale. Why didn’t they stop it?

Los Angeles County Sheri Alex Villanueva addresses the media at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles about the arrest of more than 150 people at a super-spreader event Saturday in Palmdale. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN | STAFF WRITER

DEC. 8, 2020 | 3:12 PM

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Tuesday touted his agency’s bust of a “massive underground party” Saturday at a vacant Palmdale home, at which a teenage https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/sheriff-super-spreader-party-enforcement 1/10 12/8/2020 Sheriff did not stop house party in Palmdale. Why? - Los Angeles Times girl allegedly was rescued from sex trafficking, more than 150 revelers were arrested, and several guns were recovered.

However, according to law enforcement sources and an internal department record reviewed by The Times, commanders knew about plans for the party hours in advance and chose not to stop it from happening, despite the risk of coronavirus spread.

During a press conference, Villanueva defended the decision to let the party take place, saying doing so allowed the department to save the girl and to disrupt future illicit parties by arresting the people who had organized the event.

A spokesman for the department said sheriff’s officials were unaware the girl would be at the party and discovered her by chance after deputies arrived. Villanueva, who described the organizers as “an elusive group,” did not elaborate on how their arrests will prevent future parties from occurring.

The operation generated criticism within the agency. One law enforcement source called it “absolutely irresponsible,” saying officials should have contacted the property owner ahead of time, and if that was unsuccessful, blocked access to the event by shutting down the street.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/sheriff-super-spreader-party-enforcement 2/10 12/8/2020 Sheriff did not stop house party in Palmdale. Why? - Los Angeles Times “Allowing it to begin, fill up with people and then roll in and make arrests is simply grandstanding and unnecessarily exposing those attendees and your own deputies,” the source said.

Internal activity logs obtained by The Times show the agency was preparing for the operation as early as 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, calling in units from seven stations to help out. After midnight, 80 to 100 people were being detained and would receive citations before being released, according to a log entry.

A TV crew showed up to the party, capturing footage of the operation that shows the detention of dozens of people held side by side on the street. Deputies took temperatures while handing out masks and blankets.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/sheriff-super-spreader-party-enforcement 3/10 12/8/2020 Sheriff did not stop house party in Palmdale. Why? - Los Angeles Times

Sheri’s ocials busted a large party in Palmdale. (Los Angeles County Sheri’s Department)

Since March, Villanueva has emphasized his agency’s efforts to gain voluntary compliance to health orders imposed by county officials to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He has criticized them for leaving him out of decisions about curfews and other restrictions, once saying: “If we’re the one enforcing it, and we’re not involved in the making of the plans or anything, it’s no. It’s not gonna work. Those plans are dead on arrival, unfortunately.” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/sheriff-super-spreader-party-enforcement 4/10 12/8/2020 Sheriff did not stop house party in Palmdale. Why? - Los Angeles Times After L.A. County supervisors imposed another ban on outdoor dining at restaurants, Villanueva last week spoke out against the move, saying what’s fueling the spread of the coronavirus is “not restaurants, it is private social gatherings.” A day before the party, Villanueva pledged to crack down on “super-spreader events,” where large numbers of people could be exposed to the virus. On Tuesday, he reiterated that stance, saying the business closures put owners in a difficult position of choosing between compliance and “putting food on the table for their families.”

After waiting for the party to get going on Saturday, deputies moved in around 10 p.m. on the vacant home on the 6300 block of West Avenue M-8 in Palmdale. Sheriff’s officials arrested 116 adults and 35 minors, Villanueva said; it’s unclear what charges each person faces. The officers found three guns that night and three more the next morning.

Villanueva said the party planners broke into the house, brazenly moving in equipment with a U-Haul truck. Capt. Ron Shaffer of the Palmdale station said the property owners did not give permission for a party.

“This is something that is worth spending our resources to clamp down on, because these super-spreader events, if we get rid of them, we’re going to improve our ability to fight the pandemic,” Villanueva said, adding that officials are tracking other events and that every weekend there are “at least probably half a dozen of these around the county.”

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The stories shaping California Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/sheriff-super-spreader-party-enforcement 5/10 12/9/2020 Supervisor Frost: Sacramento County declines to fine business owners for COVID violations | PublicCEO

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Mendocino supes will consider reclassifying cannabis as ag at Supervisor Frost: Sacramento Dec. 8 meeting County declines to fine Click here for more headlines business owners for COVID violations

Moments ago, amid an avalanche of public opposition the likes of which I have never before seen, Sacramento County removed from the agenda an ordinance that would have authorized financial penalties up to $10,000 every day against businesses that violate public health orders.

I am glad this ordinance was removed from consideration, and I want to take this opportunity to explain why.

While I fully agree that we all have to do our part to get through this pandemic, I believe imposing severe fines on business owners who are trying to keep afloat is a horrible way to do it. Especially when those fines come from a system that is being set up with no due process and a low to non-existent burden of proof for enforcement. We should be focusing on outreach and education to ensure compliance, due in part to how confusing and onerous the “open/close/open/close” dynamic has been for businesses, coupled with a lack of consistent information from the State regarding what is currently allowed/not allowed.

Our public health department already knows that private gatherings are the number one largest source of Coronavirus spread in our community. It’s not retail, or restaurants, or gyms, or hair salons. Coronavirus is spread by people, mostly those who don’t wear masks while ignoring social distancing rules in private gatherings. https://www.publicceo.com/2020/12/supervisor-frost-sacramento-county-declines-to-fine-business-owners-for-covid-violations/ 1/2 12/9/2020 Supervisor Frost: Sacramento County declines to fine business owners for COVID violations | PublicCEO

Additionally, the County already has enforcement tools that can be used to solve the problems being brought by the worst actors, such as using code enforcement, or in the most overtly egregious cases, using business license suspension or even cancellation. But the proposed ordinance was overly broad,  and exposed good actors to costly regulations.

I will continue to push for efforts to increase outreach and education to businesses so that we can work on gaining compliance with a helping hand, rather than with threatening policies.

Sincerely,

Sue Frost Sacramento County Supervisor, District 4 FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER

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https://www.publicceo.com/2020/12/supervisor-frost-sacramento-county-declines-to-fine-business-owners-for-covid-violations/ 2/2 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit https://www.djreprints.com.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-irst-11607509801

HEALTH As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First Health-care workers, long-term-care residents, teachers and minority groups are among those seeking priority

As soon as this weekend, the FDA is expected to grant emergency approval to the Pizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. PHOTO: VICTORIA JONESZUMA PRESS

By Dan Frosch, Elizabeth Findell and Peter Loftus Dec. 9, 2020 530 am ET

Listen to this article 9 minutes

The U.S. is about to launch one of the most daunting public-health eﬀorts in generations: swiftly distributing a Covid-19 vaccine across all 50 states, each of which will determine who gets priority.

As soon as this weekend, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant

emergency approval to a Covid-19 vaccine from Pﬁzer Inc. PFE -0.94% ▲ and BioNTech SE.

BNTX -1.01% ▲ Within 24 hours, 6.4 million doses are set to be sent to every state and the

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 1/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ District of Columbia. For most, that initial shipment will be enough to inoculate a little under 1% of their populations.

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How do you think the Covid-19 vaccine can best be distributed? Join the conversation below.

Most states are giving the initial batch to doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who interact with infected patients. As more doses are shipped, many said they would give priority to residents of long-term-care facilities next. The bulk of the population is expected to get the vaccine in the spring or summer, oﬃcials have said.

But state vaccination plans vary widely and leave many questions unanswered. Health officials are having to prioritize among competing groups including older adults, teachers and minority communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Many states also face challenges getting the vaccine to dramatically different populations, from crowded and diverse cities to isolated rural towns.

And they have to do it while coping with a surge in coronavirus cases already straining resources in many parts of the nation.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 2/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ Vaccinations provided in initial wave

200,000 Amount unannounced Alaska Hawaii 100,000 Maine 10,000

Vt. N.H.

Wash. Mont. N.D. Minn. Wis. Mich. N.Y. Conn. Mass.

Ore. Idaho S.D. Iowa Ill. Ind. Ohio Pa. N.J. R.I.

Calif. Nev. Wyo. Neb. Mo. Ky. W.Va. Md. Del.

Utah Colo. Kan. Ark. Tenn. Va. D.C. N.C.

Ariz. N.M. Okla. La. Miss. Ala. Ga. S.C.

Texas Fla.

Source: State oficials

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 3/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ

Number of Covid-19 vaccine doses states expect to receive in next week's irst shipment from Pizer

STATE DOSES EXPECTED DOSES PER Alabama

Alaska

Arizona no data

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida no data

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 › Showing 1 to 10 of 51 entries Source: state oficials

“This is going to be one of the biggest public health endeavors we’ve undertaken as a country,” said Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It’s not just a done deal once we have a vaccine. It is going to be a process that’s going to have hiccups and issues with supply chains and issues that are unanticipated.”

About a week after the initial Pﬁzer shipment, about 12.5 million doses of Moderna Inc.’s

MRNA -1.89% ▲ vaccine are expected to be sent out if it also receives FDA authorization. Both vaccines are given in two doses, three or four weeks apart. Federal oﬃcials say they expect to distribute enough vaccines in December to immunize about 20 million people.

Supplies are expected to increase in January and beyond. Federal oﬃcials say they expect to have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to immunize about 100 million people in the U.S. by the end of February. More will come in the spring and summer as people who weren’t among the ﬁrst groups to get doses begin to get vaccinated.

Along with vaccine vials, distribution sites will receive record cards for recipients noting which vaccine they received and when they are due back for the second shot.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 4/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ While the federal government is issuing recommendations on whom to vaccinate ﬁrst and how to allocate the doses, the ﬁnal decisions and logistics are left up to states. Most of the states’ plans remain in draft form. Some have hundreds of pages of details, while others are a few dozen pages long.

‘States are in very diﬀerent places of being ready for this.’ — Kaiser Family Foundation’s Jennifer Kates

Ohio and Wisconsin are creating algorithms that will give priority to shipments based on criteria including county population and current infection rates. Hawaii, whose plan is 230-pages long, includes maps of where the most vulnerable populations are by island relative to the closest medical facilities.

Texas, whose draft plan is 38 pages, leaves many logistics up to local authorities.

“States are in very different places of being ready for this,” said Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president for the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, which analyzed the state plans. “They are in varying places of being able to even identify the universe of people that they’re going to be reaching at different phases.”

In Texas, the Pﬁzer vaccine, which ships in large quantities and requires storage at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, will initially be sent directly to hospitals large enough to immunize at least 1,000 workers immediately, state oﬃcials said. Meanwhile, rural communities will have to wait for the Moderna vaccine, which can be stored in a standard freezer, highlighting a challenge that many sparsely populated parts of the country will face.

In Ohio, state officials are planning to break down the large Pfizer shipments into smaller batches so they can be more flexible with distribution. Local health staff have been running drills in a central warehouse to ensure they can divvy up the vaccines safely, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

Tensions over the order of the line for vaccines are likely to emerge as more shipments roll out, public-health experts say.

Several states in their draft plans give precedent to first responders such as police and firefighters over long-term-care residents, but that may change after the Centers for https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 5/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ Disease Control and Prevention last week recommended moving up nursing home residents. The American Health Care Association, which represents long-term-care facilities, is pushing states to put their workers and residents first.

Family members waving to a nursing-home resident in New York City last month. PHOTO: EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZASSOCIATED PRESS

“A one-month delay in administering the vaccine at long-term-care facilities could cost more than 10,000 of our residents their lives,” the association said.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said residents of long-term-care facilities for the elderly are his priority, though his state’s draft plan says front-line health workers come ﬁrst. Spokespeople for Florida’s health department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said teachers would be among those to get the vaccine immediately in his state.

Education associations sent a letter to the CDC last month arguing that school personnel should be a priority group for immunizations, to allow in-person classes.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 6/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ How one state breaks down While Wisconsin is receiving nearly 50,000 doses of the vaccine in the irst wave, that will only account for less than 1% of the state’s population.

10,000 people 49,725 Vaccines provided 441,067 18,068 3,952 in the irst wave Conirmed Covid-19 cases Hospitalized Covid-19 deaths

5,822,434 State population

Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services (vaccines); Johns Hopkins (Covid-19 data); Census (state population)

Black Americans, Latinos and Native Americans have all been disproportionately aﬀected by Covid-19, studies show. According to the Kaiser Foundation, a majority of the state plans speciﬁcally mentioned focusing on minority groups or underserved populations for vaccination. Plans in states including North Carolina say minority groups may harbor skepticism about vaccines due to past inequities in medical treatment and call for crafting messaging aimed to build trust.

This month’s vaccine shipments won’t be enough to vaccinate all health workers and long-term-care residents—estimated by the CDC to total 24 million people combined— forcing state oﬃcials to further prioritize within those groups until more supply comes.

California will receive an initial shipment of 327,000 doses of Pﬁzer’s vaccine for its population of about 40 million people, oﬃcials said. The state is creating subsets of health-care workers to identify those at greatest risk, such as people who work in inpatient care versus outpatient.

Roberta Schwartz, executive vice president of the seven hospital Houston Methodist health system in Texas, is ﬁguring out what to do with 13,000 doses. First, her system will immunize its own employees, then workers at smaller nearby facilities, Ms. Schwartz said. Because it is too logistically complicated to distinguish between administrative or front-line roles, anyone with a Houston Methodist email address can make an appointment to get vaccinated.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 7/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ “The information changes now every 12 to 24 hours,” she said. “We describe this as building the plane and ﬂying it at the same time.”

A nurse treating a Covid-19 patient in Houston last month. PHOTO: CALLAGHAN O'HAREREUTERS

The Department of Veterans Aﬀairs health-care system and the Indian Health Service are both receiving initial shipments and disseminating them among thousands of health-care workers within their own agencies.

For communities with fewer health-care resources, distributing vaccines while also dealing with Covid-19 cases will be particularly diﬃcult. Many states have seen intensive- care units near or at capacity and shortages of qualiﬁed health-care workers because some are sick or quarantining.

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“This is happening at a time when our hospitals and health-care personnel are being pushed to the limit by higher cases and more hospitalizations, creating even more strain

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccines-roll-out-states-to-determine-who-gets-shots-first-11607509801?mod=hp_lead_pos1 8/9 12/9/2020 As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, States to Determine Who Gets Shots First - WSJ on a public health-care system in near crisis,” said Matt Nerzig, a spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

To address the issue, some hospitals may have emergency medical technicians or pharmacy staﬀers administer vaccines, said Mike Abrams, chief executive of the Ohio Hospital Association.

But state oﬃcials say that the prospect of vaccinations eﬀectively ending the pandemic by late 2021 is a light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s not going to be a smooth ride; it’s going to be bumpy,” said Eddy Bresnitz, medical adviser to New Jersey’s health commissioner, focusing on the Covid-19 response. “But that’s OK. We’ll get to the ﬁnish line.”

—Jim Carlton, Ian Lovett and Betsy McKay contributed to this article.

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 3/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times

But as states plan for vaccine distribution, an all-too-important question has arisen: How many people will take it? That question might prove especially pivotal for groups that have seen the highest casualty rates from COVID-19.

“I’m concerned more about vaccines for different demographic groups that normally are reluctant to get vaccinated, like the minority communities,” Fauci said during a Facebook livestream last week.

In California, the plight of Latino residents looms especially large. They make up about 40% of the state’s population, but represent 58% of its COVID cases and 48% of its deaths from the virus.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 4/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times

A clinic oers ﬂu shots on Paciﬁc Boulevard in Huntington Park. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

They also account for a disproportionate number of “essential workers,” who are more exposed to the coronavirus, which has swept through fields, meatpacking plants and construction sites.

In L.A. County, Latino residents are now becoming infected with the virus at more than double the rate of white residents, data show.

California’s fate, to no small degree, rests on how Latino residents fare during and after this pandemic.

Around half of the state’s Latino population said they would probably or definitely take a COVID vaccine, according to an October survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. Fewer than 30% of Black people said the same. Experts say vaccine hesitancy will likely decrease as more people get it. (Nationally, a higher percentage of the Latino https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 5/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times population than the white one said they would get vaccinated — though not in California).

“In communities of color in particular, there is a real history of abuse by the medical system that creates a potentially higher level of skepticism. And yet that is the population that’s also at increased risk of COVID, and increased risk of getting very sick and dying,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco.

“We don’t get back to normal as a society until 70% or so of the population is immune to the virus,” he said, “and you just can’t get to 70% unless a lot of people that are a little skeptical about it are convinced to take it.”

A woman uses the hand-washing station at a farmers market in Whittier. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 6/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times President-elect Joe Biden’s pick of California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to be the next Health and Human Services secretary could help build trust within the Latino community. If confirmed, Becerra would be the first Latino to hold the office.

The health secretary oversees the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two of the agencies at the forefront of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On a recent Friday morning in Uptown Whittier, Adriana Gomez directed each shopper to a hand-washing station near the entrance to the farmers’ market. Vendors, many of them Latino, loaded tables with kettle corn, Mexican oregano and boxes of oranges, grapes and pomegranates.

Gomez, whose parents are high risk, plans on getting vaccinated. But her father-in-law, who believes that hospitals are only after his money, does not.

“Just because you decided, ‘I’m not gonna take the shot,’ you have to understand you can impact thousands. It’s a domino effect,” Gomez said. “We have to really think about, ‘how do we get it out to the people that it’s safe to take this, and that you have to for this to stop?’"

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 7/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times

Magda Navarro at her kettle korn stand at the farmers market in Whittier. Navarro said she will not take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Magda Navarro, who was selling kettle corn under a red tent, said her parents aren’t opposed to the vaccine but that they wouldn’t rush to get it. Navarro, who wore a black candy cane mask, said she likely wouldn’t get vaccinated even if she saw good results for others.

“I’ve never taken the flu shot,” the 39-year-old said by way of explanation. “I hardly ever get sick.”

A couple of vendors over, Uriel Ibarra — who stood behind tables laden with dragon fruit, mandarins and grapes — was on the fence. The 36-year-old grew frustrated after his work week dropped from six days to three, but said he’d likely wait to see what the vaccine’s side effects were before getting it himself.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 8/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times Wachter said he believes the number of people who ultimately get vaccinated “will be better than we fear” as people see their sport heroes, doctors and others do so.

“They are going to see that those people now feel much more comfortable going out and about and are living their life with less anxiety,” he said. “They may over time begin to see that those people are allowed on an airplane or allowed to go into a workplace. ... It’s not at all inconceivable that there will become places where you can go if you’ve been vaccinated and you can’t go if you’re not.”

People walk past Orellana’s Perfumes in Huntington Park. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

In the state’s interim COVID-19 vaccination plan — submitted to the CDC — the California Department of Public Health said that “extensive public and stakeholder engagement is already underway, with a focus on tailoring messages to key populations and vulnerable communities to ensure maximum vaccine acceptance and trust in public health and in the COVID-19 vaccine.” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 9/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times The plan referenced partnering with community-based organizations, employers, public and private health plans and faith-based groups.

“It is going to take a while to build the trust that is needed for people to get the vaccine,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, a health advocacy organization. “And to do that, we are going to have to enlist our trusted community messengers ... to talk to people about what the vaccine is, how it works, how we’ve studied the safety and efficacy of the vaccine to provide people with real, trusted, scientifically based information about it.”

The COVID Collaborative, a coalition of experts in health, education and the economy, recently announced a public education campaign to convince people to get vaccinated.

A national poll conducted by the COVID Collaborative, NAACP, UnidosUS, and Langer Research found that 14% of Black people and 34% of Latinos trust that a vaccine will be safe. The report said efforts to promote uptake should “leverage voices from within the Latinx community” and reinforce the notion that taking the vaccine is “a responsibility that helps the Latinx community at large.”

Building trust and being “part of the solution” is what drove National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis to enter the UC San Diego Health COVID-19 vaccine trial last month.

“As a Latina, as somebody who believes in science, believes in vaccines, I think it’s important to continue reaffirming that,” Sotelo-Solis said.” I think that I’m in this unique position to where I can say, ‘Look, I went through the process, and this is what you can expect.’”

Her decision to join the trial was met with skepticism by some of her relatives. They questioned why it had to be her.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 10/16 12/9/2020 Hard-hit California Latinos consider the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times Sotelo-Solis had a simple answer: “Why not me?”

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Brittny Mejia is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering the 2020 presidential campaign. She is a military brat who calls Germany home and is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

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READMORE https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-09/california-latinos-covid19-vaccine 11/16 Democracy Dies in Darkness Britain warns against Pfizer vaccine for people with history of ‘significant’ allergic reactions

By William Booth and Erin Cunningham

Dec. 9, 2020 at 6:10 a.m. PST

LONDON — After two health-care workers reacted adversely to injections of the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, British regulators on Wednesday ordered hospitals not to inject people who have a history of “significant” allergic reactions.

The new warnings come just a day after Britain launched the first mass immunization campaign in the West, with the aim of vaccinating the whole country against the coronavirus.

Two staffers with Britain’s National Health Service suffered symptoms of “anaphylactoid reaction” when they received vaccinations at a hospital on Tuesday.

NHS officials said both workers have a history of serious allergies and carry adrenaline pens to quickly quell symptoms, which can include skin reactions, low blood pressure, constricted airways and dizziness or fainting.

“Both are recovering well,” said NHS medical director Stephen Powis.

As is common with new vaccines, Britain’s regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has “advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination, after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday,” Powis said.

The two-shot Pfizer vaccine appears to be on the cusp of regulatory clearance in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration, after a 53-page review published Tuesday confirmed that the vaccine meets the standard for emergency-use authorization. The federal government has ordered 100 million doses, which can start being delivered as soon as regulators give the go-ahead.

A spokeswoman for Pfizer said the pharmaceutical giant, which developed the new vaccine with the German firm BioNTech, were advised by British regulators of two “yellow card reports,” associated with allergic reactions due to vaccine. Yellow cards are issued in Britain when drugs or vaccines create side effects, which must be reported.

“As a precautionary measure, the MHRA has issued temporary guidance to the NHS while it conducts an investigation in order to fully understand each case and its causes. Pfizer and BioNTech are supporting the MHRA in the investigation,” the drug company said.

“In the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, this vaccine was generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns reported by the independent Data Monitoring Committee,” it said. “The trial has enrolled over 44,000 participants to date, over 42,000 of whom have received a second vaccination.” / On its first day of its rollout, “several thousand” people received injections at 50 hospitals around England. Britain hopes to inoculate as many as 2 million people by the end of the year.

In remarks to journalists via Britain’s Science Media Center, Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “Allergic reaction occurs with quite a number of vaccines, and perhaps even more frequently with drugs. So it is not unexpected.”

Evans said the Pfizer data showed that about 0.6 percent of people had some form of allergic reaction to the vaccine in the clinical trials (although 0.5 percent also had a reaction to the placebo).

So there was a genuine excess of allergic reaction, but this was small and the true rate is not known, he said, adding that there is a lot of uncertainty around that estimate.

“What would be wise,” as regulators advised on Wednesday, “would be for anyone who has known severe allergic reaction, such that they need to carry an EpiPen, to delay having a vaccination until the reason for the allergic reaction has been clarified,” Evans said.

Cunningham reported from Istanbul.

Updated December 9, 2020 Coronavirus: What you need to read The Washington Post is providing some coronavirus coverage free, including:

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/ 12/9/2020 U.S. Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets - WSJ

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-supplies-of-covid-19-ppe-fall-short-of-targets-11607509800

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE | HEALTH POLICY U.S.◆ Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets Shortages of gear persist as cases surge; ‘we just have the regular masks you can buy at Walmart’

Emergency management oficials in Henrico County, Va., recently checked their stored supplies of personal protective equipment. PHOTO: EMAN MOHAMMED FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Stephanie Armour, Betsy McKay and Susan Pulliam Dec. 9, 2020 530 am ET

Listen to this article 9 minutes

The federal government has fallen well short of its goal to shore up an emergency stockpile of respirator masks and some other personal protective equipment for health workers amid the current surge in Covid-19 cases.

The Trump administration said in May it was aiming to increase its emergency supply of N95 respirator masks to 300 million in the coming 90 days. It never met the goal; by mid- November, the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile and the Federal Emergency Management Agency held 142 million N95 masks, which filter out at least 95% of small particles and fit snugly to the face. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-supplies-of-covid-19-ppe-fall-short-of-targets-11607509800?mod=hp_lead_pos2 1/7 12/9/2020 U.S. Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets - WSJ The U.S. also has yet to develop a centralized database to distribute medical gear to all health providers. The Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t adopted key recommendations to ease supply shortages made in September by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A federal crisis response program hasn’t reached its staffing goals for health responders.

The predicament “underscores the critical imperative” for HHS and FEMA to adopt September recommendations to address how it would deal with supply shortages and help states track supply requests, according to a new GAO report released Nov. 30.

Taking Stock Personal protective equipment delivered and held by the U.S. government in the pandemic*

TYPE DELIVERED AS OF DEC HELD AS OF NOV N respirator masks

Surgicalface masks

Surgicalnon-surgical gowns

Face shields

Goggles

Gloves *Includes the Strategic National Stockpile and Federal Emergency Management Agency and delivered to state, territory and federal partners Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

HHS disagreed with the need to follow GAO recommendations on handling supply shortages. An HHS spokeswoman said some GAO proposals were vague, outdated and based on incomplete data. She said HHS has ﬁlled all supply requests made of the stockpile, that some states inﬂate their needs and that there haven’t been directives to deploy N95 respirators from the stockpile in the past 30 days.

A FEMA spokeswoman said the agency continues to work to “ensure the necessary equipment and supplies” are supplied to states and others, and that the federal government now has 164 million N95s available.

The White House said its preparations are exhaustive; spokesman Brian Morgenstern said President Trump has used the Defense Production Act and related authorities more than 100 times to get billions of PPE to every part of the country.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-supplies-of-covid-19-ppe-fall-short-of-targets-11607509800?mod=hp_lead_pos2 2/7 12/9/2020 U.S. Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets - WSJ Nevertheless, there is growing alarm among some public health and state leaders about having enough medical gear to cope with a wave of cases that is projected to roughly double the U.S. death toll, now at more than 280,000, by February.

“There is still no centralized federal database for personal protective equipment,” said Ali Raja, an emergency-room doctor who co-founded Get Us PPE, a group that ﬁnds and delivers medical supplies to workers. “The disconnect between what’s purported to be in the stockpile and the needs on the front-line is astounding.”

Get Us PPE has delivered more than three million pieces of personal protective equipment since March. It still can’t meet about 85% of the requests coming in as cases soar across the U.S.

“We don’t have the proper PPE,” said Shantonia Jackson, a certiﬁed nursing assistant with SEIU Healthcare Illinois in Chicago. “We just have the regular masks you can buy at Walmart,” she said, adding that she has been unable to obtain respirator masks.

Some public health leaders and legislators said the stockpile didn’t meet its target numbers partly because the White House didn’t take full advantage of the Defense Production Act to suﬃciently increase domestic supply.

Last month, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) called on the administration to use the act to provide more personal protective equipment.

Stockpiles of personal protective equipment supplies are stored on shelves at the Henrico County Facility. PHOTO: EMAN MOHAMMED FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-supplies-of-covid-19-ppe-fall-short-of-targets-11607509800?mod=hp_lead_pos2 3/7 12/9/2020 U.S. Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets - WSJ There has been some progress. The stockpile, housed in warehouses around the country, collects about 150 million N95 respirator masks a month compared with about 20 million a month before the pandemic began in January.

“The American people should be assured,” said Brig. Gen. David Sanford, deputy director of the supply chain task force. “The federal government has learned. If a state needs something, they should request it and we’ll get it to them.”

Yet problems persist. Some states say they haven’t been getting the PPE they have requested from the federal government. Others say they have received damaged goods. Still others have largely replaced eﬀorts to procure medical gear from the national stockpile with PPE from private vendors.

Public health preparedness oﬃcials in Maine have made three recent requests to the federal government, for nitrile gloves, pipette tips and testing kits. All have gone unﬁlled or have been denied, said Robert Long, communications director for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency hasn’t received any supplies from the national stockpile or FEMA since midsummer, he said.

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New Mexico requested gloves from FEMA months ago; they arrived last week damaged by heat and couldn’t be used for medical procedures, according to Marisa Maez, communications director for the state’s department of health. The state turned to private vendors.

Washington state also has turned to private vendors. Casey Katims, an aide to Gov. Jay Inslee, said the federal government has provided 11% of Washington’s protective equipment supplies since the beginning of the pandemic.

The supply of surgical gloves at Alabama’s Department of Health is critically low, according to Dr. Karen Landers, assistant state health oﬃcer. She says Alabama is expecting more gloves from FEMA soon. A FEMA spokesman said an order for gloves was approved for shipment to Alabama on Nov. 23.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-supplies-of-covid-19-ppe-fall-short-of-targets-11607509800?mod=hp_lead_pos2 4/7 12/9/2020 U.S. Supplies of Covid-19 PPE Fall Short of Targets - WSJ Health workers in Albany, N.Y.; Chicago; Tacoma, Wash.; and Pennsylvania have gone on strike in the past two weeks to protest insuﬃcient personal protective equipment. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said states are trying to get by.

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https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/nascar-cancels-fontana-race-in-2021-moves-event-to-daytona/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=t… 2/3 12/8/2020 Jim Frost, first mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, departs city he helped found – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS • News Jim Frost, first mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, departs city he helped found

Jim Frost, a former mayor and a retired city treasurer of Rancho Cucamonga, and wife, Gwyn, stand in front of Etiwanda Community Church in Etiwanda on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

By DAVID ALLEN || [email protected] || InlandInland ValleyValley DailyDaily BulletinBulletin PUBLISHED: December 8, 2020 at 2:53 p.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: December 8, 2020 at 2:56 p.m.

In most cities, if you wanted to encounter the first mayor or one of its founders, youʼd have to visit the cemetery. Thatʼs not true in Rancho Cucamonga, which was established when people were dancing to disco, not waltzes. https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/jim-frost-first-mayor-of-rancho-cucamonga-departs-city-he-helped-found/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_… 1/6 12/8/2020 Jim Frost, first mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, departs city he helped found – San Bernardino Sun And so Jim Frost and I were kickinʼ it last week on the steps of Etiwanda Community Church, as he reminisced about the creation of Rancho Cucamonga, which 59% of voters approved on Nov. 8, 1977.

“It was kind of a slam dunk,” Frost, 76, recalled, as his wife, Gwyn, sat by his side.

The occasion for our meet-up was Frostʼs retirement as city treasurer. He stepped down June 30 and was replaced by Jim Harrington, who was appointed by the City Council. Gwyn requested a column on her husbandʼs retirement and yours truly was only too happy to oblige.

Weʼve known each other 15 years or more. Heʼs friendly, but so low-key he tends toto murmur,murmur, andand withwith aa lotlot ofof digressions,digressions, almostalmost likelike aa distracteddistracted professor.professor.

In other words, he never struck me as a politician, and Iʼd often wondered how he wound up as Rancho Cucamongaʼs first mayor. Well, weʼll get to that.

I suggested we meet in Etiwanda, where Jimʼs roots are like a mighty oak, or at leastleast oneone ofof thethe eucalyptuseucalyptus treestrees thatthat serveserve asas aa windbreak.windbreak. WeWe settledsettled onon thethe Community Church, established in 1883 and built in 1902.. TheThe FrostsFrosts broughtbrought foldingfolding chairschairs andand wewe satsat sociallysocially distanced.distanced.

I wanted to know about his historical ties to Etiwanda and about the incorporation effort, in which Alta Loma, Cucamonga and Etiwanda banded together as Rancho Cucamonga, the original Spanish land-grant designation and also kind of a mouthful.

Frostʼs great-grandfather, George Frost, was an Englishman who had ended up in Canada, where he worked for the Chaffey brothers. When the brothers bought Joseph Garciaʻsʻs 1,9001,900 acres,acres, thethe FrostsFrosts inin 18831883 werewere amongamong thethe familiesfamilies whowho followedfollowed toto helphelp planplan irrigation,irrigation, plotplot streetsstreets andand subdividesubdivide propertyproperty forfor homehome sitessites inin whatwhat becamebecame Etiwanda,Etiwanda, OntarioOntario andand Upland.Upland.

The Chaffeys moved on to Australia, but the Frosts stayed behind. They ran a general store and George was the communityʼs first postmaster, as well as serving on the school board, as did a son and grandson.

Born in 1944, Jim spent part of his childhood in Etiwanda and returned to the area after 26 months in the U.S. Air Force, some of it in Vietnam. He married Gwyn, whom he met in the Chaffey College chemistry lab, in 1974, and they moved into thethe EtiwandaEtiwanda househouse builtbuilt byby hishis grandfathergrandfather inin 1905.1905.

Soon, government intruded, in the form of a proposal to widen Victoria Street, which fronted their house, from 66 feet to 88.

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/jim-frost-first-mayor-of-rancho-cucamonga-departs-city-he-helped-found/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_… 2/6 12/8/2020 Jim Frost, first mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, departs city he helped found – San Bernardino Sun “Planning decisions for our yard were being made in San Bernardino,” Frost said, referring to the seat of county government. Victoria Street was left alone, but Frost learned there was an effort underway to incorporate as a city, and he got involved.involved.

“There had been incorporation efforts basically a decade earlier, but it didnʼt pencil out. Good idea, wrong time,” Frost said. This time, Cucamonga had a healthy industrial tax base that could help fund a new city, and too much of that money seemed to stay in San Bernardino.

Incorporation was also an act of self-preservation. If the three communities didnʼt joinjoin up,up, theythey mightmight eacheach getget absorbedabsorbed byby theirtheir neighbors.neighbors. “Fontana“Fontana waswas lookinglooking atat Etiwanda, Upland was looking at Alta Loma and Ontario was looking at Cucamonga,” Frost said.

The incorporation committee worked with the county Board of Supervisors on a ballot measure to put cityhood to a vote. As Frost recalled it, the board asked for a name for the city and “somebody stood up at a meeting and said, ʻLetʼs call it Rancho Cucamonga.ʼ”

The name duly appeared on the ballot but had not really been vetted or discussed publicly, Frost said.

Regardless, the multisyllabic name became official with the election to incorporate.incorporate. AlsoAlso onon thethe ballotballot werewere threethree dozendozen candidatescandidates toto fillfill fivefive seatsseats onon thethe firstfirst CityCity Council.Council.

“I had the highest number of votes of the 36,” Frost said. “A lot of people voted for me thinking I was my brother, who was on the school board. But thatʼs OK.”

Frost, who was 33 years old, was sworn in alongside Jon Mikels, Mike Palumbo, Phil Schlosser and Charlie West on Dec. 2, 1977. He thinks he may be the only one still living today. As top vote-getter, he was appointed mayor.

The cityʼs first mailing address was Frostʼs house. “We got mail for the city for years,” Frost said. With no City Hall, early council meetings took place in the orchestra pit at Alta Loma High.

Establishing a city from scratch took a lot of time.

“Those first meetings often ran to 1, 2, 3 oʼclock in the morning,” Frost said. The council had so much to do that nothing could be postponed until the next meeting.

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/jim-frost-first-mayor-of-rancho-cucamonga-departs-city-he-helped-found/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_… 3/6 12/8/2020 Jim Frost, first mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, departs city he helped found – San Bernardino Sun Frost was mayor from 1977-80, then after re-election served as a council member until 1984, when he decided his family, which now included two young children, ought to come first.

City Manager Lauren Wasserman urged him to run for treasurer, a less time- consuming post and in keeping with Frostʼs day job as an accountant and financial controller. He ran every four years, often unopposed.

Heʼs proud of his role in getting flood control improvements made after heavy storms in 1978 and 1980 and in extending Sixth Street east of Haven Avenue, which became an industrial center. Heʼs pleased that subsequent councils have “held fast” on the long-term vision for Central Park rather than selling off chunks of the 99 acres.

Hiring the Sheriffʼs Department rather than start a police department “always made sense,” said Frost, who opposed making the fire district part of the city, which occurred after he left. Firefighters are a political force in the city, where twotwo retireesretirees areare onon thethe five-memberfive-member councilcouncil andand thethe firefire unionʼsunionʼs backingbacking isis almostalmost essential to be elected.

I asked twice how he thought Rancho Cucamonga had turned out and got vague answers, as Gwyn looked on, amused. Finally I asked more directly: Is Rancho Cucamonga overdeveloped?

“Of course it is,” Frost replied. Population at incorporation was 42,000; itʼs now 180,000.

Of the cityʼs direction, Frost said: “Letʼs just say thereʼs a different management style today than what we had before. Iʼd better not go much beyond that.”

Does that qualify as a Frost warning?

The Frosts have sold their home to their son, Todd, whose own son is the fifth generation to occupy the house. Jim and Gwyn have moved to rural Phelan, where theythey havehave 22 acresacres offoff aa dirtdirt road.road. WithWith GwynGwyn havinghaving retiredretired fromfrom UCUC RiversideʼsRiversideʼs Child Development Center, they hope to travel.

“This November was the first election Iʼve missed in Rancho Cucamonga,” Jim said, “because I couldnʼt vote here anymore. Itʼs hard to cut the cord. Itʼs still my baby.”

David Allen writes Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, baby. Email [email protected], phone 909-483-9339, visit insidesocal.com/davidallen, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.

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https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/business/hawaiian-airlines-will-oer-nonstop-ights-between-ontario- and-honolulu-starting-in-march/article_16e081e8-39af-11eb-a4c6-1b5f895e429e.html Hawaiian Airlines will offer nonstop ights between Ontario and Honolulu starting in March

Dec 8, 2020

Hawaiian Airlines will oer nonstop ights between Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu ve times a week beginning March 16 and 17.

Hawaiian Airlines will offer nonstop ights between Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu ve times a week beginning March 16 and 17, the airlines announced on Dec. 8.

“We’re excited to be able to offer our community new nonstop service to Hawai‘i. It’s one of the biggest requests we get from travelers, and I know it will be an extremely popular route,” said Alan D. Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Commissioners. “I want to thank Hawaiian Airlines for its support and condence in Southern California’s fastest-growing aviation gateway.”

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“We are delighted to bring our superior value proposition to travelers visiting Hawai‘i from Ontario,” said Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. “2021 is going to be a special time to experience Hawai‘i, and we can’t wait to welcome onboard our guests from Ontario and introduce them to our islands.”

Ingram said Hawaiian’s guests will enjoy island-inspired complimentary meals and the comfort of the carrier’s quiet and fuel-efcient A321neo aircraft.

Ontario Airport has recorded six straight months of trafc growth since reaching its low point in April, when passenger levels declined by 93 percent.

Ontario’s recovery ranks rst among airports in California and third nationally, having regained roughly 50 percent of passenger volume compared to a year ago.

In order to add value and convenience for travelers, ONT hosts a drive-up testing site operated by the Covid Clinic which offers a variety of COVID-19 tests, including rapid tests with results available within 20 minutes. Tests are administered on Parking Lot 3 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Reservations can be made at online at the Covid Clinic.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/business/hawaiian-airlines-will-offer-nonstop-flights-between-ontario-and-honolulu-starting-in-march/article_16e0… 2/2 12/9/2020 Meant to clarify, BallotTrax confused some voters | CalMatters

VOTEBEAT

Meant to clarify, BallotTrax confused some voters

BY AARON LEATHLEY DECEMBER 8, 2020  

Image via iStock

Before 2020, the unassuming “I Voted” sticker was enough to satisfy most voters that their ballot had passed into trusted hands. But this past election, amid California’s plunge into mail-in voting and the Trump administration’s baseless claims of election fraud, the state offered higher-tech assurance: ballot updates sent to voters’ phone and email by BallotTrax, a tracking

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service hired by the state to communicate directly with the electorate across all 58 counties.

BallotTrax’s mission is to let voters know the whereabouts of their ballot “before they ask,” as its marketing slogan proclaims. In theory, voters could relax and county registrars would get fewer calls seeking confirmation that their ballots had been recorded. But while the state, and many registrars and voters, said they’d use BallotTrax again, it didn’t seem to have its intended effect. In ten of the 52 counties surveyed by CalMatters, including Humboldt, Imperial and Mendocino, registrars were surprised by the number of queries from agitated voters about the BallotTrax messages themselves.

To a degree, BallotTrax was a victim of high expectations. Five million voters — roughly 23 percent of the electorate — signed up for tracking alerts, said BallotTrax’s president, Steve Olsen. That’s more than twice the usual signup rate for states new to the service. “It was so easy to sign up that I don’t remember much of the process,” said Bob Ippolito, who works for a computer science education nonprofit and votes in San Francisco County. “I was impressed by how smoothly it all worked.”

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Yet, as with the wide-scale implementation of any new system, human error was often to blame. And for some voters, spoiled by next-day delivery service from the likes of Amazon, say, or GrubHub, the BallotTrax messages only exacerbated anxiety about the integrity of the election. “Your ballot is not being transmitted up to [a] satellite and back down to us,” said Rose Gallo- Vasquez, the registrar for Colusa County. “We’re not Amazon.”

Much of the confusion involved a disconnect between the theoretical progress of a ballot and on-the-ground reality. For example, some counties sent out ballots a few days after the official mailing date that the state and BallotTrax used. As a result, some voters who were advised that their ballots had been sent had a disconcertingly long wait before the ballots actually landed in their mailboxes. That was particularly disturbing at a time when people were already worried about the reliability of the U.S. Postal Service.

A similar lag led to concerns at the other end of the voting process. In some cases, counties didn’t immediately inform the state after receiving a batch of ballots. Accordingly, BallotTrax may have told those voters that their ballot was accepted later than they expected.

“Your ballot is not being transmitted up to [a] satellite and back down to us. We’re not Amazon.”

— ROSE GALLO-VASQUEZ, COLUSA COUNTY REGISTRAR

https://calmatters.org/politics/votebeat/2020/12/ballottrax-confused-some-voters/ 3/6 12/9/2020 Meant to clarify, BallotTrax confused some voters | CalMatters

In reality, BallotTrax’s data indicates California didn’t see the type of postal service delays many voters feared, Olsen said. BallotTrax provides a dashboard to county elections officials that tracks ballot flows down to the zip-code level.

Some voters read ambiguity between the lines of phone or email alerts that stated, for example, that “Your ballot has been received and will be counted.” Inyo County registrar Kammi Foote said, “I cannot tell you how many voters angrily reached back out to me saying, ‘I never got an affirmation that it actually was counted.’” Placer County officials also received calls about the “will be counted” message, registrar Ryan Ronco said.

In other cases, the messages didn’t match up with election practices in a given county, CalMatters found. In Plumas County, BallotTrax messages referred to polling places, even though Plumas has long used vote-by-mail and has no traditional polling locations, said registrar Kathy Williams.

While BallotTrax delivered the messages, the Secretary of State’s office dictated the language in most cases and has plans to review it, said spokesman Sam Mahood.

In Solano County, which had launched its own tracking system in 2013, voters were suspicious of the fresh wave of ballot-tracking signup messages that didn’t appear to come from the county, said John Gardner, the assistant registrar. Many opted out of using BallotTrax, and the county ended up with a patchwork of two systems, Gardner said. Orange County also received questions about BallotTrax’s relationship with its existing service, registrar Neal Kelly said in a statement.

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Still, both BallotTrax and the Secretary of State’s office seem confident that such problems can be resolved. Olsen said he’s hoping to sign a new contract with the state by January. Currently, BallotTrax is the only service available that can satisfy the ballot-tracking requirements of California law. The cost to taxpayers is a few cents per ballot tracked.

Voters opt in to use BallotTrax, providing the company with their contact and other information. BallotTrax says that voters’ information is encrypted, and the company works with private security experts and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to keep its system safe.

Based in Denver, BallotTrax is also used by Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina and Georgia, as well as individual counties in ten other states.

Aaron Leathley is a reporter at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. VoteBeat reporters Lewis Griswold and Michael Lozano, along with Freddy Brewster and Katie Licari of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, contributed reporting.

This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. In California, CalMatters is hosting the collaboration with the Fresno Bee, the Long Beach Post and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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https://calmatters.org/politics/votebeat/2020/12/ballottrax-confused-some-voters/ 5/6 12/8/2020 Mysterious monoliths reported in Santa Clarita, Joshua Tree – San Bernardino Sun

NEWS • News Mysterious monoliths reported in Santa Clarita, Joshua Tree

A mysterious monolith showed up in Santa Clarita over the weekend, then quickly disappeared, one of many popping up around the world. (Photo courtesy of Austin Dave)

By LAYLAN CONNELLY || [email protected]@scng.com || OrangeOrange CountyCounty Register PUBLISHED: December 8, 2020 at 10:35 a.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: December 8, 2020 at 10:3510:35 a.m.a.m.

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/mysterious-monoliths-reported-in-santa-clarita-joshua-tree/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=soci… 1/6 12/8/2020 Mysterious monoliths reported in Santa Clarita, Joshua Tree – San Bernardino Sun “It was just weird.”

Thatʼs how Santa Clarita resident Austin Dave described a 7-foot-tall monolith that mysteriously showed up at Canyon Country Park over the weekend, then just as mysteriously, disappeared.

Was it brought by aliens?

Thatʼs one theory floating around about this and other shiny statues that have popped up around the globe, including one reported a few hours away in Joshua Tree in recent days and another two in Northern California, firstfirst inin AtascaderoAtascadero and then another in San Luis Obispo County.

Metallic, mysterious monoliths have been spotted at random places around the globe, as far as Romania and England, creating a buzz by curious conspirators captivated by their sudden appearance in remote areas.

About two weeks ago, the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau was working with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to conduct a count of big horn sheep in a portion of southeastern Utah when they spotted an unusual object and landed nearby to investigate, reads a news release from the Utahʼs Department of Public Safety.

BLM Utah @BLMUtah

"We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the “monolith” has been removed by an unknown party. The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property..." More: bit.ly/36gC2tA

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4:44 PM · Nov 28, 2020

15.9K 4.7K people are Tweeting about this

The crew members found a metal monolith installed in the ground in a remote area of Red Rock, with no indication of who might have put it there.

The exact location – said to be a very remote area — wasnʼt revealed due to safety reasons.

And whomever put it there did so without permission.

“Although we canʼt comment on active investigations, the Bureau of Land Management would like to remind public land visitors that using, occupying, or developing the public lands or their resources without a required authorization is illegal,illegal, nono mattermatter whatwhat planetplanet youyou areare from,”from,” readsreads aa statementstatement byby thethe BureauBureau ofof Land Management:.

By Nov. 28, it was reported that the monolith had been removed by an “unknown party.”

The Santa Clarita monolith was also swiftly gone, but not before creating a buzz.

Dave said someone sent him a message about it on Saturday night with the locationlocation atat CanyonCanyon CountryCountry Park.Park.

The following day, he did the short hike and saw it just off the walking trail, calling it a “somewhat ominous” fixture.

Within half an hour, there were 50 or 60 people gathered around, taking photos. Some kids were hesitant to go near it, others crying as parents urged them to go next to it, he said.

“It was really an experience,” he said.

Dave thinks it was an imitation of others, more like a shiny laminated poster board. He said it had an LED light on it at night that would shine on it. https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/mysterious-monoliths-reported-in-santa-clarita-joshua-tree/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=soci… 3/6 12/8/2020 Mysterious monoliths reported in Santa Clarita, Joshua Tree – San Bernardino Sun It has since been removed, replaced with a rock with a puzzling message, said Carrie Lujan, city of Santa Clarita spokesperson.

The rock reads: “There used to be a monolith here… now there is just a rock with boat Benʼs name on it.”

Some on social media point to The Most Famous Artist group, which posted a photo on its website of showing an “Authentic Alien Monolith” for sale for $45,000 with the words “Sold Out.”

Throughout its Instagram page, the group posted about the monoliths, but doesnʼt come out right to claim credit.

themostfamous… View Profile 177.6k followers

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ANOTHER Monolith outside of Joshua Tree. That makes 4. What does it mean? view all 241 comments

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Hannah Schwalde, spokesperson for Joshua Tree National Park, said thereʼs been inquiriesinquiries aboutabout aa monolithmonolith inin thethe desertdesert area,area, butbut soso farfar theythey havenʼthavenʼt hadhad anyany official reports of it on national park land.

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/12/08/mysterious-monoliths-reported-in-santa-clarita-joshua-tree/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=soci… 4/6 12/8/2020 Mysterious monoliths reported in Santa Clarita, Joshua Tree – San Bernardino Sun “I tried to look up any information I could, but donʼt have information from park rangers,” she said, noting it could have been outside of the national parkʼs purview.

While Joshua Tree has a love, respect and great relationship with the artist community, and even though the monoliths are cool, itʼs important to remember national parks are protected areas and itʼs important to preserve the natural landscape.landscape.

Schwalde said sheʼs heard about the installations popping up around the world throughthrough newsnews articlesarticles andand socialsocial mediamedia reports.reports.

“I see why people are captivated by it,” she said.

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