SACRAMENTO — The nation's most populous state shrank a bit in the second half of last year, according to official figures released Friday. California had a population of 39.78 million as of January, the state Department of Finance said, down from its previous report of 39.96 million residents in July....
Newsom Says Some Business Can Reopen This Week. Restaurants May Soon Follow.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state will move into the second phase of his reopening plan as early as Friday, allowing lower-risk workplaces to resume operations with modifications to help prevent spread of the coronavirus. The plan outlined Monday includes a range of retailers that would be permitted...
Clovis Wants to Reopen, Is Reaching Out to Newsom
The Clovis City Council will vote Monday night whether to rescind its emergency orders — closing bars, dine-in restaurants, and gyms and limiting the use of city parks — and rely on the state's stay-at-home order instead. That doesn't necessarily mean these businesses will reopen. The goal, according to a...
US to Rein in Flood of Virus Blood Tests After Lax Oversight
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators Monday pulled back a decision that allowed scores of coronavirus blood tests to hit the market without first providing proof that they worked. The Food and Drug Administration said it took the action because some sellers have made false claims about the tests and their accuracy....
Trump Berates George W. Bush for Calling for Unity During the Coronavirus
[aggregation-styles] New York Magazine On Saturday, former president George W. Bush released a video calling for national unity during a pandemic that has killed at least 67,000 Americans. “Let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat,” Bush said, over shots of people bonding...
San Francisco Has 75 Billionaires. Most of Them Aren’t Donating to Local COVID-19 Relief.
[aggregation-styles] SF Curbed On April 7, local resident Jack Dorsey—the cofounder and CEO of publicly traded Twitter and Square, and a billionaire several times over—announced he was devoting more than a quarter of his fortune to COVID-19 relief. Generosity like this—plus his hyper-success story and Silicon Valley aesthete mythos—is why...
DHS Report: China Hid Virus’ Severity to Hoard Supplies
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show. Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early January, according...
San Francisco Police Chief Bans ‘Thin Blue Line’ Face Masks
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s police chief said the city’s rank and file will wear neutral face coverings to defuse a controversy that was sparked when officers sent to patrol a May Day protest wore masks adorned with the “thin blue line” flag. The police union ordered and distributed the...
Called to Order: Supreme Court Begins 1st Arguments by Phone
WASHINGTON — It's a morning of firsts for the Supreme Court, the first time audio of the court's arguments was heard live by the world and the first arguments by telephone. The changes are a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made holding courtroom sessions unsafe, especially with six justices aged 65 or older...
Donor Gives Employees at Santa Cruz Hospital $1 Million for Bonuses
SANTA CRUZ — Around the country, there’s a lot of gratitude for medical providers these days, and in Santa Cruz, a recent anonymous note to the local hospital was no exception. “Thank you for standing up (and staying up!) to care for our community,” it said. “This humankindness is what...