LOS ANGELES — California broke a record Sunday with more than 7,400 coronavirus hospitalizations as counties statewide prepared for stricter COVID-19 restrictions to take effect amid surging cases and Thanksgiving travel. Health officials are preparing for a wave of cases in the next two or three weeks that could be...
Walters: Bad Optics Can Sink Political Careers
In real life politics, as opposed to the textbook variety, hard fact is much less important than image or, as political pros put it, “optics.” We had a stark lesson in that axiom this year when Donald Trump talked himself out of a second term as president. For months he...
California Adopts Stricter Workplace Pandemic Safety Rules
SAN FRANCISCO — California officials on Thursday approved new regulations requiring employers to implement safety measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, the latest state to adopt stricter rules. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board heard testimony on an emergency temporary standard that requires businesses to...
The Pandemic Is Changing Hollywood, Maybe Forever
NEW YORK — “No New ‘Movies’ Till Influenza Ends” blared a New York Times headline on Oct. 10, 1918, while the deadly second wave of the Spanish Flu was unfolding. A century later, during another pandemic, movies — quotes no longer necessary — are again facing a critical juncture. But it’s not...
Some California Counties Winding Down Hotels for Homeless
SAN FRANCISCO — Some California counties are pushing ahead with plans to wind down a program that's moved homeless people into hotel rooms amid the coronavirus pandemic despite an emergency cash infusion from the state aimed at preventing people from returning to the streets in colder weather as the virus...
Can You Repeat That? Hearing Trouble More Obvious With Masks
DALLAS — As nurse Teri Wheat made her rounds at a Texas maternity ward, she began to realize she was having a hard time understanding the new mothers who were wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic. So she got her hearing tested and now wears hearing aids. Her hearing loss...
Tweet on Spare Change Generates Big Money for Virus Aid
SALT LAKE CITY — Andy Larsen is a sports writer, but with so many games scratched during the pandemic he has spent a lot of time digging into coronavirus data and its sobering implications. Then on Monday, while he was sorting his spare change — some from a childhood piggy...
Despite the Distancing, Making a Connection This Holiday Could Save a Life
The holidays are here, and it’s time to put out an SOS. Much like the signal transmitted by a ship in distress, this SOS is a call to action, a request for help: Start a conversation. Offer a connection. Save a life. The 2020 holiday season will be unlike any...
US Mortgage Rates Stay at Record Low 2.72% for 30 Years
WASHINGTON — U.S. long-term mortgage rates remained at record lows this week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the economy. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac reported Wednesday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan was unchanged this week from a record low 2.72%. A year ago,...
Global Push to End Domestic Violence, Worse Amid COVID-19
BRUSSELS — In a global push to end violence against women, activists held rallies Wednesday and world leaders called for action to stop the abuse, which has worsened because of the coronavirus pandemic this year. Protests from France to Ukraine were held on the International Day for the Elimination of...