SACRAMENTO — With millions of people out of work in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed a law giving tax breaks to small businesses that hire more workers by Dec. 1. The law will reduce how much state taxes some small businesses owe if they have more employees working...
No Trick: Los Angeles Limiting Many Halloween Festivities
LOS ANGELES — Halloween traditions including trick-or-treating, haunted houses and parades have all been nixed in Los Angeles County this year under new health guidelines because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Since some of the traditional ways in which this holiday is celebrated does not allow you to minimize contact with...
Book: Trump Said of Virus, ‘I Wanted To Always Play It Down’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump seemed to understand the severity of the coronavirus threat even as he was telling the nation that the virus was no worse than the seasonal flu and insisting that the U.S. government had it totally under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward....
What Slowdown? Amazon Seeks To Hire 33,000 People
NEW YORK — Amazon is on a hiring spree. In the latest sign of how it's prospering while others are faltering during the pandemic, Amazon said Wednesday it is seeking to bring aboard 33,000 people for corporate and tech roles in the next few months. It's the largest number of...
‘We’re Not Losing That School’: Firefighters Save Big Creek Elementary from Creek Fire
Firefighters who were battling Saturday to save the Big Creek Elementary School and other structures in the tiny Sierra community told Big Creek superintendent/principal Toby Wait that fire was coming at them "from four directions." But firefighters were determined to keep Big Creek School from being devoured by the Creek...
Behind the ‘Wild West’ of School Reopenings
By Ricardo Cano and Ana B. Ibarra An academic year in which public education will intersect with public health has created back-to-school shopping lists unlike any other for California’s schools as they attempt to transition toward in-person instruction once they have the state’s blessing. Bakersfield’s Panama-Buena Vista Union School District...
Next Up: Californians Brace for the ‘Twindemic’
In the border county of Imperial, health officials are sharing a promising progress report: After being branded a hot spot, coronavirus hospitalizations are down. Sick patients are no longer being transferred out of county. Businesses are reopening. “It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Adolphe Edward, the CEO of El Centro Regional Medical...
Health Officials Worry U.S. Not Ready for COVID-19 Vaccine
Millions of Americans are counting on a COVID-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal. While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials...
Pelosi, Mnuchin Agree on Plan To Avoid Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration have informally agreed to keep a stopgap government-wide funding bill — needed to avert a shutdown at the end of this month — free of controversy or conflict. The accord is aimed at keeping any possibility of a government shutdown...
Clovis Rally Will Make This Demand: ‘Reopen California Schools’
Parents who want schools to open for face-to-face instruction will rally Tuesday afternoon in Clovis and other sites across California in events organized by the Reopen California Schools Facebook group. The local rally will be on Clovis Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday....