A photo of a senior center sign surrounded by searing flames and smoke at Lake Berryessa defines 2020 California for many. It's nearly all there in that single photo: COVID-19, climate change, uncontrolled wildfires, economic devastation. Only the Black Lives Matter protests are missing. The sign welcomes visitors while reflecting...
Chancellor: State Center Classes Will Be Online for Spring Semester
Most classes for students in the State Center Community College District will continue to be online for the spring 2021 semester, chancellor Paul Parnell announced in an email. The district's top priority is the safety of students, faculty, and staff, and so officials have remained in closed contact with local...
Assemblyman Goes to Bat for COVID Shuttered Nail & Hair Salons
With many hair and nail salons forcibly closed due to the pandemic, one Assemblyman says it's time to do better. Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking him to quickly develop guidelines for safe indoor operations of nail and hair salons. California is the...
Can Mosquitoes Spread the Coronavirus?
Can mosquitoes spread the coronavirus? No. While mosquitoes can spread some diseases, most notably malaria and West Nile, experts say COVID-19 is not among them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has no data to suggest the coronavirus is spread by either mosquitoes or ticks. COVID-19...
Walters: Politics, Snafus Stall Jobless Benefits
The good news for millions of out-of-work California workers is that the federal government is offering them an additional $300 per week in unemployment insurance benefits. The not-so-good news is that the bonus is just half of the $600 in extra jobless benefits that expired nearly a month ago, it’s uncertain when...
COVID-19 Tests Will Now Be Required for Nursing Home Staff
WASHINGTON — Scrambling to check the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes, the Trump administration announced Tuesday it will require facilities to test staff regularly or face fines. The move comes months after the White House first urged governors to test all nursing home residents and staff. With residents, nursing homes...
Revved by Sturgis Rally, COVID-19 Infections Move Fast, Far
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The hundreds of thousands of bikers who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have departed western South Dakota, but public health departments in multiple states are trying to measure how much and how quickly the coronavirus spread in bars, tattoo shops and gatherings before people traveled...
Lawsuit: Smart & Final Discriminates Against Disabled People With Mask Policy
A recently filed class-action lawsuit claims that Smart & Final, LLC is discriminating against disabled people in its implementation of COVID-19 face mask requirements. The suit alleges that Smart & Final does not offer curbside pickup, does not have employees shop for disabled people, or provide their employees with proper...
Judge Rules Immanuel Schools Can Stay Open for Now
Fresno County Superior Court Judge D. Tyler Tharpe denied a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon sought by county health officials that would have closed Immanuel Schools in Reedley. The private K-12 private Christian school opened Aug. 13 with in-class instruction, defying state and local health orders stemming from the coronavirus pandemic....
Mojave Desert School Opens, So Why Not Big Creek Elementary, Hume Lake Charter?
Lucerne Valley Elementary School opened its doors last Thursday to in-person instruction for nearly 200 students, even though San Bernardino County is on the state's watchlist for counties with high rates of coronavirus infections. Listen to this article: The county has had twice as many reported COVID-19 cases and deaths...