THE BUZZ — WINTER IS COMING — Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled up his sleeves for a Moderna booster shot in Oakland on Wednesday, flexing his muscle to emphasize the efficacy of California’s Covid response. The state leads the nation in vaccinations and has efficiently saved a lid on Covid infections — however even on this good temper, Newsom warned that the approaching winter months threaten to undo the positive aspects.
As Newsom turned one of many 2 million Californians who’ve gotten a coronavirus booster shot to this point, he used the second to take a victory lap: As of Wednesday, 24.7 million Californians, or 72.7 p.c of the state’s inhabitants, have been fully vaccinated, and one other 2.6 million extra have been partially vaccinated.
Newsom received his jab lower than per week after federal regulators authorized booster shots for qualifying vaccinated adults. As the Mercury News’s John Woolfolk noted, the state is encouraging those that obtained the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at the least six months in the past to get a booster if they’re 65 or older, or if they’re at excessive threat attributable to a well being situation or occupational or residential publicity. Anybody 18 and older who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the least two months in the past may also go get a booster shot. Mixing brands is encouraged, as Newsom, a J&J recipient, did Wednesday.
— Vaccinations of youngsters as younger as 5 might begin in California as quickly as subsequent week: The governor’s press occasion got here simply 24 hours after Meals and Drug Administration officers endorsed emergency use of Pfizer’s smaller-dose vaccine for children ages 5-11. Mark Ghaly, the state well being secretary (and the doctor who administered Newsom’s jab in Oakland), stated he’s anticipating 1.2 million doses of the formulation of the Pfizer vaccine for 5-11 12 months olds can be made obtainable in California “in only a handful of days.’’ And by the center of the month, he stated, “hundreds of partnerships” throughout the state will start to arrange vaccine clinics on college campuses to manage photographs to the younger Californians, along with remaining unvaccinated teenagers and adults. Newsom stated the state is supportive of college districts who wish to mandate vaccines for colleges forward of the state’s personal deadline — possible July 2022, pending full FDA approval, as the Sac Bee’s Michael McGough and Lara Korte noted.
— Newsom additionally walked a tightrope in refusing to assault In-N-Out Burger, which this week generated more headlines after a Contra Costa location defied local health ordinances. “In-N-Out Burger is one in every of our nice home-based companies,” he stated. “I’ve nice respect and admiration [for them]. I do know that the oldsters on the headquarters of In-N-Out Burger; I’ve visited them. And we actually respect it. A pair years again, it’s possible you’ll recall, they doubled down on their dedication to our state, and I’ll double down on my dedication to them. On the identical time, they’ve some variations of opinion … and we’ve got to work by means of them.”
— He did throw some critical shade at different governors (are you listening, Florida’s Ron DeSantis?) who attempt to stop vaccine and masks mandates, arguing that they “choose and select” which vaccines and well being precautions to protest. “I discover it moderately simply extraordinary and engaging, a few of these politicians on the market which are simply outraged, that by some means their freedom has been impacted. … This pandemic is one that does not appear to concern them as a lot as these others that return a century. The politics round that is disturbing to me. Lives are fairly actually in danger.”
Newsom received robust on “politicians claiming to be champions of legislation enforcement,’’ an obvious reference to DeSantis, who recently announced a $5,000 bonus for legislation enforcement officers who relocate to Florida from states the place they’re topic to stricter vaccine guidelines (like California).
“In case you’re a champion of legislation enforcement, you help getting vaccinations,” Newsom stated. When state leaders “require near a dozen vaccines already to your children, however you select to not require this one … you are enjoying politics.”
THE BOTTOM LINE: “All of us wish to be previous this pandemic,” Newsom stated. “However we all know the ticket out of this pandemic is getting these booster photographs — and getting the unvaccinated vaccinated.”
BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. Whither recollects? We’ll get a touch at present because the Legislature’s elections committees convene their first listening to on overhauling California’s guidelines for ousting elected officers.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What does a promise and a pledge imply in the long run? Nothing. Time and again, 12 months after 12 months, they make these pledges and so they come out to declare victory, however then nothing is getting carried out.” Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger criticizes the upcoming U.N. local weather talks, via POLITICO’s Debra Kahn.
BONUS QOTD: “It’s not an exaggeration to say that California state legislators established a state-sponsored killing machine.” UCLA historical past professor Benjamin Madley gives the NYT’s Thomas Fuller some context on efforts to rename a outstanding legislation college whose founder fueled the slaughter of Native folks.
TWEET OF THE DAY: Lorena Gonzalez @LorenaSGonzalez doubles down: “Oh, come on. Let’s all say it collectively now: F*ck Elon Musk”
VIDEO OF THE DAY: Good Samaritan in Sacramento rescues a kitten from raging waters, by way of the Sac Bee’s David Caraccio and Storyful.
WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official introduced.
MAKING BANK — “How Much Larry Ellison Has Made On Tesla Stock,” by Forbes’ Rachel Sandler: “Musk isn’t the one billionaire getting loopy wealthy off Tesla’s newest inventory market rally. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison—who additionally sits on Tesla’s board—owns simply over 15 million shares of the electrical automobile firm, making him Tesla’s second-largest particular person shareholder after Musk. On Tuesday, Ellison’s 1.5% stake was price a whopping $15.5 billion.”
TIME TO WORRY? — “Can California Tourism Survive Climate Change?” by The NYT’s Rachel Levin: “The preferred state for tourism within the U.S. endured document wildfires, drought and flooding simply this 12 months. ‘The speed of change has been so dramatic,’ says one native scientist. ‘If I used to be the California tourism business, I’d be actually anxious.’”
CLASSIC SF POLITICS — “Why did S.F. supervisors vote against a project to turn a parking lot into 500 housing units?” by the SF Chronicle’s J.Okay. Dineen.
CLIMATE COMMITMENT — “Newsom’s Challenge In Glasgow: Can He Find Climate-Business Balance?” by CalMatters’ Emily Hoeven: “One of many greatest challenges that Gov. Gavin Newsom will face when he travels to Scotland subsequent week for the United Nations Local weather Change Convention: Proving to the remainder of the world that California is enhancing its environmental local weather with out damaging its enterprise local weather.”
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING — “Few working poor get to vote on unions. Can California change that?” by CalMatters’ Grace Gedye and Jesse Bedayne: “The Way forward for Work Fee, convened by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, which included labor and enterprise leaders, “asserted of their last report launched earlier this 12 months that whereas a university diploma reduces the prospect of a low-wage job by 33%, union membership improves these odds by 39%.”
FOREST INSURANCE SYSTEM — “California is banking on forests to reduce emissions. What happens when they go up in smoke?” by Grist’s Emily Pontecorvo and Shannon Osaka: “The forests enrolled in California’s offset market at the moment retailer greater than 190 million additional metric tons of carbon dioxide. If the buffer pool fails, and forests proceed to burn, hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 might be launched into the ambiance, threatening to undo a lot of the state’s local weather progress.”
— “LA Finalizes Employee COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Plan,” by NBC Los Angeles’ Eric Leonard: “The LA Metropolis Council approves its vaccine mandate with out dialogue, units up course of for non secular and medical exemptions and potential termination for unvaccinated staff in December.”
EDITORIAL: “Rolling back labor and environmental protections won’t fix supply chain disruptions,” by way of the LA Instances’ editorial board: “With everybody from President Biden to Gov. Gavin Newsom centered on fixing provide chain disruptions which have clogged the ports, created product shortages and raised costs, California enterprise teams are providing their, um, answer: roll again state labor protections and slash environmental protections.”
VAX OR QUIT — “Would California prison guards quit over vaccine mandates? Newsom administration says yes,” by The Sac Bee’s Wes Venteicher: “California state officers are anxious jail guards’ resistance to vaccines runs so deep {that a} strict vaccination mandate may lead many to give up their jobs, with doubtlessly ‘crippling’ results to the jail system, in keeping with a Monday court docket submitting.”
RENT RECOVERY — “San Francisco’s Empty Offices Delay Apartment-Rent Recovery,” by Bloomberg’s Oshrat Carmiel: “San Francisco is the one U.S. condominium market that hasn’t seen a full restoration to pre-pandemic rents, landlord Fairness Residential stated in its earnings name Wednesday. A halting return of staff to their places of work remains to be weighing down demand for residences within the metropolis.”
— “Southern California mayor’s second accuser retracts lawsuit, alleges her lawyers lied,” by Southern California Information Group’s Jason Henry for The Mercury Information: “A former media advisor has withdrawn a sexual harassment lawsuit filed earlier this month in opposition to Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and is now accusing her attorneys of embellishing the allegations. … ‘I’m deeply disturbed with the lies and elaborations that had been submitted,’ she wrote.”
ICYMI: Our own CA Playbooker Isabella Bloom highlights the politics of “Striketober,’’ a few of our protection on labor from Hollywood and Silicon Valley to California’s well being care business.
— “Scott Peters’ Congressional Career Comes Down to Big Medicare Negotiations,” by Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis: “Peters has discovered himself with an unlimited option to make and big affect over probably the most consequential legislative dramas of the final 70 years.”
ADDRESSING DRUG OVERDOSES — “HHS pledges more effort, resources toward harm reduction for drug users,” by The Washington Submit’s Lenny Bernstein: “Well being and Human Providers Secretary Xavier Becerra outlined the Biden administration’s technique for curbing drug overdoses Wednesday, committing extra federal help for hurt discount methods reminiscent of distribution of fresh syringes and check strips used to verify avenue medication for hidden fentanyl.”
HEADS UP — via California Target Book’s Rob Pyers @rpyers: #AD09 Democrat Jim Cooper’s ‘testing the waters’ committee for a potential run for Sacramento County Sheriff in 2022 experiences its first massive contributions since Cooper seeded it w/$500K from his Meeting committee again in December of 2020.
— MAYORAL UPDATE, by way of LA Instances’ @DavidZahniser: “Some micro-news on the L.A. mayor’s race: Developer Rick Caruso nonetheless hasn’t determined whether or not to run for mayor. However he’s employed Bearstar Methods – the oldsters who suggested Gov. Gavin Newsom as he handily defeated a recall try – to assist him make that call, a Caruso rep says”
STILL SUSPENDED — “Florida judge rules Trump can’t skirt Twitter’s terms just because he was president, in latest legal setback,” by The Washington Submit’s Timothy Bella: “Whereas Trump’s attorneys have argued that his standing as former president exempts him from Twitter’s clause, and that it was within the public curiosity for the case to remain in Florida, [U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr.] was unconvinced. In his 13-page ruling, the Miami choose famous that Trump, who lives in Florida, ‘has not superior any authorized authority to help his competition.’”
THAT’S RICH — “Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Paid $45 Million for Ellen DeGeneres’ Beverly Hills Estate,’’ by way of James McClain for Yahoo: It’s solely now emerged that the thriller consumers who dropped a whopping $45 million on the Beverly Hills house of Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi had been high-flying enterprise capitalist Temper Rowghani and his spouse Tara Dhingra, a former high Uber worker and shut affiliate of Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick.
— “Sheriff: Lead bullet fatally struck ‘Rust’ cinematographer; 500 rounds of ammo recovered on set,” by the LA Instances’ Julia Wick and James Queally: “The roughly 500 rounds of ammunition recovered by authorities from the set included a mix of ‘blanks, dummy rounds and what we’re suspecting had been dwell rounds,’ [Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza] Mendoza stated Wednesday.”
— “Editorial: Does Hollywood need to use real guns to tell good stories? No, it doesn’t,” by way of the LA Instances’ editorial board: “It’s time for Hollywood to voluntarily cease utilizing actual weapons — regardless of how modified they could be.”
SIGN ME UP — “This Hollywood Restaurant Has More Than 20,000 People Trying to Get a Reservation,” by Selection’s Pat Saperstein: “It’s no shock Hollywood’s hidden tasting-menu restaurant Phenakite is among the hardest reservations wherever, with greater than 20,000 folks on the waitlist. … Named for a mineral that turns into a gem beneath strain, the restaurant — which is tucked inside the luxurious Second Dwelling Hollywood campus — represents a triumph of turning the hardships of the pandemic right into a uncommon jewel of an eatery.”
LABOR IN LA LA LAND — “A major Hollywood union could vote soon on a deal for better streaming pay,” by The Verge’s Catie Keck: “A Hollywood union representing tens of hundreds of manufacturing employees will quickly determine whether or not to ratify agreements that may, amongst different labor protections, implement higher pay from streaming providers.”
— “Kat Von D Closing West Hollywood Tattoo Shop, Moving To Indiana,” by way of CBS Los Angeles.
CHRONIC PROBLEM — “This is California’s new $5 billion powerhouse of an industry. Is the state holding it back?” by The Sac Bee’s Andrew Sheeler and Jason Pohl: “Many native governments are nonetheless reluctant to subject hashish licenses. Out of 482 cities in California, 174 enable some type of licensed hashish enterprise, with many permitting solely non-retail companies reminiscent of manufacturing and distribution, in keeping with Hirsh Jain of Ananda Technique, who research hashish tendencies within the state.”
— “People Are Using Marijuana to Treat Anxiety and Depression, but the Science Is Murky,” by The Wall Road Journal’s Andrea Petersen.
— “Hollywood Reporter taps two staffers for awards coverage,” by Speaking Biz Information’ Mariam Ahmed: “The Hollywood Reporter has appointed Tyler Coates and Beatrice Verhoeven to steer the publication’s awards protection.”
SEAWEED SOLUTION — “Dairy cows’ greenhouse gas emissions cut by 52% after eating seaweed at Bay Area farm,” by the SF Chronicle’s Tara Duggan.
— “Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke angers NFL owners with financial pivot related to lawsuit on St. Louis move, sources say,’’ by way of ESPN.
RED WINE — “The Prisoner is one of Napa’s most popular wines. It also glamorizes something ugly: incarceration,” by the SF Chronicle’s Esther Mobley.
INSURRECTIONIST CHARGED — “California man seen fighting with police at U.S. Capitol attack is arrested and charged,” by the East Bay Instances’ Josh Cain.
— “Lori Loughlin pays $500,000 in tuition, not bribes, for two students’ college education,’’ by way of MercNews.
— “Mona Rodriguez death: Long Beach school cop who shot young mom charged with murder,” by FOX11’s Mary Stringini.
— “Authorities Identify Suspect Accused of Stabbing Good Samaritan in San Francisco,” by NBC’s Robert Handa.
— “Oakland oral surgeon gets 16 years in prison for child sex crimes, claims he was high on ecstasy when he tried to buy children,” by the East Bay Instances’ Nate Gartrell.
CA FILMMAKERS’ DEBUT — “The King of Sudan,’’ a documentary by two younger California filmmakers — director Danny Abel of Mill Valley and author Brett Blake of Oakland — made its debut this week on the Austin Movie Competition. It focuses on the unlikely story of a Virginia farmer who found a small plot of unclaimed land within the Center East and aimed to ascertain a kingdom.
Invoice Gates … Matt Patton of Google … Steve Hartell of Amazon … Uber’s Alix Anfang … and a particular Playbook early point out for Salesforce’s Corina Standiford and longtime LGBTQ activist Gloria Nieto, each on Oct. 31.
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