Good morning and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, December 23rd. Shelby Grad, Scott Sandell, and Amy Hubbard (yes, three of us!) Stand up for Justin Ray as we head into the vacation weekend. Just a quick programming note: The newsletter is free on Fridays and Saturdays and back in your inbox on Mondays.

The Omicron variant made it to California with a vengeance. LA County saw its daily cases double, at what a health official has described as “harrowing” rates.

Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know:

Bad, but how bad? Because Omicron is so easily transferable, it is spreading at an unprecedented pace. However, there are also increasing indications that the variant caused less severe cases than the delta variant that has dominated for months. This, along with the increase in vaccinations and booster vaccinations, makes health professionals cautiously optimistic that there won’t be as many serious illnesses or deaths this winter compared to last winter’s surge. The biggest concern right now is that Omicron could spread so quickly that some hospitals could again be overwhelmed, even as fewer people become seriously ill, and the strain could take a devastating toll in areas with low vaccination rates. Los Angeles times

Key Prediction: A very influential COVID-19 forecast predicts that the Omicron surge could result in up to 400,000 new coronavirus cases per day nationwide – well above last winter’s record of 250,000 per day. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that the Omicron surge will rise rapidly through December and into January, and possibly peak in the next month or early February. Los Angeles times

LA County popped: More than 6,500 additional infections were reported on Wednesday alone. “It’s a very challenging time over the holidays,” the county public health director Barbara Ferrer told reporters. “If our case numbers continue to skyrocket this week and next, we could be looking at case numbers we’ve never seen before.” Los Angeles Times

What do we measure With Omicron appearing to cause fewer serious illnesses than Delta, COVID-19 hospital admissions will be a more relevant way in the coming days to determine actions local authorities may need to take, an expert said. This is because, while Omicron spreads quickly, a relatively high percentage of those infected remain who remain asymptomatic. Los Angeles times

Emotional Scars: The mental and emotional toll of yet another vacation turned upside down by COVID is real. How to cope? Here are some reminders of what causes fear and tips on how to face uncertainty with a clear head. Los Angeles times

More news about the coronavirus

• A Marin County social gathering that saw 28 people test positive for the coronavirus is a cautionary story. Los Angeles times
• The Pfizer pill could be a game changer as the first US-approved COVID home treatment. Los Angeles times
• Some potentially positive news from South Africa, where the huge Omicron wave seems to be subsiding as quickly as it has grown. Washington Post
• … And from Europe, where three research teams report that Omicron infections are milder. New York Times
• What cancels COVID-19? We have a running list. Los Angeles times
• Home tests are in short supply. Los Angeles times
• How Long Should You Isolate If Vaccinated and Have COVID-19? Mercury news
• Cal State now mandates booster shots. Los Angeles times

And now this is happening across California:

Note: Some of the websites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without a subscription.

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

We start our California tour with the Almanac, because it should be “raining everywhere” by this afternoon. So said forecasters calling for a slow winter storm that would rock northern California with rain and snow before heading south. Rainfall began yesterday for parts of the state, but was not expected to slide into LA County until today, the National Weather Service said. Los Angeles times

Just take a look at this very squishy almanac:

Los Angeles: rain, 57th San Diego: rain, 61st San Francisco: rain, 57th San Jose: rain, 62. Fresno: rain, 57th Sacramento: rain, 57.

LA STORIES

That is the sound of silence at Mater Dei. High school and Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange are charged with trying to cover up a brutal locker room altercation in which a player suffered traumatic brain injury. The school is committed to reviewing safety protocols as part of the athletics program. But otherwise, employees, parents, students and the diocese have largely closed. Mater Dei has one of the best high school football programs in the country and is a strong fundraising powerhouse. Supporters and staff of the program have fallen back on a wall of silence. Orange County’s Bishop Kevin Vann issued a public statement denouncing coverage of the lawsuit as “media frenzy” that is “worrying and sad.” Los Angeles times

The huge network of influential supporters and alumni of the Mater Dei High School has largely kept the scandal secret.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Cara Schneider, a Fairfax High School graduate and longtime teacher and administrator in Los Angeles, knew her students well. She knew they spoke Spanish so she learned the language. She knew they needed a dose of joy – and knowledge of the Beatles in their lives – so she would broadcast “Here Comes the Sun” over the school intercom once a week. She died last month at the age of 58. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Hotels will soon move away from housing the homeless as part of the Roomkey project. Nearly 1,400 rooms are still rented under this program – which provided a much-needed landing pad when the city went on missions to help people and clear large camps. Plans may change, but hotels will be closed to Project Roomkey participants in the New Year, writes Benjamin Oreskes of The Times. The officials of the city and the district are in a small race against time. They have to hand out thousands of rental vouchers received from various stimulus programs. Los Angeles times

What will your convention district look like? An independent government body has redrawn the boundaries for California’s congressional boroughs. Put your address on our map to see how your district has changed. Los Angeles times

CRIME AND COURTS

The ACLU has accused Tulare County of “seriously inadequate” prenatal care in its prisons. County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux denies the allegations. The ACLU detailed stories of three women who were allegedly denied adequate prenatal care. One interviewed by the Fresno Bee described a “traumatizing” experience where she bled for three days before being rushed to hospital. Fresno bee

Free online games

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CALIFORNIAN CULTURE

San Francisco has a number of mega-housing projects on track for 2022. Even if smaller projects are pending due to market uncertainty and astronomical construction costs, San Francisco’s colossal multi-phase projects will move forward at full speed. San Francisco Chronicle

Low Bridge Ahead: The main engine on Tower Bridge between Sacramento and West Sacramento has broken, causing the bridge to stay in the down position. Although a California Department of Transportation spokesman said it was safe for vehicles to cross the bridge, boats on the Sacramento River will have difficulty getting through it. Sacramento bee

Tower Bridge in Sacramento on November 11th.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

The Cowboys of Baja California: “While cowboy culture north of the border has become a shadow of itself, some insist that Baja’s off-grid vaqueros still embody the harsh individualism of US legends.” National Geographic

Shaun Piccinino from Chico hit gold with his original Netflix film “A California Christmas”. Now the filmmaker hopes that the sequel will be just as successful – so that he can shoot a third part. Chico Enterprise record

Our daily news podcast

If you’re a fan of this newsletter, you’ll love our daily podcast, The Times, hosted every weekday by columnist Gustavo Arellano along with reporters from our newsroom. Go beyond the headlines. Download and listen to our app, subscribe to Apple Podcasts and follow Spotify.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory is from Jane Anne Staw:

One morning in late December 1981, my five-year-old son and I left Iowa City, where the temperature was below zero, and arrived in Berkeley, where the sun was shining and the air was swaying in the high 50s. My son immediately tore off his down parka, slipped off his winter boots, and ran up and down our block of Garber Street in shirt sleeves, hands spread like wings, celebrating the golden California climate. He’s now the father of two lovely girls, but I often remember his sheer joy in the warmth all those years ago.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please limit your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

The post Important California: What we have discovered about Omicron, the extremely fast-moving variant appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

People called her “the high priestess of the soul” or a jazz singer, but Nina Simone said her music contained more folk and blues than jazz. Dave Marsh, the music critic, suggested calling her a “freedom singer”. Bob Dylan said she was an artist he loved and admired, and the fact that she recorded his songs validated everything he did. Along with Dylan’s work, she performed songs by Animals, Leonard Cohen, and Jacque Brel. Kanye West sampled them in his songs. Barack Obama had her song “Sinnerman” on his workout playlist. The writers Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and Langston Hughes were her close friends. She trained as a classical pianist and Bach was her favorite composer because of his technical perfection.

Raised in Tryon, North Carolina by a mother who was a Methodist preacher and a father who did everything he could get during the Depression, including a barber, handyman, and delivery driver, she had never been to a bar until she was playing at Midtown Bar & Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and when asked what she would like to drink, asked for a glass of milk. When Vernon Jordan, the leader of the Urban League, asked her why she wasn’t more active in the civil rights movement, she replied, “I’m civil rights, motherfucker.”

Nina Simone

Simone (1933-2003) was uncategorizable and unique, making every song she sang her own. Born Eunice Waymon, she trained as a classical pianist and studied with Juilliard for a year, but was not accepted into the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia, a decision many attributed to racism. Simone was an activist during the civil rights movement and famously said that it is an artist’s duty to reflect on time. She left the United States and moved to Liberia, then Switzerland, before finally settling in southern France.

“Why? (The King of Love is dead)”

Nina Simone and her band played this song in Westbury Music Festival on Long Island, New York, 1968, three days after the death of Martin Luther King. They had just learned the song, which her bassist Gene Taylor wrote in response to King’s murder, and the song is angry, heartbreaking and catchy. Simone’s voice rings out as she sings: “Turn the other cheek he would plead / Love your neighbors was his creed / death in pain humiliation that he did not fear / With his Bible by his side / He did not hide from his enemies / It is hard to think this great man is dead. ‘The song appears on Simone’s 1968 live album’Said Nuff.

“To be young, talented and black”

Simone and her friend Lorraine Hansberry linked through civil rights and radical politics. Before she died of cancer at the age of 34, Hansberry was the author of A raisin in the sun, I spoke to a group of essay winners and said to them, “I wanted to come here and speak to you on this opportunity because you are young, gifted and black.”

Simone said the words were in her head and she was sitting at the piano writing the song she said felt like a gift from the playwright. Her band leader wrote the words and she told him to keep it simple, something that “will forever make black kids around the world feel good”. The song, which became something of a civil rights anthem, was released on the record in 1970 Black gold.

“Mississippi Goddam”

Simone wrote this song in response to the bombing of a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four girls and to the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi. She reportedly sat down and wrote the song that opens “Alabama got me so angry / Tennessee made me lose my calm / And everyone knows about Mississippi Goddam.” in less than an hour and said it felt like firing bullets at the members of the Ku Klux Klan who planted the dynamite in the church. Dick Gregory commented, “We all wanted to say it. She said, it. Mississippi, god damn it. “The song with intense, pungent lyrics and an uptempo beat became a famous protest song that some radio stations sent back in two parts. It was released in 1964 on the album Nina Simone in Concert.

“I wish I knew what it would feel like to be free”

This song was an instrumental written by Jazz pianist Billy Taylor, with lyrics later added by Dick Dallas. Simone recorded it for her 1967 album Silk and Soul and with lyrics like I wish I knew how it would feel to be free / I wish I could break all the chains that hold me / I wish I could do it all say what to say and I wish you could know / what it means to be me / then you would see and agree / that every man should be free, along with Simone’s art, it became another song that was important for the civil rights movement is.

“Backlash Blues”

This song, featured on the 1967 album Nina Simone Sings the Blues, comes from a protest poem written by Simone’s friend Langston Hughes. The music she wrote is more straight forward than many of her songs, but the lyrics include, “You give me second class houses / And second class schools / Do you think all colored people / Are just second class fools?” are moving and politically focused like many of their other songs.

I have bewitched you: the autobiography of Nina Simone

In Simone’s 1991 autobiography, made with Stephen Cleary, she writes: “Everything that happened to me as a child has to do with music.” She began piano lessons in her small North Carolina town, walked two miles and crossed the railroad tracks to study with her first piano teacher, Muriel Massinovitch. On her first piano recital at age eleven, her parents were removed from their front row seats and she refused to play until they were back in those seats and could see her hands as she played.

What happened, Miss Simone?

Liz Garbus’ documentary, which opened at Sundance in 2015, shows some of the diverse forms of Simone’s life, from studying as a concert pianist to playing in bars to touring the world, working in the civil rights movement and moving to Liberia in Switzerland and South France. Her longtime guitarist Al Schackman is interviewed along with her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly, executive producer of the film, and Lisa’s father Andrew Stroud.

Simone’s archive footage is stunning and her struggles, especially in the latter part of her life, are touched, sometimes to the point that they overshadow her incredible contributions to music, but it made me think of something in Anna Malaika Tubbs’ most recent book . The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.

In it, Tubbs writes about Malcolm X’s mother, Louise Little, who spent years in a mental hospital, and suggests part of the reason she was there because a black woman was trying to tell the truth. Attallah Shabbazz, daughter of Malcolm X and a friend of the family, says of Simone in the documentary: “She was not contradicting time, times were contradicting her.”

The post The Important Nina Simone | San Francisco Classical Voice appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

PLEASANTON (KPIX) – For the second time in a row the heat is still on. A homeowner’s air conditioning in Pleasanton is off, and that’s quite an emergency during this pandemic.

That means you’ll have to call a service company to have it repaired. At the moment, appropriate COVID-19 security measures are essential.

CONTINUE READING: VIDEO: Oakland Homeless Encampment Fire Sparks Massive 2-Alert Flame at Recycling Company

Because service champions heating and air is an essential business. It means they have to get home safely.

“Well, we had a lot of security in place before COVID, we just took it to another level to keep our customers safe,” said owner Kevin Comerford.

He says the priority calls are to the seniors seeking shelter and in some cases sultry.

“You need air conditioning now. It’s not someone trying to play around with you so again it’s super important. But they call a company that takes every precaution and has all the PPE equipment we should all have, ”says Comerford.

CONTINUE READING: Concord Man arrested in machete attack on Mountain View

Blake Koscielak is a Service Champions technician.

“In addition to our normal tools, I need gloves to protect customers. Of course we need a face mask to make sure you interact with people as safely as possible,” said Koscielak. “We also wear floor mats. Every time we go to someone’s home, we make sure we cover my boots, and we also put a floor mat on someone’s front door.”

It turned out that the problem was just a tripped circuit breaker, possibly an overloaded circuit breaker, causing the air conditioner to work again.

Here is some advice from Service Champions. If your air conditioner blows warmer air or you hear a noise, you need to change the filter, which may need to be replaced. That in and of itself could make the device run better.

MORE NEWS: Veterinarians at the Marine Mammal Center cannot confirm the cause of the death of stranded whales

Service Champions is also hiring. Due to increased customer demand during this pandemic, the company is not only discontinuing and offering paid AC repair training, but is also offering paid COVID-19 safety training.

The post COVID-19 Security Measures Are Important Enterprise When The AC Breaks Throughout A Pandemic – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Roger and his five relatives live in this small one-room apartment in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO – – Martin, a 40-year-old day laborer in San Francisco, has barely worked in the past two months. He hasn’t worked at all for the past two weeks.

He was asked to leave the shelter he was staying in as there is only room for people infected with COVID-19.

So he took to the streets to sleep and to ask for work.

His usual routine is to wake up at 6:30 a.m., talk to previous employers over wifi and ask if they need his manual skills, and wait for hours on the corner with others like him in the hope that someone will meet him for painting walls. Moving furniture or working on a construction project. In his spare time, he walks around the neighborhood helping people learn best practices for preventing the virus from spreading and educating the community about eviction rights.

In addition, Martin has just learned that he has diabetes.

“I’m feeling very bad mentally,” said Martin, who asked that his full name not be used in Spanish through an interpreter. “I’m not doing well. I am not fulfilling my obligations to support my family.”

Hoping at least to get a good night’s sleep, Martin recently applied in San Francisco for a new program called the High Risk Community Housing Program.

The program is temporarily offering free hotel rooms to key San Francisco employees who live in neighborhoods with higher COVID-19 rates.

Last week, 10 people moved into the 1,000 available rooms, said supervisor Hillary Ronen, who urged the city to open more hotel rooms to the homeless and the needy.

Those rooms opened, she said, when the city realized they weren’t filled with first responders as originally planned. Instead of leaving them empty, the program for people at high risk was launched shortly after a UCSF study that indicated that Latinos in the mission district were disproportionately affected by coronavirus.

The study said tight living spaces were a factor in higher levels of the coronavirus. Many Latinos also have jobs that tend to put them in direct contact with others, which increases the chances of exposure to the virus.

Roger, who also asked that his full name not be used, lives in such close quarters.

In an interview, the 49-year-old artisan said he lived in a tiny room with five relatives: his grandmother, son, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and 9-year-old grandson on Church Street.

“I have severe depression,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Economically, I am terribly. And overall it is very stressful to live.”

His family has always lived in this small apartment. But before the coronavirus, they would all leave home for the day and only come back at night.

Now everyone is together and on top of each other around the clock.

To alleviate what he called “tortuous days”, he and his relatives decided to stay up until 2:00 am so that they can sleep as late as possible and the days don’t seem so endless. As for sleep, the family sleeps on couches and air mattresses packed in their room.

He and his family members have all looked for work with no luck. Your $ 2,200 per month rent is due on Monday.

He would very much like to apply for a hotel room, not only to get some distance and space from his relatives, but to avoid the possible spread of the deadly disease.

“I feel stuck,” he said. “I would love to get out of this room.”

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED: The application to request HRCH hotel accommodation is now available online.

San Francisco residents who work outside the home can apply themselves or a vulnerable household member for whom they want to reduce exposure to COVID-19 because the person is 60 years or older or already has an illness. Ask? Email HRCH@sfgov.org

If you are interested in hiring a member of the San Francisco Day Labor Program and Women’s Collective, call 415-252-5375. Further information on the programs can be found here. You can also donate to Fighting for our Workers. You can also email the dispatcher Louis Legowsky to the program at sfdlp @ 3358 @ gmail.com if you want to hire a worker.

Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@foxtv.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez

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Construction and home contractors haven’t received a standing ovation or coverage of human interest on the news, but labeled “Essential Business” have advanced many such franchises in 2020.

Kelsey Stuart, co-founder and CEO of Bloomin ‘Blinds, said the status was a silver lining in a very chaotic year.

“W.We were lucky enough to be seen as essential, ”said Stuart. “We went through all state and local regulations and in most cases construction or housekeeping services were deemed essential. We had a few operators in San Francisco hit and a few others had a softer schedule, but most of our operators were with the authority of the essential services out there. “

Like almost everyone except grocery stores and pizza, he said March was terrible and April was soft, but business has been buzzing ever since. Customers called Bloomin ‘Blinds, a company that primarily owns, operates and private individuals, either for new window treatments or to fix their broken blinds – a niche that Stuart says is a major setback for the company during recession or turbulent times. Across the board, customers simply had plenty of time to sit and look out the windows.

“Everyone was home, now you have people at home who have time for projects, and now we stare and think we’re making some progress. Plus, all of that unspent disposable income, all of your travel budget, vacations and summer camps – all of the money that is normally spent on summer and vacations is being postponed, ”said Stuart. “There was a lot more disposable income that was used for home improvement.”

At Bloomin ‘Blinds, he said sales had increased 60 percent by 2020, and that January was his biggest month ever. This is part of the beauty of the service category, especially repair, a specialty of the company that sets the brand apart from the rest of the window segment. When people are faced with uncertainty or economic fears, they switch to “repair mode”.

There was also a lot less shopping.

“Even at the height of COVID and all the questions that came with it, people felt very comfortable in their home. When they went out, they felt very uncomfortable. We set up a virtual consultation process, we set everything up, but we found that consumers are letting people into their homes, but less, ”said Stuart. When they got the call, they were usually the only command. “We typically have a 75 percent graduation rate. In COVID it’s almost 90 percent because people don’t shop that much. “

Focused on robust technology tools, marketing, the company was the “non-contractor” compared to the stereotypical butt crack and stretch t-shirt contractor. Little things like a laser measuring device that feeds data into a tablet and an appealing virtual lookbook about what new blinds would look like didn’t hurt either.

“It’s amazing how much people love to see this laser,” said Stuart. “It’s incredibly efficient for us, but people love it, they want you to measure from the back of the house to the front, from here to there.”

Another advantage of being an essential company: Interest in starting a franchise market is growing, as has been seen in recent economic downturns. Bloomin ‘Blinds, a franchise network of 58 owners and 68 territories, has just signed three more home-based franchisees for the low-investment business. The upfront cost is between $ 38,495 and $ 117,425, including a franchise fee of $ 25,000 to $ 48,500. The average gross sales to franchisees in an area in 2019 was $ 227,974.

The post Deemed ‘Important,’ Dwelling Companies See Wholesome Increase | Franchise Information appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Good morning and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday October 2nd and I’m writing from Los Angeles.

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Just before 1 a.m. in Washington early Friday morning, the President of the United States sent a tweet that quickly sent shock waves around the globe.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. The president tweeted that he and the first lady would “begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.”

[Read the story: “Trump and first lady test positive for the coronavirus” in the Los Angeles Times]

His positive test came just hours after the White House announced that Senior Adjutant Hope Hicks tested positive for the virus after several trips with the president this week, including the first presidential debate in Ohio on Tuesday and a campaign rally in Minnesota had Wednesday. Vice President Mike Pence tested negative on Friday morning.

The president traveled to New Jersey for re-election Thursday and appeared at a fundraiser at his Bedminster Golf Club. According to the New York Times, White House officials have been aware of Hicks’ likely diagnosis since Wednesday night, though she reportedly didn’t receive her positive test until Thursday.

News of Trump’s diagnosis comes just a month before the US presidential election and seven months into a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and changed almost every aspect of life across the country. The president has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the coronavirus threat and refused to adhere to public health guidelines.

Trump is 74 years old and has a higher risk of serious complications from the coronavirus. According to the Associated Press, this is the most serious known public health fear a sitting US president has encountered in recent history. Several other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, have previously contracted the coronavirus.

And now this is happening across California:

Dangerously dry and windy conditions will challenge the crews battling the glass fire in California’s wine country in the coming days as officials warn that gusts of wind could potentially drive the fire towards communities in Napa County. Los Angeles times

Disney’s Bob Iger resigns from Governor Gavin Newsom’s task force as tensions mount over theme park closures: the Los Angeles Times

California Adds a COVID-19 Equity Requirement: California’s major counties will only be allowed to further open their economies if they reduce coronavirus infections in the hardest-hit locations where poor, black, Latin American and Pacific islanders live. Los Angeles times

Note: Some of the websites we link to may limit the number of articles you can access without signing up.

LA STORIES

Mega donors and police unions have poured nearly $ 12 million into the LA District Attorney’s race. Incumbent Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey’s campaign was largely backed by law enforcement unions, while wealthy lawyers primarily focused on the Bay Area provided much of the funding for challenger George Gascón. Los Angeles times

After a disastrous election in March, LA County faces a “major challenge” in November. It will be the first choice since the troubled debut of the county’s new $ 300 million electoral system that officials have been trying for months to fix. Los Angeles times

In these Koreatown stores, kimchi is everything and more. Independent kimchi stores try to focus on quality and specific flavor in order to stand out from the crowd. Los Angeles times

Traditional Baechu Kimchi and Baek Kimchi surrounded by a range of raw materials from Kae Sung Market in Koreatown.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

[See also: “Your guide to the must-try kimchis of L.A.” in the Los Angeles Times]

Dodgers Advance: The Dodgers battled the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-three wildcard round at Dodger Stadium and moved to the National League Division Series to face either the St. Louis Cardinals or the San Diego Padres . Los Angeles times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Trump’s war on electoral integrity “follows a racist playbook used in Orange County in the 1980s.” Columnist Gustavo Arellano advocates historical comparisons. Los Angeles times

The government has attempted to intimidate the department into keeping a Foster Farms poultry factory open despite the coronavirus outbreak at the facility, according to the Merced County’s director of public health. CBS News

CRIME AND COURTS

A federal appeals court upheld Newsom’s coronavirus restrictions on indoor worship during the pandemic. A majority in the U.S. 9th appeals court said California’s church health ordinances did not discriminate against religious expression. Los Angeles times

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

One reason for the terrible fire season in Northern California? Less rain than in Southern California. Los Angeles times

A ranger station in Sequoia National Forest was wrapped in foil like a “big baked potato” to protect it from wildfire. “Only one chimney stuck out, making the structure look like a big, badly wrapped Christmas present.” Fresno bee

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

California’s Deepening Crises: Santa Cruz County Lost Nearly 1,000 Homes To The CZU Lightning Complex Fires. The real estate crisis is now worse than ever. San Francisco Chronicle

The workers quietly come back to the offices in Southern California. About 25% of the country’s employees already come to the office regularly – not five days a week, but at least two or three days, according to research by Newmark Knight Frank broker Ryan Harding and his colleagues. Los Angeles times

Alexandra Rousso, foreground, left, and Carly Kinnan, background, left, receptionists at Hudson Pacific Properties, a large Los Angeles office rental company, work behind security partitions to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Desperate for art and culture IRL? Here are six shows in Southern California to see in person. Los Angeles times

A poem to start your Friday: “Pan Dulce” by Jose Hernandez Diaz. Poetry Foundation

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CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: sunny, 96. San Diego: sunny, 84. San Francisco: partly sunny, 78. San Jose: partly sunny, 93. Fresno: sunny, 98. Sacramento: sunny, 100. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Hap Freund:

In 1978, Claudia, the woman I eventually married, I moved from a house in eight acres of woodland and pasture overlooking Puget Sound to Santa Monica while she was attending law school in Los Angeles. I started my job in Ventura and commuted on the Pacific Coast Highway for the first few weeks. Every morning I was excited to see little black figures in the water as I drove north; I came home every evening to tell Claudia about the seals I saw. Until I finally discovered, embarrassed, that they were surfers in wetsuits.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas, and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes.

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