California Reopening

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, May 12. Newsom previews changes If you’re looking for a sign that California is approaching the end of the pandemic, here it is: The state may soon ease workplace rules that require employees to wear face masks and physically distance from each other. Next week, California’s workplace safety agency is […]

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, May 5. Elections and bears, oh my If, like me, you didn’t have “California political candidate campaigns with 1,000-pound Kodiak bear” on your 2021 bingo card, you were not prepared for the excesses of a gubernatorial recall election. The effort to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom from office entered a new […]

How the tables have turned for California. The state’s seven-day coronavirus positivity rate fell to 1.2% on Tuesday, the lowest rate in the country. Just four months ago, California’s positivity rate was a staggering 17.1% and hospitalizations were surging to record levels, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a regional stay-at-home order. Contrast that with […]

California is incentivizing businesses to require customers show proof of vaccination, suggesting that the Golden State is moving toward a “vaccine passport” system despite health officials’ comments to the contrary. The state Department of Public Health last week unveiled little-noticed revisions that allow conferences, live events and performances, stadiums, family entertainment centers and other gatherings […]

El gobernador Gavin Newsom, que enfrenta una elección revocatoria, da un giro positivo a las últimas cifras de empleo, pero la realidad es más turbia.

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 16. Nearly halfway there California is at its pandemic best. No counties are left in the state’s most restrictive reopening tier. California has the lowest coronavirus positivity rate in the country. And 49% of eligible residents are at least partially vaccinated — a number sure to have crossed the […]

Just when Gov. Gavin Newsom sheds one political headache, another emerges. A controversial bill that would have banned fracking and other oil extraction methods and prevented gas wells from operating near homes, schools and health care facilities died in the state Legislature on Tuesday — freeing the governor from having to take a stance on […]

Welcome to open season. On Thursday, California will expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older — the same day the vast majority of counties will get the green light to resume indoor concerts, conferences, weddings and other gatherings under certain conditions. But the promising news comes amid some not-so-promising numbers: The Golden State’s vaccine […]

Unable to meet state COVID-19 infection criteria, Merced and Inyo counties still can’t reopen most businesses. The status threatens a big Memorial Day event in Bishop, so the town has asked the state to reconsider its rural county requirements.

California has no plans to administer a passport. But the state is sending mixed messages to businesses about the need to verify that people at large events are vaccinated.