Monthly Archives: February 2021

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In this episode of The Daily Orange podcast, former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch discusses her year-long, 97-page review of The Department of Public Safety in a conversation with News Editor Michael Sessa.

Also in this episode, host Marnie Muoz and Assistant Digital Editor Chris Hippensteel look back on the #NotAgainSU occupation of Crouse-Hinds Hall one year later, Editorial Editor Cori Dill discusses D.O. Opinions Black Voices project and Assistant Culture Editor Chris Scarglato talks about how Syracuses Black Artist Collective has created a space for artists of color to share resources.

Our host is Marnie Muoz, Adam Garrity is our Executive Producer, Moriah Humiston is our Podcast Editor, Chris Hippensteel is our Assistant Digital Editor and Adam Wolff is our music producer.

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Published on February 23, 2021 at 2:29 am

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Pain and progress: Black History Month in Syracuse - The Daily Orange

Vaccination efforts in Stanislaus County are growing and COVID-19 cases are decreasing, giving some room to hope that the area will be able to move into a less restrictive tier by mid-March.

This is the first good news weve had in a while, said Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa after being briefed on the current COVID-19 status at Tuesdays meeting.

As of Monday, Stanislaus County expanded the vaccination efforts to Phase 1B, which is for people 50 years and older who work in education and childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture sectors.

For this week the County was allocated about 9,000 vaccines, up from the 5,800 from the previous week.

The County also is seeing COVID-19 cases drop recently. Since Feb. 8, Stanislaus County has seen cases dropping at a small but steady rate, according to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency data.

There is some encouraging data in the community, said County CEO Jody Hayes.

As of Tuesday, Stanislaus County has recorded 49,970 positive COVID-19 cases. Of those, 1,165 are presumed active. There have been 937 COVID-19 deaths in the county. Currently, 116 people are hospitalized with the virus, including 27 in intensive care units.

If the county continues to see cases drop, while also maintaining a certain level of testing, its possible by the start of March that the area would reach the requirements for moving out of the purple tier to the red tier, said Stanislaus County Public Health Officer Dr. Julie Vaishampayan. That would allow for several businesses to re-open or expand operations by mid-March.

On Monday Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state is partnering with OptumServe and local counties to open up to 11 vaccination sites within the next week to serve some of the hardest-hit or most at-risk communities in the Central Valley.

The efforts announced today will help us meet vulnerable and vital Central Valley communities where they are, helping our entire state combat this pandemic effectively, efficiently and equitably.

The state is also increasing vaccine allocations to the Central Valley by 58 percent above last week, based on recent changes in the states allocation methodology that better reflect this regions workforce. The states vaccine allocation formula began factoring in the employment sectors in Phase 1b, Tier 1 (education, emergency services and food and agriculture). The new formula weights age 65+ at 70 percent and employment sectors at 30 percent, which increases allocations to the Central Valley due to its heavy concentration of food and agricultural workers.

While the County is working on vaccinating as many residents as possible, it is still critical that all residents continue to follow the recommendations to wear a mask, avoid gatherings, wash hands often, stay 6 feet from others whenever in public places and get tested if exposed or experiencing symptoms. These steps, along with vaccines, are essential in ending the pandemic by stopping the spread of COVID 19 and protecting the community, according to health officials.

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County seeing progress in COVID-19 fight - The Turlock Journal

While the pandemic-induced downturn has eased stratospheric rents in San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area, it has only exacerbated the underlying cause of unaffordable housing: a chronic shortage of homes and apartments. State statistics show 2020 marked yet another horrible year for housing construction in California, suggesting any immediate relief from the crisis will be fleeting at best.

The continuing slump comes at a time of dramatically diminished attempts to address the shortage in the Legislature, which has struggled since 2017 to pass bills to boost the housing supply. Perhaps the best hope for turning around the states historical hostility to housing can be found in the most unlikely of places: the cities that have been hotbeds of housing obstruction.

Since Gov. Gavin Newsom took office aiming to boost housing production to 500,000 units a year, construction has headed in the opposite direction. Just over 100,000 new housing units were authorized in 2020, according to a state Department of Finance report released last week, a drop of nearly 9% from 2019, which saw a decline of nearly 4% from the year before.

Worse, last years decrease was driven by a precipitous 18.5% fall in new multifamily housing, the kind that is most likely to make a dent in the shortage and provide affordable housing near transit and jobs. Single-family housing, meanwhile, grew slightly even as prices put it further out of reach for most. While the number of Californians working shrank by 1.5 million during the year, the median single-family home price grew by more than 11% to nearly $660,000.

While the trend is remarkably contrary to Newsoms goals, its not surprising given a series of implosions of housing legislation in Sacramento. Last years legislating began with the Senate killing a sweeping housing production bill by Sen. Scott Wiener, SB50, which would have ended single-family zoning statewide and allowed multifamily development near transit and job centers in the most populous counties. The session ended with a moderated housing package mired in squabbling between the Senate and Assembly.

Last week, reflecting the shift toward more incremental measures, Wiener introduced a bill to limit local governments power to cap square footage in multifamily zones, a means of limiting apartment construction. Wiener, D-San Francisco, also has reintroduced a bill that would allow cities to streamline zoning for small multifamily developments, while state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, has revived a proposal to allow up to two duplexes on most lots zoned for single-family homes.

As the Legislature scales back its efforts to overcome local barriers to housing, a few cities are showing signs of acknowledging the need at long last. The Berkeley City Council, for example, was expected to consider a resolution by Vice Mayor Lori Droste on Tuesday night declaring its intent to eliminate single-family zoning by the end of next year. Its evidence of a surprising and heartening pro-housing shift for a city that, according to the resolution, invented single-family zoning a century ago to keep certain neighborhoods white, wealthy and free of what a former city attorney called the less desirable ... floating renter class.

Sacramento, beset by Bay Area refugees, is considering a similar proposal. In San Francisco, meanwhile, Supervisor Rafael Mandelmans more modest proposal to roll back single-family zoning earned immediate blowback from his colleagues. Berkeley may open its borders to the less desirable, but dont count on San Francisco to join the enlightenment.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.

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Editorial: Californias housing crisis darkens amid glimmers of progress in the Bay Area - San Francisco Chronicle

People wanting to volunteer can send emails to kaschwable@gmail.com. When people send emails telling what their interests are, we can work together and figure out what they want to do and how we can plug them in, she said.

Kathy Schwable makes sure fire doesn't spread as they do a controlled burn at Riverside Natural Area Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 - a year ago Saturday (notice what the weather looked like then) on Conservation Way in Hamilton. The Hamilton Conservation Corps performed the controlled burns at the Riverside Natural Area to eradicate invasive plant species from the prairie. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Other progress was made in recent months. A scouting Eagle project rebuilt the Floodplain Forest Trail there. And Girl Scouts put in a pollinator bed near the bike trail in the area near the citys wastewater treatment plant.

The internal structure of a greenhouse was built in Joyce Park at the Hamilton Ecological Education and Nature Center, the building that had been used by the Joe Nuxhall driving range. Volunteers in coming months will be sought for help with that.

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Park volunteers made progress in Hamilton during tough year, more opportunities to help available - Hamilton Journal News

Iran announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with South Korea on ways to unlock Iranian assets currently held in South Korean banks. Some $7 billion in Iranian oil revenues are being held by South Korea in accordance with sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United States.

Confirming the report, the South Korean foreign ministry said, Our government has been in talks with Iran about ways to use the frozen assets, and the Iran side has expressed its consent to the proposals we have made, reported South Koreas Yonhap News Agency.

The actual unfreezing of the assets will be carried out through consultations with related countries, including the United States, added the ministry.

In early January, Iran seized a South Korean tanker and its crew in the Persian Gulf. Irans offer to release the crew, minus the captain, coincided with South Koreas confirmation that it has been in talks and made progress with the United States regarding ways the assets can be released, according to Yonhap.

In other news, Iran agreed on Sunday to continue to allow limited access to its nuclear sites for the next three months to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has been threatening to cut off all IAEA inspections as per a law passed by the Iranian parliament in November stating that if the other parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement do not fulfill their obligations by Feb. 21, IAEA inspections, among other parts of the agreement, will be canceled.

After the Trump administration pulled out of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, the United States began reimposing sanctions on Iran and even adding harsher new ones, which the Islamic Republic considered a violation of the agreement.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, who was in Tehran to negotiate the continued inspections, said the two sides had reached a temporary, technical understanding for the three-month interim period that would allow the necessary degree of monitoring and verification of Irans nuclear sites.

The compromise by Iran gives Tehran time to work out an agreement with the Biden administration, which has indicated that it would like to rejoin the nuclear agreement. Biden has said Iran must first return to full compliance before the United States will re-enter the deal, while Iran says that America must lift all sanctions before Tehran will comply.

Complicating matters for the United States is the discovery by IAEA inspectors of unexplained uranium particles at two sites that were recently inspected. The inspectors had been denied access to the sites for months, reported Reuters.

On Feb. 18, three days before the Iranian laws cut-off date of Feb. 21 which coincided with Grossis arrival in Tehran, France, Britain, Germany and the United States issued a joint statement saying they were united in underlining the dangerous nature of a decision to limit IAEA access.

The post South Korea, Iran progress in talks to release $7 billion in Iranian assets appeared first on JNS.org.

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South Korea, Iran progress in talks to release $7 billion in Iranian assets - Cleveland Jewish News

FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- One tenet of the Fairview City Schools vision is to learn differently. That aligns perfectly with the districts parent-based group Advocates for Preparedness and Progress (APP) motto of Learn how to Learn.

Were just a group of parents and citizens who really support that voice to increase awareness on education, said APP co-founder Jill Archambeau, who has two children in the Fairview Park City Schools.

We just want to support 21st century learning, she said.

Its not about regurgitating or memorizing. Twenty-first century learning is about creating the skills how to learn and creating the analytical outline of how to solve the problems. We really want kids to be engaged in their own learning, not because they have to take a test to get a grade but because theyre going to use that information later in life to be successful and to have a rewarding career.

The group promotes 21st century education curriculum within the district through community involvement. This includes its spring virtual project-based-learning initiative Be the Change, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday (March 2).

Were going to launch this project, and then well do monthly Zoom meetings to touch base, to inspire ideas, to provide direction and feedback and really encourage everybody who wants to participate, Archambeau said.

The Be the Change community project combines real-life problem-solving and project-based learning.

We want to demonstrate stewardship and for everybody to really take action, Archambeau said.

Fairview High School intervention specialist and APP member Lori Oxley, who has a child at the Early Education Center, hopes community members create something meaningful to them.

We want them to document or monitor their projects with photos that can be included at the end at our innovative showcase presented to the community, Oxley said. We also want them to work in learning pods.

We invite them to couple with their family or a community member or friend they social distance with and create something thats special. We also feel that this project will help empower these individuals to see how change can start small and also grow into something bigger.

Created in 2019, APP early on scheduled quarterly meetings, sponsored educational documentary movie nights and held College Now presentations.

Archambeau said the hope is the group can return to its original goal as the world slowly returns to normal. APP membership is at roughly 30 community members, but the hope is to grow interest.

Wed love to see this group grow into other local districts as well, Oxley said.

Superintendent Bill Wagner said APP has been very helpful over the past few years, not only sharing information with other parents about 21st century learning but also explaining why education looks so different compared to when they went to school.

Its truly a group that is for parents, by parents, Wagner said. They pull together information and resources and help other parents navigate and understand the rapidly changing educational landscape that exists today.

If parents are looking for how to best support their children in this highly digital and information-rich age, the APP group can help.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald.

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Fairview Parks Advocates for Preparedness and Progress group launches community-based Be the Change initia - cleveland.com

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49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa had his 2020 cut well short when he tore his ACL in Week 2 against the Jets.

He was coming off a defensive rookie of the year season, recording 9.0 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and 25 quarterback hits in the regular season. Then he had 4.0 sacks and three tackles for loss in San Franciscos three postseason games, as the club lost to Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV.

Bosa is expected to be ready for the regular season, and apparently anticipates displaying significant improvement.

Youll see my progress on the field next year. Tell them Im gonna be better, Bosa said on Monday, via Josina Anderson.

Bosa has a history of recovering from a serious knee injury to perform well. He also tore an ACL in high school, before starring on the defensive line at Ohio State.

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Nick Bosa: Youll see my progress on the field next year - NBC Sports

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Finian the cat has made leaps and bounds in progress since nearly freezing to death.

A woman brought him to Crashs Landing, a local animal rescue, nine days ago after finding him in Cedar Springs.

RELATED: Cat nearly freezes to death, Grand Rapids clinic monitoring health

Back then, he weighed about four-and-a-half pounds.

Now, Finian is 6.88 pounds and eating his weight in canned food every day, his vet says.

Finian the frozen cat update

Crash's Landing

Crash's Landing

The vet will move to the next step in his treatment on Thursday, which involves anesthesia, flushing Finians ear canals to treat his middle ear infection and extracting his rotten teeth.

Finian also has an exposed bone on his amputated tail, but that doesnt seem to be bothering him too much and may not need to be addressed.

Crashs Landing has received more than $2,000 in donations since Fox 17 told Finians story last week.

Hes also been receiving lots of donated blankets and sweaters.

Crash's Landing

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Finian the cat makes 'leaps and bounds' in progress after nearly freezing to death - Fox17

PORTAGE, Mich. (AP) President Joe Biden toured a state-of-the art coronavirus vaccine plant Friday, intent on showcasing progress even as extreme winter weather across the U.S. handed his vaccination campaign its first major setback, delaying shipment of about 6 million doses and causing temporary closures of inoculation sites in many communities.

While acknowledging the weather is slowing up the distribution, Biden said at the Pfizer plant in Michigan that he believes well be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. His speech melded a recitation of his administrations accomplishments in its first month confronting the pandemic, a vigorous pitch for his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill and criticism of his predecessor.

The disruptions caused by frigid temperatures, snow and ice have left the White House and states scrambling to make up lost ground as three days worth of vaccine shipments were temporarily delayed. Even the presidents trip to see Pfizers largest plant was pushed back a day due to a storm affecting the nations capital.

Before the trip, White House coronavirus response adviser Andy Slavitt said the federal government, states and local vaccinators are going to have to redouble efforts to catch up after the interruptions. The setback comes just as the vaccination campaign seemed to be on the verge of hitting its stride. All the backlogged doses should be delivered in the next several days, Slavitt said, still confident that the pace of vaccinations will recover.

Biden has set a goal of administering 100 million shots in his administrations first 100 days, and he said Friday thats still on track and its only a beginning.

He went on to say that by the end of July his administration can deliver 600 million doses for Americans. Still, Biden cautioned that timetable could change, citing the current weather delays and concerns about new strains of the virus as well as the possibility that production rates could fluctuate.

I believe well be approaching normalcy by the end of this year, he said. God willing, this Christmas will be different than last, but I cant make that commitment to you.

Taking a swipe at former President Donald Trump, whom he did not cite by name, Biden allowed that the previous administration shepherded the approval of two highly effective vaccines. But its one thing to have a vaccine available, the problem was how to get to peoples arms.

The Pfizer plant Biden toured, near Kalamazoo, produces one of the two federally approved COVID-19 shots. Weather-related delays have affected distribution of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Introducing Biden before the speech, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called his administration a great ally and cited a range of actions that have helped the company as it looked for ways to increase production. In a press release, the company said it has been shipping 5 million doses a week in the U.S. on average, and expects to more than double that by the end of March.

Biden walked through an area of the plant called the freezer farm, which houses some 350 ultra-cold freezers, each capable of storing 360,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. Double-masked, the president stopped to talk with some of the workers.

The scene was a sharp contrast to the vibe across much of the country, where progress was on hold. Bad weather forced many injection sites to temporarily close, from Texas to New England, and held up shipments of needed doses.

In Memphis, a city where some of the doses were stranded, the storm stymied 77-year-old Bill Bayne in his pursuit of his second dose. He got his first shot Jan. 29 and was told hed hear back about the second sometime this week. With local vaccination sites shut down, no notification came.

Bayne said the eight inches of snow outside his home is the most hes seen in 50 years of living there.

I want that shot bad enough, Bayne said. I wouldve gotten there some way.

White House adviser Slavitt said the 6 million doses delayed wont spoil and the vaccine is safe and sound under refrigeration.

But as shipments resume and scale up, vaccinators in communities across the country are going to have to work overtime to get shots into arms. We as an entire nation will have to pull together to get back on track, Slavitt told reporters at the White House coronavirus briefing.

Slavitt said about 1.4 million doses were being shipped Friday as the work of clearing the backlog begins.

A confluence of factors combined to throw off the vaccination effort. First, shippers like FedEx, UPS and pharmaceutical distributor McKesson all faced challenges with snowed-in workers. Then, said Slavitt, road closures in many states kept trucks from delivering their assigned doses of vaccine. And finally, more than 2,000 vaccination sites were in areas with power outages.

Still, the government is going ahead with plans to open five new mass vaccination centers, one in Philadelphia, and four others in the Florida cities of Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.

The U.S. had administered an average of 1.7 million doses per day in the week that ended on Tuesday, evidence that the pace of the vaccination program was picking up. Now, the question is how long it will take to recover from the impact of the weather-related delays.

The delays were so severe that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker suggested he would explore sending his states national guard to collect doses from icebound shipping hubs in Memphis, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky.

The Virginia Department of Health reported that it was expecting delays on about 90% of its expected 120,000 doses this week and warned that delays could cascade into next week.

In North Carolina, none of the more than 163,000 first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine scheduled to arrive this week have been delivered, the state health department said. Only a limited number of the nearly 127,000 expected Pfizer vaccines have been shipped.

Oklahoma moved to reschedule vaccine clinics to this weekend, when it expects its 110,000 doses to be delivered, aiming to make up appointments from this week.

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APs Suman Naishadham in Phoenix contributed to the report.

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Biden defends progress on COVID as weather delays 6M shots - The Associated Press