California
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, 8/28, overhauled California's economic reopening by slowing down the pace and allowing for different levels of industry operation as California's coronavirus situation steadily improves following a summer surge…
In March, Gov. Newsom promised an “army” of contact tracers to track down coronavirus patients and convince them to self-isolate and disclose recent activities with other people, a tried-and-true public health technique considered critical to controlling infection spread…
Gov. Newsom signed legislation Friday, 8/28, to ban flavored tobacco products in an attempt to prevent youth smoking, a proposal that has struggled for years to get through the Legislature because of heavy industry lobbying…
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA) will join Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) to discuss the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act on Wednesday, 2:00pm PT…
Coronavirus
The U.S. coronavirus case count topped six million on Monday, 8/31, even though infections are falling in nearly every state and the death count appears to have reached a plateau…
One of President Trump’s top medical advisers is urging the White House to embrace a controversial “herd immunity” strategy to combat the pandemic, which would entail allowing the coronavirus to spread through most of the population to quickly build resistance to the virus, while taking steps to protect those in nursing homes and other vulnerable populations, according to people familiar with the discussions…
At least 33 states, including California, continue to recommend testing people who have been exposed to COVID-19 and have no symptoms, spurning guidance published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week that said testing may be unnecessary…
President and Administration
The Trump administration is pushing back on demands for evidence sought by 14 states (California is not included) that sued over operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)…
An analysis of preparedness grants disbursed by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shows the agency spends far more on counter-terror than natural disasters…
Education
The U.S. Department of Education has released its final rule on distance learning, which it said would modernize regulations and will not go into effect until July 1, 2021…
The Agriculture Department is extending a handful of waivers to make free school meals more widely available through the end of the calendar year, giving in to intense pressure from lawmakers and school leaders…
ACT announced Tuesday, 8/25, that it was canceling the December 2020 and the February 2021 test administrations of the ACT, "due to new COVID-19 testing procedures and other changes necessary to navigate safe testing”…
The Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University released a new memorandum advising college administrators on how to encourage student voting during the pandemic - and after…
Congress
Senate Republicans are likely to include a provision to provide billions of dollars for child care providers in the GOP’s narrow coronavirus relief bill…
House Financial Services Committee plans to hold a hearing on the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve response to the coronavirus pandemic, the committee says in announcement…
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said U.S. House will take up legislation to decriminalize marijuana and expunge records of nonviolent federal cannabis convictions during the week of Sept. 21, according to a letter to colleagues…
Margaret Hunter, the wife of former U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter, was sentenced on Monday, 8/24, to eight months of home detention for her role in the couple’s misuse of campaign funds for personal expenses…
Presidential Election
Capital gains taxes are the price of making a good investment…
In an interview NBC’s Today Show on Friday, 8/28, Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris said that the officer in Jacob Blake’s shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin should be charged…