Free Republic

California's top energy bosses soon will decide when to snuff out natural gas flames in new homes. The seismic move toward omitting some gas appliances comes as the California Energy Commission retools state building codes for energy-efficient homes. The agency now plans to tighten rules on natural gas for home heating and hot water, a code update that would take effect in 2023. Environmental groups want a complete ban on natural gas in new homes, but the state commission has signaled that isn't likely right now. The California Building Industry Association, a trade group whose members develop 85% of new...

San Francisco’s stay-at-home order, which was tentatively expected to lift as of January 7 2021, has been extended “indefinitely,” Mayor London Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax announced ThursdaySan Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management on December 31, the officials wrote that “due to ongoing regional ICU capacity limitations and continuing increase of cases, San Francisco does not expect the Bay Area will meet the State’s thresholds for lifting the order” by January 7.Even after the region’s ICU bed numbers allow the stay-at-home order to be lifted, the city might still be shut down, Breed and Colfax say. “Once...

two weeks after the first shots began going into the arms of California’s highest-priority health care workers, about 300,000 people have been inoculated with the first of two doses of the vaccine. That is about 13% of the 2.4 million people in the first group scheduled to be inoculated in California. Earlier this month, federal health officials said most states would be able to complete vaccinations for health care workers within a few weeks. “That we’ve already administered 300,000 doses is extraordinary,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a Facebook Live talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a $2-billion package of financial incentives to encourage a return to in-person classroom instruction for California elementary school students as early as mid-February... ...Newsom said there was growing evidence that young students faced “decreased risks” associated with the coronavirus and benefited more from in-person instruction compared to at-home learning. All school staff and students who return to school would be required to wear masks. ...administration officials planned to make the local implementation plans subject to collective bargaining agreements between labor unions... the Newsom administration will support COVID-19 testing of teachers, staff and students, the...

Los Angeles police responded after a mass of maskless demonstrators forced their way into an Erewhon Market in the Fairfax district Tuesday afternoon in protest of coronavirus restrictions. “We’re not here coughing everything, smearing everything,” Jason Traver said. “We just want to shop, we want to take our own precautions that we’ve been doing all of our lives, and we’ll be fine.” Officers stayed on scene to monitor the situation and ensure it didn’t escalate, but police said no arrests were made. After leaving Erewhon, some protesters walked to a nearby Trader Joe’s and claimed medical reasons for being maskless....

The second stimulus bill was signed into law over the weekend, offering cash for many Americans hit by the pandemic, extended unemployment benefits and a quarter-trillion dollar Paycheck Protection Program. For some businesses, it will be a lifeline to keep them afloat. For others, it is too little, too late. Primo’s Pizza in Danville invested a lot in outdoor dining and was a huge hit for a while…but now its outdoor venue is closed down. And because he had one good quarter, owner Drew Nichols isn’t sure he will even qualify for relief. “That feels miserable, because we did everything...

Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said gatherings, like those at Thanksgiving attributed to fueling the current surge in cases, would result in thousands more people in city hospitals and hundreds more deaths. “I cannot emphasize enough how catastrophic it will be if people celebrate in ways that we normally do for New Year’s Eve,” Colfax said at Tuesday’s briefing. “There is more virus out there than ever before. We simply can’t get away with things you may have been able to get away even with in prior surges..." Hospitalizations continue to remain at record highs, with almost 200 people...

In his Twitter thread, Jha first noted that Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in October that the US would be prepared to have 100 million doses of the vaccine ready to ship by December, and that Azar later reduced that number to 40 million. Jha pointed out that Operation Warp Speed, the White House effort centered around the vaccine, had further reduced the estimate, saying there would be 20 million doses ready by the end of this year. While the specifics of how vaccines are distributed is up to states, the Centers for Disease Control and...

Health experts are weighing in after a local nurse tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. In a Facebook message posted on December 18, Matthew W., an ER nurse at at two different local hospitals, talked about receiving the Pfizer vaccine that day. He told ABC 10News his arm was sore for a day but he suffered no other side effects. Six days later on Christmas Eve -- after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit -- Matthew, 45, became sick. He got the chills and later came down with muscle aches and fatigue....

The regional stay-at-home order has been extended indefinitely for two of California's regions, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Tuesday. Ghaly said four-week projections for both regions show demand exceeding ICU capacity, which means the stay-at-home order will remain in effect. The order will be lifted when "ICU projections are above or equal to 15%."

Irvine-based consulting firm Prov 3:9, LLC contributed $500,000 to one of the committees seeking to put a recall election before California voters. The effort also received roughly $100,000 from Sequoia Capital partner Douglas Leone and his wife Patricia Perkins-Leone, who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Donald Trump and allied Republican groups this last campaign cycle.The company's name could refer to Proverbs 3:9 in the Bible, which says to "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops."What’s next: Half a million dollars is a substantial sum but still not enough to collect all...

In the days after a man on their flight stopped breathing, fellow passengers wondered if he was infected with coronavirus – and whether they might be at risk. The airline said it didn’t know, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wouldn’t say publicly. An answer didn’t come until a local coroner released a report a week later confirming that covid-19 was a cause of the 69-year-old man’s death on Dec. 14, along with acute respiratory failure. By Wednesday, three different passengers said they still hadn’t gotten official word from any public health authorities. “I figured somehow they would...

Regional stay-at-home orders in effect in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley were slated to expire this week, but Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday the orders are all-but-certain be extended into the new year. Newsom stated that new four-week ICU projections for the two regions will be made available Tuesday, and a new earliest possible end date will be revealed at that time. A region must go under a stay-at-home order if ICU capacity falls below 15%. The other two regions under stay-at-home orders — the Bay Area and the Greater Sacramento region — are not slated to see...

Loughlin was released from the federal lockup in Dublin, California, where she had been serving her sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scheme, the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is serving his five-month sentence at a prison in Lompoc near Santa Barbara, California.

Get Sufficient Packing MaterialsIt is expedient to get enough packing materials and supplies when planning to move from San Francisco and other bay areas during a pandemic. Also, it is wise to try not to use just disposable plates and other plastic containers when moving to reduce the chances of getting it contaminated by the weather.Check the State’s Pandemic StatusEven with a moving permit, it is also wise to consider the nature of the environment you will be visiting, especially when you are moving by land.Book Movers on TimeA lot of people have been disappointed severally because of late booking.Why...

Stop listening to talk radio and watching TV. They push Fear Porn to keep your eyes on your phone, TV and Computer, as well, your radio or streaming all in their selfish and greedy desire to enrich themselves at the expense of America and their fellow human beings. Fear Porn of the phony PCR test creating "Cases" and we never hear the good news about "Recovery". Both are contrivances anyway. This is how they sell ads by keeping you "Tuned In". Every 15 minutes they profit from givernment PSA’s and they are hurting our country. They use local stations and...

The 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic had devastating economic implications in Mexico, just as COVID-19 is having on the global economy. In 2008, Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.14 percent. A year later—after the A(H1N1) crisis—its GDP growth fell to -5.28 percent. Moreover, the A(H1N1) outbreak coincided with the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, when Mexico lost a significant amount of exports to the United States. Former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón wrote in his memoirs that government officials feared that the A(H1N1) could have had the lethality of avian influenza: around 60 percent. By early April of that...

Shoppers amass in a popular street in Mexico City. (Reuters)MEXICO CITY – The abruptness of the Mexican Government's red alert announcement produced exactly the opposite reaction it was seeking.Millions of people dropped everything and rushed headlong to go shopping, with huge, close-proximity crowds everywhere.The Federal Health Ministry announced more than 12,000 Covid-19 cases on Friday, which is the second highest daily total since the pandemic first hit Mexico in February. Mexico City Hospitals are struggling with 85 percent occupancy, and the adjoining State of Mexico has 78 percent. Capacity for hospital beds is nearing maximum. As of Saturday, only supermarkets...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax are giving an update on the city's COVID-19 response and stay-at-home order. The press conference is scheduled to start at noon. Check back to watch live and read updates. Both Breed and Colfax have been pleading with San Francisco residents to stay home and avoid socializing over the holidays. People traveling into San Francisco from outside the Bay Area are also being told to quarantine for 10 days. San Francisco is also under a stay-at-home order through at least Jan. 4. It could be extended even further.

After closing two massive budget holes this year, San Francisco faces a new deficit of $653.2 million over the next two fiscal years as COVID-19 surges and a strict economic shutdown continues to ravage the city’s finances. To close the gap, Mayor London Breed plans to direct departments Wednesday to slash costs, which could include painful layoffs and service cuts that have so far been mostly avoided. The city’s budget office projects a $411.1 million hole in the next fiscal year, which begins in July, and a $242.1 million deficit in the year after that. City leaders were hoping for...