covid-19

WhatMatters

How bad are things? We’ll know more today

Newsom set to unveil revised budget. Feds deny approval for N95 masks from Chinese firm. How much state unemployment fund lost from Uber, Lyft.

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 14, 2020

Elon Musk gives a presentation on fully-autonomous vehicles on April 22, 2019. Photo by Steve Jurvetson via Flickr

WhatMatters

Why CA will likely let Elon Musk off scot-free

Tesla's Musk likely to get away with flouting shutdown order. Are the right people getting coronavirus tests? Seven counties get OK to reopen dine-in restaurants.

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 13, 2020

CalMatters is tracking lawsuits against California's shelter-in-place order and other pandemic responses. Photography by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters; elements via iStock

Coronavirus

Outraged parishoners, irked gun stores, an angry bride: Courts flooded with anti-Newsom shutdown suits

Though the state is taking flak from an array of aggrieved Californians — gondoliers, conservative politicians, barbers and manicurists are among the plaintiffs — there is a common denominator for most of these lawsuits: Her name is Harmeet Dhillon.

By

Ben Christopher

• May 11, 2020

WhatMatters

Lawmakers want answers on Newsom’s mask deals

Lawmakers want answers on CA mask deals gone awry. California becomes first state to choose all-mail voting for November. How big is state's budget hole?

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 11, 2020

A sign hangs from the door at Cholita Linda, an Oakland counter-service restaurant, informing customers to go next door for take out following an order for Alameda and surrounding counties to shelter in place until April 7 in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus

WhatMatters

With $54.3 billion deficit, cuts ahead

Huge budget deficit, unemployment numbers expected as California takes tentative steps toward trying to reopen its economy.

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 8, 2020

California's cities such as Carpinteria are only beginning to absorb the devastating blows of this pandemic — and strategizing about how to survive the COVID recession. Above Carpinteria. Image via iStock.

Economy

“Everything happened all at once”: Can California cities weather the COVID recession?

For local governments still sporting the budgetary scars of the last “once in a generation” recession, this downturn is at once familiar — forcing elected leaders to cut, furlough and delay — and entirely new. Never before in state history has so much economic activity ground to a halt so quickly.

By

Ben Christopher

• May 8, 2020

Coronavirus

Newsom welcomes ‘new partners’ in coronavirus supply deals: federal investigators

As feds probe, Newsom labeled big coronavirus supply deals gone awry "cautionary tales" and said they were averted in time to avoid costing taxpayers.

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• May 6, 2020

Ground crew at the Los Angeles International airport unload pallets of medical personal protective equipment from a China Southern Cargo plane upon its arrival on April 10, 2020. California has scrambled to cut deals for millions of masks and other gear. AP Photo by Richard Vogel

Coronavirus

Exclusive: California wires mask dealer half a billion dollars, then claws it back

The state's massive deal with novice medical supplier Blue Flame mysteriously falls apart, with Maryland now calling for an investigation into the company's conduct.

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• May 5, 2020

A hopeful message is seen on the marquee of the The Chabot theatre on Castro Valley Boulevard day nine of the coronavirus stay-at-home order in Castro Valley, Calif., on March 26, 2020. Photo by Jane Tyska, Bay Area News Group

WhatMatters

CA to begin reopening on Friday

California set to start partial reopening Friday. Colleges use lessons from past disasters to confront coronavirus. COVID-19 hits Pacific Islanders hard.

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 5, 2020

Endocrinologist Dr. Ray Samoa at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte on April 25, 2020. Samoa, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, just recently returned to his family home after being in an extended quarantine. Photo by Nancy Pastor for CalMatters

California Divide

Track us better: Overlooked Pacific Islanders hit hard by coronavirus

For two weeks in March, Dr. Raynald Samoa fought to move air through his lungs. After recovering from COVID-19, the Los Angeles-based diabetes specialist posted videos on Facebook urging others to stay home. His posts resonated with California’s small but tight-knit Pacific Islander community as questions and stories flooded his inbox. One family described the […]

By

Jackie Botts

• May 5, 2020

Covid-19