Los Angeles Times: Trump's Town Hall Turns Contentious; Biden Focuses On Policy 
As President Trump angrily refused to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory or accept responsibility for the surge of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., Joe Biden laid out his policy plans in a more muted style on a separate stage. Their dueling town halls on rival networks Thursday night marked yet another first in this tumultuous race repeatedly disrupted by the pandemic. The events, much like their face-to-face debate 16 days ago, underscored how starkly the candidates contrast in style and substance. (Halper, Stokols, Mason and Mejia, 10/15)

Politico: Schwarzenegger: California Republicans 'Off The Rails' With 'Fake' Ballot Boxes
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday night that the state Republican Party is "off the rails" and doing a "stupid thing" by placing unauthorized ballot boxes in counties with battleground congressional districts. Schwarzenegger, the state's last Republican governor, was asked during a CNN interview to respond to the California Republican Party placing unauthorized ballot boxes in at least three counties. Republicans have defended the move as no different than Democrats going door-to-door to collect ballots from sympathetic voters, but state officials have ordered the party to remove the boxes because, they said, only counties are allowed to establish them. (10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Dianne Feinstein Faces Calls To Step Aside After Amy Coney Barrett Hearing 
Going into Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, progressives made clear they wanted to see fire from Senate Democrats. Instead, led by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrats largely gave them pleasantries. Some on the left called the hearings evidence that Feinstein should step down as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. But others say the approach was exactly what the party needed in the middle of an election in which control of both the White House and Senate is at stake. (Kopan, 10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Charts Show Latest Surge Could Push Texas Past California For Most Coronavirus Cases 
As the country’s most populous state, California, unsurprisingly, has the country’s most coronavirus cases. But the second-largest state — Texas — is closing in on the No. 1 spot. Cases have started to surge again in certain parts of the Lone Star State, while California’s cases have declined since the summer surge and continue to stay relatively low. So is there a good chance that Texas will surpass California in total coronavirus cases? (Hwang and Massa, 10/15)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Major Declines In San Francisco Fuel Bay Area’s Recent Progress 
The Bay Area hit two milestones in its battle with COVID-19 on Wednesday. The region’s 10 counties, including Santa Cruz, reported their fewest cases in a single day since late-June, while there were fewer deaths reported in the past week than any other seven-day period since mid-July, according to data compiled by this news organization. (Webeck, 10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF-Led Researchers Dig Deep Into Coronavirus Structure, Identify Drugs That Could Diminish COVID Effects 
A scientific collaborative led by UCSF has found several drugs that could help crush the coronavirus after the researchers isolated more than two dozen infectious agents, including molecules that manipulate human cellular machinery. Researchers with UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute identified 29 proteins produced by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and its coronavirus cousins SARS and MERS. The QBI group, involving nearly 200 researchers around the globe, are in the process of identifying drugs to neutralize those proteins, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. (Fimrite, 10/15)

Los Angeles Times: El Segundo Firm To Begin Phase 1 Clinical Trial For COVID Vaccine 
ImmunityBio, an El Segundo biotech company headed by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, said Thursday it had received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin preliminary testing of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Hoag Hospital Newport Beach will start recruiting 35 adult volunteers this month for the Phase 1 trial, which is designed to monitor the safety and possible side effects of the vaccine. Dosages will vary per candidate and be administered in two shots three weeks apart, the company said in a news release. (Curwen, 10/15)

Bay Area News Group: VTA Bus Driver Dies From COVID-19
A Valley Transportation Authority bus driver died Sunday after a lengthy battle with COVID-19, the first death among the transit agency’s employees from the virus. Audrey Lopez, 53, was a San Jose resident who had been a VTA operator for more than 13 years, said John Courtney, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, which represents the agency’s drivers. (Savidge, 10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gilroy Nursing Home Reports 12 Coronavirus Deaths, 75 Infections 
Twelve residents at a Gilroy nursing home have died from COVID-19, and 75 have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials at the home said Thursday. When the infections and deaths occurred at the Gilroy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is unclear. The state only reports the cumulative number of cases since the start of the pandemic and does not specify when those cases happened. (Ho and Sanchez, 10/15)

LA Daily News: LA County Health Officer Blasts ‘Herd Immunity’ Coronavirus Proposal As Immoral, Unethical 
Los Angeles County’s top health officer on Thursday, Oct. 15, added his voice to those condemning a recently released proposal that essentially calls for a resumption of normal activities for all but those at highest risk of contracting COVID-19, in theory promoting “herd immunity” to the virus. “There’s been a lot of discussion among our public heath and health sciences communities and they have unambiguously rejected this declaration, and this approach would unnecessarily sacrifice many lives,” county Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said of the so-called Great Barrington Declaration. “There’s no evidence that we in the United States are close to herd immunity, as 85 to 90% of the population is still at risk for becoming infected with COVID-19.” (10/15)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: New Sonoma County COVID-19 Plan To Focus On Reducing Cases Among Disadvantaged To Reopen Economy
Initiatives being developed by Sonoma County officials to revive the local economy and restore public life specifically target the needs of disadvantaged communities as a means of reducing COVID-19 transmission, Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said Wednesday. (Callahan, 10/15)

Fresno Bee: Shut Down For Months, These Prominent Fresno Restaurants Have Finally Reopened
Most restaurants have limped through coronavirus restrictions by selling takeout food and doing patio dining. But some have been closed down completely for months.Sometimes it’s because entrees like steaks and seafood don’t make the best takeout. They keep cooking inside their to-go containers, meaning you get a different quality meal than if you were served it in the restaurant. (Clough, 10/16)

Los Angeles Times: Teacher Unions Push Back Against School Reopenings 
As parents express widespread dissatisfaction with distance learning, two influential California teachers unions are pushing against growing momentum to reopen schools in many communities, saying that campuses are not yet safe enough amid the pandemic. Leaders with the California Teachers Assn., with 300,000 members, and United Teachers Los Angeles, representing 30,000 in the state’s largest school district, said that districts do not have the resources to provide the level of protection they say is needed to bring teachers and children together in classrooms. (Blume and Newberry, 10/16)

EdSource: Schools Shouldn’t Reopen Without Adequate Safeguards, California Voters Say
Most California voters want schools to require safeguards like face masks, proper ventilation and social distancing in classrooms, and Covid-19 testing and tracing before schools return for in-person instruction, according to poll released Thursday by the California Teachers Association. Sixty percent of those polled said these safeguards and access to a nurse, daily health screenings, smaller class sizes and continued distance learning for students and teachers with medical conditions are all essential to reopening schools. The poll found that 85% of California voters surveyed expect school districts to make “major changes” to prevent the spread of the virus. (Lambert, 10/16)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Elementary Schools Cleared To Reopen Regardless Of County's COVID-19 Status
The Fresno Unified School District was granted a waiver Wednesday afternoon to reopen elementary schools, officials announced. The waiver allows transitional kindergarten through sixth-grade students to return to in-person instruction with strict coronavirus-safety precautions even if positive cases start to spike in Fresno County. However, all schools were cleared to reopen Tuesday because Fresno County remained in the red Tier 2 for 14 days under California’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy. (Velez, 10/15)

The Bakersfield Californian: Taft College Gets $2.1 Million To Help Students With Disabilities Transition To Living Independently 
Taft College has been awarded $2.1 million for its program that helps students with intellectual disabilities transition to independent living. Transition to Independent Living director Aaron Markovits said in a statement that these funds will help the college support students in taking regular college classes that will prepare them for better jobs when they graduate. (Gallegos, 10/15)

Bay Area News Group: Judge Calls Federal Government ‘Dishonest,’ Orders Prisoner Reduction At Private California ICE Detention Center 
A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday, saying he was “concerned with a lack of candor and honesty,” ordered the federal government to reduce its prisoner population at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center by more than 38 percent beginning Monday. Judge Terry J. Hatter ordered ICE to release 50 prisoners a day beginning Monday until the private prison’s population whittles down from 772 to 475. “The Court has been concerned for some time with the lack of candor exhibited by the Government and its counsel in this case. Now, the Court is concerned with straight up dishonesty on the part of the Government’s counsel,” Hatter wrote in his 15-page order. (Nelson, 10/16)

Los Angeles Times: Officials Fear Halloween Could Become COVID-19 Super-Spreader
With coronavirus infections again rising in Los Angeles County, officials are increasingly alarmed at the prospect of Halloween being another event where the virus could be spread. State and local officials have urged residents to avoid trick-or-treating and traditional Halloween parties. Here is what we know. (Campa and Shalby, 10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Parklets A Lifeline For Restaurants, But Raise Concerns For Disability Advocates 
Anyone strolling up Grant Avenue on a recent weeknight might have been tempted to ask, “What pandemic?” The narrow North Beach street was packed with revelers dining and drinking in curbside parklets — outdoor dining structures that have become an enduring feature of San Francisco streets in the time of the coronavirus. Some of the parklets were extravagant, others more austere. But taken together, they seemed to give off that ineffable quality that’s been in vanishingly short supply lately: buzz. (Mishanec, 10/16)

The Bakersfield Californian: Walk To End Alzheimer’s Scheduled For Saturday 
The Bakersfield Walk to End Alzheimer’s is scheduled to take place Saturday, albeit with a slightly different look. The annual event, which typically attracts hundreds each year to raise awareness and funds to fight Alzheimer’s disease, is encouraging participants to walk as individuals or in small groups on sidewalks, tracks and trails throughout Bakersfield. (10/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Weighs Banning Homeless Camps Near Homes, Businesses, Schools 
As Oakland grapples with the worst homeless crisis in its history, elected officials could restrict the unsheltered from sleeping in parks, and near homes, businesses and schools. The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on the new policy, which will designate where people can set up encampments. The city would provide garbage service and sanitation and require makeshift structures to comply with fire and building codes. (Ravani, 10/16)

Los Angeles Times: Barrett Vote On Obamacare Isn't The Most Important Issue 
Judge Amy Barrett, President Trump’s third nominee to the Supreme Court, could sit on the court for decades, participating in decisions about the meaning of the Constitution that Congress would find it difficult or impossible to undo. But as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings on Barrett’s nomination, Democrats have focused a lot of attention on how Barrett might vote in a single case involving a statute that a Democratic-controlled Congress could reenact and rewrite. (Michael McGough, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Sky Isn't Falling On The ACA, At Least Not Yet 
You may be shocked, shocked, to learn that both parties have been playing politics in the context of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. The Republicans have tried to offer feeble rationales for why their rushing the confirmation through can be squared with hanging Merrick Garland out to dry in 2016 for some 400 days. It can’t — the move is unprincipled, bare-knuckled politics. (Harry Litman, 10/15)

LA Daily News: The California GOP Shoots Itself In The Foot With Unofficial Ballot Boxes 
AB1921 legalized the practice now known as “ballot harvesting.” The law allowed voters to give their ballot to anyone to be delivered to county election offices, and it allowed campaigns and other groups and organizations to send volunteers or paid employees to pick up ballots from willing voters. (10/14)

Fresno Bee: Prop. 23 Threatens Treatments That Keep Kidney Dialysis Patients Alive
Dialysis is one area of health care that is working well. But now a state proposition threatens to upset that network. Proposition 23 would require clinics to have at least one licensed doctor on site during treatment. While that seems reasonable, the requirement would increase health care costs by $320 million, according to an estimate by the Berkeley Research Group. That, in turn, could pressure the private companies that operate the clinics to cut back on facilities to save money, thus limiting where dialysis patients can go. (10/12)

Los Angeles Times: Want To Reopen California? Keep Coronavirus Out Of Poor Areas 
In Monterey County, 26% of the county’s COVID-19 cases are in East Salinas, a largely Latino community of farmworkers, service employees and others living in crowded conditions as they work on the pandemic front lines. It’s a very different story in the county’s wealthy seaside communities, including Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove. Combined, these locales have a population that slightly exceeds that of East Salinas — but they have only about 2% of the county’s coronavirus cases. (Angela Glover Blackwell and Manuel Pastor, 10/14)

Los Angeles Times: How Do You Celebrate Grandma's Birthday With COVID-19 Rules? 
There was no question that my dad’s side of the family would celebrate the 98th birthday of our matriarch, Angelita Arellano, which happened on Oct. 1.OK, there was one: how? We’re a tamborazo-loving, food-crazy, hug-addicted clan where a family party of some sorts — wedding, baptism, quinceañera, or carne asada just for the hell of it — seems to happen every weekend. (Gustavo Arellano, 10/14)

Stat: New California Law Is A National Model For Mental Health Care Reform
As our nation continues to confront the ramifications of a global pandemic, the stigma around mental health and addiction seems to be dissipating. People are talking, opening up to friends and family, and finally realizing it’s OK to not be OK. This type of awareness is a major step forward for a nation that saw nearly 72,000 overdose deaths in 2019 and more than 48,000 deaths from suicide in 2018. (Darrell Steinberg and Patrick Kennedy, 10/14)