California Judge Might Be Top Contender For US Supreme Court: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s plans to retire set off immediate speculation about who would take his seat on the bench. Near the top of the list is a Californian named Leondra Kruger. In 2014, former Gov. Jerry Brown tapped Kruger, then 38, for the state Supreme Court, where she still sits today. While becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court would be the biggest barrier-busting move of her career, she is no stranger to blazing trails. Read more from the Bay Area News Group and The Sacramento Bee. Scroll down for more Supreme Court coverage.
Sewage Shows Omicron Surge Might Not Be Over In Bay Area: While multiple indicators suggest covid cases are falling across the Bay Area, wastewater data at three plants – West County, Delta Diablo and West Railroad – suggest that some areas in the region may have yet to peak. Read more from SF Gate and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
Biden Will Get A Supreme Court Pick. Kamala Harris And California’s Senators Will Be Pivotal In The Confirmation Battle
Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement sets up the Biden administration’s first Supreme Court confirmation battle — and between the state’s senators and Vice President Kamala Harris, Californians will be an integral part of it. (Kopan, 1/26)
The Washington Post:
What Does Breyer’s Retirement Mean For Roe V. Wade?
This summer, the Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on an abortion case in Mississippi that could reshape abortion laws in America. That means Breyer — a reliably liberal vote — will be a part of that decision. But the court is also just beginning the process of thinking about what it will hear next term. And it just announced it’s going to hear a case asking whether universities can use affirmative action to accept new students — another long-held target of conservatives. That case will probably be heard by a Supreme Court with Breyer’s successor. Affirmative action tends to benefit Black and Hispanic applicants, and Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the court — an unusually frank promise by a president. The court is also expected to hear in its next term a major case on climate change. (Phillips, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Federal Judge: Justice Breyer’s Reputation As A Pragmatist Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story
A San Francisco federal judge who was a law clerk for Stephen Breyer 20 years ago says the retiring Supreme Court justice has tried to make the law work for everyone and has been unfairly disparaged as a compromiser. “Many call Justice Breyer a pragmatist, and on one level that’s true: He’s always focused on making sure the law achieves practical results,” U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria told The Chronicle. “He wants the law to work for ordinary people and believes it should not create obstacles for the public officials who are trying in good faith to tackle our society’s problems. (Egelko, 1/26)
Vox:
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Retires: His Legacy After 27 Years, Explained
A former administrative law professor, Breyer often tempered his liberalism with the kind of technocratic cost-benefit analysis that is common within that field. He was the Court’s staunchest defender of the right of legislative majorities to legislate, believing that judges should be very reluctant to strike down laws under debatable readings of the Constitution — though this broad trust of legislatures did not stop him from rejecting laws that sought to infringe on abortion rights, or from becoming the Court’s most outspoken opponent of the death penalty. Breyer was also a skilled dealmaker, a talent honed during his extraordinarily successful tenure as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1979 to 1980. (Milhiser, 1/26)
Politico:
Biden's Supreme Court Shortlist
There are comparatively few Black women in the highest reaches of the federal judiciary, though Biden has been active in bolstering those numbers as part of a broader emphasis on diversifying the courts, both in terms of demographics and professional background. (Niedzwiadek, 1/26)
The Atlantic:
Biden's Likeliest Replacement For Justice Breyer: Ketanji Brown Jackson
Dozens of candidates are being talked about, but nearly all of the Court watchers I interviewed for this story have their money on one in particular: Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson, who is 51, fulfills a lot of requirements for the establishment set. She has the same Ivy League credentials as the sitting justices, having earned both her undergraduate and her law degree from Harvard and edited for the Harvard Law Review. She clerked for three federal judges—including Breyer, from 1999 to 2000. If nominated and confirmed, Jackson will follow the same track as Brett Kavanaugh, who also clerked for the justice he ultimately replaced. Also like Kavanaugh—and seven other current and former justices—Jackson would be coming directly from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second-most important court in the country after the Supreme Court. (Godfrey, 1/26)
NBC News:
Here's Why Joe Biden Should Be Able To Win A Supreme Court Fight
President Joe Biden knows better than anyone that there's no such thing as a sure thing when the Senate considers a Supreme Court pick. That should give him an edge now. As a senator, he helped take down Robert Bork's nomination in 1987. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991, he presided over the contentious hearings that secured Clarence Thomas' confirmation amid sexual harassment allegations. He watched Republican Senate colleagues force their own president, George W. Bush, to withdraw Harriet Miers from consideration in 2005. (Allen, 1/26)
Politico:
Why Not To Expect A Scorched Earth Fight Over Breyer’s Replacement
The conservative movement has, for decades, prioritized Supreme Court fights over nearly all other forms of political battle. But a survey on Wednesday of some of the top officials and activists in that universe indicates that they aren’t planning a vicious political fight over President Joe Biden’s pick to replace retiring Justice Steven Breyer. At least not yet. (McGraw and Fuchs, 1/26)
Politico:
Supreme Court Confirmation Fight To Make History In 50-50 Senate
Democrats’ razor-thin majority will have to make history to confirm Stephen Breyer’s successor to the Supreme Court. A 50-50 Senate has never done it before. As the White House considers candidates to replace the retiring justice, they’ll need a judge who is guaranteed to garner support from every member of the Democratic caucus. That raises the stakes for the confirmation battle, but also provides some comfort for Democrats: as long as they stay unified, Republicans can’t stop Breyer’s successor from being confirmed. Republicans scrapped the 60-vote threshold on high court nominees in 2017. (Levine and Everett, 1/26)
Los Angeles Times:
California Coronavirus Cases Top 8 Million
California has now surpassed 8 million cumulative coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the end result of weeks of unprecedented spread fueled by the highly infectious Omicron variant. The milestone, equivalent to roughly 1 out of every 5 residents having been infected at some point, comes amid growing signs that Omicron has finally peaked — but not before tearing through California’s communities. Since New Year’s Day, 2.5 million coronavirus cases have been reported in California. That’s fast approaching the entire statewide caseload reported all of last year: 3.1 million. (Money, Lin II and Alpert Reyes, 1/26)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Nears 200,000 COVID-19 Cases, Doctors Say
The unbridled spread of coronavirus and its highly contagious omicron variant continues to fuel a surge of cases in Fresno County that is unprecedented since the first COVID-19 infections were confirmed more than 22 months ago. On Wednesday morning, the number of total laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases reported to date by the Fresno County Department of Public Health stood at more than 198,000 since the beginning of the pandemic. (Sheehan, 1/26)
Los Angeles Times:
15-Month-Old Dies Of COVID-19 In L.A. County
An additional 91 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, the second-highest daily total of the Omicron surge. One of the deaths was a 15-month-old, the youngest child to die of COVID-19. “This is the youngest resident to die of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and a stark reminder that the virus can cause devastating outcomes among those most vulnerable, including young children not yet eligible for vaccinations,” the county said in a statement. (Lin II and Money, 1/26)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego's COVID-19 Surge Appears To Have Peaked
San Diego County’s weekly COVID-19 snapshot shows decreasing trends in both new cases and local hospitalizations, though it was clear Wednesday that some medical facilities continue to operate on the edge of being overwhelmed as January comes to a close. (Sisson, 1/26)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Optimism As Omicron Peaks In California, But New BA.2 Subtype Raises Questions
There is growing optimism that the overall omicron surge has peaked in California, but progress across the state remains uneven. The improvement is most pronounced in places like Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area, where health officials have voiced increased confidence in recent days that the coronavirus test positivity rate, as well as daily new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, have either stabilized or begun to convincingly decline. (Lin II, Money and Reyes, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
As COVID Cases Sweep The Bay Area, Many Fewer Are Dying Than In Previous Surges
It may seem like everybody’s suddenly getting the coronavirus as the highly contagious omicron variant sweeps through the Bay Area, but the good news is that people are dying at a far lower rate than they were during previous pandemic surges. Credit high vaccination rates among Bay Area residents and better treatments that have slashed COVID-19 mortality since inoculations became widely available last year. (Ho, 1/27)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern County Hospital Stays Shorten During Omicron Wave
Coronavirus hospitalizations in Kern County have been noticeably shorter over the past two months compared to previous surges, providing a vital lifeline to hospitals struggling with staffing and high patient counts. According to the Kern County Public Health Services Department, the average length of stay in a hospital from Dec. 20 to Monday was around three days, compared to around nine days during the first three surges. (Morgen, 1/26)
Sacramento Bee:
COVID Surge May Have Peaked In Prisons, Nursing Homes
California’s omicron wave of COVID-19 hit a peak for the general population earlier this month, and appears to have also peaked within two of the settings most vulnerable to outbreaks throughout the pandemic: nursing homes and prisons. (McGough, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
The ‘Stealth Omicron’ Subvariant Is In The Bay Area. Here’s What You Need To Know
A new subvariant of the omicron variant of COVID-19 — BA.2, or “stealth” omicron — has been detected in the Bay Area, health officials said. Little is known so far about how contagious the subvariant is, experts said, but people who are vaccinated and boosted shouldn’t be worried. (Echeverria, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
In Chinatown’s SROs, There’s Nowhere To Go As Omicron Spreads
In the middle of an omicron wave that has seen the number of confirmed infections inside the city’s SRO hotels rise to new highs, community organizers like Chan have stepped in to advocate for the thousands of people inside Chinatown’s 530 residential hotels, most of whom are Chinese and live in tight quarters where they share kitchens and bathrooms. She believes the San Francisco Department of Public Health is failing this large group of low-income residents at this critical time. “SRO residents are considered a high-risk group,” said Chan, senior community organizer for the CCDC. (Fernandes, 1/26)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
California Attorney General Warns Of Fake COVID-19 Testing Sites Statewide
California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned Californians this week to be on alert for illegitimate or fake COVID-19 testing locations and websites. As coronavirus cases surged to new peaks this winter, COVID-19 test sites have been overwhelmed, leaving many facing hours-long wait times, delayed test results or no access to tests at all. (Endicott, 1/26)
AP:
Vaccine Mandate To Kick In For First Wave Of Health Workers
Health care workers in about half the states face a Thursday deadline to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine under a Biden administration mandate that will be rolled out across the rest of the country in the coming weeks. While the requirement is welcomed by some, others fear it will worsen already serious staff shortages if employees quit rather than comply. (Lieb and Hollingsworth, 1/26)
Bay Area News Group:
In A Joint Letter, Six Unions From Across County Sectors Say Booster Mandate Will Harm Staffing
Six unions representing county workers ranging from nurses and correctional officers to engineers and architects are pushing back against a health order that requires employees in high-risk job settings to get a booster shot. In a joint letter sent on Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors and County Executive Jeff Smith, union leadership claimed that the booster mandate will cripple a workforce already under immense strain from the omicron variant and requested that county leaders find a way for those with approved vaccine exemptions to stay in their positions. (Greschler, 1/26)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Hasn’t Cited Businesses For Defying COVID Vaccine Rules
It was a decision that grabbed attention across the country: Los Angeles leaders had voted to require indoor restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and many other businesses to check that customers were vaccinated against COVID-19. The L.A. rules made headlines as some of the strictest in the nation. Opponents — including members of the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County — phoned into the City Council meeting in October to decry the decision and vowed to overturn the ordinance at the ballot box. City leaders were unmoved. (Alpert Reyes and Evans, 1/26)
AP:
Navy Discharges 1st Active-Duty Sailors For Vaccine Refusal
The Navy said Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine, marking the first time it has thrown currently serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots. The discharges came as the Navy released new COVID-19 guidance that requires all deployed sailors and air crew to be vaccinated, but relaxes some quarantine practices on ships based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Baldor, 1/26)
KPBS:
After A Rough Start, Navy Takes On COVID For The Long Haul
The Navy is trying to figure out what the "new normal" will be after two years of battling COVID-19.In the opening months of the pandemic, the Navy was caught off guard. In April 2020, it was forced to sideline the San Diego-based USS Roosevelt in Guam for over a month to stop a quickly spreading COVID-19 outbreak. Eventually, over a third of the sailors were infected. (Walsh, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Moderna Starts Testing Omicron-Specific Vaccine
The pharmaceutical company said Wednesday that the first participant has received a dose of an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster. The trial follows the launch of a similar study by Pfizer of its own reformulated shots. It is not clear if boosters targeted at variants are necessary, as the original vaccines still offer good protection against death and severe illness. Moderna’s new study will enroll about 600 fully vaccinated people who will receive a dose of the experimental omicron-matched version. (Vaziri and Fracassa, 1/26)
The New York Times:
Moderna Begins A Study Of A Booster Designed To Counter Omicron.
Moderna also announced the results of a small laboratory study suggesting that the protection its authorized booster shot provides against Omicron infections is likely to fade over the course of six months. After a single dose of the current booster, the level of Omicron-fighting antibodies rose 20 times higher than their peak before the shot, the company said. After six months, however, these antibody levels had fallen more than sixfold, though they still remained detectable in all of the booster recipients studied. (Anthes, 1/27)
CBS News:
Government Medical Advisers Urge ICE To Expand COVID-19 Vaccinations For Immigrant Detainees
Two medical advisers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implored the U.S. government on Wednesday to expand COVID-19 vaccination access and other mitigation measures at immigration detention centers, where infections have surged by over 800% in 2022, according to a whistleblower disclosure obtained by CBS News. (Montoya-Galvez, 1/26)
Sacramento Bee:
How To Get Digital COVID Vaccination Records In California
Just as you can misplace your phone, wallet or keys, a COVID-19 vaccine card can easily go missing after a night out in town, especially since many businesses, events and restaurants are requiring proof of vaccination for entrance. If you misplaced your card or damaged it, here’s what you can do. (Truong, 1/27)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Charter School Sued Over Student COVID Vaccine Mandate
Opponents of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for students have extended the reach of their litigation to a Westside charter school after filing high-profile suits against the state’s two largest-school systems, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified. A lawsuit filed Jan. 18 targets New West Charter on behalf of unnamed students at the school, alleging that the school’s student vaccine mandate is unnecessary, discriminatory and in violation of California laws regarding vaccine policy. The litigation against New West was filed on behalf of Let Them Breathe, a San Diego County-based organization that also has opposed mask mandates for students. (Blume, 1/26)
CapRadio:
Sacramento City Unified Pushes Student COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Deadline To Feb. 28
The Sacramento City Unified School District announced Wednesday that students will now have until Feb. 28 to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The move, less than a week before the original deadline of Jan. 31, comes with only 55% of students 12 or older reporting full vaccination or a registered exemption by Wednesday morning. Without the extension, the thousands of students who did not submit proof of full vaccination or a registered exemption by that date would have been moved to Independent Study. (Salanga, 1/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Elected Officials Support Campaign To Ban Flavored Tobacco
The November election isn’t that far away, and with it comes a referendum on the 2020 law, SB 793, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in the state. On Thursday, a coalition of groups including the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the California NAACP, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids are coming together with several top state officials with a press conference to kick off the campaign in support of the ban. (Sheeler, 1/27)
Los Angeles Times:
New Bill Would Force Courts To Clear Cannabis Convictions Faster
California would set new deadlines to dismiss and seal many cannabis convictions under a bill introduced Wednesday aimed at redressing anti-drug laws that disproportionately targeted communities of color. The move comes two weeks after a Times investigation found that tens of thousands of Californians are still stuck with felonies, misdemeanors and other cannabis convictions on their records. Despite a 2018 law that required the state to clear cannabis convictions, many courts have been slow to process cases, The Times found. (Feldman, 1/26)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Chula Vista Rejects Proposed Psychiatric Hospital After Large Community Opposition
The Chula Vista City Council on Tuesday rejected plans for a 120-bed psychiatric hospital in the city’s Eastlake neighborhood, a project that had garnered significant community opposition. Scripps Health announced in February 2019 its partnership with Tennessee-based Acadia Healthcare Company Inc. to replace its 36-bed psychiatric unit in Hillcrest with a stand-alone behavioral health hospital in Chula Vista. (Murga and Sisson, 1/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Feds Investigating Violations Of Mental Health Parity Laws
Thirty group health plans have been put on notice by the federal government for not covering behavioral health services and potentially violating mental health parity laws. A report released Tuesday by the Labor Department doesn't name specific companies but gave examples of violations, including a "large service provider" administering claims for hundreds of self-funded plans excluding therapy to treat autism. Some plans failed to cover medication-assisted treatment, viewed by addiction specialists as the "gold-standard" for treating opioid use disorder. (Hellmann, 1/26)
The New York Times:
Gas Stoves Leak Methane Even When Turned Off, Study Finds
The small study — based on measurements from cooktops, ovens and broilers in 53 homes in California — estimated that stoves emit between 0.8 and 1.3 percent of the natural gas they consume as unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. During the course of a typical year, three-quarters of these emissions occur when the devices are shut off, the study showed, which could suggest leaky fittings and connections with gas service lines. Over a 20-year period, emissions from stoves across the United States could be having the same effect in heating the planet as half a million gas-powered cars, the study estimated. (Zhong, 1/27)
Bay Area News Group:
West Oakland Air Pollution: Proposed Port Plan Causes Alarm
When West Oakland residents who for years had been suffering from air pollution filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Port of Oakland in 2017, the port agreed to a plan that was supposed to reduce the impacts of its industrial operations on the neighborhood. But now the advocates who brought that complaint are raising the alarm that a new proposal to build an open-air sand and gravel storage facility on port property goes against the spirit of that agreement and will cause further harm against the health of the area’s predominantly Black and Brown residents. (Sciacca, 1/26)
KQED:
This Bay Area Doctor Says Climate Action Is Central To Health
Dr. Ashley McClure describes herself as “a mom, primary care doctor and medical community climate organizer.” She co-founded Climate Health Now, a group of California health professionals advocating for climate action through a lens of health and equity. The group aims to decarbonize health care, communicate climate change as a health emergency, and partner with community-based organizations to assist their climate justice campaigns. (Klivans, 1/25)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco Is Allowing People To Use Drugs Inside New Tenderloin Treatment Linkage Center
San Francisco is allowing people to use drugs in an outdoor area of Mayor London Breed’s new Tenderloin Linkage Center in United Nations Plaza, interviews and Chronicle observations confirm. Several people told The Chronicle in interviews Tuesday that they had used drugs inside the fenced-in area bordering the center’s entrance on U.N. Plaza. In addition to the outdoor area, the city offers basic hygiene services, food, clothing and connections to services such as treatment and housing on the first floor of the seven-story building. (Moench and Fagan, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Santa Clara County Officials Announce Plan To Combat Fentanyl Crisis
Santa Clara County officials on Wednesday announced plans to better respond to fentanyl-related deaths and the growing use of fentanyl in the county, in part by refocusing efforts to target large-scale traffickers of fentanyl and other narcotics like cartels, and boost education in the community. Officials said they will also call on the county Board of Supervisors to create a group of experts in fentanyl and addiction and treatment to ramp up the county’s existing efforts against the fentanyl crisis. The county also announced the launch of a new narcotics unit in the district attorney’s office that aims to investigate and prosecute drug cartels and traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs. And county officials said they will embark on a “wide-spread” social media campaign to educate young people about the dangers of counterfeit pills made of fentanyl. (Hernandez, 1/26)
Stat:
Early Research Suggests Cancer Drug Could Help Target Latent HIV
Antiretroviral therapy, the standard treatment for HIV, can remove any trace of the virus from the blood, but a hidden reservoir of HIV persists in patients who are in treatment. That means patients are never truly cured and need to be on HIV drugs for the rest of their lives. Researchers have yet to discover a way to eliminate the virus in its latent stage, but new, early-stage research suggests a landmark cancer drug — pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda — may be able to help. In a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, researchers looked at 32 patients that had both cancer and HIV and found that pembrolizumab, which revives the immune system and encourages it to attack tumors, also has the ability to flush HIV out of its hiding spot in immune cells. (Chen, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco Gun Violence Rose Last Year, With Shootings Up 33%
Gun violence in San Francisco rose significantly over the past year, a disturbing trend that contributed to an accompanying rise in homicides, police said, and tracks with other cities throughout the country. Fatal and nonfatal shooting incidents jumped by 33% — from 167 to 222 — from 2020 to last year, while homicides rose from 48 to 56. (Cassidy, 1/26)
Sacramento Bee:
River Advocates Demand Sacramento Remove Homeless On Parkway
The American River Parkway Foundation in a new appeal to local government leaders is demanding Sacramento officials clear more than 750 unhoused people from the lower Parkway this year. It’s also asking the county to turn over control of a section of the parkway to the foundation, alleging the county has failed to protect a treasured urban park. (Clift, 1/27)