San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Gears Up To Quicken Pace Of Coronavirus Vaccinations As Moderna Shipments Arrive 
Shipments of the Moderna vaccine, the second coronavirus vaccine to gain U.S. regulatory authorization, began arriving in the Bay Area on Monday as state and local officials geared up to quicken the pace of vaccinations. Marin County received 3,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 975 vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday. UCSF is scheduled to receive its first Moderna vaccines Tuesday. (Ho, 12/21)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma County Receives More COVID-19 Vaccine Monday For Front-Line Health Care Workers
Vaccination of up to 20,000 front-line medical workers will continue to be the top priority this week for health authorities in Sonoma County, where inoculations at most of the 20 nursing and 177 long-term care homes are slated to begin next week as a local surge in coronavirus cases shows no signs (Espinoza, 12/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: COVID Vaccine Reaches San Diegans In Nursing Homes; County Gets 20K Doses From Moderna 
Some of San Diego’s first nursing home residents to receive a COVID-19 vaccine got their shots Monday, while 20,000 doses of a second coronavirus vaccine from Moderna flowed into the county. The mood was festive at Birch Patrick Convalescent Center, where Carlos Alegre, 72, was the first resident vaccinated at the nursing home, which is part of Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. More than a dozen nurses and staff members cheered when Alegre got his shot. (Wosen, 12/21)

CNN: Pfizer And Moderna Test Vaccines Against UK Coronavirus Variant 
Pfizer and Moderna are testing their coronavirus vaccines to see if they work against the new mutated version of the virus that's recently been found in the United Kingdom and other countries, according to company statements. "Based on the data to date, we expect that the Moderna vaccine-induced immunity would be protective against the variants recently described in the UK; we will be performing additional tests in the coming weeks to confirm this expectation," according to the Moderna statement. (Levenson and Cohen, 12/22)

AP: BioNTech CEO Confident Vaccine Will Work On UK Variant
German pharmaceutical company BioNTech is confident that its coronavirus vaccine works against the new UK variant, but further studies are need to be completely sure, its chief executive said Tuesday. The variant, detected mainly in London and the southeast of England in recent weeks, has sparked concern worldwide because of signs that it may spread more easily. While there is no indication it causes more serious illness, numerous countries in Europe and beyond have restricted travel from the UK as a result. (Jordans, 12/22)

The Washington Post: BioNTech Can Create Vaccine For New Variant In Six Weeks If Needed, CEO Says
BioNTech said Tuesday that its coronavirus vaccine will likely be effective against the new variant identified in Britain, but that a new version could be developed within six weeks if necessary. Whether regulators would be willing to quickly approve a slightly-modified version of the vaccine that has been cleared for distribution in the United States, Britain and European Union is another story, CEO Ugur Sahin told reporters at a news conference. But from a technical perspective, tweaking the vaccine co-developed with Pfizer would simply be a matter of replacing one mutation with another while the “messenger” molecule remains the same. (Noori Farzan, 12/22)

Sacramento Bee: Child Care Workers Should Be Prioritized For COVID Vaccines, Lawmakers Tell Gavin Newsom
As he holes up in a room in his house, quarantining from the rest of his family after a potential COVID-19 exposure, Gov. Gavin Newsom joked that he feels like a “full-time red carpet concierge” for people who want to know when they can get a coronavirus vaccine. “Everyone that does have access to my direct email and my text messages, asking about their aunt or uncle, about a friend or family member, when are they going to be in the queue, when are they going to get the opportunity to be vaccinated,” Newsom said during a press conference on Monday. “I’ll remind them, as I remind you ... that we have a public process for vaccinations.” The Democratic governor has tasked a group of experts with assessing who should be in line after medical workers and nursing home residents get their shots. (Sheeler, 12/22)

Capital Public Radio/KXJZ: Central Valley Farmworkers Distrustful Of COVID Vaccine, Survey Suggests
Since the start of the pandemic, Hernan Herandez and his employees with the California Farmworker Foundation have been out in the fields of San Joaquin Valley, handing out tens of thousands of face masks and administering COVID-19 tests to agricultural workers. “We're testing about 200 to 250 farmworkers a day, as opposed to in the past only having around 40 or 50,” said Hernandez, executive director of the Tulare County-based non-profit organization that provides services to the area’s agricultural workforce. He says at first, farmworkers were hesitant about getting COVID-19 tests because of  “bad ads” they saw online, but now they’re more comfortable. (David Romero, 12/21)

The Bakersfield Californian: Questions About The COVID Vaccine In The Workplace? This Webinar Has The Answers 
As the coronavirus vaccine becomes more and more widely available, many employers across Kern County are wondering how their workplaces might be impacted. To answer some of the many questions that will inevitably come up in the next few months, the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce held a Zoom webinar last week, bringing in legal and healthcare experts to set local employers straight. Now available on YouTube, the webinar answers some of the most pressing concerns business owners face. (Morgen, 12/21)

Fresno Bee: Live Q&A On COVID-19 And Vaccines With The Modesto Bee’s Dr. ChrisAnna Mink 
Modesto Bee editor Brian Clark and health reporter Dr. ChrisAnna Mink discuss COVID-19 vaccines and the rollout in Stanislaus County, California. (12/21)

SF Gate: New, More 'Sticky' COVID-19 Strain Not Detected In California, But Officials Remain On Alert
The new, more infectious strain of the novel coronavirus that forced the United Kingdom into a new lockdown and drew travel bans from other countries has not yet been detected in California. During his Monday press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom said officials behind the state's genome sequencing initiative have been "proactive" in searching for the strain, but have not seen evidence it has found its way into California. (Ting, 12/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: New Coronavirus Strain In The UK: Is There Cause For Concern In Bay Area?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tough new lockdown measures, saying that the mutation is 70% more transmissible than existing strains, with British Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying the variant is “out of control” through London and southeastern England. A similar strain was also detected in South Africa, accounting for 90% of the infections in the country. “We haven’t seen anything related to a new strain yet into the state of California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press briefing Monday, but added that state officials are monitoring it closely. (Vaziri and Fimrite, 12/21)

CNN: White House Considers Covid Testing Requirement For Travelers From UK
The White House is considering requiring travelers from the United Kingdom to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before arriving in the United States, two administration officials tell CNN. The discussions come amid the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus discovered in the UK and as a slew of countries have suspended travel. US public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said they do not believe the situation currently warrants suspending travel from the UK. (Diamond, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-Related MIS-C Illness Strikes More California Children
“It was just like a nightmare,” Rosa Vasquez said about her daughter’s 12-day hospitalization. “There was a time where I thought she was going to die.” Xitlali, which means “star” in Nahuatl, was one of the first children in Los Angeles County to be diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare and potentially deadly illness known as MIS-C that infects children exposed to the coronavirus. Seven months later, at least 45 children in the county have been diagnosed with MIS-C, and one has died. (Shalby, 12/21)

The Hill: More Than 150 California Children Have Been Diagnosed With Coronavirus-Related Syndrome 
More than 150 California children have been diagnosed with a coronavirus-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) throughout the pandemic. The state Department of Public Health has reported that as of Dec. 14, at least 152 children have been diagnosed with MIS-C, a rare and sometimes deadly inflammatory illness that scientists believe can infect children who have been exposed to the coronavirus. (Coleman, 12/21)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Gov. Newsom Says Stay Home Order Likely To Be Extended
With the recent surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths showing few signs of abating, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday it’s “very likely” California will extend into 2021 the stay-home orders affecting most residents of the Golden State. The restrictions were set to begin expiring at the end of December for some regions, but the state plans to evaluate capacity in hospital intensive care units and other factors in the coming days that likely will mean more time at home. California for the first time on Monday topped more than 60,000 new cases in a day, according to reporting by this news organization, and was closing in on an average 250 deaths a day over the past week. (DeRuy, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Stay-Home Orders Likely To Be Extended In Southern California
Sweeping restrictions on businesses and activities are expected to remain in place past their original expiration date across a wide swath of California, as the availability of precious intensive care beds continues to dwindle in the face of an unrelenting COVID-19 surge, state officials said. Though nothing is definite yet, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Monday that the stay-at-home orders issued for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will probably need to be extended. (Money and Lin II, 12/21)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: COVID-19 Cases In California Reach 500,000; ICU Availability At 2% Statewide
Amid a flurry of related developments — from Congress agreeing on a second stimulus deal, to a second vaccine earning approval, to Gov. Gavin Newsom quarantining for the second time — California finds itself in an increasingly untenable coronavirus situation. (McGough, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: Fears Of A COVID-19 Christmas Surge Are Not Stopping Travel
Coronavirus testing centers are seeing brisk business, including from some people who want to know whether they have the virus before attending holiday events. And last-minute shoppers are still out looking for that perfect gift. To the alarm of California health officials, Christmas is looking an awful lot like Thanksgiving, when where social gatherings put an already unprecedented surge of the coronavirus into overdrive. The Thanksgiving “super-spreader” events helped fill hospitals with COVID-19 patients, forcing more restrictions on businesses and pushing the healthcare network to the brink. (Smith, Lin II and Money, 12/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: As Coronavirus Raged, Sonoma County Did Little To Enforce Rules On Weddings With As Many As 100 People
Even as Sonoma County has had the distinction of ranking worst among Bay Area counties for the prevalence of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, officials there have taken no enforcement action on complaints about at least 15 large wedding gatherings. The county has heard of about two dozen weddings that didn’t meet COVID-19 restrictions, one with as many as 100 attendees; enforcement in some cases fell to other jurisdictions. No citations or fines were issued to any of the gatherings violating state and county event restrictions, according to the permit department that’s charged with enforcement, saying it wasn’t necessary because they were “one-time events” that would be difficult to enforce after the fact. (Duggan, 12/22)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus County Reels From Coronavirus Deaths. Hospitalizations Soar To New High
Stanislaus County is reporting eight coronavirus deaths per day, as local hospitals are filled with sick patients and many residents ignore a stay-home order in the days leading up to Christmas. An update Monday afternoon recorded 10 new deaths, and COVID hospitalizations soared to 363 after a brief dip to 315 hospitalizations on Sunday. In the past seven days, 55 people have died from COVID-19 in Stanislaus County, which has the third highest COVID-19 mortality rate among California counties. Monday’s updated count pushed the county’s pandemic death toll to 533. (Carlson, 12/22)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Coronavirus Stay-Home Orders Likely To Be Extended In Southern California 
Sweeping restrictions on businesses and activities are expected to remain in place past their original expiration date across a wide swath of California, as the availability of precious intensive care beds continues to dwindle in the face of an unrelenting COVID-19 surge, state officials said. Though nothing is definite yet, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Monday that the stay-at-home orders issued for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will likely need to be extended. (Money and Lin II, 12/21)

LA Daily News: LA County Officials Warn Surge Upon Surge Could Come Next 
The staggering rise in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths across Los Angeles County in recent weeks could be a prelude an even grimmer scenario, health officials warned on Monday, Dec. 21, with the next two weeks — marked by Christmas and then the new year — leading to a surge-upon-surge that could force hospitals to activate crisis planning. That dire warning came the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom said the region will likely remain under stay-at-home orders beyond next week. (Rosenfeld, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: Orange County Obliterates Its COVID-19 Records
Orange County reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases over the weekend, the latest record to fall amid the most brutal barrage from a disease that is now infecting, hospitalizing and killing Californians at levels never seen before. The 4,606 new coronavirus infections announced Sunday shattered the county’s previous one-day high of 3,445, according to data compiled by The Times. There have been 3,000-plus new daily cases logged countywide only five times throughout the entire pandemic — all since Dec. 13. (Money and Lin II, 12/21)

Fresno Bee: Fresno County Ranked No. 1 Among U.S. Metro Areas For COVID-19 Spread, Says NYT Analysis
Fresno County ranks highest in the country for metro areas where the coronavirus pandemic is spreading the fastest, according to an analysis Monday from the New York Times. The list of metro areas with 50,000 or more residents shows Fresno County’s population of 1 million at the highest spot in the top 10 list, which is populated almost exclusively by California and Texas cities. The list is adjusted for population size. (Miller, 12/21)

Fresno Bee: Fresno County Adds 89 COVID-19 Deaths, Making December The Pandemic’s Deadliest Month
Another 89 Fresno County residents have died from issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest update on Monday from health officials. That’s a total of 646 people who have died in Fresno County related to the pandemic, according to the first deaths update since Tuesday. The county said Monday 2,188 new cases pushed the total to 57,616. With 165 deaths so far in December, the month is now Fresno County’s deadliest related to the pandemic. The previous record was 152 deaths in August. (Miller, 12/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Addresses Of Outbreaks Across San Diego County Revealed 
Although health officials regularly release information about the number of COVID-19 outbreaks that are being investigated across the county, the specific locations have usually been kept a secret. Until now. On Monday, the public media station KPBS published an investigation that revealed the addresses of 1,006 outbreaks that occurred between March and December. (Winkley and Schroeder, 12/21)

KPBS: Here's Where COVID-19 Outbreaks Have Happened In San Diego County  
Community outbreaks of COVID-19 have touched every corner of San Diego County and all types of establishments over the past nine months, but they are most prevalent in big box stores, restaurants and group living situations like nursing homes and jails, according to county outbreak records obtained exclusively by KPBS. If you’ve gone out at all since the pandemic first struck, you quite likely walked into a place where an outbreak occurred, according to the KPBS analysis of 1,006 outbreak records dating from March through the end of November. (Trageser and Stegall, 12/21)

Bay Area News Group: COVID-19: A Slower Rate In The Increase Of Positive Cases 
Health officials in the California opened Christmas week with a mixed bag of news: The average number of new COVID-19 cases in the state continued to creep up, but the rate of increase has slowed. The state’s seven-day average of new cases slightly increased to 41,888 in Sunday’s reporting, up from 41,475 on Saturday, according to figures compiled by this news organization. In the four previous days, the average seven-day total of new cases was on a sharp upward climb, from around 32,000 to 41,000. (Hurd, 12/21)

Sacramento Bee: COVID-19 Infections Rise At California Veterans Homes
The coronavirus has reached California’s state-run veterans homes, which had managed to keep infections to a minimum through the year. CalVet’s eight homes had 72 active cases as of Friday, including residents and employees, according to the most recent data from the department. Thirty-three residents and 39 employees were infected, according to CalVet. The department doesn’t release numbers for specific homes. Emails obtained by The Sacramento Bee for five of the eight homes show that more employees than residents are infected overall (numbers are included below). A home in West Los Angeles had the most infections among residents for the five homes, with 15 infections among 300 residents and 12 among 445 employees. (Venteicher, 12/22)

LAist: Child Care Providers And Parent Anxiety Rises With Coronavirus Case Count
More than half of all coronavirus outbreaks reported at child care and early education programs in Los Angeles County since the pandemic began have stemmed from the recent record surge in COVID-19 cases. There are 22 open investigations into sites with three or more cases in staff and children. Since June, 40 outbreaks have been recorded. "I want to give a lot of credit to all of our providers, or our childcare providers, they've done an amazing job," said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer at a media briefing last week. "For many, many months, taking care of small children, young children and using a lot of safety and there have been very, very few cases." (Dale, 12/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: COVID-19 Outbreak In Office At Chula Vista Courthouse, Court Officials Say 
A COVID-19 outbreak hit an office of the Chula Vista courthouse, sending several employees into quarantine, San Diego Superior Court officials said. The reported spread in the branch’s criminal business office marks the first community outbreak in the county courts since the pandemic began, Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne wrote in an email to judges last week. (Figueroa, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: More Than 10% Of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Personnel In Coronavirus Quarantine
More than 10% of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s employees are in quarantine due to the coronavirus, a number officials attributed to the explosion of cases throughout the county. As of Monday, 655 non-sworn and 1,216 sworn personnel were in quarantine after having tested positive or having had a confirmed exposure, according to department data. The department has about 17,500 employees, according to spokesman Lt. John Satterfield. Of those, more than 10,100 are sworn personnel, according to data from early September. (Miller and Rector, 12/21)

KQED: Hundreds Of People At San Quentin Petition For Release As COVID-19 Surges
A Marin County judge could begin ordering the release or transfer of hundreds of men incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison as early as Monday. More than 400 elderly and medically vulnerable incarcerated people petitioned the superior court for release during and after a massive outbreak at the prison this summer that infected 2,200 people and resulted in the deaths of 28 men. Many of the men who’ve asked the court for relief are age 60 and over, or have chronic medical conditions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined put them at greater risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID-19. (Small, 12/21)

The Bakersfield Californian: Task Force Announces Two Free Testing Sites This Week 
The Kern County Latino COVID-19 Task Force has announced two free testing sites available to Kern County residents this holiday week. "We want everyone to have a safe and healthy holiday," said Jay Tamsi, co-founder of the task force, in a news release. (12/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rapid Home Coronavirus Testing Kits Are Finally Coming To The Bay Area. Why Did It Take So Long?
The new tests, which have smartphone apps that can help users interpret the results and connect them to health professionals, will help with what experts say is an egregiously inadequate testing program in the Bay Area and around the nation. The trouble is, the technology comes too late for thousands of people who infected others without knowing it. Hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths could have been prevented had the federal government acted earlier and approved use of the technology, which has been around for a long time, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at UCSF. “Everything is too late, unfortunately,” said Chin-Hong, adding that even he is confused about where to go to be tested and concerned about how long it takes. “We should have had testing long ago. Lack of testing is one of the main reasons why we are here, with the surge and lack of hospital beds.” (Fimrite, 12/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Larry Himmel Foundation To Aid Eateries Hurt By COVID-19, Even Paying Fines 
A nonprofit named after the late San Diego humorist Larry Himmel has offered financial aid to restaurants struggling during the COVID-19 crisis and is even willing to pay fines levied against them for violating a health order. (Warth and Diehl, 12/21)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Allows Churches To Meet Indoors
Los Angeles County officials have lifted a ban on indoor religious services after a series of court rulings involving houses of worship that argued that the pandemic-related restrictions violate religious freedoms. While county churches are again permitted to hold indoor services under the new policy, announced Saturday, they must still comply with other restrictions, such as social distancing and mask wearing. The loosened public health guidelines come amid surging coronavirus infection rates and hospitalizations and as some churches continue to defy public health orders. (Cosgrove, 12/21)

Bay Area News Group: Kaiser Permanente Workers Getting ‘Hero’s Bonus,’ Extended Paid-Leave Benefits 
Kaiser Permanente and 85,000 of its unionized employees have reached an agreement to pay workers a “hero’s bonus” in recognition of the dangers they face dealing with COVID-19 patients. The healthcare giant has annual performance incentive plans and bonus programs in place for the vast majority of its employees — more than 190,000 — but those are based on the company’s ability to deliver quality care and increase the number of patients it serves. (Smith, 12/22)

Sacramento Bee: CA Faces Latino Doctor Shortage Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
The high number of coronavirus infections and deaths among California’s Latino communities is underscoring the state’s shortage of culturally competent, Spanish-speaking doctors. Medical experts fear the scarcity of Latino or Spanish-speaking doctors could lead to worse health outcomes for the state’s Hispanic communities, who, so far, represent more than 700,000 COVID-19 cases and 10,000 virus-related deaths in California. (Bojorquez, 12/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Health Care Rationing On The Horizon If Hospital Surge Continues, Leaders Say 
Nobody really wanted to talk about it Monday, but with hospitalizations projected to hit 100,000 statewide by the end of the month, leaders reluctantly acknowledged Monday that they are ready to begin rationing care if necessary. Asked during a news conference whether plans were in place for the day when all capacity is used up and no more surge maneuvers are possible, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of health and human services for California, noted that the state published “crisis care guidelines” in June. (Sisson, 12/21)

Fresno Bee: Mixed Status Households Included In Federal COVID-19 Package 
Some families living with household members with mixed legal immigration statuses are included in the latest federal COVID-19 relief package approved by Congress on Monday. U.S. citizens in mixed-status families were denied stimulus payments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed in March, if a dependent in their household did not have a Social Security Number. For example, U.S. citizens married to someone without a Social Security number were excluded from the previous federal relief package. (Bojorquez, 12/22)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus Economy: California Unemployment Claims Backlog Rises
The backlog of unemployment claims that state government officials have failed to pay to people who have lost their jobs in California is rising again, grim tidings for workers to ponder ahead of the Christmas holiday. As of Dec. 16, an estimated 683,200 California workers were trapped in a bureaucratic limbo created by the state Employment Development Department, which has battled with uneven success to whittle away a mammoth backlog of unpaid jobless claims. The most recently reported backlog is an increase of 12,500 compared with Dec. 9, when an estimated 670,700 California workers were stuck in the EDD’s logjam. (Avalos, 12/21)

Southern California News Group: Fentanyl Bill Reintroduced In California Legislature As Overdose Deaths Surge
Fentanyl is a cheap, synthetic opioid — 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine — that’s pouring into California over the Mexican border, masquerading as other drugs and leaving carnage in its wake. With overdose deaths related to fentanyl surging, state Sen. Pat Bates, R-Laguna Niguel re-introduced a bill on Dec. 15 that would task California’s Attorney General with getting a firmer handle on the problem and crafting coherent solutions. Modeled after an earlier legislative effort targeting methamphetamine, Senate Bill 75 would require the A.G.’s office to establish and chair a “Southern California Fentanyl Task Force” to enhance law enforcement agency coordination, recommend changes to the law and bring a state-wide caliber of expertise to the issue. It would cover the hard-hit counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego. (Sforza, 12/22)

Orange County Register: Disneyland Hosts Christmas Food Bank For Cast Members And Local Residents
Disneyland employees and local residents affected by COVID-19 layoffs and furloughs lined up in an otherwise empty cast member parking lot for a drive-thru food bank aimed at providing the essentials for a Christmas dinner and adding a little holiday happiness to a difficult year. The Power of One Foundation hosted a Christmas food bank on Monday, Dec. 21 at Disneyland for former and current Disneyland employees and other local residents impacted by pandemic-related furloughs and job losses. (MacDonald and Gritchen, 12/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Airbnb Suspends Or Removes More Than 65 Bay Area ‘Party House’ Listings
Vacation-rental company Airbnb announced it has removed or suspended more than 65 listings on its site in the Bay Area in its latest move to stamp out “party houses” that have resulted in past mayhem. The company said the listings were across San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose and have received previous complaints or violated the company’s policy on gatherings. “The vast majority of hosts in the Bay Area contribute positively to their neighborhoods and the local economy, and they also take important steps to help prevent unauthorized parties,” the company said. “Our actions today address the small minority of hosts who have previously received warnings about hosting responsibly or have otherwise violated our policies.” (DiFeliciantonio, 12/21)

Bay Area News Group: Nearly 200 Tombstones In San Jose Remember Homeless Lives Lost
Each headstone was marked with the name and age of someone who died in the county without a home, from Dec. 1, 2019 through Nov. 30, 2020. The death count was 22% higher than at last year’s memorial — a disturbing trend activists say highlights the need for city and county leaders to do more. “Every one of these tombstones is crying out to us. Not just to memorialize them, not just to say their names — although that’s a good start in a society that has done its best to erase them from our collective memory,” said Sandy Perry, an organizer with the Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County and an outreach minister with CHAM Deliverance Ministry. “They are crying out with the old saying that says don’t mourn. Organize.” (Kendall, 12/21)