The California Department of Public Health launched a series of public education videos in partnership with actor/director/producer Tyler Perry in an effort to encourage state residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In this regard, the state of California and production company Tyler Perry Studios will launch a series of videos this month that address frequently asked questions about vaccines, including how to know if they are safe and how mRNA vaccines work.
"What I want to do is get the real facts out there," Perry said in a statement. "There's a lot of misinformation out there, and my hope is that this content will give people the answers they need to make their own decisions based on the truth."
Perry and state health officials on Wednesday announced a partnership with the state's "Let's Get to ImmUnity" campaign, which aims to educate state residents about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
The partnership with Perry is also part of an outreach effort specifically for the state's African-American communities.
"Vaccines continue to be our best tool to end this deadly pandemic," said Dr. Tomás Aragón, CDPH director and state public health officer. "We are pleased to partner with Tyler Perry to help communicate the reality to more people: COVID-19 vaccines are effective, safe and save lives."
As of Thursday, 82.5 percent of state residents 12 and older had received at least one dose of vaccine, while 67.4 percent were fully vaccinated, according to data from CDPH and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A 45-year-old Redwood City man was arrested and charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a girl for six years, San Mateo County sheriff's officials and prosecutors said.
Investigators were told last Saturday that Heriberto Rosas Lugo had allegedly been sexually abusing the 13-year-old girl since she was 7.
According to the county District Attorney's Office, the girl texted her friend and told her about the assault she had suffered from Rosas Lugo, and the friend immediately told her parents. The alleged perpetrator allegedly admitted to the sexual abuse in a phone call with the girl.
Deputies arrested Rosas Lugo at his home without incident and he was booked into the county jail, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The suspect pleaded not guilty to charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child, and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 28 for a preliminary hearing. He remains in custody with bail set at $300,000, prosecutors said.
Authorities asked anyone with information about the suspect to contact Detective J. Fava at (650) 363-4192 or jfava@smcgov.org.
Detectives de Redwood City arrestaron al cuarto y último sospechoso en un robo y allanamiento de morada de hace cinco meses.
La investigación de la policía de Redwood City resultó en el arresto de tres sospechosos el 4 de agosto en el condado de Sacramento y un cuarto sospechoso el 7 de septiembre, cuando el servicio del alguacil estadounidense arrestó a Cristian Gutiérrez, de 31 años, en el condado de Tehama.
Los primeros tres arrestados fueron Joshua Plancarte, de 32 años, Edgar Adrián Romo Martínez, de 19 y Edgar Flores Villaseñor, de 30 años.
Los cuatro fueron arrestados bajo sospecha de una serie de delitos, que incluyen conspiración y robo a mano armada, asalto con lesiones graves y exhibición de un arma de fuego. La policía también confiscó numerosas armas durante el arresto.
El 22 de abril, la policía respondió a la cuadra 1700 de Oak Avenue a las 22:27 en donde encontró a dos víctimas heridas.
Los oficiales dijeron que la investigación reveló que la víctima masculina respondió a un golpe en la puerta de su casa y uno de los sospechosos le disparó con una pistola Taser. Los otros sospechosos entraron a la casa del hombre, lo agredieron a él y a una mujer para posteriormente inmovilizarlos con bridas.
The suspects ransacked the house before fleeing with a large safe and other valuables.
La policía dijo que la víctima masculina fue tratada en el lugar por sus heridas, para luego ser trasladada a un hospital local.
Historically underrepresented populations in North Carolina, as well as newly settled immigrant groups in the state, are seeking fair political representation reflected in redistricting following the 2020 Census.
Rebeca Tippett, director and founder of Carolina Demography at the Carolina Population Center, said during a media session held by Ethnic Media Services, that the 2020 census provided North Carolina with first-class information for future decision-making.
He recalled that the current population of the state is just over 10.4 million residents, a figure that has increased significantly in the last 10 years, when it was 940,000 inhabitants. This growth has been reflected above all in the increase of minority communities.
In this growing diversification, he recalled that in 1990, about 75 percent of the state's population identified themselves as Caucasian or white, 22 percent as African American and a very small portion as other racial groups. However, by the year 2000, there was a significant increase in the Hispanic population "and some growth in all other races due to the introduction of the multiracial option in the question on ethnicity in the census that year."
By 2010, the rise in these minority groups began to be more noticeable, especially for the Latino community, but by 2020 the increase was dizzying. Part of this, he said, was due to some of the changes in the way the Census Bureau measured and quantified race and ethnicity.
Thus according to this Census, North Carolina is made up of 60 percent Caucasian residents, 20 percent African American, 11 percent Latino, 3.0 percent Asian American, and 6.0 percent all other racial groups, including American Indian, other races, and multiracial.
"This work we're doing now is a continuation of hard work and consensus, and it leads to voting and a proper redistricting process," he said.
The above, he stressed, "ensures that people who share interests and values through common sense about concern for environmental justice, or who focus on health equity, extend to the common background process in which those interests meet and come together so that maps can be drawn that incorporate those communities so that they can elect their political representatives."
Fair redistricting without intervention
For this to happen, it is important to have real justice in political terms, free from the "gerrymandering" that damages the roots of democracy itself.
"Racial gerrymandering is illegal for a reason — it hurts voters, it hurts people, and it hurts state institutions," said Kyle Hamilton Brazile, director of civic engagement for the NC Counts Coalition.
The term gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district lines to favor one political party, individual, or constituency over another. When used rhetorically by opponents of a particular district map, the term has a negative connotation but does not necessarily address the legality of a contested map.
The term may also be used in legal documents; in this context, the term describes redistricting practices that violate federal or state laws.
Brazile detailed some famous and infamous examples of gerrymandering in the state, including the infamous 12th District, which added an extended time span, from Mecklenburg County to near Durham. “It was a district that was 64 percent majority African-American, and it was so narrow in some parts that it was no wider than a lane of the highway.”
Another example of gerrymandering that's been seen in North Carolina, he said, is when historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and North Carolina A&T State University had a campus split down the middle so that the university's vote would be diluted and not as powerful.
“So, to get to where we want to be and in order to engage people, we are asking them to provide feedback during upcoming public hearings. And we are working to educate communities on the issues that intersect with redistricting,” she said.
It should be noted that public hearings on redistricting in North Carolina are scheduled as follows: September 8 at Caldwell Technical College and Community College; September 14 at Forsyth Technical College and Elizabeth City State University; September 15 at Durham Technical College and one at Nash Community College.
Two additional hearings will be held on Sept. 16, one at Alamance Community College and one at Pitt Community College; Sept. 21 at Western Carolina University; Sept. 22 at Central Piedmont Community College; Sept. 23 at Mitchell Community College – Iredell County Campus; Sept. 28 at UNC-Pembroke; Sept. 29 at UNC-Wilmington; and Sept. 30 at Fayetteville Technical Community College.
Latinos, an overlooked community in North Carolina
Ivan Almonte, from Rapid Response in Durham, said that there have been conversations in the city about the problems that have impacted the Latino community for years, and how politicians and decision-makers have the responsibility to address such situations.
"But because of the political climate we are invisible to the system," he said.
She stressed that the Latino community wants to get involved and be part of the redistricting because the disparities during the pandemic were more visible for this population group.
“Many community members are motivated and willing to advocate for themselves due to the fact that our community is growing and together we can fight for change. The hesitation is always the interaction that this process involves with the government.”
A majority of Angelenos (91%) support efforts to revitalize the Los Angeles River, even though fewer than half (47%) have ever visited, according to a four-language public opinion survey of more than 600 Los Angeles County residents.
Fernando Guerra, director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said that when they began reimagining what a city would look like after the pandemic, the river should be at the center.
During a meeting organized by Ethnic Media Services Guerra, who conducted the research in conjunction with UCLA's Environmental Narrative Strategies Lab and Ethnic Media Services, added that in order to have these outdoor activities, it is necessary to think of a renewed river.
And according to the research, the vision of a river with more parks, green areas, access to trails, as well as cultural and recreational activities, would generate many more people to visit this point, which is currently used for walking, relaxing or cycling, among other activities.
Despite this, there are concerns among Los Angeles residents that taxes could increase, that homeless encampments could grow along the river, or that revitalization could lead to gentrification or displacement of current residents.
According to Anthony Rendon, spokesman for the California State Assembly, significant progress has been made in terms of the uses of the river, however, there is room for improvement in areas such as resource utilization, so that this project can be a bridge and a development pole for the communities.
He also commented that there is unequal development along the river: historically, improvement actions have been carried out mainly in the upper part, and only in recent years have they begun to concentrate on the lower part, so these areas should be promoted much more.
He added that it is thanks to the downriver communities, who have made an effort to speak from their community representations and their visions of what they want to see in the future, that investments such as the $45 million investment to create a Cultural Arts Center in South Gate have been made.
Max Podemski, planning director for Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, said that most of the riverfront residents are from low-income communities, which represents an area of opportunity for the revitalization to benefit them with open space.
"This is an opportunity to reimagine this kind of single-use infrastructure for multiple benefits, where these tributaries can be revitalized in a way that reflects those communities and can combat gentrification."
Meanwhile, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority environmental equity officer Sarah Rascon said many opportunities can be generated with the river, which in 2010 became navigable, so it can bring in many more people.
And 64% believes the tributary could become a world-class attraction, like the rivers in San Antonio, Seoul or Madrid, a goal that could be feasible given that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed it a navigable waterway.
Meanwhile, Mark Stanley, director of Rivers and Mountains Conservation, said that being an important asset for the community, they are continuously working to rescue and maintain the ecosystem, with the goal of generating benefits to the people who live in this region.
Also, how to improve what is already there, how to create better access, how to deal with homelessness, how to create integrated economic development without displacing people who don't have resources, so that everyone benefits from this master plan.
Belen Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, acknowledged the leadership at the state and federal level as they have had conversations with residents to identify their needs, and learn from history to reimagine this space in need of change, and define what it will become in the future.
Damon Nagami, senior attorney and director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Southern California Ecosystems Project, said each area has its specific issues, but this dream of a revitalized river has to become a reality.
He said that in recent years there have been important investments in South Los Angeles, which has generated land speculation and displacement, but these are experiences of growth and learning, so all communities must be incorporated in an equitable manner in these restoration efforts.
Finally, Miguel Luna, president of the NGO Urban Semillas, said that for him and his family, the river was like their church every Sunday, so he believes the Master Plan can "give people that opportunity to reconnect, or learn why that relationship is so important.
The Los Angeles River revitalization master plan is a 480-page document, commissioned by the county board of supervisors, that seeks to transform 32 miles of concrete-lined river into public green space, with a projected investment by the state of California of $$54 million.
President Joe Biden traveled to California on Monday with the intention of touring the area devastated by the Caldor fire, in addition to lending his support to Governor Gavin Newsom, who faces a recall election on Tuesday.
Before arriving at the former Mather Air Force Base in suburban Sacramento, President Biden will stop in Boise to visit the National Interagency Fire Center, which is coordinating the federal and state battle against this year's wildfire outbreak in the West, CBSN Bay Area said.
"I am on my way to Idaho and California to survey the damage from the recent wildfires and meet with local officials. I will discuss our response to these events and how we can make our nation more resilient to climate change and extreme weather," the president tweeted recently.
Recently, Biden said during a visit to New York regarding the damage from Hurricane Ida that "the evidence is clear: climate change poses an existential threat, and to our economy. The threat is here and it's not going to get better. The question: Can it get worse? We can prevent it from getting worse.
While in California, the president is expected to survey the fire damage with an aerial tour of El Dorado County.
As of Monday, the 29-day-old Caldor Fire is 67 percent contained, but has spread through three counties - El Dorado, Alpine, and Amador - consumed 219,267 acres, and destroyed 1,003 structures, including several hundred homes in Grizzly Flats.
Yesterday, Biden declared a major disaster in the state of California and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the affected areas.
Through a statement issued by the White House, it was detailed that federal funds are available to eligible state, tribal and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of damaged facilities in El Dorado County.
In the evening, Biden will turn his attention to the recall election facing Newsom, traveling to Long Beach where he will speak at a campaign rally prior to the last day of voting, which will be Tuesday, Sept. 14.
Newsom is trying to fend off a Republican-backed effort to oust him, which, in part, is motivated by some residents' annoyance at his restrictions over the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the recall election nears, the polls have been shifting. According to the latest published by the LA Times and IGS UC Berkeley more than 60 percent of likely voters would oppose the recall, compared to nearly 39 percent in support. Much larger difference than just a few weeks ago.
With just days to go before the possible recall of California's governor, activist campaigns have intensified to mobilize Latino voters, the group that so far has had the least participation in the early recall vote, which ends Sept. 14.
According to the latest report and analysis of returned mail-in ballots by Political Data Inc., 36% of white voters have participated as of September 9, but only 20% of Latinos, 30% of Asians and 28% of African Americans have participated.
Latinos are the largest voting group after whites in California, but only 1 in 6 have returned their ballots.
In the coming days, as more opportunities to vote in person open up and the final day of the election approaches, advocates hope to convince more Latino voters to make their voices heard.
Latinos and new voters were one of the most influential groups in California's transformation into a Democratic state after a series of anti-immigrant initiatives in the 1990s. Many activists consider this recall attempt as troubling for that population as Proposition 187 was in 1994. That proposition, which barred undocumented immigrants from schools and health care and turned officials into virtual immigration agents, was approved by California voters but overwhelmingly rejected by Latinos.
But even though Latinos had a record turnout in last November's presidential election, mobilization groups report that when talking to these voters, they seem very confused about the process and uninformed about the issue.
Several groups associated with Latino activism and voter mobilization used their political arms to campaign against the recall, which they consider disastrous for Latinos.
"We have a field operation in Fresno and Modesto and are making calls throughout California to low-turnout Latino voters," said Eduardo Sainz, national director of field work for Mi Familia Vota, an organization that is using an independent committee to campaign against the recall.
"We know that having a Republican governor would mean dismantling a lot of progressive legislation and policy that has benefited communities of color," she said. Her organization finds that many Latinos are surprised when they are told there is an election.
"Some have said, 'But I just voted,' referring to the last presidential election," Sainz said. "Many haven't heard about it or don't have enough information."
Marilú Guevara, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, believes many voters - not just Latinos - remain confused about the recall. "We get a lot of phone calls, they received a ballot, but they don't understand the process."
The low number of ballot returns by Latinos is not as unusual as it seems, said Fernando Guerra, executive director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
"Latinos decide late," Guerra said during a presentation to Latino leaders this week. "But it's been shown that if you pay attention to these voters, they participate."
Some Latino leaders have said behind the scenes that not enough resources were invested in mobilizing the community, a common problem in most political cycles.
But other issues have plagued this very short campaign, including the fact that Latinos may be consumed by the heavy impact the pandemic has had on their community, the problems of getting their children back to school, worries about the economy, etc. Also, the campaign was quite short.
"Most of the people we talked to didn't know there was a campaign," said Angelica Salas, director of the Chirla Action Fund, which is also working to defeat the recall.
On the last Thursday before the election, Governor Newsom joined an event with the Million Voter Project Action Fund, a group of 7 diverse networks including, among others, Asian Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment, California Calls, the California Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), PICO California, and the Orange County Civic Engagement Table.
The group has made 3.5 million phone calls to get out the vote and knocked on 20,000 doors, and its motivation is "to keep California from becoming Texas.
How do I look? Am I using filters to improve my appearance? These are some of the questions that many people ask themselves when they start a video call: they pay more attention to their own image than to the speaker who is making their presentation or to their colleagues who are presenting a point about their work.
Massachusetts General Hospital dermatologist Shadi Kourosh, graduate student Shauna M. Rice, and Emmy M. Graber, M.D., founder and president of the Boston Dermatology Institute, recently wrote an article for the journal Facial Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Medicine entitled "A Pandemic of Dysmorphia: the influence of Zoom calls on our perception of our appearance".
In the article, the authors explain that they have noticed an increase in patients citing their Zoom appearance as a reason for seeking care, particularly concerned about acne and wrinkles.
They detailed that a recent analysis of Google search trends during the pandemic showed that the terms "acne" and "hair loss" are increasing in this new virtual reality.
They attributed the trend to anxiety and depression, which are common psychological conditions during quarantine. "We suspect that the tendency may also stem from people constantly watching themselves on video and becoming more conscious of their appearance," they said.
Before Zoom took over as the metric used to assess appearance, patients used selfies and an arsenal of photo-editing applications to create filtered versions of themselves.
Webcams, which inevitably record at shorter focal lengths, tend to produce a generally rounder face, wider eyes and a wider nose. "It is important for patients to recognize the limitations of webcams and understand that, at best, they are a flawed representation of reality."
Nicknamed, Snapchat Dysmorphia, lhe influx of patients hoping to look more like their edited selves has led to widespread concern about their potential to trigger body dysmorphic disorder, the authors note.
The paper details that in 2019, 72 percent of members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reported seeing patients seeking cosmetic procedures to enhance their "selfies."
In addition, they said, higher levels of social network participation have been shown to correlate with greater body dissatisfaction.
"Unlike still and filtered "selfies" on social media, Zoom shows an unedited version of oneself in motion, a self-representation that very few people are used to seeing on a daily basis. This can have dramatic effects on body dissatisfaction and the desire to seek cosmetic procedures," they stressed.
So why are webcams so disturbing to users?
During real life conversations, we don't see our faces talking and showing emotions, and we certainly don't compare our faces side by side with each other like we do in video calls.
In addition, cameras can distort the quality of the video and create an inaccurate representation of the actual appearance.
According to the analysis, one study found that a portrait taken 30 centimeters away increases the perceived size of the nose by 30 percent compared to one taken at five feet.
What is Zoom Dysmorphia?
Zoom dysmorphia refers to the perception of various flaws after looking at our image for a certain amount of time. Throughout the pandemic, users have been looking for more solutions to improve their appearance while on video conferencing platforms.
Improvements can range from a simple supermarket-bought facial to considering plastic surgery. Which raises the question of whether this phenomenon is strictly a product of the pandemic, or is here to stay.
To further deconstruct the motivations behind this influx of patients in the Zoom era, the experts and authors of the article turned to the facial feedback hypothesis.
The theory states that facial expressions can affect our emotions and behaviors, to delve deeper into the phenomenon of Zoom dysmorphia.
"Treating wrinkles that look sad can reduce depression by making the patient appear less sad to others, which, in turn, makes them feel better about themselves."
"Perhaps there is a recent increase in patients seeking cosmetic procedures simply because they now see their imperfections on camera on a daily basis, or because the wrinkles they see on screen make them look more depressed to others and then they actually feel more depressed," they explained.
The theory in the context of Zoom is particularly interesting, as the patient is also the viewer.
"They may perceive themselves as sad because of the wrinkles they see, which further negatively affects their emotions, leading to a dangerous cycle of self-loathing."
This, they said, "becomes a big problem when an individual becomes overly preoccupied with real or imagined defects. A life spent disproportionately on Zoom can trigger a self-critical comparative response that leads people to go to their doctors for treatments they may not have considered before months of facing a video screen, a new phenomenon of 'Zoom Dysmorphia.
The act of removing a condom during sex without a partner's consent could be punishable in the state of California, after the state Legislature this week passed a first-of-its-kind initiative to ban "stealthing".
The word "stealthing" means "stealthily" or "secretly," and refers to the practice some men engage in of removing condoms during intercourse despite having agreed to wear them with a sexual partner.
Last Tuesday, the bill passed unanimously and only awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature to sign it into law, which would make "stealthing" a civil offense, meaning victims could sue their attackers for damages.
California Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who pushed the bill, said the measure would give victims another recourse to hold abusers accountable. "It would also make clear that this is not only amoral, but also illegal," The New York Times-NYT noted.
According to the newspaper, Garcia had been trying to pass legislation criminalizing "stealthing" since 2017, when a Yale University study attracted widespread attention. However, it achieved nothing.
This study highlights that the non-consensual removal of condoms during sex exposes victims to physical risks of pregnancy and disease and, according to the interviews conducted, many experience it as a serious violation of dignity and autonomy. Thus, "it can be understood that removing the condom turns sex into a non-consensual act," details the document.
According to another study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2019, 12 percent of women said they had been a victim of "stealthing." The study details that 87 percent of women experienced non-coercive "stealthing" from their partner and 49 percent experienced it in a coercive way.
Of these women, 58 percent and 19 percent reported engaging in non-coercive and coercive "stealth", respectively.
Yet another study published that same year reported that 10 percent of men admitted having removed a condom during sex without your partner's consent.
"Nearly 10 percent of participants reported nonconsensual condom removal since age 14, with an average of 3.62 times and a range of 1 to 21 times," she notes.
It explains that after controlling for condom use self-efficacy, men with greater hostility toward women and a history of more severe sexual assault were significantly more likely to engage in nonconsensual condom removal behavior.
Analyses showed that men who had a history of this practice were significantly more likely to have had a sexually transmitted infection or to have had a partner who had experienced an unplanned pregnancy.
The study concluded that nonconsensual condom removal, which involves elements of both sexual risk and sexual assault, confers multiple risks to its recipients, and thus "warrants further clinical and research attention".
Notably, similar "stealthing" bills have been introduced in New York and Wisconsin, but neither has passed. Ms. Garcia said she hoped legislatures across the country would do the same as California.
"It's a big week for victims," he said. "It's a big week for discussions about these issues, and it's a big week to talk about consent."
Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the release of $2.75 billion to the housing program. Homekey for the homeless to expand the program to purchase and rehabilitate buildings, including hotels, motels, apartments, small homes, and other properties.
The idea of the program is to transform these spaces into up to 14,000 units of permanent, long-term housing for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
"We are betting on solutions that work, tackling the homelessness crisis head-on with a constructive and compassionate approach that serves those with the most acute behavioral health needs. This investment will allow us to build on the groundbreaking success of Homekey: create more housing, faster and with accountability and efficiency," Governor Newsom said.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is releasing today the latest notice of funding availability for local governments to apply for funding.
Local interest in the housing program has been strong from the beginning. HCD began accepting applications for Homekey The COVID-19 program was launched on July 22, 2020, and over the course of a year provided COVID-19 safe haven to thousands of Californians and created 6,000 units of affordable housing in record time and at a fraction of the cost.
"In the midst of a pandemic, California took bold steps to protect the homeless by creating more than 6,000 units of housing with the first round of funding from Homekey"Lourdes Castro Ramirez, secretary of the Bureau of Business, Consumer Services and Housing, said.
"It was the largest permanent housing addition in state history, but our work is far from over. With the next round of program funding, the state will continue its work with our local partners to protect vulnerable Californians by providing safe spaces they can call their own," he added.
Earlier this year, the governor signed a historic housing and homelessness funding package as part of his $12 billion California Take Back Plan to address homelessness across the board.
Of that amount, $5.8 billion, including the $2.75 billion to expand Homekey, swill be used for up to 42,000 new homeless housing units and treatment beds, with housing options for those with the most acute behavioral health needs.
Additional funding from Homekey builds on the $846 million first phase investment, which resulted in 94 projects in counties and tribal areas across the state that closed escrow last year.
"This administration has set a goal to functionally end family homelessness in five years, which is why investments in programs like Homekey are so critical," said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez.
"Our team is moving quickly to get a wide range of projects off the ground, and we look forward to partnering with local governments and stakeholders to make this next round of Homekey sea even more successful," he said.
