If you have a small business in San Mateo County, don't forget that you only have a few days left to apply for a $250 energy bill credit from Peninsula Clean Energy.
The nonprofit, community-controlled agency notes that there are now many small businesses in the county that have struggled financially, especially since the "Shelter in Place" petition began in March of this year.
To support the county's economic recovery, it is offering a credit of $250 in electricity bills for six thousand small businesses, which have a deadline to apply for the credit of December 31, 2020.
People who want to apply for a credit must be on an A1, B1, A6 or B6 electricity rate plan, and have a total of two or fewer electricity accounts, where the second is not a great electricity service.
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, who reported on the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan province, was sentenced to four years in prison after a court there found her guilty Monday of "provoking disputes and trouble".
Such charges are usually used against government critics. In her essays and reports, as well as in her video transmissions, the journalist reported on the situation in the epicenter of the pandemic in early February.
Zhan also uploaded several videos to YouTube with interviews with residents, comments and images of a crematorium, train stations, crowded hospitals, empty streets and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
It should be noted that the Communist Party of China strictly controls the media and seeks to block information that it has not approved. In the early days of the outbreak, authorities also reprimanded several doctors in Wuhan for "spreading rumors" after they alerted their friends on social networks.
"Zhang Zhan seemed devastated when the sentence was announced," his lawyer Ren Quanniu told reporters, at the conclusion of the hearing at the Shanghai Pudong New District People's Court.
For its part, the UN Human Rights Office posted on its Twitter account: "We are deeply concerned about the four-year prison sentence imposed on citizen journalist Zhang Zhan".
"We raise his case with the authorities throughout 2020, as an example of the excessive repression of freedom of expression linked to COVID-19, and we continue to call for his release.
Security officials at the Pudong courthouse denied entry to foreign journalists "because of the epidemic. Meanwhile, Zhan's lawyer said his team "will probably appeal.
"Ms. Zhang believes she is being persecuted for exercising her freedom of expression," her lawyer said before the trial. Zhan, a former lawyer, arrived in Wuhan in February from her home in Shanghai and was arrested in May.
He went on a hunger strike at the end of June, according to court documents. Her lawyers told the court that the police tied her hands and force-fed her with a tube.
By December, I was suffering from headaches, dizziness, stomach pain, low blood pressure and a throat infection. Requests to the court to release Zhan on bail before the trial and to broadcast the trial live were ignored.
Other citizen journalists who disappeared without explanation include Fang Bin, Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua. While there has been no news of Fang, Li reappeared on a YouTube video in April to say he was forcibly quarantined, while Chen, although released, is under surveillance and has not spoken publicly.
San Mateo County will benefit from improved water quality after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $85 million Water Infrastructure Innovation and Financing Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of San Mateo for a project that will reduce sewer overflows.
The action complements a $210 million loan announced in November of this year for improvements to the city's wastewater treatment plant.
Thus, both projects - funded by WIFIA - will improve water quality in the San Francisco Bay and help protect public health and the environment through better wastewater management.
"Through WIFIA, the EPA is modernizing the nation's water infrastructure in ways that improve public health and environmental protection while creating jobs and supporting local economies," said agency administrator Andrew Wheeler.
Importantly, the loan will help the City of San Mateo protect public health and water quality by increasing its capacity to manage wastewater during storms, alleviate sewerage overflows and prevent partially treated water discharges into the bay.
Similarly, San Mateo will improve its sanitary sewer collection system by replacing pumping stations, main sewers and manholes, and building a new wastewater flow compensation facility.
The project is designed to meet regulatory requirements, eliminate waste discharges and correct conditions that cause sanitary sewer overflows, the EPA said in a statement.
"This project will not only reduce wastewater overflows and improve recreational use of the San Francisco Bay, but will also create jobs during a particularly challenging economic period," said EPA Southwest Pacific Regional Administrator John Busterud.
Brad Underwood, Director of Public Works for the City of San Mateo, said, "EPA's support means our taxpayers feel less burdened as we make our environment cleaner for all city residents, and for the fish, birds and mammals that live in San Francisco Bay.
This project will cost $173.7 million and the EPA WIFIA loan will finance almost half of that figure. The remaining project funds will come from a combination of revenue bonds and system funds.
Thus, the WIFIA loan will save the city of San Mateo an estimated $15.4 million and the construction and operation of the project is expected to generate more than 500 jobs.
Since a cluster of cases of pneumonia due to unknown causes was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world, according to a study published in a British journal.
Globally, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, there are around 79,712,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,747,790 deaths, while the United States records 18,733,000 cases and 330,000 deaths.
And while there is a belief among the population that children are not affected by this disease, statistics from countries in Asia, Europe and North America show that pediatric cases may account for as much as 7.8 percent of confirmed cases of IDOC-19.
According to the study called "COVID-19 and Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and Adolescents", published in The Lancet, although the manifestations of the disease are generally milder in children, a small proportion requires hospitalization and intensive care.
And according to the report, from September to November 2020 there has been an increase in reports from Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America describing children and adolescents with multi-systemic inflammatory conditions (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19, which appear to develop after the peak of the disease.
It should be noted that the clinical features of these paediatric cases are similar to other syndromes and conditions, such as Kawasaki disease, Kawasaki shock and toxic shock syndrome, although there are distinctions.
The research mentions that in the current VIDOC-19 pandemic there was an increase in observations of inflammatory disease occurring in children; of which, most reports were weeks after the peak of VIDOC-19 infections in those affected.
On April 7, 2020, a case of a six-month-old infant in the U.S., presenting with persistent fever and minor respiratory problems, was first reported. The infant was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
On April 24, 2020, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom issued an alert on an emerging pediatric multisystemic inflammatory disorder. Since then, several other countries have reported MSD temporarily associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
In this sense, he reports that MIS-C cases began to appear about a month after a peak in COVID-19 in the population. This is because the number of cases in the UK increased dramatically around 16 April 2020, four weeks after the substantial increase in cases in the UK. Epidemiological studies from the US and France revealed similar trends.
Also, only one-third of reported MIS-C cases were positive by RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2, while most cases were positive by antibody test, indicating past infection in the minor.
Thus, the delay in the presentation of this condition in relation to the pandemic curve, a low proportion of cases that were positive for COVID-19, and a high proportion of positive antibodies, suggests that this inflammatory syndrome is not mediated by direct viral invasion, but coincides with the development of acquired immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.
The study indicates that there are no widely accepted guidelines on the management of MIS-C, but several organizations have published their own guidelines. In fact, physicians at several centers have created treatment protocols based on specific or similar symptoms, such as Kawasaki disease.
Finally, the report explains that with the small number of cases recorded worldwide, it is vital to establish international research collaboration to conduct these relevant studies in a coordinated and effective manner.
It also refers that more studies are needed to determine the effectiveness and safety of these treatments and to determine the long-term results and sequels.
In addition, it is essential to incorporate this differential diagnosis in pediatric patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 in order not to delay the diagnosis and to establish early treatment.
There are still some challenges for students and teachers to return to schools and a new normalcy, said Eddie Flores, president of the South San Francisco Unified School District School Board.
He said this has been an unexpected year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the lives of students, teachers and other staff are in the hands, and that is why we have a distance education model, which has been in place since the spring.
"It's a model that, while not perfect, we are perfecting as we have many more voices participating with suggestions and recommendations from both the teachers' union and the parents themselves. It's been successful so far," she said.
He said the board made a decision to continue distance learning until the county can return to orange, since they are confident that this is the best way to take care of the health of all the people they represent and that is the most important thing.
They have also developed special learning spaces for groups in need, and have partnered with community centres to provide assistance to specific groups with special needs or even homelessness.
"These are specific groups that we have focused on bringing to these learning centers, which are in physical locations in the South San Francisco community, because we want to avoid it being like an academic avalanche that prevents students from advancing, and we don't want this year to go to waste," he explained.
They have also provided all families who need it with digital devices so that they can continue studying, regardless of whether they have two or three students at home, as well as workshops so that parents can also learn how to use these technologies.
On the other hand, he said that the vaccine for COVID-19 is what will help us prevent the virus and return to a new normal. "We are anxious that the federal government can classify teachers and academic staff at the district level as the next essential group to receive the vaccine.
Because, he said, teachers are key to returning to a new normalcy, so that students can return to schools, even though they have been working either in the offices or through the computers at a distance in this virtual learning.
On Latino representation on the council, he noted that with district elections, which many cities and school districts have adopted as a new form of election, "we are having a new wave of representatives and voices that we value very much in the community.
"I am very happy with what has been happening and the new opportunities that are being had, I think it was time that this had happened, so that we could give a voice to all those people who had not been represented," he added.
He added that there are indeed barriers for Latinos and the doors have not yet been fully opened to these types of positions, but it is a job where they have to support each other and participate, because that is the most important thing and make a difference.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new $900 billion stimulus plan for the economy, extending the benefits to millions of citizens facing the pandemic and the crisis it has caused.
This, after almost a week of the outgoing president's refusal to sign this aid, also prevented funds for the Administration from being depleted and hundreds of thousands of employees from having their salaries suspended.
"I sign this bus and COVID-19 package with a strong message that makes it clear to Congress that the wasteful items of the law must be withdrawn," Trump said in a statement.
The president said that, despite signing the bill, he still hopes Congress will approve a change in the item that contemplates sending a one-time payment of $600 to millions of taxpayers to compensate for the ravages of the pandemic.
USA U.S. exceeds 19 million cases of VOCs-19
The country surpassed the 19 million registered cases of COVID-19 this Sunday, according to estimates made by Johns Hopkins University, while in the last week one million cases were registered, due to the end of the year celebrations.
The United States also has a total of 333,836 deaths related to the virus as of this Monday, making the number of cases and deaths the highest in the world.
COVID-19 infections have increased at an alarming rate in recent months. In the U.S., at least one million cases per week have been added since the beginning of November.
COVID-19 vaccination campaign experiences delays
As of last Wednesday, according to Reuters, only one million shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the United States, suggesting a delay in the campaign's goal of 20 million people by the end of the year.
U.S. Army General Gustave Perna reported that some deliveries of the first 20 million doses will continue through the first week of January, while Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor to Operation Warp Speed, said it could take longer.
While hospitals have begun distributing the vaccines - Modern and Pfizer-BioNTech - to date the CDC has not yet reported these data and there may be a delay in reporting the vaccines given for both vaccines.
Suspected explosion in Nashville identified
Nashville authorities have identified the suspect in a vehicle explosion in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, on Christmas Day. They also confirmed that the suspect was killed on the spot.
"We concluded that an individual named Anthony Warner is the attacker, was present when the bomb went off and was killed in the explosion," U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said at a news conference.
The explosion, which occurred at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday, December 25 in Nashville - the capital of the Countryside music - damaged some 40 buildings and injured at least three people, at a time when the area was virtually empty in the early hours of Christmas.
Fair Oaks CommonsA development of 67-unit affordable housing in Redwood CityThe newest building, built by the nonprofit Alta Housing, opened its doors to San Mateo County residents at a time when housing needs are increasing.
The new four-story residential development is located in San Mateo County's North Fair Oaks neighborhood, which will provide independent living for low-income families, veterans and formerly homeless households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area's median income.
"We are excited to welcome new residents to this beautiful residential community, which will provide affordable, high quality, permanent housing to many special members of our local community," said Randy Tsuda, president and CEO of Alta Housing Oficial.
"We are grateful to our partners and San Mateo County officials who have worked closely with us, especially during these difficult times, to enable us to deliver much-needed affordable housing in the Bay Area," he added.
For his part, San Mateo County Supervisor Warren Slocum explained that "these 67 new affordable units will allow families to create stability during this unprecedented time and beyond. The partnership with Alta Housing offers San Mateo County families, veterans and homeless people a place to call home.
It is worth noting that Alta Housing has partnered with the Menlo Park Veterans Affairs office, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, and the San Mateo County Mental Health Association to provide support services to residents.
John Stewart Company will provide site management and service agencies will provide resident involvement, assistance in accessing community resources, job readiness programs, financial planning courses, counseling services and case management services.
Amenities include a community room with kitchen, technology room, laundry and elevator access to each floor. The courtyard has outdoor fitness equipment, a picnic area and a barbecue grill. There are also indoor living areas.
The parking lot has space for 51 cars, including three handicapped accessible spaces. To promote sustainable means of transport, there is an enclosed bicycle parking lot and a bicycle repair station.
The design and technology of the building includes the use of solar panels for preheating the hot water and lighting the common areas. The residential community includes energy-efficient appliances, recycled materials with low VOC content, drought-tolerant landscaping and umbrellas, as well as metal awnings to reduce heat gain.
San Mateo County provided development funding of approximately $42 million through Measure K, approved by the voters, Wells Fargo Bank, NA, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and California Community Reinvestment Corporation.
Funding for the acquisition was provided by Housing Endowment and Regional Trust of San Mateo County. The project is also supported by 27 HUD-VASH vouchers and 32 Section 8 vouchers from the San Mateo County Housing Authority.
A Las Vegas man wearing a Donald Trump mask, a long white beard and a Santa Claus hat shot his ex-brother-in-law in Rohnert Park on Saturday morning, police said.
The police went to Manchester Avenue around 11:20 a.m., when a woman said her 77-year-old husband had been shot.
Police quickly spotted a small black compact car with Nevada plates trying to make a U-turn.
The officers blocked the road and arrested the man. Inside the car, the police found a gun in a duffel bag, a rubber mask that looked like President Trump, and a long white, curly beard.
Officials determined that the victim had been shot twice and was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
While the police were still investigating, they found a suspicious package in the entrance of the victim's house. The area was cordoned off and the Sonoma County sheriff's bomb disposal team responded to dispose of the device.
After evaluation, the device was found to be a towel wrapped in the box.
Police said officials later determined that the suspect, Gerald Jacinth, 75, arrived at the victim's house claiming he had a "special delivery" and then shot the victim twice, once in the back.
The police have not yet revealed the reason for the shooting.
Jacinth was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and imprisoned.
Like millions of other young adults, Cindy and Kenny Dzib Tuz had moved back in with their parents to serve their quarantine during the pandemic.
Kenny, 21, had been attending film school at Cal State Los Angeles and his older sister Cindy, 27, was working in communications. The Dzib Tuz grew up in the Mission District of San Francisco. Their parents, Rafael and Rita, immigrated from Oxkutzcab, Yucatan, Mexico, in the late 1980s and arrived in San Francisco just before the Loma Prieta earthquake.
The entire family identifies as indigenous Mayans, but even in a place as diverse as the Bay Area, they did not always feel represented, even within their neighborhood.
"It's something you don't notice as you grow up," Kenny says from his home in the Mission, "but even within our own community, even though we identify ourselves as Mexican Americans, we don't always feel like Mexicans.
About 15 percent of Mexico's population identifies itself as indigenous, with Mayan being the second most widely spoken indigenous language in the country after Nahuatl.
Rafael Dzib Canul left his municipality in the late 1980s, when many other members of his community were driven to leave in part by Mexico's participation in NAFTA, which led to land reforms that hurt small farmers and the henequen fiber industry, which is fundamental to the state's economy.
San Francisco has become home to thousands of Maya people since Rafael arrived. UC Berkeley researchers estimated that about 25,000 Yucatecan immigrants lived in the Bay Area in 2018, but there is still no indication of how the pandemic has impacted these numbers.
Despite its historical legacy, one of the most prominent physical symbols recognizing the Maya in San Francisco was erected only a few years ago: a new park called "In Chan Kaajal" - "Mi Pueblo" or "Mi Pueblito" - which opened in 2017. Murals and public art with Mayan images now appear in San Francisco's Mission District, and annual celebrations such as Carnaval have space for their artists.
"I felt identified; I felt recognized," says Cindy. "You can see how the community is changing. It's like when you go to Chinatown and you see those names.
Cindy and Kenny wanted to help spread the word. During the summer, they began discussing a possible project for National Hispanic Heritage Month, an institution they believe is still missing the presentation and the indigenous nuance. That's when they started "Mundo Maya", a documentary series on YouTube that mixes anthropology, linguistics, personal and family testimonies to preserve the personal stories of San Francisco's Mayan community.
They've released five episodes of the seven planned, with characters like Don Jaime, whose serene tale tells how he left Mexico when his young daughter became ill and finally got a job at the Cliff House.
Elvia Guadalupe López Cano had to sell her pig to buy her first bicycle, with the purpose of getting on a bike someday. She came to the United States at age 19 to save for a hot rod to transport her home, but then fell in love, married and raised her family in the Bay Area.
When Gonzalo Dzay Ix arrived in San Francisco in 1979, he says he was afraid to leave and be detained by the immigration police before he received his residency. After 25 years as a bus driver, he now wants to return to his homeland and his immediate family.
All episodes are subtitled in English and Spanish. Cindy and Kenny are not fluent in Mayan, so their father needs simultaneous interpretation, a topic of conversation within his own family.
"This was an idea I had in mind, to explore my own roots. I've always lived between these two or three worlds," says Cindy about reconciling her American education with her Mexican heritage, and her Mayan heritage within both. Many others like Cindy feel the weight of living between worlds shaped by culture, language, and geography. "We do this to elevate that identity, and it may not be there anymore. The goal of our content is to initiate debate in viewers' homes. How does identity change in the U.S. versus Mexico? It's a complex thing."
And it is. In the series, they all come from Oxkutzcab, but they live very different lives. Ignacio Maldonado, the youngest of the group and the only subject who has so far conducted his interview in English, speaks very frankly about how his identity is represented by a Venn diagram.
He arrived in San Francisco as a teenager and therefore attended school, which exposed him to a spectrum of Latino identities and one of his lifelong passions: capoeira. Like Kenny, he has not always felt that he belongs with his peers.
"I identify myself as Mexican," Maldonado says in the video, "but when I'm around other Mexicans I feel that I'm not Mexican, I'm more of a Yucatecan," whether because of their humor, their dialect or their cultural norms.
So far, the reception of the "Mundo Maya" series has been overwhelmingly positive.
"I was very nervous about premiering the first episode," says Kenny. "I was very worried about the non-Latinos: Would they care to hear these stories? That definitely surprised me. The opportunity to uplift my own community is always a goal of mine, and you don't have to be Mexican to relate to these issues.
Most of the argument is based on the people Cindy and Kenny interacted with as children: nannies or family friends whose stories are now coming back to life. As the introduction to the series says, "We're still here... we're still here.
Palo Alto officials announced that free trials of COVID-19 will be offered every Tuesday, from 10 am to 4 pm, in the parking lot of the Mitchell Park Library, at 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
Such tests are available to both individuals and families regardless of insurance status. These tests are sponsored by a local company Curativewhich is also offering similar programs in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.
No es necesario declarar su situación migratoria. Visite https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=5065 para obtener más información y obtener una cita. Se ofrecerán pruebas adicionales en dicho sitio cada dos miércoles a partir del 13 de enero.
Testing is also available by appointment twice a month at Mitchell Park Community Center, in partnership with Santa Clara County.
