Local news needs your help + Reopening California one step at a time + Air quality standoff

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I walked out of The Bee’s Capitol Bureau on March 12 unaware that would be my final day in the office for the foreseeable future. I left behind a stack of pink Post-it notes scribbled with interview notes, a half-written SB 50 follow-up and about a dozen story ideas.

All that came to a screeching halt when the Legislature voted to adjourn until at least April 13, which then became May 4, as the coronavirus blanketed California in a dark anxiety that’s yet to lift.

It wasn’t what I expected, but I feel that my reporting has never been more critical.

More specifically, journalism has never been more critical.

We’re living in a pandemic that will cause lasting consequences for our health and economy. There’s never been a time when local journalism matters more, for readers to have a trusted source for news that helps them make the medical, financial and personal safety decisions for themselves and their families.

Nearly overnight, we turned into a hive of coronavirus reporters, covering in those early days anything from where to get tested to where to buy toilet paper. We continue to churn out dailies that keep track of our neighbors tragically lost and the political decisions from the White House to the California Capitol on how to get out of this mess.

And the investigative work? Breathtaking. For example, Ryan Sabalow, Jason Pohl and Dale Kasler, with dogged determination, secured nursing home COVID-19 infection data from public health officials. The numbers are daunting and raise concern over whether we ever had a strong care system for our country’s most vulnerable residents, and why it took a pandemic to finally expose its weaknesses.

The Capitol Bureau’s been going full speed, too. Sophia Bollag anchors our coverage of Newsom, keeping a keen eye on the outcomes and spending attached to each of his many executive orders. And speaking of money, I’ve taken a deep dive into California’s fiscally strained relationship with its public health department and how 20 years of lab closures limited the state’s capacity to “test and trace” potential coronavirus cases.

I’m proud to belong to a team of such skilled and tenacious reporters.

Even as we reach more readers than our ever with critical news, we’re seeing the new recession hit our bottom line. Many of our industry peers have already cut staff or furloughed thousands of employees as they cope with lost advertising.

We’re trying something new. We’re asking for your support to keep our newsroom going at full strength through this crisis. We recognize that you may be experiencing a loss of income because of the coronavirus, and that you have other charitable causes that deserve your attention. We understand if you can’t contribute.

But if you are able, we’ve partnered with the nonprofit Local Media Foundation, which is accepting contributions on our behalf. Donate by visiting givebutter.com/sacbee.

Our goal is to raise $200,000 to support our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its aftermath. We’re getting there.

You can also support our reporting subscribing at sacbee.com/subscribe. If you already do so, thank you.

I’ll be here when the Capitol returns to business on Monday. I already have a fresh stack of Post-its and interview notes for what I expect to be a historic session ahead.

As we return, please send me what you’d like to see more of from the Capitol Bureau.

I’m excited to hear your story ideas. I’ll add them to my Post-it pile.

- Thank you, Hannah

ITCHING TO REOPEN

Don’t expect to go to a concert or a football game any time soon.

Large gatherings like those will be among the last to reopen from the restrictions California and local governments are using to slow the coronavirus outbreak, according to the plan Gov. Gavin Newsom disclosed Tuesday.

But, within a few weeks, you might be able to browse the aisles of a retail store. And, soon after that, schools and day care might reopen under Newsom’s four-stage plan.

Details are still being worked on his suggestion that schools could open in July. Parents told The Sacramento Bee’s Sawsan Morrar that they’re unsure they want to send their kids back to class so soon, and they worry about interrupting the rhythms of a school year.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond isn’t ready to commit, either. “For now, we still have more questions than answers. But now is the time for us to problem-solve and plan for the future,” he said in a news release after the governor spoke.

Newsom offered the details as more rural communities and business owners press him to lift restrictions on the economy. On Tuesday, a Sacramento gym owner announced his intent to reopen his business in spite of Newsom’s restrictions.

“The Constitution does not have on (sic) ‘on and off’ switch,” the gym owner, Sean Covell, wrote in a message to customers. “We simply ask that you respect the law of the land.”

At the Capitol steps, a handful of Placer County business owners joined Republican lawmakers in asking for more flexibility for the communities. “Let us getting cooking again,” one restaurant owner said.

And, El Dorado and San Luis Obispo County governments separately moved to relax stay-at-home orders.

Newsom insisted he won’t be swayed by the activism and he has public opinion on his side. Last week, a poll from the California Health Care Foundation showed 75 percent of Californians support the stay-at-home order.

“Politics will not drive our decision-making,” Newsom said. “Protests will not drive our decision-making.”

CLEAN AIR LETTER

Thirty-seven lawmakers, led by Grand Terrace Democratic Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, have written a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Resources Board, calling on them to resist efforts to roll back California’s air quality standards.

The Trump administration has been moving to undo California’s power to set its own clean air regulations, and the White House has released new fuel economy proposals that contradict California’s more aggressive goals.

“We are concerned by recent accounts in the press, as well as letters that the Legislature has received from regulated industries, that are using this public health emergency to stop, delay, or otherwise weaken California’s environmental and public health protections,” the letter read in part.

That letter follows previously sent letters, one from a coalition of health groups including the American Lung Association California, the other from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Reyes’ letter concludes by asking Newsom to “continue to move forward on critical rulemakings with an emphasis on maximizing equitable and meaningful public participation and community-based feedback.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The kids deserve a normal summer break, and so do the parents.”

- Stephanie Gore, a parent of K-5 kids in Citrus Heights on Newsom’s proposal to open schools in July.

Best of the Bee:

• At least 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths in California are from eldercare homes, state reveals, by Jason Pohl

• California taxpayers surprised by IRS letters showing oversize Donald Trump signature, by Andrew Sheeler

• ‘Open the damn city up.’ Fresno councilman, Crazy Bernie call for opening amid COVID-19, by Thaddeus Miller

This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 4:55 AM.