COVID-19 Reopening Roundup: Federal Unemployment Aid Package Expires; Piedmont Playfield Shut Down; 10th Condemned Inmate Dies During San Quentin Outbreak
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The tsunami of news about the current coronavirus outbreak and now the reopenings can be overwhelming. To help you navigate through what you need to know here's a news roundup of the top coronavirus and reopening-related stories from over the weekend.
Republican COVID-19 Stimulus Proposal: $1200 Checks, Smaller Unemployment Aid
SAN FRANCISCO -- A new COVID-19 stimulus bill was expected to be unveiled on Monday by Republican leaders after the $600 weekly federal unemployment boost expired for millions of Americans over the weekend. But the proposal was not expected to renew the full unemployment insurance enhancement. "We are going to be prepared on Monday to provide unemployment insurance extension that would be 70% of whatever the wages you were prior to being unemployed," said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. House Democrats passed a bill two months ago to extend the $600 payments through January. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Face the Nation Sunday the new formula is too complicated. Read More
Condemned Killer Johnny Avila Jr. Dies Of Complications From COVID-19
SAN QUENTIN -- Condemned Fresno killer Johnny Avila Jr. has become the 10th inmate on San Quentin's Death Row to die of complications from COVID-19 since the current outbreak of the virus began last month. State prison officials said Avila, 62, die Sunday morning at an outside hospital from what appears to be complications related to COVID-19. An exact cause of death will be determined by the coroner. Avila was sentenced to death in Fresno County on March 21, 1996 for two counts of first-degree murder. A jury found him guilty of the special circumstances slaying of two young women, Dorothy Medina and Arlene Sanchez. During the late night and early morning hours of July 31 and August 1, 1991, the two young women attended a gathering in rural Fresno, where Medina was brutally gang-raped. She and Sanchez were then driven to a canal bank and killed. Read More
Piedmont Playfield Closed Over Refusal to Comply With Public Health Orders
PIEDMONT -- Linda Beach Playfield closed to the public as of 4 p.m. Friday and will remain off-limits until further notice due to continued lack of compliance by users with novel coronavirus health orders, the city of Piedmont announced. The city also said it is considering additional enforcement measures to compel the public to comply with safety measures. "Despite repeated warnings from city staff, users of this facility have continued to play group sports in violation of COVID-19 health orders" made by the Alameda County Public Health Department, the city said in an advisory. "We regret having to take this action, but the actions of field users have necessitated it." Read More
Owner of Shuttered Mountain View Restaurant Sued by Landlord for Missed Rent
MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Despite a statewide moratorium on evictions, a restaurant owner on the Peninsula is being sued by his landlord for failing to pay rent even though the business has been closed since March. Alexander Hult is the owner, founder and CEO of Flights restaurant, one of four in the Bay Area including Burlingame, Campbell and Los Gatos. But it is the one in Mountain View that has added another title to his name -- that of defendant. "Save our jobs! Justice for Flights!" chanted Hult and his supporters at a Friday protest at the Palo Alto offices of his landlord, Peninsula Land and Capital. The company has served him with a lawsuit for not paying rent in full. "Instead of saying, 'hey, if you don't pay rent or you don't do this, we're going to sue you' they just -- literally -- just filed a lawsuit," Hult said. Read More
Giants Open COVID-19 Shortened Season With Surprise Weekend Series Split With Dodgers
LOS ANGELES -- Mauricio Dubon singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Sunday night. The Giants gained a split of the four-game series under new manager Gabe Kapler to open the shortened season after the Dodgers took the first two by a combined score of 17-2. "The first few games were unquestionably sloppy and this game was equally clean," Kapler said. "That's a good sign. It's a sign of a team that can make adjustments." The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the eighth, including the potential tying and go-ahead runs, after Kiké Hernández grounded out. Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger had back-to-back singles, the team's first consecutive hits in the game. Read More
$600 Weekly Unemployment Boost Expiring for Millions of Americans
SAN FRANCISCO -- The extra $600 federal unemployment benefit that has been a lifeline for about 30 million Americans is set to expire this weekend. The relief program technically doesn't end until July 31, but payments are only provided for weeks ending on either Saturday or Sunday. "I feel anxious about it and a little bit scared," said San Leandro resident Larrilou Carumba, a single mom of three. Carumba lost her job as a housekeeper at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, when the pandemic began. "With the $600, it really helped me a lot, because it paid my bills," she said. "I live paycheck to paycheck." Her unemployment check is about to drop to $450 a week. Read More
Legislature Returns To Sacramento For Five-Week Lawmaking Sprint
SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers are returning to work Monday for a furious five-week sprint that will include contentious debates about police brutality, unemployment benefits, hospital mergers and a moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. The state Legislature has shut down twice because of the coronavirus, losing precious time to work through issues and cut deals on key legislation. Now, most of the 55 standing committees will only meet one more time, limiting the number of bills that can pass by the Aug. 31 deadline for the session. Some people are just going to run out of time on some of their tougher bills," said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, Democratic chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee that is the gatekeeper for most legislation moving to the Assembly floor. But some lawmakers are working on another solution: Asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to call them back for a special session to give them more time to pass tough bills, including those aimed at addressing the fallout from the coronavirus. Read More
Bad News For COVID-19 Summer Car Travel: San Francisco Bay Area Has Nation's Highest Gas Prices
SAN FRANCISCO -- If COVID-19 wasn't enough of a damper for most San Francisco Bay Area families, a trip to the gas pump may also have many second guessing a road trip to a Northern California getaway destination. According to Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey, the average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline inched up less than penny over the past two weeks to $2.25 per gallon. That's 56 cents below the average pump price from a year ago. Lundberg said it's the smallest rise in prices seen since late April. She said crude oil prices have remained stable and there's an abundant supply of U.S. gasoline to meet the demand. Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas is in the San Francisco Bay Area at $3.27 per gallon. The lowest average is in Baton Rouge at $1.79 per gallon. Read More
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Cancelled Because Of COVID-19 Fears
SAN FRANCISCO -- Organizers for San Francisco's wildly popular free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival announced Saturday that this year's event will be cancelled in light of the current surge in COVID-19 cases. The festival, which has featured the likes of rock legend Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, T-Bone Burnett and others, annually draws hundreds of thousands of fans to Golden Gate Park over an October weekend listen to great music. Since it began, the event has never charged an admissions fee. But now it has gone the way of San Francisco's Outside Lands, Napa's Bottlerock, the summer-long Stern Grove Music Festival, Coachella 2020, SXSW 2020 and other large music gatherings that have been cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
Second Alameda County Sheriff's Department Staffer Dies While Being Treated For COVID-19
OAKLAND -- For the second time in a week, a member of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department has died while being treated for a COVID-19 infection, officials announced Saturday night. Alameda County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said technician Valerie Leon passed away Friday evening while being treated for from complications due to COVID-19 at Kaiser Hospital in Modesto. Leon, 61, joined the Sheriff Office in 1997 and worked a variety of assignments including at the Rene C Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. During the pandemic she was on assignment to the Coroner's Bureau where she worked in administration. "Once again it is with a heavy heart we must announce the passing of one of our own," Sheriff Greg Ahern said in a press release. "Valerie was just a wonderful and loving person with a bright smile. She loved her job, community, family and friends. We are truly heartbroken at her passing." Read More
Access To Sierra 'Hidden Gem' Swimming Hole Shut Down Due To Overcrowding
FORESTHILL -- California park officials have shut vehicle access to a pristine swimming hole in Northern California due to an influx of visitors to the "hidden gem" that has become a popular photo backdrop on social media. There are just 12 parking spots near Yankee Jim's, a sliver of crystal clear water on the North Fork American River, about 35 miles west of Lake Tahoe, but last weekend California State Parks and Placer County authorities counted more than 300 vehicles parked near the rugged roads surrounding a one-way bridge overhead. Some vehicles blocked entry and exit points to the area, causing an hours-long traffic jam as drivers tried to turn around, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook posting on Friday. Authorities said the scenic area has exploded in popularity thanks to social media postings. Read More
Despite High Infection Count, San Mateo County Stays Off State COVID-19 Watch List
REDWOOD CITY -- Business owners in San Mateo County were worried about having to close as they sat on the precipice of California's coronavirus watch list. By state guidelines, that could have happened last Monday or Tuesday but it did not. It was great news for gym and salon owners in San Mateo County but it's causing some frustration in the South Bay. "You know, either way with the virus and the pandemic, business has been rough," says Taylor Martin, owner of The Weight Room in Redwood City. "But at least being open we have the opportunity to rebuttal." When KPIX spoke with Martin last week, he was worried he would be closed again by now. Despite the still-bad situation, it's good news. "Being open, it's a blessing," Martin says. Read More
Staffer Positive COVID-19 Test Forces Weekend Closure at Oakland Summer Camp
OAKLAND -- A youth summer camp run by the city of Oakland was shut down on Friday after someone tested positive for the coronavirus. Parents found out it was a camp staff member. "Yeah, it was fun," said six-year-old Oscar about his experience at the camp. While it was fun for Oscar, mom Anya Shapina said it's been a headache. She says the infected staffer worked in Oscar's pod. "We had to isolate our grandmother, Oscar's grandmother. So it's impossible to isolate him to one room of course -- he's six and a half. So now my mother has to stay in her room," Shapina said. She add that the family will stay put for the next 14 days.City spokeswoman Karen Boyd released a statement reading: "the individual was wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and observed other safety protocols. However, out of an abundance of caution, programs were suspended on Friday and the facility received heightened cleaning." Read More
Morgan Hill Goes All-In With Outdoor Dining as Pandemic Wears On
MORGAN HILL -- Morgan Hill is feeling the same economic pressures from the pandemic as any other place but this community is showing how much can be accomplished when you embrace change rather than try to resist it. Morgan Hill is working to make outdoor dining an ongoing attraction. The sidewalks outside restaurants are full of tables that, on some blocks, extend into the street. City government had to ease regulations to make it happen. "With this new norm of 'the future is outside' we've actually partnered with our community to help our businesses thrive through this pandemic," Mayor Rich Constantine told KPIX. But it's not enough just to drag tables outside so the city is offering $2,500 grants to businesses to pay for upgrades to make the area more inviting. Read More
Petaluma Fire Dept Puts 15 in Quarantine After Crew Member Tests Positive for COVID-19
PETALUMA -- The Petaluma Fire Department has quarantined 15 crew members after a firefighter tested positive last week for COVID-19, fire officials said Saturday. The firefighter, who tested positive on July 19, is currently in good condition and has not been hospitalized, said Fire Marshal Jessica Power. The firefighter and 14 crew members that he had close contact with have been isolated. In addition, Station 3, where the infected firefighter works, is closed for cleaning by a professional cleaning company. While the station is closed, Rancho Adobe Fire Department will assist the Petaluma department in responding to emergency calls, Power said. Read More
