Coronavirus

Gov. Newsom Praises Economy, Second Stimulus Payments as Rivals Step Up Attacks

Californians are scheduled to start receiving their second stimulus payment on Sept. 1, two weeks before California’s gubernatorial recall election.

Published

3 years ago

August 31, 2021

Christy Price

Gov. Newsom/Photo Courtesy CBM

Californians are scheduled to start receiving their second stimulus payment on Sept. 1, two weeks before California’s gubernatorial recall election.

All California households that receive the state’s earned income tax credit qualify for the one-time payments.

The state has provided a detailed guide, that readers can access at https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-ii-estimator.html explaining who qualifies for these payments and how much residents can expect.

Gov. Newsom praised the support being provided to Californians last week that he says is being funded from federal recovery assistance and the state’s budget surplus.

“Round 2 of Golden State Stimulus checks start to go out this week! Two out of three Californians are eligible for $600 or more — we’re putting money directly back into the pockets of those that need it most,” the governor tweeted.

But his Republican opponents running to replace him in the recall election continued to attack the governor’s leadership on issues other than the economy, including homelessness, housing affordability, taxes and what they view as his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC’s Sacramento affiliate KCRA hosted a debate featuring four of the candidates vying to replace Newsom: Republicans Kevin Falconer, former mayor of San Diego, Assemblymember Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) and businessman John Cox and Democrat and real estate investor Kevin Paffrath.

“This state is a mismanaged mess. His pandemic management was an inconsistent disaster,” Cox said, referring to Gov. Newsom during the debate.

“We don’t have water. We live in fear of fires. Crime is rising. Housing prices are out of sight,” added Cox, a businessman who supports expanding oil and gas exploration in California. “Taxes are out of sight. The homeless problem has only gotten worse. We’ve got to stop with these politicians and celebrities and get a businessman in there.”

The disbursement total for the second round of Golden State Stimulus payments (or GSS II) will be about $12 billion and is funded by California’s $100 billion California Comeback Plan budget.

California currently has the largest economy in the country and a budget surplus of $75.7 billion, according to the governor.

$276 million, or 0.4%, of the surplus is being used to fund the recall election.

Gov. Newsom boasted about the budget surplus and the upcoming stimulus checks in an announcement last week.

“I am incredibly proud of California’s economic recovery. Close to an $80 billion operating surplus and that’s afforded us an opportunity to do something no other state in U.S. history has ever done. And that’s provide over $12 billion of tax rebates.”

In this round of stimulus payments, California residents with one or more dependents could be eligible to receive $1,100.

Undocumented immigrants who pay taxes and earn below $75,000 a year will also receive the payments.

Christy Price

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Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

Oakland Post

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California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

9 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

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BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

1 year ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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