9-10: San Diego still bans speech that is "anti-authority." Chau's doctorate is from a degree mill. OC Board of Ed loses big

✅Questions Continue to Swirl Around Orange County Health Director’s Qualifications
—Voice of OC
     Since Clayton Chau was first appointed as public health director for Orange County, there have been swirling questions about whether he’s qualified to be the top medical doctor protecting the health of the county’s 3 million residents during the coronavirus pandemic. Chau is overseeing the county’s billion-dollar Health Care Agency while also taking on the job duties of county health officer.
     Chau has drawn attention for pulling back the local mask order that his predecessor Dr. Nichole Quick put in place. Chau, who says he co-owned two Rockin’ Crawfish restaurants until 2012 or 2013, also has taken a more relaxed approach to restaurant enforcement than Quick, relying on an attorney opinion that officials are declining to release. All that attention on Chau recently drew Orange County residents to his resume, with many raising questions on Twitter about the Ph.D degree he lists from an online university that apparently shut down amid accusations of being a fraudulent degree mill….

✅California Supreme Court denies O.C. Board of Education petition to reopen campuses

—OC Reg

     The Orange County Board of Education’s bid to force California to re-open school campuses for in-person learning ended Wednesday when the California Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

     Board of Education President Ken Williams expressed disappointment with the ruling.

     “I am sorry that the state Supreme Court did not view that Governor Newsom has abused his emergency powers that are given to governors under a real healthcare crisis. Our families and children are suffering from not going to school.”….

 

✅Trump played down the pandemic, but voters may have figured that out already-- ...But unlike the “Access Hollywood” story [four years ago], most voters in battleground states [today] didn’t need to hear Trump’s duplicity — on tape — to make up their minds about his handling of the pandemic. They made up their minds months ago — and that’s why Trump trails in most battleground states.... Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/10/20

 

✅San Diego moves toward repeal of ‘seditious language’ ban police have used during protests -- Public outcry over San Diego’s century-old ban against speech that is anti-authority prompted a City Council committee to take a key first step Wednesday toward repealing the rule, which critics say violates free speech rights. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/10/20

 

✅SF State to lay off 131 staffers — but no faculty — after budget shortfall -- The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to enrollment and budget challenges, led to the layoffs, school President Lynn Mahoney said in an email. She said the administration hopes to meet with staff unions to find ways to reduce the number of layoffs. No faculty members were laid off. Vanessa Arredondo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/10/20

 

✅Behind Woodward’s September surprise: White House aides saw a train wreck coming, then jumped aboard -- He offered lengthy meetings in the Oval Office and made phone calls at night from the White House — delivering Bob Woodward an unprecedented nine hours of access across 18 interviews.  Nancy Cook and Alex Thompson Politico -- 9/10/20

 

"What's with your peepers, chum?"

✅California’s rate of virus infections keeps falling -- Significantly fewer people are testing positive and being hospitalized for the coronavirus in California. But Gov. Gavin Newsom and his top health official said Tuesday they won’t speed up the deliberate process they established last month for reopening the state. Adam Beam Associated Press -- 9/9/20

 

✅Coronavirus cases hit 400 at San Diego State -- The number of San Diego State University students who tested positive or were considered probable for coronavirus infection hit 400 Tuesday as the region narrowly retained its current tier in the state’s new reopening hierarchy. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/9/20

 

✅Whistleblower: Homeland Security Leaders Downplayed Threats from Russia and White Supremacists -- The former head of the Homeland Security Department’s intelligence division has accused three senior leaders of warping the agency around President Trump’s rhetoric. Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Nicholas Fandos in the New York Times$ Zachary Basu Axios -- 9/9/20

 

✅More White Lies

—Inside Higher Ed

     Historian Jessica Krug, who last week admitted to being white and faking being Black for her entire career, resigned from her associate professorship at George Washington University, effective immediately, the institution announced Wednesday.

     But on the heels of her scandal comes another confession of racial fraud from a scholar. This time it’s a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison -- where Krug got her own Ph.D….

 

✅Education Department Finalizes Religious Freedom Rule

—Inside Higher Ed

     …But Dena Sher, associate vice president of public policy at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the rule will prevent universities from keeping religious student groups from discriminating based on religion, race, sexual orientation and other factors.

     "This rule creates troubling exemptions for religious clubs at public colleges and universities, and the result is discrimination underwritten by tax dollars and tuition fees," Sher said….

✅Today's OC Covid numbers: 281 new cases; 4 new deaths