Don Wagner is at it again!

Is Orange County Picking Another Coronavirus Mask Fight With Gov. Newsom?

—Voice of OC

     Orange County might be picking another fight with Gov. Gavin Newsom over the state’s coronavirus restrictions after Supervisor Don Wagner hinted that county officials might not enforce the guidelines. 

     The state’s reopening guidelines under a four-tiered system announced earlier this month allows numerous retailers to continue operating at limited capacities. 

     When OC moved to Tier Two last Tuesday, it allowed restaurants, gyms, churches and movie theaters to resume indoor operations at limited building capacities. 

     “This board, back in May, unanimously approved our business reopening — our business opening guidelines,” Wagner said at Tuesday’s public supervisors meeting. 

     “I raise that because we are hearing about other counties — San Diego county is considering whether it passes or not, but it’s considering a resolution today … to indicate there will not be enforcement in San Diego county of the state’s mask mandate,” Wagner said. 

     On Monday, San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond said he’s going to push San Diego to not enforce any of the coronavirus guidelines, including masks. He said the guidelines shift too much and are too difficult to follow for struggling business owners. 

     Wagner said OC is pretty much there. 

     “I want to make sure our public knows that we essentially got there in May. Do what is in the guidelines and what the industry recommends in respect to protecting yourselves, your employees and your customers,” he said. 

     Yet, Wagner noted the state rules still apply. 

     “The state rules are still going to apply. There’s nothing we can do about those. Nevertheless those guidelines are there.” 

     The reopening guidelines adopted earlier in the year don’t specifically address the use of masks. Instead, the guidelines offer seven bullet points of general advice to businesses, like “have a plan in place” if a large number of workers get infected. 

     Instead of offering specifics, the guidelines point to a slew of documents from the California Department of Public Health, which spell out masks for workers and customers in nearly all businesses. 

     Wagner, along with Supervisor Chairwoman Michelle Steel criticized OC’s previous mask mandate from former health officer Dr. Nichole Quick, which was issued during the Memorial Day Weekend reopenings. 

     After receiving threats over the mask order, Quick abruptly resigned in early June.

     A few days later, Dr. Clayton Chau — now the permanent health officer — walked the order back. 

     Virus infections eventually soared after the mask mandate was repealed until another Gov. order closed down larger venues back in July. Deaths continue to steadily increase from those spikes.

. . .

     UC Irvine epidemiologist Andrew Noymer predicted there will be 2,000 virus deaths by the end of the year. [There's about 1100 now.]

     Hospitalizations remain plateaued around 200…. [continue reading]

9-15: “it’ll start getting cooler, just watch”—Trump's prediction ignores science

Georges Gaudy's poster shows us the logo of the
3 rifles held by an elegant woman on a bike. C. 1900

✅ Californians are testing positive for COVID-19 at the lowest rate on record -- As the Golden State faces a triple threat of respiratory risks — destructive wildfires, toxic air quality and a deadly pandemic — there is a faint glimmer of hope. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20

✅ In California, Trump continues to deny climate change is real: ‘It will start getting cooler’ -- As wildfires raging through the West force millions of voters to confront the consequences of a warming planet, the presidential race became intensely focused Monday on climate change.... Evan Halper, Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20

✅ Climate Scientists Reject Trump’s Prediction “It’ll Start Getting Cooler” In California -- Scientists, and many Californians enduring this summer’s smoky and sweltering heat, wish President Donald Trump’s latest prediction — that “it’ll start getting cooler, just watch” — would come true. The problem? There’s nothing to back it up. Chris Nichols PolitiFact California via Capital Public Radio -- 9/15/20

✅ Trump visit punctuates growing divide over main cause of historic wildfires in Western states -- California seems helpless to break a cycle of catastrophic wildfires as it suffers another year of massive destruction, and the fault lines over climate change and forest management are growing as the fall campaign season gets underway. Colby Bermel Politico -- 9/15/20

✅ Jerry Brown on a California Exodus: ‘Tell Me: Where Are You Going to Go?’ -- Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, could barely make out the mountains in the distance from his ranch in the city of Williams on Sunday. Every few minutes, he picked up his phone to check the latest air quality reading. “Unhealthy,” he said. Mr. Brown, who served over 45 years in state government and politics, has been warning about this day for years. Adam Nagourney in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/20

✅ L.A. deputies tackled and arrested a reporter. Her videos contradict their claims about the incident -- As Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies tackled Josie Huang to the street on Saturday night, the reporter for NPR affiliate KPCC screamed repeatedly she was a journalist. Deputies arrested her anyway, leaving her with scrapes, bruises, a five-hour stay in custody — and an obstruction charge that carries up to a year in jail. Tim Elfrink in the Washington Post$ -- 9/15/20

✅ Appeals court says Trump can deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants; challenge certain -- A federal appeals court decided 2 to 1 Monday that the Trump administration may deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants who previously received temporary protected status for humanitarian reasons. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20

✅ Top Trump health appointee Michael Caputo warns of armed insurrection after election -- A top communications official for the administration’s coronavirus response urged President Trump’s supporters to prepare for an armed insurrection after a contested election and accused government scientists of “sedition” in a Facebook Live chat that he described in detail to The Washington Post on Monday. Yasmeen Abutaleb, Lena H. Sun, Josh Dawsey and Rosalind S. Helderman in the Washington Post$ Sharon LaFraniere in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/20

✅ Report: Guided Pathways Show Progress

—Inside Higher Ed

     Colleges need to engage faculty and incorporate experiential learning to continue improving guided pathways programs, report finds.

✅ U of Michigan Seeks Court Order to End Strike

—Inside Higher Ed

     …Graduate students have been refusing to teach classes, hold discussion sections and do some research since the strike began Sept. 8. The union has also asked faculty members and undergraduates to not hold or attend class in solidarity with the strike….

✅ Distracted Minds: Why Your Students Can’t Focus

—CHE

     Not only have we always been distracted; we have always been unhappy about it. Here’s Part 1 of a new series on distraction in the college classroom, and what to do about it.

✅ How One Word Led to an Uproar

—CHE

     …And it sounds a bit like the n-word. The resemblance isn’t exact: The first vowel is a long “a” rather than a short “i,” and there’s no “r” sound at the end. It’s more like “nay-ga.” But it’s similar enough that, when it’s said rapidly and repeatedly, and heard out of context, an English speaker could mistake it for the racist slur. That is how several of Patton’s students apparently heard it in a class on August 20, and they complained to the administration. The complaint led to Patton’s removal from the course.

     When a video of Patton saying the word was posted online, the general reaction wasn’t outrage at Patton but bafflement at how what he said could have prompted his ouster….