News you don’t want to miss for Oct. 19:
1. A California review board made up of 11 doctors and scientists will review any coronavirus vaccine approved by the federal government, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, the Associated Press reports. The added precaution, though, could delay vaccination in the state.
2. Newsom also said Californians should not expect mass vaccinations to occur this year, despite President Trump’s rosy rhetoric, KTVU reports. However, he wasn’t specific about when they might occur next year.
3. In a public appearance on Sunday, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the rise in violent crime follows stress and anxiety from the pandemic, KPIX reports. Schaaf also indicated some strategic changes to helping limit shootings is coming.
4. PG&E stumbled badly last year when it introduced power shutoffs in order to lower the possibility of wildfires. It’s no wonder then, “among the hundreds of people who handled the blackouts from PG&E’s emergency operations center, only a handful had any training in the disaster response playbook that California has used for a generation, The Associated Press found.”
5. Extremely low interest rates continue to fuel a buying spree for Bay Area single-family homes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The median home price is now $1.06 million, despite the pandemic. $$
6. Thirty-five tons of debris was removed from a Berkeley homeless encampment on Monday, Berkeleyside reports. The encampment is located near Interstate 80 and University Avenue.
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