Monthly Archives: June 2021

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano County Public Health fails to post its daily COVID update

UPDATE: At 4:40pm on Wednesday June 23, Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County Public Health Officer wrote, “Beginning this week, we will be updating the dashboard three times weekly, and we have added that information to the disclaimer line.” 
By Roger Straw, Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Solano County COVID report – no update today

As of midnight Tuesday, Solano County had not updated its Coronavirus dashboard.  [UPDATE: still no Tuesday update as of 9:30am Wednesday] The dashboard is always updated between 4pm and 6pm every weekday.  I will continue my watch, but probably won’t post today’s report here on the Benicia Independent until tomorrow.  – Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent

For the record, here is yesterday’s report:

Solano County adds 18 new COVID cases per day over the weekend, total of 55 of us newly infected

By Roger Straw, Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Solano County reported 55 new COVID infections over the weekend.
New: cases as a percentage of city population.

People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems.  And: “More than 70% of COVID-19 patients studied report having at least one “long haul” symptom that lasts for months.”  It’s not over yet!

Solano County COVID report on Monday, June 21.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported  55 new COVID cases over the 3-day weekend, an average of just over 18 per day.  Monthly: Solano County saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In May, Solano reported 920 new cases, an average of 30 per day.  So far in June, 469 new cases in Solano, an average of 22 new infections each day.  COVID is still out there – TAKE CARE!

Solano County reported no new deaths today.  The County total is 244 deaths since the pandemic began.

Solano’s 142 active cases today are down from Friday’s 156.  Our percent positivity rate fell slightly today from 5.1% to 5.0%.

Cases by City on Monday, June 21:
  • Benicia added 2 new cases today, a total of 1,017 cases since the outbreak began, 3.7% of its population of 27,570.
  • Dixon added 4 new cases today, total of 1,936 cases, 9.8% of its population of 19,794.
  • Fairfield added 11 new cases today, total of 9,164 cases, 7.8% of its population of 117,149.
  • Rio Vista remained steady for the 10th day in a row today, total of 394 cases, 4.2% of its population of 9,416.
  • Suisun City added 7 new cases today, total of 2,311 cases, 7.8% of its population of 29,447.
  • Vacaville added 18 new cases today, a total of 8,876 cases, 9.0% its of population of 98,807.
  • Vallejo added 13 new cases today, total of 9,961 cases, 8.3% of its population of 119,544.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady for the 45th day in a row today (no increase since May 8!), total of 103 cases (population figures not available).
RE-OPENING GUIDELINES IN SOLANO COUNTY
Solano Public Health

See latest info on California’s COVID web page.  See also the Solano County Public Health Coronavirus Resources and Updates page.  (Click on the image at right to go directly to the page, or click on various links below to access the 10 sections on the County’s page.)

Solano County Guidance (posted June 15, 2021)

 

Everyday Life Face Coverings
Businesses & Employers COVID-19 Vaccination & Testing
Events & Travel Schools
Community Resources What to do if positive or exposed
Healthcare Settings Contact Information

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, June 18:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for Summary, Demographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

Sources
Benicia Black Lives Matter, Benicia CA, Juneteenth

Report and photos – Benicia’s Juneteenth Freedom Celebration

Benicia Black Lives Matter Hosts First Annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, June 19

Juneteenth Celebration in Benicia CA, June 19, 2021 – Brandon Greene, Co-founder of Benicia Black Lives Matter

By Vicki Byrum Dennis, with contributions from BBLM members

June 20, 2021 – More than 350 people joined together on Saturday at Benicia’s historic Camel Barns to celebrate the First Annual Juneteenth Freedom Day festival to be held in the city. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved individuals in Galveston, Texas were informed that slavery had been abolished and that they were freed persons.

Benicia Juneteenth 2021 – Left to right: BBLM Co-founder Nimat Shakoor-Grantham, Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Benicia Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager Dr. Maliika Chambers, and BBLM Co-founder Brandon L. Greene

Saturday’s celebration, sponsored by Benicia Black Lives Matter (BBLM), was filled with proclamations and resolutions from city officials, history presentations, a step performance, poetry and music as well as food and interesting wares from more than a dozen Black-owned businesses.

Visitors enjoy checking out the vendors’ tables [Credit: Benicia Black Lives Matter]
“We are delighted that so many people joined BBLM to celebrate this day, which to Blacks is our Fourth of July,” said Nimat Shakoor-Grantham, co-founder of BBLM and a behavioral therapist. The festival was planned long before anyone knew that President Joe Biden would sign into law the observation of Juneteenth as a national holiday just a few days earlier. “Because of the significance of what had just occurred in Washington, our celebration is doubly meaningful,” Shakoor-Grantham said.

Freedom Flag, raised over Benicia City Hall on June 17, 2021

Juneteenth activities in Benicia actually began on Friday, when the Juneteenth flag was raised over City Hall with City Council and BBLM members in attendance. On Saturday, Shakoor-Grantham and BBLM co-founder Brandon Greene started the program by sharing their stories of why they founded BBLM last summer. Galvanized by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many other Black people, and united by their personal experiences of racism, slurs, discrimination and inequities in Benicia, they formed the grassroots community organization to address anti-Black racism in Benicia. During the program, both co-founders spoke of the need for all Benicians to get and stay active in the work to end racism in Benicia and to speak out when they observe it.

Brandon Greene, Co-founder, Benicia Black Lives Matter

“It is important to put today’s event into the correct political and social context,” said Greene, who is also Director of Racial and Economic Justice Program for ACLU of Northern California and an adjunct professor at UC Hasting School of Law. “We need to take this joyous energy of today and move forward to educate, to teach the real history of America, and to hold the city, the county and others accountable to disenfranchised people.”

Dr. Maliika Chambers, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager for the City of Benicia

Afterwards, Benicia Mayor Steve Young read an official proclamation from the city designating Juneteenth an official annual celebration for Benicia.  Dr. Maliika Chambers, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager for the City of Benicia, presented Resolution 20-103, which established the position she holds and created several important but as yet unrealized action items for the City to address serious inequities in civic representation and support for Black-owned businesses.

Bow Hammer Skins, Herb Ruffin (keyboard/”hammer”), Karese Young (viola/”bow”), Carlton Carey (drums/”skins”), Ryan Sample (bass/”big bow”)

The crowd then stood together and sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Negro National Anthem, played by the local jazz band Bow Hammer Skins.

The Omega Gents perform a step routine during the City of Benicia Inaugural Juneteenth Program at the Camel Barns on Saturday in Benicia.

After an energetic and commanding step performance by the Omega Gents, young mentees from a program for African American middle- and high-school boys sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Robert Johnson presented the history of Juneteenth, long an important date for Black Americans, yet little mentioned in American history books.

Robert Johnson, Juneteenth history

“It came two years after the Emancipation Act was signed by President Lincoln and two months after the South surrendered, ending the Civil War,” Johnson said. “But Blacks continued to be enslaved despite the proclamation. It was only when Major General Gordon Granger told the citizens of Galveston, Texas, that legalized slavery in the United States had ended that Blacks there realized they were free. June 19 has long marked the occasion of freedom for Blacks in America.”

Johnson concluded by noting that while Juneteenth may represent freedom, the long, ongoing struggle for a more just and equitable living standard for all Americans, regardless of skin color, continues. Even after slavery was legally abolished, Black and African Americans suffered from sanctioned discrimination throughout the South and all of the U.S. through reconstruction and Jim Crow laws, which created and sustained inequities in education, housing, jobs, health care and much more—proving that the struggle is far from over.

Learn more about the work and goals of Benicia Black Lives Matter at beniciablacklivesmatter.weebly.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/BeniciaBLM

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano County adds 18 new COVID cases per day over the weekend, total of 55 of us newly infected

By Roger Straw, Monday, June 21, 2021

Solano County reported 55 new COVID infections over the weekend.
New: cases as a percentage of city population.

People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems.  And: “More than 70% of COVID-19 patients studied report having at least one “long haul” symptom that lasts for months.”  It’s not over yet!

Solano County COVID report on Monday, June 21.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported  55 new COVID cases over the 3-day weekend, an average of just over 18 per day.  Monthly: Solano County saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In May, Solano reported 920 new cases, an average of 30 per day.  So far in June, 469 new cases in Solano, an average of 22 new infections each day.  COVID is still out there – TAKE CARE!

Solano County reported no new deaths today.  The County total is 244 deaths since the pandemic began.

Solano’s 142 active cases today are down from Friday’s 156.  Our percent positivity rate fell slightly today from 5.1% to 5.0%.

Cases by City on Monday, June 21:
  • Benicia added 2 new cases today, a total of 1,017 cases since the outbreak began, 3.7% of its population of 27,570.
  • Dixon added 4 new cases today, total of 1,936 cases, 9.8% of its population of 19,794.
  • Fairfield added 11 new cases today, total of 9,164 cases, 7.8% of its population of 117,149.
  • Rio Vista remained steady for the 10th day in a row today, total of 394 cases, 4.2% of its population of 9,416.
  • Suisun City added 7 new cases today, total of 2,311 cases, 7.8% of its population of 29,447.
  • Vacaville added 18 new cases today, a total of 8,876 cases, 9.0% its of population of 98,807.
  • Vallejo added 13 new cases today, total of 9,961 cases, 8.3% of its population of 119,544.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady for the 45th day in a row today (no increase since May 8!), total of 103 cases (population figures not available).
RE-OPENING GUIDELINES IN SOLANO COUNTY
Solano Public Health

See latest info on California’s COVID web page.  See also the Solano County Public Health Coronavirus Resources and Updates page.  (Click on the image at right to go directly to the page, or click on various links below to access the 10 sections on the County’s page.)

Solano County Guidance (posted June 15, 2021)

 

Everyday Life Face Coverings
Businesses & Employers COVID-19 Vaccination & Testing
Events & Travel Schools
Community Resources What to do if positive or exposed
Healthcare Settings Contact Information

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, June 18:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for Summary, Demographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

Sources
Benicia CA, Benicia Climate Action Plan, Keeping Watch on Earth News

Benicia looking to hire full time Climate Action Plan Coordinator

[Editor: see below for info and links on Benicia’s hiring of a new Climate Action Plan Coordinator.  Pass the word!  – R.S.]

City Manager Erik Upson, City of Benicia This Week, June 21, 2021

We’re Hiring

Looking for a new job or a change in career? The City of Benicia Human Resources Division is accepting applications for the following positions:

  • Community Preservation Officer
  • Facility Attendant II (Part Time)
  • Human Resources Assistant – Limited Duration NEW
    Lifeguard
  •  Management Analyst I/II – Climate Action Coordinator – Limited Duration NEW   (Editor: for details click here, including MANAGEMENT ANALYST I/II – CLIMATE ACTION….first review of applications scheduled for June 28, 2021. This limited duration position is anticipated to last approximately 12 months and is in the Economic Development Department. Full Time $5,697.08 – $7,617.56 Monthly)
  • Parks Landscape Building Maintenance Worker (Parks Division) NEW
  • Police Officer – Academy/Non-Lateral
  • Police Officer – Lateral (Currently Working)
  • Recreation Specialist
  • Reserve Officer (Volunteer)
  • Seasonal Senior Lead Park Worker (Part Time)

To apply for any of these positions, the application and supplemental forms may be found online, then click the job title. Employment applications may also be obtained from, and must be returned to, Human Resources at 250 East L Street, Benicia. Sign up with Job Interest Cards to be notified of future position openings when they occur.