[Note from Benicia Independent contributor Roger Straw – We’re feeling pretty proud of our daughter Susannah Delano these days! See the article below. Close the Gap California is doing a great job under Susannah’s leadership, and the nod from highly influential Capitol Weekly is well deserved. We love the descriptive phrase “no wavering or vacillating” and the illustration by punk artist Chris Shary. – Roger and Mary Susan]
Capitol Weekly’s Top 100
Each year, Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 names the most powerful movers and shakers in California politics. We don’t include elected officials. Instead, we look at those who devote their professional lives to fighting for – or against – issues of state politics and policy, including lobbyists, bureaucrats, activists, trade group leaders, Capitol staffers and even journalists. >> Capitol Weekly is a nonpartisan news publication covering California government and politics.
You might have noticed there are more women serving in the Legislature right now than in previous years. A lot more. And Susannah Delano and Close the Gap California are a big reason why.
Twenty of the 50 women in office right now came through the Close the Gap recruiting process, including 10 from last November’s record class of 11. To be clear, there are other recruiting organizations out there, such as Emerge and California Women Lead. We chose Delano because her group’s main goal from its inception in 2013 has not been just to elect more women, but to achieve gender parity in the Legislature by 2028, and there’s been no wavering or vacillating.
Given their success last year, what once seemed to be a lofty goal now seems more than realistic. Delano has been instrumental in that success streak since coming on board as executive director in 2018. And, though most folks don’t know it, she’s been CTG’s sole full-time staffer for most of her time with the organization.
[Note from BenIndy Contributor Roger Straw: Well, it finally ALMOST happened. My wife and I have been ultra careful, and so far are among the increasingly rare few who have not contracted the coronavirus. Mary Susan is immune compromised, so we still wear masks in the grocery and other crowded indoors places. But we were seriously exposed when close family members tested positive a day or two after celebrating a birthday in our own home. They got on Paxlovid right away, and are fine, but only after a really miserable 2 weeks. We isolated and tested negative every other day for 10 days – and whew, still have not got the bug. Thank goodness we celebrated with windows wide open and seated widely spaced at the long dinner table. Please know that COVID is back, it’s around you, and it is no fun when you get it! And… it can be really serious, even long-lasting. Read on….]
How to navigate renewed COVID threat in the Bay Area
Fans wait for Ethel Cain at the Sutro stage during the first day of the Outside Lands Music Festival on Aug. 11. As the Bay Area’s summer COVID-19 swell gains ground, outdoor venues remain a relatively safe environment, even without masks. | Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
A local theater troupe cancels a weekend of performances because cast members have COVID. A Sunday luncheon is postponed because the hostess has fallen ill. A colleague catches the coronavirus on a trip back from Italy. The nearby Walgreens is sold out of home test kits.
There’s no mistaking that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is staging an unwanted comeback in the Bay Area. The uptick in COVID cases evokes memories of summers since 2020. Official figures, though early, back up the anecdotes: The state’s test positivity rate has climbed to 11.8%, its highest level since the beginning of the year, and hospitalizations are up more than 63% in the last month, from a seven-day average of 163 admissions per day in mid-July to 266 per day last week.
Nationally, there were 12,613 new COVID-19 hospitalizations for the week ending Aug. 12, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This figure reflects a 21.6% rise compared to the preceding week. Deaths due to COVID-19, a lagging indicator, are also starting to pick up nationwide, with an 8.3% increase over the same period.
While many cases result in mild symptoms, especially for those who’ve been vaccinated or previously battled the virus, COVID’s disruption to work and life is still undeniable. Plus, some evidence suggests that each subsequent bout of the virus may raise the risk of experiencing a persistent state of exhaustion, brain fog, or other symptoms known as long COVID.
More for you
• COVID hospitalizations in U.S. rise for fourth straight week as deaths inch up
• California COVID surge confirmed by 48.3% positivity rate in Walgreens tests
Despite the resurgence, a sense of “pandemic fatigue” pervades the population, prompting many people to resume normal activities and overlook the threat, especially if their risk of severe illness is low. Restaurants, movie theaters, concert venues and airplanes are now packed with crowds of almost entirely unmasked people who roll the dice and hope for the best.
But what if you’re not among those willing to wager on chance, either due to underlying health conditions or general concern about adverse outcomes? As the summer swell gains momentum, here is a refresher on the latest expert advice to navigate uncertain times.
When to consider vaccinations and boosters
Throughout 2023, the dominant strains of the coronavirus nationwide and in the Bay Area have been descendants of the omicron family of SARS-CoV-2. The currently available vaccines and boosters were tailored to combat both the original 2020 coronavirus strain and a 2022 omicron derivative, so they offer somewhat diminished protection against the current variants. Yet they still afford greater protection than no vaccination at all. Updated vaccines geared toward more recent variants are set to roll out in late September or early October.
When to consider a booster:
Higher-risk individuals: People at higher risk of severe illness, including those with health conditions such as obesity or diabetes, individuals age 65 and above, or those with compromised immune systems due to underlying immunological problems or cancer treatments, should get a booster shot every six months. Some vulnerable people might consider a shot now if it’s been more than four months since their last.
General population: If you are in good health, under 65, and have received a vaccine or battled COVID within the past six months, the best option is likely to wait until the fall for the updated booster. Even if it has been more than six months, you might want to hold out for the new booster because it’s better tuned to fighting off current variants.
Masking calculus
Few topics have sparked more debate than masking, with arguments ranging from its efficacy to ideological objections to mandates. Yet the evidence remains clear: Consistent masking has been shown to be an accessible and effective means to reduce transmission, whether you’re at risk of unknowingly spreading the virus or of contracting it.
For those looking for more protection in the current environment, situations where a tight-fitting quality N95 or KN95 mask can be beneficial include:
Public transportation.
Airport waiting lounges and during aircraft boarding and taxiing.
Crowded indoor spaces where people are singing or shouting.
Bustling restaurants before and after meals.
Scenarios that may not warrant the same level of precaution include:
Walking or hiking outdoors.
Open-air concerts or sporting events.
Alfresco dining or social interactions.
Navigating social situations and testing
Although there are no definitive rules for safe or unsafe behavior in more intimate social settings, a combination of thoughtfulness and common courtesy can guide most interactions.
Home test kits, while still able to detect the latest coronavirus strains, are not as reliable as they were in the past. A positive home test remains a clear indication of COVID, and there’s no need to confirm the diagnosis with an official lab test unless it’s required for work absences or other reasons.
A greater concern is the potential for “false negatives” from home tests during the early stages of infection. If you suspect you may be ill and are worried about meeting other people, multiple tests over successive days should clear up any doubt.
If you need to have more certainty for some reason, many pharmacies and health providers still provide a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, laboratory test, which is considered the gold standard. Payment is dependent on insurance carriers, and out-of-pocket testing can cost upward of $100.
When visiting at-risk friends or family members, wearing a mask requires minimal effort and can safeguard your loved ones. If you have any reason to suspect you may be sick or have been exposed to the virus, taking a home COVID test before meeting affords a quick — if imperfect — screen.
For hospital or nursing home visits, an over-the-counter test ahead of time and masking can help protect vulnerable populations, as well as yourself.
What should you do if you are exposed or infected?
In case of exposure: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a practical risk calculator for determining post-exposure actions following contact with someone who has COVID-19. The first step: Put on a mask to protect others for 10 days, watch for symptoms such as fever, and test yourself on Day 6. If you’re negative, keep masking until Day 10, and then you can stop.
If you are infected: In the event of a positive test or development of symptoms, the CDC advises immediate isolation. Wear a high-quality mask if you must be around others. The most infectious period usually spans the first five days after testing positive.
When to seek emergency treatment: If you have trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, feel disoriented, unable to wake or stay awake, or experience a change in skin tone, call 911 or your local emergency department.
When to end isolation: Those who show no symptoms can end isolation after five days, the CDC says. But if you do have symptoms, you should continue to isolate until you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.If you had moderate (difficulty breathing) or severe (requiring hospitalization) symptoms, you should isolate through Day 10. Wear a mask until you have two sequential negative test results 48 hours apart.
Treatments and medications: For those experiencing mild illness, the CDC advises home recovery, with over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) to help manage symptoms.A Food and Drug Administration-approved antiviral drug, Paxlovid, can effectively treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in individuals who are at greater risk, but treatment must be started within days of symptom onset. Preliminary research also suggests Paxlovid can reduce the risk of developing long COVID.
Here’s some details on Sunday’s “Benicia Our Home” program and information that may be of help to those not familiar with the Clock Tower. This is a once in a decade – or a lifetime – Benicia event – don’t miss it!
“Benicia Our Home” This Sunday, June 25, 3 p.m. at the Benicia Clock Tower
The program starts at 3 p.m.
Premier showing of video “Benicia Our Home” AND “The Making of Benicia Our Home”
Overview of Benicia Poetry during the past three years of challenge and crisis
California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick—Vision for poetry in our communities
MC Mary Susan Gast, outgoing Benicia Poet Laureate
Benicia “ZipOdes” sprinkled throughout
When you arrive at the Clock Tower
You will be greeted at the entrance and directed to the 2nd floor auditorium. You can take the stairs or the elevator.
When you enter the auditorium, please stop at the nametag table.
Sign the copy of Yearning To Breathe Free that we will present as a gift to California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick.
Enjoy the art display – Benicia Artists, Scenes of Benicia
Books of Herrick’s poetry, along with Yearning To Breathe Free, will be available for sale.
Driving Directions to the Clock Tower, 1189 Washington St
From I 780
Take exit 5 toward Central Benicia/E. Second St.
Turn left toward downtown Benicia on E 2nd St. at the end of the exit ramp.
Continue on E 2nd St for about half a mile and turn left onto Military East at stoplight.
Follow Military East .8 miles to Adams St. Adams St. verges to the left; make the slight left turn onto Adams. (It is really a slight left, not a 45 degree hard left.)
Follow Adams Street .3 miles to a stop sign. To the left is a big sign, “Johannson Square, Commandant’s Lane.” This is Washington St. Watching for oncoming traffic, turn left onto Washington St. / Commandant’s Lane.
Follow Washington uphill to the parking lot and the Clock Tower on the right.
From inside Benicia
Find your way to Military East.
Follow Military East .8 miles to Adams St. Adams St. verges to the left; make the slight left turn onto Adams. (It is really a slight left, not a 45 degree hard left.)
Follow Adams Street .3 miles to a stop sign. To the left is a big sign, “Johannson Square, Commandant’s Lane.” This is Washington St. Watching for oncoming traffic, turn left onto Washington St. / Commandant’s Lane.
Follow Washington uphill to the parking lot and the Clock Tower on the right.
From BenIndy contributor Roger Straw…
Roger Straw, Benicia CA
‘Benicia Our Home’ at the Clocktower will be incredible – kind of a send-off for my sweetheart of 52 years, Benicia Poet Laureate Mary Susan Gast. …Larnie Fox commented on Mary Susan’s poetry and leadership, “Mary Susan has been an amazing presence on the scene here, easing us through insurrections, mass shootings and COVID with compassion and insight.” As to the June 25 event, I can’t believe we ALSO have the California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick coming! And more – Constance Beutel’s song-video will bring Benicians together in an unprecedented way – such positivity as we’ve not seen in my time in Benicia… Mark your calendar now, and plan to attend!]
“Benicia Our Home” Celebration at Benicia’s Clocktower on June 25
Special to the Benicia Herald, by Lois Kazakoff, June 9, 2023
[Note from BenIndy Contributor Roger Straw: For more about California’s first AAPI Poet Laureate and his understanding of racism and the importance of telling story, see KCRW News LA.]
California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick will headline “Benicia Our Home” on Sunday, June 25 at 3 PM at the Clock Tower.
California’s poet laureate wants you to write about Benicia, maybe in rhyme – but definitely with heart.
“Usually those who speak for a community are politicians or officials but we all have thoughts connected to where we live, grew up and raise a family,” said Lee Herrick, 52, a Fresno City College writing instructor who was appointed state poet laureate in November. “We each have a voice. And there is poetry in everyone.”
Herrick will headline “Benicia Our Home,” an afternoon of poetry, art and song at the Clock Tower on Sunday, June 25, sponsored by the Benicia Public Library. Everyone is invited. To learn more, go to benicialibrary.org/poet/events or email Benicia’s Poet Laureate, Mary Susan Gast at poetlaureatebenicia@gmail.com .
Event flyer – click to enlarge
Benicia is one stop on Herrick’s travels around the state to hear what Californians experience and celebrate. Or what concerns them. Or what they see differently. In April alone, he participated in 27 events.
Poetry can help us explore and celebrate California’s diversity and the range of our experiences through a personal, emotional and social lens, he said. The poet’s imagination can transport us and illuminate the full range of the human condition. California is the most populous state in the country, and we lead in many disciplines, including the literary arts and poetry.
He hopes to bring together the social justice, civic engagement and poetry communities in each town under his platform, “Our California.” Californians will be able to submit their poems at the “Our California” webpage on the California Arts Council’s website when the project launches later this year.
Poetry can help us reflect on how life in our hometown could be different or celebrated more widely. “Change starts with an individual’s imagination,” said Herrick.
His own poetry is rooted in these themes. His 2020 poem, “What I Hear When I Hear You in My Head,” begins: It’s the little whisper, the aggregate sorrow …
Poetry lays bare what we find beautiful and joyous but also the less pleasant human emotions – anger, sadness, fear, grief, he said. “When we are writing, we discover more of who we are.”
As the world sheltered in place in 2020 and health concerns engulfed us, Herrick wrote, “The Birds Outside My Window Sing During a Pandemic:”
What we need has always been inside of us. For some — a few poets or farmers, perhaps — it’s always near the surface. Others, it’s buried. It was in our original design, though — pre-machine, pre-border, pre-pandemic. …
Herrick, Fresno Poet Laureate in 2015-17, emerged from the remarkable Fresno poetry scene. That Central Valley city has produced two U.S. Poet Laureates, Juan Felipe Herrera, the nation’s first Latino poet laureate (2015-17), and Philip Levine (2011-12), known as the poet of the working class.
He was named in November to a two-year term as California’s 10th poet laureate and confirmed by the state Senate in May. In announcing the appointment, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “Lee (Herrick)’s dedication to highlighting the diverse experiences of Californians, and making them so accessible through his poetry, makes him a perfect candidate for Poet Laureate. I look forward to his work to inspire communities and individuals across the state through the power of the written word.”
Herrick was born in Daejeon, South Korea, and adopted as an infant by White American parents. He lived in Danville until the family moved to Modesto when he was 8. He has taught at Fresno City College for 26 years and teaches in a master’s of fine arts program at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. He lives in Fresno with his wife and teenage daughter.
Lois Kazakoff is a member of the Benicia Public Library Board of Trustees.
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Write a ZipOde
Maybe you are a poet and don’t know it? Start small. Write a ZipOde, a poem about a town based on its ZIP code.
Each ZipOde has five lines, with the number of words on each line determined by the numbers of the ZIPcode. Benicia’s ZIP code is 94510.
For example,
I will change into my painting pants and shirt (9 words)
Benicia is a palette (4 words)
Of limitless and gorgeous vistas (5 words)
Yay! (1 word)
[Ooooo] (0 words)
Take exit 5 toward Central Benicia/E. Second St.
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