Registered nurse Navneet Chouhan, left, with Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS), puts a bandage on Venus Basaee, 6, after she got the COVID-19vaccine as her mother Mojgan Deldari looks on during a school-base vaccine clinic at Nystrom Elementary Auditorium in Richmond on Nov. 9. RAY CHAVEZ — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
The entire Bay Area is at the high community risk level for COVID- 19 at which federal regulators recommend everyone wear face masks indoors as newer and more immunity-evasive versions of the omicron variant continue to spread across the country.
While infections remain well below the January peak driven by the initial omicron strains, they’re still at February’s elevated levels and show no signs of declining, Bay Area health officials said Tuesday.
“The pattern we’re seeing in our data does make me think a sustained surge is possible,” Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said. “Previous patterns were we went up and then down, but we went up and now we’re staying at a high plateau.” Continue reading Bay Area COVID cases are sky-high→
As a Benicia newbie, moving to this wonderful city in 2019, I recall being shocked by the negative advertising filling my mailbox during the 2020 city council campaign. The tone of such a small-town election seemed to be the antithesis of living in such a welcoming community, where drivers downtown stop for you, even if you are not in a crosswalk.
I was later appalled to learn this negative advertising was from a Political Action Committee (PAC) most of its nearly $250,000 coming from Valero. The PAC seemed dedicated to attacking nominees they want to keep out of Benicia’s city council, and flooding our community with praise for the candidates they want.
On the morning that the Supreme Court abolished women’s reproductive rights
By Dagmar Kuta, Benicia Photos by Larnie Fox, Benicia, June 25, 2022
I woke up to the news and tried to find a nearby event to share in the collective sorrow and strength of the community. The nearest event I could find was in Napa in the afternoon, and I felt too anxious and upset to wait until then. I decided around 11:30 am to post the event via womensmarch.com, and figured if no one else showed up that was okay, but I couldn’t sit at home and fester in my feelings and doom scroll online.
Luckily Larnie and Bodil picked it up and shared it with their network of activists and we had a few drop ins too.
We know this decision by the Supreme Court is not representative of the desires of the people. Removing our constitutional right to self-govern our bodies is wrong.
[BenIndy Editor: Benicia poets were present in spirit: the Fairfield crowd heard Benicia Poet Laureate Mary Susan Gast’s “Uncertain Inalienable Rights” and Roger Straw’s “The Nation I Used to Love.” – R.S.]Ana Petero speaks during a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade court ruling at the Government Center in Fairfield, Friday, June 24, 2022. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
FAIRFIELD — Solano Democrats held a fiery and emotional rally Friday before a few dozen sign-waving supporters, showing anger and disgust over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Thank you for showing up spur of the moment,” said Chairwoman Marjorie Olson of the Solano County Democratic Central Committee. “We need to see what we can do for women’s health because this is a decision subject to further victimization.”
Barbara Gaea of Vallejo said it is even a matter of suicide prevention.
“How many suicides can be linked back to pregnancy tests?” Gaea asked. “I’m so mad about this, my brain wants to explode.”
Demonstrators hold signs during a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling at the Government Center in Fairfield, Fri., 6/24/22. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
Gaea turned around and looked at the American flag in front of the Government Center and said it should be at half-staff for “all the women that have died and all the women that will die” from government intrusion into individual abortion decisions.
Supervisor Monica Brown told the crowd she was donating $500 to the National Abortion Federation to help those who need abortion care and help with travel expenses. Brown also announced a $500 contribution to Planned Parenthood and emphasized the organization provides many more services than abortions.
Brown said change is needed and the biggest way to do that is through the November election.
“They have reversed half a century of reproductive freedom,” Brown said of the Supreme Court’s decision. “I’m tired of this country taking five steps back. The only way to get it back is to vote. Every state should have equal access to what we have here in California.”
Fairfield-Suisun School Board Trustee Ana Petero said, “Women need to stick together as one.”
Ana Petero holds a sign with a pair of coat hangers during a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, at the Government Center in Fairfield, Friday, June 24, 2022. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
Ana Petero holds a sign with a pair of coat hangers during a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, at the Government Center in Fairfield, Fri., 6/24/22. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
Petero talked about her own personal struggles at a young age. She reiterated the ruling is an attack on all women.
N’dea Johnson, who is running for Fairfield City Council in District 1, said it is important to respect everyone’s choice.
“Whether it’s a sister, a cousin, a person you know that can bare children, (they) deserve the right to terminate their pregnancy if they choose,” Johnson said. “It’s important to respect everyone’s choice. This is just the beginning of what they are going to do to us.”
“We need to keep our government with the government and our bodies with our bodies,” Tara Beasley-Stansbury said. “We have the right to make our own decisions.”
Lerecia Evans wondered how this decision could be made in the middle of an infant formula crisis and during a teacher shortage.
“No one deserves the right to tell you what you should do,” Evans said. “How can you regulate such a personal thing? We’re still being told what to do and that abortion can be done easily. Men don’t understand what it’s like to have a uterus.”
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