Tag Archives: Suisun City CA

Benicia Black Lives Matter, Juneteenth

A Quick Guide to Celebrating Juneteenth in Solano County

Juneteenth takes off in Solano County with more events than ever before

By Nathalie Christian, June 16, 2023

It’s time to celebrate Juneteenth, and what better way than with this list of events taking place in Solano County. We are tremendously fortunate to bear witness to a long-overdue rise of awareness of and popularity for this once lesser-known, often mischaracterized holiday, which embraces the resilience, vibrancy, joy, artistry, and innovation of African and Black Americans in both our shared and unique histories and cultures.

Attending a local Juneteenth event is your opportunity to engage with true American history – both its traumas and triumphs – through live performances, educational exhibits, kids activities, and more. It’s also an opportunity to learn more about and support local Black-owned businesses as well as artists, poets, historians, performers, educators, nonprofits, faith-based organizations – wait, wait.

Y’know, the list of reasons to attend is too long to get into here, so let’s skip on ahead to the list. We are ridiculously lucky to have so events many to choose from, so get to choosing! And if you can attend more than one event, even better.

(Note: This list is mostly presented by date, then alphabetically by city, so no one can accuse me of favoritism.)

Saturday, June 17

Fairfield
The Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce presents the 2nd Annual Fairfield Juneteenth Celebration, a free event at Solano Annex (601 Texas Street, Fairfield, next to the old courthouse) from 11 am to 7 pm. It looks like the organizers waived the usual vendor fees so 100 vendors could be on hand to sell locally produced artisanal crafts, cosmetics, art, and more — and they ran out of room! So you can expect a lot of great opportunities to check out Black-owned businesses in Solano as well as live music, speakers, kids activities, and dancing. For more information, check out solanoblackchamber.com/event/2023-fairfield-juneteenth-celebration.

Vallejo
The African American Family Reunion Committee presents the 33rd Annual Vallejo Juneteenth Festival and Parade. The parade will start at 9 am on Broadway & Tennessee Street in Vallejo and last until 10:30 am, then you can head over to the festival at Barbara Kondylis Waterfront Green (301 Mare Island Way, Vallejo) from 11 am to 5 pm. This event attracts more than 75 to 100 vendors and exhibitors selling merchandise and food as well as live music to serve about 2,000 visitors. This is the longest-running Juneteenth celebrations in Solano County, and it benefits health care organizations that provide free services. For more information, check out vallejojuneteenth.com.

Suisun City
The Suisun City Family Block Party will host “Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Future: Juneteenth, The Pursuit of the American Dream,” and I’m putting it last in this list despite a promise of alphabetical order because the event is weekend long, happening on both Saturday, June 17 AND Sunday, June 19! Taking place from 10 am to 6 pm right on the Suisun Waterfront (520 Solano Street, Suisun City), the celebration includes live music performances, food and drinks, local artisans and vendors, as well as family-friendly activities. This event supports key initiatives in Suisun City including the Suisun City Youth Commission’s Youth Projects, Economic Development Events (through R.E.A.L. Fairfield) and NAACP Youth Scholarships. Check out juneteenth-suisun.com for more information.

Sunday, June 18

Benicia
Benicia Black Lives Matter presents the 3rd Annual Juneteenth Festival in Benicia, taking place from 12 to 5 pm at Benicia’s Veterans Hall (1150 First Street, Benicia).  It looks like there will be live music, food and drinks, kids activities, and vendors on hand to help Benicia celebrate. BBLM has always managed to strike the right balance of age-appropriate education and truth-telling with fun and activities, so this event would be a wonderful way to spend your Father’s Day and support BBLM’s community outreach and support efforts, which include backpack, food, and clothing giveaways. Check out beniciablacklivesmatter.com or their Facebook page for more information.

Monday, June 19

Benicia (again)
This one is a shout-out to my buddies in Benicia who may be able to join Benicia City Council Members, City staff, and community members in a flag-raising ceremony scheduled for 9:30 am on Monday and taking place in front of Benicia City Hall (250 East L Street, Benicia). It’s a short ceremony, and probably one of many flag-raising ceremonies scheduled around the county, but it’s really nice seeing that flag fly over the city I call home.

Note: This list was compiled using Google searches and a heavy lean on the grapevine. If I missed your event, please let me know ASAP and I will update this list to help promote it. I apologize in advance if I missed you and hope to include you as soon as you send me your information.

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano Public Health data on Feb. 9: A new surge? Or just playing catch-up?

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Solano County reported 2,794 new infections over the last two days!  Solano County and Benicia continue to experience an extremely high transmission rate!

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Wednesday, February 9, 2022:

DEATHS:  Solano reported no new deaths in today’s report.  Trending: Seven new deaths reported so far in February, all over 65 years of age.  The County has seen increasing COVID-related deaths each month since last November, rising to 30 in January.  (Compare with last winter: 24 deaths in January 2021, 42 in February and 33 in March.)  A total of 388 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: My color-coded chart (below) shows a record over TIME.  It shows an alarming steady increase among youth and children in Solano County.  The chart displays quarterly and recent snapshots in time by age group, each as a percentage of total cases since the outbreak began.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE – U.S. cases among children and youth aged 0-17 as percentage of total cases is 17.4% as of today.  (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Solano is experiencing an EXTREMELY HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 4,010 new cases over the last 7 days, a big jump from 1,763 at last report, and way up from around 500 at Christmastime.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 2,517 ACTIVE cases today is up from 2,308 at last report, and well over the 2,000 active cases we had at the New Year and only 329 on December 1.

CASES BY CITY – Wednesday, February 9, 2022:

  • BENICIA added 58 new cases today, a total of 2,922 cases since the outbreak began.  TRANSMISSION RATE: Benicia has seen 100 new infections in the last 7 days, far above the CDC’s HIGH rate of community transmission. For a city with Benicia’s population, anything over 27 cases in 7 days is considered HIGH TRANSMISSION. (See chart below.)  MASKS: >> At next week’s Benicia City Council meeting, (Tues., Feb. 15), Council will consider whether and how to continue the citywide face mask mandate, in light of the State of California’s announcement that it will lift the statewide mandate on Feb. 16. >>Note that the Benicia City Council is considering adding multiple metrics rather than the single metric of the CDC’s 7-day case count to determine when it is safe to lift certain COVID restrictions (see Benicia Chooses to Continue Mask Mandate, 1/19/22).  Note above that Solano County is currently also experiencing EXTREMELY HIGH transmission.

  • Dixon added 62 new cases today, total of 4,020 cases.
  • Fairfield added 1,247(!) new cases today, total of 20,349 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 27 new cases today, total of 1,040 cases.
  • Suisun City added 302(!) new cases today, total of 5,379 cases.
  • Vacaville added 443 new cases today, a total of 18,706 cases.
  • Vallejo added 653 new cases today, a total of 24,051 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 2 new cases today, a total of 188 cases.

TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through today’s very high 19%, (although today’s report shows a drop from 21% at last report.)  SOLANO DOES NOT COMPARE FAVORABLY: The California 7-day % positive rate fell to 6.7% today.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  The U.S. 7-day % positive rate also fell today to 13.63% from 15.85% at last report. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations fell today from 87 to 80 persons.  Currently hospitalized persons in Solano peaked higher than ever before on Jan 22, at 207 persons in hospital. (The County’s previous high was 176 on Jan 7, 2021.)

TOTAL hospitalizations – Solano Public Health updated its age and race hospitalizations charts today, adding 1 Asian person, age 65+.  Our total since the beginning of the outbreak is now 3,512 hospitalizations.

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County remained steady today at 24% available, still in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  fell dramatically today from 64% to 51% available. 

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano COVID numbers: 3 new deaths and 452 new infections today

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

By Roger Straw, Monday, February 7, 2022

Solano County reported 452 new infections over the weekend, 3 new COVID-related deaths.  Solano County and Benicia continue to experience an extremely high transmission rate!

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Monday, February 7, 2022:

DEATHS:  Solano reported 3 new deaths in today’s report, all age 65+.  Trending: Seven new deaths reported in the 1st seven days of February, all over 65 years of age.  The County has seen increasing COVID-related deaths each month since last November, rising to 30 in January.  (Compare with last winter: 24 deaths in January 2021, 42 in February and 33 in March.)  A total of 388 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: My color-coded chart (below) shows a record over TIME.  It shows an alarming steady increase among youth and children in Solano County.  The chart displays quarterly and recent snapshots in time by age group, each as a percentage of total cases since the outbreak began.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE – U.S. cases among children and youth aged 0-17 as percentage of total cases is 17.2% as of today.  (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Solano is experiencing an EXTREMELY HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 1,763 new cases over the last 7 days, down from 3,066 last Friday and over 6100 the Friday before that – but still significantly up from around 500 at Christmastime.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 2,308 ACTIVE cases today is down from 3,658 at last report, but still above the 2,000 active cases we had at the New Year and only 329 on December 1.

CASES BY CITY – Monday, February 7, 2022:

  • Benicia added 15 new cases today, a total of 2,864 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia has seen 60 new infections in the last 7 days, far above the CDC’s HIGH rate of community transmission. For a city with Benicia’s population, anything over 27 cases in 7 days is considered HIGH TRANSMISSION. (See chart below.) >>Note that the Benicia City Council is considering adding multiple metrics rather than the single metric of the CDC’s 7-day case count to determine when it is safe to lift certain COVID restrictions (see Benicia Chooses to Continue Mask Mandate, 1/19/22).  Note above that Solano County is currently also experiencing EXTREMELY HIGH transmission.

  • Dixon added 34 new cases today, total of 3,958 cases.
  • Fairfield added 94 new cases today, total of 19,102 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 5 new cases today, total of 1,013 cases.
  • Suisun City added 26 new cases today, total of 5,077 cases.
  • Vacaville added 130 new cases today, a total of 18,263 cases.
  • Vallejo added 148 new cases today, a total of 23,398 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 186 cases.

TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through today’s very high 21%, (although today’s report shows a drop from 26% at last report.)  SOLANO DOES NOT COMPARE FAVORABLY: The California 7-day % positive rate remained at 8.4% today.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  The U.S. 7-day % positive rate also fell today to 15.85% from 17.09% at last report. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations fell today from 99 to 87 persons, our lowest since January 7, 2022.  Currently hospitalized persons in Solano peaked higher than ever before on Jan 22, at 207 persons in hospital. (The County’s previous high was 176 on Jan 7, 2021.)

TOTAL hospitalizations – Solano Public Health did not update its age and race hospitalizations charts today.  Our total since the beginning of the outbreak is now 3,511 hospitalizations.

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County fell today from 24% at last report to 21% available today, still in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  remained at 64% available today. 

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano County COVID update: 764 new cases in two days, 27 new cases in Benicia

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

By Roger Straw, Friday, February 5, 2022

SUMMARY: Friday, February 4, 2022: Solano County reported 764 new infections today and no new COVID-related deaths.  Solano County and Benicia continue to experience an extremely high transmission rate!

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Friday, February 4, 2022:

DEATHS:  Solano reported no new deaths in today’s report.  Trending: The ten new deaths reported this week were all over 65 years of age.  The County has seen increasing COVID-related deaths each month since last November, rising to 30 in January.  (Compare with last winter: 24 deaths in January 2021, 42 in February and 33 in March.)  A total of 385 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: The County posts a chart showing Solano cases per 100K by age groups.  The 18-49 year age group is catching the virus at a far higher rate than others.  Those over 65 have been least likely to be infected.
MORE ON AGE GROUPS:  My color-coded chart (below) shows a record over TIME, including recent data.  It shows an alarming steady increase among youth and children.  The chart displays quarterly and recent snapshots in time by age group, each as a percentage of total cases since the outbreak began.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE – U.S. cases among children and youth aged 0-17 as percentage of total cases is 17.2% as of today.  (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Solano is experiencing an EXTREMELY HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 3,066 new cases over the last 7 days, up from around 500 at Christmastime.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 3,658 ACTIVE cases today is down from 3,931 at last report, but still way above the 2,000 active cases we had at the New Year and only 329 on December 1.

CASES BY CITY – Friday, February 4, 2022:

  • Benicia added 27 new cases today, a total of 2,849 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia has seen 108 new infections in the last 7 days, far above the CDC’s HIGH rate of community transmission. (For a city with Benicia’s population, anything over 27 cases in 7 days is considered HIGH TRANSMISSION). >>Note that the Benicia City Council is considering adding multiple metrics rather than the single metric of the CDC’s 7-day case count to determine when it is safe to lift certain COVID restrictions (see Benicia Chooses to Continue Mask Mandate, 1/19/22).  Note above that Solano County is currently also experiencing EXTREMELY HIGH transmission.
  • Dixon added 30 new cases today, total of 3,924 cases.
  • Fairfield added 193 new cases today, total of 19,008 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 17 new cases today, total of 1,008cases.
  • Suisun City added 51 new cases today, total of 5,051 cases.
  • Vacaville added 197 new cases today, a total of 18,133 cases.
  • Vallejo added 249 new cases today, a total of 23,250 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 186 cases.

TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through today’s incredibly high 26%, (although today’s report shows a modest drop from 29% at last report.)  SOLANO DOES NOT COMPARE FAVORABLY: The California 7-day % positive rate fell significantly from 11.1% to only 8.4% today.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  The U.S. 7-day % positive rate also fell today to 17.09% from 19.46% at last report. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations fell today from 139 to 99 persons our lowest since January 7, 2022.  Currently hospitalized persons in Solano peaked higher than ever before on Jan 22, at 207 persons in hospital. (The County’s previous high was 176 on Jan 7, 2021.)

TOTAL hospitalizations – Solano Public Health did not update its age and race hospitalizations charts today.  Our total since the beginning of the outbreak is now 3,511 hospitalizations.

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County rose today from 20% at last report to 24% available today, still in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  rose today, from 56% to 64%. 

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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