Category Archives: Benicia CA

#BBLM, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-racism, Benicia CA, Benicia Herald

Anti-racism letters in the Benicia Herald

Collecting our thoughts here on the BenIndy…

By Roger Straw, May 12, 2021

Check out the growing number of letters sent in to our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald: strong calls for racial justice, offers of praise where deserved, decrying of local incidents of racism, and opposition to racial bias and expressions of white supremacy.

Below are today’s listing of collected letters.  Check back regularly for new letters at the BenIndy Anti-Racism Letters page.

ANTI-RACISM LETTERS IN THE BENICIA HERALD

Benicia is definitely NOT the happy little totally progressive, inclusive community many of us have long thought it was.  Racism is real in Benicia.  See the following letters which appeared in the print edition of the Benicia Herald.  (See also Benicia Black Lives Matter: Our Voices, also published in the Benicia Herald.)

Benicia Herald letters on racism
Date Author Link to letter
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Mark Christian Silence is Complicity – America not a place of liberty & justice for all, Sheriff and Solano supervisors complicit.
Sunday, May 2, 2021 C. Bart Sullivan, Esq. A World Without Prejudice Requires Vigilance – Early childhood innocence, BLM, Local writer with head in sand.
Friday, April 30, 2021 Vicki Byrum Dennis SURJ / BBLM Study & Action Course – How can whites become allies? History, racial injustice is systemic. SURJ invitation.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 Susan Street Off the Mark As Usual – Local writer missing the mark, praising City leadership, racism is real.
Sunday, April 25, 2021 Jean Walker What Can I Do to Make Racism Go Away in Benicia? – Racism is systemic, white privilege, pleased with City Resolution 20, critical of appointments, SURJ.
Friday, April 23, 2021 Nathalie Christian White Supremacy Is Not a Cancer, It Is a Choice – Jan. 6 in D.C., Sheriff’s deputies, call to action.
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Benicia Mayor Steve Young On the Hate-Crime & Arrest Last Weekend – Racism in Benicia, Raley’s incident, racial bias conscious and unconscious, City took first steps Equity Mgr, we can do better.
Sunday, April 18, 2021 Ralph Dennis Two Peas in a Pod – Raley’s incident, Sheriff investigation 2 peas in a pod.  Be an ally, don’t blame BLM or City hiring of Equity Mgr.
Contact the Benicia Herald – write your own letter!

To add your voice, write to Benicia Herald editor Galen Kusic at beniciaherald@gmail.com.  Note that the Benicia Herald’s online edition is not currently being maintained.  To subscribe to the print edition, email beniciacirculation@gmail.com or phone 707-745-6838.  Main phone line is 707-745-0733; fax is 707-745-8583.  Mail or stop by in person at 820 First St., Benicia, 94510.  (Not sure of days and hours.)

Benicia CA, Benicia City Manager Erik Upson, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Vaccine

Solano County COVID report: 32 new cases today

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Solano reports 32 new cases today.  Stay safe, remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Wednesday, May 12.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 12, Solano County reported 32 new COVID cases.  Our hearts go out to those 32 and their families and friends.  PROGRESS: we saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that our red-tier Solano County will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 249 to 236.  Our percent positivity rate rose a bit, and remains high at 7.1%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly. Note especially children and youth 0-17 and young adults age 18-49.
Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 12, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17		 Cases
% 18-49		 Cases
% 50-64		 Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/12/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – no new information today…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 11, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated this week.  Monday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 on Tuesday.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 12
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17		 Hospitalizations
Age 18-49		 Hospitalizations
Age 50-64		 Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332     598

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Wednesday, May 12:

  • Benicia added 1 case today, total of 979 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon added 5 cases today, total of 1,896 cases.
  • Fairfield added 7 new cases today, total of 8,943 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 4 new cases today, total of 2,258 cases.
  • Vacaville added 10 new cases today, total of 8,597 cases.
  • Vallejo added only 5 new cases today, total of 9,766 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in this week’s City of Benicia newsletter.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Tuesday, May 11:

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 City Manager Erik Upson, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Vaccine

Solano COVID hospitalization numbers and report of Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

By Roger Straw, Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Solano reports only 16 new cases today, and now reports 9 who were hospitalized at some time since early April.  Stay safe!  Remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Tuesday, May 11.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 11, Solano County reported only 16 new COVID cases, the smallest single-day increase since September 11, 2020.  This is encouraging, but our hearts go out to those 16 and their families and friends.  PROGRESS: we saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that Solano will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 297 to 249.  Our percent positivity rate fell a bit, but remains high at 7.0%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 11, 2021
New Cases
0-17 years		 New Cases
18-49 years		 New Cases
50-64 years		 New Cases
65+ years		 TOTAL New Cases Today
4 10 4 -2 16
25% 63% 25% -13% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 and young adults age 18-49.  (And don’t ask me to explain the two fewer seniors in today’s Solano dashboard, above.  ????)

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 7, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17		 Cases
% 18-49		 Cases
% 50-64		 Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/11/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – new information…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 11, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated yesterday and again today.  Yesterday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 today.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 11
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17		 Hospitalizations
Age 18-49		 Hospitalizations
Age 50-64		 Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332 (adding 1)     598 (adding 5)

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Tuesday, May 11:

  • Benicia remained steady today, total of 978 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,891 cases.
  • Fairfield added 4 new cases today, total of 8,936 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 2,254 cases.
  • Vacaville added 2 new cases today, total of 8,587 cases.
  • Vallejo added 8 new cases today, total of 9,761 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in his weekly newsletter today.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Monday, May 10:

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, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Vaccine

COVID progress in Solano: case count remains high, but hospitalizations are down

By Roger Straw, Monday, May 10, 2021

Solano reports 112 new cases over the weekend, but only 3 hospitalized since early April.  But remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Monday, May 10.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 10, Solano County reported 112 new COVID cases, 37 per day.  We saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that Solano will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 319 to 297.  Our percent positivity rate remained steady at 7.6%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 10, 2021
New Cases
0-17 years		 New Cases
18-49 years		 New Cases
50-64 years		 New Cases
65+ years		 TOTAL New Cases Today
17 75 17 3 112
15% 67% 15% 3% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 years and young adults age 18-49:

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 7, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17		 Cases
% 18-49		 Cases
% 50-64		 Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/10/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – very little information…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (13 today – the County’s lowest number since June 19, 2020).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 10, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated today.  Today the County reported only 3 new hospitalizations since early April, 1 person age 18-49 and 2 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 10
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17		 Hospitalizations
Age 18-49		 Hospitalizations
Age 50-64		 Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324 (adding 1)     331     593 (adding 2)

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Monday, May 10:

  • Benicia added 2 new case over the weekend, total of 978 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon added 9 new cases today, total of 1,891 cases.
  • Fairfield added 42 new cases today, total of 8,932 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 9 new cases today, total of 2,252 cases.
  • Vacaville added 28 new cases today, total of 8,585 cases.
  • Vallejo added 22 new cases today, total of 9,753 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, May 7:

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