Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says the USDA will provide additional assistance through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The agency will be expanding eligibility for some agricultural producers and commodities and updating payments to accurately compensate some producers who already applied to the program. Producers who are now eligible and those who need to modify…… MORE
Biden Picks Transgender as Assistant Health Secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. Levine is a pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general and was appointed to her current post by Democratic…… MORE
Calif. Becomes First State to Top 3 Million COVID-19 Cases
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California has become the first state to record more than 3 million known coronavirus infections. That’s according to a tally Monday by Johns Hopkins University. The grim milestone wasn’t entirely unexpected in a state with 40 million residents but its speed was stunning. The state only reached 2 million reported cases…… MORE
CA Sheriff’s Deputy, K9 & Suspect Dead Following Shootout
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a California sheriff’s deputy has died and another deputy was injured following a chase and shootout that also left a suspect dead. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones says a sheriff’s K-9 dog also died in the gunfire late Monday near Cal Expo, a Sacramento event venue. He says the…… MORE
California Urges Stop to 300K Vaccines after Some Fall Ill
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California’s state epidemiologist is urging a halt to more than 300,000 COVID-19 vaccinations using a Moderna version because some people who got it needed medical treatment for possible severe allergic reactions. Dr. Erica S. Pan is recommending that vaccine providers stop using one lot of the Moderna vaccine pending completion of…… MORE
Calif. Man Allegedly Hid 3 Months in Airport Due to Virus
CHICAGO (AP) – A California man who told police that the coronavirus pandemic left him afraid to fly has been arrested on charges that he hid in a secured area at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for three months. Thirty-six-year-old Aditya Singh is charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and…… MORE
Harris Prepares for Central Role in Biden’s White House
WASHINGTON (AP) – Kamala Harris will make history on Wednesday when she becomes the nation’s first female vice president – and the first Black woman and the first woman of South Asian descent to hold that office. But that’s only where her boundary-breaking role begins. A confluence of crises confronts the Biden administration, and an…… MORE
VP-Elect Harris Resigns Senate Seat, Newsom Appoints Padilla
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday formally submitted her letter of resignation as senator from California to Gov. Gavin Newsom, CNN reported. In commentary for the San Francisco Chronicle, she wrote “serving as your senator has been an honor.” Harris won’t give a farewell speech on the Senate floor, since the upper chamber isn’t scheduled to…… MORE
Cannabis May Reduce Risk of Dying From COVID-19
Cannabis extract can reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19, according to a new study. It works by calming an over-stimulated immune system, taming the so-called “cytokine storms” that cause the body to attack its own tissue instead of the invading virus. Canadian researchers found that certain strains of cannabis sativa can reduce the inflammatory…… MORE
High-Wind Warning In Effect for Most of California
[vemba-video id=”weather/2021/01/18/daily-weather-forecast-california-winds-fire-snow.cnn”] California could be facing the strongest wind event of the season this week, forecasters say. Strong, damaging winds began across portions of Northern and central California Sunday night and are expected to last through Wednesday. High-wind alerts are in effect for over 30 million people from north-central California down to Southern California. The…… MORE
