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Tuesday, April 19, 2022

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TSA Lifts Conceal Required, However You Might Still Required Them On Some The Golden State Buses, Trains: Some public transportation firms in The golden state — consisting of the L.A. Region Metropolitan Transport Authority as well as L.A. Division of Transport, which runs the dashboard bus solution as well as Traveler Express lines— are asking cyclists to proceed putting on masks as they waited for better information from the federal government after a government court overruled the traveling mask required. Learn more from the Los Angeles Times. Scroll down for even more on the traveling requireds.

5,000 Stanford Healthcare Nurses Will Certainly Go On Strike Following Week: After months of stopped working agreement arrangements, 5,000 registered nurses throughout Stanford Healthcare claimed they’re going on strike beginning April 25. Stanford Healthcare as well as Lucile Packard Kid’s Healthcare facility managers have actually revealed they will certainly remove medical insurance advantages along with pay. “Rather than attempting to resolve why 93% of qualified registered nurses elected to go on strike, the medical facilities reacted with this harsh relocation,” the registered nurses union claimed. Learn more from ABC7, the Palo Alto Weekly, as well as San Francisco Chronicle.

Listed below, have a look at the summary of The golden state Healthline’s protection. For today’s nationwide health and wellness information, reviewed KHN’s Early Morning Instruction.

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San Francisco Chronicle:
Airlines Begin Dropping Mask Mandates After Federal Court Overrules Demand

Significant airline companies started introducing Monday that masks are currently optional for vacationers for the very first time in greater than a year, hrs after a government court annulled the government mask required for aircrafts as well as various other settings of public transport. The judgment by U.S. Area Court Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa Florida, Fla., claimed the mask required was carried out unjustifiably which it surpassed the authority of the Centers for Illness Control as well as Avoidance. The choice successfully finishes the government regulation that given that February 2021 has actually urged transport business as well as the firms that run transport centers to call for vacationers to use masks as a method to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Biden management has not claimed whether it will certainly appeal the judgment. (Picon, 4/18)

KQED:
TSA Will No More Enforce Traveling Mask Required After Federal Court Strikes It Down 

The government traveling mask required will certainly not be carried out as the Biden management evaluates a Florida government court’s judgment versus it. “The firms are evaluating the choice as well as evaluating possible following actions. In the meanwhile, today’s court choice implies CDC’s public transport concealing order is not effectively right now,” according to a Biden management authorities. (Franklin, 4/18)

Bay Location Information Team:
Still Required A Mask To Fly Or Flight After Court’s Judgment?

Face mask opponents won an essential triumph Monday when a government court in Florida ruled the nationwide COVID-19 mask required covering aircrafts, trains, buses as well as various other public transport went beyond U.S. health and wellness authorities’ authority. By Monday night, the nation’s biggest airline companies — Southwest, United, Delta as well as Alaska — had all stated masks optional on their trips, yet vacationers shouldn’t throw that KN95 in the garbage right now. Bay Location flight terminals as well as transportation firms were still responding to the judgment as well as waiting on even more support from government authorities. (Woolfolk as well as Kamisher, 4/18)

Capital:
White Residence Advises Travelers To Maintain Putting On Masks After ‘Frustrating’ Judgment 

White Residence press assistant Jen Psaki claimed Monday the Biden management still advises that people use masks on public transportation after a court overruled the government mask required for traveling on aircrafts, trains as well as buses. Psaki informed press reporters throughout the everyday instruction that management authorities are “still evaluating” the judgment from a government court in Florida, which she called “unsatisfactory.” Journalism assistant left the door available to the management appealing the judgment. (Gangitano, 4/18)

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San Francisco Chronicle:
Not All Bay Location Counties Will Adhere to The golden state’s Peaceful COVID Quarantine Policy — Below’s Why

The golden state recently raised its five-day quarantine for individuals that have no signs and symptoms after being subjected to COVID-19 — yet not all Bay Location regions were quickly aboard. Alameda Region health and wellness authorities on Monday revealed that they would certainly remain to adhere to even more limiting support from the Centers for Illness Control as well as Avoidance, which encourages individuals that are unqualified day on their COVID inoculations to stay at home for at the very least 5 days after their last call with a contaminated individual. (Hwang, 4/18)

The New York City Times:
High Court Policy Versus Flying Force Policeman That Rejected Vaccination 

The High court ruled on Monday that the Government might take corrective activity versus a lieutenant colonel airborne Pressure Book that declined to be immunized versus the coronavirus on spiritual premises. The court’s short, anonymous order offered no factors, which prevails when the justices act upon emergency situation applications. The court’s 3 most traditional participants — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. as well as Neil M. Gorsuch — kept in mind dissents yet did not describe their reasoning. (Liptak, 4/18)

Bay Location Information Team:
COVID: Have We Gotten to Completion For Vaccination Mandates? 

After COVID-19 injections ended up being extensively readily available in 2015, government, state as well as regional leaders were locating themselves to reveal their tough-on-the-virus bona fides by mandating the shots for the work environment, the class, bench as well as the situation. Currently, injection keys are being suspended as well as numerous requireds called back, with postponed execution as well as softened fines. For a selection of factors – sensible, clinical, political – there’s much less hunger currently for requiring the unwilling to obtain the stabs, particularly currently with situation prices so reduced. (Woolfolk, 4/18)

Sacramento :
Trucker Convoy Involves Sacramento For COVID Protests 

A team described as the “Individuals’s Convoy” gotten here in Sacramento on Monday early morning, circling around midtown roads as well as shrieking interrupt vehicles as well as various other cars. It’s the very first of a noticeable three-day job of occasions prepared at The golden state’s state Capitol in objection of coronavirus constraints. (McGough, 4/18)

The New York City Times:
Disneyland Hugs Return: Mickey Computer Mouse Accepts Visitors After Covid Restriction 

As the odor of cinnamon rolls as well as sunscreen floated with the springtime air at Disneyland on Monday early morning, Rory Sutherland flung herself on the pathway as well as had what can just be called a hissy fit. She awaited a hug from Mickey Computer mouse — actually, past prepared: For greater than 2 years, since the pandemic started, Disneyland’s hairy citizens have actually been off restrictions. The park was shut for 14 months. When it resumed last April with considerable health-related adjustments, Mickey as well as Minnie as well as their friends were fended off from visitors. No hugs. No autographs. Obvious murmured in little ears. Just swing from afar, which depressed some households a lot that they terminated or delayed their journeys. (Barnes, 4/18)

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San Francisco Chronicle:
Does It Seem like Every Person Has COVID? Why Some Specialists Claim S.F. May Remain In A Rise Currently Despite The Fact That Situations Are Reduced

Peter Chin-Hong doesn’t generally like relying upon unscientific proof. However in the last couple of weeks, he claimed, it has actually ended up being harder to disregard what seems like an undercounted coronavirus rise in San Francisco. “There’s been many individuals obtaining COVID,” Chin-Hong, a contagious illness professional at UCSF, informed The Chronicle. “The quantity of individuals as well as break outs I have actually been becoming aware of are not compatible the main numbers.” While San Francisco’s situation matters are revealing a rise as the omicron bachelor’s degree.2 subvariant spreads throughout the U.S., Chin-Hong claimed that he as well as various other scientists do not think present situation prices show the range of the rise, partially since less individuals are obtaining checked than previously. (Neilson, 4/19)

The Washington Blog post:
CDC Decline All Countries From Its Highest-Risk Covid Classification

The Centers for Illness Control as well as Avoidance upgraded its global covid-19 traveling advising system Monday, marking its highest-risk group for severe situations. Since Monday, the CDC went down all nations from its “Degree 4” group, currently identified “Unique Circumstances/Do Not Traveling.” Around 120 locations currently have a Degree 3 advisory — consisting of Australia, the UK, Italy as well as numerous various other preferred European locations — for “high” degrees of the coronavirus, while 12 locations rest at Degree 2. An additional 55 are assigned Degree 1, its lowest-risk degree. (Diller, 4/18)

CIDRAP:
Expanding Time In Between MRNA COVID Vaccination Doses Might Increase Efficiency

COVID-19 mRNA injection performance (VE) versus infection was 5% to 7% greater when both main dosages were provided at the very least 7 weeks instead of 3 to 5 weeks apart, according to an empirical research of health center as well as neighborhood medical care employees (HCWs) in British Columbia released late recently in Open Online forum Transmittable Conditions. … After modification, mRNA VE versus infection was 71% for one dosage at a mean of 7 weeks as well as 90% for 2 dosages at 13 weeks. 7 months after the 2nd dosage, VE was still higher than 80%. Two-dose VE was regularly 5% to 7% greater when provided at the very least 7 weeks apart than after a 3- to 5-week period. (4/18)

Bay Location Information Team:
Countless Sutter Nurses Strike Away Location Facilities For Better Staffing, Health And Wellness Steps

Holding indicators that read, “On strike for secure person treatment,” loads of Sutter Health and wellness registered nurses as well as healthcare employees collected Monday early morning outside the Eden Medical Facility to require much better staffing as well as health and wellness procedures in the middle of recurring agreement arrangements with the medical care titan. Greater than 8,000 registered nurses as well as healthcare employees took part in a one-day strike at 15 centers throughout the Bay Location in order to prompt administration to buy “pandemic preparedness securities” after 10 months of agreement arrangements, consisting of ample accumulations of individual safety devices, enhanced nursing personnel as well as an equivalent voice on health and wellness boards. (Lin, 4/18)

Sacramento :
Sutter Wellness Nurses In CA Strike Over Staffing, Pandemic 

Beeping horns as well as the yells of at the very least 200 signed up nurses called right to the front doors of Sutter Roseville Medical Fixate Monday, though trees as well as a sea of car park maintained the pickets a quarter-mile away as well as well out of vision. Greater Than North The golden state 8,500 registered nurses as well as professionals opposed at the Roseville health center as well as 14 others run by the Sacramento-based system, stating they have actually gotten to a standoff in agreement arrangements over staffing as well as pandemic readiness. (Anderson as well as McGough, 4/18)

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Oaklandside:
Registered nurses In Oakland, Berkeley Join Statewide One-Day Sutter Wellness Strike

Union registered nurses at Alta Bates medical facilities in Berkeley as well as Oakland signed up with a region-wide strike versus Sutter Health and wellness, requiring much better staffing as well as job problems as doctor remain to be exhausted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Sutter Health and wellness possesses 2 Alta Bates places in Berkeley as well as an additional in Oakland, amongst virtually 2 lots throughout Northern The golden state. Registered nurses at medical facilities from Santa Cruz to Crescent City participated in the strike, according to National Nurses United, which sustained the activity with The golden state Nurses Organization. (Yelimeli, 4/18)

The Bakersfield Californian:
New Rehab Medical Facility Broadens Neighborhood Capability For Inpatient Treatment 

Kern Region locals seeking extensive treatment adhering to a crash or significant clinical treatment obtained a brand-new therapy alternative with the current opening of the 50-bed Bakersfield Rehab Medical Facility off Freeway 178 near Early Morning Drive. Because getting its very first clients last month, the two-story, 60,000-square-foot center has actually accomplished qualification by the Joint Payment on Certification of Medical Care Organizations as well as, independently, the California Division of Public Wellness. The center gets Medicare repayment as well as agreements with exclusive insurance firms remain in the jobs. (Cox, 4/18)

Modesto :
UC Davis Program Attempts To Bring Even More Docs To Stanislaus Location

As clinical trainee Benjamin Vincent finds out person treatment at the Kaiser Permanente clinical workplaces in north Modesto, he is just 3 miles from his previous secondary school as well as his moms and dads’ house. Vincent has actually invested his 3rd year of clinical institution at Kaiser Modesto Medical Facility as component of a campaign to bring even more physicians to an area that’s infamous for doctor scarcities as well as obstacles to healthcare. (Carlson, 4/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune:
Neighborhood Start-up Carlsmed Lands $30M To Bring Tailored Spinal Column Surgical Procedure Technology To Much More Clients

Med-tech start-up Carlsmed claimed Tuesday that it grabbed an extra $30 million in equity capital to drive its electronic system for customized, 3-D published spine implants to enhance the success price of specific back surgical treatments. The 2nd round of endeavor financing was led by B Funding Team, a worldwide investment company. Existing financiers, U.S. Endeavor Allies, The Vertical Team, Cove Fund as well as Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health and wellness additionally took part. (Freeman, 4/19)

Orange Region Register:
Family Members Is Entitled To Payment For Coroner’s Mix-Up In Body ID, Lawyer Informs Jurors 

A lawyer for a dad as well as child that in 2017 hidden a complete stranger believed to be their enjoyed one, because of an Orange Region Coroner’s Workplace mix-up, claimed Monday, April 18, his customers should have monetary payment — not simply an apology — for the destructive mistake. “When you slip up you have up to it,” lawyer  V. James DeSimone claimed throughout shutting disagreements, topping completion of a civil test in Orange Region Superior Court that extended a number of days over 3 weeks. “You don’t simply say sorry.” (Schwebke, 4/18)

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San Francisco Chronicle:
Head Of State Biden Believes In Sen. Feinstein, Press Assistant Claims

Head of state Biden remains to believe in The golden state Sen. Dianne Feinstein after The Chronicle reported recently that several of the legislator’s legislative associates have problems regarding her health and fitness for the work, the White Residence press assistant claimed Monday. “Yes, she’s a long time good friend, a pleased public slave, as well as somebody he has actually long taken pleasure in offering with as well as dealing with,” Jen Psaki claimed in feedback to a concern from a press reporter at the everyday White Residence instruction. (Kopan, 4/18)

Individuals:
Dianne Feinstein Was ‘Lucid’ In Meeting Concerning Memory Trouble Claims

(Sen.) Feinstein informed The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday in a telephone call with the paper’s content board that she does not intend to tip down prior to her term finishes in 2024.The board, in a column, explained Feinstein as “decreased yet lucid as well as receptive.” … Though she recognized to the content board some faults, Feinstein condemned her mindset partially on the anxiety triggered by spouse Richard Blum’s fatality in February, which she additionally mentioned in a declaration released different from her meeting. (Dado, 4/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune:
Region To Open Its 2nd Stand-Alone Mental Wellness Dilemma Facility In Oceanside 

The region is positioned to open its 2nd stand-alone dilemma stablizing facility very early following week, with regional leaders collecting at the brand-new place in Oceanside Monday to obtain a take a look at the center, which has the ability to deal with locals experiencing modest to serious signs and symptoms of mental disease. After reducing a red bow, authorities made their method with the 8,000-square-foot facility improved the very beginning of the region’s North Coastal Live Well Fixate Goal Opportunity, a brief range eastern of Interstate 5. (Sisson, 4/18)

Voice of OC:
Should OC Taxpayers Be Paying The LA Angels $6 Million For Self-destruction Avoidance Advertisements?

Throughout the pandemic, there’s been a repeating neighborhood discussion in Orange Region over exactly how crucial funds from the federal government – indicated to assist regional areas deal with Covid – are being spent at the regional degree. In current days, inquiries have actually fixated whether it makes good sense to guide the majority of the region’s self-destruction avoidance outreach bucks throughout the pandemic to the regional Big league Baseball franchise business. (Gerda, 4/18)

CapRadio:
Sacramento City Schools’ Strike Mores Than, However Moms and dads Still Have A Whole Lot On Their Minds 

For Sacramento City Unified Institution Area pupils, springtime break finishes today, yet it’ll be their 2nd return-to-school in the previous month. This follows pupils’  unscripted leave from class in late March, as an outcome of the eight-day strike presented by area workers that upright April 3. That job standstill mores than currently — yet moms and dads still have a great deal on their minds. … Amongst the arrangements of the resulting tentative arrangements in between the area as well as instructors as well as employees are: greater pay as well as single gratuities for instructors as well as personnel, employment as well as retention gratuities for brand-new bus vehicle drivers as well as the extension of fully-employer-paid healthcare with both HealthNet as well as Kaiser. If validated, the arrangements will certainly last with the 2023-24 academic year. (Salanga, 4/18)

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The Wall Surface Road Journal:
Contaminated-Baby-Formula Examination Transforms Murky 

A government examination right into preferred child solutions as well as significant baby microbial infections has actually been made complex by clashing proof that might make it tough to verify or refute a conclusive link, federal government authorities as well as food-safety professionals state. Federal authorities obtained issues over 4 months starting last September of 4 children that were hospitalized with uncommon microbial infections after being fed powdered child formula made at an Abbott Laboratories factory in Sturgis, Mich. 2 of the children later on passed away. (Pedestrian, 4/18)

Washington Blog post:
Go Down Boxes Are Making It Less Complicated To Eliminate Old Drug 

If there’s anything the pandemic has actually instructed us, it’s that we have a great deal of excess things in our houses — consisting of containers as well as containers of run out or no-longer-needed drugs. That’s a trouble, according to Elizabeth Skoy, an associate teacher at North Dakota State College’s Institution of Drug store. “In the last few years, there’s been a limelight on medicine disposal, as a result of the opioid epidemic,” she claimed. “It’s important to do away with any kind of medicine when you are performed with it to stop abuse or having it fall under the hands of others.” And also, having old drugs in the house enhances the possibilities of unintentional poisoning of youngsters or animals. (Daily, 4/19)

NBC Information:
Viagra And Also Nitrates Don’t Mix, So Just How Are Some Male Still Taking Both?

As any kind of sporting activities follower recognizes, many thanks to the unrelenting roll of game-time Viagra as well as Cialis commercials, blending impotence medications with nitrates for breast discomfort can trigger a harmful decrease in high blood pressure. Many clinical standards highly caution guys not to take both sorts of drugs. Scientists in Denmark as well as the U.S., nonetheless, have actually just recently discovered that a significant variety of guys are however acquiring overlapping prescriptions for both courses of medications. However proof recommends that they don’t show up to experience unfavorable health and wellness results, such as cardiovascular disease, consequently. (Ryan, 4/18)

The New York City Times:
The Pandemic Has Actually Been Difficult On Our Feet 

There is no difficult information on the rise in foot discomfort, yet Dr. James Christina, the executive supervisor of the American Podiatric Medical Organization, claimed it’s been a clear pattern for most of his 12,000 participants. Participants like Dr. Rock Positano, the co-director of the Non-surgical Foot as well as Ankle Joint Solution at the Medical Facility for Unique Surgical Procedure in New York City, that has actually seen foot discomfort rise a lot — 20 to 30 percent — that he called the sensation “pandemic foot.” (Altman, 4/18)

CBS Information:
GE Remember: Fridges Cost House Depot, Lowe’s And also Finest Buy Remembered After 37 Injuries

GE Devices is remembering 6 designs of free-standing French door fridges offered across the country as a result of takes care of that might remove, presenting an autumn danger to those attempting to draw the fridge freezer doors open. Louisville, Kentucky-based GE has actually gotten 71 records of fridge freezer cabinet takes care of removing, leading to 37 injuries, consisting of 3 significant drops, the business claimed Thursday in a notification uploaded by the U.S. Customer Item Security Payment. GE is a department of Chinese international Haier Team. (Gibson, 4/18)

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Voice of San Diego:
La Mesa Touches Outreach Employees, Not Police Officers, To Get To Homeless Populace 

Earl Childress is not that one might anticipate from a homeless outreach employee. He signed up with the armed forces to avoid the life of a preacher’s boy, as well as a lot of his worldview is formed by his time offering. He’s disciplined, indisputable as well as teaches the relevance of self-direction as well as challenging love. Childress suches as to joke that if his single coworker Matthew , that has a master’s level in community service, is the velour handwear cover, after that he’s the iron clenched fist.  Both benefit a La Mesa program called Homeless Outreach as well as Mobile Interaction, or house, that’s housed within the La Mesa Cops Division. However Childress as well as are outreach employees, not polices.  (McWhinney, 4/19)

The New York City Times:
An Increasing Tally Of Lonesome Fatalities On The Streets 

Their bodies were discovered on public benches, existing following to bike courses, collapsed under highway walkways as well as stranded on the sun-drenched coastline. Throughout Los Angeles Region in 2015, the unsheltered passed away in document numbers, approximately 5 homeless fatalities a day, the majority of in ordinary sight of the globe around them. 2 hundred eighty-seven homeless individuals took their dying breath on the pathway, 24 passed away in streets as well as 72 were discovered on the sidewalk, according to information from the region coroner. They were a tiny portion of the hundreds of homeless individuals throughout the nation that pass away annually. (Richer, 4/18)



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California

Falling rock kills hiker near Mt. Whitney in California; third fatality in a week

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Falling rock kills hiker near Mt. Whitney in California; third fatality in a week


A hiker was killed near Mt. Whitney on Sunday after being struck by a falling rock, marking the third fatality within a week near California’s highest peak, authorities said.

The hiker was in the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek Trail when bystanders reported that a rock fell and severely injured the individual, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said.

Search and rescue crews immediately responded to the scene via helicopter and lowered a team member down to the site of the accident. Rescuers determined the injured hiker had died from their injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

The hiker’s body was then airlifted to Lone Pine and turned over to the Inyo County Coroner. Officials did not immediately release the identity of the hiker or provide additional details.

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BODIES OF MISSING HIKERS RECOVERED, IDENTIFIED AFTER DISAPPEARING ON HIKE UP CALIFORNIA’S HIGHEST PEAK

A rescue helicopter responded to the injured hiker’s location in the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek Trail. The hiker was pronounced dead at the scene. (Inyo County Sheriff’s Office)

It was the third hiker fatality in the Mt. Whitney region within a week. 

The bodies of two missing hikers were recovered from the north face of Mount Whitney on Thursday. The hikers were identified as Andrew Niziol, 28, a resident of South Lake Tahoe, and Patty Bolan, 29. The pair were on a long-term hiking trip across the state of California.

Couple on Mount Shasta days before death

The two previous fatalities were Andrew Niziol, 28, and Patty Bolan, 29. Their bodies were found on the north face of Mount Whitney after the couple went missing.  (iStock/Andrew Niziol Facebook)

UTAH HUNTER FINDS SKELETAL REMAINS OF MAN MISSING SINCE 2019 IN REMOTE MOUNTAINS

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Officials cautioned those visiting the area to be aware of the changing weather conditions as the seasons shift.

Mt. Whitney

Mt. Whitney has an elevation of 14,505 feet. (Santi Visalli/ Getty Images, File)

“Early spring conditions prevail on the mountain, with treacherous steep snow, loose rock, and variable weather,” the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said. “Parties venturing onto Mt. Whitney should stay together, turn around before deteriorating conditions become unmanageable, make responsible decisions, and be prepared and fit.”

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous U.S., reaching an elevation of 14,505 feet. More than 25,000 visitors per year seek to summit Mt. Whitney, according to the National Park Service.

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

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California’s wealthiest farming family threatens to reshape small town with new mega-warehouse for big-box retailers that will transform area into an international trading hub

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California’s wealthiest farming family threatens to reshape small town with new mega-warehouse for big-box retailers that will transform area into an international trading hub


The wealthiest farming family in California is planning to expand an industrial warehouse complex to transform a small town into an international trading hub. 

Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the billionaires behind The Wonderful Company, already own a sprawling distribution center in Shafter, northwest of Bakersfield. 

Now they are eager to expand the center to create an international hub to position the county at the forefront of the global shift to online shopping, according to a report in The LA Times. 

The move would convert 1,800 acres of the company’s Kern County almond groves into additional warehousing space.

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The proposal has come under fire over environmental concerns with critics saying it will increase truck traffic and worsen air quality. 

Billionaire owners of the Wonderful Company, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, own a distribution center in Shafter, northwest of Bakersfield

The development would transform Shafter from a small town, with a population of just 20,162, into a booming trade hub.  

As part of the redevelopment, the company is proposing building a new highway that would divert trucks from the center of Shafter. 

They also want to build an inland rail terminal – at a cost of at least $120 million – to funnel products from port by rail, reducing the reliance on State Route 99. 

Wonderful already build and lease warehouses to huge online shopping companies for the storage of goods and processing of orders. 

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They say that the expansion project and the accompanying infrastructure plans are different to a flock of giant distribution centers that have proliferated in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 

While many residents welcome the plans and the new jobs but others are concerned about the environmental impacts. 

Gustavo Aguirre, assistant director of the Delano-based Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment told the LA Times: ‘I understand that company says it will bring jobs; this is true to some extent.

‘But it is also true that it’s going to bring health and environmental impacts that are going to impact the neighbors who live near the industrial park.’

They want to expand the center to create a international hub to position the county at the forefront of the global shift to online shopping

They want to expand the center to create a international hub to position the county at the forefront of the global shift to online shopping

The move would convert 1,800 acres of the company's almond groves into additional warehousing space

The move would convert 1,800 acres of the company’s almond groves into additional warehousing space

The industrial park has generated about 10,000 jobs, including warehouse employees, truck drivers and services handling shipping logistics, according to Wonderful Co. 

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They say that with the planned expansion the complex eventually could support 50,000 jobs.

But some are concerned that increased automation means the expansion won’t generate as many jobs as promised. 

As technology develops and more companies use robotics to manufacture, process and deliver goods, some industrial jobs have been made redundant.  

UC Riverside’s Ellen Reese told the LA Times: ‘Warehouses are both job creators and job destroyers.’

Wonderful build and lease warehouses to huge online shopping companies for the storage of goods and processing of orders

Wonderful build and lease warehouses to huge online shopping companies for the storage of goods and processing of orders

They want to build an inland rail terminal - at a cost of at least $120 million - to funnel products from port by rail, reducing the reliance on State Route 99

They want to build an inland rail terminal – at a cost of at least $120 million – to funnel products from port by rail, reducing the reliance on State Route 99

She added: ‘A lot of the research actually suggests that more automated warehouses have higher injury rates than less automated warehouses.’

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The Resnicks are known for their philanthropy, donating to climate research, scholarships and wellness centers in the area. 

Through The Wonderful Company they own POM Wonderful, Fiji Water, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds, Wonderful Halos, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, JUSTIN Wines, Landmark Wines, JNSQ Wines and the Teleflora floral wire service company.

Aguirre is helping negotiate with the company for a broader community benefits agreement to ensure the people who live near Shafter get more than jobs out of the expansion.

He said: ‘The residents recognize that [this project] could bring jobs, but they come with a price.   

‘Because of this, they say, “What are you going to do for our community?”‘

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DailyMail.com contacted The Wonderful Co. for comment.  



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Landlines may be saved in California – for now. What this means for consumers nationwide

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Landlines may be saved in California – for now. What this means for consumers nationwide


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California utility regulators are proposing rejecting a request by AT&T to eliminate its responsibility to provide traditional landline phone service. That could have implications nationwide, a consumer advocate said.

Fewer telephone companies are offering basic landline phone service as the utilities say the copper-wire infrastructure is old and expensive to maintain and demand for landline phone service is low as consumers move to mobile and other services.

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But consumer advocates nationwide have cried foul, saying basic landline service is important for the country’s most vulnerable, including senior citizens who don’t want to rely on cell service, consumers who can’t afford cellular service and those in rural areas that may not have good access to cell or broadband internet services.

What happened in California?

Earlier this year, the California Public Utilities Commission opened public comments on an application by AT&T to waive its responsibilities to be what’s called “Carrier of Last Resort” (COLR), meaning the utility has to offer the copper-wire landline service. 

The utility and many of its peers have been petitioning state utility commissions and legislators, asking to be relieved of the task.

On Friday, Administrative Law Judge Thomas J. Glegola wrote a decision proposing that the Caifornia commission reject AT&T’s waiver. The proposal will be voted on by the commission at its June 20 meeting. The judge also proposed that the commission look at the rules outlining the carrier of last resort service obligations.

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In a press release announcing the upcoming vote, the commission said public response to AT&T’s request “was extensive with over 5,000 public comments received into the record and eight Public Forums held in-person in three cities and virtually across the state, drawing more than 5,800 attendees.”

The proposed rejection “underscores the critical importance of ensuring universal access to essential telecommunications services for all Californians,” the commission said in its statement. “As the designated COLR, AT&T plays a pivotal role in providing reliable telephone service to communities across the state.”

The commission added that while the communications company said mobile wireless and other services could fill the void, “the CPUC found AT&T did not meet the requirements for COLR withdrawal. Specifically, AT&T failed to demonstrate the availability of replacement providers willing and able to serve as COLR, nor did AT&T prove that alternative providers met the COLR definition.”

Public commenters also highlighted the unreliability of voice alternatives such as cell service or Voice Over Internet Protocol services (VoIp) which are internet phone providers, the commission said.

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What is AT&T’s response?

AT&T in a statement said it was disappointed in the proposed rejection. Competition for other more reliable phone alternatives is robust, said Marc Blakeman, president of AT&T California. Blakeman said there are less than 5% of households in California that AT&T serves who still use copper-based landline phone service.

“We are disappointed by the CPUC’s proposed dismissal of our application for relief from Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) regulation, as we’d hoped the commission would allow us the opportunity to demonstrate why the number of options for voice service available to customers make the COLR obligation unnecessary,” Blakeman said.

Not surprisingly, Blakeman said, no providers were interested in bidding on the carrier of last resort service “with a declining number of customers given the competitive options available in today’s marketplace. We remain committed to keeping our customers connected to voice service and will continue working with state leaders on policies that allow us to bring modern communications to Californians.”

AT&T made the request in California for a waiver and has also lobbied successfully for legislative reform in 20 other states, which eliminated the utility’s requirement to provide traditional landline service.  

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Blakeman said during climate disasters, when staying connected is essential, AT&T’s fiber network is more reliable “than our outdated copper network” and that old copper cables take significantly longer to repair following weather events, in some cases taking weeks to dry due to damage from extensive rain and flooding.

Consumer advocates point to the need for electricity for most alternatives to traditional landlines and note that when there is no electricity, consumers can still use their landlines.

Is the proposed rejection expected to pass?

While the rejection is a proposal and still needs to be approved by the commission, Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California, said she fully expects the board to approve it.

“What AT&T really wants is to stop providing essential telecom service to 99% of its service area, without providing a shred of evidence that there are real alternatives. This includes many areas threatened by wildfires, earthquakes, floods and power shutoffs,” Costa said in a press release. “If AT&T gets its wish, it would significantly jeopardize public safety.”

In an interview with USA TODAY, Costa, who is also chair of the telecommunications committee for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, said California’s proposed rejection of the landline waiver is on top of a recent rejection in Utah for another utility to waive its obligation to provide landlines.

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“I think it’s very important for consumers nationwide,” Costa said. “I think that would give other states the impetus to look at the same thing.”

Loss of landlines? Phone companies want to eliminate traditional landlines. What’s at stake and who loses?

When deregulation took place in telecom, the assumption was there would be lots of alternatives to landlines, she said.

“I think California and Utah are stepping up to the plate and saying no, we need to think about this carefully,” she said. “We need to make sure that all of our people have service. How do you let the largest carrier in a state walk out the door and the markets that they want to abandon are the ones that are most at risk?”

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays,
here.

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