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Bay Area Headlines: Wednesday, 7/22/20, PM

CA Leads Nation In COVID Cases / Bay Area DA Calls For Justice Reform / Vandals Target Mayor Libby Schaaf’s House

CA Leads Nation In COVID Cases

California’s confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 409,000, surpassing New York for most in the nation. Johns Hopkins University data showed, today, that California now has about 1,200 more cases than New York. But New York’s 32,520 deaths are by far the highest total in the country and four times more than the number in California. And New York's rate of confirmed infections of about 2,100 per 100,000 people is twice that of California’s rate. But California, yesterday, confirmed 12,807 new cases. It's the state's highest single day tally since the start of the pandemic. And U.S. government data shows reported coronavirus cases underestimate the true number of infections.

Bay Area DA Calls For Justice Reform

The top prosecutor for a San Francisco Bay Area county says he will no longer seek the death penalty and will move to end cash bail. No it’s not San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin. It’s Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, and it’s part of a reform plan prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Rosen said, today, that his office would review cases with an eye toward race and equity and form a unit to ferret out serious police misconduct. The San Jose Police Officers’ Association called his proposals reckless and politically motivated. Governor Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on the death penalty last year.

Vandals Target Mayor Libby Schaaf’s House

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s house was vandalized by a group of individuals around 2 o’clock yesterday morning. And that set off a busy day for oakland’s activists and politicos.

The group called “some yay area comrades” took responsibility for the vandalization of Mayor Schaaf’s house in a post on Indybay Tuesday afternoon. They said that they were quote “sending a wake up call to the mayor and a call to action to the Bay Area” end quote.

The group’s demands include defunding and dismantling the city’s police department, cancelling rent, guaranteeing housing, and lastly for the city to drop charges against those arrested during recent protests.

The mayor’s spokesperson justin berton released a statement saying that the mayor “supports passionate protest but does not support tactics meant to harm and terrorize others.”

Despite demands to defund the police, the Oakland City Council voted down a proposal to reduce funding on Tuesday evening with mayor Schaaf casting the tie-breaking vote.

Ben joined KALW in 2004. As Executive News Editor and then News Director, he helped the news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped teach hundreds of audio producers, many of whom work with him at KALW, today.