It's Friday. Another pandemic school year comes with concerns about Covid-19, learning delays and school safety. Plus, more on California's bold plan to phase out gas-powered cars. |
 | | By one estimate, students were, on average, four to five months behind where they have typically been by the end of the school year.Pete Kiehart for The New York Times |
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For a vast majority of California's roughly six million K-12 students, this month is the beginning of a new school year. |
There are the usual worries about cliques and classes, but also Covid-19 transmission, school safety, staffing shortages and lagging test scores after more than two years of pandemic disruption. |
In other words, there's a lot going on. And over the past few weeks, Golden State parents and teachers and others have been writing to us about their feelings on the return to school. Here's a sampling of what they've shared: |
"I have a 19-year-old son who graduated from high school at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and has been struggling with online community college. He suffers from A.D.H.D. and anxiety from social isolation, and the past two years have been so difficult for him (and for me to watch him go through it). He just started his first in-person class and from the time he signed up, I could see the difference. He has been more buoyant and upbeat about his future. Hooray!" — Jennifer Wilde, Oakland |
"You want to know how I feel about the new school year? In a couple of words: extremely anxious. I've only just learned through a brief article in our local paper, The Daily Breeze, that a gun shop may soon receive a permit to open a gun shop in the center of Torrance, close to three local schools, including my son's high school. Given the number of mass shootings and notably those that have occurred at schools (including here in California), I am in a state of utter disbelief. How many times can officials of all sorts offer their platitudes about keeping our children safe while permitting the sale of guns within walking distance of so many schools? Ridiculous, shameful, frustrating, rage-inducing! Do greed and ignorance have no limits? |
So that about sums up my nerves at the beginning of my son's senior year of high school. Covid is a mere afterthought in the face of potential gun violence." — M. Blanchard, Torrance |
"I teach seventh-grade science at a charter school near downtown Los Angeles. The stresses that made last year so challenging for teachers (low and missing academic skills, mental health issues because of Covid deaths in the family, staffing problems, extreme student behaviors, etc.) have not disappeared. And the public wanting the pandemic to be over doesn't make it so — cases are still higher than they were last summer at the start of school. I'm scared that this semester our school will drop all Covid prevention policies, and I might be out into an unsafe situation. I love my new students but making myself get up and go to school each day is getting harder." — Brittany Cliffe, Los Angeles |
"It may seem a bit vain, but I've loved seeing my high schooler and middle schooler go to school dressed in their personal styles with clothing they bought with their allowance. It's a progression from the daily pajama outfits while schooling from home. Returning to school was exciting to return to something normal in their lives." — Richard Pascual, Pleasanton |
"My oldest child just turned 3 and started at a new preschool last week. We had parent orientation in person for the first time in our lives as parents! Albeit masked and outside. … |
I am hopeful that by the time he's in elementary school, things will have settled into a new normal that includes more of the hallmarks of being a parent to a young student: in-person volunteering, potlucks and socials, fund-raisers and a general sense of being a part of a learning community. It doesn't feel like we've quite gotten there, but we're making progress." — Kera Bartlett Binns, Berkeley |
"As a recently retired teacher, I have been following the present challenges of young American teachers. I am proud of their tenacity during the roller coaster of Covid, politics regarding social studies and gay rights, their continuous care of their students despite harassment from disgruntled parents and their wisdom to demand for things like proper filters in their rooms. |
We as teachers have all had our trials over time, but I'm particularly moved by our younger and new teachers entering the field of education." — Elizabeth Jean Flores, Los Angeles |
 | | A charging station in Burbank. Tesla has been a leader in the transition to electric vehicles, but established automakers are in hot pursuit.Philip Cheung for The New York Times |
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- Electric cars: California's move to phase out gasoline-powered cars, with other states expected to follow, matches automakers' plans. The challenge will be making it happen.
- Inmates: A California bill that would allow more ill and dying inmates to be released from state prisons cleared the State Senate and will head to the Assembly for final approval, The Associated Press reports.
- 4 a.m. last call: California lawmakers rejected a bill that would have allowed bars in West Hollywood, San Francisco and Palm Springs to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Housing crunch: California lawmakers reached a deal on Thursday to back two bills that would open up much of the state's commercial land for residential development, The Associated Press reports.
- Florida election: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday a $100,000 donation to the campaign of Representative Charlie Crist, who won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor and will run against Ron DeSantis, the incumbent, The Hill reports.
- Surgeon general: Newsom appointed Dr. Diana Ramos, who currently works at the state public health department, as California's surgeon general.
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- Police brutality: New racist text messages from officers in the Torrance Police Department show how the officers talked about hurting and killing Black suspects, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Orange County race: A congressional race in the reliably Republican county is testing the G.O.P.'s hold on a changing district and could help determine control over the House in the midterms, KQED reports.
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 | | Linda Xiao for The New York Times. |
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 | | Kanye West's opera, "Nebuchadnezzar," at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2019.The New York Times |
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Today's tip comes from Cynthia Chambers, who recommends a Los Angeles classic: |
"My favorite place to visit in California is the Hollywood Bowl. Summer nights are cool and entertaining there, so we go once a week to see classical concerts by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by [Gustavo] Dudamel with famous soloists, or occasionally a pop concert like Pink Martini, or a jazz concert with Herbie Hancock or Wynton Marsalis, or the famous John Williams concerts including hundreds of fans with light sabers. They even have fireworks for the 1812 Overture and Fourth of July concerts. We really enjoy bringing our own wine and food to picnic before the concerts at the outdoor venue with over 17,000 bench seats in a natural outdoor amphitheater." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
Californians: Have growing concerns about climate change affected how you live your life? Have you made any changes? If so, we want to hear about them. (Are you driving less, eating differently or changing your job?) |
This is part of a live event that The Times is hosting in San Francisco on Oct. 12 examining our collective response to the climate challenge. Learn more. |
And before you go, some good news |
You probably remember the Cronut, the croissant-doughnut trademarked by the New York pastry chef Dominique Ansel. Then there was the tacro (a croissant-taco) and the cruffin (a muffin-shaped croissant, usually filled with pastry cream). |
Now there's the croffle — a cross between a croissant and waffle that's suddenly available all over the Bay Area. It's warm, buttery and can be served sweet or savory, covered in Nutella or nestled next to fried chicken. |
It's unclear who invented the croffle. Serena Oh, who owns the Taiwanese shaved-ice spot Powder in the Lower Haight of San Francisco, is believed to be the first person in the Bay Area to have sold one. |
In fall 2020, Powder's shaved-ice machine broke down. Looking for advice on what to serve next, Oh called a friend in South Korea, who raved about croffles, which were trending there. |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back on Monday. Enjoy your weekend. — Soumya |
Isabella Grullón Paz, Allison Honors and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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