Harry Reid, the Nevada politician who served as Senate majority leader for eight years and was one of the driving forces behind the Affordable Care Act, has died. He was 82.

Reid led the Senate Democratic caucus for more than 15 years. He was first elected to Congress in 1983 as a Nevada representative and became a senator in 1987. In 2001, he was named senate majority whip, becoming senate minority whip in 2003, and then serving as majority leader from 2007 to 2015. He retired as senate minority leader in 2017.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach who became one of America’s most recognizable ambassadors of professional football, reaching millions, and generations, from the broadcast booth and through the popular video game that bears his name, died on Tuesday. He was 85.

The National Football League announced his death in a statement that didn’t include the cause.

In his irrepressible way, and with his distinctive voice, Madden left an imprint on the sport on par with titans like George Halas, Paul Brown and his coaching idol, Vince Lombardi. Madden’s influence, steeped in Everyman sensibilities and studded with wild gesticulations and paroxysms of onomatopoeia — wham! doink! whoosh! — made the N.F.L. more interesting, more relevant and more fun for over 40 years.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the Omicron variant now accounts for roughly 59 percent of all Covid cases in the United States, a significant decrease from the agency’s previous estimate. The update shows how hard it is to track the fast-spreading variant in real time and how poorly the agency has communicated its uncertainty, experts said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic coronavirus infections from 10 days to five days. 

Healthy individuals who have been vaccinated, and especially those who have been boosted, appear unlikely to develop severe infections from the omicron variant that would land them in the hospital, medical experts say. 

Flight disruptions triggered by weather and coronavirus-related staffing shortages appeared to ease slightly Tuesday, but still amounted to more than 800 cancellations, stranding holiday travelers across the country as many try to return home.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legendary football coach and broadcaster John Madden has died, the NFL said Tuesday night. Madden, 85, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, according to the league.

KNBR's Greg Papa joins John Rothmann to remember John Madden

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A simple question about the drugs in the Tenderloin:

London Breed got her Tenderloin ‘State of Emergency’ declaration approved by the SF Board of Supervisors, in a contentious ten-and-a-half hour meeting that stretched into the early hours of Christmas Eve. Above we see the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, bleary-eyed and being forced to work a sudden emergency 10.5-hour shift on Christmas Eve, some of them still in their office and others presumably at home on a comfy chair and in their jammies. But the circumstances were highly unusual too, as the supervisors were suddenly tasked with approving or denying Mayor London Breed’s proposed “State of Emergency” declaration in the Tenderloin over drug use and overdoses. That proposal has drawn national attention, and plenty of criticism about over-policing and putting people “in cages,” over Breed’s proposed 90-day blitz of the TL by the city’s emergency management department.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one disputes that the brakes on Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos’s truck failed before the deadly Colorado highway collision that left four dead and half a dozen more injured.

“I would have preferred God took me instead of them,” the 26-year-old said last week in a tearful court appearance. With convictions on 27 counts, the judge said he had no choice but to sentence Aguilera-Mederos to 110 years in prison — a punishment that would rally activists and spark a flurry of signatures on the fastest-growing Change.org petition of 2021.

Now the district attorney has moved to reconsider the sentence, and the office of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is reviewing an application for clemency.

“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances,” wrote First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King in a motion requesting a hearing on the matter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you consider this to be a real crisis? John does. 

Do you think he is an alarmist?

Skyrocketing COVID-19 cases hobbled U.S. airline staff on Monday, causing hundreds of flight cancellations, and prompted the country's top infectious disease expert to suggest the government consider a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel.

Should booster shots be required? A booster shot is already becoming a fact of life at some places, however. More than 75 universities have required boosters for students returning to campus in the winter, according to data compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education. New Mexico mandated the extra dose for some state employees.

Some people are shunning the vaccine. STILL.

 

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan's top five movies this year include:

West Side Story

Being the Ricardos

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Belfast

In the Heights

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lost Department Stores of San Francisco (Landmarks) Paperback – March 2, 2020by Anne Evers Hitz  (Author)

Annehitz.com

In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco's merchant princes built grand stores for a booming city, each with its own niche. For the eager clientele, a trip downtown meant dressing up--hats, gloves and stockings required--and going to Blum's for Coffee Crunch cake or Townsend's for creamed spinach. The I. Magnin empire catered to a selective upper-class clientele, while middle-class shoppers loved the Emporium department store with its Bargain Basement and Santa for the kids. Gump's defined good taste, the City of Paris satisfied desires for anything French and edgy, youth-oriented Joseph Magnin ensnared the younger shoppers with the latest trends. Join author Anne Evers Hitz as she looks back at the colorful personalities that created six major stores and defined shopping in San Francisco.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.