.Wednesday’s Briefing: Oakland passes budget with fewer cuts to OPD than proposed; AG will seek injunction forcing Uber, Lyft to comply with AB5

Outside Lands is canceled for 2020



News you don’t want to miss for June 24:

1. Oakland councilmembers approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that fell short of the $25 million in cuts to the Oakland Police Department sought by Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Bas blasted her colleagues on Twitter after the vote. “5 Councilmembers who passed Oakland budget tonight just killed democracy. They passed budget that was not even published publicly on city website. I didn’t receive it until today’s meeting had already started, and I didn’t receive the policy directives at all,” Bas tweeted. $$

2. New cases of covid-19 are rising at a rapid clip across the state, but while Santa Clara County’s public health officer is expressing concerns in the South Bay, the situation elsewhere in the Bay Area is stable, SFGate reports. This comes despite large-scale protests and the loosening of restrictions. As of Wednesday, Alameda County has reported 5,140 total cases and 120 deaths.

3. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra plans to seek an injunction against Uber and Lyft in an effort to force the tech companies who rely on gig workers to comply with AB5 and reclassify workers as employees, Politico reports.

4. We’ve seen and heard the rockets red glare as evening and late-night fireworks “shows” have proliferated across the county. The displays, some beautiful, but mostly nuisances for residents and pets, are driving people crazy and have also started a number of fires recently in Oakland, SFGate reports.

5. The Outside Lands musical festival, previously scheduled for this August, has been cancelled due to covid-19, Rolling Stone reports. The popular concert event, however, will return in 2021 with a slate of acts already announced.

6. Oakland libraries and those in other Alameda County cities now offer curbside pickup of books, SFGate reports. If you don’t want to go outside, here’s a pro-tip: Oakland libraries have an excellent selection of e-books. However, the wait time for popular e-book titles like Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” is 40 weeks(!).

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