In California: Rose Parade float celebrates the caregivers among us
Family caregivers, all 41 million of them, are the true heroes in this Rose Parade float ... and IRL. And the state could lose a congressional seat because of outward migration.
It's Arlene Martínez, with news for your final 2019 edition of In California! I'm so glad we met.
Tomorrow, Gabrielle Canon will be here with a roundup of some of 2019's most impactful Golden State stories produced by reporters with the USA TODAY Network.
Until then, here are a few of the year's top Central Coast headlines. They include the #doorbelllicker, the Scottish musician who faked his death in Carmel and the farmworker who graduated from CSU Monterey Bay at age 58.
In California is a roundup of stories from newsrooms across the USA TODAY Network and beyond. Sign up for M-F delivery here!
Rose Parade float honors 41 million caregivers
It can be thankless, isolating and emotionally draining, but on the bright side, the pay is nonexistent. Kidding aside, being a caregiver may be one of the most difficult things you can do; honoring that is what drove the creators of "Hope's Heroes," a float set to appear in the 2020 Rose Parade.
Covered in 112,000 flowers, the 55-foot long float features a 24-foot-tall castle guarded by two horse-carried knights. The giant knights are joined by eight real-life heroes — caregivers who have, like most families, put the needs of their loved ones first, even when it comes at a cost.
The riders include Cooper Westphal, a 14-year-old boy who has helped his neighbor for a decade; and Jerry and Judy Crotsenberg, both 68, who are dedicated to making sure they can age in place together on their family farm in Wisconsin.
“We think about hope’s heroes as the family caregivers who are protecting the ideal vision of home for an older loved one who wants to stay living well in community,” said Gretchen Alkema, vice president of policy and communications at the SCAN Foundation, a charity organization that works to expand improve care for older adults.
Family caregivers provide an estimated 34 billion hours of labor amounting to roughly $470 billion of unpaid contributions, according to a recently released report from nonprofit AARP.
One in six adults is currently taking on this role at home. That includes my mom, who takes care of my dad and abuelita in San Diego County. Thanks, mom.
Planning to watch or go to the Rose Parade? Here are some things to know.
New laws, new housing, more lawsuits
New laws in 2020 include caps on rent increases, increases in paid family leave from six to eight weeks and a change that allows people convicted of felonies who served their time to sit on juries.
There's also a sweeping privacy law that allows you to see which companies are selling your data and to stop them from selling it.
Then there's another law aimed at protecting gig workers. Uber and Postmates are suing to block that one from going into effect on Jan. 1.
Landlords of rent-controlled buildings in Los Angeles are using a controversial way of co-ownership — think NYC co-ops — to divvy up properties. Critics say it's reducing the tiny supply of affordable rentals.
A private prison firm that just secured multibillion-dollar contracts to run federal immigration detention centers in California has sued the state, claiming that a new ban on for-profit lockups is unconstitutional.
California poised to lose a congressional seat
For the first time since becoming a state, new census data shows that very possibility. The reapportionment, done every 10 years, will follow the completion of the 2020 census. The actual redrawing of the congressional maps will take place the following year, in 2021.
Where will the seat come from? Paul Mitchell, one of the state’s leading analysts of the redistricting process, said two places top the list: the communities sitting at the intersection of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties and the suburbs to the east of San Francisco.
If it happens, we'll have 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Arizona, Texas and Colorado, where Californians often move to, are expected to pick up seats.
What else we're talking about
Whether you crave rugged shorelines, trolley rides to clam chowder or Gold Rush history, it's right here in California.
The first baby born this century in Ventura County left California and has no plans to return. The state's too blue, he says.
South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's husband heads to Palm Springs to headline the campaign's second set of fundraisers there in as many months.
'You think Chelsea is going to prosecute me?'
The former San Francisco police union president threatened to publicly release the confidential disciplinary files of Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer's husband, who also served on the force. Gary Delagnes apparently sent the email in the summer of 2018, but media outlet Mission Local only recently obtained a copy of it.
Delagnes, who worked as a consultant for the union when he sent the email, was unapologetic, telling Mission Local: "I don’t think anybody goes to jail in San Francisco...You think Chelsea is going to prosecute me?"
(Delagnes kept referring to recently elected progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in interviews as "Chelsea," Mission Local reported).
Fewer, you might remember, led a "F*** the POA!" chant during an election night party for Boudin, who won despite the S.F. police union spending $600,000 on attack ads to defeat him.
Lastly, pour some champagne and settle into this roundup of stories from CalMatters, one of our media partners. It includes pieces on the makeup of our elected officials (all but one owns a home; most are white and male); how natural and human-made disasters are disrupting the classroom; and the impact of Trump's tax cuts on Californians.
But you want something lighter for this celebratory day, you say? Here's what I'm currently reading. It's easy, sweet fun.
See you next year!
In California is a roundup of news compiled from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Los Angeles Times, Mission Local, CalMatters, San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rose Parade float celebrates the caregivers among us
