Fungal disease could be on the rise
Tomo Chien
February 15, 2024
Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m looking at a theoretical map that divides the U.S. into states of equal population size. Spoiler: California is split into, like, seven. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
A fungal disease called Valley fever could be on the rise in California thanks to extreme storm events. Valley fever is caused by inhaling the spores of a fungus called Coccidioides that thrives in long periods of drought after extremely wet conditions. Roughly 6 in 10 people don’t display symptoms of the disease, but those that do often experience fevers, coughs and headaches, sometimes progressing to more serious conditions like pneumonia — or death, in extremely rare cases. State health officials said they tallied a record 9,280 new cases of the disease last year and expect an “increased risk” in 2024.
2.
Don’t plan to go on any late-night ocean drives this week. Caltrans will shut down all lanes of a section of the Pacific Coast Highway in south Ventura County at 6 p.m. daily until further notice. Crews are working to repair erosion on the oceanside shoulder, and the highway should reopen around 7 a.m. — depending on when a state inspector deems the road safe to reopen. Officials said the closures are a safety precaution because conditions can change overnight in reduced visibility.
3.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom earned headlines when he announced a plan to deploy 120 highway patrol officers to stymie rising crime in Oakland. Five days later, the operation is over, and local officials said they’re surprised at how quickly it ended. The short deployment did lead to 71 arrests and the recovery of 145 stolen vehicles, and Newsom said that more “surge operations” are to come — but it wasn’t clear when and how those will happen, and Newsom said those won’t be publicized.
4.
Candidates running for president of USC’s Undergraduate Student Government sparred over Greek life in Tuesday night’s debate. The four tickets were somewhat split: One candidate claimed Greek life “institutionally is having people get sexually assaulted, get hazed” while others called for USG to work with the governing bodies of fraternities and sororities. The question, of course, is how much of a difference the student government can actually make — and whether undergraduate voters care. Last year’s election saw just a 19.5% turnout. Voting runs Feb. 20-23 this year.
5.
Tech millionaires are pouring money into San Francisco elections this year, hoping to boost moderate candidates and ballot measures as Californians grow increasingly wary of drugs, crime and homelessness. The Silicon Valley donors say the city has swung too far left on the political spectrum and that progressive policies have been too soft on crime and too “woke” on issues like public education. One city supervisor targeted by the techies called the influx of money a “cynical effort to control the city” and a blatant attempt to “buy political power and reshape the rules for their own economic benefit.”