California Dolphin

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is formally expanding a $3 million financial relief fund that it quietly launched earlier this month, to help people struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The foundation, which grew out of the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement nearly eight years ago, said Thursday that it plans to make up to 3,000 microgrants of $1,000 each to people who it believes need it most. The BLM foundation has already begun asking recipients to apply for the Survival Fund grants as it builds out its philanthropic arm. If approved, the money is deposited directly into recipients’ bank accounts or made available on prepaid debit cards, the foundation said — no strings attached. “This came from a collective conversation with BLM leadership that Black folks are being hurt the most financially during the pandemic,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors told The Associated Press. “I believe that when you have resources, to hoard them is a disservice to the people who deserve them,” she said. Cullors, the foundation’s executive director, said that so far the Survival Fund’s…

Republicans rallied solidly against Democrats’ proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill as lawmakers awaited a decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian that could bolster or potentially kill a pivotal provision hiking the federal minimum wage. Despite their paper-thin congressional majorities, Democratic leaders were poised to push the sweeping package through the House on Friday. They were hoping the Senate, where changes seem likely, would follow quickly enough to have legislation on President Joe Biden’s desk by mid-March. By late Wednesday, not one Republican in either chamber had publicly said he or she would back the legislation. GOP leaders were honing attacks on the package as a job killer that does too little to reopen schools or businesses shuttered for the coronavirus pandemic and that was not only wasteful but also even unscrupulous. “I haven’t seen a Republican yet that’s found something in there that they agree with,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “I think all Republicans believe in three simple things: They want a bill that puts us back to work, back to school and back to health. This bill is too costly, too corrupt and too liberal.” The hardening…

Powerful Santa Ana winds returned to parts of Southern California overnight. A big rig overturned in Fontana amid the gusty conditions. All drivers are asked to use extra caution when driving through windy areas.  Steve Kuzj reports for the KTLA 5 Morning News on Feb. 25, 2021.

The pervasive fear is gone, though not everyone is ready to resume pre-pandemic habits after receiving both vaccine doses.

A former Ethics Commission staffer said she and others were told that a Los Angeles City Council member wanted more “permissive” advice on gift laws.

Forty percent of coronavirus vaccines for school staff in Los Angeles County will go to L.A. Unified

The road where Tiger Woods crashed has been notorious for decades. Now officials vowing to fix

Many in the marginalized Latino LGBTQ community, a number of whom are frontline workers, have been deeply affected by the pandemic and are unable to find help.

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Researchers are developing a new, rapid COVID-19 test that connects to your smartphone to reveal results at home. Ever since the pandemic began, researchers in France have been working on a way to test for COVID-19 quickly and accurately. “Since March, we try to develop a portable device everybody can use at home,” said University of Lille Professor Sabine Szunerits. The research at the French university started, oddly enough, with camels, llamas and alpacas. Scientists took tiny antibody particles from the animals called nanobodies. After some complicated science, they produced a device that plugs into a smartphone. A nasal or saliva swab is placed onto a strip and if nanobodies come into contact with the virus, the test will know it. “You start your mobile phone, a signal will occur, and depending on the height of the signal, you can say if you’re COVID positive or negative,” said Professor Szunerits. Researchers said initial trials on 300 samples were 90% accurate and delivered in 10 minutes. The next phase of the project is to run a three-month trial on more than 1,000 people.…