Solano eclipses 50,000 Covid-19 cases A3
Diesel spill in Suisun City ‘Backwaters’ cleaned up A4
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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
Record 4.5M workers quit, changed jobs in November The Washington Post The labor market’s record churn reached new heights in November, with 4.5 million workers quitting or changing their jobs, the highest number in the survey’s history, according the Labor Department’s monthly report on job openings. It was the fourth time in 2021 that the number of workers quitting reached a record, with previous highs in April, August and September. Workers took advantage of a hot jobs market, with employers reporting some 10.6 million job openings in the survey – down from recent records but still well above pre-pandemic averages. The data provides yet another illustration of how profoundly the pandemic has transformed the dynamics of the labor market. Nearly two years after some 20 million workers lost their jobs in the wave of shutdowns in spring 2020, the imbalance between available workers and job openings has given many workers more leverage than they’ve had in recent memory. “This is the tightest labor market ever,” said Julia Pollak, economist at the jobs site ZipRecruiter. “These are not quits from the labor force but quits from lower-paying jobs to higher-paying jobs, from less prestigious jobs to better, more prestigious jobs, from less flexible jobs to more flexible jobs.” The changes began last year, as retail and restaurant employers reported trouble filling positions amid the country’s reopening after vaccines became available. Companies soon began to compete against each other to raise wages and offer generous cash bonuses to entice workers to fields including hospitality, restaurants, transportation and health care. Workers, See Workers, Page A8 Workers are still quitting at fastest rates on record Rate at which U.S. non-farm workers are voluntarily leaving their jobs 7% 6 5 4 3
Recession
3.0%
2 1 0
2005
2010
2015
2020
Note: Seasonally adjusted Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2020)
Residents survey the damage to their home in Pleasants Valley, Aug. 24, 2020. Solano County has issued 69 building
permits for residents who lost their homes and other structures in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire.
Supervisors mark 2021
accomplishments IN SECOND YEAR OF COVID
Todd R. Hansen
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — Solano County has issued 69 building permits for residents who lost their homes and other structures in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire – 55 of those for primary or secondary homes. County Administrator Birgitta Corsello, as part of the 2021 Annual Report, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the county has received applications for 112 permits related to fire reconstruction. Saeed Iravani, the building official with the Department of Resource Management, in a phone interview specified that 80 of those applications are for primary or sec-
CORSELLO
SPERING
ondary housing units, along with the 55 permits issued. The ongoing response to the fire, which destroyed more than 300 homes in August 2020, was again touted as one of the county’s accomplishments for the second straight year. And, of course, the
Covid response. “I would say it was the year we hoped Covid would go away,” Corsello said. The troubled $13.5 million rental assistance program was mentioned, as were the vaccine clinics, animal control services during the pandemic and efforts to keep the parks open as well. More than 650,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were given at 571 clinics during 2021, the county reported. The county has benefited greatly from federal Covid response funding, including money from the $2.2 trillion “Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security See Supervisors, Page A8
THE WASHINGTON POST
Experts: Consider swabbing nose – and throat – for rapid Covid tests Tribune Content Agency The omicron coronavirus variant is forcing health experts and the public alike to question everything they thought they knew about Covid19, including how to properly take at-home rapid tests to ensure an accurate result. All rapid tests authorized for emergency use in the U.S. require a sturdy swab of your nasal cavity, though not deep enough to tickle your brain like early PCR tests. However, a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests you may want to throw in a throat sample, too. “Symptoms are starting [very] early [with] omicron. This means that there is a chance the virus isn’t yet growing in the nose when you first test,” Dr. Michael Mina, a former associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and chief science officer of eMed, a digital health care company, wrote on Twitter. “[The] virus may start further down. Throat swab [and] nasal may improve chances a swab picks up virus.” See Tests, Page A8
Vasquez, Brown continue as officers of Board of Supervisors
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Benicia Grill II in Fairfield
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — John Vasquez will serve a second straight year as the chairman of the Solano County Board of Supervisors and Monica Brown will be the vice chairwoman for the third straight year. The board on Tuesday set the officers for 2022, also naming Supervisor Mitch Mashburn as the board pro tem, replacing Supervisor Jim Spering. Those officers also will serve in the same capacities when the supervisors sit as the East Vallejo Fire Protection District and the Solano County Facilities Corp. boards. There were some changes to the committee assignments. Mashburn requested and was granted the seat as the alternate representative to the Solano
INDEX Arts B6 | Business B4 | Classifieds B8 | Comics A7, B7 | Crossword A6, B6 Obituary A4 | Opinion B5 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B7 WEATHER 59 | 46 Mostly cloudy. More on B10.
for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. She said in a phone interview that she has been largely asymptomatic, believing at first she had a mild cold.
The board also appointed Mashburn and Brown as the county members to the CityCounty Coordinating Council’s steering committee. The other two members on the committee are city mayors appointed by a mayors’ committee. The list of committee assignments can be found on the Board of Supervisors webpage of the county site.
Todd R. Hansen
WANT TO SUBSCRIBE? Call 707-427-6989.
BROWN
MASHBURN
Transportation Authority. Spering is the primary representative. Mashburn replaces Supervisor Erin Hannigan, who called into the meeting after testing positive Monday
VASQUEZ
JANUARY
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6 +<, ;=09<: We are practicing ( 37 social distancing 5 6 9 *6 ;6 /, (5+ .<,:;: and sanitizing 6<9
protocol with your safety in mind.
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