Today we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who never held public office but profoundly changed America and American attitudes toward race, justice, equality and fairness.

He pointed out the flaws in our society and government with a hope that one day our country would live up to the promises of our imperfect founders.

Cases:  Los Angeles County reported 66 deaths associated with the coronavirus Saturday, the most reported in one day since April 2. The majority of deaths reported last week occurred in people who became infected after Dec. 20, when the omicron variant was circulating widely, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Three Reasons to Avoid Getting COVID Right Now

Omicron is everywhere, and people are tired.

How to navigate COVID with young kids

If they’re under 5, they’re unvaccinated. Parents try to balance many considerations.

By Ada Tseng for the LA Times

When the coronavirus began battering the U.S., parents could comfort themselves with the knowledge that COVID-19 tends to have milder effects in young children and that most — but not all — kids who become infected are fine.

Californians will have to keep wearing face masks indoors past Valentine’s Day regardless of vaccination, the state’s top health official said Wednesday as COVID-19 cases reached a new record fueled by the fast-spreading omicron variant.

Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the face mask mandate will be extended a month to Feb. 15 and reevaluated then.

We have restarted our networking lunch and breakfast.

The Luncheon Alliance will not be held in January due to the New Year holiday.

The Connection Breakfast is on the second Thursday of January (1.13.22) at 7:30am at the Romanesque Room at Castle Green at 50 East Green Street. This month we meet on December 9th at 7:30 am. Dr. Dennis buckley moderates the event.

Finance Director Keely Martin Bosler will be outlining Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2022 budget priorities in a free online webinarpresented by the California Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

The webinar is free to attend, but advance registration is required. 

By 

From the Pasadena Star-News editorial pages: The new year not only brings a host of resolutions and anticipation, but a slew of new state laws that Californians will need to follow. As always, the state’s lawmakers passed a variety of measures ranging from the symbolic to the annoying. They even passed a few substantive and important laws that just went into effect. Go figure.

Pasadena reported 477 confirmed and 16 probable new cases of COVID-19 Thursday in a startling increase that was more than double Wednesday’s count and sets a new record number of daily cases in the city since the start of the pandemic began in early 2020.

This year was … a lot. Delta, Omicron, inflation, threats to democracy. I get why most people are feeling exhausted.