Wildfires—and the smoke from them—are upon us
The Point Fire has been burning in Sonoma County, and winds from the northwest have been sending smoke into the East Bay.
It’s yet another reminder that we will all, periodically, have wildfire smoke blowing in from somewhere. You should take measures to make your home a sanctuary from wildfire smoke, even if you don’t live in a fire-prone area, because winds can and will blow smoke your way sooner or later.
See our blog post from last year for more info on how you can prepare to protect yourself, your family, and your home from smoke. And check the SF Chronicle’s air quality map to see where there’s smoke and where the winds are blowing.
COVID-19 is resurgent. Now’s an excellent time to protect yourself
Summer is dawning, and many of us are looking forward to traveling and gathering with friends and family members on summer vacations.
But COVID-19 hasn’t gone away—in fact, COVID-19 is surging again. You may already know people who have it now—maybe not for the first time. Even if you’ve had COVID-19 before, you can get it again.
COVID-19 can cause a variety of chronic symptoms called “long COVID,” which range from mild inconvenience to total debilitation. Anyone can become a long COVID sufferer—including children, athletes, and people whose COVID-19 illness was “mild.”
By now, you know how to protect yourself while living a full life, and those tools still work:
- Gather outside whenever possible—especially feasible in summer weather, though you should also avoid wildfire smoke.
- When you do gather indoors, use air purifiers to clean the air.
- Wear a mask when you go into shared indoor spaces such as retail and grocery stores.
- Keep up on your vaccinations—if you haven’t already gotten your 2023 COVID-19 vaccine, there’s still time before the new 2024 vaccines drop in a few months.
- And if you do feel sick or find out you’ve been exposed, take a rapid test. If it’s positive, assume you’re infectious and bow out to avoid giving the virus to others.
Protect your prospects for a fun summer by protecting yourself and those around you from COVID-19.
Don’t forget: Join the Indivisible East Bay Contingent at SF Pride!!!
Indivisible East Bay members (and ISF!) will proudly be marching in the SF Pride Parade, and we’d love you to join us. IEB will be carrying their banner in support of the freedom and civil rights of our loved ones. We’ll keep you posted on event details, but for now mark your calendars for Sunday, June 30. RSVP here.
Are you registered to vote? Make sure to check today.
It’s hard to overstate how important the 2024 elections will be—not just federally, statewide and locally too! We have an extremely important mayoral election coming up right here in San Francisco.
Now is a great time to check your voter registration and make sure you’re ready.
Then, take a look at our vote page for voter outreach opportunities and help us #BuildTheBlueWave2024.
Keep Calling for YES on SB 1374 and NO on AB 1814
SB 1374 by Senator Becker will restore net metering. Having passed the Senate by 28 votes to 7, this bill is coming before the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee next. The hearing is postponed, so you still have a chance to call!
Call your Assemblymember and tell him to support SB 1374.
Meanwhile, the sneaky surveillance bill, AB 1814, has been re-referred to the Committee on the Judiciary in the State Senate. We don’t have a State Senator on that committee, but you can keep calling State Senator Scott Wiener to urge him to vote NO.
Tell Senator Wiener: Vote no on this sneaky spying bill.
Volunteers welcome: We’re looking for a social media person
This year is going to be busy, and we’d love a volunteer to help with publishing social media posts. We would like someone to work with us to create, schedule, and monitor posts on the Meta Suite (Facebook and Instagram) and Threads. No prior knowledge required—we can train you!
We’re also always on the lookout for more editors, or any other help you can provide. Our newsletter team meets every Tuesday night, and we would love for you to join us.
If you’re interested in volunteering, let us know at contact@indivisiblesf.org.
If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group is where it happens. Our next meeting is Tuesday, July 9, 7:30 PM.
Indivisible East Bay Pride Contingent! Sunday, June 30, 10:30 AM. IEB members (along with Indivisible SF!) will be marching as a contingent in the SF Pride parade! We’ll proudly carry the IEB banner as we support our freedom to love who we love! RSVP here.
Indivisible SF Federal Working Group: Tuesday, July 9, 7:30 PM. Join us to discuss strategy to influence our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to enact a progressive agenda. RSVP here.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on social media, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s graphic is a photo of people watching smoke from the Point Fire over a vineyard in Healdsburg on Sunday, June 16. The photo is by Noah Berger for the AP and was featured in an East Bay Times article on the fire.
Tell your Congressmembers: Do not come to Netanyahu’s speech
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to make a joint address to Congress on July 24th, following a bipartisan invitation from lawmakers. Along with Indivisible National, and many progressive activists across the country, we oppose this measure. We have called for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and Congress’s willingness to platform Netanyahu runs counter to this. Netanyahu is a far-right politician who has made a long career of war-mongering, hatred, and violence. We want our members of Congress to listen to voices for peace, not voices for war.
In response, Indivisible National has launched a No to Netanyahu campaign, calling on Members of Congress to boycott the address. We are joining them in asking Senator Padilla, Senator Butler, Representative Pelosi, and Representative Mullin to skip the speech.
Join the Indivisible East Bay Contingent at SF Pride!!!
Indivisible East Bay members (and ISF!) will be proudly marching in the SF Pride Parade, and we’d love you to join us. IEB will be carrying their banner in support of the freedom and civil rights of our loved ones. We’ll keep you posted on event details, but for now mark your calendars for Sunday, June 30th.
Keep Calling! Support SB 1374 in the Assembly
Recently, the California Public Utilities Commission took away “net metering” for multi-unit properties. Net metering is the way that people who generate more solar power than they use can send it back to the grid and see their electricity bill reduced. So, as it stands now, PG&E can charge renters, schools, farmers, and so forth without regard to the surplus electrical power that they send back! It’s a huge hit to the incentives to install solar power, the opposite of what we need with the escalating climate crisis.
SB 1374 by Senator Becker will restore net metering. Having passed the Senate by 28 votes to 7, this bill is coming before the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee next. (The Assembly has killed other good energy bills recently, such as AB 1999, which would’ve repealed last year’s authorization of exorbitant utility basic connectivity rates.)
Call your Assemblymember and tell him to support SB 1374.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on social media, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s graphic is Indivisible National’s No To Netanyahu graphic.
Keep Fighting,
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