Governor picks Dodger Stadium for State of State address
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will deliver his third State of the State address from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the home field of the World Series champions that has been transformed into one of the nation’s largest COVID-19 vaccination sites.
“Dodger Stadium represents California’s spirit of service. Once filled with dedicated fans, it is now filled with dedicated health care providers,” Newsom spokesperson Sahar Robertson said in a statement Monday.
The stadium also provides a more somber reminder of the pandemic: It seats 56,000 people, nearly the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in California.
“I want to highlight this heroic work that’s being done every single day with people that aren’t getting attention or being celebrated but are the quiet heroes in this pandemic,” Newsom said. “It’s a different kind of State of the State.”
In recent weeks, Newsom and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature teamed up to approve a $7.6 billion stimulus package and $6.6 billion in funding aimed at convincing public school districts to return students to classrooms.
Newsom also has loosened some coronavirus restrictions, allowing indoor youth sports with testing, announcing a limited number of fans can attend Major League Baseball games and saying theme parks like Disneyland can reopen on April 1 with limited capacity.
Newsom said more than 200,000 education workers have been vaccinated since March 1, when the state began setting aside 10% of its supply for teachers. And he said the state is likely to loosen coronavirus restrictions for a dozen more counties on Tuesday.
“We are very close to turning the proverbial page” on the pandemic, the governor said.
Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, former home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, moved to inactive this month, as did beds in the Porterville Developmental Center and at Imperial Valley College.
KYMA.com will livestream this event here, starting at 6 p.m. PST/ 5 p.m. MST.
