San Diego assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez made no bones about her displeasure with Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he said he'd move his company to Texas or Nevada Saturday.

A surfer has been killed in a shark attack off a Northern California beach, state park officials said Saturday.

'We've been working with them, but we have not given the green light,' Alameda County Health Officer Erica Pan said of Tesla. 'We have not said it is appropriate to move forward.'

A surfer has been killed in a shark attack off a Northern California beach, state park officials said Saturday.

Elon Musk says Tesla may leave its Palo Alto headquarters and Fremont, California factory. In a tweet Saturday morning, the chief executive continued his outrage against shelter-in-place orders that have forced most non-essential businesses to close. Last week, Musk likened the rules to fascism, and urged leaders to "give people their goddamn freedom back." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.After a week of decrying coronavirus shelter-in-place orders that have left Tesla's main factory shuttered and unable to produce vehicles, Elon Musk says the company may move its factory out of the state."Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately," the chief executive said on Twitter Saturday morning. "The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is acting

Community spread of the coronavirus in California began in a nail salon, Gov Gavin Newsom said at a news conference on Thursday but now a group representing salons plan to sue the Governor.

San Diego assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez made no bones about her displeasure with Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he said he'd move his company to Texas or Nevada Saturday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Saturday to pull the company's factory and headquarters out of California in an escalating spat with local officials who have stopped the company from reopening its electric vehicle factory. On Twitter, Musk also threatened to sue over Alameda County Health Department coronavirus restrictions that have stopped Tesla from restarting production its factory in Fremont south of San Francisco. Frankly, this is the final straw, he tweeted. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. He wrote that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont depends on how Tesla is treated in the future. Musk has been ranting about the stay-home order since the company's April 29 first-quarter earnings were released, calling the restrictions fascist and urging governments to stop taking people's freedom. An order in the six-county San Francisco Bay Area forced Tesla to close the Fremont plant starting March 23 to help prevent the virus'

Elon Musk has been pushing to re-open Tesla's Fremont, California, factory after Alameda County's health department said the carmaker must not reopen because local lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect.

New York, May 6: A 5-year-old boy stunned police officers in the US state of Utah after he was pulled over by them while driving his mother's car to California to buy a Lamborghini with USD 3 in his pocket, according

Amid a dispute with local officials over stay-at-home orders, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that Tesla will move its headquarters and future programs to Texas or Nevada from California immediately. Colette Luke has more.

Tesla Inc sued local authorities in California on Saturday as the electric carmaker pushed to re-open its factory there and Chief Executive Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla's headquarters and future programs from the state to Texas or Nevada.

Archives, Room Use Only - TK5125.Z67 1950

Archives, Room Use Only - HE7677.O3 N38 1920

It doesn't pay to be rich and live in California these days.

The electric car company told employees to report to work Friday, but a county official said Tesla did not meet the requirements for resuming production.

Tesla said the county's position left it no choice but to take legal action to ensure Tesla and its employees can go back to work

He wrote that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont depends on how Tesla is treated in the future.

A recent study of dog bones excavated from archaeological sites on the Channel Islands of California has cast new light on the past ecology of the islands and the impact that domestic dogs--brought to the islands by Native Americans more than 6,000 years ago—may have once had on the islands’ animals and ecosystems.

The post Dog bones reveal ecological history of California’s Channel Islands appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Evidence for a diversified sea-based economy among North American inhabitants dating from 12,200 to 11,400 years ago is emerging from three sites on California's Channel Islands.

The post New archaeological evidence reveals California’s Channel Islands as North America’s earliest seafaring economy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

California’s Channel Islands are located dozens of miles west of the state’s coast and surrounded by Pacific waters, yet they too are experiencing the same […]

The post Drought slows wildlife reproduction on California’s Channel Islands appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Finding clean ways to store water is a challenge that humans have faced for millennia. In a new paper in Environmental Health, anthropologist Sabrina Sholts […]

The post Study shows ancient California Indians risked toxins from bitumen-coated bottles appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The state's online registration for Covered California has been up for a couple of weeks, and reaction has been mixed.

Steve Julian: Business analyst, Mark Lacter, what's your take on how well Californians are getting into the Affordable Care Act?

Mark Lacter: It's hard to get a good read, Steve, because it's hard to measure the success of what is really a new marketplace.  If you're basing it on the number of unique visitors coming to the Covered California website, well, then the program clearly has attracted lots of interest - they had almost a million visitors during the first week of eligibility.  But, maybe a better measure would be the number of people whose applications actually have been received by the insurance companies that are going to handle the claims.  If that's your measuring stick, then the numbers have been far smaller so far.  Now, it's worth pointing out that California - and particularly L.A. County - have a higher percentage of households without insurance than other parts of the nation, and so you'd expect there to be lots of interest.

Julian: So the question, then, is how many folks turn into actual policyholders paying actual premiums each month.

Lacter: The truth is nobody knows, which is why state officials want to sign up as many people as possible in the early going when the program is getting so much attention.  This is especially true for younger and healthier people who are needed to help offset the cost of caring for older and sicker people.

Julian: And, that's also why any computer glitch can be such a headache...

Lacter: That's right.  Covered California did run into problems in the early going, but everybody agrees that things are going much better than the federal website, which is the default site used by folks in states that don't have their own program to oversee the health care laws.  That federal site has been an utter disaster.  So, by comparison, California is ahead of the game.

Julian: It's a work in progress, even here.

Lacter: Very much so.  The California website still doesn't have a way for enrollees to find out which doctors and hospitals are included in each health plan.  And, that's a big deal because  insurance companies are limiting the options available as a way of keeping premiums low.  So, it's possible that the doctor you had been using for your individual insurance plan will not be on the list of doctors that can be used for one of the cheaper plans.  Of course, for someone who doesn't have any health coverage, none of that is likely to matter.

Julian: And then, there's the continued threat of a U.S. default...

Lacter: You know, Steve, this is like watching the beginning of a bad traffic accident in slow motion - and we're all pretty helpless to do anything about it.  And, so are the financial markets, which are moving back and forth not based on what's going on with the economy or with any industry, but on the latest press conference out of Washington.  One thing we do know is that if the nation does go into quote-unquote default - and we're not even sure what that might mean - but if Wall Street and somehow declares this a major crisis, it's going to be bad.

Julian: Who gets hit?

Lacter: It'll impact anyone who has a retirement account, any business wanting to borrow money, and potentially it's going to impact the budgeting of the state.  You know, one of the things we were reminded of during the Great Recession was how reliant California has been on higher-income individuals who make a lot of their money through the stock market and other investments.  So, when those folks do well - as they have been over the last year - the state coffers will do well.  And when they don't, as was the case in 2008 and 2009, the state takes a huge hit because there's not enough tax dollars coming in.  Gov. Brown and others have tried to lessen the reliance on those top tiers - so far without success.

Julian: And the state's budget situation is so much better than it was a year or two ago.

Lacter: That's the real pity.  And, even if the House and Senate reach a temporary agreement on the debt ceiling, it's just a matter of weeks or months before another deadline crops up - and more uncertainty for the financial markets.  I guess Chick Hearn would have called this nervous time.

Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

File: California school employees can now take their required training to spot child abuse and neglect by going online.; Credit: Cayoup/Flickr

Public school employees can take their required annual training to spot child abuse or neglect online, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced Monday.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our students,” Torlakson said in a written statement. “The new online training lessons will help school employees carry out their responsibilities to protect children and take action if they suspect abuse or neglect.”

A new California law requires school employees, including teachers, teacher aides, and substitute teachers, to show proof to their employers that they’ve taken the training.

“We were hearing anecdotally that there may have been suspicions of abuse and neglect that was not always reported and we wanted to do something about that issue,” said Stephanie Papas, a California Department of Education consultant.

Recent high-profile cases, such as that of former Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt, revealed that school employees failed to report allegations of abuse. Los Angeles Unified agreed to pay a record $140 million to settle claims filed by one group of students in the case and $30 million to a second group. Berndt is serving a 25-year sentence after pleading no contest to the charges of committing lewd acts on children.

Papas, who helped create the new two-hour online training, said the course will help employees tell if a child has been hurt from abuse or from an accident, for example.

“We have photos that are examples of, say, a welt that is in the shape of a belt buckle or a slap on a child’s cheek that’s left a hand imprint,” she said.

In-person trainings are more effective, she said, but they’re more expensive than online trainings. That pushed the Department of Education to provide the free online training for school districts still under budget constraints.

She said current employees have until this fall to show their school districts proof that they’ve taken the training.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A Washington, D.C., think tank issued a report that says California Virtual Acadmies, a major online school network, has had more dropouts than graduates in most years.; Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A report released Thursday by a labor group-affiliated Washington think tank is questioning the education provided by an online public school program that says it is in a union fight.

The report by In the Public Interest, a group funded by unions, says the thousands of students enrolled in the California Virtual Academies online public school known as CAVA are receiving a  substandard education by most measures.

"So in every year since CAVA began graduating students, with the exception of 2013, it has produced more dropouts than graduates,” said Shahrzad Habibi, who authored the report.

She said state test score data show that 71 percent of California public schools performed better than the virtual academies.

The report calls on California officials to investigate the online schools’ administration and finances.

California Virtual Academies enrolls about 14,000 kindergarten to 12th grade students through 11 sites, including those in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Fresno. It is run by a national for-profit company called K12 Inc.

In a written statement, California Virtual Academies did not dispute the reported low student performance numbers, but denied other allegations in the study, which it called “inaccurate and deeply flawed.”

“The report relies primarily on misinformation from the California Teachers Association — the union currently engaged in a coordinated and well-funded distortion campaign to unionize the eleven independent California Virtual Academies charter schools.”

In the Public Interest, which supports the work of labor unions, partnered with the American Federation of Teachers last year on a website to track for-profit charter school companies.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Source: Streetwise Reports   05/06/2020

In a May 4 research note, H.C. Wainwright & Co. analyst Ed Arce reported that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (ARCT:NASDAQ) formed a partnership with Catalent Inc. (CTLT:NYSE), which "raises the profile of LUNAR-COV19 as a leading vaccine candidate."

Arce reviewed Catalent's contribution to the partnership. The global contract development and manufacturing organization is to manufacture Arcturus' messenger RNA (mRNA) LUNAR-COV19 for protection against SARS-CoV-2 to be used first for human clinical trials and potentially, eventually commercially.

As for timing, Arce noted, San Diego, Calif.-based Arcturus intends to transfer its vaccine technology to Catalent this month and expects Catalent to manufacture the first batches of LUNAR-COV19 by June 2020. "Critically, Arcturus continues to anticipate initiation of Phase 1 testing of LUNAR-COV19 in the summer of 2020," Arce highlighted.

Catalent is to produce the vaccine at its biomanufacturing facility in Madison, Wisc. "This facility utilizes Catalent's flex-suite, a current good manufacturing practice manufacturing suite, that can produce batches at multiple scales and support Arcturus' proprietary mRNA manufacturing process," explained Arce.

Obtaining the vaccine from one facility domestically versus multiple entities worldwide should result in several benefits, Arce continued. They include easy development and production, accelerated delivery and improved costs. Arcturus believes Catalent can produce millions of doses of LUNAR-COV19 mRNA in 2020 and, if need be, hundreds of millions of doses each year subsequently for use globally.

Arce pointed out that LUNAR-COV19 differentiates itself from other similar vaccine candidates in that the technology and delivery platform behind it deliver an "extraordinarily low dose (perhaps 2 micrograms)" in "a potential single shot."

H.C. Wainwright has a Buy rating and a $62 per share price target on Arcturus, the stock of which is currently trading at about $42.12 per share.

Disclosure:
1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
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5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.
6) This article does not constitute medical advice. Officers, employees and contributors to Streetwise Reports are not licensed medical professionals. Readers should always contact their healthcare professionals for medical advice.

Disclosures from H.C. Wainwright & Co., Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., First Take, May 4, 2020

Investment Banking Services include, but are not limited to, acting as a manager/co-manager in the underwriting or placement of securities, acting as financial advisor, and/or providing corporate finance or capital markets-related services to a company or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries within the past 12 months.

I, Ed Arce, certify that 1) all of the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about any and all subject securities or issuers discussed; and 2) no part of my compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendation or views expressed in this research report; and 3) neither myself nor any members of my household is an officer, director or advisory board member of these companies.

None of the research analysts or the research analyst's household has a financial interest in the securities of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (including, without limitation, any option, right, warrant, future, long or short position).

As of April 30, 2020 neither the Firm nor its affiliates beneficially own 1% or more of any class of common equity securities of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc.

Neither the research analyst nor the Firm has any material conflict of interest in of which the research analyst knows or has reason to know at the time of publication of this research report.

The research analyst principally responsible for preparation of the report does not receive compensation that is based upon any specific investment banking services or transaction but is compensated based on factors including total revenue and profitability of the Firm, a substantial portion of which is derived from investment banking services.

The firm or its affiliates received compensation from Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. for non-investment banking services in the previous 12 months.

The Firm or its affiliates did receive compensation from Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. for investment banking services within twelve months before, and will seek compensation from the companies mentioned in this report for investment banking services within three months following publication of the research report.

H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. during the past 12 months.

The Firm does not make a market in Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. as of the date of this research report.

H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC and its affiliates, officers, directors, and employees, excluding its analysts, will from time to time have long or short positions in, act as principal in, and buy or sell, the securities or derivatives (including options and warrants) thereof of covered companies referred to in this research report.

( Companies Mentioned: ARCT:NASDAQ, )

Dried and cracked earth is visible on an unplanted field at a farm on April 29, 2014 near Mendota, California. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

• Summer is upon us, and KPIX in San Francisco reports three years of drought in the Central Valley has turned America's salad bowl into a "dust bowl." (KPIX)
• Speaking of summer and San Francisco, it appears denizens of the City by the Bay have done such a good job of conserving water, their water agency has already decided there will be no mandatory restrictions this summer. (San Jose Mercury News)
• Meanwhile, SFGate columnist Mark Morford wonders how water availability will factor into property values for summer get-aways north of San Francisco:

Wait, what? Right, the water. The Looming Issue. The Unexpected Fear. Water – or rather, the potential lack thereof – is something I didn’t realize I’d be quite so worried about when I started my search. But now? It’s damn near unavoidable. (SFGate)

• "As the Water Bond Turns" continues in Sacramento. In the latest episode, Gov. Brown stops playing hard to get and decides to commit, but will he find a willing (political) partner? Stay Tuned. (Sacramento Bee)

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

; Credit: Beatrice the Biologist / Scientific American

Today's dryku:
Food budgets are tight
Droughts do raise vegetables' price
But don't make snakes bite

Food:

• The USDA released its monthly food price outlook. Looks like prices are going to be up at least 3.5%. Fresh fruit could go up by 6%. Bloomberg has a chart showing how produce is projected to hit its highest price in 18 years. (LA Times)

Critters:

• Southern California seems to be seeing a higher rate of rattlesnake bites this year. Despite the article's headline, experts in the story say it's not because of the drought. A shorter winter has brought snakes out of hibernation earlier, meaning a longer active season, meaning more need for anti-venin.

As of June 12, 128 people were admitted to a hospital for a snakebite and of those, 93 received doses of anti-venin, Heard said. In 2013, 269 Californians went to a hospital for a snakebite and of those, 166 received anti-venin, he said. Simply doubling the number of patients needing anti-venin treatment would equal 186, more than 2013. (Some patients get “dry bites” meaning no venom is injected and therefore do not need anti-venin, he said). (Contra Costa Times)

• It's been a mixed bag for salmon this year. Some have needed to be trucked out to the ocean, because their streams are too dry. In the case of coho salmon, the drought has actually caused a record number to enter the ocean. It's not all good news though:

Biologists say that only 206 salmon egg clusters, known as "redds," were counted in the Lagunitas this year, well below the 20-year average of 250 "redds." And the fish that headed off to the ocean may not fare as well. They are smaller than normal and could face more difficult ocean conditions due to the warming pattern known as El Niño, scientists say. (Chico Enterprise-Record)

Fireworks:

• Sacramento cops are out in force, looking for illegal fireworks. The sheriff's department will double its number of officers on the hunt. Starting this week, having the little fire starters can mean jail time. (CBS Sacramento)

Water jerks:

• Everyone seems to be at a loss on how to get people to start saving water. Beatrice the Biologist may have stumbled onto the answer — it's a mixture of shame and badges. I'm going to print out the car one and post it in my window. Maybe then people will stop judging me for my filthy Camry. (Scientific American)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control is claiming that FedEx Ground has mishandled hazardous materials in packages. ; Credit: Thomas Hawk/via Flickr

State regulators have sued FedEx Ground, claiming the company mishandled hazardous chemicals at facilities throughout California during the last 5 years.  

An investigation into a fire four years ago in San Diego prompted a wider inquiry into how FedEx handles restricted chemicals in statewide shipping at all of its facilities.

Regulators claim FedEx didn’t handle thousands of damaged and hazardous packages properly. The state’s complaint claims FedEx would remove damaged packages from shipping and store them for lengthy periods of time in salvage drums, which were moved from hubs to terminals within the company’s network of facilities.  

These packages contained goods ranging from insecticides and acids to old batteries and other flammable and toxic materials – pretty small shipments, less than 65 pounds, but investigators say they’ve found problems with more than 20 tons of goods shipped over a 5-year period.

Each violation alleged in the state’s lawsuit carries a penalty of up to 25-thousand dollars. In a written statement, FedEx spokeswoman Katie Wassmer says the company "complies with all applicable local, state and federal reporting requirements." 

The state-court complaint is the latest legal salvo in a dispute among California and local officials and FedEx.

Earlier this spring, FedEx sued the DTSC and district attorneys from three cities, including Los Angeles, seeking a declaration that federal law pre-empts California's waste handling laws, and that state officials are incorrectly interpreting laws governing FedEx. 

"To preserve our rights as a federally-registered motor carrier, FedEx Ground filed suit in federal court" said Wassmer. "We are confident that a thorough review of the regulatory framework through the judicial process will support our position."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

This is a public service campaign suggesting you save water...and suggesting some other things too. ; Credit: SFPUC

Friday's news is going to make you wait for it...when it comes to an explanation for the picture above.

The Wall Street Journal takes on pricing and other big-think policies that various authors claim are worsening the drought.

• Those higher food prices Jed wrote about yesterday? Alyssia Finley, assistant editor of OpinionJournal.com, says they're the fault of environmentalists, and higher food prices will be the way the rest of the country will pay for California's "green sanctimony." (WSJ)
• Economist Edward Lazear argues that "government-dictated prices, coupled with restrictions on the transfer of water, have made a bad situation much worse." He takes aim at the state's limitations on water transfers (lifted, he doesn't note; but he argues that pricing distorts the need for transfers anyway). He argues that public agencies that protect environmental conditions with water should pay for the privilege:

Although there may be good reasons to ensure that some fish and wildlife be protected, we should not pretend that this protection is costless. Agencies that divert water for environmental purposes should be required to budget explicitly for the lost revenue associated with the decision to divert it for this purpose, rather than allowing it to be sold at the market price for urban or agricultural use. (WSJ)

...and he argues that farmers, who might have to pay more for water on a more-open market, should get extra money to help them transition to the free market.

• Cato loves Lazear's arguments, and offers one amendment. Chris Edwards wants the federal government to get out of the water business, and in California, to hand over the Central Valley Project to the state. (Cato)
• In other business news, it's going to be a mixed bag for boat businesses at California recreation areas this summer. They're nervous in Tahoe, but overall expect to benefit from Folsom Lake's bad year. (TradeOnly Today)
• CNN gets into the Firehawk, which is a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter with a giant water tank on it. L.A. County owns a few. They're going to be busy this summer, thanks to the drought. (CNN)
• And finally, in a move that reminds me of the time I wanted to name this blog "Hot, Wet, Climate Action," the San Francisco Public Utility Commission has a new, sexy (or is it sexxy?) campaign to conserve water, with words like "QUICKIE" and "DOING IT" popping out of copy alongside minimalist pictures of pieces of water plumbing. My favorite is "DIRTY HANDS" with its faucet shot to look like a piece of anatomy. (SFPUC)

VIDEO: Get paid for doing it nice!

How has your community been affected by the drought (besides getting more suggestive ads about jiggling the toilet handle)? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Less water in Hoover Dam means less power coming from the Dam's generating units. ; Credit: Dawn Danby/via Flickr

Monday's fat stack of news also includes some views about what to do about drought and Western water supplies.

The New York Times has published six answers to the questions "What are the best ways to share the water? And how can we ensure it lasts for the foreseeable future?" Pat Mulroy, former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, weighs in, as do several other think tankers:

[N]ew energy and fuel production options have become more water intensive. Unconventional oil and gas production methods such as hydraulic fracturing have significant implications for local and regional water quality and quantity. Bioenergy consumes water at various stages of production (including irrigation for crops) and also has impacts on water quality and quantity...We should be pursuing cleaner energy and streamlined approaches to conserving water in order to truly safeguard our water supply. (Newsha Ajami/Stanford University)

An incredible 40 percent of the water consumed by Americans goes into meat and dairy production. Livestock must drink water and there is some water use at the farm, but most of this water is for the producing animal feed...Is this a wise allocation of the limited supply of freshwater in America? (Arjen Hoekstra/University of Twente, Netherlands)

• Closer to home, the Sacramento Bee has an ongoing series about drought solutions. Mariposa County resident Tom DeVries, who lives in forestland at 4,000 feet, offers his take:

Trees take water; a big one can draw 100 gallons a day out of the ground. All that junk forest in California is sucking up water that should be filling my spring and well and flowing downhill toward the rest of you. (Sac Bee)

• You know who else has good ideas about how to conserve water in drought? Australians. (KQED)
• Jay Lund from UC Davis modeled a "mega-drought" with his team and found that the economic consequences of a big drought event could be mostly managed through smarter water conservation policies. (California Water Blog)
• Falling water levels at Lake Mead are lowering Hoover Dam's energy production. Generating units have recently been "derated," meaning that they're expected to have a lower capacity for producing electricity now that there's less water to turn turbines. (EE News)
• Jason Dearen and Garance Burke report on "senior rights holders," and how poorly California accounts for water use by people who have rights dating back before 1914 at anytime, and how much that matters now during the drought. (AP)
• You're gonna see a lot of these stories all week: it's a terrible year for setting off fireworks. I bet rural fire chiefs have their teeth on edge already. (Merced Sun-Star)
• And we'll finish up in Southern California. In the first of a duo of Dana Bartholomew stories, the Daily News reports on Turf Terminators, a company that offers to leverage the recently-raised turf removal incentive and swap out homeowners' lawns for less thirsty landscapes...essentially for free, since the company's premise is that it can do the work for the price of the rebate. (Daily News)
• In the second, Bartholomew profiles a Studio City water-conservation demonstration at homes along Rhodes Avenue. (Daily News)
• And a UCLA project examining water use and conservation potential in territory served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power suggests that we're not pricing water well enough to encourage conservation. Authors of a policy brief with the California Center for Sustainable Communities say dual metering, for inside and outside, would also improve conservation. (Imperial Valley News)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

California cherries. ; Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/ babi_santander

Food for thought:

• As food production in the California Salad Bowl withers, growers in Oregon are seeing more business come their way. Many are jumping at the chance:

That means there is a great opportunity to supply a need to grocery markets. “Growers can take advantage of the crops that can be grown here that they won’t grow there,” Penhallegon said. “This would be the year to increase production. (Farmers) just need to find out what is lacking. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers; there is an open door there.” (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

• Are you enjoying cherry season? Have you noticed how expensive they are? That may be because the harvest is down 75 percent this year. It's because of warm days in the winter. (Capital Public Radio)

Water fight:

• The Wall Street Journal looks at the fines and citations that more California cities are using to get people to save water. Sacramento is one of the most aggressive when it comes to policing, but it kind of has to be:

This year, the city cut outdoor watering to three days a week from two. Because only about half its homes have water meters to measure use, Sacramento must rely on inspectors to help enforce the rules. (Wall Street Journal)

• Today's other fight is over those well-drilling men. Everyone wants a piece of these guys. All these new wells and shrinking aquifers puts me in mind of "There Will Be Blood." Perhaps a effective ad campaign would feature Daniel Day-Lewis yelling, "I ... drink ... your ... MILKSHAKE!"

We're on a one-way trajectory toward depletion, toward running out of groundwater, says Jay Famiglietti, a University of California hydrologist and a leading expert on groundwater. He points out that California is the only Western state that doesn't really monitor or regulate how much groundwater is pumped.

So it's not unlike having several straws in a glass, and everyone drinking at the same time, and no one really watching the level, Famiglietti says. (NPR)

Evaporation:

• Here and Now has an interesting story (also interesting sounding - think Radiolab) on the science of stopping water loss from evaporation. Apparently, reservoirs can lose just as much water to evaporation as it does to use. (Here & Now)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A screencap from NBCLA of the rapidly spreading, 4,300-acre vegetation fire in the Pope Valley area of Napa County, which by Thursday had destroyed two homes and prompted the mandatory evacuation of hundreds of others.; Credit: NBCLA

Today's dryku comes from H. Hanson of Pyro Spectaculars:

Because it's so dry
Professional fireworks shows
Are the way to go

Hanson actually wrote no less than five excellent drykus about the importance of professional fireworks shows during the drought. His company will be doing the fireworks at the Rose Bowl Friday night. You can get more information about that and other shows at our Fireworks FAQ. And remember to keep sending your #drykus to @kpccdryku.

Fire:

• Firefighters continue to battle a wildfire burning near Napa. Thousands of acres have burned, and more than 200 homes have been evacuated. Fire officials said the intensity is due to the bone-dry conditions. (KPCC)

Hunger:

• Tulare County and other areas hit hard by the drought have been providing food assistance to people who've lost work because of the drought. Supplies are running short, because need is more than anticipated.

Pickers aren’t the only workers hurt by the drought. Food banks are seeing some truck drivers, too. Less picking means less product to ship.

“We think [this] is going to have a devastating effect on our families,” said Wynn, adding that Visalia Emergency Aid passed out more than 500 boxes in about three weeks. “We only have 87 boxes left to last us through the rest of summer, and we serve over 800 families a month.” (Visalia Times-Delta)

Wildlife:

• The drought is driving insects from the desert into more urban areas. They're coming in search of water and nourishment. The good news is we might see more butterflies. The bad news?

Also, expect to see more roaches, black widows and ants during the summer, when they are most active, according to David Wilcox, owner of the Yucca Valley-based Sahara Pest Control that services the Coachella Valley. (The Desert Sun)

• Lakes and rivers are lower, which means less water to warm, which means warmer water, which means less oxygen in the water, which means a lot of people worried about fish. (Fresno Bee)

Wine:

• Finally, because we need some good news this morning, some wine growers/makers say that the drought is stressing their vines perfectly. That means the wine this year should be of good quality, even if there's less of it. Stock up. (CBS Sacramento)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A 1962 Thousand Oaks survey picture of H.L. Hall Water Well and Test Hole Drilling, and Aitken and Kidder Water Development, by Pat Allen. Water well drilling goes back a century in California, but records are scarce for public viewing.

Monday's news is nosy about your neighbor — and your neighbors' groundwater drilling.

• More great reporting from the Sacramento Bee on anachronistic problems of transparency in how we manage water in California. Even some well drillers now favor more transparency for groundwater "well logs":

In all other Western states, such records are accessible to whomever wants to see them – from university professors to civil engineers, real estate agents to the media. But in California, well logs are barred from public inspection by a 63-year-old law written to keep data gathered by well-drilling companies from falling into the hands of competitors. “The lack of information about well logs makes no sense, particularly as we are trying hard to manage a diminishing public trust resource,” said Jeffrey Mount, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank in San Francisco. “This is another one of those anachronistic statutes that does not belong in a modern water management system,” Mount said. (Sacramento Bee)

• Nearly 90 percent of the $700 million in "emergency drought relief" money authorized by the governor a few months ago is yet to be spent. But, as our public radio colleague Ben Adler reports, that's not necessarily as bad as it sounds. Grants take time. (Capital Public Radio)
• The secret new trend in water district conservation isn't cops, it's guys who make "water-wise house calls":

One out of every four households has a leak of some sort, usually something as simple as a loose toilet flapper, [water district spokeswoman] Figueroa said. "Leaks are common," she added. "Don't be embarrassed." (SJ Mercury News)

• The New York Times reports on how Californians are tracking their neighbors' usage deep into the drought. Ian Lovett explores Twitter-based shower-shaming (a phenomenon this blog noticed some months ago), ratting your neighbor out for violating restrictions and other guilt-based behavioral nudges. About our region, he writes:

Most homes in Southern California have already been outfitted with efficient shower heads, toilets and garden hoses, making it harder for residents to significantly reduce their water consumption than it was during the last severe drought a quarter-century ago. (NYT)

And how has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

; Credit: Kaba/Flickr

Tuesday's drought news makes you question whether waiting so long in the drive-thru line will continue to be worth it.

First, today's dryku:
Burger prices rise
Will we turn to other foods?
Burritos' do too

Food:

• Have you noticed the increased food prices at the grocery store? Well, now you're going to see it at your fast food joints too. In-N-Out and Chipotle are having to raise prices on their food. Starbucks has also.

In-N-Out raised the cost of its hamburgers and cheeseburgers by a dime and their famous Double-Double jumped 15 cents to $3.45. French fries were unchanged but soft drinks went up a nickel. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

Oil and Water:

• They don't mix, but they separate pretty well. The New York Times looks at how an oil field in the Central Valley also pumps 760,000 gallons of water each day that it sells to a local water district. Article goes on to look at the fight over water use in fracking. (NY Times)

Looting:

• The lowering water levels at Lake Oroville have revealed more prehistoric artifacts. Volunteers are helping rangers by keeping tabs on looters who are digging up the relics. My favorite factoid is about how meth heads are among the many culprits. Does smoking meth cause an uncontrollable digging impulse?

Though many who disturb artifacts may not know any better, others can be troublesome. Among them are insomniac "tweakers" high on methamphetamine. "They just dig and dig like little squirrels," Dobis said. (LA Times)

Witches:

• Dowsers have been the media darlings of the current drought year. Benjamin Radford pokes at the practice and points out why we should trust our suspicions about the water-finding trick. He also gives a history lesson about all the things dowsing has been used to find: water, oil, jewels, murderers... (Discovery)

Maps and charts:

• Finally, I leave you with Weather Underground's latest roundup of water statistics. This year is dry but not the worst on record. Reservoirs are still holding a decent amount of water, especially Pyramid Lake. What's up with that? I'm going to have to look into that. (Weather Underground)

And how has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

On Broad Beach in Malibu, high tide not only wets sand but also retaining walls and broken down rock revetments. What happens next in homeowners' efforts to get sand trucked in here will go to the State Lands Commission - and the next Controller likely will weigh in on the problem. ; Credit: Molly Peterson/KPCC

The most common question I’ve been asked about the statewide Controller race this election year is the same question I get every four years. “Wait, we have one?”

The inevitable follow-up question: “What does this person do?” Down-ballot races in California’s state election can seem like a tedious part of a the voting process. Most of us just don't take the time to research them. In 2010, the last time we elected statewide executives, 435,308 of those people who voted for Governor just didn’t bother to vote for anybody in the Controller race. 

But in addition to being the chief fiscal officer of the 8th-largest economy in the world, the Controller sits on something like 80 state commissions and boards. And if you’re interested in California’s environment, a biggie there is the State Lands Commission.

The State Lands Commission oversees roughly 4 million acres of submerged land and tidelands, holding them in trust for the public. Right now it's looking at policy alternatives to respond to sea level rise. It manage the state's offshore oil-drilling leases. It even gets authority over historical shipwrecks! 

Three issues coming before to the Lands Commission mean the Controller matters:  

• Coastal Access and Martin’s Beach: At the end of September, Governor Jerry Brown signed a law requiring the State Lands Commission to negotiate with Vinod Khlosa, a private property owner who famously shut down coastal access over his land this year. The commission has all of next year to negotiate with Khlosa. If no deal is reached, it can use eminent domain authority to force public access – something that would represent a big break in historical practice, because that authority hasn’t ever been used in the 76 years that the commission has existed.
• Malibu’s Broad Beach has been rapidly eroding under pressure of waves and storms worsened by climate change, and very rich homeowners there have been seeking to add sand in front of their houses to combat the risk of damage to very expensive properties. Earlier this year, those homeowners successfully completed an application to the State Lands Commission, and the commission was expected to decide on it in October. The decision’s been put over till after the election.
• Fracking: Offshore oil made news late last year and earlier this year when some operators didn’t report that they were using drilling and production techniques collectively referred to as hydraulic fracturing. The news prompted the EPA to require chemical disclosures for drilling operations it oversees.  The state agencies that should be overseeing these issues – the Coastal Commission and the Lands Commission – are considering their next moves too.

Positions on these issues don’t really come up when it comes to the Controller race, though both Betty Yee and Ashley Swearengin have gone on the record to say they’re against fracking. 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

What once were orchards and citrus groves now is a dense but sprawling urban area. The city of Los Angeles is considering ways to capture stormwater near where it falls so that water can be made use of throughout the city. ; Credit: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

With a historic drought showing no signs of letting up, the city of Los Angeles is drafting a new plan to use more local water sources by capturing storm water throughout the L.A. basin. At recent community meetings, officials from the Department of Water and Power (along with the city's Sanitation Department) have been showcasing potential ideas for the final plan, due out this summer.

This new plan would make storm water about 4 percent of the city's annual water budget. For the first time, LA is talking about making storm water a small but reliable part of the city’s water sources – 25,000 acre-feet, or somewhat over 8 billion gallons of storm water a year. For perspective, a typical one-inch rain event in Los Angeles County produces more than 10 billion gallons of storm water, most of which hits asphalt and concrete, flows into storm drains and goes to the sea.

It’s hardly a new idea. But storm water capture has taken on additional urgency because of the drought, because of the increasing price of importing water, and because of local water quality rules.

On top of that, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive order last October, directing the LADWP to cut its purchase of imported water in half within a decade, in part by cutting water consumption at least 20 percent.

Storm water capture projects have captured the energy and attention of environmental groups who’ve demonstrated them in backyards, neighborhoods, and alleyways.

LA could invest in much-larger-scale versions of those ideas. Good places for those bigger projects tend to be in the San Fernando Valley, where the geology is hospitable to rain water capture and the city has clearest rights. 

Some examples featured in the LADWP’s presentation aren’t yet approved, but are in consideration:

• Water capture and storage at the Van Norman Complex; 
• The Canterbury Power Line Easement, running between the Tujunga Spreading Grounds and the Pacoima Wash, which would capture 1500 acre-feet of water a year; and 
• Converting Strathern Park (near the Hollywood Freeway) from a disused gravel pit/landfill to a wetlands park, in joint operation with L.A. County. 

Storing storm water in the ground means protecting some areas from industrial pollution, and means filtering and treating polluted groundwater as it’s pulled from aquifers. Last November’s $7.5 billion dollar water bond earmarked funds for storm water capture and for groundwater cleanup. DWP officials say they’re hoping to bring some of that money to Los Angeles.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The immersive Haus of Creep opens at ROW DTLA this weekend.; Credit: Courtesy of Just Fix It Productions

Read the full article at LAist

Henry E. Huntington in 1907.; Credit: Theo C. Marceau, New York City. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

One of the most prized treasures of LA County is 100 years old this year.

The Huntington Library is beloved for its lush botanical gardens and fine art.

As KPCC's Brianna Flores reports, you can trace its origins to a pivotal moment in Southern California history.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

After the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons for the right to go to the Super Bowl, I tweeted my appreciation of a California team going to the game.  If no local team is in the running (or exists), I'm always glad to root for a Bay Area team that makes it.

My tweet got responses from some Southern Californians who have no interest in supporting a San Francisco team, especially given the Giants' World Series championship.  It goes without saying that many Dodger fans are loathe to support the Giants, under any circumstances. 

Given the historic bad blood between the teams, that's no surprise, but I think it runs even deeper.  The divide between Northern and Southern California is about more than sports, or even water rights.  It's rooted in distinct cultural differences between the two.

However, California has evolved to the point where the bigger cultural divide now might be between coastal and inland regions.  Rural Northern Californians typically dislike San Francisco far more than Angelenos do.  Similarly, inland Southern California residents often see Los Angeles as the prohibitively expensive home of two-hour traffic jams.

Until the Inland Empire or the San Joaquin Valley get major league teams, we won't see that rivalry playing out at a stadium near you.   In the meantime, I'm cheering on the Niners, and my state, on February 3rd.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

; Credit: Illustration: Dan Carino

Read the full article at LAist

'California Mountain Lions,' Episode 7: Human Interaction

An image released by Google shows an early version of its driverless vehicle. The company has built several prototypes of the self-driving car.; Credit: /Google

California is one step closer this week to making the 1980s Hollywood fantasy of Knight Rider a 21st century reality because permits for self-driving cars issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles officially went into effect Tuesday. Now a handful of companies can test automated cars on public roads.

Buckle up — it's gonna be a wild ride.

John O'Dell is a Senior Editor at Edmunds.com, and he joins Alex Cohen to talk about what this means for the future of the driverless car industry.

 

In this file photo, job seekers line up to enter Choice Career Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center on December 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Overall, the number of unemployed Californians ticked up by 1,000 over the month to nearly 1.4 million for August 2014, but the rate remained unchanged, at 7.4 percent. The national unemployment rate is down to 6.1 percent.; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

California's unemployment rate is unchanged for a third month, holding at 7.4 percent in August.

The California Employment Development Department reported Friday that the state added 44,200 nonfarm jobs during the month, bringing the state total to 15.5 million in August.

Last month's gains mean the state has added 1.4 million jobs since February 2010, when the jobless number hit a peak of 12.4 percent.

Overall, the number of unemployed Californians ticked up by 1,000 over the month to nearly 1.4 million. The national unemployment rate is down to 6.1 percent.

Construction posted the largest increase over the month, adding 13,600 jobs. Manufacturing, financial activities, business services, education, health, leisure and government all added jobs in August.

Trade, transportation and utilities, along with information, posted job losses of 8,300.

A job seeker fills out an application during a career fair at the Southeast Community Facility Commission on May 21, 2014 in San Francisco; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California employers added 44,200 jobs in August, the largest gain of any state in the country. The state's unemployment rate stood still at 7.4 percent, compared to 6.1 percent nationwide.

"When the national numbers came out for August, and we saw a significant slowdown in job creation, we were a little bit concerned that we'd see the same thing happening here," said economist Kimberly Ritter-Martinez of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. "But in California, we stayed pretty much on track, outpacing the nation in terms of job creation." 

The construction sector was a huge contributor to California's job growth in August, with a gain of 13,600 jobs.  The other sectors with large gains were Education/Health Services (+12,200), and Professional/Business Services (+10,600). 

"We've been seeing steady increases in construction employment for some time, but it has been a slow steady increase," said Tom Holsman, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of California.

"Recent increases are attributable to many projects that have been in the early stages of startup gaining momentum," Holsman added, citing LA County Metro transit projects and the new Wilshire Grand Hotel construction project as local examples.

In Los Angeles County, the unemployment rate also stayed flat at 8.1 percent, but it remains far lower than the 9.9 percent of August of 2013. In the last twelve months, the L.A. County Metro area has gained 6,600 construction jobs, a rate of 5.6 percent.

Ritter-Martinez, of the LAEDC says other economic indicators support a boost in construction jobs at the Los Angeles and statewide levels: permits for new housing construction, remodeling, and non-residential construction are all on the rise. 

"Builders and developers are reporting that they're having trouble finding some skilled labor for construction," Ritter-Martinez said. "It's taken so long for that sector to come back, a lot of construction people have gone off and found other kinds of jobs or moved out of the region." 

In Orange County, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, down from 5.7 percent in July. The unemployment rate in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area was 8.7 percent in 
August 2014, down from a revised 9.3 percent in July 2014.

Source: Streetwise Reports   05/06/2020

In a May 4 research note, H.C. Wainwright & Co. analyst Ed Arce reported that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (ARCT:NASDAQ) formed a partnership with Catalent Inc. (CTLT:NYSE), which "raises the profile of LUNAR-COV19 as a leading vaccine candidate."

Arce reviewed Catalent's contribution to the partnership. The global contract development and manufacturing organization is to manufacture Arcturus' messenger RNA (mRNA) LUNAR-COV19 for protection against SARS-CoV-2 to be used first for human clinical trials and potentially, eventually commercially.

As for timing, Arce noted, San Diego, Calif.-based Arcturus intends to transfer its vaccine technology to Catalent this month and expects Catalent to manufacture the first batches of LUNAR-COV19 by June 2020. "Critically, Arcturus continues to anticipate initiation of Phase 1 testing of LUNAR-COV19 in the summer of 2020," Arce highlighted.

Catalent is to produce the vaccine at its biomanufacturing facility in Madison, Wisc. "This facility utilizes Catalent's flex-suite, a current good manufacturing practice manufacturing suite, that can produce batches at multiple scales and support Arcturus' proprietary mRNA manufacturing process," explained Arce.

Obtaining the vaccine from one facility domestically versus multiple entities worldwide should result in several benefits, Arce continued. They include easy development and production, accelerated delivery and improved costs. Arcturus believes Catalent can produce millions of doses of LUNAR-COV19 mRNA in 2020 and, if need be, hundreds of millions of doses each year subsequently for use globally.

Arce pointed out that LUNAR-COV19 differentiates itself from other similar vaccine candidates in that the technology and delivery platform behind it deliver an "extraordinarily low dose (perhaps 2 micrograms)" in "a potential single shot."

H.C. Wainwright has a Buy rating and a $62 per share price target on Arcturus, the stock of which is currently trading at about $42.12 per share.

Disclosure:
1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
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5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.
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Disclosures from H.C. Wainwright & Co., Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., First Take, May 4, 2020

Investment Banking Services include, but are not limited to, acting as a manager/co-manager in the underwriting or placement of securities, acting as financial advisor, and/or providing corporate finance or capital markets-related services to a company or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries within the past 12 months.

I, Ed Arce, certify that 1) all of the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about any and all subject securities or issuers discussed; and 2) no part of my compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendation or views expressed in this research report; and 3) neither myself nor any members of my household is an officer, director or advisory board member of these companies.

None of the research analysts or the research analyst's household has a financial interest in the securities of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (including, without limitation, any option, right, warrant, future, long or short position).

As of April 30, 2020 neither the Firm nor its affiliates beneficially own 1% or more of any class of common equity securities of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc.

Neither the research analyst nor the Firm has any material conflict of interest in of which the research analyst knows or has reason to know at the time of publication of this research report.

The research analyst principally responsible for preparation of the report does not receive compensation that is based upon any specific investment banking services or transaction but is compensated based on factors including total revenue and profitability of the Firm, a substantial portion of which is derived from investment banking services.

The firm or its affiliates received compensation from Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. for non-investment banking services in the previous 12 months.

The Firm or its affiliates did receive compensation from Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. for investment banking services within twelve months before, and will seek compensation from the companies mentioned in this report for investment banking services within three months following publication of the research report.

H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. during the past 12 months.

The Firm does not make a market in Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. as of the date of this research report.

H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC and its affiliates, officers, directors, and employees, excluding its analysts, will from time to time have long or short positions in, act as principal in, and buy or sell, the securities or derivatives (including options and warrants) thereof of covered companies referred to in this research report.

( Companies Mentioned: ARCT:NASDAQ, )

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