Six killed, 12 hurt in Sacramento shooting; police find gun, search for ‘multiple shooters’
SAM STANTON, JASON POHL, RYAN LILLIS AND DALE KASLER, SacBee: ”Six people were killed and 12 others were injured in a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento early Sunday, transforming a section of the city normally teeming with nightlife into a horrific crime scene of blood, shattered glass and grieving relatives.
The death toll, and the number of wounded, made the bloodbath in the vicinity of 10th and K streets the worst mass shooting in Sacramento’s history. Police Chief Kathy Lester said the shooting, which followed a fight, left three men and three women dead.
Officers have recovered a stolen handgun at the scene, she said, and “we have confirmed there were multiple shooters.”
READ MORE on the Sacramento Shooting: A fight. Multiple shooters. With 6 dead and 12 wounded, Sacramento police offer few details – SAM STANTON and DALE KASLER, SacBee; At least two shooters kill six, wound 12 in Sacramento – ADAM BEAM, AP; Sacramento police search for multiple shooters after six killed, 12 injured downtown – NICK MILLER and SCOTT ROOD, CapRadio; ‘A sickness.’ Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Council condemn epidemic of gun violence – REYAN LILLIS, SacBee; California has toughest U.S. gun laws. After Sacramento shooting, what else can lawmakers do? – RYAN LILLIS and DALE KASLER, SacBee
How the mass shooting in Sacramento went down: What we know now
LAT, BRITTNY MEJIA, RICHARD WINTON, JESSICA GARRISON and HANNAH WILEY: "There are still many unanswered questions about the mass shooting in downtown Sacramento early Sunday that left six people dead and at least 12 others injured.
But the beginnings of a timeline and some other details are beginning to emerge.
Here’s what we know so far:"
Sacramento mass shooting renews calls for legislation targeting gun violence
LA Times, HANNAH WILEY, IAN JAMES, RICHARD WINTON, HANNAH FRY: "The shooting that left six people dead and 12 wounded in downtown Sacramento on Sunday has sparked renewed calls among California officials, city leaders and activists for new legislation that they say could help prevent more bloodshed.
Hours after the barrage of gunfire in an entertainment district near the state Capitol, City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela said putting more law enforcement in the streets won’t necessarily stop the violence. She said the state and federal government need to “step up on guns.”
“It didn’t need to happen at all if we had the right laws in place,” Valenzuela said."
Why much of California’s top crop — almonds — has been purchased, but is sitting in storage
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Scott Phippen looked up at the almond tree on his farm and said something farmers rarely say.
“These trees appear to have a good crop on them. And we really don’t need a good crop,” said Phippen, a third-generation farmer who grows 2,500 acres of almonds within 20 miles of this tree. “We kind of need a mediocre crop.”
Phippen’s dark humor was a response to the crisis that’s undercutting California’s largest agricultural commodity. The problem: Farmers are growing a record amount of almonds, but can’t get many of them to overseas markets. That’s a problem because the industry exports roughly 70% of what it grows and about 80% of that haul flows through the Port of Oakland, according to the Almond Board of California."
States look for solutions as fentanyl deaths keep rising
AP, GEOFF MULVIHILL: "As the addiction and overdose crisis that has gripped the U.S. for two decades turns even deadlier, state governments are scrambling for ways to stem the destruction wrought by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
In statehouses across the country, lawmakers have been considering and adopting laws on two fronts: reducing the risk to users and increasing the penalties for dealing fentanyl or mixing it with other drugs. Meanwhile, Republican state attorneys general are calling for more federal action, while some GOP governors are deploying National Guard units with a mission that includes stopping the flow of fentanyl from Mexico.
“It’s a fine line to help people and try to get people clean, and at the same time incarcerate and get the drug dealers off the streets,” said Nathan Manning, a Republican state senator in Ohio who is sponsoring legislation to make it clear that materials used to test drugs for fentanyl are legal."
Coronavirus cases are spiking elsewhere. Will L.A. County be hit hard or be spared?
LA Times, LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "After dramatic declines in coronavirus cases, Los Angeles County has hit another plateau this week that comes amid the spread of the highly infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
BA.2 has led to new increases in cases in other areas, from a significant surge in Britain that has resulted in an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, and the apparent beginning of a wave in New York and Massachusetts.
Similar trends have not yet been seen in Los Angeles County or in California overall, and officials can’t say with certainty what will come next."
Democrats loved hating on Devin Nunes. Now there’s a six-way race to replace him
LA Times, PRISCELLA VEGA: "Voters in the Central Valley will cast their ballots Tuesday in a special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant when Republican Rep. Devin Nunes resigned in January to head Donald Trump’s new social media company
The top candidate will represent the old 22nd Congressional District, which covers a majority of Fresno County and portions of Tulare County, through early January 2023.
“It’s a one-time seat for somebody to win and be in Congress for a very short period of time,” said Paul Mitchell, a Democratic redistricting expert."
These are the ultra-wealthy donors pouring money into the Chesa Boudin recall battle
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "Money from ultra-wealthy political donors, many who’ve made their fortunes in the tech industry, is pouring into the battle to unseat San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin as the dueling campaigns enter a critical stretch.
To date, nine weeks away from the June 7 election, the recall camp has a huge financial advantage, generating more than $2.7 million in donations, versus $1.05 million contributed to the two groups supporting Boudin.
By far the most impassioned and embittered grounds for debate are rooted in what Boudin — among the most progressive prosecutors in the nation — is or isn’t doing about crime in San Francisco. But Boudin’s supporters said some donors plunging money into the recall effort were motivated by Boudin’s clashes with gig economy companies over worker classification issues."
A heat wave is coming. Here’s how high temperatures will get
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Enjoy the weekend while you can — the mild days of early spring will soon give way to an April heat wave, according to weather officials.
While the weekend is expected to offer temperatures slightly above normal — and even a “very slight chance” of light rain in northern Sonoma county on Monday morning — the mercury will push up gradually through the middle of next week, according to Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
On Wednesday and Thursday westerly winds “will bump up daytime temperatures to well above normal,” he said, “possibly nearing or exceeding the record high” for Livermore on Thursday, which was 89 degrees in 1989, when the Bay Area saw another early April heat wave. Overall, however, “forecast high temps will likely stay under old record highs,” he added."
Conservationists are a step closer to keeping a ‘desert island in the sky’ wild forever
LA Times, LOUIS SAHAGUN: "Wendy Schneider stood on the edge of a windy cliff in an untamed plateau near Death Valley National Park, inhaled deeply and admired a vista of spiny plants, rock spires and sweeping plains that has changed little in thousands of years
Billowing white clouds drifted off burnt-brown hills bristling with branched and twisted Joshua trees and fishhook cactus. The loudest sounds were the rattling calls of red-shafted flickers flitting in pinion pines.
About a five-hour drive from Los Angeles, the nearly roadless desert island in the sky known as Conglomerate Mesa should prove irresistible, she said, to adventurous souls seeking panoramic scenery and solitude in what remains part of the ancestral homeland of the contemporary Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Tribe."
These are the most expensive Bay Area private schools, where tuition tops $50,000
The Chronicle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "In a region as notoriously expensive as the Bay Area, where prices for everything from housing to gasoline are among the highest in the nation, it’s no surprise that many private schools charge a hefty sum for tuition - in some cases, right up there with the elite private colleges in the region.
|At least five Bay Area private schools rank among the top 15 most expensive private schools in California, according to Private School Review, a website that gathers self-reported data from more than 900 private schools across the state.
The nine most expensive Bay Area private schools on the list top the $50,000 mark for annual tuition. Among those, the top three are: The Helix Special Education School, a K-12 school in Mill Valley, at $55,000; Crystal Springs in Hillsborough, grades 6-12, at $54,445; and Menlo School in Atherton, also grades 6-12, at $53,430."
Ukraine, U.S. and other countries condemn Russia for alleged civilian executions
|LA Times, PATRICK J MCDONNELL/KURTIS LEE: "Ukrainian forces braced for an intensified Russian onslaught against the eastern Donbas region as officials from Ukraine, the U.S. and other countries Sunday condemned Moscow over allegations of civilian executions.
A gruesome cleanup was underway in the northern suburbs of Kyiv, the capital, following the withdrawal of Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers were removing bodies from streets, homes and other sites in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which had been recently occupied by Russian forces.
"Bucha massacre proves that Russian hatred towards Ukrainians is beyond anything Europe has seen since WWII,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, wrote on Twitter. “The only way to stop this: help Ukraine kick Russians out as soon as possible. Partners know our needs. Tanks, combat aircraft, heavy air defense systems.”"