S.F. population fell 6.3%, most in nation, to lowest level since 2010
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI/SUSIE NEILSON: “San Francisco saw by far the biggest percentage drop in population among major U.S. cities during the first part of the pandemic, underscoring how the city emptied out during a shift to remote work, according to new census data.
The city lost 54,813 people or 6.3% of its population between July 2020 and 2021. One pandemic year erased a decade of tech-fueled population boom: San Francisco’s 815,201 residents as of July 2021 was the lowest since 2010, according to census data.
New York had the second-highest percentage drop, losing 3.5% of residents or over 305,000 people. The country’s most densely populated county, Manhattan, was the hardest hard-hit New York borough, losing 6.6% of its population.”
Uvalde shooting: Here’s how different California and Texas are on guns
JOHN WOOLFOLK, Mercury News: "With the nation reeling over another school-shooting massacre, the fierce debate over guns in America is again pointing to the strikingly different paths of California and Texas.
Texas recently eased gun laws that already were among the nation’s loosest. California, which has the country’s toughest gun laws, is poised to pile on even more. While Texas last year declared itself a Second Amendment “sanctuary state,” California is pursuing a bill that would would subject gun makers to lawsuits over weapons banned by the state.
“This state is leaning in,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday as he joined fellow Democrats in the legislature in a bid to expedite a new package of gun laws introduced in February. “We mean business. We want to save lives.”
Angry over Texas school shooting, students stage walkouts protesting gun violence, again
MELISSA GOMEZ, LA Times: "When Ashley Castillo was in seventh grade at Virgil Middle School, she walked out with her classmates, calling for stronger gun control laws after 17 students and staff were killed at a Parkland, Fla., high school. Now a high school junior, she’s doing it again — this time, 19 elementary school students and two teachers were shot to death Tuesday in Texas.
“It’s devastating. It’s heart-wrenching,” Ashley said before leading the walkout at Hollywood High School on Thursday. “We’re stuck with the responsibility of planning these events and having to advocate for ourselves ... thoughts and prayers are not getting us anywhere after years and years.”
Throughout the Los Angeles region and across the country, students and teachers walked out of their classrooms as part of an organized protest after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside a classroom at Robb Elementary School. Students Demand Action, an initiative that is part of the Everytown for Gun Safety group, said students organized walkouts at more than 200 schools Thursday across the country."
California’s unemployment agency says it thwarted multi-million dollar fraud scheme
DAVID LIGHTMAN, SacBee: "The state’s unemployment agency said Thursday it has halted an elaborate scheme to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in jobless benefits.
The Employment Development Department (EDD), which has been fighting widespread fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago, said it found crooks engaged in a new ruse.
They flooded the agency with suspicious claims — an estimated 47,000 were filed in early May, officials said."
CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ, LA Times: "A United States Postal Service mail carrier and a Valencia man were arrested Thursday by federal authorities on suspicion of scheming to steal nearly $800,000 in unemployment insurance, authorities said.
The carrier, 32-year-old Stephen Glover of Palmdale, and 26-year-old Travis McKenzie are expected to face one count of mail fraud each, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.
According to prosecutors, McKenzie lived on Glover’s delivery route and between 2020 and 2021, the two men obtained debit cards from the California Employment Development Department by applying for federal unemployment benefits using about 50 stolen identities and claiming COVID-19-related job losses."
California considers banning declawing of cats in most cases
ADAM BEAM, AP: "California lawmakers could soon ban the declawing of cats solely for the convenience of humans, advancing a bill on Thursday to halt what animal rights activists say is a painful procedure used primarily to prevent torn furniture and scratched skin.
Claws on cats grow from the bone, not skin. Removing them sometimes requires amputating bones, while other procedures sever tendons to prevent a cat from extending its claws.
Animal rights activists have long said declawing is inhumane when done solely for the benefit of humans, arguing the procedure is painful, leaves the animal defenseless and can cause other health problems."
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABNANATUAN: “After more than six decades as world champion, California’s mighty Methuselah could lose its title as the world’s oldest living tree to a challenger from South America.
A gnarled bristlecone pine that lives in a confidential location in the White Mountains of the Inyo National Forest near Bishop (Inyo County), Methuselah is believed to be 4,853 years old, according to dendrochronologists — scientists who calculate tree longevity based on the number of rings the trees have accumulated.
Methuselah has been regarded as the world’s oldest tree since a pencil-thin sample taken from its twisted trunk in 1957 revealed its advanced age.”
Jury finds that Oakland officials wrongfully terminated Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: “A federal jury on Thursday found that former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was wrongfully terminated after blowing the whistle on what she alleged was corruption within the police’s civilian oversight commission, a representative for Kirkpatrick told The Chronicle.
Sam Singer, a spokesperson for Kirkpatrick, said the jury awarded the former department head over $337,000 in a verdict that comes more than two years after she was fired by the Police Commission and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
“This is a complete vindication of Chief Kirkpatrick’s whistleblower claims of corrupt actions by the police commission and city of Oakland,” Singer said. “It’s an important moment in the history of protecting public safety in Oakland, and hopefully this judgment will help in the reform of the Police Commission and of politics in the city.””
As monkeypox cases grow, so do fears of a return of gay blame and stigma
LA Times, ERIK KIRSCHBAUM/HENRY CHU: “As mysterious cases of a rare and ominously named virus began surfacing in Europe, Germany’s disease-control center quickly told people to be on the lookout.
In a May 19 alert, the agency listed telltale symptoms of monkeypox: fever, aches, a rash. Then, in a further comment that set different alarm bells ringing, the bulletin pointedly warned men who have sex with men to “seek immediate medical attention” if they detect signs of the disease.
The singling out has sparked fears that gay and bisexual men, who appear to account for the majority of Europe’s monkeypox cases so far, are once again in danger of being stigmatized as carriers of an exotic and frightening disease, just as they were during the AIDS crisis.”
S.F. Bay Area weather: Temperatures are about to drop dramatically
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: “The coming Memorial Day weekend may bring sweater weather to much of the Bay Area, with temperatures expected to drop off dramatically following a two-day heat wave that saw temperatures reach triple digits in some parts of the region.
A low-pressure system moving into the Pacific Northwest and Northern California was expected to linger over the Bay Area through the holiday weekend, increasing onshore winds and bringing temperatures below normal, the National Weather Service said.
“We’re not looking at any significant heat events happening this weekend. That means it’ll be more comfortable for people doing outdoor activities,” said Brooke Bingaman, a meteorologist with the weather agency.”
Fire-ravaged Big Basin Redwoods State Park to reopen this summer
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: “After catastrophic fire tore through Big Basin Redwoods two years ago and forced its closure, the storied forests of California’s oldest state park are scheduled for a limited reopening this summer, followed by a complete rebuild of the badly burned landmark.
State officials on Thursday revealed for the first time what they see as the future of the popular park nestled deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 97% of which bears the scar of the state’s unrelenting wildfire crisis. While many of the trees survived, the park’s historic village with its lodge, nature museum and camp store was lost in the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires.
The new plan for the park, perhaps most dramatically, calls for relocating Big Basin’s tourist accommodations from the heart of the old-growth forests to an area where there would be less of a toll on the 300-foot redwoods. Shuttle buses would move visitors back and forth. Reservations may be required for entry during peak season.”
Why flights are so expensive right now
LA Times, HUGO MARTÍN, THOMAS SUH LAUDER, VANESSA MARTÍNEZ: ““Please pack added patience.”
That was one of the tips offered by David Pekoske, head of the Transportation Security Administration, when he was recently asked about the upcoming summer travel season.
Vacationers face a perfect storm this summer. People are venturing out again, many for their first real summer vacations since 2019, while airlines haven’t replaced all of the staff they lost during the pandemic, leading to delays and cancellations.”
What if you get COVID during your summer trip? Here's how to minimize travel risks
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: “With Memorial Day approaching and many people in the Bay Area ramping up plans for summer travel, COVID continues to pose a threat, with highly transmissible omicron variants driving the latest surge.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. had a coronavirus case rate of 33 new daily cases per 100,000 people, on par with the height of the delta surge late last summer. Hospitalizations are up 30% over the past 14 days, though still well below the winter peak.
How do experts say you should factor that into your summer vacation picture?”
Ray Liotta, star of ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams,’ dies at 67
The Chronicle, NARDINE SAAD: “Ray Liotta, who broke out in Hollywood in the mob classic “Goodfellas” and starred in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67.
The actor died overnight in his sleep in the Dominican Republic while shooting the film “Dangerous Waters,” his spokeswoman, Jennifer Allen, confirmed to The Times Thursday.
No health issues or foul play were suspected, Allen said.”
NRA stages big gun show in Texas days after school massacre
AP, JUAN LOZANO/DAVID A. LIEB: “The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to “reflect on” — and deflect any blame for — the deadly shooting earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Former President Donald Trump and other leading Republicans are scheduled to address the three-day firearms marketing and advocacy event, which is expected to draw protesters fed up with gun violence.
Some scheduled speakers and performers have backed out, including two Texas lawmakers and “American Pie” singer Don McLean, who said “it would be disrespectful” to go ahead with his act in the aftermath of the country’s latest mass shooting.”
Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate
AP, FARNOUSH AMIRI/LISA MACARO: “Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, failed in the Senate Thursday as Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on difficult questions surrounding hate crimes and gun safety.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to nudge Republicans into taking up a domestic terrorism bill that had cleared the House quickly last week after mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and a church in Southern California targeting people of color. He said it could become the basis for negotiation.
But the vote failed along party lines, raising fresh doubts about the possibility of robust debate, let alone eventual compromise, on gun safety measures. The final vote was 47-47, short of the 60 needed to take up the bill. All Republicans voted against it.”