Just after Texas shooting, California Senate passes Texas-style bill targeting assault weapons, ghost guns
BOB EGELKO, Chronicle: 'Shortly after the nation’s latest mass shooting, which killed at least 18 children at an elementary school in Texas, the California Senate passed a bill Tuesday to allow private citizens to file suit for at least $10,000 — a bounty-hunter provision modeled on a Texas abortion law — against makers or sellers of untraceable ghost guns or illegal assault weapons.
“We do have some of the toughest gun laws in the country,” Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), told his colleagues amid news of the slaughter inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. But public enforcement of those laws has not been enough to protect Californians against the “new wave of weapons,” he said, and private lawsuits would create “an incentive to get these dangerous weapons off the street.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the 18-year-old gunman, who was carrying a handgun and possibly a rifle, was also killed."
‘We keep burying kids’: Bay Area, California elected leaders want tougher gun control in wake of Texas mass shooting
The Chronicle, LAUREN HERNANDEZ: “Bay Area and California elected leaders called on Congress to pass stricter gun control measures following a mass shooting Tuesday at a Texas elementary school that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde was preventable and said the country’s “inaction is a choice.” An 18-year-old gunman, identified by Gov. Greg Abbott as Salvador Ramos, opened fire in the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle, according to Associated Press reports. The death toll rose from 15 to 21 victims Tuesday afternoon, which includes two adults. Law enforcement killed the suspect, news reports said.
“Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it. Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe.” Newsom continued his Twitter post. “We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety NOW.””
California bans watering ‘non-functional’ grass in some areas, strengthening drought rules
LA Times, IAN JAMES: “California water regulators adopted emergency drought rules Tuesday that increase conservation requirements for water suppliers throughout the state and prohibit the watering of grass that is purely decorative at businesses and in common areas of subdivisions and homeowners associations.
The regulations outlaw the use of drinking water for irrigating “non-functional” grass at commercial, industrial and institutional properties.
The ban doesn’t apply to yards at individual homes. There are also exemptions for sports fields, grassy areas where people gather, and for watering to keep trees healthy.”
California drought: Water wasters could face fines of up to $10,000 in Santa Clara County under new rules
BANG*Mercury News, PAUL ROGERS: “Residents in Santa Clara County could face fines of up to $500 — and in extreme cases, $10,000 — for wasting water, under new drought rules approved Tuesday afternoon that are among the toughest of any urban area in California.
Citing the worsening drought, dwindling local water supplies and residents’ failure to hit conservation targets, the board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, a government agency based in San Jose that serves as the wholesale water provider to 2 million residents, voted unanimously to set up an enforcement program to warn, and then fine, property owners who are violating outdoor watering rules.
“This is a direction we have never taken in our history,” said Rick Callender, CEO of the district. “But never in history have our conditions been as dire as they are now.””
What California health officials are doing in the wake of a suspected monkeypox case
DARRELL SMITH, SacBee: "California’s first suspected monkeypox case is isolating at home and “doing well,” Sacramento County’s health officer said Tuesday, as officials investigate how many others may have come in contact with the person.
“We’re still determining the number of close contacts,” Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye told reporters during a news conference, saying health officials are still trying to define what close contacts are in this case.
Kasirye shared little more about the infected person at the Tuesday briefing.
OP-ED: California’s seniors need expanded health care options
Capitol Weekly, DEAN CHALIOS: “California has attracted residents for centuries, and for good reason.
Since the Gold Rush in the mid-19th century, millions of people have gravitated to the opportunities offered across our great state. Whether it be chasing dreams of fame in Hollywood, following the technology development in Silicon Valley, or spending time in our unique climate, Americans have looked to us to lead.
The same is true when it comes to health care — especially as California’s elderly population is set to explode. Meeting the challenges of a growing population of older adults—particularly a surge of seniors aged 85 or older—will require expanding access to care.”
UC Berkeley researchers find distance from abortion facilities limits access
Daily Californian, ANNA ARMSTRONG: “A new study published by UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health revealed that physical distances from abortion facilities may pose insurmountable barriers for those seeking abortions in the United States.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open on May 13, showed a correlation between living 50 miles or more from an abortion facility and still being pregnant four weeks later. Those who lived 50 miles or more were either still seeking abortion care four weeks after their initial search or planned to continue the pregnancy, according to the study.
Ushma Upadhyay, an author of the study and an associate professor in the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science department at UCSF, said in an email that the findings of the study should demonstrate to lawmakers the potential impact of overturning Roe v. Wade and banning abortions.”
Suspected monkeypox case in California: What you should know
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA/KRISTEN HWANG: “California reported its first case of suspected monkeypox today in Sacramento County. Officials were alerted of the possible case three days prior by a medical provider.
The individual recently returned from a trip to Europe where clusters of cases have been recently reported. Officials did not disclose the date the individual returned from their trip nor any demographic information about them.
Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said the individual is not hospitalized and is in isolation.”
COVID in California: One in five infected adults experiences long COVID, CDC says
The Chronicle, STAFF: “COVID case rates in the Bay Area have now exceeded those of the devastating surge in the winter of 2021 to 2021, which was caused by what we now know as the “epsilon” variant.
A massive survey of COVID-19 survivors sheds new light on predictors of long COVID.
And UCSF chief of medicine Dr. Bob Wachter tweeted that 6.2% of people in San Francisco screenings not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to the latest hospital data.
Latest updates:
Big jump in Bay Area COVID case rates over past month
The nine counties that make up the Bay Area region currently have the highest coronavirus infection rates in the state, behind only rural Del Norte County. The Bay Area is reporting about 53 new cases per 100,000 residents as of Tuesday, up from 18 per 100,000 a month ago and 42 last week. San Francisco reported about 61 daily cases per 100,000 residents Tuesday, nearly twice the statewide average of 36 per 100,000.
A month ago, San Francisco was tallying 24 cases per 100,000 and last week it was 54. The case rates for the Bay Area translate to roughly 4,500 new coronavirus cases per day reported as of Tuesday — about the same as the peak of the winter 2020 to 2021 surge, which was the deadliest period of the pandemic. Case counts likely are much higher because so many people test at home but do not report their results to health authorities and many people do not test at all.”
LA County COVID hospital cases jump back over 400
SoCalNews, CITY NEWS SERVICE: “The number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals jumped over the 400 mark again on Tuesday, May 24, and the county reported nearly 3,600 new infections.
According to state figures, there were 419 hospital patients with COVID in the county as of Tuesday, up from 391 on Monday. Of those patients, 53 were being treated in intensive care, the same as Monday.
Health officials have noted recently that the vast majority of COVID-positive patients in hospitals were admitted for reasons unrelated to the virus, and many only discovered they were infected when they were tested at the hospital.”
Disney power broker is part of a ‘cabal’ pulling the strings in Anaheim, FBI records show
LA Times, ADAM ELMAHREK/NATHAN FENNO/GABRIEL SAN ROMÁN: “An FBI affidavit made public last week identified an employee of an influential, unnamed company as being a key participant in a “cabal” steering Anaheim’s government.
The employee of the firm, called “Company A” in the affidavit that’s part of a federal public corruption probe, helped script a statement read by an elected official before the City Council voted to issue bonds and provided input on whom to invite to a covert retreat for community powerbrokers.
Company A is Disneyland Resort, according to a person familiar with the investigation, and the employee is Disneyland Resort Director of External Affairs Carrie Nocella.”
Anaheim City Council votes unanimously to halt the sale of Angel Stadium
LA Times, BILL SHAIKIN: “The Angel Stadium deal is dead.
The Anaheim City Council voted unanimously late Tuesday night to kill the sale of Angel Stadium and the surrounding property, in the process bracing for what city councilmen said could be a long and nasty legal battle with Angels owner Arte Moreno.
On the day after mayor Harry Sidhu resigned amid an FBI investigation into the so-called “cabal” that runs the city, Councilman Jose Moreno said the probe had raised the curtain on what he called “a pandemic of corruption” in Anaheim and called the stadium deal “the fruit of a poisoned tree.””
Families mourn, worry in wake of elementary school shooting
AP, JIM VERTUNO/ HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH: “Distraught families gathered at a local civic center and turned to social media to mourn and to make desperate pleas for help finding missing children as the death toll in a gruesome school shooting at a Texas elementary school rose to at least 19 students.
Authorities said the gunman also killed two adults.
By nightfall, names of those killed during Tuesday's attack at Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde began to emerge. One man at the civic center walked away sobbing into his phone “she is gone.”
On the backside of the building, a woman stood by herself, alternately crying and yelling into her phone, shaking her fist and stamping her feet.
Manny Renfro said he got word Tuesday that his grandson, 8-year-old Uziyah Garcia, was among those killed.”
Column: No longer the ‘older, whiter Valley,’ whom do these suburban voters want for mayor?
LA Times, SANDY BANKS: “As someone who has lived in the San Fernando Valley for more than 40 years, there’s a question I’ve been asked a lot lately by people who live “over the hill”:
“How do you think the Valley is going to vote in Los Angeles’ mayoral race?”
As if the Valley — with more than 1.75 million people and as much diversity as L.A. — is one big predictable monolith.”
How did D.A. Chesa Boudin get elected in 2019? These maps and charts show where his support came from
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: “In two weeks, San Francisco voters will decide whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Since taking office in 2020, Boudin’s progressive policies have often been met with criticism from his opponents, further dividing them from his supporters in a contentious debate over crime in San Francisco.
But Boudin’s approaches to crime were controversial even before he took office. His election in 2019 was close. He narrowly won 51-49 over interim D.A. Suzy Loftus in the final results of ranked-choice voting. Moreover, data on first-choice votes show only 36% of voters preferred Boudin, while the rest chose one of the three other candidates as their No. 1 pick.
As the recall election nears,
The Chronicle looked back at the results from the 2019 election to review how Boudin was elected and where his support — and opposition — was strongest.”
Oakland could be asked to expand voting access to non-citizens
BANG*Mercury News, ANNIE SCIACCA: “Thousands of noncitizen parents of Oakland Unified students would be allowed to vote in school board elections if a proposal by city leaders makes it to the ballot and is approved by city residents.
“These are parents of kids in the schools. Shouldn’t they have a say in who runs the school system?” Councilmember Dan Kalb, who intends to shepherd the proposal along with Councilmember Treva Reid, said Tuesday. “It just makes sense.”
If the full council agrees next month and places a measure on the November ballot, city residents will decide whether parents and guardians of children under age 18 get to cast their votes for school board candidates.”
Garcetti, military officials kick off LA Fleet Week during Cabrillo Beach news conference
SCNG*Daily Breeze, DONNA LITTLE JOHN: “Los Angeles city and military dignitaries joined forces on the sands of Cabrillo Beach, in San Pedro, on Tuesday, May 24, to officially welcome the return of LA Fleet Week.
Shuttered for 32 months because of the pandemic, the fast-growing regional event returns this weekend — Friday to Monday, May 27-30 — with tours of active-study U.S. Navy ships, aerial demonstrations and ongoing live entertainment taking place on San Pedro’s working waterfront.
The more than 2-year break had a silver lining for Fleet Week, as it made for a smoother transition from the event’s traditional Labor Day weekend schedule to a Memorial Day weekend event. Organizers plan on hosting Fleet Week on Memorial Day weekend moving forward.”
Cal State employees say campus leaders ignore harassment and retaliation at nation’s largest university system
EdSource, ASHLEY A. SMITH: “C al State’s Board of Trustees is under fire for allowing campus leaders to ignore sexual harassment and racial discrimination complaints made by faculty and students across the 23-campus system.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, trustees heard faculty members detail racism and workplace retaliation incidents, including against an employee who alleges she was sexually assaulted on campus and ignored by campus administration.
The outrage at the board’s alleged lack of accountability and action to address the problems comes after months of reporting by various news outlets, including EdSource, that the system has seen several sexual harassment and misconduct cases involving management. The most prominent led to the resignation in February of Chancellor Joseph I. Castro amid outcries that he failed to handle sexual harassment complaints against an administrator while Castro was president of Fresno State between 2013 and 2020.
New data shows shift at Lowell High School: more students given failing grades after admissions change
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO/NANETTE ASIMOV: “Teachers at San Francisco’s Lowell High gave freshman students significantly more D and F grades this past fall, the first semester after the school board eliminated the merit-based admissions it had relied on for decades.
The lower grades, while expected by many, are likely to become part of a fervid debate over Lowell that touches on race, equity and achievement. The grades raise questions about how students — and the school’s teachers and administrators — are adapting to the changes.
However, it’s unclear exactly how much the change in admissions policy factored into the rise in Ds and Fs among Lowell’s ninth graders, compared to other possible factors such as the pandemic.”
Campus public health fellowship to create pipeline, diversify medical field
Daily Californian, LUIS SALDANA: “A UC Berkeley School of Public Health fellowship program funded by Blue Shield of California will begin this fall to create a pipeline for underrepresented communities in the medical field.
This new program, called the Blue Shield of California Health Equity Fellowship program, will target students from African American, Native American, Latine and Pacific Islander backgrounds, according to the Director of Philanthropy at the School of Public Health Morry Rao Hermón. Hermón added that funding for this project will come solely from Blue Shield of California as $7 million throughout five years.
“It’s about addressing a lack of diversity in health care professions, particularly in senior leadership positions, with data analytic skills to address racial health care disparities,” Hermón said.”
Are grasshoppers about to overrun Morgan Hill and the rest of the Bay?
BANG*Mercury News, JOAN MORRIS: “DEAR JOAN: I have a somewhat weird question. Has the grasshopper population increased or maybe migrated to Morgan Hill?
In the 12 years I’ve lived in the city, I had never seen a grasshopper when I walk my little doggie, Zeus, but this year,
I see two, maybe three every day now. Or have I just been non-observant in the past?
John Schmitz, Morgan Hill”
Villanueva calls for stepped up homeless enforcement on L.A. County transit
LA Times, LIBOR JANY: “Pointing to several recent high-profile assaults on the Los Angeles County transit system, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday that his department would ramp up enforcement against homeless riders who attack and harass fellow passengers.
Villanueva said his plan, dubbed “Operation Safe Travel,” calls for deploying scores of deputies and investigators from more than a dozen specialized units, including the Narcotics, Major Crimes and Special Enforcement bureaus, to combat growing lawlessness on Metro property that he said forces some riders to “step over dead bodies or people injecting themselves.”
The announcement comes at a time when the county’s transit system, like other major transportation networks across the U.S., is grappling with how best to address crime and homelessness while trying to lure back riders lost during the pandemic.”
LA council to explore how city treats Black female crime victims in wake of teen’s killing
SoCal News, CITY NEWS SERVICE: “The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion, introduced in January in response to the killing of 16-year-old Tioni Theus, that seeks an equity analysis of violence and crime targeting Black women and girls, how the cases are handled and the rate at which they are solved.
The motion was introduced by Councilmen Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Curren Price on Jan. 26, more than two weeks after Tioni’s body was found on the side of the 110 Freeway on the Manchester Avenue on-ramp near South Figueroa Street.
Tioni had last been seen Jan. 7 after telling a family member she was going to meet a friend to go to a party, officials said.”
Concord rejects housing developers’ power play, but won’t kill partnership
BANG*Mercury News, SHOMIK MUKHERJEE: “The companies tasked with building 13,000 new homes at the former Naval Weapons Station in Concord won’t receive the substantial piece of leverage that they’ve spent months trying to extract from the city.
But they also will not be shown the door. Instead, tentative master developer Concord First Partners will have until the end of next January to figure out initial plans and cost estimates for the largest housing development in the East Bay’s recent history.
On Tuesday, a day before a seven-month negotiation period between the two sides was set to expire, the City Council denied a request by the development team to begin acquiring the 2,300-acre Navy-owned property before committing to any of the project’s details.”
Trump’s pick in Georgia GOP primary routed by Gov. Brian Kemp; his foe Raffensperger survives
LA Times, MELANIE MASON: “Tuesday’s primary elections featured the inaugural stop in former President Trump’s 2020 revenge tour — the first opportunities he’s had to unseat Republicans whom he considers disloyal for refusing to acquiesce in his baseless fraud claims.
But it was clear early on that his hopes of retribution had fallen flat, most strikingly in his goal to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia. The former president personally recruited Kemp’s challenger, former Sen. David Perdue, and donated millions to prop up his pick. But Kemp won a convincing victory that was called just 90 minutes after the polls closed.
Two other GOP state officials who rejected Trump’s efforts to subvert the election results — Georgia Atty. Gen. Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — also fended off challenges from those backed by the former president. Raffensperger was considered the most vulnerable of the three, but he cleared the threshold to avoid a runoff against Rep. Jody Hice, a vocal proponent of 2020 election lies.”
Zelensky insists Russia must retreat to prewar positions for talks to resume
AP: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia must pull back to its prewar positions as a first step before diplomatic talks, a negotiating line that Moscow is unlikely to agree to anytime soon.
Zelensky said he currently sees no willingness on the part of Russia to resume earnest negotiations on ending the three-month-long war.
Speaking by video link to attendees at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelensky expressed a willingness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly but stressed that Moscow needed to make clear that it, too, was ready to “shift from the bloody war to diplomacy.””
