California Gov. Gavin Newsom rips federal judges over gun decisions. ‘These are extremists’
ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday lambasted two federal judges who he says are a threat to the state’s strict gun control laws.
The governor’s remarks came a day after a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school left 21 dead, including 19 children. Newsom, gathered with legislative Democrats, called for an effort to fast-track gun control bills currently working their way through the Legislature so that he can sign them into law next month.
But he saved his most pointed comments for two federal judges."
Newsom, lawmakers vow to speed up gun control bills after Texas school shooting
NICOLE NIXON, CapRadio: "California lawmakers are expediting a handful of measures to crack down on firearms following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
They include a bill to allow private citizens to bring civil suits against gun sellers, distributors and manufacturers for weapons used illegally. Senate Bill 1327 was modeled after a new abortion law in Texas, which allows people to sue those who get or provide an abortion.
Newsom is also supporting bills to ban ghost guns, bar gun makers from marketing firearms to minors and to make it easier for the state and others to sue gun makers."
Second-grade student in south Sacramento brings gun, ammo to school, district officials say
SAWSAN MORRAR, SacBee: "A second-grade student brought a gun and loaded magazine to school, according to Sacramento City Unified School District officials.
The incident took place Tuesday at Edward Kemble Elementary School in the Meadowview neighborhood, the same day an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 school children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. “We are grateful that this incident did not result in a tragedy such as those that districts have experienced, including today’s tragic and senseless mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas,” read a late-night email to families from Sacramento City Unified.
“This is due in large part to the bravery and awareness of the students who came forward and alerted staff at Kemble today.”
With California hit by new coronavirus wave, time to start wearing masks? Limit gatherings?
LUKE MONEY, RONG-GO NG LIN II, LA Times: "As California contends with another resurgence of the coronavirus, what should residents consider doing to protect themselves from infection?
Unlike in earlier waves of the pandemic that were marked by defined limitations on what people could do and how businesses could operate, officials have not demonstrated an appetite for renewed restrictions, unless hospitalizations dramatically worsen.
But it’s still important for residents to take action to reduce their infection risk, experts say — both to avoid potentially serious health consequences and reduce the chance of contracting long COVID, in which symptoms of illness, including fatigue and brain fog, can persist for months or years."
With a third year of drought, Southern California facing a hot, dry summer
LA Times, PAUL DUGINSKI: “Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is Monday. What’s in store for the upcoming season of beach days and barbecues in Southern California?
To start with, it will be dry. That’s not just because California’s Mediterranean climate means rain mostly falls during a few wet winter months, but because the state is in its third year of drought.
This year, after an unusually wet December, California experienced the driest January, February and March on record — some of the very months when the state expects to get almost all of its precipitation. California’s precipitation typically comes in a handful of winter storms. The state averages seven strong atmospheric rivers during the October-to-September water year, according to the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
The state kicked off the 2021-22 water year with an exceptional atmospheric river on Oct. 28, but then ended up with only five strong ones for the whole winter, making it the third straight water year with below-normal atmospheric river activity.”
Gun sales to Texas shooter would have been illegal in California — but those laws could be in jeopardy
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: “The rifles an 18-year-old used to kill 19 schoolchildren and a teacher in Texas could not have been legally sold to him in California, which has some of the nation's strongest gun-control laws. But the future of those laws is in question in the courts — particularly the U.S. Supreme Court.
The gun laws can be traced to a mass shooting in San Francisco in July 1993, when a gunman entered a law office at 101 California St., killed eight people and wounded six before taking his own life.
State lawmakers banned the sale or purchase of gun magazines carrying more than 10 cartridges and outlawed “assault weapons,” semiautomatic firearms with features such as detachable magazines and forward pistol grips that make them easier to fire repeatedly. The state also prohibited the sale of handguns and most long guns to anyone under 21.”
“Killer cells” and conflicts at California’s stem cell agency
Capitol Weekly, DAVID JENSEN: “Call it “The Case of the Killer Cells.” It is an $8 million matter involving an effort by California’s ambitious stem cell agency to develop cures for particularly tenacious and fatal cancers.
The cash is snarled in an “embarrassing” conflict of interest, however, not to mention an irregular vote on the application for research funding from the stem cell agency. The situation has prompted an unusual, mea culpa letter to the state’s official watchdog agency that enforces conflict laws involving government spending.
The mea culpa and the faulty vote are yet to be resolved. But the “killer-cell” case has opened a small door into the conflict-of-interest world at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is officially known.”
Hiding tears, extra hugs, special treats. This is what parents did after Texas shooting
LAT, MELISSA GOMEZ, HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS, COLLEEN SHALBY, TERESA WATANABE: “On the morning after yet another school shooting, this one in Texas, Encino parent Sayeeh Shamtob decided to keep her two sons at home. Frances Robles reluctantly sent her daughter to her Granada Hills middle school — but grilled an administrator about campus security measures.
Kristina Wallace wondered how to explain the shooting to her children, who are in fourth and fifth grades, without frightening them. She hid her tears behind sunglasses when she dropped them off at their Northridge elementary school.
It’s nearly 1,300 miles between Los Angeles and Uvalde, the Texas town where a gunman opened fire on an elementary school classroom this week, killing 19 children and two adults. But news of the shooting reverberated through families and schools in the L.A. area as parents were overcome with a heart-stinging grief, moving them to change some of the everyday interactions with their children and acknowledge their pain and fears in myriad ways.”
'Horrifying' conspiracy theories swirl around Texas shooting
AP, DAVID KLEPP/ALI SWENSON: “By now it's as predictable as the calls for thoughts and prayers: A mass shooting leaves many dead, and wild conspiracy theories and misinformation about the carnage soon follow.
It happened after Sandy Hook, after Parkland, after the Orlando nightclub shooting and after the deadly rampage earlier this month at a Buffalo grocery store. Within hours of Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, another rash began as internet users spread baseless claims about the man named as the gunman and his possible motives.
Unfounded claims that the gunman was an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, or transgender, quickly emerged on Twitter, Reddit and other social media platforms. They were accompanied by familiar conspiracy theories suggesting the entire shooting was somehow staged.”
Facing recall, Chesa Boudin says he puts victims first. Advocates in his office dispute that
The Chronicle, HEATHER KNIGHT: “San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has made good on many of the plans he laid out in his campaign for office. He ended cash bail, put fewer people behind bars and helped divert more people into programs aimed at addressing underlying issues like drug addiction and mental illness. All laudable goals if done well. All promises seemingly fulfilled.
But Boudin also pledged to improve the experience of crime victims as their cases wind through court. In a recent visit with The Chronicle’s editorial board, Boudin said his proudest accomplishment since taking office in January 2020 was his work to expand victim services. In a press release sent during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week last month, Boudin said that “supporting victims and survivors is my top priority.”
As Boudin faces a June 7 recall, it’s important for voters to understand what he promised and whether his office is delivering. And four former staffers and one current staffer in his Victim Services Division told me that victims are regularly not updated on progress in their cases, meaning their voices remain unheard as prosecutors work quickly to resolve them.”
Texas shooting taxes students' mental health even more
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: “For many young people, Tuesday’s massacre at a Texas elementary school could not have come at a worse time. Emotional scars are lingering from the pandemic, and schools are closing for the summer, cutting off students from their routines and access to campus mental health services.
But in some ways, students and schools are better prepared than ever to deal with tragedies like the one at Robb Elementary School. Investment in youth mental health is at an all-time high in California, and some schools’ relentless focus on emotional wellness has reduced the stigma and led to a plethora of mental health options that did not exist a few years ago.
“There’s been such a focus at schools on how we can support each other’s mental health,” said Melissa Wood, a school psychologist at a Kern County special education consortium. “There’s still a lot more work to do, but I think we’re on the right track.””
The DMV said it would investigate Tesla over self-driving claims. Then, crickets.
LA Times, RUSS MITCHELL: “It’s been a year since the California Department of Motor Vehicles opened an investigation into Tesla’s sales pitch for its Full Self-Driving feature, the $12,000 software package that supposedly enables a Tesla car to drive itself through city and neighborhood streets.
It’s been nearly six months since the agency, under pressure from the state Senate Transportation Committee, opened an investigation into safety issues around Full Self-Driving.
What have those investigations turned up?”
Russians shell dozens of Ukrainian towns in fierce battle for the Donbas
LA Times, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL/JAWEED KALEEM: “Russia shelled more than 40 towns and villages in the Donbas region, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, as Moscow intensified attacks in Ukraine’s industrial heartland and attempted to encircle key eastern cities.
Now in its fourth month, Russia’s war on its neighbor has increasingly zeroed in on efforts to overtake the Donbas and install pro-Moscow local governments and pro-Russian public displays in regions it controls, including around the key southern cities of Kherson and Mariupol.
The stepped-up attacks in the Donbas came as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced new initiatives to solidify Russian gains and potentially secure new ones.”
