Giving people vaccine shots is the happiest job in medicine.

A push to kick Jim Crow out of the California Constitution.

And two skiers pull off an amazing feat on Half Dome. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan to send teachers to the front of the vaccine line; that sets aside 75,000 doses for educators and staff each week. If the allotments come through, all of California's roughly 320,000 K-12 public school teachers should be inoculated in a month or so. Still, a union official declined to forecast a date for reopening schools. "We need to know when it’s safe,” he said. EdSource | A.P.

The happiest job in medicine right now is plunging the coronavirus vaccine in the arms of strangers. Many of the people getting inoculated shed tears of joy. “I will never forget the face of the first person I vaccinated,” Ebram Botros, a CVS pharmacy manager, said. It was an 80-year-old who hadn’t seen his children or grandchildren since March. Washington Post

Hyperallergic, an arts website, did a survey of the best Los Angeles stories of 2020. Among them was the PPE Portrait Project, an idea conjured by the Los Angeles artist Mary Beth Heffernan during the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014. It was simple but profound: Health care workers affixed photos of their smiling faces to the outside of their head-to-toe protective covering as a way to establish a connection with patients. The practice was revived by a Stanford researcher early in the coronavirus pandemic and caught on around the world.

There's a growing movement to strike a clause from the state Constitution: “Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.” The line, according to critics, is a vestige of slavery that has no place in a just society. While California inmates are not officially forced into labor, some prisoners have described being made to work under threat of discipline. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco called the proposal "pro-criminal." “Inmates are not slaves," he said. "They are convicted criminals serving a sentence for victimizing us." L.A. Times

The San Joaquin Valley has some of the nation's worst air pollution. Not helping matters are growers that burn hundreds of thousands of waste from vineyards and orchards every year, sending up plumes of smoke that drift into largely Latino farm towns. On Thursday, after more than a decade of delays, state regulators moved to finally put a stop to the practice. CalMatters

“If you fall to your left or right, you’re definitely dead.” 

On Sunday, a pair of creative daredevils summited a snow-covered Half Dome, then skied back down its exceedingly steep spine, continuing all the way to Yosemite Valley 4,000 feet below. No one is known to have attempted the feat before. One of the skiers, Jason Torlano, 45, is a true badass: an Army veteran who spends several months a year as a volunteer helping people flee war zones overseas. Fresno Bee | S.F. Chronicle 

See video from the descent. 👉 @sfchronicle 

On Sunday, an L.A. Times investigation revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the group that doles out the Golden Globes — has no Black people among its 87 members. Entertainment critics said the lack of representation was reflected in the shows and movies snubbed this year. With the award ceremony set for Sunday, the association is now vowing to change. "We understand that we need to bring in Black members," it said. L.A. Times | Hollywood Reporter

Two individuals attacked Lady Gaga's dog walker late Wednesday, opening fire on him and fleeing with two of the singer's French bulldogs, police officials said. "Oh my God, oh my God, help me," the dog walker is heard shouting on surveillance video. He was said to be in critical condition with a single gunshot wound. Lady Gaga offered a $500,000 reward for the dogs' return — no questions asked. L.A. Times | CNN

Bruce Meyers, inventor of the dune buggy as we know it, has died. In 1964, Meyers, a surfer and boatbuilder in northern San Diego County, took a standard Beetle, tossed the body, added fatter tires, and bolted on a curving fiberglass body. The Meyers Manx, as it was called, was born, inspiring thousands of imitators and turning the dune buggy into an emblem of 1960s California cool. “It’s sort of a reflection of my lifestyle," Meyers said, "which is all about being free.” He was 94. Washington Post

On this week's California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman discussed California's corporate exodus with Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and political strategist. Companies, he said, are being drawn to a particular sort of destination: Blue cities in red states. For millennial workers, places like Austin and Nashville provide an attractive fit culturally. For the companies, they offer fewer regulations and no income tax.

☝️ Daniel Strickland, a marketer from Oakland, shared this picture of a sign he captured Thursday in Sea Ranch, a utopian community along the Sonoma coast. He said was struck by the warning's accidental poetry. Move a few words and add a syllable and it could have been a haiku.

Five items that got big views over the past week:

A 19th-century Victorian in San Francisco was hoisted on giant dollies and paraded at 1 mph to a new location. Spectators lining the six-block route uttered "oohs" and "aahs." Watch a time-lapse. 👉 @karlmondon 

A distressing lead from the L.A. Times: "A coronavirus variant that emerged in mid-2020 and surged to become the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors, but also evades antibodies generated by Covid-19 vaccines or prior infection and it's associated with severe illness and death, researchers said."

Last week, a pair of Black surfers, both 24, paddled out to catch some waves at Manhattan Beach Pier. When one of them accidentally collided with a teenager, words were exchanged. Then an older white surfer came over hurled the n-word. Easy Reader News

Before the springtime poppies of Antelope Valley come the late-winter mustard blooms of Wine Country. Here's a nice photo tour of 10 of the prettiest spots in Sonoma County. 👉 Sonoma magazine 

Oakland teacher: "All the rich white parents suddenly concerned about mental health can take a seat. Most of them are causing their kids' anxiety by pressuring them to complete asynchronous work and feeding into their sense of entitlement. Sorry/not sorry." SFGate.com

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Today's California Sun: Giving people vaccine shots is the happiest job in medicine, a push to kick Jim Crow out of the California Constitution, and two skiers pull off an amazing feat on Half Dome.

The happiest job in medicine // Amazing feat on Half Dome

California reaches a staggering pandemic milestone.

A coyote terrorizes the residents of a Bay Area town.

And the state's best beach according to TripAdvisor users. 

California recorded its 50,000th coronavirus death on Wednesday. The staggering milestone is equivalent to the total deaths from every major earthquake in state history — including San Francisco in 1906, Loma Prieta in 1989, and Northridge in 1994 — multiplied 14 times. Half of those deaths have come in just the last two months. Mercury News | A.P.

Yet California's pace of improvement has been blisteringly fast, outperforming the nation as a whole. As of Tuesday, the statewide daily average of infections was about 5,800, the lowest since early November and about 87% below its peak last month. Nationwide, the daily case average is down roughly 74% from its January peak. Mercury News

According to EdSource, school districts in counties home to 99.9% of California students have now met the state's threshold for reopening. CalMatters analyzed where things stood as of Tuesday; it's a haphazard picture:

Public vs. private: At California public schools, roughly 27% of elementary students are getting hybrid or in-person instruction. At private schools, the figure is 69%.

Poor vs. rich: The greater the poverty, the less in-person instruction. In schools where meal assistance is most common, for example, 5% of students are getting hybrid or in-person instruction. Where the assistance is least common, it's 59%.

Rural vs. urban: In much of California's rural north and Central Valley, nearly all elementary schools are offering hybrid or in-person instruction. In L.A. County, 8% are. In San Francisco: 0%. 

The N.Y. Times' Nicholas Kristof: "The blunt fact is that it is Democrats — including those who run the West Coast, from California through Oregon to Washington State — who have presided over one of the worst blows to the education of disadvantaged Americans in history. The result: more dropouts, less literacy and numeracy, widening race gaps, and long-term harm to some of our most marginalized youth."

The oldest cathedral in California is at risk of closing. Built in 1854, Old St. Mary’s Church has laid off priests and sold vehicles to keep the lights on. In a last-gasp effort, it set up a GoFundMe. SFGate.com | S.F. Examiner

Three Bay Area counties halted Covid-19 vaccine supplies to the health care provider One Medical, saying it let ineligible people cut the line. San Francisco directed the company to return 1,600 doses. S.F. Chronicle | KQED

Los Angeles became the largest city to approve "hero pay" for grocery workers. Similar mandates have been passed in Long Beach, San Jose, and Oakland. Grocery stores have been fighting the moves in court. L.A. Times

The N.Y. Times gave the movement to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom its front-page treatment. Back in April, Newsom had a 70% approval rating. It's now roughly 46%. A Democratic consultant blamed biblically bad luck: "Look," he said, "Newsom came into office dealing with wildfires and spent the past year trying to handle a pandemic — he’s basically trying to govern in the Book of Revelation. I think voters will see that.”

In 1916, Berkeley became the birthplace of single-family residential zoning when a neighborhood barred the construction of any more than one house per lot. More than a century later, the City Council approved a resolution Wednesday aimed at opening up neighborhoods to more density, denouncing single-family zoning as racist. Some residents say the change would ruin their neighborhoods. Berkeleyside | East Bay Times

Citing a "chasm of mistrust" between racial minorities and law enforcement, Berkeley also moved to bar officers from conducting traffic stops for small offenses such as broken taillights. Instead they'll be directed to focus on violations that could cause injury or death. Berkeley's police union said the changes would jeopardize public safety by "eroding officers' discretion to fairly and professionally solve problems on the street.” The Appeal | Berkeleyside

A coyote has been terrorizing people in the Bay Area town of Moraga. Since July, it has bitten five people, including two toddlers. The most recent attack was last Friday, when a man was bitten near a Quik Stop. The search for the menacing animal has since intensified, involving the police department, state wildlife officials, and traps set around town. People have taken to carrying noisemakers and holding children close. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times 

A seemingly normal home listing in South Lake Tahoe takes a strange turn as you click through the photos. Throughout the home are at least a dozen creepy mannequins, assembled in gowns as if they're having a cocktail party. The listing on Zillow, a duplex asking for $650,000, went viral on social media. It wasn't clear whether mannequins are included, though the ad says: “Property to be sold as is." Laughing Squid | SFGate.com

☝️ Here's Moonstone Beach Boardwalk in Cambria.

Named for its milky gemstones, the 1-mile walkway along Highway 1 is famous for breathtaking views. Pause at benches along the path and you can watch the antics of sea otters, brown pelicans, and, in the distance, migrating gray whales. Visitors at nearby lodgings have been known to declare they wish they could stay forever. A TripAdvisor analysis of user reviews ranked Moonstone Beach as the best beach in California. 

Fun fact: California’s coast redwoods drink from the sky. 

The ability to move water upward against gravity is a limiting factor in tree growth, which once made the spectacular heights of coast redwoods a mystery. Then scientists discovered that the trees are equipped with dual intakes: top and bottom. In dry summer months, the redwoods suck vast amounts of water out of the fog with their leaves. But they don't keep all the water for themselves — they also act as a sort of sprinkler system for the forest floor, culling water from the air and dripping it into the soil of nearby plants. Bay Nature

Given fog's essential role in coastal ecosystems, scientists have been alarmed by research showing that fog draped along the Redwood Coast has decreased by a full third in the last century. Climate change is suspected. National Geographic | YaleEnvironment360

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Today's California Sun: California reaches a staggering pandemic milestone, a coyote terrorizes the residents of a Bay Area town, and the state's best beach according to TripAdvisor users.

50,000 California deaths // Coyote terrorizes Bay Area town

Coronavirus restrictions are relaxed for five counties.

The quest to save Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

And Tiger Woods is repaired with a rod, pins, and screws. 

While California's pandemic picture has improved dramatically, daily infections still significantly outnumber what they were in October. Still, as of Tuesday, the metrics were good enough for five counties to move from the purple tier, the state's most restrictive, to the looser red tier. They are Humboldt, Shasta, Yolo, Marin, and San Mateo. Eight more counties were poised to advance next week. “I’m talking about bright light at the end of this tunnel,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. A.P. | Eater San Francisco

Gyms, movie theaters, and zoos can reopen.

Stores, malls, and libraries can allow more indoor patrons.

See your county's status. 👉 Covid19.ca.gov 

In Sacramento County, almost every large school district has held inoculation clinics. San Joaquin County is vaccinating more than 1,000 school workers daily. And Orange County is now offering vaccines to teachers as they become available. Amid intense public pressure to reopen schools, most California counties have moved teachers to the front of the vaccine eligibility line. The biggest hurdle now is simply supply. EdSource

A Bay Area school district announced its reopening proposal: In-person instruction will be offered for one hour a week. Parents are livid. S.F. Chronicle

Only 58% of California Republicans say they are likely to get a Covid vaccine, a poll found. For Democrats, it's 88%. Berkeley News

The Atlantic on what the next four seasons will look like: "An uncertain spring, an amazing summer, a cautious fall and winter, and then, finally, relief." 

Tiger Woods was lucky to be alive after a rollover crash near Rancho Palos Verdes early Tuesday, officials said. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the golfer was descending a hill at a “relatively greater speed than normal” when he lost control, hit the center divider, and rolled his SUV several times. No evidence suggested he was impaired, Villanueva added. Woods had major surgery on his right leg, raising uncertainty about the next chapter of his career. L.A. Times | Golf Digest

Details on Woods' injuries. 👉 @TigerWoods 

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed California's tough net neutrality law in 2018, banning internet providers from slowing access to websites that don't pay for premium service. But only now can it be enforced after a federal judge on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge from broadband providers. The decision sets the stage for states nationwide to adopt protections of their own. Washington Post | A.P.

The Diablo Canyon power plant, California's last remaining nuclear plant, takes up fewer than 600 acres while generating roughly 9% of the electricity produced in-state. It can deliver power at all hours, unlike solar and wind. And it doesn't emit carbon dioxide. Yet Diablo is slated to cease operations by 2025. The New Yorker published a fascinating profile of the lonely environmentalists fighting to save the plant.

In recent days, details have emerged in two cases of mentally ill individuals dying after Bay Area police got involved. Both men pleaded for mercy:

In Antioch, Angelo Quinto's family called 911 when he began acting erratically. His mother, according to her account, watched in horror as officers knelt on his neck for nearly five minutes. Quinto died days later. S.F. Chronicle | A.P.

Jacob Bauer's parents had warned the police in Pleasanton about their son's mental illness. During his arrest, Bauer screamed "Can't breathe!" A coroner blamed his death on methamphetamine toxicity, but also cited "mechanical asphyxia." Mercury News | KTVU

Lawrence Ferlinghetti died. San Francisco's first poet laureate opened City Lights Bookstore in 1953, which catapulted the Beats and helped establish the city as a center of literary and cultural revolution. In 1956, he published Allen Ginsberg's “Howl,” an act that brought obscenity charges. His court victory cast him as a heroic defender of free speech and helped make City Lights one of San Francisco's most enduring institutions. Ferlinghetti was 101. S.F. Chronicle | Washington Post

Fry’s Electronics plans to announce that it will permanently close all of its stores, multiple reports said late Tuesday. Founded in 1985, the Bay Area electronics retailer struggled to survive in the age of Amazon even before the pandemic. As sales dwindled, customers noted that sales floors once stuffed with gadgets and computers had transformed into ghost warehouses. Fry's has about 30 locations nationwide, including 14 in California. KRON | The Verge

Bolinas, a beach hamlet approached by narrow roads in Marin County, is a place that seems to hide from the outside world. That's a major part of why Frances McDormand and husband Joel Coen have maintained a home there since 2005. With the release of her new movie "Nomadland," McDormand, famously press shy, allowed a reporter to come visit her. “I get to live my more authentic self here,” she told him, “and I don’t have to pretend to be anybody else.” N.Y. Times

Last week, a pair of Black surfers, both 24, paddled out to catch some waves at Manhattan Beach Pier. When one of them accidentally collided with a teenager, words were exchanged. Then an older white surfer came over, hurled the n-word, and told the surfers to go to Bruce’s Beach, which once catered to African Americans. They responded by organizing a "Peace Paddle" on Sunday. About 100 surfers showed up. Easy Reader News

Tuesday's newsletter included an incorrect link for a school reopening map. It should have pointed here. 👉 Covid19.ca.gov 

Today's California Sun: Coronavirus restrictions are relaxed for five counties, the quest to save Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, and Tiger Woods is repaired with a rod, pins, and screws.

Quest to save nuclear power in California // Uncertainty over Tiger Woods' career 

California approves $600 stimulus payments. 

Yet another black eye for the bullet train.

And Oaklanders find cheaper rent in San Francisco.

Roughly 5.7 million Californians are now poised to get one-time payments of $600 after state lawmakers approved a $7.6 billion Covid-19 relief package on Monday. Rebates will largely go to those with annual incomes of $30,000 or less and will include undocumented immigrants who file tax forms. A lawmaker's advice to those looking to get paid quickly: file your tax returns early. A.P. | S.F. Chronicle

In recent days, more school districts have set reopening dates for their youngest students — Sacramento: April 8; Berkeley: March 29; San Luis Obispo: Feb. 24 — but perhaps none has pleased Gov. Gavin Newsom as much as Long Beach Unified. The district is now the largest in California to set a reopening date — March 29. “Long Beach is a model," Newsom said on Monday. "I want to encourage that to be replicated all throughout the state of California.” No word yet from San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, or San Francisco. L.A. Times | Long Beach Post

See a map with reopening statuses by county. 👉 Covid19.ca.gov 

Black and Latino Californians are being vaccinated at much lower rates than whites. One program aimed to rectify the disparity by delivering access codes to organizations in underserved Black and Latino areas that could be used to schedule appointments. The codes, however, have somehow circulated among residents of affluent neighborhoods. A woman in downtown L.A. said she had been sent three codes from different people over the last few days. "Nobody thinks they're doing something wrong," she said. L.A. Times

Officials have been under pressure to vaccinate dockworkers at the Long Beach port, which is battling ship congestion. Now dockworkers are being categorized as "food workers" to move up the line. Long Beach Post

What's it like to be a single California mother raising a child, finding a job, and securing housing during a pandemic? A compelling photo essay. 👉 The Guardian 

Oakland teacher: "All the rich white parents suddenly concerned about mental health can take a seat. Most of them are causing their kids' anxiety by pressuring them to complete asynchronous work and feeding into their sense of entitlement. Sorry/not sorry." SFGate.com


In 2009, when President Obama rejected coverage for unauthorized immigrants in the Affordable Care Act, Xavier Becerra, then a California congressman, called the decision "more than disturbing." Now, as Becerra prepares to assume the leadership of Health and Human Services, he will have the power to make public benefits a reality for people in the country illegally. His convictions on the issue, a colleague said, are "exceedingly deep." Politico

Becerra faces confirmation hearings Tuesday and Wednesday. Republican opposition has been loud. A.P.

In 2014, California awarded a contract to build a 65-mile section of the state's bullet train through the San Joaquin Valley to the lowest bidder, a Spanish company that promised $300 million in cost savings. Seven years later, those promised savings have turned into cost overruns of more than $800 million. Experts called it yet another black eye for a project beset by delays and ballooning costs. L.A. Times

Nowhere is Amazon's influence more evident than in the Inland Empire, where it employs more than 40,000 people in 14 facilities and two logistics air hubs. A N.Y. Times Magazine piece described how the e-commerce behemoth is so enmeshed in the region that it's become a high school career track: 

"I visited the campus as a dozen students sat clustered at work tables inside an air-conditioned classroom, which was designed to emulate the inside of an Amazon facility. On one wall, Amazon’s giant logo grinned across a yellow and green banner. The words 'CUSTOMER OBSESSION' and 'DELIVER RESULTS' were painted against a corporate-style yellow backdrop. On a whiteboard, a teacher had written the words 'Logistics Final Project,' and the lesson of the day was on Amazon’s '14 Leadership Principles.' Each teenager wore a company golf shirt emblazoned with the Amazon logo."

California State University will pay $39.5 million to a student who suffered a brain injury from heat stroke during a fitness class. The payout, announced Monday, is believed to be the largest injury settlement ever paid by the university system. In September 2018, Marissa Freeman, then a junior at Cal State San Bernardino, collapsed toward the end of a 5K run in 95-degree heat, suffering brain damage, cardiac arrest, and organ failure. San Bernardino Sun | A.P.

In San Francisco, rents have fallen so precipitously that for some renters, it's now cheaper than its blue-collar neighbor, Oakland. Amar Saini, an Oakland native, just moved to an apartment near the Bay Bridge. "If you would have told 15-year-old me that 15, 16 years down the road that Oakland was going to become more expensive it would have been literally shocking," he said. "I just don’t believe it.” L.A. Times

There's a real movement to lop off rural parts of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest and fold them into a Greater Idaho, and in May some Oregonians will cast votes on the proposal. Ballot questions qualified in five eastern counties on whether to support moving the border. While the quest may be far-fetched, it's a remarkable expression of rural frustration with Democratic state rule. CBS2 | KTVB

Last summer, a lightning siege ignited California wildfires that were fanned by abnormal winds into historic proportions. Now scientists think they know an origin of those winds: three rapid-succession typhoons on the Korean Peninsula that set off a meteorological domino effect across the Pacific and changed the pattern of air flow over the U.S. The research didn't address what caused the typhoons, or what caused the events that caused the typhoons. The Guardian | Phys.org

Before the springtime poppies of Antelope Valley come the late-winter mustard blooms of Wine Country. Spanish priests of the 18th century carried mustard seeds with them as they established a chain of missions along the California coast. The crop was later embraced by vineyards as a cover crop, planted between the vines to promote soil health. Their radiant yellow blossoms, stretching to the horizon, are now an attraction in their own right. Here's a nice photo tour of 10 of the prettiest spots in Sonoma County. 👉 Sonoma magazine 

I will never put ads in this newsletter. But starting soon I'm testing a Sunday edition of the California Sun that will be supported by ads. It will be sent to non-paying subscribers and include a sampling of items from the weekday edition.

Have a message you want to get in front of roughly 25,000 California news readers?

Today's California Sun: California approves $600 stimulus payments, yet another black eye for the bullet train, and Oaklanders find cheaper rent in San Francisco.

$600 tax rebates approved // San Francisco's precipitous rent drop

Some epidemiologists adopt an optimistic tone. 

San Francisco pauses school renaming after outcry.

And stunning photos from Yosemite's firefall.

With coronavirus infections plunging, some epidemiologists have been adopting a striking tone of optimism. Among the causes for hope: the significant share of people who have acquired some immunity naturally. Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF epidemiologist, estimated that 50% of Los Angeles County residents have already been infected at some point. “We’re really talking something starting to sound and look like herd immunity," he said, "although that true herd immunity is a ways off.” L.A. Times

A chart here shows what it would take to get to herd immunity by May or even April. 👉 N.Y. Times 

Changes in statewide numbers over the first three weeks of February:

51% — decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations, now at 7,313

61% — decline in 14-day average of daily cases, now 7,573

32% — decline in 14-day average of daily deaths, now 369

3.7 — percentage point drop in test positivity rate, now 3.5%

In a sudden reversal, San Francisco's school board president, Gabriela López, said the board would pause a plan to rename 44 schools and devote its full attention to reopening classrooms. The board faced intense criticism for the timing and shoddy research in the move to eliminate namesakes of figures like Abraham Lincoln and Dianne Feinstein. Next time, López said, historians will be consulted. S.F. Chronicle | S.F. Examiner

Among the 11 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, San Francisco has the lowest coronavirus case rate. Yet its schools are among the last to reopen. S.F. Chronicle

If you're part of the "Zoom class," the lockdown may not seem all that bad. You get to work from home; your stock portfolio is healthy. For tens of thousands of small businesses, however, it's a very different story. The owners of a yoga space in San Fernando amassed $70,000 in debt. “We’re trying to pull our families out of poverty,” one said. Nellie Bowles wrote about the anger driving the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. 👉 N.Y. Times 

Intubation represents a terrible crossroads of Covid-19: a life-and-death moment when patients must decide whether to have a tube inserted into their trachea so a machine can breathe for them. "They call it el tubo," wrote the L.A. Times in a powerful front-line story, "and it haunts places like South Los Angeles, the Latino-majority neighborhoods hit harder by COVID-19 than almost anywhere in the U.S."

For the first time, L.A. County released detailed data on the vaccine rollout. In wealthy Westside neighborhoods, 25% of residents have gotten the first dose. In South L.A., the figure is only 5%. L.A. Times

Nyjah Huston, a skateboarding star, is among five people Los Angeles prosecutors have accused of throwing parties that were possible superspreader events. A.P.

"We offer our sincerest apology.” All members of a Bay Area school board caught ridiculing parents on a hot mic stepped down. Mercury News | A.P.

They could have just demolished the 1882 Victorian to make way for a new development in San Francisco. Instead, the owner chose to move the piece of architectural history to a new location, a proposition that took nearly eight years of planning and permits from 15 agencies. Sunday was moving day. The home, hoisted on giant dollies, paraded at 1 mph along a six-block route lined with spectators uttering "oohs" and "aahs." S.F. Chronicle | SFist

Watch a time-lapse of the home's trip. 👉 @karlmondon 

A wildlife volunteer was attacked by a leopard while feeding it at a facility in the foothills east of Chico on Saturday. Details were scarce, but the volunteer was said to be hospitalized with injuries to her torso and neck that were not life threatening. PETA denounced the facility as a "sham sanctuary" with a history of "Tiger King–style cub petting." The facility's owner insisted it was not an attack. It was an "incident," she said. Paradise Post | Action News Now

After a series of attacks against elderly Asian Americans across the Bay Area, some are pointing the finger not at white political leaders who have trafficked in xenophobic rhetoric, but at another minority group. "The suspects in some of these attacks were Black men," wrote the Guardian, "and some Asian Americans have responded with stereotypes of their own, blaming supposed anti-Asian sentiment from the Black community for the crimes."

"You can hear me a little bit? Why didn't you answer all the times I spoke to you, then?"

Video of an Oxnard College professor berating a hard-of-hearing student exploded on social media. Now Michael Abram, a tenured biology professor, has been suspended. "The video itself is heartbreaking," said the university president. "No matter what led up to that interaction, there's no justification." Ventura County Star | KABC

Among those who helped on NASA's Perseverance mission was Sergio Valdez, a former student of Jaime Escalante, the hard-driving math teacher depicted in the 1988 film "Stand and Deliver." Valdez's parents immigrated from Mexico and raised their family in East Los Angeles. Now a NASA engineer, Valdez said he's been very lucky. "To have come from a community that," he said, "you rarely think that you can end up in a place like JPL." KABC | The Eastsider

It's firefall season in Yosemite. For a couple of weeks every February, when the angle of the setting sun is just so, Horsetail Fall transforms into a ribbon of cascading reds and oranges down the face of El Capitan. 

Here's a nice time-lapse of the show unfolding on Saturday. 👉 @thelightexplorer 

And below, a selection of some of the best photos so far this year.

… Chuck Johnson, an Oakland musician. His new album “The Cinder Grove” combines pedal steel, synthesizers, piano, and strings, with very particular effects modeled on spaces in California (more on that below).

Q. What is one place everyone should visit in California?  

A. Grant’s Grove in Kings Canyon. I realize that’s probably a popular choice but it is a truly moving experience to walk among these ancient, enormous trees. 

What’s the best podcast you've listened to recently? 

There is an excellent new sci-fi podcast called I/O. It’s produced in Oakland and I am totally hooked. The writer, Alee Karim, does an excellent job treating time in a non-linear fashion. And, like the best near-future tech dystopian sci-fi these days, it is set here in the Bay Area and offers a critique of the amorality that comes with the wealth being amassed by the tech industry. 

What’s a hidden food gem in your area?  

Abura-ya in Oakland. Their take on fried chicken makes me forget I’m from the South.

You’re organizing a dinner party. Which three California figures, dead or alive, do you invite, and why? How would you get the conversation started? 

Alice Coltrane, Sasha Shulgin, Akbar Ali Khan. Each of them made it their life’s work to share esoteric and otherwise inaccessible knowledge with whoever sought it out. I would ask them to break the ice with a round of Cards Against Humanity.

For your new album, you modeled some very specific sounds on spaces in California. Can you explain a little about the process, and why you chose these locations?

I think of the new album as a suite of requiems for lost places. To me, places that no longer exist can continue to live with us much like people who have passed. In the 12 years I have lived in Oakland, a wave of gentrification and real estate speculation has swept through the area and displaced large numbers of working-class people and multi-generational families. Another casualty has been the DIY arts and community music venues that flourished when warehouses and other live/work spaces were plentiful and affordable. Now they are basically all gone, and most of those buildings are now luxury condos. The swiftness and violence of that process is similar in my mind to the explosion in wildfires in the past few years that has been driven by drought, climate change, and poor forest management. 

Those Oakland community arts spaces (as well as the forests of Northern California) have been a sort of refuge for me since I moved here. As an imperfect way of re-inhabiting those places, I created reverb models using recordings from a couple of the DIY venues where I performed and organized shows, including the one I lived in for a few years. I used a digital signal processing function called convolution, which takes a snapshot of the frequency response and echo of a space which can then be turned into a software audio effect — allowing you to basically run your audio “though” the virtual space. I also happened to have a reverb model of a redwood grove, so I used that when mixing the record as well. 

“5 questions with …” is a weekly feature by Finn Cohen, who edits the California Sun. Conversations are sometimes edited for brevity. Someone you’d like to see interviewed? Let him know: finn@californiasun.co.

Today's California Sun: Some epidemiologists adopt an optimistic tone, San Francisco pauses school renaming after outcry, and stunning photos from Yosemite's firefall.

Striking optimism from Covid experts // San Francisco pauses school renaming

Bay Area school board members trash parents on hot mic. 

A thrilling scene at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

And new legislation aims to decriminalize psychedelics.

California lawmakers announced a plan on Thursday to compel school districts to resume in-class instruction by April 15 — with or without Gov. Gavin Newsom's support. Under the proposal, schools that miss the deadline would be barred from a multibillion-dollar pot of state funding. Newsom, who has argued that schools could open now, said the plan isn't urgent enough. A.P. | EdSource

On Thursday, vaccine shortages across California led to thousands of appointment delays and forced the closure of several mass vaccination sites, including Petco Park, Disneyland, and Dodger Stadium. To blame is the brutal winter storm that plunged much of Texas into darkness while also disrupting major shipping hubs for vaccines. Press-Telegram | Mercury News

Members of a Bay Area school board thought their conversation over Zoom was private. It wasn't. Video of their comments on school reopening have now sparked a petition calling for them to resign. A sampling of what they said:

One board member on a critic: “Bitch, if you’re going to call me out, I’m gonna f--- you up.”

Another member on the real reason parents want schools reopened: "When you got your kids at home ... no more smoking out."

A third member: “It’s really unfortunate that they want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back.” Politico | SFGate.com

California is now the only state to ban indoor dining. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he expects restrictions to loosen next week, when a "substantial" number of counties move from the purple to red tier. S.F. Chronicle | A.P.

A San Jose gym closed after drawing nearly $1 million in fines for operating indoors. Officials were unmoved by a sign on the gym window that read, "We are exercising our constitutional right to peacefully protest." A.P. | Mercury News

Gov. Newsom has been on a vaccination road show the last two weeks, presenting a campaign-friendly image amid sagging approval ratings. At a stop on Wednesday, Rep. Raul Ruiz told reporters that Newsom “saved millions of lives.” A.P.

As NASA’s Perseverance Rover descended toward Mars Thursday, some of the most exhilarating scenes were back in La Cañada Flintridge. There, a hush fell over the control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Then: "Touchdown is confirmed!" Team members erupted in cheers and fist-pumps. "This is what NASA does," an engineer said. "This is what we can do as a country on all of the problems we have." The historic moment. 👉 YouTube 

Etched into a chip onboard the rover are the names of the 85 people who died in the 2018 Camp Fire along with the words "Paradise Strong." KRCR

A California lawmaker introduced a bill Thursday that would decriminalize psychedelics across the state, building on successful campaigns in Oakland and Santa Cruz. The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Scott Wiener, said he would challenge the stigma of psychedelics with testimony from veterans who have used them to treat PTSD. The measure would also expunge related criminal records. “People should not be going to jail for possessing or using drugs,” Wiener said. The Guardian

In 2019, Monsignor Craig Harrison, a popular Bakersfield priest, faced a series of accusations of sexual abuse of children, which he denied. On Thursday, he announced his resignation from the Catholic Church. He was never given the chance to defend himself, Harrison told reporters, his voice shaking with emotion. “To this day, right now, no one in the Diocese of Fresno has ever even asked me a question about the allegations." Bakersfield Californian | KGET

The N.Y. Times investigated how Erewhon, an upscale health food store where you can “buy orange cauliflower that’s more photogenic than you,” became the embodiment of what people think Los Angeles is. Eater LA's Farley Elliott wasn't having it: “We’re a majority-Latino county with 10 million people,” he said. “The idea that Erewhon is a baseline for how the majority of Angelenos eat is not only absurd, it’s beyond offensive.” 

The photographer Yunfei Ren explored the RV culture of Northern California and found two subcultures colliding: liberals from coastal cities and conservatives from the rural interior. Yet everyone gets along, he said. Ren's photo series celebrates how the RV lifestyle seems to serve as an antidote to polarization. It's Nice That

Fun fact: There's a California spider species named after Johnny Cash. 

Aphonopelma johnnycashi, a tarantula, lurks on roads and in burrows near Folsom where Cash delivered his landmark prison performance in 1968. One can assume that Cash, who died in 2003 before the spider's discovery, would have welcomed the honor, given the creature's brooding reputation and coat of black. Jerry Garcia wasn't so lucky. He got a cockroach. National Geographic

On this week's California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with Jill Tucker, a veteran education reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. She discussed how the city's school board has reacted to becoming a symbol of liberalism gone too far. San Francisco has always been a punching bag, she noted. "So I think they may be looking at it from the perspective of, 'Oh that's just the same old national attack on San Francisco.'"

Paul Williams was born in Los Angeles on this week in 1894. He overcame the barriers of racial prejudice to became one of the finest architects of the 20th century, shaping the look of Los Angeles. California Sun

Political reporter Mark Z. Barbarak on the tragedy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein: "... times and the political world have changed and Feinstein, whether unwilling or unable, has failed to change along with them." L.A. Times

Juan Toscano-Anderson, an Oakland native, was an unremarkable college basketball player. Now he's a starter for the Golden State Warriors and the league's first player of Mexican descent in years. The Undefeated

The founder of a well-known coffee shop in Joshua Tree was killed by sheriff's deputies on Tuesday. Officials said Royce Robertson, 33, threatened another motorist then tried to evade authorities before being shot. Desert Sun | KESQ

North Hollywood welcomed the first residents to a new tiny home village for the homeless with an unusually cheerful color scheme. "Beauty is a rudiment of human dignity,” one of the architects said. Architect's Paper | Dwell

Today's California Sun: Bay Area school board members trash parents on hot mic, a thrilling scene at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and new legislation aims to decriminalize psychedelics.

School board members trash parents // Euphoria at Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The suffering of children as schools remain shuttered.

An analysis of the "tragedy of Dianne Feinstein."

And a UCLA student is charged in the Capitol siege.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers announced a $9.6 billion stimulus deal Wednesday that would provide one-time $600 payments to struggling Californians, including undocumented families left out of federal aid. Small businesses would get $2 billion in new grants. The package is more generous than initially proposed, reflecting tax revenues that rebounded faster than expected. CalMatters | L.A. Times

The S.F. Chronicle described the grim situation among the Bay Area's schoolchildren: "Once thriving children, with good grades, extracurricular interests and dreams for their future, started to disappear. They lashed out. Some stopped eating, or they started cutting themselves. Others, bored or without adequate technology, have stopped participating in school, their report cards filled with F’s. They have stopped caring."

A priest at an iconic San Francisco church that has repeatedly defied city health ordinances died from the coronavirus on Tuesday. Father Bob Stein of Saints Peter and Paul Church was one of three priests who tested positive for the virus last Friday. The archdiocese has repeatedly sparred with the city over restrictions on indoor services. In July, at least 10 people contracted Covid-19 after the church hosted a wedding. SFGate.com | S.F. Chronicle

Some essential workers, including teachers, have been angered to learn that cannabis workers are ahead of them in the line for vaccinations. Under the state's rollout, cannabis workers are health care workers, so they've been placed near the front of the eligibility line. “Cannabis delivery drivers before school bus drivers and teachers?" asked Austin Beutner, Los Angeles schools superintendent. "Makes no sense to me." SFGate.com | L.A. Times

California lawmakers want to ban all fracking in the state by 2027. The technique of harvesting natural gas either safely reduces greenhouse gas emissions or poisons the air and water, depending on whom you ask. The measure introduced Wednesday is likely to ignite one of the most contentious fights in Sacramento this year. It could also be a headache for Gov. Gavin Newsom as he tries avoid further inflaming a recall movement to his right. The Guardian | A.P.

The veteran political reporter Mark Z. Barbarak offered a diagnosis of the tragedy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein: "The slow, sad fade is not simply a function of Dianne Feinstein’s age — she is 87 — but also the fact that times and the political world have changed and Feinstein, whether unwilling or unable, has failed to change along with them." L.A. Times

A UCLA student who founded an ultra-right campus organization was arrested on Tuesday and charged with federal crimes for his role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Christian Secor, 22, broadcast live video from inside the Capitol, where he sat in former Vice President Mike Pence's chair, the authorities said. In the livestream, he used the moniker Scuffed Elliot Rodger, an apparent reference to the man who killed six people in Isla Vista in 2014. Secor faces significant jail time. L.A. Times | A.P.

In a feature based on 50 interviews, Bloomberg reported on how California’s vote to classify Uber and Lyft drivers as contractors has emboldened other employers to eliminate salaried positions. Only a couple years ago, labor leaders seemed to have the upper hand in the debate over California's gig economy. That dynamic has now flipped. "Like Harold with his purple crayon, Uber sketched a reality it wanted to inhabit," Bloomberg wrote, "and Americans are living in it."

San Francisco residents abandoned the city in large numbers during the pandemic, but they didn't go far, an analysis of postal address changes showed. Between March and November, roughly 35,000 households fled, a massive spike over prior years. Despite the conventional narrative that they absconded to places like Austin and Miami, the overwhelming majority ended up in Bay Area suburbs, Los Angeles, or San Diego. S.F. Chronicle

Rents rose sharply in Fresno over the last year, heightening worries that low-income locals could be squeezed out. Fresno Bee

Dylan Van Iwaarden, a 26-year-old firefighter, suffered burns over 65% of his body while batting a wildfire near Irvine in October. He nearly died. Sixteen weeks and 17 surgeries later, he emerged from a hospital to cheers on Wednesday. Iwaarden still has a long road to recovery. But he told the gathering of nurses, firefighters, and loved ones that he was eager to get back to work. "I feel all of the love and all of the support," he said. "It means a lot to me." A.P. | KTLA

Joseph Valadez spent half of his adult life in prison for crimes that he said fueled his heroin habit. Now 63, he's a newly minted graduate with honors from Cal State Long Beach. A graduation picture of Valdez — with his tattoos, white tank top, and sunglasses — struck a chord on Twitter, where it got nearly 400,000 retweets. "There's a misconception about guys like me that I want to break," said Valadez. "If I can do it, anyone can." Long Beach Post

Paul Williams, the trailblazing Black architect, was born in Los Angeles on this day in 1894. Orphaned young, he was raised by a family friend who marveled at the boy’s intelligence, telling him he could do anything. When he announced his ambition to become an architect, however, there was skepticism. 

Black people won't be able to afford you, a high school teacher warned, and white people won't hire you. The doubters lit a fire in him, Williams later wrote. “It was this challenge that decided my future.”

Early in his career, Williams was sometimes denied work because of his race. He adapted by mastering the skill of drawing upside down so he could sit across from white clients who were uncomfortable sitting next to an African American. When touring construction sites, he clasped his hands behind his back to spare white people the discomfort of shaking his hand.

In a 1986 essay for Ebony magazine, Williams recalled how he won his first contract for a home costing more than $100,000. The prospective client, a car manufacturer, was in a hurry. He asked Williams how quickly he could draft preliminary plans.

"'By four o’clock tomorrow,' I answered.

"'Why that’s impossible!' he cried. 'Every other architect has asked for two to three weeks!' He regarded me shrewdly for a moment. 'Go ahead,' he said."

Williams delivered at the scheduled hour. What he didn’t mention was that he had worked through the night, 22 hours straight, without food or sleep. 

As demand for architects grew in the 1940s and 1950s, fueled by the rapid growth of Los Angeles, so did William's reputation for works of unusual care and grace. He designed everything: celebrity mansions, housing projects, schools, hospitals, and nearly 2,000 homes in Los Angeles alone.

By the end of his career, Williams was a wealthy man and the look of Los Angeles bore his unmistakable imprint. “Like the movies," wrote the architect Max Bond in 1997, "his work helped define a California style of self-assured, easy worldliness.” 

Williams' death in 1980 passed without the attention it deserved in the press. But four decades later, his career has been undergoing something of a rediscovery. In 2017, he was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal, one of architecture’s highest honors, putting him in the company of Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Morgan, Louis I. Kahn, and other giants of the trade.

Williams was not just a great Black architect, he was simply one of the finest of the 20th century. In contrast to his white peers, however, Williams did the job while shouldering the burden of racial prejudice — and while drawing upside down. 

See a new collection of photos of Williams' designs across Los Angeles. 👉 NPR 

Today's California Sun: The suffering of children as schools remain shuttered, an analysis of the "tragedy of Dianne Feinstein," and a UCLA student is charged in the Capitol siege.

The suffering of schoolchildren // "The tragedy of Dianne Feinstein"

An armed patrol roams Oakland's Chinatown after attacks. 

Campaign-style ads intensify the school reopening wars.

Today's California Sun: An armed patrol roams Oakland's Chinatown after attacks, campaign-style ads intensify the school reopening wars, and the inspiring story of a Warrior with Mexican roots.

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