“Omicron has loosened its hold on California.”

California officials said they would let the statewide indoor mask mandate expire a week from today, on Feb. 15 — but not for everyone. Schoolchildren will still be required to mask up, as will the unvaccinated. And millions more Californians will still have to cover their faces under local ordinances. Los Angeles County planned to keep its mandate in place. It was uncertain what the Bay Area will do. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times

Other coronavirus developments:

A new study by University of California scientists recommends a radical prescription for saving the forests of the Sierra: cut them back by as much as 80%. The paper argues that a century of fire suppression has made forests vulnerable to drought, infestations, and monster conflagrations. The tree density of the late 1800s, the authors said, “would astonish most Californians today”; it was roughly one-sixth of what it is now. Bloomberg

Talk of nominating Vice President Kamala Harris for the Supreme Court has been percolating through Democratic Party circles. It’s almost certainly not going to happen, but the fact that the chatter hasn’t died reflects the intense skepticism about Harris’ ability to win a presidential race if President Biden does not run for reelection. Politico

L.A. Times: After a rough first year, Harris is making some changes, “but don’t call it a reboot.”

Zhu Yi, a figure skater who grew up in Los Angeles but renounced her citizenship to represent China in the Olympics, fell twice during Monday’s team competition free skate — after falling a day earlier in her short program. Chinese fans excoriated the 19-year-old on social media, with many questioning why she was picked to represent China. “This is such a disgrace,” said a comment with 11,000 upvotes. CNN | South China Morning Post

The reception was very different for Eileen Gu, also born in California and competing for China. The 18-year-old freestyle skier won gold in the big air event before an adoring crowd. N.Y. Times | Washington Post

Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and center of gravity in Silicon Valley, plans to step down from the board of Meta, the parent of Facebook, the company said on Monday. An anonymous source told reporters that Thiel, 54, wants focus his energies on helping allies of former President Trump in November’s midterm elections. N.Y. Times | Washington Post

A Bay Area doctor has begun serving a prison term of a year and a day for putting a false date on a $217 bill. Dr. Gregory Belcher was accused of conspiring with his wife, also a physician, to defraud insurers. While his wife was convicted of multiple felonies, Belcher was acquitted of all charges except the single falsely dated bill. Even so, the judge had discretion to impose a harsh sentence. The couple’s three children, ages 15, 13, and 12, could end up in foster care. S.F. Chronicle

Facing a whirlwind of scorn over its attempt to block new duplexes by declaring itself a “mountain-lion habitat,” the ultra-rich Bay Area community of Woodside reversed course late Sunday during an emergency meeting. Earlier Sunday, Attorney General Rob Bonta threatened legal action over the policy, whose criteria would have qualified all of Los Angeles as cougar habitat. Town officials said they would accept building applications immediately. Bloomberg | L.A. Times

How tight is the housing supply? A report found that in Silicon Valley there is one home for sale for every 1,200 households earning $100,000 to $125,000 a year. S.F. Chronicle

A former San Diego deputy who fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed man was sentenced on Monday to a year in jail. The victim, Nicholas Bils, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had been picked up on May 1 after being accused of brandishing a golf club at rangers in a state park. The deputy, Aaron Russell, fired multiple times into Bils’ back as he dashed to escape. As the sentencing hearing Monday ended, a cousin of Bils said loudly, “Shame.” CBS 8 | S.D. Union-Tribune

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s former top spokeswoman demanded that he be prosecuted for perjury for claiming he was unaware of sexual misconduct complaints against another former aide. In a letter to city, state, and federal prosecutors, Naomi Seligman accused Garcetti of lying and conspiring with staffers to cover up the accusations against Rick Jacobs, the mayor’s former deputy chief of staff. Seligman said she was among Jacobs’ alleged victims. L.A. Times | City News Service

When the Rams and Bengals face off on Sunday for Super Bowl LVI, they’ll do so in the NFL’s newest and largest venue, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Architectural Digest said the building’s architecture and landscape are events in and of themselves: “Set under a distinctively swooping roof canopy, the 70,000-plus-seat stadium provides a larger-scale version — much larger scale — of what Southern Californian architecture does best: indoor-outdoor living.”

Who does it better?

A surf photographer, Jim Russi, captured fantastic footage of a pod of dolphins surfing alongside humans at Rincon Point along the Central Coast. In 40 years of surf photography, it was the best example of who the “real surfers” are, Russi said. Yahoo