Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 26.
• | A Sacramento second grader brings a gun to school. |
• | Coronavirus now spreading in all 58 California counties. |
• | And the backyard wildlife of eastern San Diego County. |
Statewide
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A day after the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, Gov. Gavin Newsom and fellow legislative Democrats vowed Wednesday to move quickly on more than a dozen gun bills. They include measures to limit ghost guns, add safeguards on firearm sales, and require schools to investigate threats. “We mean business. We want to save lives,” Newsom said. James Gallagher, the Assembly Republican leader, said it was “insanity” to expect tougher gun laws to halt mass shootings: “There’s something deeper going on. A mental health crisis.” A.P. | L.A. Times
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Other developments:
• | A second grader brought a gun and loaded magazine to a Sacramento school on Tuesday, officials said. Details were scarce, but parents were outraged. “I don’t even want to bring my kids to school here anymore,” one father said. Fox40 | Sacramento Bee |
• | A Supreme Court is expected soon to strike down New York’s restrictions on carrying concealed guns in public. The ruling would overturn a similar California law, allowing thousands of firearms on city streets. S.F. Chronicle |
• | L.A. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano: “I’ve seen hundreds of social media posts by Latinos who say that the young victims in Uvalde reminded them of their nieces, nephews and children. I feel that, too. When I see photos of Ramos, I also see Latinos I know.” |
• | How to help Uvalde families. 👉 KQED |
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Buddhist monks held a vigil in Santa Ana on May 17 to mark the 1 million lives lost to the pandemic.
Gary Coronado/L.A. Times via Getty Images
The reproduction rate of the coronavirus is now above 1 in all 58 California counties, meaning the virus is spreading exponentially, with each contagious person infecting more than one other person. An infectious diseases doctor, describing the situation in the Bay Area, put it this way: “Everybody and their grandmother has Covid.” Even so, hospitalization and death rates have remained low, a sign of the efficacy of booster vaccinations. SFGATE | S.F. Chronicle
California coronavirus tracker. 👉 Covid19.ca.gov
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California’s push to extend the life of its last nuclear plant gained momentum this week as Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the Biden administration whether the Diablo Canyon facility could qualify for federal funds. The state’s reversal on nuclear power reflects fears of potential outages as California moves toward a carbon-free electric system. “It’s historic,” said Michael Wara, a Stanford energy expert. Bloomberg
Northern California
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More than three years after a wildfire tore through the Sierra foothills and leveled the town of Paradise, many former residents are still homeless. Ed Mayer, head of the county’s housing authority, said the climate displacement is a harbinger of what’s to come everywhere. “We are now dealing with permanently displaced populations,” he said. “I call them refugees. These people are so disfranchised from our system they might as well not have a country.” The Guardian
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Freshmen at an elite San Francisco high school earned significantly more D and F grades in the fall of 2021 after merit-based admission was eliminated in an effort to boost diversity, new data showed. Of 620 students in Lowell High’s freshman class, 24.4% received at least one D or F, compared with 7.9% of first-year students a year earlier. A similar shift was not seen across city high schools. The debate over Lowell’s move to lottery admissions animated voters in the recall of three school board members this year. S.F. Chronicle
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San Francisco freeways.
For years, air quality monitors required under the Clean Air Act have found that the air Bay Area residents breathe is acceptable. But the assessment changed dramatically for the worse when a tech company collected a year’s worth of block-by-block data for the first time. It found that places where mostly Black, Latino, Asian, and low-income residents live have far higher concentrations of pollution than mostly white communities. Washington Post
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An invasive worm that can clone itself and leap a foot in the air was spotted in Napa County last July, and scientists are worried. Amynthas agrestis, also known as the Asian jumping worm, Alabama jumper, or crazy snake worm, is able to essentially reengineer ecosystems by chewing through the leafy forest topsoil upon which native species depend. “Soil is the foundation of life — and Asian jumping worms change it,” said Mac Callaham, a Forest Service researcher. The Guardian | SFGATE
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Northern and Southern California share a single coast, but they are entirely different worlds. If the southern beaches are gentle and warm, those to the north are wild and fogbound. Even the trees are opposite, with arrow-straight palms that sway in the Orange County breeze and tortured cypresses perpetually bent by the winds of Sonoma County. The cinematographer Pavel Fedorov captured some achingly gorgeous views along Northern California’s rugged coast. 👉 Vimeo (~8:30 mins)
Hog Island oysters, Point Arena Lighthouse, and a pygmy forest. A travel writer recommended stops on a road trip from San Francisco to Mendocino. California Through My Lens
Southern California
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The corruption investigation that toppled Anaheim’s mayor this week is now entangling the city’s most powerful company: The Walt Disney Co. An FBI affidavit described an unnamed employee of “Company A” as a key member of a “cabal” controlling the Anaheim City Council. Sources cited by the L.A. Times and Wall Street Journal identified the company as Disney and the employee as Carrie Nocella, Disneyland Resort’s head of external affairs. O.C. Register | Inside the Magic
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Tesla just submitted plans for a drive-in movie theater that would double as a charging station for electric vehicles in Hollywood. It would be open 24 hours and include a diner and bar. When Elon Musk first broached the idea on Twitter in 2018, he envisioned using carhops in roller skates. The theater would show short features, about 30 minutes, or about as long as a standard charging session. electrek | Timeout
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Living along the eastern edge of San Diego County means easy access to canyons, mountains, coastal sage, and desert landscapes. It also means you can expect visits from snakes, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, bobcats, and even cougars in your yard. The wildlife photographer Roy Toft made a project of capturing the wildlife that frequent his backyard in Ramona with carefully placed trail cameras. PetaPixel

Roy Toft

Roy Toft

Roy Toft

Roy Toft
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