Updating . .   

California pipeline may have been hooked by ship’s anchor -- The pipeline that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the water off Southern California was split open and apparently dragged more than 100 feet along the ocean floor, possibly by a ship’s anchor, officials said Tuesday. Brian Melley, Matthew Brown and Stefanie Dazio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Court blocks California from banning privately run U.S. immigration detention centers -- “California is not simply exercising its traditional police powers,” wrote 9th Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee, a Trump appointee, “but rather impeding federal immigration policy.” Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Fossil fuels are astonishingly harmful. The Orange County oil spill is just a reminder -- But the catastrophic oil spill in Southern California over the weekend offered a stark reminder that the damage to human health and the natural world from powering society with fossil fuels is far greater than just a warming planet. Sammy Roth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Who knew about the Orange County oil spill and when? -- There are growing questions about how the first hours of the Orange County oil spill were handled, with new information showing officials first learned a slick was likely Friday night. It would not be until the following evening that officials told the public the leak was grave and about to hit local beaches. Anita Chabria, Hannah Fry, Connor Sheets, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ Brian Melley, Matthew Brown and Stefanie Dazio Associated Press -- 10/5/21

Frantic fight to protect coast as Orange County oil spill spreads south -- A huge slick of oil stalked the coast Tuesday as officials frantically tried to protect ecologically sensitive shorelines and investigators probed whether a ship’s anchor caused a pipe breach that sent tens of thousands of gallons of crude into the waters off Orange County. Hannah Fry, Connor Sheets, Richard Winton, Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Photos: Aerial photos capture the scope of the O.C. oil spill -- The full scope of the weekend oil spill in Orange County remains unclear. But the leak of at least 126,000 gallons of crude oil is one of the largest in recent years in California. Allen J. Schaben in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Did a wayward ship anchor cause Orange County oil spill? Here’s what we know -- The offshore waters along the Orange and Los Angeles county coasts are teeming with cargo ships, creating a traffic jam into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that has kept dozens of vessels idling as they wait to get in. Richard Winton, Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Gov. Newsom, OC leaders declare state of emergency as oil spill cleanup continues -- Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County late Monday, as California agencies help in the response to the massive spill that leaked thousands of gallons of oil over the weekend into the Pacific Ocean off Huntington Beach. Tess Sheets in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/5/21

After years of squabbling, oil spill provides common enemy for Huntington Beach -- In recent years, Huntington Beach has become the staging ground for what seems an endless parade of rowdy rallies, with every national controversy playing out at the pier and beyond. But this week, with an ecological catastrophe potentially re-shaping their community, residents of all political stripes have an enemy that doesn’t look like a neighbor. Susan Christian Goulding in the Orange County Register -- 10/5/21

Lopez: Nobody could have been surprised by this spill. Now here’s what has to happen -- The people who devote themselves to protecting the California coast have been saying it for years: It’s virtually impossible to prevent an oil spill like the massive crude slick that is now fouling beaches and marine habitats along the Orange County coast. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

COVID  

UC Davis researchers studied COVID viral loads in vaccinated cases. Here’s what they found -- Viral loads of the delta variant of coronavirus are similar between unvaccinated and vaccinated persons who are infected, as well as between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, UC Davis and UC San Francisco researchers wrote in a recent study that aligns with similar findings from other research teams. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

COVID Vaccine  

COVID vaccine disinformation a big reason behind low inoculation rates, officials say -- During a recent round of surveying farmworkers, there were a number of concerns ranging from misguided and inaccurate to specific and head-scratching, such as that the shots will somehow alter a recipient’s sexuality. Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Flu shots and COVID: Do you need to worry about vaccine timing? What about a 'twindemic'? -- Flu vaccinations are rolling out in the Bay Area and nationwide, with experts warning of a potentially strong comeback for an illness that virtually disappeared last year during the coronavirus pandemic. Kellie Hwang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Education  

‘The mood is grim’: Death threats, violence, intimidation mark another pandemic school year -- On Day One of class, the father of a little girl got so angry because she had to wear a face mask that he cussed out a principal and punched a teacher in the face. By the second week, students in this small county in the Sierra Nevada foothills started testing positive for the coronavirus as the highly contagious Delta variant pummeled rural California. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

State intervenes to address S.F. school district's financial crisis and massive budget shortfall -- With the increasing likelihood that the San Francisco school district won’t be able to pay its bills, the state education superintendent is stepping in to address a dire financial tailspin resulting in a $116 million shortfall, a step aimed at avoiding a state takeover. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Clark: School officials raised alarms about threats, disruptions at meetings; We need to listen -- Harassment has gone beyond poor behavior at board meetings, with board members receiving threatening messages at their homes and on social media. Members have had their home addresses publicized online, and in one case a photo was circulated on the hostile group’s Facebook page of a board member walking with her two children. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/5/21

San Diego County schools are struggling with a labor shortage -- It was already difficult before the pandemic to get teachers to come to work at tiny Mountain Empire Unified, a rural school district with 1,700 students in East San Diego County. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/5/21

Clogged Pipeline  

The supply chain crisis has hit the Bay Area - partly because of epic cargo backlogs in Southern California -- Nathan Rundel ordered a new refrigerator for his Orinda home remodel in April. It won’t arrive until January, and he doesn’t even have a delivery date for his new dishwasher. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Policy and Politics  

San Jose may move its mayoral election -- The next time San Jose residents cast a ballot for the nation’s president, they may also be voting for mayor of the nation’s 10th largest city, which would mark a historic shift aimed at boosting voter turnout and representation in the city’s mayoral races. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/5/21

Refugees  

San Diego County considers preparations for Afghan refugee arrivals -- San Diego County will vote Tuesday on preparations for resettling Afghan refugees in San Diego, as tens of thousands of Afghans arrive in the U.S. following the withdrawal of American military forces from the country. Deborah Sullivan Brennan in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/5/21

Workplace   

San Diego paying out $100K to Black laborer who claimed discrimination, retaliation -- San Diego is paying out nearly $100,000 to a former city Streets Division laborer who filed a lawsuit claiming he faced discrimination because he is Black and was retaliated against for complaining about unsafe work conditions. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/5/21

Water  

'This is historic': For at least a week, California's Eel River stopped flowing -- Fisheries biologist Pat Higgins said he was shocked when he discovered on Sept. 17 a section of the largest tributary in California's third-largest watershed was dry. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 10/5/21

Also . . .   

One person in California wins Monday’s $699.8 million Powerball jackpot after 40 drawings without a winner -- Monday’s winning numbers were 12, 22, 54, 66, 69 and Powerball 15. One person won the jackpot, according to Powerball. California Lottery said the winner was from Morro Bay, Calif., a coastal city of about 10,000 people with a median income of about $68,000. Brittany Shammas in the Washington Post$ -- 10/5/21

California Policy and Politics Tuesday Morning  

Tens of millions in fines expected in oil spill -- Civil penalties of tens of millions of dollars are likely to result from the oil spill that’s been washing up on Orange County shores since the weekend, with the money going for cleanup, repairing environmental damage, compensation for the temporary loss of recreational space, and civil liability. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 10/5/21

Officials knew about oil off O.C. coast Friday, sparking new questions about response -- California and federal officials had strong indications of oil on the water off the Huntington Beach coast Friday evening, records reviewed by The Times show, more than 10 hours before the operator of an oil platform reported it to authorities. Connor Sheets, Anita Chabria, Richard Winton, Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Anxious waiting game as Orange County oil spill threatens beaches, coves -- Coast Guard officials are flying over the spill three to four times a day to map the oil’s direction and compare it with tides, currents and winds to project the potential impact to beaches to the south. Jaclyn Cosgrove, Anh Do, Robin Estrin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

How Orange County oil spill compares to those of Santa Barbara, Exxon Valdez and others -- The full scope of this weekend’s oil spill in Orange County remains unclear. But the leak of at least 126,000 gallons of crude oil is one of the largest in recent years in California. However, the size is still far less than several other catastrophic spills in the state and elsewhere. Paul Duginski, Rong-Gong Lin II, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Coast Guard investigating whether ship anchored at wrong location caused O.C. oil spill -- The Coast Guard is investigating whether a large commercial ship set anchor in the wrong location, damaging an oil pipeline and causing a massive spill threatening Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and other Orange County coastal areas, an official familiar with the investigation said Monday. Hannah Fry, Richard Winton, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

California oil spill: This UC Davis team is leading the race to rescue wildlife on Huntington Beach shoreline -- Eunah Preston’s cell phone began pinging just after the huge oil spill in Southern California was reported Saturday morning. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

How you can help with oil spill cleanup efforts -- Right now, the answer is not a lot, at least not in terms of physical work. But there are other ways you can assist the cleanup efforts. Madalyn Amato in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

In California oil spill, pipeline critics find a way to push Biden -- Build Back Fossil Free, a coalition of climate and other activists, plans to protest outside the White House next week to call on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and block all new fossil fuel projects. Erica Werner and Steven Mufson in the Washington Post$ -- 10/5/21

COVID  

Pfizer vaccine’s protection wanes over time, and not because of Delta, study says -- Research conducted in Southern California has confirmed the dramatic erosion of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine’s protection against “breakthrough” coronavirus infections. Melissa Healy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

COVID-19 vaccines prevented 3,800 deaths among California seniors, HHS report says -- A new government report has found that 22,000 California senior citizens were shielded from being infected with the coronavirus because they were vaccinated against COVID-19, 9,700 were saved from being hospitalized, and 3,800 avoided death. Michael Wilner in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

COVID-19 hospitalizations still dropping in LA County -- The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals tumbled again on Monday, Oct. 4, but health officials warned that transmission of the virus remains at a high level. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/5/21

Five LA County employees sue over vaccine mandate -- Five Los Angeles County employees are suing their employer, alleging the vaccine mandate for county workers issued by executive order in August and ratified by the Board of Supervisors is unconstitutional. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/5/21

The pandemic has taken a toll. What can we learn from people with mental health challenges? -- Dave Leon, the co-founder of the mental health nonprofit Painted Brain, is a licensed clinical social worker who is open about living with depression. He thinks that as someone who has experience with mental illness, he brings humility to his work as a therapist. Ada Tseng, Claire Hannah Collins in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Wildfire   

KNP Complex fire spurs new evacuations as it forms massive pyrocumulus cloud -- The KNP Complex fire burning in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks spurred new evacuations Monday as it formed a massive pyrocumulus cloud and made a leap toward dozens of historic cabins near the southern edge. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Last remaining evacuation orders lifted for Caldor Fire as crews near full containment -- The last remaining evacuation orders and warnings in place for the Caldor Fire were lifted Monday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Forest Service said. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

Policy and Politics  

San Bernardino County judge overturns voter-approved measure slashing supervisors’ pay -- In November, two-thirds of county voters favored cutting each of the supervisors’ pay and benefits to $60,000 while also limiting them to a single term in office. The county subsequently challenged the ballot measure in court, contending both provisions violate the state Constitution. Brian Whitehead in the San Bernardino Sun$ -- 10/5/21

California could soon have its own public banking service, under new law signed by Gavin Newsom -- Assembly Bill 1177, authored by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, calls for the state to conduct a market analysis of a state-backed program that would give Californians a public option for banking services like debit cards. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

Hospice reforms to become law after Times investigation reveals widespread fraud, abuse -- Decades of unchecked growth in the California hospice industry will come to a halt Jan. 1, when a moratorium on new licenses takes effect along with reforms aimed at curbing widespread fraud in end-of-life care. Kim Christensen, Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Gavin Newsom signs law to help new California moms, prevent infant deaths -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a law aimed at improving maternal and postpartum care for Black California families who have disproportionately suffered pregnancy-related and infant deaths in recent years. Kim Bojórquez in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

Texas, Florida, Ohio and more: California’s state travel ban covers one-third of America -- California Democrats wanted to send a message when they passed a law five years ago banning taxpayer-funded travel to states that allow businesses to deny services to gay and transgender people. Andrew Sheeler and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/5/21

Walters: Newsom’s erratic vaccination orders -- Generations of California public school students have been required — by law — to be vaccinated against deadly diseases. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 10/5/21

Vape Tax  

California will impose new vaping tax to curb teen use, fund public health programs -- Amid concern over widespread teen vaping, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved a new 12.5% excise tax on electronic cigarettes to be paid by California consumers to boost public health and education programs. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Aliso Canyon  

State officials consider plans to beef up gas-storage capacity at Aliso Canyon -- The California Public Utilities Commission will weigh two proposals to beef up the amount of natural gas stored at the Aliso Canyon field owned by Southern California Gas Co., the largest amount of gas the utility has been allowed to store since the 2015 gas leak. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/5/21

Street  

Opioid overdose epidemic is rapidly spreading across the Bay Area -- In just the past week, three people died at three different stations inside the vast Bay Area Rapid Transit system from causes believed to be drug overdoses. Yoohyun Jung in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Trial begins for East Bay cop accused of killing mentally ill man. Here's what the case will hinge on -- Contra Costa County prosecutors asked jurors to sympathize with a clearly troubled man whose only crime was refusing to stop for police. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

New California law lets survivors sue for pain and suffering in assault and medical mistreatment cases -- George Sweikhart was diagnosed with mesothelioma after 30 years of working for Southern California auto companies on brakes and other parts that can contain cancer-causing asbestos. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Oakland police chief urges community support in preventing crime following two weekend homicides -- Oakland officials and community members issued an urgent plea Monday for the city’s residents to become more involved in helping to stem a surge in violent crime amid the police department’s ongoing staffing issues. Andres Picon in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Capitol Siege  

Jan. 6 rioters exploited little-known Capitol weak spots: A handful of unreinforced windows -- Four major access points that Jan. 6 rioters used to break into and overtake the U.S. Capitol had something unusual in common: They were among a dozen or so ground-floor windows and glass-paned doors that had not been recently reinforced. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21

Workplace   

Jury awards $137 million to former Tesla employee who was racially harassed in Fremont by co-workers -- A federal court jury on Monday awarded $136.9 million to a Black former factory worker at Tesla’s Fremont plant who said he was repeatedly called racist names, shown racist cartoons and subjected to abuse during 9½ months of employment at the electric car company, according to the plaintiff and his lawyers. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Rebecca Elliott in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/5/21

High court declines to take up objections to California law on treating truckers as employees -- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday by trucking companies seeking to exempt tens of thousands of truckers from California labor law, a potential first step -- though not the final step -- toward classifying them as employees rather than independent contractors. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Homeless  

Santa Clara County seeks to end family homelessness by 2025 -- Santa Clara County officials on Monday announced an ambitious plan to house every homeless family in the area, using a large influx of federal and state resources to take a significant bite out of a problem that has plagued the region for years. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/5/21

Education  

Santa Clara University students demand action from school after multiple sexual assault allegations -- The student body president says there were at least 30 recent incidents of drugging or sexual assault; university says it’s received three reports. Summer Lin in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/5/21

Fewer than 4% of California students opted for independent study this year, data shows -- Some districts say they have waiting lists; other programs are relatively small. Carolyn Jones EdSource -- 10/5/21

Water  

S.F. saw just 9 inches of rain this 'water year.' Here's how that compares to normal -- The region received a little more than a third of normal precipitation from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, according to data from the National Weather Service — a common occurrence for the past several years, which bodes ill for a region already at the worst “exceptional” level on the U.S. Drought Monitor map. Kellie Hwang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Environment  

California's missing and adventurous lone gray wolf likely sighted in Ventura County -- An Oregon-born lone gray wolf that made headlines after making his way through California, then disappearing in April when his transponder stopped working, has likely been spotted in Ventura County. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Also . . .   

How UCSF scientists made one woman's severe depression disappear -- A woman with severe, treatment-resistant depression has been nearly symptom-free for a year after a team of UCSF scientists implanted a device in her brain that senses when she’s having depressive thoughts or impulses and interrupts them with a burst of electrical stimulation. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

'Permanent jewelry' video takes off on TikTok - but is it a Bay Area trend? -- It’s hard to figure out what’s going on in the TikTok video at first. Two customers sit next to each other, each with a gold chain around their wrist, resting under a small machine that looks like something you’d see in a tool shed. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

Jury: SFMTA didn't rip off taxi medallion loan maker -- The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency did not renege on its deal with a credit union to make loans to taxi drivers so they could buy medallions, the pieces of tin that allow one to operate a cab, a San Francisco Superior Court jury ruled Monday afternoon. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/5/21

L.A. County lifeguards shut down all beaches following lightning strikes -- All Los Angeles County beaches, from San Pedro to Malibu, were closed late Monday afternoon following a thunderstorm that brought lightning strikes, officials said. Gregory Yee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/5/21