Updating . .   

‘When is the next one?’: After Buffalo massacre, Black L.A. residents consider their safety -- But the Buffalo shooting, including the accused gunman driving hundreds of miles to target Black people and seeing community members gunned down while doing the ordinary act of weekend grocery shopping, is fueling anxieties among Black communities that their safety will always be compromised. Marissa Evans in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

Garcetti’s parents hire lobbyist to push for his ambassadorship -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination as an ambassador to India has stalled because of fallout from allegations, which he has denied, that he ignored sexual misconduct by a top staffer — but it appears his parents are now trying to help. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/21/22

Water  

Why swimming pools are getting a break despite unprecedented water restrictions -- While most are limiting outdoor watering to one or two days a week, many said the rules governing pools will remain largely unchanged — at least for the time being. That’s left some residents scratching their heads and others complaining of mixed messaging during a time of worsening drought. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

COVID  

What is ‘Paxlovid rebound’ and should you be worried about it? -- When Berkeley resident Myriam Misrach tested positive for the coronavirus last month, she started taking the COVID antiviral pill Paxlovid the same day. Over the five-day course of treatment, her cough and shortness of breath mostly faded, but a couple days after taking the final pill, her symptoms came roaring back. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Another bummer coronavirus summer for California? Cases keep rising along with concerns -- Coronavirus cases are increasing, in many areas at an accelerating pace. Authorities have not yet expressed alarm about the state of California’s hospitals or imposed far-reaching new rules to blunt the virus’ spread. Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

Kaiser  

Kaiser behavioral health care on the hot seat after California complaints -- In an unexpected move, the California Department of Mental Health Care informed Kaiser Permanente that it will be examining whether the company is providing adequate mental health care services to its 9.4 million California members. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/21/22

Street  

Nine shot, one killed outside party in San Bernardino County, police say -- Outside a business in the 3600 block of East Highland Avenue, officers found one individual who had been shot and died at the scene, Thomas said. The victim’s identity was not released. Family members identified him as a 20-year-old who was at the party, which took place at a lounge in the Highland Square shopping center, KTLA-TV reported. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

Mix of laws limiting where people can protest is hitting close to home for judges -- The balance has played out somewhat differently in California, where courts have upheld local restrictions on residential picketing. The leading case is a 1995 appellate ruling rejecting a challenge by abortion opponents to a San Jose ordinance prohibiting demonstrations within 300 feet of a home targeted by the protests. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Workplace   

California tribal casino workers could be one step closer to unionizing under new ruling -- In a case from San Diego County, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule on the central argument by the Sycuan Band of the Kumayaay Nation — that a contract it had signed with a union, under compulsion of federal and state law, on the rights of casino employees conflicted with uniform nationwide rules under the National Labor Relations Act. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Housing   

Silicon Valley city wants to build affordable housing at ‘the least likely place’: the street where VCs made billions -- Pound for pound, the office buildings at 2200 and 2730 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park are among the most valuable office buildings in the world: storied, sun-dappled Silicon Valley enclaves where some of the biggest names in venture capital have made their billions. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Education  

S.F. parents shelled out thousands of dollars to build this elementary school chicken coop -- Rosa Parks Elementary in the Western Addition neighborhood had chickens living in a dilapidated coop for years, but five years ago, parents and staff realized it was time to imagine a new building for the birds. After years of fundraising, designing and building, the structure opened this week to house a new flock. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Klamath   

California is about to begin the nation’s largest dam removal project -- The first of four aging dams on the Klamath River, the 250-mile waterway that originates in southern Oregon’s towering Cascades and empties along the rugged Northern California coast, is on track to come down in fall 2023. Two others nearby and one across the state line will follow. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

California Policy and Politics Saturday Morning  

S.F. archbishop says Pelosi will be denied Communion over abortion rights -- The San Francisco archbishop issued a notice Friday that he would no longer allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion, an escalation of his feud with the Catholic Democrat over abortion politics. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Seema Mehta, Christian Martinez, David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/21/22

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he has ‘sub-zero interest’ in running for president -- Newsom is running for re-election to a second term as California governor, which would last through 2026. Asked if he would promise to voters that he wouldn’t run for president before the end of that term, he said he believes Vice President Kamala Harris should be the next president after Joe Biden. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

With Caruso absent, L.A. mayoral candidates argue for progressive moves on homelessness -- In the final group debate of the Los Angeles mayoral campaign, three candidates struck a more activist and progressive tone on the issue of homelessness on Friday night than in past encounters, with calls for strengthened rent control and a shift of funding away from police to housing and social services. James Rainey, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/22

Clarence Avant, famed music executive, endorses Rick Caruso for mayor -- Clarence Avant, the 91-year-old music-industry titan feted by Barack Obama, Quincy Jones and Clive Davis in the documentary “The Black Godfather,” has thrown his support behind billionaire developer Rick Caruso in the L.A. mayoral race. August Brown in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/22

COVID  

Berkeley schools reinstate indoor mask mandate for staff and students -- Students at public schools in Berkeley will be required to wear masks in indoor spaces starting Monday through the end of the school year due to high levels of COVID-19 in the community, according to an announcement Friday from Berkeley Unified School District officials. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

New one-stop COVID test and treatment sites to open in Sacramento -- California is updating its testing sites throughout the state, adding treatment for COVID-positive people. Under these new ‘Test to Treat’ locations, residents, including those who are uninsured, can get tested for COVID, see a doctor and get a prescription for antiviral pills, Paxlovid or molnupiravir. The program is specifically designed to serve uninsured individuals. Hanh Truong in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/21/22

Street  

Ozzy Osbourne's daughter among survivors of fatal fire at Hollywood recording studios -- Los Angeles code enforcement authorities are investigating whether a Hollywood building where a fire broke out Thursday night, leaving one person dead and two injured, was approved for use as recording studios. Nathan Solis, Gregory Yee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

An S.F. man said catalytic converter thieves pointed a gun at him. Why did it take police almost two hours to respond? -- On Friday morning, Emily Murphy, a UC Hastings professor, and her husband, Joe DiMento, both tweeted that DiMento had a gun pointed at him outside the couple’s home and called 911. San Francisco police took over 90 minutes to respond — and Murphy’s tweet about the wait time quickly went viral. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

LAPD SWAT officer caught saying ‘happy hunting’ on body-cam before fatal police shooting -- As members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT team prepared to confront an armed suspect who had holed up in a downtown apartment building earlier this month, one of the highly trained officers offered a comment to the others. “Happy hunting,” he said. Kevin Rector, Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

A California Church Shooting Highlights a Bitter Divide Among Taiwanese -- Police say an investigation is under way to understand the motivation of the alleged gunman, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen. They said evidence suggests the shooting was rooted in tensions over the status of Taiwan, a democratically governed island that China claims as its territory. Joyu Wang and James T. Areddy in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/21/22

Border   

Federal judge extends block on Biden administration’s plans to lift Title 42 -- In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays in Lafayette wrote that lawyers for 24 plaintiff states had established that a “significant threat of injury” would arise if Title 42, a 1944 federal public health statute invoked by the Trump administration at the start of the pandemic, were to be lifted. He cited federal government figures predicting as large as a threefold increase in daily border crossings. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/22

ICE must release details about transgender woman’s death, Ninth Circuit rules -- Roxsana Hernandez, 33, who was from Honduras, reached the border with other transgender asylum-seekers in May 2018. The court said she was in deteriorating health, with untreated HIV, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shuttled her and the others to a series of holding centers, with no medical care and little food provided. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

Education  

Here's what SFUSD is proposing for Lowell's admissions process next year -- San Francisco Unified School District’s superintendent is expected on Tuesday to ask the school board to extend the current lottery-based admission process for Lowell High School. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/22

UC Davis water polo coach fired after arrest on child porn charges from FBI undercover probe -- Daniel Joseph Noble, who was hired at UC Davis in 2019, was arrested at his Davis home Thursday and appeared Friday afternoon in federal court in Sacramento, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes agreed to allow his release under strict conditions, including a $100,000 unsecured bond signed by his parents. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/21/22

‘I thought it would go away’ — School districts are paying millions to former students who say leaders were negligent in protecting them from abuse -- After years of yearning to hold her former high school accountable for failing to protect her from sexual abuse by her coach, Allison Brown, a former star basketball player at Valley Christian High School, got her chance when a new state law opened a three-year window that allows students to sue their schools for failing to protect them from abuse they suffered years ago. Kayla Jimenez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/21/22

Environment  

Man sentenced to 24 years for setting Big Sur wildfire that killed 12 endangered condors -- Ivan Gomez, 31, who was sentenced on Wednesday, was found guilty last month of setting the 2020 Dolan fire, cultivating marijuana in the Los Padres National Forest and 12 counts of animal cruelty tied to the condor deaths, according to the Monterey County district attorney’s office. Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22

Also . . .   

Jury finds film academy member guilty of three counts of child molestation -- A jury on Friday found Hollywood architect and film academy member Jeffrey Cooper guilty of three counts of child molestation. Stacy Perman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/22