Updating . .   

California drought: Water wasters could face fines of up to $10,000 in Santa Clara County under new rules -- Residents in Santa Clara County could face fines of up to $500 — and in extreme cases, $10,000 — for wasting water, under new drought rules approved Tuesday afternoon that are among the toughest of any urban area in California. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/24/22

California bans watering “non-functional” grass in some areas, strengthening drought rules -- California’s top water regulators adopted emergency drought rules Tuesday that scale up conservation requirements for water suppliers throughout the state and prohibit watering grass that is purely decorative at businesses and in common areas of subdivisions and homeowners associations. The regulations outlaw the use of potable water for irrigating “non-functional” grass at commercial, industrial and institutional properties. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

California orders water suppliers to mandate restrictions. Here’s how much further they could go -- California’s urban water suppliers must impose restrictions on usage after residents across the state have largely shrugged off Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pleas to voluntarily reduce consumption as the state plunges into another year of drought. But the state is still miles away from mandating the more stringent conservation orders that helped California through the toughest years of its last major drought. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

Guns  

Inaction is a choice.’ Newsom lambastes GOP on gun laws after Texas school shooting -- Newsom responded to the Texas shooting with a series of tweets, saying “14 children and a teacher dead. Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it.” “Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe,” he added, calling the shooting “preventable.” “Our inaction is a choice,” he said. “We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety NOW.” Lindsey Holden in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/22

Texas governor: 15 killed in school shooting; gunman dead -- Fourteen children and one teacher were killed in a shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday, and the the 18-year-old gunman was dead, Gov. Greg Abbott said Abbott said a local man opened fire at at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio Eugene Garcia and Dario Lopez-Mills Associated Press -- 5/24/22

Policy and Politics  

Fallout from Anaheim corruption probe focused on public funds, political ties and Angels Baseball -- Local leaders are calling for audits and scrambling to return political contributions after learning of the FBI investigation. Brooke Staggs in the Orange County Register -- 5/24/22

Money wars: Special interests spend big in California primary -- If you haven’t noticed, your mail carrier certainly has: Election season has arrived in California and with it, the regular flood of political ads from unions, corporations and other special interest groups hoping to influence your vote. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 5/24/22

Confusion reigns as California election season heats up -- With California’s June 7 primary election just two weeks away, political campaigns are intensifying — and getting more confusing. Emily Hoeven CalMatters -- 5/24/22

California realtors spending big against Sacramento City Council candidate Caity Maple -- City Council candidate Caity Maple, who supported a local rent control initiative two years ago, is getting heat from the California Association of Realtors independent expenditure committee. The group has spent more than $60,000 on mailers, a website, online ads, polling and research against her. Theresa Clift in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/22

She’s running to represent South L.A. Her opponent says she just got there -- Dulce Vasquez launched her campaign for Los Angeles City Council in January 2021, promising to bring bold new leadership to a district that takes in some of the most impoverished corners of South Los Angeles. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Will a Trump endorsement help a Democrat win this California congressional seat? -- Donald Trump is now officially a factor in the Kermit Jones-Kevin Kiley-Scott Jones race for Congress. And while Trump’s endorsement of Kiley earlier this month means Kermit Jones has a highly useful new foil, it’s still going to be a tough race for the Democrat in this Republican-leaning district, analysts said. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/22

Pelosi challenges archbishop’s denial of Communion over abortion rights -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday questioned whether a San Francisco archbishop who said he would deny her Communion over abortion rights was using a double standard by allowing politicians who support the death penalty to receive the sacrament. Donna Cassata and John Wagner in the Washington Post$ -- 5/24/22

Traffic   

Congestion pricing? Free buses? Monorails? How L.A.’s next mayor could change your commute -- Free and faster buses. Monorails. Streetcars in places like Hollywood and Koreatown. Staggered work schedules. Less traffic? The next mayor could radically change how Angelenos move through traffic-choked streets and highways. Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

DMV   

California will test digital driver’s licenses. Should you worry about your personal info? -- Are Californians ready for yet another new version of the driver’s license? The last one — called “Real ID” — went over about as well as CNN+. As of April, less than half of the state’s drivers had obtained one, even though Californians will need a Real ID or a passport to get on a plane or enter a federal building in a year. The tepid reaction may stem from the fact that these IDs offer no new benefits to drivers, just another time-consuming obligation. Jon Healey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Monkeypox  

Monkeypox in Sacramento: Health officials say traveler back from Europe ‘likely’ has infection -- Sacramento health officials are investigating a “likely” case of monkeypox virus related to travel in Europe and are awaiting confirmation Tuesday of tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials. Darrell Smith and Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

COVID  

These areas of California have been hardest hit by new coronavirus wave -- California coronavirus case rates have worsened dramatically in certain parts of the state in the past week, according to a Times analysis, with some areas particularly hard hit. In Southern California, weekly coronavirus cases roughly doubled in Riverside and Santa Barbara counties, and across the Central Valley and Silicon Valley. Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Workplace   

Going electric: California car mandate would hit mechanics hard -- Who loses and who gains as California cleans up its cars? Nearly 32,000 mechanics would lose jobs by 2040 under the proposed phaseout of new gas-powered cars. Electric companies would be the big winners. Nadia Lopez CalMatters -- 5/24/22

Tesla loses bid to shunt sex harassment suit into arbitration -- Tesla Inc. must keep defending itself in open court against claims that female employees face “rampant sexual harassment” in its largest California factory, a judge ruled, spurning the company’s request for closed-door arbitration. Malathi Nayak, Bloomberg in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/24/22

Water  

SoCal needs to keep vital trees alive despite unprecedented watering restrictions -- With Southern California officials clamping down on outdoor water use amid worsening drought, the message is clear: It’s fine for lawns to go brown, but we need to keep trees alive and healthy. Jaimie Ding in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Street  

Anti-hate group speaks out against antisemitic incident in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills -- Days after a group of people dressed in clothing reminiscent of Nazi brownshirts drove a rented box truck displaying hateful messages down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, a watchdog group is speaking out against the incident and says it has identified the hate group and two of its members. Gregory Yee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Chabria: Column: She killed the man who trafficked her. Will California ever forgive her? -- Sara Kruzan makes sure her daughter Summer Reign-Justice never wants for ice cream, because it was a triple dip of mint chip and rocky road that led Kruzan to murder and prison. Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Diablo Canyon   

Climate worries galvanize a new pro-nuclear movement in the U.S. -- Komanoff would go on to become an unrelenting adversary of Diablo Canyon, the hulking 37-year-old nuclear facility perched on a pristine stretch of California’s Central Coast that had been the focal point of anti-nuclear activism in America. But his last letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in February, was one Komanoff never expected to write. Evan Halper in the Washington Post$ -- 5/24/22

Transit   

Cause of light rail crash that injured two dozen Sacramento riders detailed in NTSB report -- In its final report, the National Transportation Safety Board found the collision between a two-car passenger train and a one-car maintenance train Aug. 22, 2019, occurred because senior RT management failed “to assess a transportation supervisor’s competency in the combined role as both the controller and dispatcher on the evening shift.” Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/22

Education  

UC pays record $700 million to women who accused UCLA gynecologist of sexual abuse -- The University of California system agreed Tuesday to settle lawsuits brought by hundreds of alleged victims of a former UCLA gynecologist, bringing total litigation payouts to nearly $700 million, the largest ever reached related to sexual abuse involving a public university. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

UC Berkeley swimmers allege coach Teri McKeever bullied and verbally abused them for years -- Swimmers describe a toxic culture that led to a number of mental health issues and an unresponsive administration. Scott Reid in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/24/22

Also . . .   

San Francisco is the most childless major city in the U.S. These maps show which neighborhoods have the fewest kids -- San Francisco is the most childless major city in the U.S. Just 13% of the city’s population is under 18, a figure that’s less than Los Angeles, Seattle or even New York City, and far less than the U.S. overall figure of 22.1%. Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

George Shultz’s Longtime San Francisco Home Lists for $29 Million -- Mr. Shultz and his late second wife, the socialite Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, lived for decades in two adjacent duplex penthouses in the Russian Hill neighborhood, according to Karen Mendelsohn Gould of Compass, who is marketing the condos with colleague Max Armour. E.B. Solomont in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/24/22

The amazing story of Reggie, L.A.’s celebrity alligator -- Reggie, the most famous alligator in Los Angeles, lives in a beautifully landscaped midcentury dwelling just outside Los Feliz. When it’s sunny, he swims in his pool. When it’s chilly, he doesn’t do much of anything. He lives companionably with a female named Tina, and if you think it’s easy for two alligators to pair up later in life without trying to bite each other’s limbs off, well, you don’t know a lot about alligators. Corinne Purtill, Irfan Khan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

California Policy and Politics Tuesday Morning  

Anaheim mayor resigns amid corruption probe into his role in Angel Stadium land sale -- Two prominent Orange County political leaders resigned within 24 hours of each other amid fallout from a sprawling federal public corruption investigation linked to the proposed sale of Angel Stadium and allegations that a secretive “cabal” controlled Anaheim’s politics. Nathan Fenno, Seema Mehta, Adam Elmahrek, Gabriel San Román in the Los Angeles Times$ Brooke Staggs and Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 5/24/22

Newsom signs compromise law raising the limit on medical malpractice damages -- California's $250,000 limit on damages for pain and suffering caused by medical malpractice, a ceiling enacted by lawmakers in 1975 at the insistence of doctors and insurers, will be lifted next year. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

California lawmakers take on Texas by blocking ‘heartbeat’ abortion laws -- Abortion rights supporters worry that California-based providers could be subject to lawsuits filed in other states. Assembly Bill 1666 would prohibit California courts from taking up any cases based on out-of-state laws, which a bill analysis called “a unique and menacing approach to restricting abortion.” Mackenzie Mays in the Los Angeles Times$ Adam Beam Associated Press -- 5/24/22

California parents could soon sue for social media addiction -- California could soon hold social media companies responsible for harming children who have become addicted to their products, permitting parents to sue platforms like Instagram and TikTok for up to $25,000 per violation under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Monday. Adam Beam Associated Press -- 5/24/22

Ramit Varma drops out of L.A. mayoral race, endorses Rick Caruso -- Ramit Varma, a little-known candidate who poured $4 million of his own money into the mayoral race, dropped out Monday to endorse Rick Caruso, a leading candidate who has put more than $30 million of his personal fortune into his campaign. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Walters: Legislature’s supermajorities spawn super sneakiness -- Democrats occupy three-quarters of the seats in both houses of the state Legislature and are likely to add a few more to their superdooper majorities this year. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 5/24/22

Aliso Canyon  

Activists and residents slam Sacramento for gutting a bill to shut SoCalGas in Aliso Canyon -- Senate Bill 1486 by State Sen. Henry Stern was passed by the state Senate Appropriations Committee on May 19. But critics say the changes made by the powerful committee will hurt rather than help those who live near the field where huge quantities of gas are stored underground. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/24/22

Street  

Sources: San Francisco police shot both suspect and victim in alleged Dogpatch knife assault -- San Francisco police who responded to a reported assault by a knife-wielding man shot the alleged assailant as well as the victim, who was unarmed, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

Second woman alleges sexual abuse in claim against Stockton police officer -- Sgt. Nicholas Bloed was placed on paid leave after a woman, identified by her lawyer as Jane Doe 1, said he stopped her car in October for driving without a license plate or tags, and pressured her into a series of sexual contacts that ended only after she reported him to the Police Department in March and underwent seven hours of questioning. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

Workplace  

A customer threw her drink at a S.F. restaurant employee over 25 cents. It’s not an isolated incident -- The incident speaks to an increasingly tense dynamic between overworked, short-staffed restaurants and customers eager to return to normalcy. Anecdotes about confrontations and even violence over mask mandates and aggressive diners have abounded during the pandemic. Elena Kadvany in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

Quality assurance workers at Activision Blizzard subsidiary unionize, a first at a major U.S. gaming company -- A small group of quality assurance workers at an Activision Blizzard-owned game studio have unionized, marking the arrival of the first labor union at a major U.S. gaming company. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Housing   

S.F. fight over affordable housing: Supervisors want voters to back their new plan over Breed’s big push at ballot -- A group of San Francisco supervisors is backing a proposed charter amendment to streamline affordable housing, potentially setting up a battle with Mayor London Breed, who is backing a different plan to make it easier to build homes in the city. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22

Border   

A voice message in a laundromat, and a rebirth across the border. One trans woman’s journey to U.S. soil -- For months, Ceidy Zethare’s life centered on one question — when would she be able to enter what she calls “the big front door” to the United States. Kate Morrissey, Ana Ramirez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Water  

Newsom urges aggressive water conservation and warns of statewide restrictions -- Gov. Gavin Newsom met with leaders of the state’s largest urban water suppliers Monday and implored them to step up efforts to get people to reduce water use as California’s drought continues to worsen. He warned that if conservation efforts don’t improve this summer, the state could be forced to impose mandatory water restrictions throughout the state. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Wildfire  

Man pleads guilty to setting nearly a dozen fires in Northern California forest -- Eric Michael Smith, 41, was arrested in July 2020 after an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service. He was charged with four counts of setting fire to federal land and faces a possible 20-year prison sentence and $1-million fine. Christian Martinez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Education  

Girl with special needs who was molested for months by school bus driver awarded $10 million -- A San Luis Obispo County school district has agreed to pay a 9-year-old special needs student $10 million to settle a lawsuit after she was molested repeatedly by a school bus driver hired despite being convicted on a “peeping Tom” charge. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

How language-rich math can help students learning English -- When Nicole Thompson teaches a math word problem to her fourth grade class in Pajaro Valley Unified, she has the class read it over three times. Zaidee Stavely EdSource -- 5/24/22

Ukraine  

Russian-Speaking Technologists Rebuild Their Lives in a San Francisco Home -- Mr. Doronichev and his housemates are among the hundreds of Russian-speaking technologists working in the Bay Area who are struggling to rebuild their personal and professional lives after the invasion of Ukraine. Some are from Ukraine. Others are from Belarus or Kazakhstan. Still more are from Russia. Cade Metz in the New York Times$ -- 5/24/22

Cannabis  

11 charged in ‘massive’ underground illegal marijuana grow found in Mojave Desert -- After the discovery of a “massive” underground illegal marijuana grow in the far reaches of the Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County authorities charged 11 men and women believed to be behind the operation that used thousands of gallons of water on a daily basis to grow more than $4 million worth of unlicensed marijuana, authorities said Monday, May 23. Quinn Wilson in the San Bernardino Sun$ -- 5/24/22

Climate  

Sforza: Here are the colleges that will compete to make OC ‘world’s sustainability capital’ -- Sustainability Decathlon founders want Orange County to be synonymous with beautiful, functional, affordable, environmentally groundbreaking building innovations. Teri Sforza in the Orange County Register -- 5/24/22

Environment  

Facilities emitting gas in Vernon will remain open during investigation -- District 4 Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn had called for the Sterigenics facilities to be temporarily closed last week. She cited heightened emissions of ethylene oxide that could put people at risk. Hyeyoon Alyssa Choi in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/22

Also . . .   

Bay Area cycling world mourns slaying of rising star Moriah ‘Mo’ Wilson -- The slaying of competitive bicyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, in what Texas authorities called a jealousy-motivated attack, has left her Bay Area friends and cycling community reeling at the eclipse of a racing star who had only begun to wow her sport. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/22