Newsletter: Essential California Week in Review: Parts of the state face flood risk from snowmelt

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, April 8.

Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week

These parts of California face flood risk from snowmelt. After a relentless three months of heavy rain and snow, California is facing yet another environmental threat — sunny skies and balmy weather. While temperatures are expected to hit the 80s in the Central Valley in the coming days, the most significant threat of snowmelt is still weeks away.

More:

• California reservoir goes from almost empty to 100% full. Check out the stunning before and after photos here.
• A flooded California farm town pleaded for weeks for federal aid. It’s finally on the way.

Former President Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts. How strong is the Manhattan D.A.’s case? In a 13-page court filing outlining the New York criminal case against Trump, Manhattan Dist. Atty. Alvin Bragg described a years-long “catch-and-kill scheme” in which Trump and his associates buried negative stories about him by doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money.

On Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ turf, California Gov. Gavin Newsom decries conservative education push. Appearing on DeSantis’ turf, Newsom decried what he called a backward-looking conservative attempt to reshape education in the U.S. — most notably at progressive institutions like New College of Florida.

Another COVID-19 booster shot may be coming. As government officials close the book on the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities are turning their attention to the next chapter of the vaccination campaign. Another booster may be on the way this spring, but it remains to be seen how much of an appetite there will be for more shots in California or the U.S.

Related stories:

• New research finds that in communities where pandemic precautions have been largely abandoned, mask mandates in healthcare settings do little to prevent coronavirus infections among patients.
• Los Angeles County has ended its COVID-19 employee vaccination requirement, allowing workers — including sheriff’s deputies and firefighters — to be hired even if they haven’t gotten a shot.

The Week in Photos

A man was hit in the head with a skateboard at a pro-Donald Trump rally near the pier along Pacific Coast Highway on April 1 in Huntington Beach.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

See the photos behind this week’s biggest stories. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts; California’s projected caregiver shortage by 2030 tops 3 million; and remote work becomes a blue-state privilege.

From ‘Boy Meets World’ to the ballot box. Actor Ben Savage, star of the 1990s network sitcom “Boy Meets World,” is now running for Congress to represent part of Los Angeles County. His campaign is the latest test of how much celebrity matters in American politics.

Why remote work is becoming a blue-state privilege. A return to in-person work might seem like a good thing. But some red-state leaders worry the return-to-work economy will limit their talent pool.

A fight over pay for L.A. hospital execs could hinge on what President Biden makes. An L.A. ballot measure would set the annual limit for healthcare executives at “the total compensation for the President of the United States,” which it lists as “currently $450,000.”

L.A. is blasting classical music to drive unhoused people from a subway station. The transportation authority’s goal with the classical music is “to restore safety” at the MacArthur Park station. The music is divisive, with online commentators calling it an inhumane torture tactic.

UC Riverside ends a controversial research center relationship with Beacon Economics. UC Riverside has shut down its economics research center after some University of California faculty urged an investigation into an arrangement with private consulting firm Beacon Economics to run the center, using what the faculty members described as corporate funding for reports “attacking proposals to improve the lives of working Californians.”

Garment workers in SoCal are paid ‘as little as $1.58 per hour,’ Labor Department says. In a survey of garment-sewing contractors and manufacturers in Southern California, 80% were found to be violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Labor Department said.

Hundreds of ‘undercover’ LAPD officers take a step to sue the city over the release of photos. Several hundred Los Angeles police officers who worked on sensitive assignments filed a government claim against the city for allegedly endangering their lives by releasing their photographs.

How to catch the rare ‘California Henge’ this weekend. Twice a year, photographers chase the sight of the sun rising perfectly between San Francisco streets, a phenomena that’s become known as a “henge” in certain cities. The alignment is expected this weekend.

ICYMI, here are this week’s great reads

Horrifying stories of women chased down by the LAPD abortion squad before Roe vs. Wade. In the 1950s and 1960s, the LAPD’s abortion squad hunted down women getting the procedure and the people performing them.

His family saved a girl from Nazis. That changed this Ukrainian refugee’s ‘destiny.’ During the Holocaust, a Ukrainian family hid a girl from the Nazis. With Ukraine at war decades later, her son and a community of strangers repaid the kindness and sheltered a Ukrainian refugee.

A search for tolerance in the heart of Jewish L.A. reveals fear. The spike in antisemitism and other hate crimes in L.A. is grim, but a Jewish neighborhood in L.A. offers glimmers of hope.

Today’s week-in-review newsletter was curated by Kenya Romero. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to [email protected].