Sacramento Bee: Gov Gavin Newsom Rips ‘Extremist’ Judges Over Gun Decisions
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday lambasted two federal judges who he says are a threat to the state’s strict gun control laws. ... “The only thing that can stop (California’s gun control laws) by the way are these extremist judges, which is an issue. You can ask Judge (Roger) Benitez about how he’s feeling about these last 10 days. Ask Judge (Ryan) Nelson how he’s feeling. Specifically Judge Nelson." Benitez is a federal judge, appointed by President George W. Bush in the Southern District of California. Nelson is a circuit court judge, appointed by President Donald Trump, for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. (Sheeler, 5/25)

AP: Angry Newsom Criticizes Texas Governor, US Judges On Guns 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday harshly criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the wake of an elementary school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead and assailed two federal judges as “extremists” for their rulings undermining California’s gun control efforts. Shortly before Newsom held a news conference to tout his legislative efforts to strengthen gun laws in California, Abbott spoke about Tuesday’s carnage in Uvalde, Texas, and said the gunman “has to have evil in his heart.” Abbott talked about the mental health struggles of many in his state while calling out tough gun laws in California as ineffective. (Beam and Thompson, 5/25)

Southern California News Group: In Aftermath Of Another School Shooting, Experts Urge Focus On Mental Health
In the aftermath of the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, national safety experts said the way to make campuses safer was not just bulletproof doors, active shooter drills or security cameras, but better mental health treatment to keep troubled people from becoming killers. Experts note that most shooters broadcast their deadly intentions on social media or through communications to friends and family before their violent sprees. The key is to stop them and get them help — not to initiate another debate on gun laws or arming teachers. (Saavedra and Antonios, 5/26)

The Mercury News: California Laws Would Have Ensnared Texas School Gunman
With the nation reeling over another school-shooting massacre, the fierce debate over guns in America is again pointing to the strikingly different paths of California and Texas. Texas recently eased gun laws that already were among the nation’s loosest. California, which has the country’s toughest gun laws, is poised to pile on even more. While Texas last year declared itself a Second Amendment “sanctuary state,” California is pursuing a bill that would would subject gun makers to lawsuits over weapons banned by the state. (Woolfolk, 5/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gun Sales To Texas Shooter Would Have Been Illegal In California — But Those Laws Could Be In Jeopardy
The rifles an 18-year-old used to kill 19 schoolchildren and a teacher in Texas could not have been legally sold to him in California, which has some of the nation's strongest gun-control laws. But the future of those laws is in question in the courts — particularly the U.S. Supreme Court. The gun laws can be traced to a mass shooting in San Francisco in July 1993, when a gunman entered a law office at 101 California St., killed eight people and wounded six before taking his own life. (Egelko, 5/25)

Bay Area News Group: At One-Year Anniversary Of VTA Shooting, Families See Little Accountability
Before a wrecking crew destroyed the building where a gunman killed her husband, Annette Romo left her home in Tracy searching for some closure. But when she stepped into the VTA rail yard and entered Building B, she didn’t find comfort in the vacant space illuminated by construction lights where Timothy Romo was murdered. Instead, she was plagued by unanswered questions. “How could they have let it happen?” Romo said recounting her thoughts. “We need peace of mind, somehow, someway.” (Kamisher, 5/25)

East Bay Times: COVID-19 Cases Hit Levels Of Past Summer Surges In California
Consider this California’s first coronavirus surge of the endemic era. Even with the rise in home tests that don’t make it into official statistics, the state is now reporting more confirmed cases per day than it did at the peak of the summer 2020 surge, and is closing in on summer 2021 surge levels. (Johnson, 5/25)

Sacramento Bee: COVID-19 Cases Rise In California With New Variants
COVID-19 cases in California are continuing to tick up as residents socialize with friends, head back into the office and travel for vacation, new state data released this week show. Deaths remain relatively low despite the recent wave of infections, with the official death toll standing at 90,488 as of Tuesday, according to California Department of Public Health data, up 106 new deaths since Friday. (Yoon-Hendricks, 5/25)

Bay Area News Group: Omicron Sub-Variants BA.4 And BA.5 Found In Santa Clara County's Wastewater As Cases Continue To Climb
Two highly contagious omicron subvariants that recently swept through South Africa and sparked a rapid rise in coronavirus cases in that country have been detected in Santa Clara County’s wastewater systems, according to public health officials. Health experts say the newly discovered subvariants — BA. 4 and BA.5 — are more transmissible than the nation’s current dominant variants — BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 — and have so far evaded immunity protection. This month, the European Centers for Disease Control recently classified the two strains as “variants of concern.” (Greschler, 5/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Summer Vacations In A COVID Surge: Here’s How To Manage The Risks Of Traveling
With Memorial Day approaching and many people in the Bay Area ramping up plans for summer travel, COVID continues to pose a threat, with highly transmissible omicron variants driving the latest surge. As of Wednesday, the U.S. had a coronavirus case rate of 33 new daily cases per 100,000 people, on par with the height of the delta surge late last summer. Hospitalizations are up 30% over the past 14 days, though still well below the winter peak. (Hwang, 5/26)

USA Today: Rebound COVID After Paxlovid Calls For 5 Days Isolation, CDC Says
People who test positive for COVID-19 again after taking the drug Paxlovid should isolate for another five days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. There's a chance they might be contagious if they have this rebound effect, said the CDC's Dr. Lauri Hicks. This is the first time the CDC has issued guidance on what people should do if they test positive again a few days after testing negative for COVID-19. Although the guidance is specific to those taking Paxlovid, Hicks, chief medical officer of CDC's COVID-19 response, said anyone who tests positive or feels poorly again should stay away from others. (Weintraub, 5/25)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccines May Not Prevent Many Symptoms Of Long Covid, Study Suggests
A large U.S. study looking at whether vaccination protects against long covid showed the shots have only a slight protective effect: Being vaccinated appeared to reduce the risk of lung and blood clot disorders, but did little to protect against most other symptoms. The new paper, published Wednesday in Nature Medicine, is part of a series of studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the impact of the coronavirus, and was based on 33,940 people who experienced breakthrough infections after vaccination. (Cha, 5/25)

AP: Long COVID Affects More Older Adults; Shots Don't Prevent It 
New U.S. research on long COVID-19 provides fresh evidence that it can happen even after breakthrough infections in vaccinated people, and that older adults face higher risks for the long-term effects. In a study of veterans published Wednesday, about one-third who had breakthrough infections showed signs of long COVID. (Tanner, 5/25)

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Moves To Make COVID Antiviral Drug More Available
The White House announced more steps Thursday to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the U.S. as it projects that COVID-19 infections will continue to spread over the summer travel season. The nation’s first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening Thursday in Rhode Island, providing patients with immediate access to the drug if they test positive for the coronavirus. More federally supported sites are set to open in the coming weeks in Massachusetts and New York City, both hit by a marked rise in infections. (Miller, 5/26)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Health Officials On The Lookout For Monkeypox, Though Little Risk Of COVID-Like Spread
Local public health officials this week urged pandemic-weary Sonoma County residents and health care professionals to be on the lookout for signs of Monkeypox, a rare disease that is currently being detected in small numbers in countries where it is not typically found, including Europe, Canada and the United States. But infectious disease experts stressed the need for perspective, pointing out that unlike SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the Monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted, is being reported in very small numbers and does not have the potential to become a pandemic. (Espinoza, 5/25)

Los Angeles Times: Sex, Rashes And Outbreaks: A Rational Guide To The Monkeypox Risk In California
Monkeypox is nowhere near as contagious as COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses. Among humans, it can be transmitted through sustained skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an active rash, McQuiston said. It’s also plausible that it can be transmitted through respiratory droplets among those with lesions in their mouth and throat who are around another person for an extended period of time. But spread of monkeypox through the air is not thought to be a major source of transmission. (Lin II and Money, 5/25)

CapRadio: Monkeypox Isn't Like COVID-19 — And That's A Good Thing
The recent headlines about a sudden emergence of an unusual disease, spreading case by case across countries and continents may, for some, evoke memories of early 2020. But monkeypox is no COVID-19 — in a good way. Health officials worldwide have turned their attention to a new outbreak of monkeypox, a virus normally found in central and west Africa that has appeared across Europe and the U.S. in recent weeks — even in people who have not traveled to Africa at all. (Sullivan and Doucleff, 5/25)

CNBC: Covid And Monkeypox: CEPI Chief Outlines The Disease Differences
The sudden emergence of monkeypox in several countries around the world represents a concerning outbreak, the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations told CNBC on Thursday, but the virus does not represent the same kind of global threat as Covid-19. His comments come as international health authorities investigate the atypical spread of monkeypox, a rare viral disease typically confined to remote parts of Central and West Africa. “This is the first time that we have gathered again in Davos since the 2020 meeting and we find ourselves facing another dangerous disease threat,” CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (Meredith, 5/26)

The Washington Post: CDC Monkeypox Warning Urges ‘Enhanced Precautions’ For Travel 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a monkeypox alert to travelers after cases were reported in North America, Europe and Australia. The Level 2 alert urged people traveling to “Practice Enhanced Precautions,” though the agency said the risk is low for the general public. Confirmed cases of the rare disease have been found in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, England, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Israel. (Diller, 5/25)

Bloomberg: Monkeypox Latest: Roche Develops Tests To Help Scientists Track Cases
Roche Holding AG has developed three PCR test kits to help scientists trace the monkeypox virus, adding another diagnostic tool as public health authorities seek to contain the outbreak. One of the kits screens for monkeypox only, while two of them can detect other orthopoxviruses, a genus of viruses that includes smallpox as well as monkeypox. The tests will aid in tracing spread and will be available in most countries, Roche said in a statement on Wednesday. (Kresge, 5/25)

CIDRAP: Antiviral Drug May Limit Monkeypox Symptom Duration, Infectiousness 
A study on the use of antivirals in seven monkeypox patients in the United Kingdom suggests that the smallpox drug tecovirimat could shorten symptoms and contagiousness. ... The authors cautioned that the sample size was very small but said the need for monkeypox treatments is urgent. (Van Beusekom, 5/25)

Stat: Experts: Warning Signs Ahead Of Monkeypox Outbreak Went Unheeded
Monkeypox appears to have exploded out of nowhere in the past two weeks, spreading across Europe, the Americas, and other regions. But warning signs appear to have gone unheeded. An unusual and long-running outbreak in Nigeria should have served as notice that it was only a matter of time before this orthopoxvirus pushed its way to the center of the infectious diseases stage, experts say. (Branswell, 5/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Scientists, Mystified By Monkeypox Outbreak, Are Sequencing Genes To Learn About Origin
Disease detectives are uncovering clues to the origins of a monkeypox outbreak that has sickened more than 200 people, including the possibility that the cases lead back to a single infection. Researchers in countries including Portugal, Germany, Belgium and the U.S. have sequenced samples from confirmed cases and shared their findings online. Researchers from Portugal’s National Institute of Health said in a post on a virology research-sharing forum that similarities between the viral genomes from 10 cases detected there and one from a patient in the U.S. appear to suggest that the outbreak had a single origin. Philippe Selhorst, a medical virologist at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, said that a case sequenced there, who had recently travelled from Lisbon, was genetically linked to the Portugal cases. (Roland and Butini, 5/25)

AP: Jill Biden, Murthy Welcome 2nd Mass Delivery Of Baby Formula
Jill Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy welcomed the delivery Wednesday of a second shipment of tens of thousands of pounds of baby formula that the Biden administration is importing from Europe to ease critical supply shortages in the U.S. The first lady and the nation’s doctor each sought to empathize with anxious parents nationwide who have been scrambling to find enough formula for their children. ... More deliveries are scheduled to arrive soon. The administration has cut the timeframe for deliveries to three days, down from up to four weeks, Murthy said.

The New York Times: F.D.A. Chief Details ‘Shocking’ Conditions At Baby Formula Plant 
The Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan that was shut down in February, sparking a widespread baby formula shortage crisis, had a leaking roof, water pooled on the floor and cracks in key production equipment that allowed bacteria to get in and persist, Dr. Robert Califf, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, told a House panel on Wednesday. He detailed “egregiously unsanitary” conditions in the Sturgis, Mich., plant to lawmakers during a hearing, but he also acknowledged that his agency’s response was too slow in addressing problems at the plant. (Jewett and Bogel-Burroughs, 5/25)

Politico: Abbott, FDA Offer Conflicting Timelines For Reopening Shuttered Infant Formula Plant 
A senior official from the company at the center of the country’s infant formula shortages told lawmakers on Wednesday it can restart its now-shuttered plant as early as next week, disputing a timeline laid out just hours before by the head of the FDA. Christopher Calamari, who leads Abbott’s U.S. and Canada nutrition division, told lawmakers in sworn testimony Wednesday that the company hopes to reopen its now-shuttered plant in Sturgis, Mich. “the first week of June,” pending FDA approval. ... But FDA Commissioner Robert Califf testified earlier in the day that the plant is still “several weeks” away from reopening, and suggested it could be further delayed if Abbott doesn’t meet certain requirements. (Lee, 5/25)

USA Today: Baby Formula Shortage: FDA Chief Califf Admits Agency Was 'Too Slow'
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf admitted Wednesday that the agency has been "too slow" in responding to the baby formula shortage, a crisis that has hospitalized malnourished infants, emptied store shelves, and driven desperate parents from store to store and across state lines in search of food for their babies. Califf and other FDA officials were excoriated as they testified before a frustrated panel of lawmakers on the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Democrats and Republicans were equally determined to get answers and prevent the shortage from happening again, they said. "Babies and children are suffering," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said in her opening remarks as chair of the committee. (Woodall, 5/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Sharp Healthcare To Launch $2 Billion, 10-Year Building Program 
Sharp HealthCare, the largest medical provider in the region, will kick off a decade-long, $2 billion investment in its medical facilities throughout the region Thursday when workers break ground on a new emergency and trauma expansion at Sharp Memorial Hospital in the San Diego neighborhood of Serra Mesa. (Sisson, 5/26)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Supervisors Back State Plan For Court-Ordered Psychiatric Care 
San Diego County on Tuesday backed a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to develop court-ordered treatment plans for people with schizophrenia or other psychotic illnesses. The state plan, called CARE Court, was introduced to the California Senate in February as the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act, SB 1338. It would authorize courts to create plans for behavioral health care for people with psychotic disorders who lack medical decision-making capacity. (Brennan, 5/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Records 10th Jail Death This Year 
A 64-year-old man in San Diego County jail was found dead early Wednesday morning, the Sheriff’s Department announced, extending what has become the deadliest spate of in-custody fatalities in decades. Staff at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown San Diego found the unidentified man unconscious and alone in his seventh floor cell just after midnight, officials said. They tried but were unable to revive him, officials said. (McDonald, 5/25)

Los Angeles Times: Mold, Plumbing Problems Persist At South L.A. Apartment Complex As City Pledges Action
Problems with mold and vermin, broken tubs and showers and other slum-like conditions continue to mount at a massive South Los Angeles apartment complex even as politicians, housing and public health officials are pledging to hold the landlord accountable. City and county inspectors are planning to reassess all 425 units at Chesapeake Apartments in early June, following a Times story in April that revealed widespread tenant complaints and public health violations, including leaking sewage and gas and electrical failures. (Dillon and Smith, 5/25)

The Bakersfield Californian: Houchin Plans New Blood Donation Center In Northeast Bakersfield 
Blood donors in northeast Bakersfield soon won't have quite so far to drive when they're ready to bleed for a good cause. Houchin Community Blood Bank expects to open a new donation center in late June or early July near Highway 178 and Oswell Street in the same shopping center as Red Pepper Restaurant. (5/25)

The Washington Post: Block-By-Block Data Shows Pollution’s Stark Toll On People Of Color
Finding the most polluted places in the San Francisco Bay area is simple, a new air quality analysis shows: Locate places where mostly Black, Latino, Asian and low-income residents live, and pay them a visit. The data released Tuesday by Aclima — a California-based tech company that measured the region’s air quality block-by-block for the first time — found that communities of color are exposed to 55 percent more nitrogen dioxide, which contributes to smog, than mostly White communities. (Fears, 5/25)

Los Angeles Times: Report: Racial Disparities Persist For Disabled Youth
Racial and ethnic gaps in spending on services for California children and teens with developmental disabilities have persisted, despite California investing tens of millions of dollars in efforts to address such disparities, a new report has found. The report, released Wednesday by the legal advocacy group Public Counsel, found that at most of the California regional centers, which assist developmentally disabled people across the state, spending inequities had worsened for Latino youth during the last budget year. Even as that gap narrowed statewide, it was widening at many individual centers. (Alpert Reyes, 5/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: With Baby Boomers Aging, One San Diego Nonprofit Has A Plan To Meet Their Needs 
Staying active and being part of a community are vital for seniors to maintain physical and mental health, and advocates say one of the best ways for older adults to maintain their independence is by being connected to a local senior center. In its inaugural study and master plan for the region, the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation is proposing ways the region’s senior centers can be improved. With the continuing retirements of aging Baby Boomers, the need for senior support services will rise significantly over the next decade. (Mapp, 5/26)

Los Angeles Times: TikTok And Instagram Algorithms Are Scaring Pregnant People
When Adriana Lopez found out that she was pregnant, one of the first places she turned was TikTok. Immediately, she began to search for posts about morning sickness and other side effects, Lopez recalls. This was the Stockton resident’s first pregnancy, and she wanted to be prepared. (Contreras, 5/25)