Bay Area News Group: Half Moon Bay Shooting Labeled 'Workplace Violence,' Suspected Shooter's Dark History Comes To Light
A day after a mass shooting at two mushroom farms shook this seaside community, horrific details began to emerge of farm workers hiding in portable toilets as a suspected gunman with a dark history opened fire, killing seven. Officials said Chunli Zhao, the alleged 66-year-old shooter, lived with his wife in what locals describe as a ramshackle collection of trailers and tent-like structures housing a community of Asian and Latino immigrant workers. Court records suggest he may have been prone to violence, attempting to suffocate and threatening to “split (the) head” of a former roommate. (Kamisher, Toledo, Salonga, Sulek and Rodgers, 1/24)

The New York Times: Half Moon Bay Suspect Was Accused Of Trying To Suffocate A Roommate, Records Show
The suspect in the killing of seven farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, Calif., was in 2013 accused by a roommate of trying to suffocate him with a pillow and threatening to split his head open using a kitchen knife, court documents show. (Secon and Albeck-Ripka, 1/24)

The New York Times: Half Moon Bay Faces A Shattered Sense Of Security After Deadly Shootings 
The coastal community of Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Tuesday was grappling with a shattered sense of safety and normalcy after the shooting deaths of seven people a day earlier, including four at a mushroom farm and three more nearby at an agricultural nursery. “Half Moon Bay is as close to small-town America as we get in the Bay Area,” and feels far from hectic San Francisco and Silicon Valley just to the north, said State Assemblyman Marc Berman, whose district includes Half Moon Bay, in a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon. “When you get here, you feel like you’re a million miles away from all those problems. Yesterday, all those problems came crashing down.” (Karlamangla, 1/24)

Los Angeles Daily News: Gov. Newsom Meets With Brandon Tsay, Man Credited With Disarming Monterey Park Gunman
Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Brandon Tsay, the man credited with disarming the gunman suspected of killing 11 people at a dance hall in Monterey Park, Monday, Jan. 23, at his home in San Marino. “This is what a hero looks like,” the governor wrote in a Twitter post Monday evening. “Brandon did what no one should ever have to do — stopped a gunman at his place of work from killing countless others. Forever grateful for your courage, Brandon.” (1/24)

Fox News: Monterey Park, California, Shooting: More Details Emerge About Suspect Huu Can Tran: 'Didn't Trust People' 
A man who describes himself as a longtime friend of suspected California mass shooter Huu Can Tran has revealed that the 72-year-old offered free lessons at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in search for a new dance partner after divorcing his wife, yet complained that the people there did not like him. (Norman, 1/24)

Orange County Register: Dance Studio Killer Likely Fueled By Hatred Toward Instructors, Says Former Tenant 
Huu Can Tran harbored a deep hatred for instructors at the Star Dance Studio where he killed 11 patrons and wounded nine others Saturday, delusionally believing they were jealous of him, a man who rented a small home from the gunman said Tuesday. “He distrusted people,” said the man, who asked not to be identified because his doesn’t want public exposure. “If something offended him, he would become very angry and hate someone to their guts.” (Schwebke, 1/24)

The Washington Post: A Leader In Gun Control Efforts, California Confronts Its Limits
California’s efforts to reduce gun violence have long been a point of pride among the state’s liberal lawmakers. But a sense of futility and despair infused the response of many political leaders Tuesday in the bitter aftermath of three mass shootings in as many days. At least 19 people have been fatally shot in mass attacks since Saturday evening, when a 72-year-old gunman here opened fire inside a dance studio popular with the elderly Asian American community. Eleven people died in this city on the edge of Los Angeles, and then on Monday, two shootings in the Bay Area killed eight others. (Wilson, Berman and Thebault, 1/24)

The New York Times: After Mass Shootings, Parties Remain Gridlocked Over Gun Control 
The back-to-back mass shootings in California have once again underscored a political reality on Capitol Hill: Even after a pair of massacres that have shaken the country, Congress is unlikely to muster a bipartisan consensus to enact any additional gun control measures in response. At the Capitol this week, as leading Democrats have joined President Biden’s call to impose new limits on access to firearms, Republicans virtually silent. The divergent reactions reflect the gulf between the two parties on the issue, even after they came together last year to push through the first major gun control legislation in decades. (Karni, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Gun Used In Monterey Park Mass Shooting An Assault Weapon 
As familiar as mass shootings have become, the gunman’s choice of weapon in the attack Saturday night that left 11 people dead and nine injured in Monterey Park stands out. Instead of the assault-style rifles that have surfaced in recent high-casualty shootings, authorities say, Huu Can Tran carried a 9-millimeter MAC-10 — a relic by today’s standards — when he walked into a dance hall about 10:20 p.m. and began spraying bullets as frightened patrons ducked for cover. Authorities recovered at least 42 spent shell casings from the scene. (Jany, Queally and Winton, 1/24)

The Mercury News: Report: San Jose Gun Shop Inspections By Police Have Big Holes
A newly released city report found major gaps in police inspections of San Jose’s gun shops, including failures to make required surprise visits and complete follow-up reviews of violators. “We’re seeing a lot of inconsistency” in police department’s inspections, City Auditor Joe Rois said. Key among a host of problems highlighted in the city auditor’s review is evidence of outdated, incomplete or missing paperwork from both inspectors and sellers. (Greschler, 1/24)

The Washington Post: After California Massacres, Asian Americans Shoulder The Grief 
For Asian Americans across the United States, the holiday season was supposed to be about getting together, nurturing bonds, dancing and splurging on festive treats. The merriment ended Saturday night when a gunman entered a beloved ballroom at the heart of the country’s first suburban Chinatown and shot 20 people, killing 11. The nation was still absorbing the horror of the Monterey Park, Calif., massacre when, about 380 miles upstate, another assailant ambushed two mushroom farms in the Half Moon Bay area on Monday, gunning down seven workers, some of Asian descent. (Paquette, Foster-Frau and Venkataramanan, 1/24)

KQED: How To Talk With Kids After A Traumatic Event 
Two mass killings just days apart have left local communities shaken, once again prompting conversations about how to talk with kids about tragedies. A 72-year-old gunman killed 11 people and injured nine others at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, and another gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay and injured another. At one of the sites of the Half Moon Bay shooting, children who lived on the property and also attended school nearby may have seen the attack take place. (Sung, 1/24)

NPR: Mass Shootings Can Be Contagious, Research Shows
Three shootings with multiple victims shook California over the last few days. The shootings Monday at two farms in Half Moon Bay, Calif., closely followed a massacre over the weekend at a dance hall in Monterey Park, Calif. That's no surprise, say scientists who study mass shootings. Research shows that these incidents usually occur in clusters and tend to be contagious. Intensive media coverage seems to drive the contagion, the researchers say. (Chatterjee, 1/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Repeals Controversial COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For City Workers 
San Diego has repealed a controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city workers that had led to multiple lawsuits, the firings of 14 employees and resignations by more than 130 police officers. (Garrick, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: Judge Questions Clarity Of CA Law Targeting COVID Misinformation 
A federal judge said Monday that he couldn’t make sense of a critical provision in a new law that punishes doctors for spreading false information about COVID-19 to their patients. Senior Judge William Shubb called its definition of misinformation “nonsense” during a hearing in the United States District Court in Sacramento. (Hobbs, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Has California Avoided Another Devastating Winter COVID-19 Wave?
In the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, winter holidays were marred by a pair of devastating waves that ripped through California, sending case counts soaring, residents to the hospital in droves and, ultimately, leaving thousands dead. (Money and Lin II, 1/24)

The Desert Sun: East Coachella Valley Farmworkers Get COVID, Flu Vaccines From New Van
Approximately 300 COVID-19 and 100 flu vaccines were set aside for vaccination sites at Tudor Ranch Inc. and Headstart Nursery on Thursday. Those who got a shot in the arm also received a $20 gift card for groceries or gas. Basic check-ups and consultations were available in the "clinic on wheels." (Sasic, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: What To Know About Variants, Vaccines, Antivirals
We’re about to enter the fourth year of the coronavirus in the United States, but there’s still uncertainty ahead. The Sacramento Bee posed several reader questions alongside our own to Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious disease at UC Davis Health. (Truong, 1/24)

CBS News: Long COVID Is Keeping People Out Of Work For Months, Study Finds
Nearly a third of workers' compensation claimants in the state have long COVID, with more men than women suffering from the condition, according to a report from the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), the largest workers' compensation insurer in New York State. (Cerullo, 1/24)

Bloomberg: CDC Chief Rochelle Walensky Shakes Up Agency With New Offices, Leadership
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director is establishing an Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology aimed at closing up crucial gaps in monitoring for potential threats, according to a person familiar with the developments. Walensky is also forming an Office of Health Equity that will report to her team, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing details that aren’t public. (Griffin, 1/24)

The Washington Post: Major Medical Schools Join Widening Revolt Against U.S. News Rankings 
Within the past few days, medical schools at the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia and Stanford universities have declared that they would no longer provide U.S. News with data it uses to rank them. Their actions came after Harvard University’s top-ranked medical school on Jan. 17 announced a similar withdrawal from participation. As a result, four of the top 10 on the U.S. News list of best medical schools for research are on record in opposing the ranking process. (Svrluga and Anderson, 1/24)

Sacramento Business Journal: Skilled Nursing Facilities In Rancho Cordova, West Sacramento Sold 
A group that owns several skilled nursing facilities in Southern California has added to their portfolio in the Sacramento region with two purchases. (van der Meer, 1/24)

Sacramento Business Journal: UC Davis Health Plans Sacramento Utility Plant Expansion
As construction continues on a number of new projects at the University of California Davis’ Sacramento campus, the school is now looking at a possible $200 million expansion of its on-site utility plant to power its new buildings. (Hamann, 1/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Test To Detect Pancreatic Cancer In Early Stages Now In Human Trials 
For more than a decade, Biological Dynamics has been working on technology licensed out of UC San Diego to enable early detection of diseases ranging from cancer to tuberculous to Alzheimer’s. (Freeman, 1/24)

Times of San Diego: San Diego Biotech Working On Sudan Ebolavirus Treatment 
North Carolina-based KBI Biopharma said in a news release that it has entered into a subcontract with Sorrento Valley biotech Mapp Biopharmaceutical to continue developing and manufacturing a monoclonal antibody treatment for Sudan ebolavirus. With the recent outbreak in Uganda, Mapp said that it was contracted by the Department of Health and Human Services, to develop emergency doses of its MBP134 treatment to address the medical crisis. (York, 1/24)

Voice of OC: Orange County To Open Cold Weather Homeless Shelter In Fullerton
Orange County will be getting a winter homeless shelter after all – a couple months into the cold weather season, and after this month’s heavy rainstorms. It comes after an earlier failed attempt to open one in Santa Ana, leaving thousands of homeless people in OC without a place to get out of the cold and rain. Just over 3,000 people were unsheltered in Orange County as of the latest official count one year ago. (Gerda and Elattar, 1/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Should San Diego Charge Homeless People To Use The Bathroom?
San Diego city leaders want the state to lift a nearly 50-year-old ban on pay toilets, which they say could solve a shortage of clean and safe downtown restrooms that repels tourists and puts homeless people’s health at risk. The city could afford to install and operate many more secure and well-lighted restrooms across downtown and in other pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods if it could cover some of its costs by charging each user a nominal fee, leaders say. (Garrick, 1/24)

Voice of OC: Millions Of Californians Are About To Lose COVID Food Benefits; OC Braces For ‘Food Cliff'
Officials at food banks and pantries throughout California are worried about what they say is an incoming wave of residents in desperate need of food when additional federal benefits dry up in a couple months. It comes after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted what many community advocates and groups already knew: the hardest hit populations were already struggling to meet basic needs – rent, medical care and food. (Elattar, 1/25)

AP: No More Nuggets? School Lunch Goes Farm-To-Table — For Some
The food served at the school system outside San Francisco, Mount Diablo Unified, reflects a trend away from mass-produced, reheated meals. Its lunch menus are filled with California-grown fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats and recipes that defy the stereotype of inedible school food. Among American schoolchildren, these students are in the lucky minority. Making fresh meals requires significant investment and, in many areas, an overhaul of how school kitchens have operated for decades. Inflation and supply chain disruptions have only made it harder on school nutrition directors, widening gaps in access to affordable, high-quality food. (Gecker, 1/24)

AP: San Diego Man Gets 13 Years In Teen's Fentanyl Death
A man who sold fentanyl-laced pills that killed a 15-year-old San Diego County boy was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in federal prison. Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap, 21, of San Diego was sentenced for distributing fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills. (1/25)

Los Angeles Times: McCarthy Bans Schiff, Swalwell From Intelligence Committee 
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday blocked fellow California Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell from continuing to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The denial follows through on a pledge by McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) to remove Schiff (D-Burbank) and Swalwell (D-Dublin) from the panel in retaliation for a move by Democrats — and some Republicans — in the last Congress to strip GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona of their committee assignments. (McCaskill, 1/24)

The Hill: These Republicans Will Serve On Panels To Probe COVID-19, ‘Weaponization’ Of Government
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has released the names of the Republicans who will serve on a pair of subcommittees as part of the GOP’s promise to launch investigations into the Biden administration. McCarthy in a tweet Tuesday announced the GOP membership of two select subcommittees on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gans, 1/24)

The Washington Post: House Republicans Eye Social Security, Medicare In Debt Limit Fight
House Republicans have started to weigh a series of legislative proposals targeting Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs, part of a broader campaign to slash federal spending that could force the new majority to grapple with some of the most difficult and delicate issues in American politics. Only weeks after taking control of the chamber, GOP lawmakers under new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have rallied around firm pledges for austerity, insisting their efforts can improve the nation’s fiscal health. They have signaled they are willing to leverage the fight over the debt ceiling — and the threat of a fiscal doomsday — to seek major policy concessions from the Biden administration. (Romm, 1/24)