Today’s Headlines: Sacramento police seek multiple gunmen in Sunday’s mass shooting

By Elvia Limón

Hello, it’s Monday, April 4, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Sacramento police seek multiple gunmen in the mass shooting that killed 6

Sacramento police are searching for multiple suspects in a mass shooting in the city’s downtown early Sunday that killed six people and wounded 12 others. Police Chief Katherine Lester said the shooting occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday after a large fight broke out in a popular entertainment district. She said officers heard gunfire and arrived at the scene at 10th and K streets, roughly two blocks northwest of the state Capitol, where they found multiple shooting victims.

The shooting has sparked renewed calls among California officials, city leaders and activists for new legislation that they say could help prevent more bloodshed.

In December, Gov. Gavin Newsom directed the state Legislature and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to develop a policy that would let Californians sue gun manufacturers and distributors of assault weapons and “ghost guns,” which can be assembled at home and have no serial numbers. Since then, lawmakers have proposed at least four related pieces of legislation.

Olivia Rodrigo is named best new artist and Tony Bennett becomes second-oldest Grammy winner

Olivia Rodrigo was named best new artist at the 64th Grammy Awards, punctuating a rapid ascent to pop stardom that began in early 2021 when her song “Drivers License” became an instant cultural phenomenon. The 19-year-old singer was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, making her the second teenager in two years to score nods in the Grammys’ four major categories after Billie Eilish, who was then 18, in 2020.

Meanwhile, at 95, jazz singer Tony Bennett became the second-oldest winner of a Grammy Award. Bennett, together with pop superstar Lady Gaga, won the Grammy for traditional pop vocal album for 2021’s “Love for Sale,” their collection of Cole Porter standards.

Here’s the complete list of 2022 Grammy Award winners.

Olivia Rodrigo accepts the best new artist award onstage during the 64th Grammy Awards.

(Rich Fury / Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

More on the Grammys

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared onscreen to deliver a powerful speech about the war in his home country.
• Here are some of the scenes from the red carpet, premiere ceremony and show.
• Fans of Rodrigo and K-pop sensation BTS had a lot to unpack after V flirted with her at the Grammys during the band’s performance of “Butter.”
• Eilish paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins by wearing a shirt bearing the late Foo Fighters drummer’s likeness at the Grammys.
• Disgraced comedian Louis C.K. won his second Grammy Award for his comedy album “Sincerely Louis C.K.” This was his first major award win since being accused of sexual misconduct in 2017 at the height of the #MeToo movement.

Several countries condemn Russia for alleged civilian executions

Ukrainian forces braced for an intensified Russian onslaught against the eastern Donbas region as officials from Ukraine, the U.S. and other countries condemned Moscow over allegations of civilian executions.

A gruesome cleanup was underway in the northern suburbs of Kyiv, the capital, following the withdrawal of Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers were removing bodies from streets, homes and other sites in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which had been recently occupied by Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of large-scale killings of civilians, alleging that some of the victims’ bodies in Bucha had been found with their hands tied. Russia has reportedly denied the allegations.

How a California lawyer became a focal point of the Jan. 6 investigation

A federal judge’s extraordinary assertion last week that former President Trump probably committed felonies connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection marked a milestone for the House committee investigating the attack. It also underscored the perilous stakes for Trump’s former lawyer, California attorney John Eastman, who has emerged as a key figure in the probe.

Eastman was the architect of the legal theory at the root of Trump’s attempt to overturn the presidential election. Already, Eastman has faced substantial fallout from his increasingly public role as Trump’s attorney, including an abrupt resignation from his position at an Orange County law school and an ethics investigation by the California State Bar.

More politics

• On Tuesday, voters in the Central Valley will cast their ballots in a special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant when Republican Rep. Devin Nunes resigned in January. Here are a few things to know about the race.
• President Biden sent Congress his proposed $813-billion defense budget for the next fiscal year. Once Congress approves the request, U.S. defense spending will be larger in inflation-adjusted dollars than it was at the height of the Vietnam War or President Reagan’s Cold War buildup.

Sign up for our California Politics newsletter to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting and the latest action in Sacramento.

Coronavirus cases are spiking elsewhere. Will L.A. County be spared?

After dramatic declines in coronavirus cases, Los Angeles County has hit another plateau that comes amid the spread of the highly infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant. BA.2 has led to new increases in cases in other areas, from a significant surge in Britain that has resulted in an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, and the apparent beginning of a wave in New York and Massachusetts.

Similar trends have not yet been seen in Los Angeles County or in California overall, and officials can’t say with certainty what will come next. Although it is possible that California could see an echo of what Britain is seeing, some experts have also said that the state’s winter Omicron surge could help provide some protection against a possible BA.2-fueled surge.

More top coronavirus headlines

• In the post-pandemic world, how many people are we willing to let die of COVID-19 each year? You won’t see politicians acknowledge that some deaths are inevitable. But acceptable numbers of deaths are the common currency of public health professionals.
• Now is the time for those at higher risk from COVID-19 to get a second vaccine booster dose, L.A. County’s public health director says.
• COVID-19 cases in Shanghai are still rising with millions isolated at home under a sweeping lockdown, as the draconian “zero tolerance” approach increasingly draws complaints from residents.
• The prevalence of COVID-19 in the U.K. has reached record levels, with about 1 in 13 people estimated to be infected with the virus in the past week.
  

Stay up to date on variant developments, case counts and vaccine news with Coronavirus Today.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

Feral pigs are biological time bombs. Can California stem their ‘exponential’ damage? Across the nation, federal officials estimate that pigs cause between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion worth of damage to agriculture and property every year. California wants to ease the hunting of wild pigs. Evidence suggests that won’t work.

L.A. will shelter more homeless people to end a major lawsuit. But how many? The proposed agreement between the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and the city would require opening enough beds over the next five years to accommodate 60% of the city’s unsheltered population in each City Council district.

California says a $2.6-billion pact can protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta amid the drought. Some disagree. State officials called the deal an important milestone in their efforts to balance the delta’s ecological needs with the water needs of Californians. Environmental advocates and salmon conservationists condemned it as a set of backroom deals negotiated out of the public eye.

CALIFORNIA

‘Superblooms of fungus’: How climate change is making valley fever worse. Valley fever is a fungal infection that is transmitted in dust and it appears now to be spreading outside the arid Southwest. Bouts of extreme precipitation, along with worsening drought and heat, are creating more of the dangerous dust, experts say.

Rick Caruso said no one feels safe in Los Angeles. Here’s what residents say. In more affluent neighborhoods, many residents said they feel safe walking on the streets and that they are thinking of other priorities such as controlling high gas prices and costs of living. In other parts of the city where no mayoral candidates live, more residents said they feel unsafe walking outside.

Conservationists are a step closer to keeping a ‘desert island in the sky’ wild forever. They may seek monument status for Conglomerate Mesa, a remote plateau near Death Valley National Park. That kind of talk was buoyed by a recent victory for the environmental community in the struggling Owens Valley towns straddling U.S. Highway 395 between the eastern Sierra Nevada range and Death Valley.

With crime up and ridership down, the Metro Transportation Authority system struggles to move homeless people off trains. Like libraries and parks, Metro has found itself thrust into the heart of the region’s homeless crisis, forced to become a de facto social services agency of its own.

NATION-WORLD

A Singaporean OnlyFans erotic star faces months in prison for nude photos. Titus Low challenges one of the city-state’s most enduring taboos: sex. Out on bail, Low is facing a maximum of 21 months in prison. His arrest has sparked conversations about sexual expression and LGBTQ rights.

States look for solutions as fentanyl deaths keep rising. In statehouses across the country, lawmakers have been considering and adopting laws on reducing the risk to users and increasing the penalties for dealing fentanyl or mixing it with other drugs. Meanwhile, Republican state attorneys general are calling for more federal action.

Pakistan is in political turmoil as its leader dissolves parliament. The moves by Imran Khan appeared to trigger a constitutional crisis: Pakistan’s Supreme Court must rule on their legality, but it gave no indication when the matter would be settled. In Pakistan, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has just begun.

The Taliban clamps down on drugs and announces a ban on harvesting poppies. The Taliban warned farmers that their crops will be burned and that they can be jailed if they proceed with the harvest. In desperately poor Afghanistan, the ban seems certain to further impoverish its poorest citizens at a time when the country is in an economic free fall.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Of course ‘SNL’ addressed the Slap. Here’s how the show lampooned the Oscars. In the evening’s designed Oscars sketch, Chris Redd, as Will Smith, alternated abruptly between chummy banter with Jerrod Carmichael as a star-struck seat-filler and his verbal and (off-camera) physical attacks on Chris Rock.

Director Lee Daniels publicly apologizes to actor Mo’Nique after their falling out. Mo’Nique will star in Daniels’ upcoming thriller, “Demon House,” which will stream on Netflix. The collaboration ends a years-long fallout between them.

Estelle Harris, ‘Seinfeld’ actress and voice of Mrs. Potato Head, dies at 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation.

Jennifer Egan wants to save literary fiction from itself. The rare writer for whom each book has been an entirely different gambit, Egan has continually worked to stretch what both the novel and the novelist are capable of. She’s written a coming-of-age and a gothic novel.

BUSINESS

Everything you need to know about remote customer service jobs. These jobs generally are not highly paid. Representatives typically earn between $10 and $20 per hour. But they are often extraordinarily flexible. You want to work from home? No problem. You prefer the midnight-until-4 a.m. shift? Completely doable.

SPORTS

After 42 years and a COVID delay, Dodger Stadium readies for an All-Star moment. In 2019, the Dodgers, with the All-Star game in mind, unveiled plans for a $100-million renovation featuring a new center field plaza to be opened in 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak changed everything.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar criticizes LeBron James and says he should be ‘embarrassed.’ He said the criticism was born out of high expectations for James’ activism and how he’s addressed issues of inequality “quite forcefully and eloquently.”

Kentucky regulators recorded calls without consent with trainer Bob Baffert after the Medina Spirit test. According to Clark Brewster, Baffert’s attorney, the KHRC did not disclose the existence of any recording or transcript until after Baffert had his hearing with the stewards, nearly 10 months after the phone calls were recorded.

OPINION

Why won’t University of California clinics serve patients with state-funded health insurance? Millions are insured through Medi-Cal, but UC is limiting their access to medical care.

At my high school, the Holocaust is barely taught in history class. That scares me. My generation is the last that will hear about the Holocaust from survivors like my grandfather. Without their accounts, will the horror fade away?

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

A detail photograph of Chifa x Sweet Saba Jade Candy Necklace.

(Samuel McGuire/Jarod Wang)

Eagle Rock restaurant Chifa has been selling a new, ephemeral “jade” jewelry line made not from metamorphosed minerals but sugar. The green bangles, pendants and bauble-y rings have that signature translucency associated with jade and are so marbled with wisps of white and seafoam they might be confused for the real thing, but they’re entirely edible — cultural touchstone as candy.

The heart-adorned blue-green restaurant serves Chinese, Peruvian and Taiwanese cuisine, a nod to owners and siblings Humberto and Rica Leon’s cultural background and their years of living in Peru.

The limited-run candy jewelry line, which launched for Lunar New Year and replicates the symbolically lucky and protective stone, sold out, but the Leons expects to restock in early April both online and at the restaurant.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Tina Turner and Lionel Richie posing with their Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 1985.

(Iris Schneider / Los Angeles Times)

Tina Turner won big at the Grammys 37 years ago. The singer won the award for record of the year for “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” as well as awards for female pop vocalist and female rock vocal.

Turner, who received a standing ovation for her live rendition of “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” told the audience after receiving her second Grammy: “I’ve been waiting so long for this. . . .” Other key winners included Lionel Richie, Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Phil Collins, Yes and David Bowie.

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