• An alleged spy for the Chinese government was arrested at LAX last week after reportedly stealing medical (presumably COVID-19-related) research from a lab at UCSF. Posing as a private researcher, Xin Wang had joined the lab in late March, but he is actually a major in the People’s Liberation Army and was traveling on a fake visa. [CBS SF]
  • Five teenagers had to be rescued from the waters at Ocean Beach on Thursday afternoon, and two are in critical condition. The rescue follows the death of a swimmer at Ocean Beach last week. [Hoodline]
  • Prosecutors in Santa Cruz County filed murder charges today against the Travis Air Force Base sergeant, Steven Carrillo, accused in last weekend's slaying of a sheriff's deputy in Ben Lomond. He's scheduled to be arraigned on Friday. [Chronicle]
  • Outspoken BART Director Debora Allen is pissing people off once again, defending BART Police and saying it's wrong for people to suggest they've ever murdered anyone. Apparently unaware that her comments might draw ire after the Oscar Grant case 11 years ago, Allen was reacting to public comments that used the word "murder." SF BART Director Janice Li called Allen's comments "vicious, toxic, and racist." [SFGate]
  • Allen's comments came as BART's board voted Thursday not to defund or dismantle its police force. [CBS SF]
  • Activists want Sir Francis Drake's name stripped from Drake's Bay and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Marin County because he was a slave trader. [SFGate]
  • The Lake Merritt Lodge in Oakland will become a COVID-19 homeless shelter. [Berkeleyside]
  • A rally led by youth in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood Wednesday led to a march to Mayor Libby Schaaf's home, demanding "defund the police." [Berkeleyside]
  • Yosemite National Park reopened today to a "small but ecstatic" crowd. [Chronicle]