- SF's Japantown, one of only three remaining in the country, is in serious danger of a retail apocalypse. About 80% of the areas shops, centered in three malls, are controlled by a single landlord who appears to be demanding all back rent be paid despite the pandemic, and 10 businesses have closed permanently. [Chronicle]
- SF's move into the "Orange" tier won't come for three weeks, at a minimum, if COVID numbers stay low. SF's metrics qualify for "Orange" status now, but a county can not skip tiers, we were just in the "Purple" for three months, and the county must remain in each tier for at least three weeks, according to state rules. [ABC 7]
- Sonoma County says it is "really close" to moving into the "Red" tier just as it crosses the 300 mark for COVID deaths. [Press-Democrat]
- Contra Costa County hopes to make it to the "Red" tier in two or three weeks. [KRON4]
- Burglars in SF are "getting creative" and some are using blowtorches to help shatter security glass to break into businesses. [KRON4]
- Initial unemployment claims in California fell last week and remained below 100,000 claims for the second straight week, according to federal labor officials. [Mercury News]
- Serial killer and serial rapist Roger Reece Kibbe, a.k.a. the I-5 Strangler, was himself strangled to death in his cell according to an autopsy, in what a longtime investigator calls "fitting justice." [KPIX - CBS SF]
- A 3.2M earthquake rumbled under northern Napa County near Santa Rosa this morning at 7:53 a.m., centered 6km WSW of St. Helena, according to the USGS.
- Groups of residents opposed to a 350-acre solar project on agricultural land in Livermore say they are prepared to go to court over it. [Bay City News]
Photo: Shreyas Shah
