• UCSF Professor of Epidemiology Dr. George Rutherford suggests that everyone should wear masks during today's larger Independence Day events. "In the old days with the original set of variants if you had a case in your household you had about a 20% chance of getting infected, now it's probably close to 50% so it's that much more transmissible," Rutherford explains, adding that in large crowd settings, where people who are unvaccinated are congregating (especially indoors), COVID-19 can spread pretty quickly; by City guidelines, unvaccinated people are still required to wear masks in most public settings. [ABC7/SFDPH]
  • Five people were stabbed in downtown Napa Saturday night. Police say that victims were stabbed and have varying levels of severity of injuries; all were transported to Queen of the Valley Hospital; three victims were released while two remain in the ICU and the stabbings are believed to be gang-related. [KRON4]
  • Unsurprisingly, Austin has seen a massive influx of new residents who left San Francisco for Texas's startup hub. [Chronicle]
  • An East Bay car chase yesterday saw the driver of the fleeing corvette go over 130mph on I-880 before they were eventually were caught inside slower Oakland streets. [KPIX]
  • The Safeway at Church and Markets has moved all its shopping carts inside after 160 carts were stolen in recent weeks. [Hoodline]
  • Just in case you need a reminder: Your fireworks viewing pleasure in San Francisco will be greatly hampered by Karla the Fog. [Chronicle]
  • New cherry blossom trees have been planted in Japantown after many were vandalized earlier this year. [Hoodline]
  • A ship carrying volatile chemicals sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka, killing thousands of marine animals — including over 170 sea turtles. [Mongabay]
  • With 24 now found dead after the Surfside condominium building collapses, hope is starting to fade for the 121 residents still missing from the disaster — and the rest of the building is expected to be demolished as tropical storm Elsa approaches the state. [CNN/CNBC]

Photo: Getty Images/Spondylolithesis