• The 2020 census proved that California is growing and diversifying — including the City of Berkeley. Over the past decade, Berkeley’s population has grown by 10% and saw the white population shrink by 5% (now presently at 50%), with other minority communities filling that void; the city's Black population, however, dropped some 13% since 2010. [Berkeleyside]
  • Sisters Coffee Shop has officially opened in the Mission District. Today, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence took over the former coffee joint Javalencia Cafe to usher in the new space, which will now serve all the expected coffee and espresso offerings (including some hyperlocal morsels); located on 920 Valencia Street, the shop will remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. [Mission Local]
  • A study published Friday in Science Advances shows the West Coast wildfires have caused thousands of related COVID-19 infections. The findings in the study build on the well-established connection between air pollution and respiratory-tract infections and conditions such as asthma, but it also draws the first statistical link between wildfire smoke and COVID-19 caseloads and deaths [National Geographic]
  • Hawaii recorded its single most infectious day of this fourth wave of COVID-19; Governor David Ige said the state is in "crisis" as hospital overflow rooms are being filled. [KRON4]
  • Local screenwriters Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal — who worked on the Starz series Blindspotting, which takes place in Oakland — are helping foster and bring together a new generation of East Bay film and television writers. [Oaklandside]
  • Dr. Bob Walker, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, wants to remind everyone that we humans don't decide when the pandemic is over, but rather "the pathogen does." [ABC7]
  • A homeless encampment is growing on a property owned by Apple in North San Jose — and it could well soon see the arrival of even more residents, should nothing be done to help these people find stable housing. [Hoodline]
  • Though no Spare the Air alert is expected to be issued over the weekend, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is extending its Air Quality Advisory now through Sunday amid wildfire smoke conditions. [BAAQMD]
  • New York Times opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie struck a chord with readers Friday after writing in today's column that quote "if we want a country that takes solidarity seriously, we will actually have to build one" — which means that should someone skip a COVID-19 vaccine, it's "my damn business." [NYT]

Photo: Getty Images/venusvi