- Expect the wind to pickup Friday night and some light rain to arrive in the overnight hours through much of Saturday. This late-season rain should clear out from SF by Saturday evening. [Chronicle]
- The World Health Organization on Friday declared that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the pandemic, three years on. Even so, the WHO said that the pandemic wasn't technically over, noting recent spikes in cases in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. [Associated Press]
- The body of an Oakland man, Eric Gregory, who was last seen near a Home Depot in December 2021, has been identified. Gregory had been considered missing for the last 18 months, and his body was found stuffed in a barrel near a dead end on Cull Canyon Road in Castro Valley on April 10. [KTVU]
- ProPublica has a new investigative piece revealing yet more undisclosed gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow to Clarence Thomas's family. Crow apparently paid tuition for Thomas's grand-nephew, whom Thoas was raising as a son, at two boarding schools over a decade ago. [ProPublica]
- The Oakland teachers' strike has entered its second day, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has offered to step in to help mediate. [East Bay Times]
- A planned Cinco de Mayo march in downtown San Jose has led Caltrans to preemptively shut down multiple freeway off-ramps from 101 and 280. [Bay Area News Group]
- One police officer in the troubled Antioch Police Department, Officer Matthew Nutt, has been fired after bodycam footage showed him using unnecessary force during a routine traffic stop. [NBC Bay Area]
- Warriors fan Christian Gamboa, who went viral after Game 7 for his enthusiasm cheering on the team on camera, was gifted a pair of Steph Curry's game-worn shoes from Game 2 against the Lakers on Thursday night. [NBC Bay Area]
Photo: Jay Barmann/SFist
