Today’s Headlines: Parents of mass shooting victims are a growing network

By Elvia Limón, Laura Blasey and Amy Hubbard

Hello, it’s Thursday, June 2, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

The ‘Dead Kid Club’: Parents of mass shooting victims are a growing network

Four years and six days before a fourth-grade class was gunned down at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Rhonda Hart lost her teenage daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, in a shooting at a high school about 300 miles east.

She’s a member of a tragic, steadily growing network: parents of children who were killed in mass shootings. “We call it, unofficially, the Dead Kid Club,” she said. So when she heard the news of yet another school shooting in Texas, Hart knew better than most what that will mean for the 19 families now missing young members.

As Uvalde parents grieve, they join a group of those who lost kids to gun violence. The range of emotions immediately after a loved one’s death to gun violence can include “desolate sadness and hopelessness and helplessness and worthlessness that can also take the form of anger and blame and guilt,” experts say.

Defiance, acceptance and cries of ‘bull—’ as sweeping L.A. water restrictions begin

Millions of Angelenos are now looking at a new, more arid future as unprecedented water restrictions have gone into effect across Southern California. The new rules from the Department of Water and Power limit outdoor watering to two days a week in a herculean effort to conserve water in a third year of drought.

For some, the sweeping limitations on outdoor watering felt like déjà vu from the last time the state was in a significant drought. For others, the rules were a frustrating reminder of how little has changed.

While Alfred Gonzalez of Eagle Rock said most of his plants are drought tolerant, he also thought the rules were shortsighted.

“If they really wanted to make a difference, they’d put a moratorium on pools, they’d put a moratorium on almonds, they’d put a moratorium on grapes and they’d put a moratorium on marijuana,” he said. “Then I’ll listen to what they have to say. Then I’ll listen to their bulls—.”

California’s new coronavirus wave is still disrupting lives

A new surge of coronavirus cases is taking shape, as California slogs into a third pandemic summer with far fewer hospitalizations and deaths but still significant disruptions.

There are fewer cases of serious illness than occurred during other waves. Still, officials are deciding how best to respond now that cases are rapidly rising after plunging in the spring.

The extent of infection has prompted some schools, including UCLA, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Berkeley’s K-12 public schools, to reinstitute indoor mask mandates and has reignited concerns that hospitals may soon be asked to care for larger numbers of coronavirus-positive patients.

More top coronavirus headlines

• The Biden administration foresees unnecessary deaths if lawmakers don’t approve billions of dollars more to brace for the COVID-19 pandemic’s next wave.
• Pfizer has asked U.S. regulators to clear its COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children younger than 5.
• A top official at the World Health Organization said the U.N. health agency assumes the coronavirus outbreak in North Korea is “getting worse, not better,” despite the secretive country’s recent claims.

Stay up to date on variant developments, case counts and vaccine news with Coronavirus Today.

Kamala Harris to announce student loan relief for California’s Corinthian Colleges

The Biden administration plans to forgive loans for an estimated 560,000 former students of Corinthian Colleges, a group of for-profit schools that Vice President Kamala Harris helped put out of business when she was attorney general of California, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Harris, who won a judgment of more than $1.2 billion against the Santa Ana-based company for false advertising in 2016, plans to formally announce the loan forgiveness today at the Department of Education. The department will absorb the estimated $5.8-billion cost of the federal outstanding loans.

The administration said it’s the largest single loan discharge made by the department in its history. The debt forgiveness would not apply to private loans.

More politics

• Despite Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s sharp political shift to the right and a series of scandals, L.A. County’s Democratic Party apparatus has shown no signs of mounting a meaningful offensive as the sheriff seeks reelection.
• Can water resource manager Lourin Hubbard beat the favored candidate, Republican Connie Conway, to represent a Central Valley congressional district?

Sign up for our California Politics newsletter to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting and the latest action in Sacramento.

A farm in Ukraine becomes a wartime sanctuary

The Green Grove, a farm and fromagerie in a bucolic corner of the Ukrainian countryside, has become an unexpected sanctuary for an ever-expanding stable of animals displaced by the Russian invasion — and for some of the humans who couldn’t bear to part with them.

With the conflict in Ukraine in its fourth month, residents have seen their lives upended and their homes obliterated in the torturous artillery duels raging over the towns and villages of the Donbas. The exigencies of the war have also forced many to leave their animals behind.

In the open farmlands of the east, that means less the cats, dogs and other pets abandoned in beleaguered major cities such as Kyiv and more the not-so-easily-transported work animals that represent livelihoods if not companionship.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The death of the American lawn? Paul Ramirez, with dog Bandit, waters at his Boyle Heights home. Amid water restrictions and drought, it’ll be a long summer for those squares of green that have defined neighborhoods. Times photographer Mel Melcon set out to capture the state of L.A.’s lawns as summer begins.

CALIFORNIA

Nipsey Hussle’s alleged killer heads to trial. Conviction won’t bring closure to Crenshaw. Eric Holder is about to stand trial in the killing of beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle. But the Crenshaw community that loves him focuses on his legacy.

The space shuttle Endeavour is getting its own grand museum in L.A. In a milestone, the Los Angeles home of the retired space shuttle was set to break ground on a permanent museum, which ultimately envisions the spacecraft displayed as if ready for launch. Once complete, the exhibit will be what’s believed to be the tallest vertical authentic spacecraft display in the world.

After 20 years in prison, a man is found innocent of murder. Alexander Torres was convicted on shaky evidence after a New Year’s Eve shooting in 2000. Now the 42-year-old has been cleared. In April, a judge found Torres factually innocent, concluding that a series of missteps had led to his arrest and wrongful conviction.

Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana was closed for two days after a credible threat. Sgt. Maria Lopez, a Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson, said officers went to the campus and determined there didn’t appear to be a threat of a shooting. All offices on campus will reopen Thursday with additional security personnel and safety protocols.

L.A. mayor’s official struck and killed a pedestrian on the 170 Freeway, a spokesman says. The pedestrian, who has not been identified, was declared dead at the scene. Video from the scene showed a damaged vehicle as well as a tent placed over the body in the carpool lane of the northbound 170 Freeway in North Hollywood.

NATION-WORLD

Four people were killed in a shooting at a Tulsa medical building, Oklahoma police say. It was unclear how the shooter died or what prompted the deadly assault. In addition to those killed, police said that multiple people were wounded and that the medical complex was a “catastrophic scene.”

Vice President Harris has unveiled a White House plan to tackle water scarcity as a national security priority. Harris unveiled a first-ever plan pledging U.S. leadership in efforts to ensure there is enough water to support food supplies and healthcare systems as conflicts over water are becoming more common across the globe amid climate change.

A Supreme Court order could affect the Pennsylvania Senate count. The nation’s high court temporarily blocked the counting of some mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, an order that could affect the tight Republican Senate primary race between former hedge fund chief executive David McCormick and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Long in Queen Elizabeth II’s shadow, Prince Charles takes a greater public role. The subtle transition illustrates the challenges confronting the royal family as the 96-year-old queen remains on the throne but Charles becomes the ever more public face of the monarchy.

John Hinckley to get full freedom 41 years after shooting President Reagan. Hinckley is “no longer a danger to himself or others” and will be freed from all restrictions this month, a federal judge said, capping Hinckley’s four-decade journey through the legal and mental health systems.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Johnny Depp has triumphed in a defamation case against Amber Heard with a $15-million decision. Depp won his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, a Virginia jury decided, with cheers going up outside the courtroom from the crowd of Depp supporters. The turbulent defamation trial saw Depp and Heard trade disturbing allegations against a background of fervent fans trading conspiracy theories on social media.

It’s always Pride on the Old Gays TikTok. Whether they’re re-creating an iconic Christmas “Mean Girls” dance, regaling viewers with tales from their past or, yes, dancing along to Lizzo’s latest bop, this foursome with a 7-million-strong fandom is pushing back against rigid gender norms. The Old Gays are showing their fans what it means to age gracefully in their own way.

‘About Oscar night’: Jada Pinkett Smith hopes Will Smith and Chris Rock can ‘heal.’ Jada Pinkett Smith welcomed members of the alopecia community to her Facebook Watch series “Red Table Talk” after that Oscars moment sparked fervent discussions about the hair-loss condition she suffers from.

BUSINESS

Sheryl Sandberg, the longtime chief operating officer at Facebook, has stepped down. The No. 2 exec at Facebook owner Meta announced the news in a post on her Facebook page. Sandberg has served as chief operating officer at the social media giant for 14 years.

Elon Musk told Tesla workers to return to the office or lose their jobs. The world’s richest man has had it with this whole working-from-home business. Musk sent an email late Tuesday to “Everybody” at his electric-car company, elaborating on an earlier missive to executive staff and saying he expected a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week.

No retirement plan at work? Your boss may have to sign up for CalSavers soon. By June 30, all businesses and nonprofits with five or more employees in the state must either offer their adult workers a “qualified” retirement plan (such as a pension with defined benefits or a 401[k] plan) or sign up for the state-run program. Here’s what you need to know.

OPINION

California should back a program to prevent homelessness, not just react to it. Latinos represent a growing share of California’s unhoused population. Their plight shows potential for Assembly Bill 2817, a measure to address housing costs.

Don’t expect teachers to be substitute police officers when the shooting starts. Texas Republicans’ solution to the Uvalde massacre is guns for teachers. Just because police didn’t do their job doesn’t mean teachers should have to do it for them.

SPORTS

Aaron Donald would be ‘at peace’ if his career ended over his contract with the Rams. The Rams and Donald’s agents are attempting to work out a new contract. Donald, 31, has three years left on the $135-million extension he signed in 2018, but the Rams acknowledge that he has outperformed the deal.

UCLA softball’s Maya Brady rallies past a sophomore slump to the World Series. High expectations have followed Brady for much of her athletic career. Her uncle Tom has won seven Super Bowls, and her mother Maureen was a star pitcher who led Fresno State to two World Series appearances.

Podcast: The pickleball pickle. Pickeball has been gaining popularity across the country. Its enemy No. 1: NIMBYs who would like some peace and quiet, please.

ONLY IN L.A.

What’s in an abbreviation? A lot, apparently. In the latest entry in The Times’ series on questions about California, Rachel Schnalzer addresses whether Californians dislike it when California is called “Cali.”

The diminutive “Cali” is one of the most commonly used substitutions for the polysyllabic state name.

As for whether Californians dislike the term, well, the answer is as diverse as California itself. Some bristle at the sound and consider it “tourist” talk; others have used it their entire lives without a thought. But perhaps a better question is where the term came from in the first place.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Circa 1953: The Times reported on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

(Associated Press)

Sixty-nine years ago today, on June 2, 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, age 27, was held in London’s Westminster Abbey. The Times reported the next day: “Elizabeth II ascended the throne of her ancestors in Westminster Abbey today and, with an aureole of golden light gleaming on her hair, received the crown of a sovereign Queen. Her little son, Prince Charles, 4-year-old heir to the throne, watched with wondering eyes as the ritual reached this climax.” A full page of articles included the headlines “Duke Kneels Humbly Before Crowned Wife” and “Gold Chariot Carries Queen Into Fairyland.”

One article focused on the young queen’s emotional state: “[B]etween acts — in the privacy of the Abbey annex where only her intimate friends and courtiers could see her,” Elizabeth looked “lonely,” as though she were “carrying a burden too heavy to bear. Her fragile features were pale. She gulped nervously once or twice as she passed through a crowd of nobility to join the procession leading her to the coronation chair — and the crown.”

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