A German shepherd-husky dog has evaded capture for nearly two months after being rescued from a California shelter and running away from her adoptive home in Alaska.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says it will retest 4,000 DNA samples and open an internal investigation after learning that it used potentially flawed test kits for eight months.

The district attorney of Los Angeles says he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Los Angeles County says it is suing Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked January’s Eaton Fire, which destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 17 people in the Altadena area.

The Los Angeles district attorney says he not yet decided whether to recommend resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez.

When disaster strikes, government emergency alert systems offer a simple promise: Residents will get information about nearby dangers and instructions to help them stay safe.

Rain that began falling in parched Southern California will aid firefighters mopping up multiple wildfires.

A new sentencing hearing for brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez in the killing of their parents has been delayed for nearly two months because of Southern California’s wildfires.

Firefighters scrambled to make further progress against wildfires that have killed at least 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week.

The wildfires tearing through Los Angeles have taken lives and thousands of homes.

The new Los Angeles County district attorney has met with the Menendez brothers’ family as he continues to review the brothers' bid for freedom 35 years after they were convicted of killing their parents.

The aging computer dispatch system for the nation's largest sheriff's department remains out of commission.

Los Angeles County is taking on Pepsi and Coke for their role in plastic pollution.

It’s always hot this time of year in central Arizona, but 2024's endless summer has been especially hot in Phoenix.

Can tech help solve Southern California's homeless crisis.

Big new wildfires are challenging California firefighters even as they increase containment of earlier blazes that erupted as dry winds arrived last weekend.

Up to one-third of the 12,000 inmates in Los Angeles County jails can’t get to their court appearances because of a shortage of functioning buses.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has advanced to a runoff in his reelection bid.

California's Legislative Black Caucus is pushing for lawmakers to pass a package of more than a dozen reparations proposals.

Los Angeles County’s annual count of homeless residents is under way.

The man charged with murder in the ambush killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

A man has been arrested in the ambush killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was shot as he sat in a patrol car.

A landslide that has destroyed homes in a Southern California community appears to have slowed but more homes have been evacuated.

Leaders of a Southern California city hit by a destructive landslide are planning to vote on a resolution to declare a local emergency.

A landslide is tearing apart luxury homes on Southern California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year.

A California man who spent 33 years in prison for attempted murder has been declared innocent.

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. rose slightly in 2022.

California's coronavirus emergency declaration is ending.

Los Angeles authorities have given a little girl a license to own a unicorn — if she can find one.

Authorities have released from custody a young man who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer after the SUV he was driving veered into the wrong lane and crashed into Los Angeles County law enforcement recruits on a training run, injuring 25.

Authorities have arrested a 22-year-old driver on suspicion of attempted murder after he veered into the wrong lane and struck Los Angeles County sheriff’s academy recruits on a training run.

Authorities say 25 Los Angeles County sheriff’s academy recruits on a training run were hit by a vehicle that veered onto the wrong side of the road Wednesday morning, and five were critically injured.

Prosecutors say two Los Angeles County deputies won’t face criminal charges for fatally shooting a Black man they tried to stop for riding a bicycle the wrong direction.

A Los Angeles judge has declared a mistrial and dismissed grand theft charges against a former business manager of Marvel Comics mastermind Stan Lee.

The founder and CEO of a software company targeted by election deniers was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing data on hundreds of Los Angeles County poll workers.

The founder and CEO of a software company targeted by election deniers has been arrested on suspicion of stealing personal identifying information on hundreds of Los Angeles County poll workers.

Some firefighters battling a Southern California blaze are being pulled back to rest after seven were sent to the hospital in the midst of a grueling heat wave.

A federal jury has found that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them.

Los Angeles County has dropped a plan to impose a universal indoor mask mandate this week as COVID-19 infections and rates of hospitalizations have stabilized.

Metro Phoenix’s Maricopa County had among the biggest growth in white, Black and Hispanic residents last year, as well as the biggest increase overall of any U.S. county.

The Los Angeles County sheriff disputed allegations he orchestrated the cover-up of an incident where a deputy knelt on a handcuffed inmate’s head for more than three minutes.

A new report shows that nearly 2,000 homeless people died in Los Angeles County during the first year of the pandemic, an increase of 56% from the previous year, driven mainly by drug overdoses.

California workplace regulators have extended mandatory pay for workers affected by the coronavirus through the end of 2022.

California's unemployment rate has fallen to 5.4% after employers added a surprising 138,100 jobs in February.

A Los Angeles audit finds that a $1.2 billion program intended to quickly build housing for the city's homeless residents is moving too slowly, and costs are climbing.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti thought it was nuts to host a NASCAR race inside the Coliseum the first time he heard the idea.

A federal appeals court has found that two California counties violated the Constitution’s right to bear arms when they shut down gun and ammunition stores in 2020 as nonessential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawyers for Los Angeles County failed in their bid to persuade a federal judge to end Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, her daughter Gianna and seven others.

A year after New Year’s Day passed without a Rose Parade due to the coronavirus pandemic, the floral spectacle celebrating the arrival of 2022 marched on despite a new surge of infections.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he won’t comply with a mandate requiring deputies be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face termination.

The proportion of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations among vaccinated Pennsylvania residents has risen sharply in the past month, although the shots remain broadly protective.

The California recall election was a blowout win for Gov. Gavin Newsom that reinforced the state’s political divisions.

Los Angeles County’s board of supervisors voted unanimously on Wednesday to phase out oil and gas drilling and ban new drill sites in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will miss the rest of the season.

Police have presented to prosecutors their investigation of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer.

Federal health regulators have again extended the expiration dates on Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine by another six weeks.

South Korea’s prime minister has offered a public apology over a large-scale coronavirus outbreak on a destroyer on an anti-piracy mission off East Africa.

Los Angeles County’s public health officer says a rapid and sustained increase in COVID-19 cases in the nation’s largest county requires a return to mandatory mask-wearing indoors even when people are vaccinated.

Los Angeles County is reporting the fifth straight day of more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases.

A Los Angeles County firefighter appeared to have a longstanding job-related dispute with the co-worker he shot and killed at their small fire station this week.

Authorities say an off-duty Los Angeles County firefighter fatally shot a fellow firefighter and wounded another at their fire station before going to his nearby home, setting it on fire and apparently killing himself.

Court documents say two Los Angeles County firefighters could be fired and a third suspended after some first responders took and shared graphic photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and seven others.

Los Angeles and San Francisco have met state guidelines to move into the least-restrictive tier for businesses to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sports, theater and music fans will be able to take their seats again in California as the state’s coronavirus cases plunge and vaccinations jump.

Police march toward demonstrators in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles Thursday, March 25, 2021. Demonstrators gathered Wednesday night to protest the planned temporary closure of a Los Angeles park that would displace a large homeless encampment, which has grown throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Ramirez, who said she has lived at parks in Los Angeles and in neighboring Orange County, said she moved in days earlier. A January 2020 count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported that there were more than 66,400 homeless people living in Los Angeles County — by far the largest single concentration in the state. AdThat included more than 41,000 people within Los Angeles city limits.

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are warning health professionals about the risk of false positive results with a widely used laboratory test for COVID-19 and flu. The Iowa Department of Public Health said Friday that Iowa has administered 1.03 million doses. The state health department sent a notice Thursday to the hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and other community providers of the coronavirus vaccine detailing the state’s expectations. AdBrazil has already secured contracts for 200 million vaccine doses, half made by AstraZeneca and half by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. It could use those mechanisms as well to expand eligibility___PRAGUE — The health authorities in the Czech Republic have administered over 1 million coronavirus vaccine shots.

Chandler Street village was developed and funded by Los Angeles as part of an emergency response to the worsening homelessness crisis. A 2020 tally found there were 66,400 homeless people in Los Angeles County — up more than 12% from the previous year. The tiny home village had to overcome some “not-in-my-backyard” reactions from nearby residents who needed to be convinced it's a safe, clean opportunity for shelter, Kerkorian said. AdAdvocates for the homeless applaud the effort, saying every bit of shelter helps amid the deepening crisis. The goal for Chandler Street residents is to stay a few months and then transition to more permanent housing.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California will begin sending 40% of all vaccine doses to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in the state to try to inoculate people most at risk from the coronavirus and get the state’s economy open more quickly, Gov. The areas are considered most vulnerable based on metrics such as household income, education level and access to health care. Setting aside 40% of vaccine supply essentially means that hard-hit ZIP codes will be administering double what they are currently, Ghaly said. Data show that of shots given, only about 17% were administered in vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. He said he expects all communities to receive at least as many doses of vaccine as they are receiving now.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California will begin setting aside 40% of all vaccine doses for the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods in an effort to inoculate people most at risk from the coronavirus and get the state’s economy open more quickly. The areas are considered most vulnerable based on metrics such as household income, education level, housing status and access to transportation. Once 2 million vaccine doses are given out in those neighborhoods, the state will make it easier for counties to move through reopening tiers that dictate business and school reopenings. About 1.6 million vaccine doses already have been given to people in those 400 ZIP codes, and the state will hit the 2 million mark in the next week or two, officials said. Now half of California’s vaccine doses will be reserved for specific groups, as educators get a guaranteed 10%.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)LOS ANGELES – Detectives are looking at data from the “black box” of Tiger Woods' SUV to get a clearer picture of what occurred during the Southern California rollover crash that seriously injured the golf star, authorities said Wednesday. There was no immediate information regarding what was found in the black box, Deputy Trina Schrader said in a statement. The 2021 GV80, made by the Hyundai luxury brand, is likely to have a newer version of event data recorders nicknamed “black boxes” after more sophisticated recorders in airplanes. AdUSA TODAY first reported the search warrant, noting that deputies did not seek one for samples of Woods' blood. Villanueva did not specifically say Wednesday that investigators had not sought a search warrant for blood samples.

After a year of struggling to boost testing, communities across the country are seeing plummeting demand, shuttering testing sites or even trying to return supplies. “We just don’t have enough people who are immune to rule out another surge.”U.S. testing hit a peak on Jan. 15, when the country was averaging more than 2 million tests per day. “People just aren’t going to go out to testing sites.”AdBut testing remains important for tracking and containing the outbreak. That’s more than 25 times the country’s current rate of about 40 million tests reported per month. From a public health viewpoint, testing is effective if it helps to quickly find the infected, trace their contacts and isolate them to stop the spread.

The Los Angeles man adopted her as a 2-month-old kitten in 2005. (Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control via AP)LOS ANGELES – A cat that went astray about 15 years ago has been reunited, older and maybe wiser, with its owner. Brandy, a brown tabby, was reunited Monday afternoon with Charles, who adopted her as a 2-month-old kitten in 2005. Charles went on with his life. “She basically weighed as much as when she was a kitten," Charles said.

Los Angeles County emergency medical technicians deliver patients for admission at the Ambulatory Care Center station at the MLK Community Medical Group hospital in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Johns Hopkins University put California’s overall COVID-19 death toll at 50,890. The death toll climbed precipitously amid a fall and winter surge that has begun to taper off as cases and hospitalizations drop. Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported an additional 136 deaths, accounting for nearly half of the state’s 314 additional deaths. Black people make up 6% of the state’s population and account for 4% of cases and 6% of deaths.

The coronavirus death toll in California surpassed 50,000 on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, marking about one-tenth of the U.S. total from the pandemic. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported another 806 deaths from coronavirus during the winter surge, pushing California’s toll above 50,000, or about one-tenth of the U.S. total from the pandemic. Johns Hopkins University put California’s overall COVID-19 death toll at 50,890. The death toll climbed precipitously amid a fall and winter surge that has begun to taper off as cases and hospitalizations drop. Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported an additional 136 new deaths, accounting for nearly half of the state's 314 additional deaths.

FILE - Tiger Woods smiles during a winner's ceremony after winning the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at the Accordia Golf Narashino country club in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Japan, in this Monday, Oct. 28, 2019, file photo. Woods was injured Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in a vehicle rollover in Los Angeles County and had to be extricated from the vehicle with the jaws of life tools, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

As of Feb. 14, there are 15,471,384 active coronavirus cases in the United States, which is nearly 56 percent of all U.S. cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Each week, we’ll provide an update on the number of active COVID-19 cases in each state and how they compare. LOCAL: Coronavirus in Michigan: Here’s what to know Feb. 14, 2021Below is the number of active COVID-19 cases in each state in the U.S. on Feb. 14, 2021. To see the total number of COVID-19 cases per state on Feb. 14, click here. More: Global COVID: Tracking countries with the most virus cases, deaths on Feb. 14, 2021COVID-19 cases and deaths have been broken down by county in each individual state by Johns Hopkins University and can be viewed here.

In barely a year since the virus was first detected in the state, 1 in 1,000 Californians have died from it. Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous with a quarter of the state’s nearly 40 million residents, has more than 40% of California’s virus deaths. Rios Luna, 22, said she was especially cautious with her mother since the pandemic began. “Once I saw her in the bed, it honestly, it broke my heart,” Rios Luna said. “We feel like she waited for us to go see her,” Rios Luna said.

The California Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation to determine whether the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. While Becerra would not identify any specific incidents, the attorney general urged Los Angeles County residents to report potential abuses to his office. Villanueva pledged transparency with the state and said his department regularly requests for the Department of Justice to monitor its investigations. The sheriff's department was previously under federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. In September, the Los Angeles Times reported that a congressional subcommittee had asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations of systemic abuse by “criminal gangs” of deputies within the department.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California on Wednesday said it’s safe to resume using a batch of Moderna coronavirus vaccine after some people fell ill and a halt to injections was recommended. About 330,000 doses from the lot had been distributed to nearly 300 providers in California this month. More than 4 million doses had been shipped and about 1.5 million had been administered as of Tuesday, according to figures from the state public health department. “The chief obstacle we are facing is not enough doses,” said Roland Pickens, director of San Francisco’s public health care system, at a supervisors’ hearing Wednesday. The total of 694 new deaths is second to the record 708 reported Jan. 8, according to the state Department of Public Health.

State officials said Friday they have helped distribute 98 refrigerated trailers to help county coroners store dead bodies. There are now 98 of the trailers to help county coroners store bodies “with respect and dignity,” Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said. California has received more than 3.5 million doses of the vaccine and has administered just over 1 million doses. Newsom said the state was on pace to exceed his goal of giving out roughly 1.5 million doses by Friday. While California has the second-highest number of deaths in the country, the state ranks 39th in the number of deaths per capita at 81.8.

Mississippi's Health Department stopped taking new appointments the same day it began accepting them because of a “monumental surge” in requests. In California, counties begged for more coronavirus vaccine to reach millions of their senior citizens. “This is about life and death.”In Mississippi, officials said new appointments will probably have to wait until a hoped-for shipment of vaccine in mid-February. But the local hospital had no openings on Wednesday, Clark said, and the other vaccination sites are too far away. “She’s too old.”Allison Salerno, an audio producer from Athens, Georgia, said she spent the better part of a day calling her state’s health department to get a vaccine appointment for her 89-year-old mother.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING — China says it is now treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19 as numbers of cases continue to surge in the country’s north. ___AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has distributed more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. State health officials say Texas had more than 14,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and its death toll has passed 30,000. ___COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina will now allow medical students, retired nurses and other qualified professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. ___MADRID — Spain reported 35,878 confirmed coronavirus cases and 201 new deaths from the coronavirus.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lifted a stay-at-home order in the 13-county Sacramento region on Tuesday as hospital conditions improved, a rare turn of good news as the state pushes through what Gov. Three of the state's five regions — the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California — remain under the stay-at-home order because their intensive care capacity at hospitals is severely limited. To try to get the virus in check California, is moving more quickly to distribute vaccines. Newsom imposed the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order in March. Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer of Sutter County in the Sacramento region acknowledged as much when he reacted to the order being lifted.

People wait in cars for a vaccination against the coronavirus at a new "vaccination superstation," Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in San Diego. The site, which opened Monday, began providing large-scale COVID-19 vaccinations to health care workers. California has deployed 88 refrigerated trailers to use as makeshift morgues mostly in hard-hit Southern California, where traditional storage space is dwindling. “People are eager to come out and grateful for this opportunity,” she said, with more than 12,500 health care workers in San Diego County initially scheduling an appointment. ___Watson reported from San Diego.

California is particularly hard hit, with skyrocketing deaths and infections threatening to force hospitals to ration care. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)LOS ANGELES – California health authorities reported Saturday a record one-day total of 695 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strain under unprecedented caseloads. Already, many hospitals in Los Angeles and other hard-hit areas are struggling to keep up and warned they may need to ration care as intensive care beds dwindle. With new figures released Saturday, the county surpassed 12,000 deaths caused by COVID-19 — 1,000 of which happened in the last four days. “We’re going to see high levels of hospitalization and, sadly, deaths over at least the next two to four weeks.”Los Angeles County has a fourth of the state’s population, but it accounts for about 40% of COVID-19 deaths.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said $3 billion for vaccine efforts should go out to states by Jan. 19, along with $19 billion of additional aid for coronavirus testing and contact tracing. It will be up to states to decide exactly how to use the money. The vaccine money is being distributed among states through a formula that also allots portions to certain large cities and U.S. territories. The federal law leaves it up to states to decide how much, if any, of the vaccine money to pass on to local health departments. The federal law authorized $8.7 billion for coronavirus vaccine distribution and tracking, with at least $4.5 billion set aside for states and localities.

Ducey has rejected calls from health care leaders to tighten restrictions, arguing it would cause people to be out of work. “Faced with strict mitigation measures in place and states that have few or minimal mitigation measures in place all are experiencing the same thing,” Karamargin said. “The mitigation measures the state of Arizona put into place early on — they remain in place. Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute research center at Arizona State University, called the state “the hot spot of the world right now.” He believes at least one in 10 people actually has the virus. “I've never seen anything like this in all the years I’ve been part of health care,” White said.

FILE - Host Alicia Keys speaks at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – The 2021 Grammy Awards will no longer take place this month in Los Angeles and will broadcast in March due to a recent surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. Los Angeles County, the epicenter of the crisis in California, has surpassed 11,000 COVID-19 deaths and has had 40% of the deaths in California. An average of six people die every hour from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, which has a quarter of the state’s 40 million residents. The BET Awards was the first major awards show during the pandemic and was a success thanks to its artsy, highly produced, well-crafted pre-taped performances.

FILE - In this Monday, June 20, 2016 file photo, smoke from wildfires burning in Angeles National Forest fills the sky behind the Los Angeles skyline. And of the more than 3,000 counties, Los Angeles County has the highest ranking in theNational Risk Index. Chiu)Spending her life in Los Angeles, Morgan Andersen knows natural disasters all too well. And of the more than 3,000 counties, Los Angeles County has the highest ranking in the National Risk Index. The way FEMA calculates the index spotlights places long known as danger spots, like Los Angeles, but some other places highlighted run counter to what most people would think.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)LAS VEGAS — Tens of thousands of people were walking on the casino-lined Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Eve by early evening despite a plea from Nevada Gov. China on Friday reported a total of 19 new virus cases, including 10 that were brought from outside the country. ___LONDON — The coronavirus pandemic canceled London’s annual New Years’ Eve fireworks display, which usually draws tens of thousands of spectators. The nation’s most populated county has about 40% of California’s virus deaths. ___NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee ends the year ranked first in coronavirus cases per capita.

LOS ANGELES – California surpassed 25,000 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic and officials disclosed Thursday that three more cases involving a mutant variant of the virus have been confirmed in San Diego County. Los Angeles County, which has a quarter of the state's 40 million residents, has had 40% of the deaths in California, the third state to reach the 25,000 death count. San Diego County confirmed Thursday that it had found a total of four cases of the virus variant that appears to be more contagious. In Los Angeles County, hospitals have been pushed "to the brink of catastrophe,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, health services director. Police in Los Angeles will be patrolling streets and looking to shut down large New Year’s Eve gatherings, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.

(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Los Angeles County surpassed 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus Wednesday as California also hit a record high number of fatalities. The governor also announced the first detected case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus in a San Diego man. LA County Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer called the 10,056 deaths there a “terrible milestone." San Diego County officials said the infected man is a 30-year-old with no history of travel. Hours after the new variant was detected, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an executive order directing stricter enforcement of state and local public health rules.

Plans for rationing care are not in place yet, but they need to be established because “the worst is yet to come,” said Los Angeles County's health services director, Dr. Christina Ghaly. Until then, four hospitals run by Los Angeles County are weighing what to do if they cannot treat everyone because of a shortage of beds or staffers. Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that might take up beds that could soon be needed for COVID-19 patients. Scientists are working to determine whether the strain spreads more easily, said Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser for the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine effort. Bill Lee on Sunday announced new social gathering restrictions while still refusing to implement a mask mandate despite pleas from front-line health care workers.

Gavin Newsom holds up a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)LOS ANGELES – California has recorded a half-million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks and in a month could be facing a once-unthinkable caseload of nearly 100,000 hospitalizations, Gov. California is enduring by far its worst spike in cases and hospitalizations. The first 110,000 doses of the newly approved Moderna vaccine arrived in California a week after California hospitals administered the first 70,258 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. ___Associated Press reporters John Antczak and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.

The vast region of Southern California went into a lockdown Monday in an effort to curb spiraling coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. The blast — which also urged people to wear masks and physically distance — was sent to the state-designated 11-county Southern California region and 12-county San Joaquin Valley region by California's Office of Emergency Services. At that point, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties said they would ask to be assessed on the tri-county ICU capacity and not the overall ICU capacity for the sprawling Southern California region. California's 7-day average for new daily virus cases has doubled over the past two weeks, while the positivity rate jumped 55 percent, Ghaly said. The Southern California region includes Los Angeles County, where public health officials say the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has surpassed all-time highs every day since Dec. 1.

In this photo from the County of Los Angeles streaming video, incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon speaks after he was is sworn in in downtown Los Angeles Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. (County of Los Angeles via AP)LOS ANGELES – New Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, seeking to revamp the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office with progressive policies, said Monday after taking office that cash bail will be ended for many offenses and sentences in thousands of cases will be reevaluated. A former San Francisco district attorney and assistant Los Angeles police chief, Gascón has already drawn the ire of prosecutors in his own office, as well as members of the Los Angeles Police Department. His first major meeting upon winning his race was with Black Lives Matter organizers, who were critical of outgoing District Attorney Jackie Lacey. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which is for rank-and-file police officers and heavily supported Lacey, blasted Gascón new policies after his speech.

(AP Photo/Pamela Hassell)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With coronavirus cases surging at a record pace, California Gov. The new rules are the Newsom administration's latest attempt to control a virus that is spreading at rates that astonished health experts. The curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. had little impact, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's top public health officer, acknowledged Thursday. “We do not have adequate data to know where transmissions are occurring and that reflects a failure of public health,” he said. “That’s not the way we traditionally work in public health,” he said.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but every day that goes by is a blessing that we can keep the outdoor dining open,” Osborn said. A divided LA County Board of Supervisors rejected a measure Nov. 24 that would have kept outdoor dining open. “We literally have seen COVID cases in a large percentage of businesses across the city,” Pasadena spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. She had to close a sister cafe in nearby Sierra Madre under the county order. I can’t make this situation any better.”___Melley reported from Los Angeles.

Jonathan Eshnaur lugged his 32-inch TV to a Thanksgiving Day family gathering at his sister’s home in Olathe, Kansas, so he could watch football outside. Health officials are urging people to remain vigilant until a vaccine becomes widely available, which is not expected to happen for at least a few months. Health officials on Monday added 4,425 confirmed infections and 87 hospitalizations to the state’s pandemic tally since Friday. Rhode Island’s hospitals reached their COVID-19 capacity on Monday, the same day the state’s two-week pause took effect. In suburban St. Louis, a hospital official warned that hospitalizations could double in two to three weeks if people don’t quarantine after Thanksgiving gatherings.