Lead Stories:
- Millions of Californians will be able to go maskless when the state's universal mask mandate ends today. However, it will be at least two more weeks before California lifts the mask mandate in schools.
- More than 3,000 incoming UC Berkeley students may no longer be able to enroll following a ruling by an Alameda County court. The university announced Monday that they may have to cut a third of their incoming fall 2022 class after a judge upheld a lawsuit by a Berkeley neighborhood group and ordered an enrollment freeze last August. According to the LA Times, the group claims the university's growing enrollment is having a negative impact on traffic, noise, housing prices, and the natural environment. UC Berkeley would lose $57 million in tuition if forced to drop the students.
- The American West is experiencing the worst mega-drought in over a thousand years. A mega-drought is a prolonged drought that persists for two decades or longer. A new study found the past 22 years have been the driest in at least 1,200 years. Scientists estimate nearly 50% of the drought's severity can be attributed to climate change.