Counties across California were mulling whether to lift local mask ordinances along with the state on Feb. 16. In Northern California, Sacramento, Marin, and Solano counties, said they would; Santa Clara County planned to wait. In Southern California, San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties will align with the state since they don’t have their own mask orders. The top health official in Los Angeles County, Barbara Ferrer, said mandatory masking would continue for weeks longer — if not months. Mercury News | L.A. Times

On Tuesday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, defended the wording of a Republican Party resolution that accused the Jan. 6 panel of persecuting people engaged in “legitimate political discourse,” saying it did not refer to rioters. “Everybody knows anybody who broke in and caused damage, that was not called for,” the Bakersfield Republican said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, struck a very different tone when asked about the resolution, which he denounced. “We saw it happen,” he said. “It was a violent insurrection.” CNN | Washington Post

Another $5 billion has been added to the cost of California’s troubled bullet train project. It’s the latest in a series of cost increases over the last decade for the ambitious and long-delayed high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2008, when voters approved a bond to fund the project, the total cost was pegged at $33 billion. Now: $105 billion. L.A. Times | A.P.

In may be the middle of winter, but much of California is expected to feel like summer through the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a rare February heat advisory across Southern California between Wednesday and Sunday, warning that temperatures as high as 90 degrees could pose a health risk to fans in town for the Super Bowl. Forecasts in the Bay Area and Central Valley called for temperatures as much as 15 degrees above normal. Washington Post | Accuweather

Shasta County’s top health official said he is stepping down after voters rallied behind far-right candidates in a recall vote against a moderate Republican supervisor. “I think some of the upheaval in the political environment just made the job less enjoyable,” said Donnell Ewert, the health and human services chief. Recall supporters accused county leaders of failing to forcefully resist pandemic restrictions from Sacramento. Record Searchlight

Students protested, teachers starved themselves, and parents beseeched the school board. But after a marathon meeting Tuesday, Oakland Unified voted anyway to close seven schools and merge two others, as board members said their hands were forced by fiscal concerns. Mike Hutchinson, a board member who opposed the proposal, said his colleagues had “declared war” on the community: “The lawsuits are going to be filed tomorrow.” Mercury News | S.F. Chronicle

“I’ve been waiting 20 years for this day.”

The University of California agreed to pay $243 million to settle lawsuits by 203 women who say they were sexually abused by a former UCLA gynecologist, lawyers announced Tuesday. Each woman was poised to get $1.2 million. Attorneys for the victims described Dr. James Heaps as a sophisticated predator who committed his assaults under the guise of procedures such as pelvis and breast examinations. Many of those abused were cancer patients. A.P. | L.A. Times

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday that could lead to the firing of thousands of unvaccinated workers. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said it was primarily aimed at Sheriff Alex Villanueva. “It is ironic,” she said, for the chief law enforcement officer “to say we’re not going to obey the rules but we are going to arrest you if you don’t obey all the other rules.” Villanueva said the move would be a “death blow to public safety.” N.Y. Times | CBSLA

Rep. Karen Bass, the Democratic front-runner in the race for Los Angeles mayor, said she would add hundreds of civilian workers to the city’s police force and move 250 officers out of desk jobs and into patrols. Too many Angelenos, she said, “don’t feel safe today.” Activist groups that have called for less policing accused her of drifting toward the right. But Bass criticized the defund police movement back in 2020, calling it “probably one of the worst slogans ever.” L.A. Times

Jane Campion’s gothic western “The Power of the Dog” led the nominations for the 94th Oscars on Tuesday with an impressive 12 nods, including best picture, followed closely behind by the sprawling sci-fi epic “Dune,” which earned 10. The other nominees for best picture were: “Belfast,” “CODA,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Drive My Car,” “Licorice Pizza,” “King Richard,” “Nightmare Alley,” and “West Side Story.” N.Y. Times | Hollywood Reporter

The N.Y. Times made a helpful guide on where to stream them.

The full list of nominees.

Josh Neuman, a skateboarder based in Los Angeles, was one of four men killed when a sightseeing plane crashed into a lake in Iceland, officials said Tuesday. Neuman, 22, who was featured in this newsletter last August, amassed about 1.2 million YouTube subscribers with videos of terrifying downhill rides. In a statement, his family called Neuman a “doer,” a “dreamer,” and a “gentle soul.” CNN | A.P.

Below are six finds from California’s photo archives, part of an occasional series of posts showcasing the way we were. See past entries on unsung women, “before they were famous,” and an all-Black motorcycle club.

Today’s theme: Oil. (Click the credits to see larger images).