As a bone-dry California heads into a third consecutive summer of drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an ultimatum to the state’s urban water suppliers on Monday: Either convince residents to conserve water or he’ll order strict cutbacks statewide. Newsom has implored Californians to voluntarily cut water use, but usage in cities and towns rose by nearly 19% in March, compared with the same month in 2020. Mercury News | Reuters

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“What about my koi pond?” In a wealthy Los Angeles enclave where water usage far exceeds the statewide average, some residents are resistant to cutting back. L.A. Times

Dispatches from the housing affordability crisis:

California lawmakers advanced a bill Monday that would shield abortion providers from so-called fetal heartbeat laws. Texas and other states have banned abortion after a heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy. California’s legislation would prohibit the state’s courts from taking up cases based on out-of-state laws. Critics called it illegal because of the U.S. Constitution’s “full faith and credit” clause, which requires states to respect each others’ laws and judicial proceedings. A.P. | L.A. Times

California is considering opening sites where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision. Two perspectives:

Mayor London Breed said she would skip San Francisco’s Pride Parade next month after organizers barred police from marching in uniform. “We can’t say, we want more Black officers, or we want more LGBTQ officers, and then treat those officers with disrespect when they actually step up and serve,” Breed said. First responders across the city planned to boycott the march in protest. Pride leaders defended the uniform ban as a matter of “harm reduction.” SFGATE | S.F. Examiner

Salamanders that live in California’s coastal redwood canopy can sail through the air like flying squirrels, a new study found. The amphibians were known to somehow survive massive jumps, but their aerial behavior had never been described. So scientists dropped several of them in a miniature wind tunnel and recorded their movements with slow-motion video, revealing how they stretch out their bodies to create a parachute, pumping their tails to make course corrections. “They’re just totally surfing in the air,” said Robert Dudley, an expert on animal flight. National Geographic | UC Berkeley

For years, Guy Fieri was mocked by the white-tablecloth set. But the Santa Rosa chef has since established himself as one of the most influential food philanthropists of the Covid age, helping to raise more than $20 million for restaurant workers. “I don’t think he had the respect of people like me or people in the food industry,” said Traci Des Jardins, a Bay Area chef who has become a friend. “He has earned that respect.” N.Y. Times (gift article)

One of the Bay Area’s most popular parks is filled with dead bodies. Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery is nestled on 226 hilly acres, with panoramic views of the bay and San Francisco. Designed in the 1860s by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of New York’s Central Park, it wasn’t intended to be a place of recreation. But the gates were kept open to the public, and Mountain View’s winding paths became a cherished destination for cyclists, dog walkers, and picnickers. It’s possible to forget that it’s a cemetery at all. Oakland Wiki | NPS.gov

Visit Mountain View Cemetery during summer solstice, on June 21, to see a concert in a columbarium designed by the architect Julia Morgan. Afar

Anaheim’s mayor resigned on Monday as federal investigators deepened their investigation into allegations that a secretive “cabal” controlled Anaheim’s politics. In an affidavit, an FBI agent accused Mayor Harry Sidhu of seeking a million-dollar campaign donation during negotiations over the proposed sale of Angel Stadium. Sidhu, who denied wrongdoing, was the second prominent Orange County figure to step down this week. Melahat Rafiei, a leader in Orange County’s Democratic Party, announced her exit after it came to light that she was suspected of paying bribes to public officials. L.A. Times | Voice of OC

Bill Cosby is going back on trial this week. Judy Huth, of Riverside County, said she was just 16 when she met the comedian in the mid-1970s. He gave her and her friend alcohol before taking them to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, where he forced her to perform a sex act on him, she says in court papers. Nearly one year after Cosby walked out of prison on a legal technicality in a separate case, some of the many women who have accused him of being a sexual predator see Huth’s lawsuit as a last stand for justice. N.Y. Times | The Wrap

State regulators confirmed that six idled oil wells were leaking methane near Bakersfield homes. It was unclear how long the wells had been leaking. They were discovered by an energy researcher named Clark Derry Williams who heard hissing as he walked through an oil field. “I wonder what this means for people in the community,” he said, “because if someone can just wander by there’s no telling what this means.” Fossil fuel companies have left thousands of oil and gas wells unplugged and idle across California. Desert Sun | Bakersfield Californian

White sage is said to be to the West what lavender is to France, with its intense aroma wafting across scrublands from Southern California to northwestern Mexico. For generations, people have emulated the Native American practice of burning the shrub for ceremonial purposes. But in the last decade, the use of smudge sticks has transformed into a global phenomenon. Skyrocketing demand is now fueling a black market of poachers who rip white sage out from the roots under cover of darkness. Atlas Obscura