No more drought for half of California

Good morning. Some good news: If you’re a California resident, you most likely now have until October to file your tax return. That extension was granted in 44 of the state’s 58 counties in response to this year’s severe winter storms.

And now, onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

More than half of California is no longer in a drought, federal officials reported, after the Sierra snowpack reached its highest point in 30 years and the entire state was soaked twice over since January. LA County is still classified as “abnormally dry” — one level below drought — and experts warned that the deluges have done little to recharge the Colorado River, a major source of LA water.

Paul Rogers and Scooty Nickerson / The Mercury News

In a scathing report, a special counsel appointed by LA’s Sheriff Civilian Oversight Committee called the department’s deputy gangs a “cancer” that “must be excised.” The report found that deputies “valorize violence” by throwing parties when deputies shoot civilians and have in many cases wrested control of patrol stations from their respective officers through intimidation.

Frank Stoltze / LAist

Sen. Dianne Feinstein was hospitalized Thursday in San Francisco with shingles. The 89-year-old senator was diagnosed with the virus late last month and is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesperson said. The virus, which generally causes a painful rash, is rarely life-threatening.

Shira Stein / San Francisco Chronicle

The LA County Board of Supervisors could soon impose a mandatory earthquake retrofit for buildings with the same type of flawed concrete that caused catastrophic damage in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The board asked county officials to prepare rules that would require “non-ductile” buildings to be retrofitted within 10 years, and to create an inventory of “soft story” buildings prone to collapse in an earthquake.

Rebecca Ellis and Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times

Federal regulators took the unusual step of granting the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant — which produces 9% of California’s electricity — an exemption that would allow it to keep running after its operating license expires. It was the latest development in a long-running drama over the fate of the plant, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has argued is essential as the state transitions to a clean power grid and environmentalists have described as a catastrophic liability.

Michael R. Blood / Associated Press

You’re all caught up. Thanks for reading Morning, Trojan, and have a good day. Anna Hsu copy edited this newsletter.

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