Budget crisis, monkey fights and more: Sacramento's top stories for 5/7

"Sacramento Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum floated cutting the city's entire homeless agency during a Tuesday council meeting as the city grapples with a $66.2 million budget shortfall. Pluckebaum later walked back the idea, calling it "heartless," but said restructuring the $41.5 million Department of Community Response is still needed."

"California is missing roughly 200,000 jobs because of remote work trends tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office found. Employment in remote-heavy sectors grew 16% nationally from 2019 to 2024 but only 7% in California."

"A USDA inspection of UC Davis' California National Primate Research Center revealed that monkey fights potentially had been caused by human error, including one incident in which a monkey required amputations after a welding failure let another monkey escape. The facility was also cited for keeping two monkeys in an enclosure smaller than federal regulations require."

"Ten Sacramento-area hospitals earned "A" grades in the Leapfrog Group's 2026 hospital safety report, One hospital received a "C," and eight hospitals received "B" grades, including two that previously held "A" ratings. Our story also delves into how the rankings have become controversial."

A Sacramento councilmember proposed eliminating the city’s entire homeless agency amid a $66.2 million budget shortfall, then withdrew the idea while still calling for restructuring the Department of Community Response. California is missing about 200,000 jobs linked to remote work trends after COVID-19, with remote-heavy sector employment rising far less in California than nationally. A USDA inspection of UC Davis’ California National Primate Research Center found monkey fights potentially caused by human error, including a welding failure that allowed a monkey to escape and led to amputations. The facility was also cited for keeping two monkeys in an enclosure smaller than federal regulations require. Hospital safety grades in the Sacramento area were mostly “A” and “B,” and a search for evidence in the Kristin Smart case could take days.

Read at Sacramento Bee