A.M. Brief: Newsom Lifts Statewide Stay At Home Order

California is ditching the statewide Stay-at-Home order, but most counties remain under highly restrictive guidelines. Also this morning: A Long Beach restaurant defies orders and gets its gas turned off, COVID-19 death totals hit a grim milestone, and snow is likely on the way for the Antelope Valley. Finally, the state is about to take a deep dive into corruption within the LASD. Here is your Monday news brief. Take it!

Morning News Rundown

California’s Stay-at-Home order has been lifted, meaning health restrictions will revert back to a tiered system. Most counties will likely remain in the purple (most restrictive) tier of reopening. The move comes as the state’s health models predict that ICU capacity in three key regions is expected to climb above 15% within the next four weeks. That said, county health agencies still have the ability to set their own restrictions, meaning that even with statewide approval, outdoor dining may not immediately return to L.A. County. [ABC 7]

On Saturday, the City of Long Beach shut off gas service to a restaurant whose owner has repeatedly violated the city’s health order prohibiting outdoor dining. Dana Tanner, owner of Restauration, has already been fined six times for violations and now faces potential misdemeanor charges. [LB Post]

Los Angeles County passed another grim pandemic milestone on Saturday, as 269 new deaths brought the countywide COVID-19 death total to over 15,000. Hospitalizations in the county are below 7,000 for the first time since Dec. 29, but regional ICU capacity remains at 0%. [The Eastsider]

After the rain this weekend, more winter storms are on the way to SoCal this week. That could include snow flurries in parts of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Heavy snowfall over the weekend prompted a Monday-morning closure of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine. [Valley Post News]

On Friday, the California Attorney General’s office announced it was starting an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department based on allegations of misconduct and corruption within the agency. “We are not placing a particular scope and time or place, or person — this is an investigation where we look to see if the practices of the department conform with the law,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. [L.A. Times]