In CA: Big Sur tribe gets back land stolen centuries ago; protesters chain themselves to Newsom's fence

A Big Sur tribe gets back stolen land. Gov. Gavin Newsom asks for $52 million for the Central Valley as coronavirus cases soar in the eight-county region. And speaking of Newsom, protesters chained themselves to a fence in front of his house early Monday, demanding he let go state prisoners go and stop transferring immigrant detainees.

It's Arlene Martínez with news to jump-start your week.

But first, another consequence of the coronavirus: hair loss. We’re talking “bags of hair,” one doctor says.

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Big Sur tribe gets land taken 350 years ago

They nearly died out after Spaniard soldiers and missionaries arrived, bringing fatal diseases and forcing slavery upon members of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. Their land was gone by the late 1700s.

On Monday, the tribe got some of it back, closing escrow on nearly 1,200 acres of land in Big Sur, part of a $4.5 million acquisition involving California and an Oregon-based environmental group.

“It is beyond words for us, the highest honor,” Tom Little Bear Nason, the tribe's chair told the San Jose Mercury News. “The land is the most important thing to us. It is our homeland, the creation story of our lives. We are so elated and grateful.”

Tribe members say they will use the site, about 20 miles south of Monterey and five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, to "reinvigorate tribal culture, conduct traditional ceremonies and teach the public about their culture and history."

Kobe Bryant's book features Indio artist; 'hygiene theater' and #ChallengeAccepted

A Coachella Valley artist's work is featured in "Geese Are Never Swans," a book created by the late Kobe Bryant and written by psychologist Eva Clark. Bryant, who co-created several books targeting young readers, focused this one on mental health in sports.

"Hygiene theater" describes the show of risk-reduction rituals — think spraying down hotel rooms and office spaces — that don't do much to reduce the chance of contracting an airborne-spread virus.

The #ChallengeAccepted, female empowerment black-and-white photos you're seeing on Instagram may be appealing in that they don't require actual advocacy of celebrities and influencers.

Newsom wants $52 million for hard-hit Central Valley

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he wants to allocate $52 million to the Central Valley, where some counties have a coronavirus positivity rate that is over double the state’s overall rate.

The funding, which still needs to be approved by the Legislature, would be used in the eight-county area to improve testing efforts, enhance worker safety, support local health care systems, and provide isolation and quarantine resources for positive individuals who can’t isolate at home.

The money would come from a half-billion-dollar grant the state is receiving from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elsewhere in the state, a new antibody testing study suggests Riverside County’s COVID-19 tally may be 431% higher than confirmed case totals.

In Ventura County, testing has revealed 1 in 5 people who tested positive for the coronavirus were asymptomatic.

Lawmakers propose a $100 billion stimulus plan that includes giving out "tax vouchers" that would allow taxpayers to prepay their taxes for a future budget year at a slight discount.

MCAT and bar exam challenges; a continued push for a Palm Desert CSU; disability culture

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and bar exams are still required to be taken in-person in many places, which can mean hundreds of people gathering together.

CSU explored Palm Desert, Stockton/Stanislaus County, Concord, Chula Vista and San Mateo County as possible sites for a new campus. Budget cuts and enrollment declines have put those plans on hold indefinitely, but leaders in Palm Desert aren't giving up and have formed a nonprofit to keep the idea alive (Note: This story is for subscribers only).

28 ways to learn about disability culture through books, TV shows, movies, dance and art.

Housing and the workplace in a COVID-19 world

Even two people making the "mean hourly wage" of $17.98 in Ventura County aren't able to afford a two-bedroom apartment; in other parts of the state the situation is even worse, a new report shows.

As companies transition to remote workplaces, permanently, some find the time is right to at last move to the beach ... or Texas.

Mountain View-based Google will have its 200,000 full-time and contract employees work remotely through July 2021.

Protesters chain themselves to fence outside Gov. Newsom's residence

Wearing surgical-style masks and plastic face shields, demonstrators calling for mass inmate releases and an end to immigration transfers chained themselves to a fence outside of Gov. Gavin Newsom's suburban Sacramento home Monday.

The California Highway Patrol cut the chains about two hours later but did not immediately say how many people had been arrested.

The California Liberation Collective organized the protest, which included immigration attorneys whose clients risk becoming infected from the coronavirus and protesters calling for the release of more prison inmates — especially at San Quentin — because of the pandemic.

At San Quentin, 19 inmates have died, including a 10th person on death row.

California's coronavirus case count rose, plateaued then surged. New York's line rose sharply, then bumpily went down. Here's what the two can learn from each other.

Remembering Gilroy; unexplained Trump 2020 banner; L.A. sheriff draws criticism (again)

On July 28, 2019, a gunman killed three people, ages 6, 13 and 25, and wounded 17 others during the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Here's how the community is honoring their lives and helping survivors.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office and FBI are investigating a cage-like structure with a Trump 2020 flag left in front of a Soledad home. The home belongs to a Latino elected official; the vehicle to a sheriff's department employee.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva drew criticism after asking whether Supervisor Hilda Solis was "trying to earn the title of a La Malinche," a derogatory term used to demean a woman as a traitor or sellout. Asked about it by the LA Times, a sheriff's spokesperson referenced a different incident involving a different supervisor.

I'll leave you today with this surfing video in honor of the sport that was set to make its Olympics debut this year. New York Times talks to surfers about what makes the sport special, how athletes will be judged and conditions at the beach 25 miles from Tokyo where all the action will take place.

In California brings you top news and analysis from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: The Atlantic, New York Times, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California, Big Sur, tribe, Kobe, bar exam, surfing, Gilroy: Mon news