Turf fight, shooting trial, new state park. Your Thursday evening news roundup

Sacramento parents are pushing back on a plan to install synthetic turf at a local elementary school, while witnesses testified in the K Street mass shooting trial. Meanwhile, Yuba County learned it will get its first state park.

Here are summaries of these and other top Sacramento region stories for April 22, 2026:

• Synthetic turf debate: Parents at Crocker/Riverside Elementary confronted Sacramento City Unified officials over a plan to replace the school’s grass field with up to 27,000 square feet of artificial turf, raising concerns about heat, injuries and potential PFAS exposure.

• K Street trial testimony: A witness told Sacramento Superior Court she still carries a bullet fragment in her lower back from the April 2022 mass shooting at 10th and K streets that killed six people and wounded 12. Dandrae Martin and Mtula Payton each face three murder charges.

• New state park: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the nearly 2,000-acre Feather River Park along the east bank of the river near Olivehurst will become Yuba County’s first state park, one of three new Central Valley parks.

• Esparto explosion case: A Yolo Superior Court judge denied a request to allow victims’ families to wear clothing or display images of the seven workers killed in the fireworks warehouse blast, citing concerns about jury impartiality.

• Snowpack reality: Despite recent Sierra flakes, the snowpack stood at just 18% of average as of Tuesday. A meteorologist warned there will likely be “zero snow throughout the Sierra” by mid-summer.

• Federal badge law blocked: A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled California cannot enforce a law requiring federal agents to wear identification, saying it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

• Still not too late for free Earth Day transit: Sacramento Regional Transit is offering free bus and light rail rides Wednesday to mark Earth Day.