117 dogs found buried, mass immigration hearings: Your Sacramento week in review

From packed immigration courtrooms to buried dogs, grizzly bear debates and the latest in the Esparto fireworks case, The Bee has you covered on major news you missed this week.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Sacramento immigration courts have begun scheduling more than 100 cases in a single day through “mega master” hearings, with roughly half of those scheduled failing to appear and often receiving automatic deportation orders, a shift immigration lawyers say undermines due process.

• A bill to study the feasibility of reintroducing grizzly bears to California advanced through the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on an 8-2 vote. The measure, backed by the Yurok and Tejon tribes, faces opposition from rural communities already struggling to manage wolves, mountain lions and black bears.

• Six Yolo County defendants charged in the Esparto fireworks explosion appeared in court on the one-year anniversary of the blast that killed seven people and sparked a 78-acre wildfire, with attorneys sparring over evidence-handling procedures. Former property owner Sam Machado faces 26 felony counts, including seven counts of murder.

• The California Central Valley Flood Protection Board approved permanent cross-levee fence permits for two Sacramento property owners, despite city objections that the fences conflict with a planned 17-mile Sacramento River Parkway trail. The board said its only standard is whether the fences affect flood performance.

• Step Up on Second, a nonprofit that has received nearly $20 million from Sacramento for homeless programs, paid a $3 million settlement over a state fraud lawsuit alleging misuse of funds meant for homeless housing in Salinas. A 2025 city audit also found the nonprofit charged Sacramento $6,756 to furnish apartments in Southern California.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new partnership with Anthropic that gives state employees access to Claude for analyzing information, drafting documents and improving services. The state received a 50% discount, though about half of Newsom’s previous AI pilot projects were discontinued after failing to deliver sufficient improvements.

• Humboldt County investigators recovered the remains of 117 dogs from burial pits at Miranda’s Rescue Animal Sanctuary, with many showing evidence of gunshot wounds, and 731 dogs transferred to the facility remain unaccounted for. The rescue continues operating because California does not require animal rescues to be licensed.