POLICE WAITED 78 minutes before storming the classroom where a shooter was killing 19 children and two teachers (Shutterstock).

It took police 78 minutes for police to enter the classroom in a Uvalde, Texas school where 19 children and two teachers were fatally shot.

The New York Times reported that despite desperate cell phone pleas to “Please send the police now,” officers waited outside, apparently under the impression that those inside were safely barricaded within.

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” said Steven C. McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The Associated Press reported that a Uvalde school district police officer was not in the school when the shooter – Salvador Ramos – arrived. Ramos was able to enter the classroom building through a rear door what had been propped open and fired over 100 rounds inside two conjoined classrooms.

Russia trying to erase Ukraine, says Biden

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin (Wikipedia/Kremlin.ru).

In the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday, President Joe Biden warned that Russia’s ambitions in its invasion of Ukraine go beyond a military conquest.

According to United Press International, Russian attacks on “schools, nurseries, hospitals, museums, with no other purpose than to erase a culture,” said the President.

Biden said the invasion had strengthened NATO, and mentioned U.S. efforts to “ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea” where China has made growing claims of sovereignty.

Sports: Angels lost, Dodgers win

The Los Angeles Angels lost two leads in falling 4-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night in Anaheim. The Halos led 2-1 and 3-2 but couldn’t hang on in suffering their third straight loss.

Jared Walsh and Taylor Wade hit solo home runs for the Angels, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Jays tied the game in the seventh and scored what proved to be the winning run in the top of the ninth.

Chase Silseth had a so-so performance as a starter, giving up six hits and two runs over 4.1 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

The Angels are now 27-20, still second in American League West, trailing the Houston Astros by 2.5 games.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (31-14) beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 on Friday, They scored four runs in the top of the second, led by 6-1 and hung on to win. The Blue Crew got three home runs, one each by Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Edwin Rios.

LAD leads the National League West by two games over the San Diego Padres (29-16).

Weather: A cooler Saturday parade

It should be a coolish 64 degrees when the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Parade steps off at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The daytime high is expected to reach 69 (a low of 61 overnight). Sunday will be warmer in the West Orange County area with a high of 72 (58) and Monday should see the sun break through and a high of 77 (59).

Business: Ukraine war drives gas prices higher

Drivers taking a road trip on the Memorial Day weekend will be paying higher gas prices, especially in California where the average price of a gallon of fuel is over $6.

According to The New York Times, a principal cause of the increased costs is a cutoff of Russian oil because of the invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices have also risen because of concerns that fuel prices will go even higher as more nations impose sanctions on Russia, the world’s third-biggest oil producer.