All of the must-read news about the Golden State in one place.
Hi, I’m Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times. I survey more than 100 news and social media sites daily, then send you a tightly crafted email with only the most informative and delightful bits.
Each weekday at about 6 a.m., you’ll get an email like this.
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 30.
- A judge halts warrantless arrests of farmworkers.
- Berkeley passes a tepid resolution on Gaza.
- And the joy of Koreatown seniors with harmonicas.
Statewide
1.
A federal judge in Fresno on Tuesday ordered the Border Patrol to halt warrantless immigration arrests in the Central Valley. In a lawsuit brought on behalf of Kern County farmworkers targeted in January raids, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that the Border Patrol’s actions posed “imminent, irreparable harm.” “You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers,’” she said. The Border Patrol did not dispute accusations of racial profiling, but argued that an injunction was pointless because it had already moved to retrain officers. CalMatters | Courthouse News
2.
In the first 100 days of his presidency, Donald Trump has made California one of his primary foils. But the state has hit back hard, suing 16 times. The cases are part of a unprecedented legal blitz in courts across the country that have ground much of Trump’s agenda to a halt. In an April 17 ruling that opposed the administration, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson warned that the battle between the judiciary and executive branches poses a danger to the constitutional order: “Now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both.” L.A. Times | ABC News
- Track’s California’s lawsuits against the Trump administration.
3.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently called his party’s brand “toxic,” scolded Democrats on Tuesday for blocking an effort to make it a felony to solicit a 16- or 17-year-old for sex. Older teens were excluded from a 2024 sex-trafficking law over worries that it could ensnare young people in consensual relationships. The new measure would have removed that carve-out. “The law should treat all sex predators who solicit minors the same — as a felony, regardless of the intended victim’s age,” Newsom said, making a rare intervention early in the lawmaking process. “Full stop.” Politico | KCRA
- Also on Tuesday, Newsom inserted himself into a small city’s political dispute after Turlock, in the Central Valley, thwarted funding for a homeless shelter. “An absolute moral failure,” he said. ABC10
4.
Lurking in the reaches of Yosemite National Park are mountain lions, bears, and rattlesnakes. But one of the wild region’s most dangerous creatures is the deceptively charming deer. In a warning to visitors on Monday, park officials said deer cause more injuries to people than any other animal in Yosemite. They may be cute, but they are also skittish, especially during mating season, the park said: “Equipped with sharp hooves and antlers, a deer will lash out and defend itself if startled.” SFGATE
Northern California
5.
The Trump administration is looking into building an immigration detention facility at the Bay Area’s Travis Air Force Base, according to government records obtained by KQED. The administration has been evaluating at least 10 of the country’s military bases for detention facilities as it seeks to expand the use of wartime resources to make good on President Trump’s promised mass deportations. Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat whose district includes Travis, expressed shock at the base’s inclusion on the list of potential facilities, calling it “absolutely inappropriate.” KQED
6.
Berkeley’s City Council passed a resolution Monday night that expressed sorrow for the suffering in Israel and Gaza, while noting that the city “has no jurisdiction over international affairs.” It was a notably tepid statement from a famously liberal city, infuriating residents who wanted a demand to end military aid to Israel. The vote came after five hours of emotional public comment before a raucous crowd that alternately booed, cheered, and chanted. One man was briefly detained. At one point, Mayor Adena Ishii fell to tears. Berkeleyside | The Jewish News
7.
When Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan opened a nonprofit school for several hundred low-income children in East Palo Alto in 2016, no one thought their financial commitment had an end date. But last week, families were stunned to learn that the school would close in 2026. The reason they were given: there was not enough money to sustain the school, which costs roughly $12 million a year. Zuckerberg and Chan are worth an estimated $200 billion. The San Francisco Chronicle searched for answers on why they walked away.
8.
In the heart of Marin County’s downtown Larkspur, where the average home goes for more than $2 million, there is one establishment that seems like a relic from another era. Once named among the best dive bars in America, the 64-year-old Silver Peso is decidedly ungentrified, with its neon, billiards, and a tobacco smell. “My experience is that once people come through the door, they check their egos,” said Stefan Smith, a massage therapist and bar regular. “They can be billionaires — literal billionaires — and they’re just playing pool with a bunch of contractors.” SFGATE
Southern California
9.
Gavin Kliger, a 25-year-old DOGE staffer, helped oversee mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while holding stocks that stood to benefit from dismantling the agency, a journalism investigation found. Kliger, who grew up in Orange County and graduated from UC Berkeley, held a $365,000 stake in firms the agency regulated, posing a potential violation of federal ethics laws. Asked for comment, the White House called the report “an outright lie.” In February, Kliger drew scrutiny for amplifying white supremacists online. ProPublica
10.
A group of Los Angeles Koreatown senior citizens with harmonicas have become unlikely stars of the NHL playoffs. In January, the L.A. Kings invited the harmonica class from the Koreatown Senior and Community Center in Los Angeles to play the national anthem before a game. The response was so enthusiastic that the group was invited back for Game 1 of the Western Conference series last week. Their performance immediately went viral, creating instant fans around the world. The seniors were back for Game 5 on Tuesday. ESPN | Washington Post
- “Back by popular demand!” See their performance.
11.
After a popular downtown mural of Kobe Bryan and his daughter Gianna was defaced with graffiti, a GoFundMe was created Tuesday with the goal of raising $5,000 to restore it. On the campaign page, a stream of donations began trickling in: $8, $50, $100. Then the name of one of Bryant’s biggest fans appeared: “Luka Doncic, $5,000.” When Doncic joined the Lakers in February, he recalled meeting Bryant in 2019. It was a thrill that Bryant even knew his name, Doncic said. “It will always stay in my mind. It was an amazing moment.” ESPN | KABC
12.
Since its opening in 2015, The Broad has become one of the most popular museums in Los Angeles, drawing nearly a million visitors a year. Created by the late billionaire Eli Broad, the contemporary art museum houses more than 2,000 works — all presented free to the public. Commanding as much attention as the art is the building itself, a honeycomb structure that allows sunlight to spill inside. The effect, one reviewer wrote, is “transcendent: soft, diffuse, atmospheric, suffusing the entire room with a breathtaking, even ethereal, glow.” The photographer Thomas Hawk published a nice collection of photos. Flickr
- Now on view: Yayoi Kusama’s popular “Infinity Mirror Rooms.”
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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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