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 Friday, May 1.
- Removal of old redwoods enrages Humboldt community.
- Los Angeles lawmakers propose noncitizen voting.
- And UCI signs the world’s tallest basketball player.
Statewide
1.
California gas prices crossed a daunting threshold on Thursday as the average cost of a gallon rose to $6.01, the highest since 2023 and $1.71 more than the national average. The Iran war has brought disruption to global oil supplies, driving up gas prices and posing particular hardships for California, where taxes and other mandated costs have made gas more expensive than anywhere else in the U.S. While Republicans have long hammered the state for its prices, Gov. Gavin Newsom has tried to seize an opening to shift blame to “Donald Trump’s Iran war tax.” Politico | Bloomberg
2.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with the science writer Dillon Osleger. His new book, “Trail Work,” unearths forgotten trails, wagon roads, and Indigenous paths across the West and chronicles how time and neglect have erased many of them from the landscape. Many people tend to take trails for granted, Osleger argued: “We’re losing this connection to our past. When trails are gone those stories that occurred upon them, those connections to generations past, are often forgotten.”
Northern California
3.
In Redway, a town along the South Fork Eel River in Humboldt County, a homeowner’s decision to chop down four old-growth redwoods on his property has enraged neighbors. Robert Scarlett, 24, said he acted out of concern that the trees might drop large branches. Many residents in the area regard the coastal redwoods in almost sacred terms. Sue Moloney, 64, said she was stunned when she saw Scarlett’s trees marked for felling: “It was kinda like the biggest middle finger you could have given the community.” S.F. Chronicle | Lost Coast Outpost
4.
“Schools aren’t tech startups.”
In Silicon Valley, schools for gifted children have proliferated as founders and executives who became fabulously wealthy by disrupting industries have tried to do the same to education. It was in that spirit that Tessellations, a pre-K to 8th-grade school, was established six years ago with ambitions to be the next big thing for young geniuses. Instead, it has spiraled into lawsuits and bitter feuding. The Wall Street Journal told the tale of how “Silicon Valley’s brightest parents broke their own school.”
5.
Technology writer Jasmine Sun spent three months talking to dozens of researchers, economists, and policy experts about what artificial intelligence is going to mean for workers. The so-called San Francisco consensus is bleak. Most people, Sun wrote in the New York Times, “think the median person is screwed.” She continued: “Many are convinced that advanced A.I. will soon surpass human capabilities. This would produce tremendous growth and scientific achievement, but it would also displace millions of jobs as fewer humans are needed to make the economy run.”
Southern California
6.
Cole Allen, the Torrance man accused of trying to kill President Trump, donated $25 to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. He liked The Onion and the New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie. He reposted criticism of Hasan Piker, a commentator many liberals deride as too extreme. A former colleague described Allen as a “normal-ass dude.” The Atlantic’s Ali Breland said Allen is the latest example of a relatively new phenomenon, “normie extremism,” in which people who hold otherwise mainstream political views carry out acts of political violence.
- Attorneys for Allen disputed allegations that he fired a weapon. Video of the incident “seems to show no muzzle flash” from a shotgun, they said. Washington Post
7.
Several Los Angeles City Council members are pushing a proposal to give noncitizens the right to vote in city and school board elections. Proponents argue that unauthorized immigrants who pay taxes and send their kids to school should be included in decisions that affect their families. Opponents say the idea undermines the very concept of citizenship. If the measure makes it into law, legal challenges are certain. After San Francisco became the largest U.S. city to allow noncitizens voting in 2018, the law was struck down as unconstitutional, then restored on appeal. L.A. Times
8.
“Once I see an opportunity, I’m like a shark in the water, a dog with a bone. I see what I want. I take it.”
“Girls were supposed to be interchangeable. One exits, another enters. Circle of life in LA.”
“Your dignity gets real flexible when there’s that much cash on the table.”
Jim Newton, a veteran Los Angeles reporter, read Spencer Pratt’s new memoir, which is quoted above. “He does not impress,” Newton wrote of the reality television star turned L.A. mayoral hopeful. “The Pratt of these pages — in his own words — is selfish, undisciplined and unprincipled. He deflects blame, squanders fortunes, and complains.” CalMatters
9.
The tallest player in college basketball history just signed to play for UC Irvine. At 7-foot-9, the Canadian Olivier Rioux, 20, stands 5 inches higher than the NBA big man Victor Wembanyama. He was a fan favorite with the Florida Gators, for whom he played sparingly over the last season. In November, the crowd went wild when he got his first point, a free throw. He drew a similar reaction went he threw down a dunk during the March tournament. A.P. | ESPN
10.
Since at least August 2024, there’s been a mosaic portrait of Jim Jones on a cement planter outside an elementary school in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood. Like others who encountered it, reporter Hayes Davenport was bewildered: Who would go to the trouble to depict a cult leader who orchestrated the mass suicide of more than 900 people in 1978? Davenport’s investigation led to a secretive artist who goes by Regur Mortes. His explanation began with, “I’m a horror fanatic.” L.A. Material
11.
Los Angeles is poised to host the world’s first museum of artificial intelligence arts. After two years of planning, Dataland will occupy 35,000 square feet in The Grand LA, a $1 billion complex designed by Frank Gehry in the city’s downtown. Refik Anadol, the museum’s co-founder, said it would reveal the “true creative potential of human and machine collaboration.” The effort arrives at a time of growing public skepticism of AI, owing not least to warnings that it could wipe out humanity. Opening day is June 20. NPR | L.A. Times
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- Casey Harrell was a new father when A.L.S. stole his mobility, then his voice. In 2023, he agreed to have electrodes implanted in his brain as a way to discern what he was trying to say. When he was ready to test the software, Harrell was asked to read the words on a screen. It worked so well that he fell to tears. S.F. Chronicle
- About a month ago, a 2,000-pound Steller sea lion swam up to the docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco and decided to stay. People noticed immediately: The giant specimen is about three times the size of his California sea lion dockmates. The Wall Street Journal told the story of the giant sea lion known as Chonkers.
- Two foil surfers riding off Carpinteria had a scare last weekend when a great white shark chased one of the men for several minutes. At first, Ron Takeda thought a dolphin was behind him before his friend, who captured the drama on video, confirmed the terrifying reality. “Don’t fall!” he shouted. KEYT | Santa Barbara Independent
- The Oakland Zoo has taken in two tiny orphaned mountain lion cubs, who immediately amassed an army of fans on social media. One cub, a male dubbed Crimson, was likely abandoned by his mother. He was missing several toes. Clover, a female, was found emaciated and infested with ticks. They are both now on the mend after intensive care. SFist
- A pair of travel journalists drove the Big Sur coast — 120 miles from Morro Bay to Carmel — with stops including Hearst Castle, Henry Miller Memorial Library, Nepenthe, and Pfeiffer Beach. Their trip report includes some fantastic photography. 👉 N.Y. Times
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