Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 12.
- North State Republican faces rowdy town hall in Chico.
- Stanford plans to keep legacy admissions despite ban.
- And photos of sun-drenched student life in Isla Vista.
Statewide
1.
A military official said on Monday that troops were deployed during an immigration operation in Los Angeles despite no evident need for their assistance. On the first day of a trial over whether the Trump administration violated a law barring the military from civil law enforcement, U.S. Army Major General Scott Sherman testified that he balked at the request for military support. A Customs and Border Patrol official responded by questioning Sherman’s patriotism, he said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ultimately provided approval. Reuters | Politico
2.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to President Trump on Monday offering a path out of the nation’s burgeoning redistricting war. Call off the gerrymandering effort in Texas and California will stand down, Newsom wrote: “You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make. This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy.” KQED | L.A. Times
Northern California
3.
“Liar!”
“Shame!”
“You need to be impeached!”
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican who represents much of California’s rural north, faced a raucous town hall in Chico on Monday as hundreds of people jeered, booed, and hurled obscenities for nearly 90 minutes. Attendees excoriated the lawmaker primarily over his support for President Trump’s budget bill, which they said would devastate rural hospitals and weaken health coverage for the poor. Exasperated by constant disruptions, LaMalfa told the crowd at one point that it was their time: “If you guys want to waste it, you all go ahead.” CalMatters | Sacramento Bee | ABC News
4.
When President Trump moved to deploy the National Guard and take federal control of the police force in Washington, D.C., on Monday, he named other cities that could be next. Among them was Oakland. “They’re so far gone,” Trump said. But just as crime is falling in D.C., so it is in Oakland. Last week, police officials announced that overall crime was down 28% in 2025 compared to the same period last year. Mayor Barbara Lee responded to Trump’s threat, calling it “an attempt to score cheap political points by tearing down communities he doesn’t understand.” Oaklandside | Mercury News
5.
Prisoners inside San Quentin recruited a renowned muralist to bring life to the drab exterior walls of the notorious prison. To their amazement, prison administrators welcomed the idea. “A calmer yard means a safer yard,” one official said. So in June, a South African artist named Faith XLVII went to work on “The Heart of the World,” pictured above. Tony Haro, an inmate who assisted in the project, said it felt like “a piece of freedom.” CalMatters
6.
Stanford University said on Monday that it would forgo state financial aid assistance rather than comply with a new state ban on legacy admissions. The decision to continue preferential treatment for applicants with donor or alumni ties came as Stanford is confronting a $140 million budget shortfall and hundreds of layoffs. Critics say legacy admissions are plainly anti-meritocratic. Brad Hayward, a university spokesperson, told the Stanford Daily there are “important issues on which there are many perspectives.” Mercury News
7.
A 100-foot serpent has risen from a pond in Golden Gate Park. The “Naga” sculpture was originally created for the 2024 Burning Man festival before finding a home in the park last month as part of a new initiative to bring 100 big art installations to San Francisco. The sea serpent reaches peak gloriousness at night, when its body and eyes shimmer with psychedelic lights. See pictures.
Southern California
8.
Los Angeles leaders on Monday announced plans to form protective perimeters around at least 100 schools when classes resume on Thursday in response to recent immigration raids. The plan was unveiled on the same day that federal agents surrounded and handcuffed a 15-year-old boy outside a high school in the San Fernando Valley. It was later described as a case of mistaken identity. That did not mollify school leaders. “Such actions … are absolutely reprehensible and should have no place in our country,” said school board member Kelly Gonez. L.A. Times | EdSource
9.
A federal judge on Monday refused to dismiss charges against a law enforcement officer who was found guilty of assaulting a woman outside a Lancaster supermarket in 2023. Bill Essayli, a staunch supporter of President Trump, had moved to unravel the case against L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk soon after being named U.S. attorney in Los Angeles in April. But U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson called the effort “contrary to the public interest.” He ordered Kirk to report for a four-month prison sentence on Aug. 28. L.A. Times
10.
Bakersfield’s storied Buck Owens Crystal Palace — where Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, George Jones, and a young Taylor Swift have played — is closing its doors, the Owens family announced on Monday. Buck Owens, who died in 2006, opened the nightclub, museum, and steakhouse in 1996, watching it grow into the de facto headquarters of the Bakersfield Sound and a major tourism staple for the city’s downtown. The painful decision to shutter came after a buyer failed to materialize in the 13 months since the venue was listed for $7.5 million. KGET | SFGATE
11.
Isla Vista, home to thousands of UC Santa Barbara students, is a place of youthful exuberance and natural beauty. When the Paris-based photographer Cam Lindfors first visited the coastal enclave, he said it felt like “stepping into a sun-drenched dream.” While photographing students shotgunning beers and swinging from trees over the course of nine months, Lindfors also found a darker side to life in Isla Vista. He called the project “One Half Paradise.” AnOther | i-D magazine
- See more photos from “One Half Paradise.”
12.
A note from Mike:
Thanks for your patience during my absence last week. The family and I did a road trip through far northern California, camping on Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park and along the Eel River in Humboldt County. Drifting down the river one afternoon, with hardly another soul in sight, we found a footbridge leading into a hidden grove of cathedral-like ancient redwoods. It was the sort of vision that makes you stop to catch your breath. It was also a reminder of what a privilege it is to call a place as beautiful as California home.
- “Exceptionally scenic.” See pictures of Children’s Forest grove.
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
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