Good morning. It’s Monday, Sept. 8.
- West Point group cancels award ceremony for Tom Hanks.
- Planned tower tears Marin County community apart.
- And vintage pictures of the “beach bums” of San Onofre.
Statewide
1.
Republicans are already virtually powerless in California, shut out of statewide office and overshadowed by a Democratic supermajority in both legislative houses. During their party’s annual convention in Orange County over the weekend, they pondered an even bleaker future in which redrawn congressional districts rob them of as many as five House seats. “It’s a guillotine,” said Dale Quasny, a party delegate. “We won’t be able to pick up the pieces and move forward. I mean, we were making a little headway, but this would be a catastrophe.” Politico | L.A. Times
2.
By at least one measure, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s open mockery of President Trump has been a wild success: it has made him the talk of the 2028 presidential campaign. An analysis found that influencers on both the left and the right are talking about Newsom more than any other potential candidate since the start of Trump’s second term. The president himself has also directed an unusual amount of attention at Newsom, mentioning him more than rivals such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kamala Harris, or JB Pritzker. Washington Post
- “Do you think he can be the guy?” Democrats have become obsessed with Newsom, the Hill reported.
3.
John Burton, a powerful Democrat who championed progressive causes for decades in the U.S. Congress and California statehouse, died on Sunday. As a leader of a party machine that dominated California politics, Burton nurtured many careers over the years, including those of Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, and Kamala Harris. Rumpled and often rude, he was notorious for punctuating sentences with expletives. In 2017, he led a chant of “fuck Donald Trump.” In an interview that year, he said his reputation for cussing was overblown. “I’m the guy who gets shit done,” he said. Burton was 92. L.A. Times | S.F. Chronicle | N.Y. Times
Northern California
4.
“If I live to 25, I’ve lived a good life.””
On the eve of his 25th birthday, Joel Eisiminger learned that he had acute myeloid leukemia, an often fatal blood cancer that usually strikes people more than twice his age. He had one apparent risk factor: his job as a wildland firefighter. Sick, broke, and facing months of treatment, he filed an insurance claim. The response: “Your work is not the major contributing cause of your claimed disease.” Unpaid bills piled up. Months later, after his oncologist told him he was in remission, Eisiminger made up his mind: He was going back to firefighting. N.Y. Times
5.
The alumni association at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point cancelled an award ceremony for the Bay Area actor Tom Hanks. The group cited the Army’s need to “focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win.” Hanks, 69, has a long history of supporting veterans, including roles as spokesman for the World War II Memorial in D.C. and as chairman of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign. But he has also criticized President Trump. “I feel for everyone at West Point trying to navigate an administration whose decisions are capricious and cruel,” said Ty Seidule, a professor emeritus at West Point. Washington Post | NPR
6.
A proposal to build a six-story apartment tower is tearing the small Marin County town of Fairfax apart. The building, which would loom over downtown mom-and-pop shops of no more than three stories, has advanced amid pressure to comply with state mandates for more housing. But even town leaders who backed the tower hate it. “The design is cookie-cutter, cheap, and does not fit within the aesthetic,” said Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman. She is now facing a recall vote over the project. Wall Street Journal
7.
Coyotes are swimming the roughly 1-mile distance between the mainland and Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. The first known coyote swam out from the Tiburon peninsula in 2017, stunning and delighting park rangers. It was later joined by a companion, and they produced a litter of at least 14 coyotes whose songs now echo across the 1.2-square-mile island. Last week brought another milestone: park staff captured video of a resident coyote in the act of a swimming jaunt far off the island. SFGATE
8.
It’s been called Sacramento’s Golden Gate Bridge. And for one night each year the capital city’s most visible landmark, the Tower Bridge, is closed to cars and and decked out with dinner tables for the Tower Bridge Dinner. Tickets to the gala are highly coveted, even if motorists grumble over the detour. KCRA paid a visit to this year’s event, which took place on Sunday.
- Food & Wine recently called Sacramento one of America’s “next great food cities.” The city, it wrote, “has become a haven for talented chefs drawn by unparalleled access to the state’s farm-fresh ingredients and substantially lower operating costs.”
Southern California
9.
The Los Angeles Police Department halted its protection of former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday after officers harshly criticized the arrangement. Roughly a dozen LAPD officers began protecting Harris last week after President Trump revoked her security service detail. “We are happy to report that the Metro officers assigned to protect the multimillionaire failed presidential candidate are back on the street fighting crime,” the Los Angeles Police Protective League said on Saturday. Mayor Karen Bass said it was always intended to be temporary. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
10.
Terence Tao, known as the “Mozart of Math,” is widely regarded as the world’s greatest mathematician. A professor at UCLA, he’s been working on esoteric problems so hard it takes a Ph.D. to understand them. Lately, however, his focus has been on the mundane problem of fundraising. Tao’s stature in the field did not spare him from the Trump administration’s drive to punish UCLA over accusations of discrimination. This summer, he didn’t have enough money to fund his own salary, he told the Washington Post.
11.
In November 2022, Joe’s Service Center in Altadena sold the largest lottery jackpot in American history — $2.04 billion. Two years later, when the Eaton fire tore through the area, the blaze stopped a few lots away from the gas station. Since then, many lottery players have become convinced that the business possesses some sort of lucky charm. As the latest Powerball soared toward $2 billion, people lined up at Joe’s in the dozens. The New York Times profiled “what some might call the luckiest gas station in America.”
12.
In July 1950, LIFE magazine sent photographer Loomis Dean to San Onofre to capture the curious ways of the “beach bum.” He returned from the legendary San Diego County surf break with images of what looked like paradise, where tanned surfers rode waves all day and drank beer into the night to the sound of ukuleles. “By taking jobs nearby as packers, lifeguards, bartenders, they earn just enough to fill their cups and stomachs and gas tanks of the trucks in which they live and sleep,” the magazine wrote. The Instagram account Forgotten Los Angeles recently shared a selection of Loomis’ “beach bum” photos in two batches.
- See many more here. 👉 Google Arts & Culture
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