Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 15.
- Boat accident leads to tragedy in San Francisco Bay.
- OpenAI plans movable device with a “personality.”
- And bald eagle population thrives on Channel Islands.
Statewide
1.
“There was no doubt in my mind that I was in imminent danger.”
Law enforcement agencies in Southern California have made a common practice of sending undercover agents into prisons to extract confessions from criminal suspects, a CalMatters investigation found. The agents are commonly physically larger than their targets and pose as gang members with a history of violence. The result is a threatening atmosphere in which Miranda rights are evaded and confessors are manipulated through deception and fear, critics say.
2.
The University of California on Tuesday moved up its deadline to reconsider its elimination of SAT testing in admissions, after campus leaders were criticized for foot-dragging on faculty demands to revive the requirement. The review is now expected by June 2027. During the meeting of the Board of Regents, a procession of STEM professors said incoming freshmen were arriving on campus unprepared for college-level work. “Our introductory courses are forced to reteach elementary and middle school material,” said Mina Aganagic, a physics and math professor at UC Berkeley. L.A. Times | CalMatters
3.
In the dusty farming town of Avenal, where three recalled City Council members have refused to leave office, Ricardo Verdugo, the only councilman to survive the recall, called a meeting to order in an elementary school cafeteria last week. The first item of business: naming a new mayor. “I make a motion to appoint myself,” Verdugo said. “And I second that motion.” Verdugo’s bid to launch what amounts to a rival government was the latest twist in a power struggle that has stretched on for months. Wall Street Journal
4.
Weddings in government buildings are booming in California, a trend driven by the soaring costs of traditional ceremonies. Popular venues include San Francisco’s Beaux-Arts City Hall, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin County Civic Center, and the enchanting Spanish-Moorish courthouse in Santa Barbara. Supervisor Roy Lee, whose office is across the street from the courthouse, said the demand for boutique legal ceremonies had exploded in recent years. “We see dozens a day, starting at 8 o’clock in the morning,” he said. “I see them line up right there outside the doors.” L.A. Times
Northern California
5.
A boat carrying 20 mostly family members who had gathered to spread the ashes of a loved one sank in rough seas in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday, leaving one person dead and another three unaccounted for, officials said. The Volare, a 49-foot cabin cruiser, had departed from the northern shore of San Francisco before being hit by a wave and capsizing about 600 yards from Alcatraz Island, officials said. Steve Jones, a local sailor, said the area can be “very treacherous for any kind of boat,” especially now, since the Bay Area is experiencing king tides. N.Y. Times | S.F. Chronicle
6.
California lawmakers are begging the premier of Quebec to lift the Canadian province’s ban on U.S. alcohol sales, which is costing California winemakers dearly. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents Napa and Sonoma counties, appealed to Premier Christine Frechette’s sense of comity. In the U.S.-Canada trade war, he said, California is on Canada’s side. But she is not backing down. “This measure will remain in place as long as the United States maintains these unjustified tariffs,” a spokesperson said. Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, struck a similar tone. “We won’t back down,” he told reporters in June. CBC
7.
OpenAI’s first device will be a portable speaker with a “personality” that grows increasingly proactive as it gains a deeper understanding of its owner, sources told Bloomberg. The speaker will incorporate “mechanical elements that can move on their own, creating a sense that it is alive,” the report said, unnervingly. “The goal is for the device to feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.” At some point down the road, OpenAI hopes to introduce a device to replace the smartphone.
8.
Food critics have been swooning over a year-old pizza place in San Francisco that serves perfect New York-style sourdough crusts. Bon Appétit recently declared Jules home of “the best new pizza in America.” In a video that will make you very hungry, the owner-chef Max Blachman-Gentile comes across as equal parts scientist and artist as he explains his pizza-making process.
9.
“Doesn’t even look real.”
Monsoonal moisture has yielded a run of magnificent sunsets over the Bay Area in the past week, as wispy, low-hanging cloud formations exploded in brilliant pinks, oranges, and purples. Locals have been posting a flood of pictures and videos on social media. A few standouts:
Southern California
10.
A big rig driver who caused a collision on the 10 Freeway in San Bernardino County last October that left three people dead was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly five years in prison. Jashanpreet Singh, an Indian national who entered the country illegally, pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. His crash, which was captured on a dash camera, occurred not long after another deadly accident involving an Indian truck driver from California that set off a partisan clash over immigration policy. L.A. Times | KABC
11.
Chipotle, the Irvine fast-food chain, is opening its first location in Mexico on Thursday. Why, many might wonder, would Mexicans want a version of their own cuisine created by Americans? Sharon Zackfia, a restaurant analyst, said Chipotle potentially offers “a novelty to the Mexican market.” Taco Bell’s experience, however, offers a cautionary tale. It tried repeatedly to break into the Mexican market, and flopped each time. “It’s like bringing ice to the Arctic,” historian Carlos Monsivais told the Associated Press at the time. N.Y. Times
12.
Bald eagles once soared over all eight of the Channel Islands before being all but wiped out by DDT dumping by around 1960. A reintroduction campaign that began in the 1980s established thriving populations on five of the islands. Now that number has grown to six. The first eaglets since the 1950s hatched and fledged on San Miguel Island, the windswept and westernmost of the archipelago, the Institute for Wildlife Studies recently announced. They were named Avila and Modoc. VC Reporter
- See live bald eagle cameras on the Channel Islands.
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