Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 15.
- Governor plans pullback from Medi-Cal for all migrants.
- A disgraced police officer costs Ukiah dearly.
- And Santa Monica embraces public drinking proposal.
Statewide
1.
In 2024, California became the first state to offer free health insurance to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status.
Roughly a year later, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration revealed that the cost of extending the coverage had far exceeded expectations.
On Wednesday, with California’s fiscal outlook worsening, Newsom acknowledged what many already deemed inevitable: cuts are coming. Under his proposal, Medi-Cal enrollments for undocumented migrants would freeze, and those with existing policies would have to start paying $100 a month. Immigrant advocates called the pullback a betrayal. Politico | CalMatters
- Other steps proposed by Newsom: reduce newsroom funding; cut reproductive health services; freeze state worker pay; and end coverage of weight loss drugs.
2.
A burgeoning marketplace in historic downtown San Juan Capistrano. A “little Switzerland” in the Eastern Sierra. And a town lined with open-air tasting rooms, galleries, and Victorian architecture in the bucolic Santa Ynez Valley.
Afar gave six picks for “underrated ways to experience California without the crowds.”
Northern California
3.
In 2021, Kevin Murray, then an officer in the Ukiah Police Department, was fired after being accused of barging into a hotel room and sexually assaulting a woman. Other accusations followed: he was said to have raped another woman while brandishing a gun, sexually assaulted a colleague during a work training trip, and stored meth in a police locker. A series of lawsuits ended up costing Ukiah dearly, SFGATE reported: “One officer’s crimes cost the city nearly a third of its annual police funding.”
4.
In conversations with dozens of engineers, founders, and investors in the Bay Area, there was surpringly little fretting about developments coming out of Washington, wrote the Atlantic:
“Sure, tariffs are stupid. Yes, democracy may be under threat. But: What matters far more is artificial general intelligence, or AGI, vaguely understood as software able to perform most human labor that can be done from a computer.”
5.
“It’s been known that if you want someone disappearing — whether you dump their body here, whether you kill somebody, it’s kind of a black hole for the county, that they just don’t respond here.”
Three and a half years ago, Emmilee Risling, a 32-year-old Hoopa woman, disappeared on an Indian reservation along the rugged North Coast while suffering through a mental health crisis. More than three years later, she has become the face of a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. N.Y. Times
6.
A massive search effort was mounted in the Sierra Nevada east of Fresno after Tiffany Slaton, a 27-year-old from Georgia on a solo camping trip, was reported missing by her family on April 29. As days stretched into weeks, many feared the worst. Then on Wednesday, Slaton was found in a wilderness cabin, dehydrated but otherwise fine. She was said to have sought refuge from harsh weather and was oblivious to the panic over her disappearance. When she finally made contact with her father, she said: “Dad, I’m alive and I’m sorry.” Fresno Bee | WMAZ
7.
In March, San Francisco permanently banned cars from a scenic oceanfront roadway to create a 55-acre park, called Sunset Dunes. Already, it has become the third-most-visited park in the city’s portfolio. Even so, detractors are trying to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio, whose district adjacent to the park overwhelmingly opposed the change. Engardio said it’s only a matter of time before more people learn to love the space, even if he’s out of a job. “When I’m old and retired,” he said. “I’m going to sit out here with my husband and enjoy this park.” Bloomberg
Southern California
8.
Steve Pougnet, the Democratic mayor of Palm Springs from 2007 to 2015, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to accepting bribes from real estate developers in exchange for his support of building projects. In all, he collected roughly $375,000, prosecutors said. For years, Pougnet denied wrongdoing, saying he was proud of his role in revitalizing the city’s downtown. Despite admitting to more than a dozen felonies, Pougnet was not expected to face prison time, an official said. KESQ | Palm Springs Post
9.
Along the western edge of Carlsbad, a suburb just north of San Diego, the sea is mounting an invasion. Slabs of pavement spill over crumbling cliffs, and high tides send the ocean rushing onto the highway. “No matter what your perspective is on climate, the coastline is eroding,” said Tom Frank, the city’s chief engineer. But rather than barricade the beach, Carlsbad is planning a retreat: moving a stretch of its Pacific-hugging highway inland. The project is being watched closely as a potential model for coastal communities all along California. Bloomberg
10.
The billionaire owner of the L.A. Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, boasted on social media about meeting with President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia this week. Soon-Shiong said he was honored to meet bin Salman and praised the kingdom’s “wonderful” conference of business titans. U.S. intelligence concluded that bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Former Times journalists called Soon-Shiong’s flattery of the prince “shameful” and “beyond obscene.” Politico
11.
Santa Monica’s City Council approved a plan on Wednesday to allow public drinking along its Third Street Promenade, making it the first “entertainment zone” in Southern California under a new state law designed to help downtowns bounce back from the pandemic. The promenade, a once-thriving center of shops and restaurants, has seen declining foot traffic for years. One critic said the plan would turn a family-friendly shopping destination into a “magnet for crime and chaos.” L.A. Times | KABC
12.
LAX, one of the busiest airports in the world, used to be a prime place for Uber and Lyft drivers to earn decent money. Then, in 2019, the airport introduced a new system in an effort to reduce traffic: Instead of curb pickups, passengers would take a shuttle to a “holding pen” of waiting drivers. The result has been a cacophony of honking, yelling, and desperation, as hundreds of drivers wait hours to be matched with riders. “You have to take care of the family,” said Andreh Andrias, a 57-year-old Uber driver from Iran. “Right now, I cannot.” N.Y. Times
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