Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 29.
- California braces for a widespread heat wave.
- San Francisco retreats from “equity” grading plan.
- And a report on the other great California road trip.
Statewide
1.
President Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of Imaad Zuberi, a Los Angeles venture capitalist who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for funneling foreign money into U.S. political campaigns and skimming off the top for himself. Zuberi, 54, had been a major supporter of Democrats, before jumping on the Trump bandwagon after his 2016 victory. He gave more than $1.1 million to committees linked to the president and the GOP. Pay to play, he once explained to clients, was just “how America work(s).” N.Y. Times
2.
California is about to get hit by a burst of intense heat. Starting on Thursday, temperatures are expected to surge as much as 20 degrees in just 24 hours, peaking on Friday and Saturday before cooling down on Sunday. “With temperatures ramping up quickly, it’s the kind of shift that can catch people off guard,” wrote meteorologist Greg Porter. The Friday forecast called for highs of 106 degrees in Redding, 94 degrees in San Jose, 101 in Paso Robles, and 87 in Los Angeles. S.F. Chronicle | Accuweather
- A golf resort in Indian Wells introduced a new approach to surviving the summer: misting systems for individual golf carts. Desert Sun
3.
“A world apart from the clogged coastline, Highway 395 winds from the lapis water of Lake Tahoe to the sky-high summit of Mount Whitney. This is the road that in-the-know mountain ramblers take to avoid the high-season throngs of Sequoia and Big Sur.”
The Wall Street Journal did a nice write-up with photos on “the other great California road trip.”
Northern California
4.
San Francisco school officials abandoned plans to pilot an alternative grading system after a wave of backlash online. “Grading for equity,” as it’s known, aims to emphasize mastery of subject matter rather than compliance with rules. That could mean allowing students to retake tests or redo assignments, while imposing no penalty for late work. Parents and teachers have given the approach mixed reviews.
But when news of San Francisco’s plan spread on X on Tuesday, right-wing influencers pounced on it as an example of liberal overreach. Before long, Bay Area Democrats piled on, with Rep. Ro Khanna calling the initiative a betrayal of the American dream. By midday Wednesday, Superintendent Maria Su announced the pullback, citing “misinformation” about the pilot program. S.F. Chronicle
5.
The Wall Street Journal traced President Trump’s war on universities to a single punch at UC Berkeley in February 2019.
It was then that Berkeley student Hayden Williams set up a table to recruit students to join Turning Point USA, the youth-outreach group founded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk. A young man in a black shirt taunted Williams, then punched him in the face. Video of the attack went viral. Kirk recalled Trump saying at the time, We’ve got to do something about this.
6.
Dario Amodei, the Princeton-educated physicist who heads the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, is worried that people are failing to understand what AI is about to unleash. In an interview published on Wednesday, he predicted that half of all entry-level white-collar jobs could be wiped out in the next five years. “It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it,” said Amodei. He envisioned a world where a substantial part of the population is simply shut out of the workforce. “Inequality becomes scary,” he said. Axios
7.
State wildlife officials announced the discovery of three new wolf packs in the far northern part of California, bringing to number of confirmed packs statewide to 10. The first wolf returned to California in 2011 after an 87-year absence. The Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday called the comeback a “renaissance.” The area the wolves have have returned to, however, is largely agricultural, posing new conflicts for ranchers whose livestock present easy prey. S.F. Chronicle | Mercury News
8.
A hidden gem tucked below tall bluffs in Half Moon Bay. A remote shorefront with fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge. And a classic Northern California coastal landscape where the river meets the sea.
The San Francisco Chronicle analyzed Google Maps ratings and reviews for a ranking of the 10 best beaches in the Bay Area.
Southern California
9.
Big rig driver Ruben Diaz used to haul two container loads of goods a day from the San Pedro Bay port complex. Nowadays, he is struggling to move two loads a week — and for less pay. “I am just surviving,” he said. President Trump’s trade war is already choking Southern California’s port economy, as shipping companies have cancelled dozens of vessels from China. That means fewer hours for dockworkers, truckers, and warehouse employees, and less business for restaurants and repair shops. Wall Street Journal | CalMatters
- A panel of federal judges on Wednesday ruled Trump’s tariffs illegal, saying he had overstepped his authority. The administration immediately appealed. N.Y. Times | A.P.
10.
A growing body of research suggests that simply breathing the air in Imperial Beach may be harmful. The coastal community has become the center of one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters, as roughly 50 million gallons of sewage and industrial waste flow across the border via the Tijuana River every day. A new study found that air and sea spray samples contained illicit drugs and chemicals from tires and personal care products. “Often the sewage crisis is considered a water issue — and it is — but we show that it’s in the air too,” said Jonathan Slade, a co-author. S.D. Union-Tribune | N.Y. Times
11.
The shrinking of the Colorado River has been a slow-motion crisis for Southern California, which draws roughly a third of its water supply from the river. But even larger water losses have occurred underground, researchers found. According to a study published Tuesday, the amount of water pumped and drained from the Colorado River Basin since 2003 is comparable to the total capacity of Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. “The picture of what’s happening is pretty dire,” said Jay Famiglietti, a study author. L.A. Times | Washington Post
12.
The family owners of a jewelry store in Simi Valley are reeling after thieves burrowed into the business from an adjacent coffee shop in an overnight heist Sunday, making off with more than $2 million dollars in valuables. Owner Jonathan Youssef said they were priced out of carrying insurance. He choked back tears recalling the sacrifices that his father, 71, made to build the business before handing it down to him. “It’s a hit,” he said. “It was his retirement, my future. I have a young family, three daughters. It’s a lot.” KTLA
- A fundraiser is collecting donations for the family.
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