Good morning. It’s Thursday, Oct. 29.
- Dolores Huerta remembered as a mentor to thousands.
- Judge calls noncitizen claims “unproven” and “not credible.”
- And joyful photos from the crowning of the “Rose Queen.”
Please note: The newsletter will be off on Friday. Back in your inbox on Monday.
Statewide
1.
Dolores Huerta died. The labor organizer founded the United Farm Workers with César Chavez, leading strikes and boycotts in the 1960s and ’70s that won better wages and working conditions for California’s migrant laborers. Huerta became a folk hero depicted in murals and celebrated for her rallying cry “Sí, se puede!” — or “Yes, we can!” The dark side of her relationship with Chavez emerged only this year, when revelations that he had sexually abused teenage girls led Huerta to acknowledge that he had raped her. She had kept it quiet, she said, “because I just didn’t want to hurt the movement.” Huerta was surrounded by family at her home in Bakersfield. She was 96. N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
- A “living legend,” “a mentor to thousands,” “a force to be reckoned with”: tributes poured in for Huerta. O.C. Register | KQED | A.P.
- See a photo gallery on the life of Dolores Huerta.
2.
In a scathing ruling on Wednesday, a federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s effort to exclude the California ballots of 20,000 people it claims are not U.S. citizens. Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, said the government’s allegations were “unproven” and “not credible.” The administration’s demand, he wrote, “would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.” L.A. Times | CalMatters
3.
A mental health organization commissioned a survey to discover which places California residents feel the most grounded and at peace. These are more than just beautiful places, the group said — they are “spiritual homes.” For outdoor enthusiasts, the top five choices are likely elicits nods of recognition. What stands out is their variety — a clifftop, a lake, a redwood forest, a desert, and a waterfall that spills into the Pacific — a testament to the bounty of America’s most geographically diverse state. Sacramento Bee
4.
Nathaniel Philbrick’s new account of the Gold Rush has arrived at a fortuitous moment to help make sense of the artificial-intelligence boom of the 2020s. The New Yorker writes:
“The headlong haste with which those Nantucket whalers picked up their lives and went West was representative, Philbrick argues, of a new and distinctly American appetite for speed, novelty, and transformation, one that has defined our character and shaped our future from the time of the forty-niners to the planned Anthropic I.P.O.”
Northern California
5.
Luis Arreguin, a 54-year-old with a wife and four children, has called Fresno home since he was 5 years old. On Oct. 1, federal immigration agents arrested him while he was on his way to work and deported him 16 days later. Last week, he clutched a bible inside the downtown cathedral in Mexicali. It was the first time he’d seen the building since he left Mexico as a child. Arreguin doesn’t speak Spanish. He has no idea what to do, he said: “My whole life got destroyed.” CalMatters
6.
With Democrats pushing to take control of Congress, tech companies are recalibrating their relationships with ICE in anticipation of a new balance of power in Washington. Over the past year, ICE has scoured Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms for speech that could endanger its mission and demanding that the companies turn over user information. In many cases, the tech firms complied too readily, critics say. Now Democrats are teeing up investigations. “They need to be prepared to say, under oath, why they did what they did,” said Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Democrat. Wall Street Journal
7.
As Southern California communities scramble to buttress the coast with trucked sand and boulders, Humboldt County is acknowledging defeat and surrendering one of its roads to the sea. Generations of families have driven down Centerville Road to reach Centerville Beach County Park. But after erosion ate away at the bluffs, county supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to abandon repairs and explore moving the road inland. The weathering of the cliffs, said Supervisor Steve Madrone, is “just mind boggling.” S.F. Chronicle | Eureka Times-Standard
Southern California
8.
The 2025 Los Angeles fires exposed about 7 million people to concentrations of lead 80 times higher than normal, Caltech researchers found in a new study. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that fires in urban settings are uniquely toxic. The levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin, were shockingly high, researchers said, given that they are typically at or near zero. “When I first saw the lead trend, I thought I had done something wrong,” said Haroula Baliaka, the study’s lead author. Washington Post | A.P.
9.
Mayor Karen Bass has erased the double-digit lead of her challenger Nithya Raman in the race for Los Angeles mayor, a new poll found. In September, a Berkeley IGS/L.A. Times poll showed that Raman, a Democratic Socialist, had surged far ahead of the moderate incumbent, sending shock waves through the city’s political establishment. In a survey conducted in late October, the same pollsters found the candidates in a dead heat, each with 40% support of likely voters. Mark DiCamillo, the survey’s director, said conservatives were getting off the sidelines and backing Bass. L.A. Times
10.
The latest hot property of curiosity in the Southern California desert is shaped like an avocado. The curved home is the result of a minimalist challenge: What happens when a home is designed around just three circles? Somewhere along the way, the design began to resemble an avocado. Wallpaper* published a photo series on the hilltop home with stunning views above the Yucca Valley.
- The Avacado House is being offered on Airbnb.
11.
Unlike most Los Angeles landmarks, the Hollywood sign does not accept visitors. Yet they arrive in droves, and residents in the Hollywood Hills have had enough of the traffic, littering, and selfie-taking. On Monday, a group of Hollywood sign neighbors filed a legal complaint against the city and elected officials, accusing them of allowing nuisance conditions to grow unabated. “They are at their wits’ end,” said Ilan Wurman, an attorney for the group of roughly 100 residents. L.A. Times
12.
Each fall, per longstanding tradition, a young woman is selected to be the “Rose Queen” of Pasadena’s annual Rose Parade. Hundreds apply and subject themselves to interviews in hopes of being chosen by a committee of the Tournament of Roses. On Tuesday, the honor went to 17-year-old Irene Maddox, a senior at Eagle Rock High. Her reaction to the announcement made for a heartwarming photo series in the O.C. Register, reproduced below.
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