Good morning. It’s Friday, Feb. 6.
- Dozens of earthquakes leave San Ramon “quake drunk.”
- Anthropic surges ahead in artificial intelligence race.
- And a Laguna Beach diver makes friends with a seal.
Northern California
1.
San Francisco teachers are planning to strike on Monday for the first time in decades, barring a last-minute contract deal, labor leaders said on Thursday. “We did not come to this decision lightly,” said Cassondra Curiel, the president of United Educators of San Francisco. While many parents said they support the teachers, some complained that a strike would make pawns of families. Meredith Dodson, head of the SF Parents Coalition, cited the pandemic school closures. “We don’t want to see our city’s kids harmed by adult disagreements yet again,” she wrote. S.F. Chronicle | KQED
2.
Since November, the Bay Area city of San Ramon has been jolted by repeated clusters of earthquakes, including 75 on Monday alone. Seismologists say the rumblings do not presage a major quake, caused by the sudden release of stress along a major fault. Instead, they believe the disturbance is being caused by fluid moving through the earth. Even, so it’s unsettling to residents who have described feeling “quake drunk.” “Everyone is really on edge here,” said resident Seema Sophia Aggarwal. N.Y. Times
3.
Once a distant second or third in the artificial intelligence race, Anthropic is now moving to the front, the Wall Street Journal reported. On Monday, the San Francisco company’s release of new AI plugins tailored to specific industries, including one that performs legal services, triggered a global stock selloff on fears that AI could supplant whole industries. The viral moment, said AI researcher Dean Ball, “is the most important thing that’s happened in AI since ChatGPT’s launch.”
- Anthropic unveiled Super Bowl ads taunting rival OpenAI. They’re pretty amusing. Ars Technica
4.
Between November and January, 39 people in California have been severely sickened from eating death cap mushrooms. Four patients died, and three required liver transplants, officials said. The poisonings amount to the largest such outbreak in California in at least four decades, experts say. Heavy November rains and warm winter temperatures are thought to have roused copious mushrooms. For naive foragers, deaths caps are alluring, said Debbie Viess, a mycologist: “They look good and they taste good.” S.F. Chronicle
5.
Every week, Juleon Cotillon visits Costco with his girlfriend to shop and enjoy the box store’s popular $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo. But it’s nearly impossible to score a table — which gave the Bay Area pastry chef an idea. Using a 3D printer, Cotillon fashioned a food-and-drink tray that fits on the top rack of a Costco shopping cart. He offered the trays, dubbed “The Buck Fifty,” for $19.69 on social media, where they were a sensation. Now he may quit his job. “I honestly cannot grasp how weird it’s all been,” Cotillon said. “It’s like being in the center of a tornado.” SFGATE
Southern California
6.
A 92-year-old driver collided with a bicycle in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, then lost control and slammed into a grocery store, leaving three people dead and another six injured, the authorities said. Capt. Anthony Espinoza described the incident as “an unfortunate accident.” Drugs and alcohol were ruled out as factors, police sources said. The dead included two men, ages 30 and 55, and a 42-year-old woman, all of whom were in a 99 Ranch Market store when they were hit, officials said. A.P. | NBC4
7.
UCLA recently fired a DEI director over comments he posted to social media in the days after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot. “Good riddance,” Johnathan Perkins wrote in one post. In another, he wrote: “I’m always glad when bigots die.” Perkins’ termination letter cited violations of policies on “workplace violence,” including posts that “referenced or appeared to endorse violence or death.” Perkins, a lawyer, said he plans to sue, arguing that he was exercising his right to free speech. L.A. Times | California Post
8.
In the 1991 comedy “L.A. Story,” Steve Martin proposes “a kind of cultural tour of L.A.” His British love interest responds: “That’s the first 15 minutes, then what?” “In fact,” writes New York Times critic Jason Farago, “Los Angeles is home to the country’s best orchestra, its foremost art schools, and a brilliant book review.” Farago shared his “5 favorite places for art in Los Angeles,” including the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, pictured above.
9.
Over the past six months, a diver in Laguna Beach has struck up what he can only describe as a friendship with a white harbor seal. Rusty Hunter said he’s had about 10 encounters with the seal, known as Waffles, and each time the marine mammal has become more playful, resting his head on Hunter and putting his snout on his face mask. “It’s hard to deny there’s some sort of connection,” Hunter said. “It’s almost like asking if you and your dog have a bond. There’s something there.” O.C. Register
- See video of the seal interactions.
10.
Running parallel to the coast between Orange and Riverside counties, the Santa Ana Mountains are among the more diminutive California ranges. But they are enchanting: a landscape of oak, manzanita, fragrant sages, and abundant wildlife set apart from dense surrounding development. Sierra Peak, pictured above, is a favorite among hikers. The summit is the northernmost of the range, with brilliant vistas of the the San Bernardino Mountains, downtown L.A., and even the Channel Islands off the coast. A YouTuber published a nice trip report with drone views.
11.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked with Danny Goldberg, author the new book “Liberals with Attitude: The Rodney King Beating and the Fight for the Soul of Los Angeles.” Goldberg connected the inflection point of the King beating — when a politically diverse coalition came together to say, “Enough” — to the events now unfolding in Minneapolis. “I do take inspiration from what the people did in L.A. in the early 1990s … I do believe at the end of the day good can win out,” he said.
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- Condé Nast Traveler named the 41 best Airbnbs in California, based on guest reviews, location, amenities, and other factor. They included an architectural stunner in Yucca Valley, pictured above.
- More and more Californians are surreptitiously installing “plug-in solar” at their homes. Also known as balcony solar, the systems plug into wall outlets and can save hundreds of dollars a year on utility bills. In January, state lawmakers introduced a bill to allow the units without utility authorization. Bloomberg
- After California voted to gerrymander its congressional map, Rep. Jared Huffman, a progressive Democrat from Marin County, found his district redrawn to include some of the state’s reddest areas. Undaunted, he drove five hours to woo Trump-loving locals in Modoc County. S.F. Chronicle
- Kristen Stewart bought and is restoring a historic movie theater in Los Angeles. The Highland Theatre, which opened in 1925, was a neighborhood fixture before closing in 2024. “It’s not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles,” Stewart told Architectural Digest. “I see it as an antidote to all the corporate bullshit.”
- At a canine longevity conference in San Diego in October, there was a booth offering $295 “torches” that can be inserted into a dog’s anus to reduce inflammation. WSJ. Magazine delved into San Diego’s “wild world of pet wellness.”
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