Good morning. It’s Friday, Aug. 22.
- House redistricting plan is set to go before voters.
- Florida blames California after fatal truck crash.
- And a growing vibe shift on artificial intelligence.
Statewide
1.
State lawmakers on Thursday authorized a Nov. 4 special election asking voters to redraw congressional districts to favor Democrats, cementing California’s role at the center of a nationwide redistricting battle that could tip the balance of power in the House of Representatives. If approved, the new map could flip five of California’s nine Republican-held House seats. Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly signed the legislation, saying he had no choice a day after Texas gerrymandered its districts at President Trump’s behest. “They fired the first shot,” he said. S.F. Chronicle | N.Y. Times
- See how your district might change.
- California Republicans have a simple rebuttal to Democrats who blame Texas for starting the redistricting brawl: Two wrongs don’t make a right. That acknowledgement puts them uncomfortably at odds with their party leader. CalMatters
2.
Florida’s Republican lieutenant governor flew to Stockton on Thursday to personally escort an undocumented immigrant onto a plane for extradition to Florida. Harjinder Singh, a native of India, is accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida on Aug. 12. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins sought to link the deaths to California, where Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license. “Three lives lost because of Gavin Newsom, because of California’s failed policies,” Collins said. Newsom’s office dismissed Collins’ visit as a “photo op.” A.P. | Modesto Bee
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday that the U.S. is pausing all worker visas for commercial truck drivers, calling foreign drivers a danger to American lives. Politico
3.
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked $12.3 million in sexual education funding for California over what it called “radical gender ideology” in the state’s curricula. In a June 20 letter, the administration cited examples of disallowed materials, including wording from a high school lesson: “Remind students that some men are born with female anatomy, some women are born with male anatomy.” A Gov. Gavin Newsom spokesperson said, “If it’s a day ending in y, President Trump is attacking kids’ safety, health, and access to education as part of his culture war.” L.A. Times | Washington Post
Northern California
4.
Last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the b-word. “When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth. … Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes.”
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that options traders have been buying insurance to protect themselves from a plunge in technology stocks.
And on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta just imposed a hiring freeze.
It all appears to add up to a growing vibe shift on the promise of artificial intelligence, several reports said. Ars Technica | SFist
5.
In April, Shasta County, the center of the state’s election denial movement, named a Florida election skeptic named Clint Curtis to be its registrar of voters. A lawyer with no elections experience, Curtis recently unveiled his plan to restore confidence in the county’s electoral process: cameras. Every step of the ballot-counting process would be livestreamed to the public, he said: “I think this can go nationwide and we can basically stop all the hubbub and complaint about elections.” SFGATE
6.
The chemical compound 7-hydroxymitragynine, a derivative of the kratom plant, is more potent than morphine, researchers say. Yet it’s sold over the counter in smoke shops, corner stores, and gas stations across the country. At a Cigarettes for Less in San Francisco, an assortment of kratom products includes tablets in fruit flavorings along with strains that promise “energy” and “focus.” When Dave, a sales director, first tried the drug, it felt “like a limitless pill,” he said. Before long, he was using it around the clock. He lost weight, his skin yellowed, and his hair thinned. Mission Local
7.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked with journalist Scott Alan Lucas about his new book, “Last Night in San Francisco.” For the past two years, Lucas has researched the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee and the myths about San Francisco that it kindled. What was remarkable, he said, “was how wrong people had been about it and how quickly they had been wrong about it. There was real sense that Lee’s death became an excuse for some of the loudest voices in the tech industry to beat up on San Francisco.”
Southern California
8.
Joseph Sanberg, a prominent anti-poverty activist, agreed on Thursday to plead guilty conspiring to bilk investors out of $248 million, prosecutors said. Sanberg, 46, of Orange County, made a fortune investing early in companies like Blue Apron. He later said he found Wall Street hollow and turned his attention to social causes, briefly flirting with a presidential run in 2019. Prosecutors said Sanberg’s financial tech firm, Aspiration Partners, defrauded multiple investors and lenders, inflating the company’s true value. He faces many years in prison. O.C. Register
9.
Erik Menendez was denied parole on Thursday. The parole board said the man convicted of murdering his parents with his older brother in Beverly Hills in 1989 had misbehaved in prison, surreptitiously using a contraband cellphone and using drugs. “Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner, and frankly we find that a little disturbing,” Robert Barton, a commissioner, said during a 10-hour hearing. The board will consider parole for Lyle Menendez today. Reuters | A.P.
10.
Stephen Jakubowski, an unemployed 32-year-old, owes $10,000 in federal loans from a roughly two-year stint at San Diego Christian College more than a decade ago. But he’s ignoring the bills. “I just don’t even care, it’s so far down the radar,” he said. “It’s never been a huge priority.” Jakubowski’s attitude a surprisingly common. Americans owe a total of $1.6 trillion in student loans. But just a third of those receiving bills are paying them. Bloomberg
11.
Baller Hardware, a small family-run hardware store in Los Angeles, has unwittingly become a must-have fashion label as customers flock to buy its branded hats and T-shirts. The merchandise’s popularity has been attributed to what GQ described as “blue collar cosplay.” It may also have something to do with the word Baller, a family name, which also carries the slang meaning of someone living well. Craig Cowie, the store’s owner, is as befuddled as anyone, he said: “I can honestly say there is no other garment that I see more frequently than ours around town.” SFGATE
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- Bobcats, California natives found throughout the state, are astoundingly agile. Robert Dlugos, a wildlife photographer in Orange County, posted trail-camera footage of the moment a bobcat leaped into the air to swat a passing bird out of the sky. See it here.
- One of the oldest living things on Earth sits off a remote dirt road in the Mojave Desert. The King Clone, a scraggly creosote bush, began its life nearly 12,000 years ago. Yet apart from a metal fence affixed with a yellow placard that reads “ecological reserve,” there’s nothing to suggest the significance of the site. SFGATE
- A Giants outfielder caught a ball between his knees on Sunday. When Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz drove a pitch deep into the outfield, Jung Hoo Lee went into a slide to make the catch. But the ball popped out of his glove, after which Lee somehow managed to pin it between his knees. See it here. 👉 MLB.com
- Nearly 10 square miles of mountains, beaches, forests, and prairie along the Santa Cruz coast just opened to the public. Known as Cotoni-Coast Dairies, the park’s opening marks the end of a decades-long effort to keep a former ranch and adjacent lands free of development. It’s said to be spectacular. S.F. Chronicle | Mercury News
- See a video on the opening of Cotoni-Coast Dairies. 👉 @santacruztrails
- A Long Beach man spent days two days trapped behind a raging waterfall in Sequoia National Forest before being rescued on Tuesday. Rescuers used infrared technology to locate Ryan Wardwell, 46. “He tried for days to escape but there was nothing he could do to break through,” said Capt. Kevin Kemmerling. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times
- See video of the rescue.
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.