Good morning. It’s Monday, Aug. 18.
- Forest Service fights masks for its firefighters.
- Riverside County emerges as Republican bench.
- And spectacular new park opens on Santa Cruz coast.
Statewide
1.
“I’ve been on eight of the 10 biggest fires in California history. Now I can’t even push a shopping cart without having chest pain.”
It would be unthinkable for an urban firefighter to enter a burning home with no mask. Yet U.S. Forest Service firefighters routinely spend weeks working in toxic smoke wearing only a bandana, or nothing at all. They are getting cancer in their 20s and developing heart disease in their 30s, the New York Times reported. Internal records revealed the agency’s rationale: To embrace masks would be to admit the dangers of smoke, triggering a cascade of costly changes.
2.
Educators from California and New York will be required to prove they are “America First” to teach in Oklahoma. On Friday, Oklahoma’s top education official, Ryan Walters, said an assessment of around 50 questions, drafted in collaboration with the conservative advocacy group PragerU, would help weed out “woke indoctrinators.” Walters, who has pushed to place bibles in every public school classroom, said the topics would include American exceptionalism, freedom of religion, and the differences between males and females. Legal challenges are expected. CNN | USA Today
3.
Democratic state lawmakers unveiled their proposed reshaping of California’s congressional districts ahead of midterm elections. Among the losers of the gerrymander would be Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term Republican who would see his district shed ruby-red Modoc, Siskiyou, and Shasta counties while gulping up blue Santa Rosa. The redraw transforms a district with a nearly 22-percentage-point Republican tilt to one with a 14-point Democratic edge, based on recent elections. LaMalfa doesn’t like it. “This is naked politics at its worst,” he said. S.F. Chronicle | Press Democrat
- See how your district might change. 👉 L.A. Times
4.
Dispatches from the deportation crackdown:
- Jacob Sweidan, a longtime pediatrician in Southern California, said he’s seen a disturbing drop-off in patients as fear ripples through immigrant communities. “They’re getting sicker and sicker,” he said. “And when they are near collapsing, they go to the ER because they have no choice.” KFF Health News
- An internal planning document showed that immigration authorities are planning to open or expand 125 detention facilities. By January, ICE would double its capacity to hold more than 107,000 people, the documents show. Washington Post
- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all records related to a Border Patrol raid conducted outside a gathering of Democratic leaders in L.A. last week. Democrats took the show of force as political intimidation. L.A. Times
Northern California
5.
Few places have embraced the Supreme Court’s decision giving cities more power to punish public homelessness with as much zeal as San Francisco. Between July 2024 and July 2025, San Francisco arrested or cited more than 1,080 people for illegal lodging, more than 10 times the number during the same period a year earlier, data showed. Even as neighborhoods have seen fewer encampments, residents remain divided about whether the sweeps are doing any good or are simply shifting homeless people around the city. Wall Street Journal
- “Go and come back, go and come back, go and come back.” Armando Herrera, a homeless man in San Francisco, has learned to stay mobile to keep from getting ticketed. KQED
6.
At a time when many companies are striving to win the good graces of Republican-controlled Washington, OpenAI has been recruiting a stable of well-connected Democrats. The new hires are part of an aggressive push into Sacramento as the company seeks to secure a makeover of its nonprofit status. “They’re bringing in some very big guns to make their case,” said Orson Aguilar, president of the nonprofit LatinoProsperity. “Since the stakes are so high here for their profit, they’re willing to spend what it takes to get their way with the California attorney general.” Politico
7.
“Luigi: the Musical,” a satire about the accused killer Luigi Mangione, is playing to sellout crowds in San Francisco. At a recent showing, an audience of around 200 people roared with laughter. One theatergoer wore a shirt depicting Mangione as a saint, pictured above. Kathleen Koomen, a 31-year-old accountant, said she considers herself a “Luigi leftist.” “It’s not that I believe in violence against the individual,” she said. “But I do believe that a state that monopolizes violence begets violence, and I think Luigi represents that.” Washington Post
8.
Fountain Wind completed an application for a wind-power farm in the mountains of Shasta County more than 650 days ago. California regulators still haven’t made a final ruling. That’s despite a 2022 law that was supposed to speed up clean-energy project approvals. Fountain Wind has now become a poster child for the twin struggles faced by developers: open hostility from the Trump administration and bureaucratic delays from California. Politico called it “California’s self-own on wind and solar.”
9.
“Prepare to be blown away.”
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. The Trust for Public Land and Save the Redwoods League, among others, raised $45 million to acquire the property. Years were spent restoring the property and adding a trail network. It’s said to be spectacular. S.F. Chronicle | Mercury News
- See a video on the opening of Cotoni-Coast Dairies. 👉 @santacruztrails
Southern California
10.
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff, is aiming to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Bill Essayli, a firebrand legislator, was appointed as a powerful federal prosecutor by President Trump.
Sonja Shaw, a local school board member, is a regular on Fox News who is running for the state’s public school chief.
They all hail from the Inland Empire, which Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry in 20 years. “The region is fast becoming a hotbed for Donald Trump-inspired showmen and a political farm system for some of the most powerful and notable members of the Republican bench,” Politico wrote.
11.
Since 2019, Tulsa, Oklahoma, has lured 539 remote workers from California with relocation incentives of $10,000, set up to help diversify the city’s workforce. Cynthia Rollins, who made the move from San Diego, knew nothing about Tulsa, she said. But the affordability and lack of congestion have agreed with her, she said: “Here there’s so much more space to think creatively about your life and to kind of set it up the way you want.” L.A. Times
- Just 15% of Californians can afford a home, new data showed. Nationally, the figure is 34%. O.C. Register
12.
Just off the beach in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Montecito, a 225-square-foot platform bobs in the water, beckoning beachgoers to swim out and leap from its edges. The Miramar swimming raft began more than 100 years ago as a recreational offering, tethered to the shore by rope at the old Miramar Hotel. It’s since become a cherished summer tradition that is free and open to the public. SFGATE called it “one of the most magical experiences that the Santa Barbara coast offers.”
- See video of people enjoying the Miramar swimming raft.
Correction
An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled the name of a Central Coast city. It’s Montecito, not Mentecito.
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