Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 13.
- Judge orders Oakland to stop airport renaming.
- Turmoil in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office.
- And a strange new creature is found in Monterey Bay.
Statewide
1.
After Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory, anger spilled onto the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other California cities. They were mass protests, school walkouts, clashes with police, dozens of arrests. This time around? Not so much. “I think the main outcome for many people who might have been out protesting is the feeling of being dispirited, the feeling of being humbled, the feeling of being out of touch with a lot of America,” said Jon Krosnick, a political psychologist. “Those aren’t the kinds of emotions that are inspiring a protest.” KQED
2.
Since Trump’s election rout, California leaders have positioned the state as a fortress for the resistance. “In the days and months and years to come, all eyes will look west,” state Attorney General Rob Bonta said. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal asked:
“Will they, though? This is a tricky time for California liberals to anoint themselves the standard-bearers for a national party still licking its wounds from an election that saw most of the nation shift to the right. Not even California was immune.”
3.
Other election developments:
- Republican Rep. David Valadao defeated former Assemblyman Rudy Salas in one of California’s swing contests on Tuesday, putting the GOP just two more seats away from control of the House. A.P.
- California environmental groups reacted with dismay to Donald Trump’s choice of E.P.A. chief: former Rep. Lee Zeldin. Trump said Zeldin would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.” KQED
- In 2022, Republican candidates overturned the Democratic majority on Huntington Beach’s City Council. Two years later, they appear poised to enlarge their dominance, with Republicans on track to claim every single seat on the council. Voice OC
4.
On Sept. 24, Tulare County Sheriff’s Deputy Alfredo Flores responded to a house on fire, where he was told a 12-year-old boy with Down syndrome was trapped. He raced inside, calling out to the boy. Unable to find him, Flores ran into the home four times before finally opening a door and hearing the boy’s screams. Both collapsed outside, gasping for air. Flores explained later that his “father instincts” took over. At a ceremony on Tuesday, the sheriff awarded Flores with a Medal of Valor. The boy’s mother was there to see it, fighting back tears. KSEE
5.
The stretch of Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco manages to traverse half the state while avoiding all of California’s stunning scenery. To its detractors, the highway is a necessary evil: drab, featureless, full of big rigs — but efficient. Travel writer Ben Mesirow, however, contends that there are a handful of worthwhile stops, including good tacos, pretty towns, and a bonsai stand. He shared “the only decent places to stop on an I-5 road trip” at Thrillist.
Northern California
6.
A judge on Tuesday ordered Oakland to stop calling its airport the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. When the Port of Oakland decided to add San Francisco to the name of its airport in April, its commissioners said they failed to see the problem: Oakland is located on San Francisco Bay. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson sided with San Francisco’s airport in a trademark lawsuit, ruling that the renaming appeared designed to borrow the prestige of a superior competitor. S.F. Chronicle | SFist
7.
UC San Diego shared terrifying footage of a dust storm captured by one of its wildfire cameras in the San Joaquin Valley on Monday. The rare storm, known as a haboob, toppled trees, knocked out power, and caused a 20-car pileup. “It was terrifying, it was just terrifying,” motorist Delissa Fulce told KFSN. She continued: “I really thought we were going to die.” See the video footage. 👉@ALERTCalifornia
- Another dramatic video. 👉 Cal Fire
8.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s office arrested one of its critics on Tuesday just hours before county leaders called for the sheriff’s resignation over findings that she fostered a toxic workplace environment. Sheriff Christina Corpus responded by accusing the supervisors of “outright slander.” “I’m not resigning,” she said. “I am an elected official.” The critic, Carlos Tapia, a deputy sheriff and union leader, was accused of time-card violations. The union said his arrest had “all the earmarks of whistleblower retaliation.” The Almanac | Palo Alto Daily Post
9.
Scientists announced the discovery of a strange new creature encountered in the extreme depths of Monterey Bay. A translucent sea slug with colorful internal organs, it represents a whole new family of living things that reside in ocean’s vast midnight zone, they reported on Tuesday. “Moreover, it looks and behaves unlike any of its closest relatives on the tree of life,” the New York Times wrote.
- See video of the creature called Bathydevius caudactylus. 👉YouTube
10.
Andy Wang, an electrical engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has an unusual way of decompressing on his evenings and weekends: he dons a yellow safety vest and picks up trash along the Bay Area’s roadsides. People sometimes seem baffled by his social media posts showing before-and-after pictures. “It isn’t my job. People keep telling me that. I understand,” he told KPIX. “But, what’s wrong with having a little civic pride.” On Monday, Wang shared a gallery of his “most challenging cleanups,” triggering a wave of good vibes on Reddit.
Southern California
11.
In 2021, two members of the Navy’s Special Boat Teams in the San Diego suburbs took their own lives while in the grip of paranoid delusions. Sailors on the elite teams ride in powerful boats that pound across the waves to deliver Navy SEALs to their targets. The rides can destroy brains, several former members said. “The damage piles up almost unnoticed for years, and then cascades, often around the time sailors move into leadership roles. Rock-solid sailors … become erratic, impulsive and violent.” N.Y. Times
12.
In the 1940s and ’50s, young Chicanos in Southern California began tricking out their cars to go “low and slow.” This was achieved by cutting coils and even loading trunks with bags of cement. Several generations later, lowrider culture has experienced a hydraulic revolution. The British photographer Owen Harvey set out to find Los Angeles’ bounciest rides, such as Erik Rodriguez’s 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which can jump more than 5 feet in the air. The Atlantic
- See more from Harvey’s lowrider project.
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