Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Jan. 20.
- Kamala Harris remains a rock star with key voting blocs.
- Billionaires are panicking over proposed wealth tax.
- And a coyote swims across the bay to Alcatraz Island.
Statewide
1.
While many Democratic power brokers regard Kamala Harris as a pariah, her recent book tour through the deep South had the energy of a campaign-in-waiting, Axios reported. Thousands of people packed auditoriums in New Orleans, Jackson, and Memphis. Early polling for the 2028 presidential race has largely dispelled doubts about Harris’ popularity, while her favorability among Black voters is second only to that of Barack Obama. “If you can’t compete with Harris with Black voters, you can’t win the South,” the pollster Cornell Belcher said.
- In a new memoir, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania accuses Harris of being ideologically obsessed. The Atlantic
2.
Labor leader Suzanne Jimenez called a union-backed proposal to tax the wealth of California’s billionaires a “modest” measure that “affects few people.” But the state’s roughly 200 billionaires are panicking, insiders say. David Lesperance, a tax attorney, said four of his clients, worth $600 billion collectively, have already put plans in motion to leave the state. “Every one of my clients who ran the numbers [after Thanksgiving] came back immediately and said get me the hell out of here,” he said. “This is now a no-brainer.” Washington Post
3.
At Yosemite National Park, staff has been spread too thin to stop unruly visitors from littering, cliff jumping, and drone-flying. Free entry on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King’s birthday has been ended, while admission on Trump’s birthday, which coincides with Flag Day, is now free. Trump’s face has been added to the annual park pass. (Put a sticker over his face and the card becomes void, the National Park Service warned.) “This is Yosemite under President Trump,” the New York Times reported.
4.
Take a look at three eye-catching homes now on the market:
- In Lake Arrowhead, the cabin pictured above is so immersed in nature that a tree rises through the bedroom. The price, $329,000, reflects the potential problems. The tree’s growth threatens the structure. Moreover, said the listing agent: “One thing that we have to disclose is there are going to be bugs.” Realtor.com
- In 1971, the renowned architect Marcel Sedletzky completed an asymmetrical wonder in Carmel Valley. The home has twisting walls, triangular windows, and a cantilevered fireplace surrounded by a ring of colored glass. Yours for $2.95 million. Eichler Network | Wall Street Journal
- This pair of rustic cottages is all about location: nestled along the Big Sur River across from Pfeiffer Beach. The homes sit on a 9-acre property above the canopy of the forested canyon. Asking price: $2.6 million, or a whopping $2,567 per square foot. N.Y. Times
Northern California
5.
As San Francisco rebounds under Mayor Daniel Lurie, the woman he ousted has been largely forgotten. Twelve months after leaving office, former Mayor London Breed, 51, is still adjusting to life beyond City Hall. She needs a job, she said. She didn’t serve long enough to qualify for a pension and health benefits and is living off her savings. Breed said it’s hard to see Lurie get so much credit after her groundwork set him up for success: “It’s so easy to attach a white face to the work of a Black person.” N.Y. Times
6.
A coyote swam from the mainland to Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay, a distance of roughly a mile or more depending on the animal’s departure point. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which oversees Alcatraz, said it was the first such crossing ever observed. “He didn’t look like he was in very good condition,” said Aidan Moore, a tour operator who shared video of the bedraggled coyote. A conservation scientist said the coyote was likely in search of new territory. SFGATE
7.
Last year, San Francisco dropped an alternative grading system, called “Grading for Equity,” after parents and even the mayor denounced it. Some top Bay Area schools are also responding to criticism of the grading approach, which allows multiple test retakes and banishes failing letter grades, among other changes: they are removing the word “equity” from their policies. Instead they are calling it “standards-based grading,” “mastery-based assessment” or “grade reform.” S.F. Chronicle
8.
A proposal to build 25 stories of housing atop a Safeway in San Francisco’s ritzy Marina neighborhood has triggered a political earthquake. Yimby, or “Yes in my backyard,” activists love it. Critics have called the plans a monstrosity that would usher in the “Miamification” of San Francisco’s waterfront. But there may be little they can do to stop it. The developers are using a statewide density law that allow them to build larger than local zoning maps might permit. Wall Street Journal
9.
“What do you think about what’s going on in Minneapolis right now?”
Over the weekend, an old pay phone appeared on a street in San Francisco that automatically rings up another phone in Abilene, Texas. A sign above the San Francisco phone reads “Call a Republican”; the Texas phone says “Call a Democrat.” The biotech company behind the social experiment, Matter Neuroscience, said it wanted to demonstrate that political differences need not preclude meaningful connections with others. People seem to be loving it. KGO | KTVU
Southern California
10.
Last January, Border Patrol agents based at the U.S.-Mexico border swept into Kern County, more than 300 miles away, and arrested 78 people. They raided a Home Depot, a Chevron Station, and stops along Route 99 where farmworkers gather. In one case, a lawsuit alleged, agents stopped an American citizen, slashed his tires, and held him for hours before letting him go. A federal judge ordered them to stop. Even so, a year later, the operation known as Return to Sender is being seen as a blueprint for the broader immigration crackdown that was to come, the New York Times wrote.
11.
After Los Angeles’ devastating wildfires, many homeowners were motivated to make their neighborhoods more fire-resilient. But insurance companies are pushing individual homeowners toward cheaper, more combustible materials, architects say. That means truly fire-resistant structures are an option only for those able to afford it. Ken Calligar, whose company makes steel-and-concrete panels, said building quickly is taking precedence over building right. “They’re absolutely guaranteeing the next catastrophe,” he said. Dezeen
12.
During a conversation with Joe Rogan, Matt Damon said Netflix is encouraging filmmakers to dumb down their movies for viewers distracted by their devices. Damon said Netflix, which is currently trying to consummate a massive acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, advises filmmakers that “it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.” The Guardian | Hollywood Reporter
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