Good morning. It’s Thursday, Dec. 11.
- Judge orders halt to National Guard deployment in L.A.
- Motorist slams into eight Anaheim High runners.
- And a young street poet wins hearts in Long Beach.
Statewide
1.
California wildlife officials quietly made the gut-wrenching choice to allow the killing of one beloved species, mountain lions, to save another, Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. While the move is limited to the Eastern Sierra, it is a startling policy departure in a state that has heaped protections on the charismatic big cats. It came after attempts to relocate male mountain lions failed to deter them. They simply came right back and resumed attacks on bighorn. L.A. Times
2.
California’s Central Valley has been shrouded in thick tule fog for well over two weeks, chilling bones and disrupting travel. The pattern has contributed to one of Sacramento’s coldest starts to December in decades. For the moment, it is showing no sign of clearing soon, meteorologists say. “It could go through Christmas right now,” said Jan Null, a professor of meteorology at San Jose State University. “We’ll have to keep on watching it.” S.F. Chronicle | Sacramento Bee
- Colorado State’s atmospheric sciences institute released a time-lapse of satellite imagery showing the tenaciousness of the fog from Nov. 24 through Dec. 9. 👉 @cira_csu
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Northern California
3.
A group of residents in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood paid $820,000 for 24/7 private security over the past year. Alex Ludlum, head of the SoMa West Community Benefit District, said the concentration of shelter and treatment facilities in the neighborhood caused the local street population to boom, leaving residents with no choice but to hire guards. Fernando Senegal pointed out a building entrance that had been repeatedly vandalized: “This was blow torched. This was hacksawed open. This right here was kicked in. They took a crow bar to it.” KGO
4.
Silicon Valley founders who have eschewed conventional business attire in favor of hoodies and jeans are increasingly leveling up their style as they occupy positions of power in places like Davos, Switzerland, and President Trump’s White House. At a recent etiquette workshop, tech figures practiced making small talk and licking caviar off their bare hands. The Washington Post reports: “As Silicon Valley’s AI drive threatens to disrupt life and work across the nation, founders are being counseled to balance raw technical prowess with people skills and smooth presentation.”
5.
San Francisco International Airport won top honors in a prestigious international design competition. UNESCO’s 2025 Prix Versailles awards honored SFO’s $2.5 billion Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which opened in June 2024, for its “soothing, restorative setting” and abundant art exhibits. Currently on display inside the terminal: Chinese basketry, paintings by senior artists, and photographs from 1915 world’s fair in San Francisco. Archinect | KRON
6.
One of California’s prettiest libraries is nestled in a redwood grove 10 miles north of San Francisco. The architects of Mill Valley Public Library, built in 1966, created glass walls to bring the outdoors in, while the interior was furnished with a wood-burning fireplace and bespoke walnut desks and chairs. Even as library visitation has fallen nationally in the last decade, Mill Valley has been an exception, the S.F. Chronicle reported over the summer. It’s among the few Bay Area libraries to fully recover its pre-pandemic numbers.
- See more views of Mill Valley Public Library.
Correction
Wednesday’s newsletter misstated the Valero refinery’s economic contribution to Benicia. It accounts for roughly 20% of the city’s tax base, not $20.
Southern California
7.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to end its deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, rejecting the notion that a president can create a “perpetual police force” made up of state troops. Judge Charles Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee, wrote: “It is profoundly un-American to suggest that people peacefully exercising their fundamental right to protest constitute a risk justifying the federalization of military forces.” The White House, which was expected to appeal, vowed “ultimate victory on the issue.” N.Y. Times | CalMatters
8.
“Nightmare scenario.”
A suspected drunk driver plowed into a group of high school distance runners on a corner in Anaheim Wednesday afternoon, injuring eight of the teenagers, police said. One student was said to be in critical condition. In a moment captured by surveillance video, a red sedan veered off the road, jumping a curb where Anaheim High School athletes were waiting for a light to change, police said. The driver was identified only as a 27-year-old Anaheim man. L.A. Times | KABC
9.
After fire tore through the Pacific Palisades, residents feared that some properties would be divided up, undermining the neighborhood’s character. So Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an order blocking duplexes in Los Angeles burn areas. On Wednesday, a pro-development group sued, accusing Newsom of constitutional overreach. His spokesperson, Tara Gallegos, responded in a statement: “Our obligation is to survivors, full stop. We will not negotiate that away.” Politico | L.A. Times
10.
Patty Scanlon, an actor and painter, bought a box of photos for $20 at a flea market in Pasadena on Sunday, hoping to find artistic inspiration. Flipping through the images later, she was struck by one woman’s face. She thought, “I think I know her?” Then it came to her. It was Ricki Lake, the 1990s talk show host. Lake lost the pictures when her house in Malibu was destroyed in the January wildfires. Lake and Scanlon connected by phone and arranged for the return of the photos. “It does feel like finding treasure,” Lake said. Washington Post | N.Y. Times
11.
When starting college, Nico Patino said he Googled “most lucrative business major” (answer: management information systems) and went with that. After graduating in 2020, disenchantment set in right away. He was an artist, he understood. That’s how he found himself on the streets of Long Beach last month with a portable desk and typewriter, offering his services as a poet for hire. Patino is now enjoying a burst of online fame after a touching video of him helping a woman navigate heartbreak went viral. NBC Los Angeles | O.C. Register
- See Patino’s video, captioned “Woman crying at the bank.”
12.
In-N-Out removed the number 67 from its ordering system after videos of rowdy teenagers exploding in celebration upon the utterance of the number spread online, reports said. In-N-Out has declined to comment on the matter, but a couple weeks ago customers began noticing that the orders were jumping from 66 to 68. “6-7” means nothing, young people insist, yet the peculiar meme has become one of the defining cultural trends of 2025. The In-N-Out videos seem to suggest it remains very much a thing. People | O.C. Register
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