Good morning. It’s Wednesday, June 1.
• | Shrinking role for illegal immigrants in California farming. |
• | Inland Empire welcomes world’s largest Amazon facility. |
• | And a look at key races on the state’s June 7 primary ballot. |
Statewide
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Between 2007 and 2009, unauthorized immigrants accounted for roughly 66% of crop workers hired by California farms. A decade later, the figure had plummeted to 36%, forcing farms to turn to seasonal visas and automation. The New York Times: “For all the anxiety over the latest surge in immigration, Mexicans — who constitute most of the unauthorized immigrants in the United States and most of the farmworkers in California — are not coming in the numbers they once did.”
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Hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail passed through burned forest on April 1.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Climate scientists are predicting that the storied Pacific Crest Trail could become “all but impossible” to hike without support. It’s not just the forest fires and smoke, they say. Desiccated streams mean hikers now face stretches as long as 40 miles with no place to get water. The S.F. Chronicle: “Higher temperatures, less snow and ice, dry springs, wildfires, smoky skies and denuded forests have come to define the experience of hiking the 2,600-mile trail.”
Election 2022
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Californians face some crucial hiring decisions next Tuesday. While Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla have lacked serious challengers heading into the June 7 primary, there is plenty of suspense in downballot contests that could shake up the state’s approach to criminal justice and tilt the balance of power in Congress. The top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party, advance to a runoff in November. Two of the most consequential battles:
Attorney general
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, left, and Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Rich Pedroncelli/A.P.; Allen J. Schaben/L.A. Times via Getty Images
At a moment of growing anxiety over crime, conservatives have pounced on the chance to unseat Attorney General Rob Bonta. A career prosecutor running as a Republican-turned-independent, Anne Marie Schubert has won broad support in law enforcement circles by arguing that the reformist agenda represented by Bonta is undermining public safety. L.A. Times | Politico
Newspaper endorsement scorecard:
• | Bonta — 4 (L.A. Times, S.F. Chronicle, Mercury News, S.F. Examiner) |
• | Schubert — 2 (Sacramento Bee, S.D. Union-Tribune) |
Controller
The battle for controller, who oversees the state’s finances, may not seem all that sexy, but the 2022 race features an unusual favorite: a Republican. Lanhee Chen, a young fiscal wonk at Stanford University, has impressed supporters with his sharp mind and pledges to inject discipline into California’s enormous spending.
Newspaper endorsement scorecard:
• | Chen — 3 (L.A. Times, O.C. Register, S.D. Union-Tribune) |
• | Steve Glazer — 2.5 (Sacramento Bee, Mercury News, S.F. Examiner) |
• | Ron Galperin — 1 (S.F. Chronicle) |
• | Malia Cohen — 0.5 (S.F. Examiner) |
Note: The Examiner endorsed both Glazer and Cohen, hence the half points.
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Other closely watched contests:
• | In the House races, Democrats and Republicans are targeting vulnerable opponents in hopes of flipping seats in November. One of the most competitive races: the San Joaquin Valley district represented by David Valadao, one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. L.A. Times | Bakersfield Califnornian |
• | In Los Angeles, Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer and longtime former Republican, has spent vast sums in his quest to become mayor of Los Angeles, an outcome that would send shockwaves across the Democratic Party. The vote has shaped up as a showdown between Caruso and Rep. Karen Bass, the progressive heir apparent to termed-out Mayor Eric Garcetti. Axios | L.A. Times |
Dive into all of the races with these election guides. 👉 S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times | CalMatters
The official state guide is here.
Find out what’s on your ballot here.
Northern California
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Few buildings survived the 2021 Dixie fire in Greenville.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
Greenville, a town of about 1,000 people in Plumas County, was nearly wiped off the map by the Dixie fire last year. Now a grassroots rebuilding coalition that includes Mountain Maidu people, loggers, and environmentalists is trying to build back better than before. They plan to convert dead and scorched trees into lumber for new homes and businesses. L.A. Times
A wildfire just north of Napa exploded to 570 acres on Tuesday, triggering evacuations. Press Democrat | S.F. Chronicle
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“It’s now a big-time surge.”
That’s how Dr. Bob Wachter, the chair of the medicine department at UCSF, described the wave of coronavirus cases that has now engulfed San Francisco. While hospitalizations and deaths have remained relatively low, experts say the surge may even be approaching the magnitude of the massive Omicron wave last winter. S.F. Chronicle
Track coronavirus cases. 👉 Covid19.ca.gov
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A Sacramento homeowner owes $573,000 in code violations after he parked a van and other vehicles in his backyard. Dan Altstatt, 83, is retired and likes to work on vehicles. But when a neighbor summoned the city’s code enforcers in 2014, Altstatt allowed fees from his citations to pile up for years. This month an appeals court dismissed his argument that the city infringed on his constitutional rights as a property owner. Altstatt, who lives on a fixed income, expects to lose his home. Sacramento Bee
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A new photography book aims to tell the story of San Francisco from its early history to the present day. The roster of photographers is impressive: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, Robert Frank, Fred Lyon, Michael Jang, Arnold Genthe, and others. Douglas Zimmerman, a photo editor, called “San Francisco. Portrait of a City” perhaps “the definitive photo book of San Francisco.” SFGATE | The Guardian
A few selections. 👇
A couple at the Coffee Gallery, 1960.
Imogen Cunningham
Onlookers at Mayor George Moscone’s funeral in 1978.
Michael Jang
An undated street scene in the city.
Steve Kimball
Chinatown, circa 1896-1906.
Arnold Genthe
Southern California
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To conserve water, Avalon has relied on desalination plants.
Adobe
A major desalination project in Huntington Beach was killed by the California Coastal Commission in May, but a community just off the coast has been relying on desalination for decades. In 1992, the city of Avalon on Catalina Island became the first on the West Coast to operate its own municipal desalination plant. Today, two facilities provide roughly 40% of the drinking water for the island’s roughly 4,000 people. “I don’t know what we would have done without desalination,” said Anni Marshall, Avalon’s mayor. Long Beach Post
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The world’s largest Amazon warehouse is being built atop a former cattle feedlot in San Bernardino County. The monster facility in Ontario is expected to rise five stories and span 93 acres. That’s roughly equivalent to the area of Disney California Adventure and Crypto.com Arena combined. Once known for its orange groves and cattle ranches, California’s Inland Empire has transformed into a sea of warehouses over the last 20 years, with unwelcome consequences for air pollution and traffic. O.C. Register | The Real Deal
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Officially, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s stations are run by captains. But when Rosa Gonzalez, a deputy, reported for training at the East Los Angeles station in 2011, a detective told her, “Just pay attention. You’ll find out who’s really in charge.” She said she soon discovered that there was essentially a shadow government: a secretive group of sheriff’s deputies known as the Banditos. New Yorker
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Lifeguard towers at Venice Beach.
The top paid lifeguard in Los Angeles earned $510,283 last year, a pay transparency website found. The extraordinary compensation of Southern California lifeguards has fueled criticism for years, yet wages have continued to balloon. Daniel Douglas, a lifeguard captain, saw his compensation of $442,712 in 2020 grow by $67,571, an increase equivalent to what a typical U.S. teacher makes. Nearly 100 Los Angeles lifeguards earned at least $200,000 in 2021. They have defended the pay by citing their training and years of experience. OpenTheBooks | L.A. Magazine
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