Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 23.
- California tribes get lawmakers to target competitor.
- Nvidia announces invest $100 billion in OpenAI.
- And “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” gets ready for big return.
Statewide
1.
“It doesn’t pass the smell test.”
For the second straight year, the California Legislature passed a bill that directly targets the business competitors of tribal casinos. Over the last decade, the tribes that backed the measure, which would ban certain types of online sweepstakes, have poured at least $7.6 million into campaign contributions to state lawmakers. Companies formally opposed to the bill gave nothing. Its approval, critics say, is another example of the way money and clout steer policymaking in the people’s house. CalMatters
2.
Several reviewers criticized Kamala Harris’s new book, “107 Days,” for offering no hope for her party’s future.
“The only explanation she really gives for her defeat is lack of time,” wrote the Observer’s Nicola Sturgeon. “It is her repeated refrain that the campaign just wasn’t long enough for voters to get to know her or understand her policies. … the book’s title isn’t just a description of what she is writing about — it is her excuse.”
- Harris revealed what President Trump said to her after he won the election. “You are a tough, smart customer, and I say that with great respect,” he said. “And you also have a beautiful name. I got use of that name, it’s Kamala.” N.Y. Times
3.
Opinion writer Michelle Cottle talked to several California House Republicans whose districts stand to be sliced up if Democrats gerrymander the state. Rep. Kevin Kiley still hopes he can convince Congress to ban mid-decade redistricting nationwide. “It definitely has a lot of support on both sides of the aisle,” he asserted. Cottle was unpersuaded: “What happens is quite likely to be nothing. Nada. Bupkis. The odds that this speaker will move to thwart the electoral desires of this president are roughly the same as those of Pam Bondi posting all of the Epstein files on Bluesky.” N.Y. Times
4.
ICE recruiters have been aggressively trying to poach California police officers. “In sanctuary cities, dangerous illegals walk free as police are forced to stand down,” one recruitment ad warned over a panorama of Los Angeles. “Join ICE and help us catch the worst of the worst.” But the effort is so far coming up short. California police are paid well. Moreover, few officers are keen to join the deportation crackdown, said Brian Marvel, president of the Police Officers Research Association of California: “We want to protect the community.” L.A. Times
Northern California
5.
The man accused of shooting at the offices of an ABC affiliate in Sacramento had a note in his vehicle that appeared to threaten top Trump administration officials, according to a federal complaint. The suspect, Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, had a career as a lobbyist in the state Legislature before retiring in the past few years. The handwritten note named Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, and Pam Bondi, adding: “They’re next.” At Santana’s home, investigators said they found a calendar reminder for Sept. 19, the date of the shooting. “Do the next scary thing,” it read. KCRA | A.P.
6.
Days after announcing a $5 billion investment in Intel, Nvidia said on Monday that it would invest $100 billion in OpenAI to help finance a historic build-out of data centers. The deal highlighted an issue investors are calling “circularity,” whereby the chipmaker helps shore up demand for its own chips by supporting other companies, intertwining their fortunes. “Silicon Valley,” the Economist warned, “is becoming more incestuous than ever.” Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
7.
Mysterious graffiti paintings of black figures hanging from nooses have popped up on at least four outdoor walls in Eureka and Arcata over the last week. Messages accompanying the depictions read, “The death of greed” and “This was never their land to extract from,” inviting comparisons to the political messaging evoked by the British street artist Banksy. The police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect. Eureka Times-Standard | Lost Coast Outpost
8.
In January, Jedidiah Martin bought two goats as a way to teach his 10-year-old daughter to handle some responsibilities in their rural community in Humboldt County. As it turned out, Martin also got a lesson himself — in the joys of paddleboarding with goats. He took Churro and Buttercup to the river one day, and they both hopped on his board. He’s been taking them out with him ever since. “They’re naturals,” Martin said, swinging Churro onto the paddleboard. “Just grab ‘em and throw ‘em on.” Lost Coast Outpost
Southern California
9.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
That’s how Disney explained its decision-making Monday after an extraordinary week that saw the company thrust into the middle of what many saw as a pivotal moment for free speech in America. The return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is expected to make for one of the most anticipated episodes of a late-night television show in years. N.Y. Times
10.
A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to restore roughly $500 million in medical research grants that it suspended at UCLA in July over allegations of civil rights violations. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said the government likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs executive branch rule-making. The funding suspensions, Lin wrote, were “unreasoned” and “likely arbitrary and capricious.” Politico | A.P.
11.
Along the backside of the San Gabriel Mountains, an observatory is beaming messages across unfathomable distances into space. Two years ago, NASA launched its Psyche spacecraft, equipped with a device that can send and receive data in lasers at a far higher bandwidth than traditional radio waves. In the observatory’s first big test, in December 2023, it streamed a cat video across a distance of roughly 19 million miles. Since then, the facility has sent data more than 300 million miles, demonstrating the ability to potentially communicate with future settlements on Mars. NASA recently shared a video on the extraordinary feat.
12.
Company executives have attributed the success of sunglasses maker Oakley to its “renegade” ethos. In 1998, that spirit took shape in the design of the company’s Orange County headquarters. Pulling into the Oakley parking lot in Foothill Ranch, one could imagine having taken a wrong turn toward an interplanetary docking station. Inside the massive steel-and-concrete structure, a cavernous lobby with round arches rises 50 feet — “like a Romanesque church encased in iron,” as one writer put it. B-52 bomber ejection chairs provide seating. Bolts and rivets abound. See a photo gallery.
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