Good morning. It’s Friday, Nov. 14.
- Oakland is shaken by the shooting of a football coach.
- San Francisco’s newest supervisor abruptly resigns.
- And Southern California braces for torrential rain.
Statewide
1.
The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, referred California congressman Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department for investigation into potential mortgage fraud, several outlets reported on Thursday. Swalwell, a Democrat, becomes the latest in a growing list of perceived Trump enemies to be targeted for prosecution. In a statement, Swalwell said he wondered what took the administration so long to come for him. NBC News | N.Y. Times
- U.S. ethics officials who were ousted from their jobs in October had been investigating whether Pulte improperly accessed mortgage records of Democratic officials, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
2.
The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block California’s new congressional district boundaries, asserting that the maps improperly used race as a proxy for politics. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the gerrymander approved by 64% of California voters on Nov. 4 “mocks the democratic process.” California Democrats asked rhetorically when federal prosecutors planned to sue Texas, where Republicans redrew districts at President Trump’s behest. L.A. Times | Washington Post
- A pair of data journalists imagined “even crazier maps” that might soon be legal. N.Y. Times
Northern California
3.
John Beam, a revered Oakland football coach who was profiled in the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” was shot in the head at Laney College on Thursday, multiple outlets reported. A group of supporters that included former players spanning multiple generations gathered at the hospital where Beam, 66, was being treated. “From what I understand, it’s critical. It’s tense up there,” said Benjie Ross, who played for Beam in the 1980s. Police said a manhunt was underway for a male seen fleeing the campus. S.F. Chronicle | Mercury News
4.
San Francisco’s newest supervisor abruptly resigned on Thursday just one week after being appointed to the powerful post by Mayor Daniel Lurie. The choice of Isabella Alcaraz, a 29-year-old teacher with no political experience, bewildered many City Hall observers. In short order, reporters found that Alcaraz had mismanaged a pet store she once owned and apparently sought to dodge business taxes. In a statement, Lurie seemed to acknowledge his misstep. “I regret that I didn’t do more to make sure she could succeed,” he said. S.F. Chronicle | Mission Local
5.
Confronted with an unyielding fentanyl epidemic, Mayor Daniel Lurie this week unveiled a new, coercive approach to the problem. Until now, police officers have rarely arrested people solely for public drug use. Starting next year, the administration plans to open a center where police will start bringing drug users to sober up and get treatment. “We’re going to arrest you,” Lurie said, “and you have an option of treatment or jail.” S.F. Chronicle | KGO
6.
State Sen. Mike McGuire, a moderate Democrat from the North Coast, announced on Thursday that he would seek one of California’s most audaciously redrawn congressional districts. District 1, currently represented by Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, shed ruby-red Modoc, Siskiyou, and Shasta counties while swallowing blue Santa Rosa. Sources said McGuire, president pro tem of the state Senate, had the district drawn especially for him in exchange for his support of the redistricting plan. KCRA | CalMatters
7.
For this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked to Roddy Bottum, a founder of the San Francisco alternative metal band Faith No More. Bottum’s new autobiography, “The Royal We,” recounts with nostalgic fondness the gritty, free-wheeling San Francisco of the 1980s. For a time, Bottum was part of the city’s impish tribe of bicycle messengers. “It was so fun,” he said. “We were like pirates out on the streets. We had walkie talkies.” Then, seemingly all at once, the tech boom arrived and everything changed, he said.
Southern California
8.
An atmospheric river rolling across California was shaping up to deliver torrential rain along the coastal corridor from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border through Sunday, meteorologists said. Weather models showed the potential for up to 5 inches of rain at lower elevations and as much as 8 inches in the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles basin. Average rainfall for the entire month of November in L.A. is 0.78 of an inch. On Thursday, officials cleared homeless people camped along riverbanks and urged evacuations near burn scars, including the footprints of the Palisades and Eaton fires. Accuweather | Fox Weather
- See live storm updates. 👉 @ABC7
9.
Westminster’s City Council voted Wednesday to rename a street after Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist who was assassinated in September. Under the proposal, All American Way would become Charlie Kirk Way. Chi Charlie Nguyen, the mayor of the Orange County city, said it would “honor someone who has encouraged a new generation to care about their country.” During a public comment period, even some self-identified fans of Kirk scoffed at the move. “He didn’t live in Westminster,” said Michael Verrengia, a veteran. “He didn’t do anything for Westminster.” LAist | O.C. Register
10.
A lawyer revealed what caused the death of a Border Patrol agent who died in August not long after being charged with assaulting Long Beach police officers during a drunken outburst at a bar. Isaiah Anthony Hodgson, 29, overdosed at his parents’ house, his lawyer said. Hodgson’s behavior at the bar, where he pulled out a gun in the women’s bathroom, became a flashpoint during the fight over immigration raids. Newly released video showed him pleading with a police officer. “Do you know what doxed is?” Hodgson asked, implying that he been harassed for his immigration work. Long Beach Post
11.
Hard Rock Casino Tejon, a $600 million tribal casino that’s bigger than Caesars Palace, officially opened on Thursday in rural Kern County. The casino includes a six-story guitar, four restaurants, and a gaming space equivalent in size to nearly three football fields. Hundreds of people waited in line for hours to get in, undeterred by forecasts of winds and rain. Some camped overnight. The Los Angeles Times offered a look inside.
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- The Sierra Club, the storied California environmental organization, gave up its singular focus for a broader agenda, embracing a panoply of social justice causes. Then it tore itself apart, the New York Times reported.
- Animal rescuers found a sea otter pup that had been separated from its mother in Morro Bay on the Central Coast. They recorded a clip of the pup’s cries then played it back over a bluetooth speaker to beckon its mother. After about two hours, they saw a female otter following their boat. KSBY
- See video of the moment mom and baby reunited.
- When Michael Schmidt, a Los Angeles designer, learned what happens to “male-oriented” rams that refuse to mate with ewes, he was troubled. They are generally sent to the slaughterhouse. Schmidt teamed up with a German farmer to save the “gay sheep.” N.Y. Times
- The development of artificial intelligence seems to have created two reactions from society, one dismissive and the other enthralled. James Somers, a writer and computer programmer, was initially in the former group. Then he began using AI in his work. His conversion was swift. New Yorker
- Bixby Knolls National Park sits on 0.05 acres across from a Papa Johns in Long Beach. Yes, America’s tiniest “national park” is a joke. In 2021, a business improvement association erected an official-looking national park sign on a city-owned plot, then added native plants, wood-carved animals, and a comically unnecessary information board. SFGATE
- Take a video tour of Bixby Knolls National Park. 👉 YouTube
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