Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 22.
- OpenAI faces criminal probe over school shooting.
- Los Angeles moves to limit devices in the classroom.
- And a new glamping resort opens near Yosemite.
Northern California
1.
Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI on Tuesday, alleging that company’s chatbot advised a gunman during a deadly shooting at Florida State last year. Uthmeier cited messages in which ChatGPT told the suspected shooter, Phoenix Ikner, which ammunition to use and where and when to strike. “If it was a person on the other end of that screen,” he said, “we would be charging them with murder.” Washington Post | Wall Street Journal
2.
Brooke Rollins, the U.S. agriculture secretary, has portrayed a plan to retire an aging hydroelectric complex on Northern California’s Eel River as a case of “putting fish over people,” despite owner PG&E’s insistence that the move is strictly economic. Now she claims to have found a potential buyer: a municipal water district in Riverside County. Stakeholders are perplexed. “Why anyone would be interested in paying money for a failed, money-losing, and risky project is beyond me, let alone a water district nearly 600 miles away from the dams,” said Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River. S.F. Chronicle | Lost Coast Outpost
3.
Investors have poured billions of dollars into gene-editing startups largely on their promise to prevent disease. But some companies have another aim in mind: creating baby geniuses to save humanity from extinction. If future superintelligent machines turn against us, the thinking goes, we’ll need genetically optimized humans to counter them. “And this notion of creating superbabies to stop the rise of something akin to Skynet from The Terminator is capturing the fancy — and the wallets — of the same billionaires who bankrolled the AI revolution,” wrote Mother Jones.
4.
President Trump provided a window into White House dealmaking on Tuesday in a Truth Social post reminiscing on his relationship with Tim Cook, the Apple CEO who announced plans to step down a day earlier. Cook, Trump said, once called looking for help with “a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix.” He continued: “I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my ass.'” Cook’s flattery of the president, reports said, paid off for Apple. CNBC | Business Insider
5.
Andon Market in San Francisco bills itself as the first retail boutique run by an artificial intelligence agent. The New York Times’ Heather Knight reports:
“Since opening on April 10, the store has been limping along. As humans brace for A.I. to steal their jobs or launch military weapons, it might be reassuring to know that Luna has struggled with employee schedules and cannot stop ordering candles.”
6.
A new glamping resort just opened outside Yosemite National Park’s west entrance. Under Canvas Yosemite includes a cafe, communal fire pit, and 70 safari-style tents with king-size beds and hot showers spread across 80 forested acres. It claims to be the first resort in California to receive a DarkSky Lodging certification, meaning the property met strict standards designed to minimize light pollution. Travel + Leisure | Afar magazine
Southern California
7.
The Los Angeles public school district voted Tuesday to restrict the use of screens in classrooms and encourage pen-and-paper assignments instead, making it the first major American school system to do so. The resolution followed pressure from parents who argued that learning has been harmed by reliance on iPads and laptops. “This is an historic reform that we hope will trickle down to the rest of the country very, very quickly,” said Anya Meksin, a mother active in Schools Beyond Screens. “We see this as a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology.” NBC News | EdSource
8.
When Chad Bianco’s office confiscated election materials from the Riverside County registrar’s office in March, it was the first time in the nation’s history that a sheriff took possession of previously cast ballots. Investigators for Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, produced no evidence to support a case. Instead, newly obtained internal emails showed, he relied on the claims of fringe groups and a self-described secessionist known for ranting at public meetings about “corrupt machines.” CalMatters
9.
On July 30, 2023, a planetary scientist at Southern California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory died at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed. A year later, a JPL physicist died without a public explanation. Last summer, a third JPL scientist disappeared while on a hike in the San Gabriel Mountain. All told, at least 10 scientists and staff connected to sensitive research died or disappeared in the last four years, the FBI said on Tuesday. The agency is now investigating whether they are connected. L.A. Times
- The Atlantic dismissed the basis for the investigation as the “dumbest conspiracy theory” of 2026: “The loss of life is real, and families are mourning, but nothing sinister is going on.”
10.
“I might as well give them a show.”
Jordan Lucas, a Cal State Northridge volleyball player, has become an internet sensation over the past week thanks to viral video of his eccentric celebrations. After winning plays, Lucas, who is gay, sways his hips, whips his head, and wags his finger in the air. Reaction has been largely positive, though some have raised questions about sportsmanship. During a game on April 9, a broadcaster named Charlie Brande reacted after Lucas appeared to taunt an opponent: “I’m amazed Jordan Lucas hasn’t been popped by somebody,” he said. Brande was dismissed. N.Y. Times
- Watch video of Lucas in action.
11.
“I wanted to inhabit the desert in a way that was more collaborative. I wanted to live with it.”
Around the turn of the century, the artist Andrea Zittel grew weary of city life and retreated to homestead cabin on 5 acres near Joshua Tree National Park. Over time, she bought surrounding parcels, then added a cluster of sleeping pods and spaces for weaving, ceramics, and woodworking. The live-work compound has since hosted more than 450 artists hailing from as far as England and South Africa. The New York Times wrote about the high-desert arts utopia known as A-Z West on its 25th anniversary.
12.
Above the harbor in Orange County’s Dana Point are what look like the ruins of an ancient fortress. The Arches, as they are known, are in fact the giant windows of what was intended to be a grand hotel by Sydney H. Woodruff, the brash developer of Hollywood sign fame. But the Great Depression scuttled the project before it was halfway done. Decades later, rather than topple the arches, preservationists restored them as unintentional artworks, framing views of the scenic coast. A bluff trail was added for all to enjoy. PBS SoCal
- See video views from the Bluff Top Trail.
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