Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 9.
- Riverside sheriff is ordered to halt election probe.
- Anger simmers over exorbitant Olympics ticket prices.
- And photos of Bay Area hills draped in resplendent green.
Statewide
1.
For years, wildlife advocates have been trying to convince California to reintroduce grizzly bears, which vanished from the state a century ago. On Tuesday, they notched a key win as state lawmakers advanced a measure that would direct officials to study the feasibility of bringing the round-eared giants back. The campaign has been animated in part by affection for the grizzly, whose image is stitched into California’s flag. Ranchers, already exasperated by the return of wolves, are among the fiercest opponents. Sacramento Bee
2.
California imports roughly 75% of its crude oil, almost one-third of which comes from the Middle East. With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, exports have slowed dramatically. Andy Walz, a Chevron executive, said California’s coffers are sufficient to meet demand in April. After that, the state’s energy supplies could face a shortfall. Either way, analysts say, prices are likely to rise. “The Iran war, the Wall Street Journal wrote, “is hitting California harder than any other state.”
Correction
Wednesday’s newsletter misattributed a quote reported in a New York Times article about reaction to President Trump’s Iran threats in West Los Angeles. It was said by Adrin Nazarian, a Los Angeles city councilman, not Sharon S. Nazarian, a philanthropist and political scientist.
Northern California
3.
After immigration agents shot Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez in central California on Tuesday, ICE said that he was wanted in connection with a murder in El Salvador. On Wednesday, Hernandez’s lawyer, Patrick Kolasinski, cited legal documents showing that Hernandez had been accused of a killing, but was acquitted. He has no criminal record in the U.S. and no warrants in El Salvador, Kolasinski added: “So that information must be either erroneous or completely made up.” A.P. | N.Y. Times
4.
After Nation Wood, 25, fatally shot his girlfriend through a bathroom wall in their San Francisco apartment last month, the authorities quickly deemed the killing an accident. Wood’s family members told a judge that he was a “kind and loving soul” who suffered profound grief over the death of Samantha Emge, 22. But Emge’s family and friends have told another story. They said Wood was scary, possessive, and prone to aggressive outbursts. Emge, they said, repeatedly try to leave him. S.F. Chronicle
5.
In the summer of 2000, four preteen girls in Santa Rosa formed a band called X-Cetra. They never performed live and produced just one album, “Stardust,” that featured the girls singing over pre-existing Europop tracks. They burned it onto a CD and moved on, a little embarrassed by the project. A quarter century later, “Stardust” has become a cult hit after finding its way online. “What once felt mortifying to its creators was recast as something rare: an unfiltered document of childhood creativity,” wrote the Press Democrat.
- Hear “Stardust” on Spotify.
6.
One theory behind the origin of the nickname “the Golden State” cites the golden hue of California’s hills. If true, the name captures only one of the landscape’s seasonal variations. In spring, carpets of velvety green unfurl across the hillsides. Dustin Winterowd, a drone photographer based in Minnesota, paid a recent visit to the Bay Area and shot scenery that could double as an Irish countryside. See his photos and video.
7.
“Relatively small with a land area of about seven by seven miles, San Francisco can be traversed by bus, light rail, streetcar and cable car, as well as by foot. All residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park or green space.”
The Washington Post included San Francisco in a piece on America’s greatest walkable cities.
Southern California
8.
The California Supreme Court ordered Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, to pause his election fraud investigation on Wednesday while the judges review a legal challenge against it. Investigators for Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, seized roughly 600,000 ballots from the November election, in which voters approved the redrawing of congressional maps. Newly unsealed warrants showed that his office cited no evidence of fraud to justify the probe, relying instead on the claims of a conservative activist group. Washington Post | S.F. Chronicle
- “We’re so fortunate to have Chad Bianco.” The judge who approved warrants for Bianco’s probe spoke glowingly of the sheriff in the past. Press-Enterprise
9.
Jasveen Sangha, the Los Angeles woman who sold the ketamine that killed the actor Matthew Perry, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, the harshest sentence yet handed down in the case. Dressed in a jail jumpsuit, Sangha cried as Perry’s stepfather, Keith Morrison, told her: “I feel bad for you. I don’t hate you.” She covered her mouth with her hand as the sentence was handed down. “You’re going to have to show some epic resilience,” the judge said. Outside the courtroom, Sangha’s lawyer called the penalty unfair. N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
10.
“I was shocked. Even climbing was all gone.”
“I didn’t buy anything. Disappointed.”
“It was patently offensive.”
Excitement over the release of tickets to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has turned to anger over the prices. LA28, the event organizer, promoted ticket prices as cheap as $28. But when people logged on to peruse the tickets, which are being offered for sale in phases through a lottery system, they reported finding prices such as $930 for baseball, $1,230 for swimming, and $1,116 for track and field. LA28 has said more affordable prices will be offered in future ticket drops. L.A. Times | CBS News | The Times
11.
A man suspected of setting a paper warehouse ablaze in San Bernardino County filmed himself doing it, police said on Wednesday. The video, which circulated on social media, shows a pallets of toilet paper being consumed by flames as a man’s voice says, “Should have paid us enough to fucking live.” Later he adds, “There goes your inventory.” The authorities arrested Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, who worked for the contractor that operated the warehouse. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin | KABC
12.
Merrick Morton was photographing gang life in 1980s Los Angeles when he was asked come on to the set of a biographical film about the tragically short life of Chicano rock star Ritchie Valens. “La Bamba” was filmed over five years in the Los Angeles area in close cooperation with the Valens family. It was later selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. Morton’s black-and-white images are now part of a new volume, “La Bamba: A Visual History.” Huck magazine published a selection.
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