Meet Leondra Kruger.

The justice of the California Supreme Court is being called a leading contender to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer after he stated his intention to retire at the end of the Supreme Court’s current term. President Biden has pledged to nominate the court’s first Black woman.

Kruger grew up in South Pasadena, attended Harvard and Yale, and served as a Justice Department lawyer in Washington before returning to California. The attorney Neal Katyal called her “one of the handful of the most brilliant attorneys with whom I’ve ever worked.” N.Y. Times | L.A. Times

Coronavirus roundup:

A rustic one-bedroom bungalow in the Hollywood Hills, a midcentury modern gem in Yucca Valley, and an Edwardian with soaring ceilings in San Francisco.

Architectural Digest highlighted eight of its favorite Airbnbs across California.

San Francisco has quietly begun allowing open drug use at a new supervised facility intended to connect street addicts to services. Officials appeared to dodge questions from a reporter over whether they were allowing drug use. “Part of being a low-barrier site means bringing people in without asking a lot of questions,” said Francis Zamora, of the Department of Emergency Management. Experts are divided over whether supervised drug sites do good or harm. S.F. Chronicle | KRON

Financial Times opinion: “San Francisco is scaring away the tech crowd.”

Humboldt State is now Cal Poly Humboldt.

The rebranding of the public university nestled among the redwoods of Arcata followed a historic $458 million investment included in California’s booming 2021 state budget. The campus is using the money to fund more than 20 new degree programs — mostly in STEM — to become the state’s third polytechnic university and the only one in Northern California. The plan is to double enrollment within seven years. Lost Coast Outpost | North Coast Journal

Amy Schneider’s Jeopardy! reign is over.

The Oakland software-engineering manager was finally dethroned in a game aired Wednesday after a dazzling 40-game streak that made her the second-winningest contestant in the show’s history. A transgender woman, Schneider was forced to deal with hate online, but she won legions of fans with her warmth and seemingly effortless knowledge. After she lost, she handed out thank you notes to the crew, then excused herself: “I went in the bathroom, cried for about 30 or 40 seconds, pulled myself together, and headed out.” N.Y. Times | Washington Post

The tirade of a neurotic novelist in a 2004 movie radically altered California’s wine industry.

That’s according to the data journalist Christopher Ingraham, who wrote about the fallout after Miles Raymond, played by Paul Giamatti, delivered a memorable takedown of Merlot in the film “Sideways.” Ingraham cited a new study on crop changes among California wineries that showed Merlot plantings plummet in the years after the film’s release as Pinot Noir, the varietal preferred by Raymond, soared. The Why Axis

A poet once described the Golden Gate Bridge as “a curve of soaring steel, graceful and confident over infinity.”

Viewed from either end, the roadway appears like an ocean swell, with an arched shape that engineers embraced as much for its aesthetics as structural advantages. The span mimics the sea in another way: designed to flex with the changes of weather and weight, the Golden Gate Bridge is in perpetual motion, subtly undulating up and down and side to side like the rolling waves below.

This time-lapse shows the bridge motion on a windy day. 👉 Vimeo

Los Angeles, a metropolis built on oil, approved a proposal on Wednesday to ban new oil and gas wells and phase out existing ones over a period of five years. The City Council measure followed decades of activism on behalf of residents who have faced health problems attributed to air pollution from drilling sites. “Starting today, I have a little bit more hope for our communities,” said Ashley Hernandez, an organizer. Oil industry leaders called the council’s action illegal. A.P. | L.A. Times

UCLA’s gymnastics program has been roiled by controversy over a teammate’s use of a racial slur. According to gymnasts, freshman Alexis Jeffrey was heard singing lyrics that included the N-word. What followed was three months of meetings, demands for action, accusations of bullying, and ultimately Jeffrey’s departure from the program. She’s now joined the gymnastics squad at LSU as a walk-on. On Wednesday, a UCLA gymnast, Margzetta Frazier, called for her team’s coach to be fired. L.A. Times | Daily Bruin

In one of Joan Didion’s most famous essays, “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream,” she reported the story of Lucille Miller, who was convicted of killing her husband in San Bernardino in 1964. This week, Miller’s daughter, Debra Miller, wrote movingly of the shame she felt for years: “At the time she was convicted, I believed deeply in my mother’s innocence. … Now I’m not so sure. I think I need my mother to be guilty because she suffered so much, and no innocent person should pay such a price.” L.A. Times

At a century-old Baptist church in South Los Angeles, the parishioners dress to impress. A few years ago, the photographer Joe Pugliese set up a makeshift studio in the Trinity Baptist Church parking lot during morning services. The result, “Sunday Best at First Baptist Church,” is a celebration of the city’s vibrant religious culture. Lens Culture | JoePug.com