Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 17.
- Gavin Newsom strikes clean energy pact with Britain.
- New Sonoma County preserve is overrun by visitors.
- And a prominent Santa Cruz surfer is killed in Costa Rica.
Statewide
1.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, in London on Monday, struck California’s first clean energy pact with Britain, pledging deeper cooperation on technologies such as offshore wind. Speaking days earlier at the Munich Security Conference, Newsom said, “Donald Trump’s administration is temporary. California’s commitment is not.” Trump reacted angrily. “Gavin is a loser,” he said. “Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.” The Guardian | Politico
2.
California’s wealthiest residents are strategizing on how to avoid a proposed one-time tax on billionaires, with some even looking for ways to reduce their net worth. One idea: get divorced. A married couple worth a little more than $1 billion would be subject to the tax, but neither spouse would have to pay it if they split up and divided their assets, explained Andrew Katzenstein, a partner with the Holthouse Carlin Van Trigt accounting firm. N.Y. Times
3.
The chief executive of California’s embattled high-speed rail project, Ian Choudri, was arrested at his home in suburban Sacramento earlier this month on suspicion of domestic battery, reports said on Monday. Choudri’s fiancée, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, was also taken into custody after a fight between her and Choudri’s 17-year-old daughter, according to dispatch recordings. Choudri’s attorney noted that prosecutors declined to file charges. “This is a big nothing burger,” he said. L.A. Times | KCRA
4.
“This was not a harmless joke.”
A group of Visalia high school seniors used the letters on their shirts to spell out a homophobic slur last Thursday, posing with grins for a picture that circulated widely online. Some students said the group had acted in response to two boys who were seen holding hands. A district spokesperson said the students could face consequences “up to and including suspension and or expulsion.” Visalia Times-Delta | S.F. Chronicle
Northern California
5.
After a 547-acre estuary on the Sonoma coast opened to the public for the first time in a century in January, visitors showed up in droves. They found Estero Americano Coast Preserve as advertised, pristine and exquisitely scenic, but with one crucial drawback: no parking lot. That’s made it a nightmare for the adjacent neighborhood, where cars are parking by the hundreds. Kathy Levdar, a resident, declined to cast blame, but said the situation is untenable: “Even if it mellows out a bit. You can’t bring that many people onto a small preserve.” SFGATE
6.
Paul Roen, a rancher in Northern California’s Sierra Valley, has come to dread the sound of his cows bawling for their lost calves. After weeks of finding the bleeding bodies of calves, he finally saw a kill himself. “One wolf grabbed a cow and spun her around, while another grabbed a calf,” Roen said. “He tore it into three pieces in 30 seconds.” All told, Roen estimates that he lost 50 cattle to wolves in just a few months. The Atlantic asked: “How many wolves is enough?”
7.
The freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who was born in San Francisco and attends Stanford, angered some fans when she chose to compete for China instead of the U.S. at the winter Olympics. Gu, 22, said she hoped to “inspire millions of young people” in China, her mother’s birthplace. The decision also came with a secret financial windfall. The Chinese government paid Gu and another U.S.-born Olympian nearly $14 million over the past three years, the Wall Street Journal reported.
8.
San Francisco’s teacher strike ended on Friday with a contract deal estimated to cost $183 million. The losers are the kids, the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote:
“California teachers deserve fair wages and benefits. But it’s worth noting they are already the best paid in the nation — despite the state in many instances having worse educational outcomes than poor states like Mississippi. Yet the California Teachers Association has aggressively fought state efforts to improve those outcomes.”
9.
During a guided ketamine trip, the New Yorker correspondent Emily Witt felt as if she “was in a velvet painting,” she wrote. “Before taking the shot, I had been sad and worried. I emerged feeling calm and soothed.” Psychedelic therapy has gone mainstream. Nautilus magazine interviewed Carrie Griffin, a psychedelic medicine practitioner in California’s rural north who treats palliative care patients with ketamine. The goal, Griffin said, is to help “people to see how your whole life is art. This whole thing we’re doing on Earth is a creative act.”
Southern California
10.
Kurt Van Dyke, a prominent surfer from Santa Cruz, was killed during a home invasion in Costa Rica on Saturday, reports said. Investigators said two armed intruders confronted Van Dyke, 66, and his 31-year-old girlfriend inside his home on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, where he owned a hotel, before making off with some valuables and a vehicle. Van Dyke’s body showed signs of asphyxiation and stab wounds, reports said. The girlfriend, identified only by the last name Arroyo, survived. S.F. Chronicle | Tico Times
11.
Mayor Karen Bass says Casey Wasserman should step down as chairman of LA28 Olympics. Two weeks ago, Bass declined to take a position on the controversy surrounding Wasserman over his connection to Ghislaine Maxwell, saying it was up to the Olympics organizers whether to keep him on. Last week, the board gave Wasserman a vote of confidence. “The board made a decision,” Bass told CNN’s Dana Bash. “I think that decision was unfortunate. I don’t support the decision.” N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
- “Not pedophilia. Not rape. Just emails about philandering between two private individuals, from 20 years ago.” The Wrap told the inside story of Casey Wasserman’s fall.
12.
There’s a hidden library under the streets of Old Pasadena. To reach The Cellar, guests take a short elevator ride, then slip through a false wall that opens to a wood-paneled space with leather couches, lamps, a piano, and walls of books. While patrons are invited to enjoy a quiet read, they are more likely to socialize or play chess over pricey wines and cheese plates, the library’s true business. LA Bucket List, a popular Instagram account, recently featured The Cellar.
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