Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 18.
- California reconsiders its exit from nuclear power.
- Shasta County looks to hire another election denier.
- And horse deaths stun Humboldt rodeo crowd.
Statewide
1.
Four years ago, when state lawmakers extended the lifespan of California’s last remaining nuclear plant until 2030, it marked a stunning reversal of political sentiment surrounding the risks and benefits of nuclear power. Now there is momentum for keeping Diablo Canyon Power Plant around even longer. Citing the demands of artificial-intelligence data centers and electric vehicles, a coalition of nearly 50 groups is pushing to continue operations at the plant until 2045. Opponents are livid. L.A. Times
Northern California
2.
Opening arguments are scheduled to begin in Oakland today in a jury trial that tech journalists are calling the biggest fight yet over social media harms to children. A coalition of state attorneys general, including California’s, is demanding that Meta pay as much as $1.4 trillion in damages — nearly as much as the company’s total value. “The stakes could not be higher in this case,” said Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School. Meta called the potential penalty “untethered to any claimed violation” by the states. A.P. | Bloomberg
3.
Clint Curtis, Shasta County’s election-denying elections chief, was voted out of office by a 16-point margin in the June 2 primary elections. He appears to be unchastened. Curtis announced Monday that he is planning to hire Tina Peters, a convicted election denier from Colorado, to help oversee voting in the county. “She speaks with the president on a personal level, which is going to be really handy considering the Antifa group we deal with here,” Curtis said. USA Today | KRCR
4.
The deaths of two horses during a rodeo in Humboldt County on Saturday has led to widespread outrage. Multiple witnesses said horses in the “bucking bronco” event at the Ferndale fairgrounds appeared to be out of control, slamming into gates and falling repeatedly. Two of them ended up with broken legs and were euthanized, reports said. Krista Catlett, a spectator, said it was so upsetting that the stands emptied. “Girls were just crying everywhere,” she said. “It was horrendous. Just awful.” Lost Coast Outpost | Eureka Times-Standard
5.
Last Thursday, about 100 teachers from a Marin County school district were asked to gather at district headquarters. Each was handed an envelope but told not to open it yet. Maja Kristin, a philanthropist, addressed the group, telling them they were among the lowest-paid teachers in the county. She decided to do something about it, she said. Then the surprise: Each envelope contained about $9,100. Mouths dropped; a cheer arose. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a beautiful gift from someone I don’t even know,” one teacher said. KRON
Southern California
6.
On Monday, the murder trial opened against Duane Davis, a former Compton gang member accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap legend Tupac Shakur. A few memorable moments:
- A prosecutor showed jurors video of Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew. Two hours later, he said, “Tupac is gunned down in a drive-by shooting from a white Cadillac in an act of revenge.”
- Davis’ defense attorney called that narrative “fiction.” “At the end of the day, there’s no actual facts,” he said.
- Garry Dale, a Las Vegas police officer, testified that he rode in the ambulance with Shakur after he was shot. When he asked who shot him, Shakur answered, “No, we’ll take care of it,” Dale said. L.A. Times | Courthouse News
7.
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it is investigating allegations that Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez, of Los Angeles, engaged in “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” Gomez, who is 51 and married, admitted on Monday to making “personal mistakes outside my marriage,” but denied violating House rules. In April, the New York Post reported that Gomez was seen kissing a “much younger” staffer during a party in 2023. Washington Post | N.Y. Times
8.
A preliminary investigation linked Hayden Panettiere’s death to cardiac arrest caused by an apparent drug overdose, sources cited by multiple reports said Monday. In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published this year, Panettiere recounted the struggles that came with acting from a young age. When she was 16, someone offered her a “happy pill,” which she understood to be amphetamine, she wrote: “They were the gateway drug that ushered me toward the good of pharmaceuticals and the downfall of addiction.” N.Y. Times | Wall Street Journal
9.
Hollywood is facing a moviemaking exodus as countries on every continent except Antarctica seek to lure productions out of California. At last count, there were 120 incentive programs being offered around the world, contributing to a loss of more than 42,000 entertainment jobs in L.A. County between 2022 and 2024. “It all amounts to an existential crisis for the state’s leaders — one that this year’s candidates for governor and Los Angeles mayor confront as readily as those stumping in West Virginia grapple with questions over whether the coal mines will come back,” wrote Politico Magazine.
10.
A man who went missing after falling from a jet ski off Long Beach Sunday evening was spotted floating in a neon-green life vest more than 2 miles from shore around 10:45 a.m. Monday. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter collected Paul Anthony Carbullido Jr., 53, who was miraculously alive and talking, if suffering from hypothermia, after more than 12 hours in the water. Southern California News Group
11.
“You came up the driveway that day, and I found out what Phil had done to you, the hurt that you experienced. …”
“I don’t think I want to talk about that. Yeah, I don’t think I want to talk about that.”
Two brothers revisited their harrowing journey through the Los Angeles foster-care system in the deeply moving documentary short “I Got My Brother.” Jarrett Harper, the older of the two, spent 20 years in prison for killing the man the brothers say abused them. In the end, the men realized that all they had was each other. L.A. Times/YouTube
12.
New York City removed what it said was its last public payphone in 2022. But in Los Angeles, roughly 300 functioning payphones remain scattered across the region, kept alive by a group of devotees who see them as more than relics. Some elderly people still use payphones to reach hospitals and pharmacies. Others use them as outlets for grief, leaving goodbyes they never got to say. The payphones, wrote Atlas Obscura, are “part of a living, shrinking, stubborn little network of people still paying attention.”
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