Good morning. It’s Monday, Aug. 25.
- Summer is getting longer along the California coast.
- A blinding dust storm hits Burning Man crowds.
- And the battle over bringing fire debris to Calabasas.
Statewide
1.
California’s redistricting proposal began as a bluff, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the chair of California’s Democratic congressional delegation. Maybe Texas would back off, the Democrats reasoned. “But they didn’t stop,” Lofgren said. “They just doubled down.” Politico spoke with nearly 50 people involved with the California redistricting effort:
“Together, they paint a picture of a showdown propelled not by painstaking deliberations but by its own self-generating momentum and the opportunity for a rudderless Democratic party to remake itself as a political street brawler.”
2.
For political reporter David Weigel, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s turn to “MAGA liberalism” suggests the governor has decided that we are in a post-cancelation world: “You don’t say something offensive and apologize. You trigger whoever was offended and make fun of them.” Weigel writes in Semafor:
“After his short self-tutelage in MAGA country, Newsom figured out that the modern GOP’s tactics and rhetoric are effective. Would Democrats prefer it if voters read more political essays and fewer AI-generated memes? Absolutely.”
3.
In Eureka, summer is 36 days longer than it was 30 years ago.
In San Francisco, summer is 38 days longer.
In Santa Barbara, it’s 42 days longer.
Summer is arriving earlier and ending later than it used to. An analysis of weather data found that some of the most dramatic warming has occurred along the California coast. Look up your zip code. 👉 Washington Post
Northern California
4.
Napa County declared a state of emergency on Sunday as a wildfire churned through the forested hills of Northern California wine country. As of late Sunday, the Pickett fire had expanded to more than 10 square miles in three days. It was only 11% contained, but the rate of spread had slowed, fire officials said. Anne Cottrell, chair of the Napa County board of supervisors, said she was “cautiously optimistic” that the firefighters had gained an upper hand. Press Democrat | S.F. Chronicle
- More than a dozen significant fires were burning amid hot and dry weather. See fire maps. 👉 Cal Fire | L.A. Times
- See Pickett fire photos. 👉 A.P.
5.
On Aug. 7, President Trump was watching Fox Business Network when host Maria Bartiromo highlighted concerns about Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s ties to China. Minutes later, Trump took to Truth Social: “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,” he wrote.
On Aug. 11, Trump met with Tan, who told the president he was not a spy. Trump liked him. They agreed to a truce.
On Aug. 22, Intel and the White House announced that the U.S. government would buy a 10% equity stake in the business, worth about $8.9 billion.
The Wall Street Journal recounted how the government became the biggest shareholder in one of Silicon Valley’s most storied tech firms.
6.
Since taking office in January, Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco has assiduously avoided uttering President Trump’s name in what his supporters have described as a strategy to avoid unwanted attention. It appeared to be working — until Friday. Trump told reporters that San Francisco would be among his next targets for a deployment of federal troops. “You look at what the Democrats have done to San Francisco — they’ve destroyed it,” he said. “We can clean that up, too — we’ll clean that one up, too.” N.Y. Times
7.
“Do not come.”
A blinding dust storm packing winds of more than 50 mph battered the Black Rock Desert on Saturday as campers were descending on the playa ahead of this year’s upcoming Burning Man festival. The storm buried belongings in sand, ripped tents, and destroyed an 8-ton inflatable art installation, reports said. “It got us good,” the San Francisco DJ Major Trouble said. Meteorologists warned of more misery to come, with a forecast of possible monsoon thunderstorms and heavy rain through Wednesday. S.F. Chronicle | SFGATE
- See video of the dust storm.
Southern California
8.
More than a week after after 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro was reported kidnapped by a stranger in Riverside County, the boy’s father was seen with law enforcement officials and cadaver dogs in a remote field in Moreno Valley on Sunday. On Friday, Haro’s parents — Jake Haro, 32, and Rebecca Haro, 41 — were both arrested on suspicion of murder. It was unclear what evidence convinced the authorities that they killed the boy. Searches for a body have so far yielded no results, the San Bernardino County sheriff’s office said on Sunday. KABC | Press-Enterprise
- In a jailhouse interview on Sunday, Rebecca Haro maintained that her son was kidnapped. “I will not give up on my baby,” she said. Press-Enterprise
9.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, among the only prominent Republicans vying for California governor, has centered his campaign around public safety, pledging to “make crime illegal again.” But a new report found that Bianco’s office has the worst crime-solving rate in the state. In six years with Bianco as sheriff, his department has cleared only 9.2% of its violent crimes and property offenses, dead last among 57 California sheriffs. Bianco called the report a “political hit piece.” Press-Enterprise
10.
Bishop Michael Pham of San Diego was the first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo, who has named migration first among the challenges facing the world. Pham was himself a refugee from Vietnam, arriving in America at the age of 14 without his parents. He and other clergy members have made a practice of holding daily vigils at immigration court in San Diego to offer support to migrants during their hearings. “The kingdom of heaven is” at stake in the church’s efforts to bring more dignity to migrants, he told the Washington Post.
- Roughly 80% of Californians think immigrants already in the U.S. illegally should be allowed to remain in some fashion, a poll found. That includes a majority of Republicans. Politico
11.
The Los Angeles wildfires in January turned 18,000 homes into 2.6 million tons of waste. The trash needed somewhere to go. The nearest landfill to Pacific Palisades is in Calabasas, one of the nation’s wealthiest cities and home to Will Smith, John Travolta, and Jessica Simpson, among many other stars. Residents were aghast at the idea of accepting the waste. But in time, the New York Times Magazine wrote, “it began to dawn on the residents of Calabasas that no matter how much money they raised, or how many phone calls they made, nobody felt sorry for them.”
12.
When wind turbines were first proposed in the Palm Springs area in the 1970s, they were fiercely opposed. Today, many locals embrace them as an emblem of the city. Windmill decals adorn restaurants and car dealerships. The Windmill City Super #1 souvenir shop sells windmill-emblazoned attire. The turbine love is so strong that people even use them as backdrops for wedding photos. The photographer Jennifer Corbin estimates that she’s done as many as 100 photo shoots for clients at the turbines in recent years. Washington Post
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