Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 23.
- Teenager’s Epstein reporting rattles Marin high school.
- L.A.’s Cinerama Dome set for revival under new owner.
- And fans conflicted as Dodgers head to the White House.
Statewide
1.
Faced with resistance to its agenda in California, the federal government has embraced a new strategy to increase immigrant detention capacity in the state: It’s buying up private facilities. This month, the Department of Homeland Security bought two detention centers, located in San Diego and Kern counties, from the prison company CoreCivic. The price paid shocked local leaders: a total of nearly $1.5 billion, or more than four times the facilities’ assessed value of about $336 million. CalMatters
2.
In 2023, two former Cal State San Bernardino administrators accused the university president, Tomas Morales, of gender discrimination and “ranting” at female employees. Cal State ultimately agreed to a $12 million settlement, and Morales left his post this year. Yet on Wednesday, Cal State’s board of trustees said it would give Morales a new yearlong consultant job that pays $343,920. A faculty group said rewarding Morales would be a “stunning failure of accountability and a direct betrayal of students, faculty, and staff.” L.A. Times | CalMatters
3.
Last week, Democrats and Republicans in the House found a rare point of agreement on the annoyance of changing the clocks twice a year, passing a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. What would that mean for California? Los Angeles would see its latest sunrise during the winter at 8 a.m.; San Francisco’s would be 8:25 a.m. In Crescent City, on the North Coast, the latest sunrise would be 8:44 a.m. The U.S. briefly tried year-round daylight saving time in 1974. Los Angeles schools used flashlights to help children on their way to school. L.A. Times
- Look up your sunrise by zip code.
Northern California
4.
Ben Mueller, a teenage reporter at Redwood High School in Marin County, combed through the Epstein files for any links to his community. He found a lot. “I didn’t really think I was doing groundbreaking journalism,” he said. “I was just like, this is another piece of homework that I have to do today.” Yet all hell broke loose. Lawsuits were threatened. The district superintendent demanded censorship. Mueller lawyered up. WIRED magazine chronicled how a journalism homework assignment turned into a free-speech flash point.
5.
Tech workers in Silicon Valley helped spark the artificial intelligence boom. Now they are now helping lead the revolt against it. The Bay Area has become a center of the growing movement to sound the alarm about the dangers posed by AI. Sonny D, an AI researcher, was among those who joined protests held across the area this month. AI executives, he said, want to “push for these technological changes to outpace regulation, to outpace unions, to outpace democracy.” L.A. Times
- The AI boom is increasingly propping up the stock market, the New York Times wrote. If investor confidence falters, the economy could be in trouble.
6.
When Qing Tang-Oxley bought a steep plot of land along Highway 1 in Bodega Bay, she sought the advice of a local architect. He told her building there would be almost impossible. “He said ‘I would not buy this if it was free,’” Tang-Oxley recalled. She went for it anyway, recruiting an architect who liked a challenge. “It was just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this thing,’” he said. The New York Times told the story of a 730-square-foot house that hovers over the water in Sonoma County.
7.
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the U.S. — and among the most elegant religious buildings of any faith. Modeled on Paris’ Notre Dame, the Gothic cathedral features soaring arches, walls lined with murals, and huge stained-glass windows that cast rainbows of color onto the ground. Now you can fly through a 3D rendering of the landmark thanks to a project by a San Francisco software engineer named Vincent Woo, who shot and mashed together thousands of photos using a technique called Gaussian splatting. It’s remarkable. 👉 VincentWoo.com
8.
In a state of world-class road trips, Highway 128 is among the lesser-known. But the route connecting the Sacramento Valley to the Mendocino coast is a highlight reel of California delights: picturesque farmlands, charming small towns, wine country, and a corridor lined with redwoods so dense that it inspired the nickname “tunnel to the sea.” AFAR put together a leisurely four-day itinerary that makes food and wine a central concern.
Southern California
9.
Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome, a beloved movie palace and destination for top directors, will reopen after Sony Pictures Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it would step in to restore the geodesic landmark. The theater, which opened in 1963, became a symbol of the movie industry’s decline after it was shuttered during the pandemic. A rising box office, however, has convinced executives of continued demand for the moviegoing experience. Hollywood Reporter | L.A. Times
10.
The Dodgers confirmed earlier this month that they would go forward with a traditional White House visit today to celebrate the team’s 2025 World Series title. The decision brought anguish for some among the Dodgers’ heavily immigrant fan base after the Trump administration’s ICE raids last summer. But not everyone is going. Kiké Hernández, a Puerto Rican fan favorite, and Mookie Betts said they would skip the visit. “Instead of trying to make someone else happy, I’m going to make myself happy,” Betts said. O.C. Register | The Guardian
- “The Dodgers do know they play in Los Angeles, right?” wrote L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke. “Then why in the hell do they insist on embracing the person trying to tear this city apart?”
11.
A shooting range in Los Angeles has become popular with Hollywood professionals, actors, and artists with its sleek, modern atmosphere. At Range L.A., there’s a touch-screen coffee machine, a Bevi flavored water dispenser, a shuffleboard table, and artwork mounted on exposed brick walls. Annual memberships run between $3,700 and $5,400. Rob Kenneally, 67, likes to fire a few rounds from his 9-millimeter pistol after lunch. “It’s a meditative thing for me,” he said. N.Y. Times
12.
Trader Joe’s fans are again lining up at ungodly hours to get their hands on the store’s latest canvas tote bags. Liz Lindain went to a Santa Clarita store to see what kind of person would wait for hours to get their hands on what has become a global status symbol. She was surprised to find that shoppers she spoke to had others in mind. Rick Larimore lined up for his wife, who herself liked to give the bags as gifts. “You know, I really don’t care for them,” she said. “I just got involved with this craze because I enjoy getting it for people that like them.” The Guardian
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