Good morning. It’s Monday, May 4.
- The coastal city where houses cost under $400,000.
- Chino homeowner’s “food forest” angers neighbors.
- And the comeback of Yosemite’s peregrine falcons.
Statewide
1.
Before Kamala Harris ruled out a run for California governor last July, a statewide poll suggested that she would dominate the field. Among Democrats now disappointed with their ballot options, some fear she picked the wrong race. N.Y. Times
- Politico visited the Malibu neighborhood where Kamala Harris bought an $8 million home: “Walking the streets of this tony haven bracketed by the Pacific Ocean and the highway that bears its name, it is hard to find anyone — residents, tradespeople or tourists — who can imagine a future for Harris in the White House.”
2.
When California State University unveiled plans in early 2025 to embed OpenAI chatbots in teaching and learning, the announcement came as a surprise to faculty members. After living with the new technology for a year, the teachers are divided over its role in the classroom, with roughly half saying it harms education and just as many saying it helps, a survey found. A petition calling on Cal State to scrap the partnership has collected nearly 4,000 signatures. CalMatters
3.
“It’s a true conservation success story.”
In the 1970s, peregrine falcons were thought to have all but vanished from Yosemite after pesticides thinned the eggs of the fast-flying raptor. Then DDT was banned, and climbers took an active role in rescuing the birds. They removed thin-shelled eggs from nests so the chicks could be hatched in a lab, then returned. It worked. Last year, Yosemite had its best peregrine falcon season ever recorded, with 15 active nests, seven of them new. BBC Wildlife magazine
- The photographer James McGrew has specialized in Yosemite’s peregrines. See his gallery.
4.
After San Francisco installed speed cameras, the number of traffic tickets issued skyrocketed, nearly quintupling in 2025 compared to the prior year. The result: excessive speeding plummeted by 78%, data showed. “The results are clear,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “Drivers are changing their behavior.” Now Los Angeles is following San Francisco’s example. In April, lawmakers there approved plans to install 125 speed cameras by the end of July. Safety advocates are delighted. L.A. Times
Northern California
5.
There’s a place in California where ancient redwoods rise alongside fern-filled canyons, a wild emerald-green river cuts a path to the Pacific, and the average home costs just $353,000. Crescent City, the last stop before the Oregon border, has struggled economically ever since the collapse of its timber industry. But if you love the outdoors, “it doesn’t get any better,” said Sean Rosenthal, who moved to Crescent City in 2018. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote about the “the last affordable city on California’s coast.”
6.
Sara Cantor sat in her wheelchair in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge on April 15, 2024, as part of what she and her fellow protesters called an “economic blockade in solidarity with Palestine” that halted traffic for four hours. At the time, motorists told reporters they missed meetings and medical appointments. Two years later, Cantor now faces prison time after prosecutors charged her with falsely imprisoning motorists. Asked if she has any regrets, she said “no” without hesitation. S.F. Standard
7.
Treasure hunters armed with shovels have fanned out across San Francisco after someone announced on Reddit last Wednesday that a treasure chest with 10,000 $1 coins had been buried. A cryptic poem offered clues to its location. “Minute steps climb, and beyond fingers rise, onward on pins where the treasure lies,” it began. Interest in the old-timey adventure has tipped into obsession from some hunters, who have skipped work, school, and sleep to find the treasure. N.Y. Times
8.
The federal judge overseeing the high-stakes OpenAI trial in Oakland has repeatedly shown exasperation with Elon Musk over his provocative social media posts outside of court and his remarks on the witness stand. At one point, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told the impish billionaire to stop saying AI could “kill us all.” At another, she asked him to repeat four words after her: “I’m not a lawyer.” “I’m not a lawyer,” he said obediently. Washington Post
Southern California
9.
Before being accused of trying to assassinate the U.S. president, Cole Tomas Allen worked as a tutor, played video games, and rode a blue scooter. His parents were both teachers and “really solid members of their community,” according to one neighbor who lives next door to the family’s middle-class home in Torrance. Allen rarely talked about politics, acquaintances said. He was “a godly person,” a former teammate on his high school volleyball team said. The Los Angeles Times charted Allen’s journey from an athlete and academic to an accused gunman.
10.
A Chino man named Michael Sherman turned his front yard into what he calls a “food forest,” and some neighbors are not pleased. In 2019, Sherman removed his lawn and started planting fruits and vegetables, including passionfruit, radishes, calendulas, sunflowers, aloe vera, Swiss chard, and bananas. He did it in part to avoid the grocery store, he said. “You don’t know what’s sprayed on it.” After getting complaints from neighbors, the city issued Sherman a $750 fine and ordered him to cut the vegetation back. He’s planning to fight back. CBS News
11.
California seems to produce an unusual number of outsider artists who spend a lifetime creating their magnum opuses in the desert. One such work, Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch on the outskirts of Victorville, illustrates the problem that can result when the artist is no longer around. After Elmer Long died in 2019, his son stepped in as caretaker of the popular forest of colorful bottles along Route 66. It’s “miserable,” Elliot Long said. “I’ve never wanted to be the bottle tree man.” SFGATE
12.
You’ve heard of a dust devil, the fairly common whirlwind that sends a spiral of dust into the sky. San Bernardino County firefighters battling a blaze near Victorville on Friday shared video of an ash devil, which is highly uncommon. They occur when heat from a fire forces air to rise, pulling cinders and ash into a column that can rise hundreds of feet into the air. Firefighters dread them because they can ignite new spot fires. See the video. 👉 Fox Weather
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