Good morning. It’s Friday, Nov. 15.
- The San Francisco executive trying to buy Infowars.
- Book explores the rivalry of Joan Didion and Eve Babitz.
- And a tour of a Desert Modern gem in Rancho Mirage.
Please note: The newsletter will be off Monday. Back in your inbox Tuesday.
Statewide
1.
California and New York are projected to lose up to eight electoral votes when congressional seats are reallocated to adjust for the 2030 census. Texas and Florida are projected to gain eight. Jerusalem Demsas wrote about the links between NIMBYism, outmigration, and California’s receding influence:
“In much of blue America … the skyrocketing cost of shelter eclipses everything else. The amenities that these states offer — the California coastline, the New York City cultural scene — start to look like the historic molding on a house with its roof caved in.” The Atlantic
2.
Other election developments:
- Kevin McCarthy, the former House speaker, predicted Thursday that the nomination of his bitter rival Matt Gaetz for attorney general would fail. “Gaetz won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that,” the Bakersfield Republican said. Politico
- Editor Glenn Kessler fact-checked Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s claim that fewer migrants crossed the border under President Biden than did under President Trump. He gave it four “Pinocchios.” Washington Post
- A Beverly Hills High School substitute said she was fired for criticizing Donald Trump on Facebook. “I didn’t say anything in class,” she said. “I know not to say anything in class. But I am disgusted with MAGA, and Beverly Hills High School has become MAGA.” L.A. Times
3.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked politics with Joe Mathews, an editor and columnist at Zocalo Public Square. After the presidential election of a fierce adversary of California’s Democratic leadership, Mathews argued that the state needs avoid becoming isolated and focus on forming a global coalition. “We’re not going to win a fight against the Trump administration by ourselves,” he said. “We don’t want to be the capital of the resistance. I think we want to be part of a coalition of resistance.”
4.
Before approving new fuel standards last week, state regulators disavowed projections that the proposal would drive up gas prices, saying the program is so complicated that no one could put a price tag on it. Danny Cullenward, a climate economist at the University of Pennsylvania, called that “nonsense.” According to his analysis, the new rules could increase gas prices by as much as $0.85 per gallon by 2030 and nearly $1.50 per gallon by 2035. “We are talking about a program that is politically radioactive,” he said. N.Y. Times
Correction
Thursday’s newsletter misstated an election result based on information from an outdated Washington Post article. As of Thursday, Kamala Harris was leading the presidential vote count in Orange County, not Donald Trump.
5.
In September, the former chief of staff for state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil filed a lawsuit accusing the Central Valley Republican of pressuring him into performing oral sex on her. Alvarado-Gil is now leveling her own accusations against the former staffer, Chad Condit. In a counter complaint filed Tuesday, she said Condit threatened her, stole money from her campaign, and confessed to being involved in the unsolved 2001 murder of Chandra Levy, the mistress of Condit’s father, former Rep. Gary Condit. Politico | San Joaquin Valley Sun
6.
In the new book “Didion & Babitz,” author Lili Anolik explores the friendship and rivalry of two literary titans of 1960s and 1970s California. Anolik makes no pretense of impartiality, critics say. She offers up Joan Didion and Eve Babitz “as ‘two halves of American womanhood,'” wrote reviewer Rebecca Nicholson. “The former is careerist, desexualised, one of the boys; the latter sexual, reckless and sensitive.” In Anolik’s telling, it is Babitz, not Didion, who has the rightful claim to California’s greatest chronicler. The Guardian | The Atlantic
7.
A former logging town nestled in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. A quaint Gold Rush town that calls itself the “Queen of the Sierra.” And a serene community at the foot of the Topatopa Mountains where the sunsets are so glorious they have a name: the “pink moment,” pictured above.
A longtime California travel journalist named her picks for the state’s 15 best mountain towns. Travel+Leisure
Northern California
8.
Since July, Assemblymember Matt Haney, of San Francisco, has bought plane tickets to Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Spain, Norway, Colombia, and at least four U.S. cities. During a trip to Ireland in July, he spent $3,191 on two nights at a 19th-century neo-Gothic castle. All told, Haney dropped $28,753 on hotels, flights, and meals since July — all of it paid with campaign funds. “What the hell is he doing up there, anyway?” Tom Ammiano, a former assemblymember, asked of the Irish getaway. “It’s egregious. SF Standard
9.
The area man who won a bankruptcy auction for Alex Jones’ Infowars is a San Francisco tech entrepreneur named Jeff Lawson. The satirical news site The Onion, which was purchased by Lawson in April, announced its winning bid Thursday to the delight of critics of Jones, a fabulist who lost a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit after claiming that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax. Lawson is known locally for donating to efforts to fight homelessness and publicly defending San Francisco. He said little Thursday aside from a post on X. “Yes… ha ha ha… YES!” he wrote, a reference to an Onion meme. S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
10.
Shortly after the election, Los Angeles’ incoming police chief, Jim McDonnell, issued a statement: “I want to be unequivocal. LAPD will protect LA’s immigrant community. We will not cooperate with mass deportations.” That put him squarely at odds with Donald Trump’s promise to orchestrate the largest deportation drive in U.S. history. But McDonnell’s stance flows not from liberal politics, argued columnist Jim Newton. Law enforcement leaders of all stripes understand that if officers are seen as immigration enforcers, witnesses will be afraid to report crimes or testify against criminals. CalMatters
11.
In the 2010s, an architect and interior designer found a classic desert modern home for themselves in Rancho Mirage. The residence was designed in 1956 by Donald Wexler, an architectural luminary of his day — but it needed significant work. The couple replaced every inch of drywall and undid unfortunate alterations made by past owners, returning the home closer to its original state. They recently gave a video tour of what is regarded as one of the Coachella Valley’s finest examples of desert modernism. YouTube (~5 mins)
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- San Diego — straddling an intersection of ocean, mountains, deserts, and wetlands — has more biodiversity than any county in the continental U.S. PBS unveiled a new 52-minute documentary dedicated to the richness of life surrounding what it calls “America’s wildest city.” YouTube/PBS
- “San Francisco is as beautiful as ever, developing more enticing public parks and green spaces, creating entire neighborhoods from whole cloth, and expanding arts institutions.” The New York Times gave San Francisco the “36 Hours” treatment.
- The stretch of Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco manages to traverse half the state while avoiding all of California’s stunning scenery. But there are a handful of worthwhile stops, including good tacos, pretty towns, and a bonsai stand. Thrillist
- A group of creative scammers used a bear costume to stage bear attacks on luxury vehicles in Lake Arrowhead for insurance payouts, officials said. Grainy video submitted as evidence with a claim showed a furry creature that was “clearly a human in a bear suit,” a state biologist found. LAist | L.A. Times
- Yes, officials released the video.
- Andy Wang, an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has an unusual way of decompressing after work: he dons a yellow safety vest and picks up trash along the Bay Area’s roadsides. On Monday, he shared a gallery of his “most challenging cleanups,” triggering a wave of good vibes on Reddit.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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