Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 9.
- Transgender official wins praise in Shasta County.
- Study shows wolves are feasting on California cows.
- And a Michelin culinary itinerary for Highway 1.
Statewide
1.
Starting today, Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to go on a swing-state tour with the stated purpose of boosting Democrats in the midterms. The unstated purpose, Politico reports, is to lay more groundwork for his likely presidential campaign. The first stop is Nevada, a must-visit destination for White House contenders. Later, he plans to hit parts of the deep South, where he will have the chance to court crucial constituencies of Black voters in the traditionally red region.
2.
The toll of this year’s illegal July Fourth fireworks came into clearer focus on Wednesday. On a North Coast beach, a 44-year-old man who was cleaning up trash from revelers lost his left hand when he picked up a homemade firework, which detonated. In Anaheim, a mother said an illegal firework exploded in the hands of her son and another boy. “He’s going to be in the hospital for about two months,” she said of her son. “His hands are literally butchered.” Earlier reports of fireworks mishaps included the death of woman and serious injuries to two men in Chino. USA Today | CBS News
3.
A can’t-miss seafood stew on the edge of Tomales Bay.
Nostalgic California cuisine perched atop a bluff in Big Sur.
And chicken and waffles in a Craftsman bungalow in Long Beach.
The sights alone are enough to make the meandering drive along Highway 1 worthwhile. So is the food. Michelin Guide published a culinary itinerary from the North Coast to Laguna Beach.
Northern California
4.
The first openly transgender person elected to a California school board rose to office in a deeply red part of the state where Trump flags fly and a Christian mega church wields strong influence. But 18 months into her term in Shasta County, Bobbie Simpson’s tenure has proven to be no big deal, EdSource reports. Bruce Ross, a local Republican official, echoed a common assessment: Simpson, he said, is “a good board member who reads the packets, asks questions, plays well with others, and cares about kids.”
5.
A report found that the removal of American wines from Canadian stores in response to President Trump’s tariff threats cost U.S. companies $357 million in lost export value in 2025. One California wine industry leader said some businesses “flat out will not survive” the disruption if it lasts much longer. A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is now appealing directly to the new premier of Quebec, Canada’s largest province, to put an end to the boycott. Those being hurt, the lawmakers wrote in a letter, “had no influence over national policies.” USA Today | Sacramento Bee
6.
A new study just confirmed ranchers’ worst fears about the return of gray wolves to Northern California: the predators are feeding mostly on cattle. An analysis of wolf scat, conducted by UC Davis scientists, found that pasturing livestock constituted about 55% of the animal’s diet. Tina Saitone, one of the authors, said the findings indicate that there is not enough natural prey, such as deer and elk, to sustain the wolves’ comeback. “Essentially, the cattle industry in California is really supporting the conservation success of wolves,” she said. S.F. Chronicle | Sacramento Bee
7.
Stanford University police concluded that a reported sexual assault near campus in March did not occur. A woman’s claim of being attacked on the evening of March 29 was reported nationally and triggered a campus-wide alert after she said a “darker skinned” man with a “semi-automatic handgun in the waistband” grabbed her while she was jogging. The authorities said the woman also reported a second assault on April 5, and that “strong evidence” indicated that also never happened. S.F. Chronicle | Palo Alto Online
8.
Huey Lewis, the 1980s pop star who grew up in Marin County, revealed that hearing loss had severed his relationship with music. Lewis, 76, said in a podcast interview released on Tuesday that he has been “basically deaf” for nearly nine years due to Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear disorder. “My life has changed immeasurably,” he said. “I can’t hear music. Music is not part of my life anymore, which is a hard pill to swallow.” S.F. Chronicle
9.
There’s a place in West Sacramento that serves seasonal peach milkshakes that are so good, they distill summer itself. That’s according to an SFGATE article about Whitey’s Jolly Kone, which makes for mouth-watering reading:
“Each milkshake is sunshine in a cup, a simple but perfect combination of ingredients: Crystal Creamery soft serve and freestone peaches from local farm J&J Ramos, sourced from a farmers market three times a week. People love the peach milkshakes so much that they start calling and asking for them in early June.”
Southern California
10.
Noémi wakes up every morning in Los Angeles to a call from her husband. “Wake up, love,” Jesús says. He calls their four children next, telling them it’s time for school. Jesús had lived in the city for more than 30 years before immigration agents showed up at the car wash where he worked and deported him to Mexico. Gabriel, 6, doesn’t fully understand why his dad went away, or why he couldn’t come to his kindergarten graduation. He’s also wondered why his mom is always crying.
The Guardian told the stories of three devastated families one year after Los Angeles’ summer of deportations.
11.
San Diego fire officials dispatched one of their helicopters to Orange County on June 29 to join a search for the son of a retired fire chief. Wesley MacFarland, 47, had been reported missing while swimming in rough ocean waters in Newport Beach. But the search was called off after he was found safe, “chilling at his apartment.” Critics are now asking why the unusual out-of-county deployment — which cost nearly $30,000 — was deemed appropriate at a time when budget constraints are forcing painful cutbacks. S.D. Union-Tribune
12.
The Palm Springs City Council on Wednesday approved a plan to trim the signature “petticoats” from hundreds of California fan palms in the city’s downtown, citing the danger of falling fronds. The plan has drawn strong opposition from admirers of the palm, an icon of the region and California’s only indigenous palm tree species. It is also the only palm species whose dead fronds adhere to the trunk throughout its life, wrote James Cornett, a desert biologist: “Remove the skirt, and you remove its most distinguishing feature.” KESQ | Palm Springs Post
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