Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 8.
- The rampant use of ChatGPT is redefining college.
- One America News is tapped to fuel Voice of America.
- And the joys of scorpion hunting in the California desert.
Statewide
1.
Two and a half years after OpenAI launched ChatGPT, pretty much everyone is cheating their way through college, New York Magazine reported. Troy Jollimore, a Cal State Chico ethics professor, offered a bleak prediction:
“Massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate. Both in the literal sense and in the sense of being historically illiterate and having no knowledge of their own culture, much less anyone else’s.”
2.
“No, LA fires were NOT deliberately set to hide secret pedophile tunnels.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched a fact-checking website, called Californiafacts.com, designed to defend the state against false information online. “We’re done letting the MAGA trolls define the Golden State,” he said in a statement. Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor, said he was proud to see that he was featured on the site. Politico
- In a new poll, most Californians said Newsom is devoting more attention to boosting his presidential prospects than fixing the state. L.A. Times
Northern California
3.
In a media blitz of interviews and public appearances in recent weeks, Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision for a new digital future. Artificial-intelligence friends, he said, will outnumber human companions; chatbots will substitute for human therapists; and AI agents will step in when customers need to speak to a person. “I think people are going to want a system that knows them well and that kind of understands them in the way that their feed algorithms do,” he said on Tuesday. Wall Street Journal
- Zuckerberg’s new Meta AI app is creepy, wrote tech columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler: Whatever you chat about, “just picture Zuckerberg watching.” Washington Post
4.
The prosecution of Tou Sue Vang, of Sacramento, provided a glimpse into the enormous sums of money sloshing around the stolen catalytic-converter market. Between 2019 and 2021, thefts of the car parts, prized for the precious metals they contain, surged more than 1,200%. According to prosecutors, Vang and his family made more than $38 million operating a catalytic-converter theft ring. He bought luxury homes and more than a dozen vehicles before getting caught. On Tuesday, Vang was sentenced to 12 years in prison. KCRA | S.F. Chronicle
5.
While San Francisco is often depicted as a poster child of the homelessness crisis, its neighbor across the bay has a significantly higher rate of people on the streets. Oakland, however, is now moving aggressively to dismantle its encampments after the Supreme Court last summer gave cities broad power to evict people from public spaces. In newly cleared areas, crews are adding signs that read “no re-encampment.” S.F. Chronicle
6.
A Berkeley dance company is exploding the idea that mobility devices such as crutches are just about getting from Point A to Point B. In a new performance by Axis Dance Company, disabled and non-disabled dancers use crutches that extend like wings to amplify jumps and propel wheelchairs. “When we were creating this technology, we were thinking about the possibilities and not the limitations,” said artist Ben Levine. N.Y. Times
Southern California
7.
After President Trump named Kari Lake to lead Voice of America in December, the former Phoenix TV anchor and prominent election denier declared that the agency would excel in “chronicling America’s achievements worldwide.” On Wednesday, she announced a content partner in that mission: One America News, the San Diego outlet that became a darling of the Trump White House through its fawning coverage and commitment to election denialism. Previously, Lake cut contracts with the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. NPR | Washington Post
8.
Former Lakers star Byron Scott acknowledged on Wednesday that a sexual act had occurred with a woman who accused him in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting her in 1987, when she was 15 and he was 26. “Our client believed the plaintiff to be over 18 and had no idea she would claim otherwise” years later, Scott’s lawyer said. In her claim, the woman said Scott “pulled her inside” a room during an event at her Los Angeles high school. She filed the lawsuit under a state law that relaxed the statute of limitations on child sex abuse. L.A. Times | A.P.
9.
A helicopter crash that killed five Marines in the mountains east of San Diego last year was caused by pilot error, according to an accident report released Wednesday. The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter went down during a nighttime flight on Feb. 6, 2024, as a storm churned through the region. The poor visibility likely led the crew to believe they were keeping safe distances from mountain terrain, investigators said. They also concluded that the commanding officer, who was relieved of duty, should not have allowed the flight. A.P. | Stars and Stripes
10.
A 14-year-old student was stabbed to death and two other teenagers were injured after a fight outside Santa Ana High School on Wednesday, the authorities said. Two suspects remained at large. It was unclear what led to the violence, but school officials told one broadcaster that it appeared to be gang-related. Aaron Chavez, a friend of the slain student, said he had spoken to him just hours before the killing. “It was a quick dap up, a quick good morning,” he said. “I wish that would have been a hug.” KABC | NBC Los Angeles
11.
When two businessmen built San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado in 1888, they intended for it to “be the talk of the Western world.” Over the years, the 750-room Victorian on the edge of the Pacific attracted guests from Babe Ruth and Judy Garland to Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey. Now, after six years and $550 million, crews are close to completing the most ambitious renovation in the hotel’s history. The highlight is the Crown Room, a banquet hall with ceilings 33 feet high, wrote the New York Times: “Walking into the Crown Room is like stepping onto the Titanic on dry land.”
12.
When camping in the Southern California desert, don’t forget to pack your ultraviolet flashlight.
California has among the highest numbers of scorpion species in the world. They are remarkably cool, including the bizarre characteristic of shimmering in incandescent green under UV light. Scientists are uncertain why they do it, but it could be a cue to the nocturnal arthropod itself to take cover from predators when struck by moonlight. Traipse around the Southern California desert with a UV light in hand on a moonless night, and you can find dozens of them within an hour. Here’s a fun little video of glowing scorpions near the Salton Sea. 👉 YouTube
- The conservation group Friends of the Desert Mountains hosts scorpion hunts every so often on the edge of the Coachella Valley. The next outing is on May 24.
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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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