Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 20.
- Dozens of cities pay workers to abandon Silicon Valley.
- Street takeovers mar new bridge in Los Angeles.
- And former L.A. Times editor accuses reporter of lying.
Statewide
1.
Up for Growth, a nonprofit research group, quantified the mismatch between housing demand and supply in 800 cities and towns across the country. Of the 20 with the most severe housing deficits, seven were in California — and the shortages were only growing worse, the report said. Los Angeles had the largest need of any metro area: nearly 400,000 additional units. See how bad the shortage is in your city. 👉 NPR
2.
A Chico woman killed by a grizzly bear while tent camping in Montana last year had scared the animal away before it returned and attacked, an investigation found. The 417-pound bear woke Leah Lokan, 65, at about 3 a.m. but fled after she and other campers made a commotion. Lokan armed herself with a can of bear spray and went back to bed. An hour later, the grizzly was back. A medical examiner determined Lokan’s death was “instantaneous,” resulting from a broken neck and severed spinal cord. Washington Post
3.
Marta Giaccone, a photographer based in Estonia, rode Amtrak’s California Zephyr, considered to be among the most scenic long-distance train routes in the United States. It wasn’t about getting somewhere, she wrote. The trip was the reward: “There was a sense of community aboard the California Zephyr. After all, there aren’t many places where Mennonites, a Japanese student, smiley newlyweds, parents with their kids and grandkids in tow and retirees are all bundled together for such a long period of time, sharing their life stories.” N.Y. Times
Northern California
4.
“If our trucks stop, America stops.”
A group of truck drivers protested California’s gig worker law at the port of Oakland for a second day on Tuesday, bringing to a near standstill one of the country’s most important commerce hubs. Many dock workers refused to cross a picket line. The California law AB 5 restricts the use of contractors rather than company employees across a range of businesses. Independent owner-operators, who make up a large share of the trucking sector, say it will drive them out of business. Wall Street Journal | Bay Area News Group
5.
There are now 71 cities and towns across the U.S. paying tech workers to abandon Silicon Valley, more than triple the number of such programs last fall. It’s working. The perks include $12,000 in cash, subsidized gym memberships, free babysitting, and office space. David Gora, a Meta employee, had never lived anywhere in the U.S. other than California. “To some degree, I’ve been able to find myself,” he said of his move to Tulsa. Wall Street Journal
6.
An ostentatious private club is being planned on the roof of San Francisco’s public Salesforce Park, 70 feet above surrounding homeless encampments. Memberships at Sho Club Sky Lounge, costing up to $300,000, will be minted for buyers on the Ethereum blockchain. Andrew Chamings won’t be getting one. The entire endeavor, he wrote, is “a smug celebration of the widening chasm of wealth disparity, planted in a time and a city that needs just the opposite.” SFGATE
7.
Five months after San Francisco voters recalled a school board member who made racist comments targeting Asian Americans, a replacement board member came under fire for saying Black students face “lack of parental encouragement.” Some people called for Ann Hsu, who was appointed by the mayor to fill one of three vacancies after the February recall, to resign. She later apologized. SF Standard | S.F. Chronicle
8.
“Hey, I think this dog is trying to lead us somewhere.”
A 53-year-old man hiking near Tahoe National Forest with his black Border collie, Saul, fell 70 feet from a ridge, breaking his hip and multiple ribs. He called 911 for help. Hours later, volunteer searchers came across Saul in the forest. The dog jumped up and down, spun in circles, and ran 20 feet ahead as if to say “follow me.” They did. After about 200 yards they reached his owner, in pain but grateful. N.Y. Times | KCRA
Southern California
9.
Graffiti. Drivers doing donuts. People crawling atop the arches.
Los Angeles’ gleaming 6th Street Viaduct opened to fanfare two weekends ago, and people are already ruining it. Street takeovers involving dozens of cars have now left it covered in black skid marks. Victoria Pynchon, who documented the bridge construction on Instagram, said the span was beautiful — “like a sheet of music.” But she shrugged when a reporter showed her video of the misbehaving motorists. “It’s a raucous city,” she said. City News Service | CBS News
10.
West Hollywood decided in June to reduce the number of sheriff’s deputies in the city and increase the number of unarmed security guards — dubbed “ambassadors” — patrolling the streets. The move by the famously liberal city reverberated nationally. Fox News did segments. O.J. Simpson called it a mistake. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said it was “reckless.” But in a city with 60 sheriff’s deputies, the plan calls for a net loss of, at most, four deputies over the next nine months. “We’re reimagining public safety, period. In a very pragmatic,” Mayor Pro Tem Sepi Shyne said. L.A. Times
11.
Security camera video appeared to show police in San Bernardino fatally shoot a 23-year-old man as he ran away. Two officers in an unmarked car had arrived in the parking lot on July 16 in response to reports of a man with a gun. When Robert Adams, who is Black, approached their car, firearm in hand, the officers darted out with guns drawn. Adams immediately turned and ran as one officer shot him in the back. Outraged, Adams’ stepfather said they “hunted him down like a dog.” CBS News | Daily Beast
12.
In his new book “Bad City,” the reporter Paul Pringle accuses higher-ups at the L.A. Times of trying to thwart his blockbuster investigation of Carmen Puliafito, the USC medical school dean who was seen on videos using meth with young companions. On Tuesday, one of Pringle’s editors on the story, Matthew Doig, posted a scorching rebuttal, including internal emails and story drafts that he said proved Pringle’s portrayal of events in the newsroom was “utter bullshit.” “The truth is that Pringle is a fabulist,” Doig wrote. Medium
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