All of the must-read news about the Golden State in one place.
Hi, I’m Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times. I survey more than 100 news and social media sites daily, then send you a tightly crafted email with only the most informative and delightful bits.
Each weekday at about 6 a.m., you’ll get an email like this.
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 17.
- Rep. Eric Swalwell goes AWOL from Congress.
- Meta tolerates lucrative scam ads from China.
- And the final days of Rob and Michele Reiner.
Statewide
1.
California threatened to halt Tesla sales in the state unless the company stops deceiving consumers by implying its cars can drive on their own, officials said on Tuesday. Tesla has faced years of scrutiny from regulators and prosecutors over its use of brand names such as “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.” Steve Gordon, California’s DMV director, said the car maker would get “one more chance” to fix the problem. In a statement, Tesla claimed “not one single customer” had complained about its marketing language. Wall Street Journal | Reuters
2.
As the Central Valley’s 400-mile-long fogbank turned 25 days old on Tuesday, some weary locals are asking if it will ever go away. The block of grayish white known as tule fog has a salutary effect for the region’s fruit and nut trees, allowing them to store more energy for the growing season. But the blinding gloom is also notorious for causing vehicle pileups. Jordan Craft, a Sacramento geologist, shared a recent video from her drive along Highway 36, dropping into Red Bluff, that showed what it’s like entering the fog. Reddit
- Meteorologists warned that a series of atmospheric rivers appeared likely to sweep into the state next week. “Start to mentally prepare for a wet Christmas holiday,” wrote the National Weather Service. L.A. Times | KQED
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Northern California
3.
In October, Rep. Eric Swalwell posted a video of himself criticizing “masked bandits” from ICE who accosted a woman in a Wal-Mart parking lot and asked where she was born. “Accountability is coming,” the Bay Area Democrat declared. But since announcing his bid for California governor in November, Swalwell has failed to cast a single vote in Congress. Last week, he skipped a committee hearing featuring Kristi Noem, the homeland secretary. His absences are unsurprising. Swalwell has the worst attendance record of any Californian in Congress, an analysis found. Sacramento Bee
4.
“I don’t know how anyone could think this is okay.”
While China bans its citizens from using Meta’s social media, companies are allowed to advertise to foreign consumers on the platforms. Last year, Meta’s annual ad sales in China reached $18 billion. But the Menlo Park company estimated that more than $3 billion of that total came from ads for scams and other banned content, internal documents reviewed by Reuters found. When a team focused on fighting Chinese fraud cut into those profits, Meta shut it down. Fortune | New York Post
5.
When California passed a law banning public schools from using derogatory Native American team names in 2024, they included an exception: If you get a letter from a local tribe signing off on the name, you can keep it. Clark Intermediate School in Clovis was set to retire its chieftain mascot. But last Friday, members of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians showed up at a school board meeting, letter in hand. “We recognize Chieftains to be a prideful term, and Chieftains are noble leaders, and it’s a great day to be a Chieftain,” said Fred Beihn, the tribe’s vice chairperson. Fresno Bee | KFSN
6.
“Christian nationalist — that’s just a name that the left made up to silence people.”
“Separation of church and state is a myth, OK?”
“My oldest daughter had a lot of trauma as a child … and as a result of it, she’s a lesbian. She’s gay.”
The mayor of a Sacramento suburb is facing local protests after video of her remarks to a high school club associated with the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was posted online. During a contentious school board meeting on Tuesday in Lincoln, a city of roughly 50,000 people in Placer County, a number of speakers denounced Mayor Holly Andreatta’s comments and called for the club to be disbanded on hate speech grounds. Sacramento Bee | KCRA
7.
Day trippers from San Francisco commonly venture 30 miles down the coast to Half Moon Bay for a dose of scenic small-town charm. Others come for the hamburgers. In 2017, Scott Clark shocked the local dining world when he quit his job as chef at a three-Michelin-star restaurant in San Francisco and announced plans to open a roadside hamburger stand in an old train caboose in Half Moon Bay. Dad’s Luncheonette has since become a nationally acclaimed destination. A recent Instagram video on the restaurant by Visit California drew a wave of love in the comments section.
8.
A panel of expert judges compared five artificial-intelligence image generators on their ability to edit photos, convey emotion, and make art. It wasn’t close. They found that Google’s Gemini outperformed rivals like ChatGPT and Meta AI on every task. Scroll through this slide show to see how each service performed. 👉 Washington Post
9.
Your gingerbread house is fine. But it’s no Peter Williams. The San Francisco interior designer has been making holiday gingerbread creations for around 15 years, each more elaborate than the last. He recently unveiled his 2025 project, a row of replicas of Alamo Square’s iconic Painted Ladies, complete with interior furniture and wall hangings. SFist
Southern California
10.
On Saturday night, Nick Reiner brought a dark energy to a Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien in Pacific Palisades, according to several reports that cited accounts from partygoers. He interrupted conversations, peppering guests with strange questions: What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous? Bill Hader told Nick he was engaged in a private conversation, according to one account: “Nick glared at him for what felt like an uncomfortable amount of time. Some time later, shouts echoed.” Wall Street Journal | Hollywood Reporter
11.
Other developments in the killings of Rob and Michele Reiner:
- L.A. County authorities on Tuesday formally charged Nick Reiner with murdering his parents. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. “This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones, but for our entire city,” said Police Chief Jim McDonnell. L.A. Times | A.P.
- It was Romy Reiner, the Reiners’ 28-year-old daughter, who found her father’s body in his bedroom on Sunday. She fled the home in anguish without seeing her mother body. A person close to the family gave one of the first detailed descriptions of the tragedy from the family’s perspective. N.Y. Times
- Surveillance video showed Nick Reiner wandering inside a gas station convenience store in Los Angeles moments before being arrested Sunday night. KABC | NBC Los Angeles
12.
A new study found that the beaks of urban birds on the UCLA campus developed a sharper shape, characteristic of their forest-dwelling counterparts, during the pandemic. Scientists described the change in the dark-eyed juncos as a remarkable example of rapid evolution. They theorized that juncos with wildland-shaped beaks were better equipped to survive and reproduce when campus shut down, and their diet of cookies, bread, and pizza disappeared. After the students returned, so did the birds’ stubbier urban-style beaks. N.Y. Times
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