Good morning. It’s Friday, Aug. 1.

• Gavin Newsom wants November election on redistricting.
• Ranchers say goodbye after generations on Point Reyes.
• And old Birkenstock building to become design museum.

Please note: The newsletter will be off next week. I’ll see you again Monday, Aug. 11.

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Statewide

1.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Thursday that he will seek to call a November special election to approve redrawn congressional districts that would boost Democrats to counter Republican gerrymandering in Texas. California map makers will aim to flip seats held by Republican Reps. Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, and David Valadao, one source said. “I’m not going to sit back any longer in the fetal position, a position of weakness, when in fact California can demonstrably advance strength,” Newsom said. Politico | Texas Tribune

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2.

“In the high plains of western Texas, 600 or so farms in Gaines County are projected to receive an additional $258 million in government payments over the next decade under President Trump’s marquee domestic policy law — the largest increase in the country.

“By contrast, along the coast of California, 1,000 farms in Monterey County will collectively receive just $390,000 in additional payments, according to one analysis.”

The New York Times revealed the stark disparities in who will benefit from the farm subsidies in President Trump’s domestic policy bill.

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Northern California

3.

Tech companies opened a window into the current economics of artificial intelligence with the release of quarterly financial reports this week — and the numbers are eye-popping. Together, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are on track to spend nearly $400 billion this year on capital expenditures (read: data centers for AI). That’s more than the European Union’s defense spending last year. Wall Street, normally disapproving of extravagant corporate spending, welcomed it this time on the belief that AI will unlock enormous wealth. Wall Street Journal

• N.Y. Times: “Silicon Valley’s A.I. talent wars have become so frenzied — and so outlandish — that they increasingly resemble the stratospheric market for N.B.A. stars.”

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4.

A man killed in a knife attack in San Francisco over the weekend is being hailed as a hero. According to witnesses, Colden Kimber, 28, saw a man harassing a group of women and children on a train platform and moved in between them. Without exchanging any words, the man plunged a knife into Kimber’s neck, officials said. Kimber’s mother, Lara Litchfield-Kimber, said she was unsurprised by her son’s act: “That does square with everything I know about him. He was a very protective big brother, and he was very protective of me.” S.F. Standard | S.F. Chronicle

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5.

Chico State University suspended the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity after video circulated showing a pledge licking a dead rat, reports said. Chico State has a disturbing history with hazing. In 2005, Phi Kappa Tau made national headlines when its members participated in a pornographic film. That same year, Matthew Carrington, a 21-year-old pledge of another fraternity, died after being forced to drink excessive amounts of water during a hazing ritual. Chico Enterprise-Record | KRCR

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6.

Several months after Point Reyes National Seashore announced that it would largely do away with ranching at the park, several generations of the Lunny family gathered for the last cattle roundup at their ranch. “It’s all I’ve ever known,” Kevin Lunny said, referring to the wind, the light, the salted air, and the smell of cows. His father Joe Lunny Jr. is 94 years old. “I thought I would die here one day,” he said, choking back tears.

Sonoma Magazine wrote about how one ranching family said goodbye to their cherished piece of Point Reyes.

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7.

The former Birkenstock building, a modernist gem rising along Highway 101 in Marin County, will be transformed into a design museum, reports said on Thursday. Real estate sources said the heirs of midcentury designers Charles and Ray Eames paid $36 million for the spiky 1964 structure, with plans to house the Eames Archives there. They hired the architects who designed the de Young Museum to lead the reimagining of the property as a public space. Pictured above is their vision for the arrival court. S.F. Chronicle | KQED

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Southern California

8.

The last days of Wallis Annenberg, the Los Angeles philanthropist who died on Monday at age 86, were marred by a bitter family dispute over her care, court records showed. Three of Annenberg’s children said Vikki Levine, the sister of Annenberg’s longtime partner Kris Levine, exerted control over their mother in “likely fatal” ways, hastening her decline with excess narcotics. In court filings, Vikki Levine called the accusations “vicious and false,” while Kris Levine accused the children of a campaign of “lies.” L.A. Times

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9.

Last week, Eric Torres’ 4-year-old golden retriever Chloe collapsed suddenly and began to seize in Venice Canals. Veterinarians tested her for poisons, but the results were inconclusive. She died hours later. Then other dogs began getting sick. Within about 10 days, at least seven dogs in Venice Canals died and 11 more were hospitalized with a mystery illness, according to neighbors. All of them had been in good health. The lack of answers has shaken the dog-loving district, with some residents turning accusatory. L.A. Times

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10.

On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with Sam Yerbi, a Yale-educated labor attorney and the board president of the civic organization Thrive LA. Yerbi talked about what he sees as the careerism, complacency, and corruption plaguing city government. Increasingly, he said, residents have lost faith in politicians to address issues such as affordability and crime. “[Los Angeles] was a beacon where everyone wanted to end up in and raise a family,” Yerbi said. “People are voting with their feet by moving elsewhere and it’s really kind of a tragic reality.”

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California archive

11.

☝️ In the 1920s and 1930s, an automobile service business in Hollywood erected an ingenious promotion for its used tire offerings.

The Muller Brothers service station, established in 1920, seized upon Los Angeles’ car craze with unrivaled gusto, offering gas, parts, service, car washing, and rentals across a five-acre lot. Its promotions included sending an elephant through the car wash and an automobile-themed beauty pageant held in 1951. Among the honorees were “Miss Lube Rack,” “Miss Auto Accessory,” and “Miss Body and Fender.” LIFE magazine sent a photographer who captured fantastic pictures of the event. 👉 Google Arts & Culture

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In case you missed it

12.

Five items that got big views over the past week:

• When cargo ship captains arrive from across the sea to the Golden Gate, they don’t enter San Francisco Bay. That job is done by specialized harbor pilots. One of the scariest maneuvers is boarding a massive freighter from a speedboat via a rope ladder. See a nail-biting video showing how it’s done in rough seas. 👉 Instagram
• In 2023, a couple in Sausalito set out to enlarge their home and found themselves in a vicious battle with neighbors worried about preserving the character of the area. There would be police reports, stay-away orders, and allegations of physical violence in what one local newspaper called the “nightmare on Pine Street.” S.F. Chronicle
• There’s a four-block area in Los Angeles with taco offerings that rival any place in the world. That’s according to Javier Cabral, the editor-in-chief of L.A. Taco, who has spent the past two decades chasing the best taco. He revealed his 12 favorite taco spots. Financial Times.
• Balcony solar took off years ago in Germany, with millions of draped solar panels now helping to power homes. But the U.S. has been slow to update the standards and regulations that would allow for similarly wide adoption. In California, people have started adding them anyway. KQED checked out a homeowner’s new rig in Berkeley.
• “I’m grateful, but I would have done what I did — and I’ll do what I’m doing — regardless of whether it’s deemed worthy of mention or not.” Harrison Ford, 83, in typical fashion, gave a highly entertaining interview to Variety.
  

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The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412