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 Tuesday, May 5.
- State Farm is accused of mishandling L.A. fire claims.
- Tribe announces purchase of historic Mission Inn.
- And a tour of the stylish motels of the Central Coast.
Statewide
1.
State regulators on Monday accused State Farm of repeatedly violating the law in its handling of insurance claims from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. State Farm “delayed, underpaid, and buried policyholders in red tape at the worst moment of their lives,” said Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner. The company acknowledged “errors,” but accused regulators of painting a “distorted picture” of its overall response. A consumer watchdog scoffed at the estimated penalty facing State Farm: just $2 million. Wall Street Journal | N.Y. Times
2.
The latest poll of the California governor’s race showed Xavier Becerra leading the crowded field of Democrats, with 18% support. After languishing in single digits for months, the former attorney general of California is defying conventional wisdom about what Democrats want as he surpasses more progressive rivals pledging to upend the status quo, Politico reported: “Xavier Becerra is becoming the Joe Biden of California’s gubernatorial campaign.”
3.
California and its journalists were well represented in this year’s Pulitzer Prizes announcement on Monday. The San Francisco Chronicle won the explanatory reporting prize for its series on how insurance companies systematically underestimate rebuilding costs, deny claims, and leave wildfire victims with crushing debt. S.F. Chronicle
In other categories:
- Two prizes — international reporting and beat reporting — were awarded for investigations that exposed malign forces at work in Silicon Valley. The Associated Press revealed the sale of tech tools for mass surveillance in China, and Reuters detailed Meta’s willingness to expose users to scams to safeguard billions in revenue.
- Finalist honors included Chronicle photography on fentanyl addiction in San Francisco, Los Angeles Times photography of the L.A. wildfires, breaking news reporting by the Southern California News Group on the wildfires, Gustavo Arellano’s opinion writing on the immigration crackdown, and feature writing in the New York Times Magazine on the underage sex trade in Los Angeles.
4.
“With the saturated orange of the garden umbrellas, bubblegum-pink decorative cacti that fringe the pool, and bright-blue high chairs at the bar, Skyview now calls to mind high-color Americana. This vivid aesthetic is softened by the motel’s surrounding vineyards … The evening I arrived, I took a glass [of rosé] out onto my terrace as the sun went down, lit the firepit, and enjoyed the view of horses grazing contentedly.”
Travel writer Simon Willis took a five-day tour of lodgings along California’s Central Coast, birthplace of the motel. Travel+Leisure
Northern California
5.
After the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the venture capitalist David Sacks pronounced Donald Trump “disqualified” from ever again holding national office. “He will pay for it in the history books, if not in a court of law,” he said then. Chamath Palihapitiya, a fellow venture capitalist, called Trump “a complete piece-of-shit fucking scumbag.” A few years later, both men hosted a fundraiser for Trump on a street in San Francisco known as “Billionaires’ Row.” The Atlantic’s George Packer told the story of “how David Sacks and the new tech right went full MAGA and captured Washington.”
6.
“He would Snapchat me. He’d be like, ‘What do you want to do with your future?’ And then he’d be like, ‘What are you wearing right now?’”
CNN spoke to more than a dozen women who described interactions with Eric Swalwell that made them uncomfortable over the past decade. The accoun ts suggest that the married politician repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances toward young women in his orbit, commonly on Snapchat, even as he portrayed himself as a champion of women’s rights. SFist | Mediaite
7.
In January, the story of a coyote believed to have swum all the way from San Francisco’s mainland to Alcatraz Island inspired headlines around the world. Park biologists declared at the time that no coyote had ever been observed making the mile-and-a-quarter journey. It turns out that the animal’s feat was even more impressive: DNA evidence revealed that he is from Angel Island, a distance of 2 miles from Alcatraz. The coyote hasn’t been seen in months. Well-wishers are hoping he swam to his next destination. SFGATE
Southern California
8.
“Never seen anything like this.”
The authorities descended on an animal sanctuary in Julian over the weekend to seize more than 500 animals, including at least 165 horses, as part of a criminal investigation. Jace Huggins, a San Diego Humane Society official, said the conditions were “appalling”: “I found a cat that had a massive wound on its neck, where you could see deeply, deeply into its neck’s musculature.” Four horses, a pony, a bull, and at least one kitten had to be euthanized, he said. The founder of the facility, Monika Kerber, denied claims of animal neglect. “They were my life. They were my everything,” she said, sobbing. S.D. Union Tribune | CBS8
9.
The man accused of starting the Palisades fire nursed resentment toward the rich and admired Luigi Mangione, prosecutors alleged in newly released documents. A forensic review of Jonathan Rinderknecht’s computer found that he searched “Free Luigi” and “reddit lets kill all billionaires” in the weeks before the conflagration. Passengers who rode in his Uber described him as “ranting about being ‘pissed off at the world.’” Rinderknecht’s lawyer say he is being used as a scapegoat for the fire department’s mishandling of the fire. L.A. Times. | A.P.
10.
Riverside’s historic Mission Inn began as a boarding house in the desert in the 1870s. Over time, it grew into a small-scale Hearst Castle with courtyards, bell towers, chapels, fountains, arches, and winding stairways that occupies an entire city block. Now it’s about to begin a new identity: tribal property. The Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation announced Monday that it would buy the hotel for an undisclosed sum. Some locals celebrated the idea, saying it would be in step with the “land back” movement, which aims to return land to Indigenous stewardship. O.C. Register | Riverside Record
11.
Coronado, one of California’s ritziest coastal towns, has been befouled by a “tsunami of raw sewage,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Tijuana wastewater has polluted U.S. waters for decades, but until recently it was confined primarily to Imperial Beach, near the border. Whitney David, 63, a retired surgeon and surfer, said he left Coronado largely because of the sewage: “It was heaven on earth and now I call it paradise lost. All kinds of trash you would see floating in the ocean — food wrappers, bottles, clothing. Once in a while, you would even see a piece of crap.”
12.
Asked to share picks of seaside getaways both gorgeous and less crowded, Bobby Heard, a founder of the World’s 50 Best Beaches, named Treasure Island Beach in Laguna Beach, pictured above. The sandy cove has limited parking and is nestled below the clifftop Montage Resort, hidden from passing motorists along Highway 1. Beachgoers who seek it out are rewarded with calm turquoise waters, a rock arch, and bluffs draped in bougainvillea. “It’s extremely beautiful,” Heard said. Washington Post
- A public bluff trail on the manicured grounds of the resort is a destination in its own right. Take a video tour.
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