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Hi, I’m Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times. I survey more than 100 news sites, then send you a tightly crafted daily digest — no ads, no AI, just essential news.
Each weekday at about 6 a.m., you’ll get an email like this.
Good morning. It’s Monday, Nov. 2.
- Billionaire tax measure puts populism on the ballot.
- Judges are warned to guard against ballot seizures.
- And a “magical” win for the Golden State Valkyries.
Election 2026
1.
California’s proposed billionaire tax to fund health care is being called one of the most significant measures to appear on Tuesday’s midterm ballot nationwide.
A real estate billionaire occupies the White House, noted reporter Will McCarthy. Tech billionaires are developing artificial intelligence models that they warn could wipe out humanity. Meanwhile, most Americans are struggling to pay for gas: “Proposition 40 … will test just how fed up voters are with that dynamic — particularly in a deep blue state.” Politico | Bloomberg
- In the last week of October, billionaires flooded the effort to kill the tax with more than $50 million. That’s more than the pro-tax campaign raised in 10 months. Sacramento Bee
2.
The battle line in the contest for Los Angeles mayor is not between centrist and progressive visions of Democratic politics, wrote Peter Jamison. “Rather, on one side is a heterodox assembly of disgruntled left-of-center constituencies — from wealthy housing developers to young socialists in neckerchiefs — who have rallied behind [Nithya] Raman. In [Karen] Bass, they are seeking to topple the leader of an ‘establishment’ … created by a coalition of Black, Latino and labor activists who worked for decades to gain political clout in a city that for much of its history ignored their voices.” Washington Post
3.
Last Thursday, a line of cars snaked down the road at a gas station offering $3 gas in the Central Valley town of Sanger. Greeting motorists was Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for governor. His T-shirt read: “$3 Gas Is On Me.” It was the latest stunt by the long-shot candidate as he tries to close a large polling gap with front-runner Xavier Becerra. People at the gas station certainly appreciated his efforts. Jacob Zailian, a pastor, brought five church vans to fill up. N.Y. Times
- As Hilton makes far-fetched promises, Becerra has studiously avoided giving specifics about his plans. Asked recently if he’d pursue an end to the death penalty, he said he “could consider it.” S.F. Chronicle
4.
The first outside analysis of the 20,930 names that the Justice Department flagged as likely noncitizens found that four in 10 do not correspond to anyone on California’s voter rolls. Thousands more appeared to be U.S. citizens, UCLA researchers found. Bill Essayli, the Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in L.A., called the findings “bogus.” A.P.
- Analysts have warned that the Trump administration could use allegations of noncitizen voting to challenge vote results. In an extraordinary “alert” on Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged federal judges in California to resist any potential ballot seizures. He added: “Indeed, the only reason to do so would be to interfere in a State’s lawful counting of ballots and certifying the results of the election.” Reuters | N.Y. Times
5.
Other election odds and ends:
- In Bakersfield, immigration arrests jumped from one a day for much of the year to nearly 10 per day in mid-October. The crackdown has led to accusations of voter intimidation in the closely fought congressional race between Democrat Randy Villegas and Republican David Valadao. Reuters
- The battle for two seats on Beverly Hills school board has devolved into an all-out political brawl, the New York Times reported: “Moles have infiltrated group chats. The police have responded to dozens of calls about stolen campaign signs. One of the candidates has a restraining order against an opponent over allegations of doxxing.”
- The worst measure on California’s ballot would funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into a single, untested research center founded by the same billionaires that put the proposition on the ballot, wrote columnist Emily Hoeven. And Gavin Newsom supports it. S.F. Chronicle
- Consult voter guides by the L.A. Times, CalMatters, and KQED.
Statewide
6.
After three years of damaging landslides that closed Highway 1, Big Sur was just getting back to a feeling of normalcy. Then tourists at the region’s iconic Bixby Bridge were met by string of orange traffic cones, part of a new moratorium on parking. A major wildfire followed, threatening the region’s most popular campground. Climate risks and overtourism appear to be challenging the identity of the Central Coast’s rugged paradise, wrote Monterey County Now: “What is normal in Big Sur is changing.”
7.
“The Bay Area is magical right now.”
The Golden State Valkyries debuted in May 2025 and instantly captured the hearts and souls of fans in San Francisco, selling out every home game across two seasons. On Saturday, the stands at Chase Center, or “Ballhalla” as they call it, were overcome with euphoria as the team clinched the 2026 WNBA championship in a thrilling Game 7. No other team in major North American sports has won a title so quickly. San Francisco was planning a victory parade for Wednesday. S.F. Chronicle | KQED
- See the moment of victory.
8.
“Ego just got in the way.”
For a decade, the developer Scott Gillen has chased a grand vision to create the most expensive neighborhood in America, five midcentury-inspired mansions atop a hill in Malibu that would sell for nearly half a billion dollars. The development is now collapsing. Four of the properties are unsold, and entities tied to Gillen filed for bankruptcy this summer. The Wall Street Journal attributed the project’s unraveling to the cult of personality surrounding Gillen, who refused to lower his ambitious prices.
- Architectural Digest photographed The Case neighborhood.
9.
In June 2025, when immigration raids in Los Angeles were making national headlines, the singer Vanessa Hernández, known as Nezza, planned to perform a Spanish-language rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a Dodgers home game. The translation had the imprimatur of the U.S. government, having been commissioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Yet before taking the field, Hernández was instructed by a Dodgers employee to sing the English version. She did it in Spanish anyway, pausing to wipe tears before the final line. The Los Angeles Times produced a moving short documentary on “one small act of bravery.”
10.
Jim Morrison, a mountaineer from Truckee, planned with his partner Hilaree Nelson to do something never done before: climb the north face of Mount Everest and then ski down it. The filmmakers behind “Free Solo” decided to follow their journey, the Washington Post reported:
“But, in a split second, everyone’s worst fears were realized. A small avalanche swept Nelson away, nearly 6,000 feet down the mountain. The weather was too rough for Morrison to safely follow and attempt to rescue her. They didn’t find her body until days later, frozen in the snow. The cameras caught everything.”
11.
“I’m not a cultural anthropologist,” the late food critic Jonathan Gold once said. “I write about taco stands and fancy French restaurants to try to get people less afraid of their neighbors and to live in their entire city instead of sticking to their one part of town.”
The best way to understand Los Angeles, many would argue, is through its culinary landscape. And Gold was among its greatest guides. He was featured in the 2015 documentary “City of Gold,” which the New York Times Style Magazine just ranked among the most resonant films about Los Angeles.
12.
Western black widows, known for their vivid red hourglass markings, have long stalked the nightmares of California children. But they really do not want to bite you. In one study, researchers repeatedly poked black widows with a fake finger. Most declined to bite and only did so when they were pinched multiple times. Even then, many delivered “dry bites,” with no venom. Meanwhile, black widows kill aphids, mosquitoes, and ticks. Bay Nature wrote about “the shy, retiring spider in the corner that’s taking care of your household pests.”
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