Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Dec. 20.
- Teachers union thwarts dyslexia screening in schools.
- Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial.
- And a new film on one of Yosemite’s hardest free solos.
Statewide
1.
California is one of just 10 U.S. states that fail to screen all school children for dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects one in five readers. Last year, state lawmakers seemed poised to finally address the problem, but a bill to mandate screening in early elementary school died in the Assembly before even going up for discussion. Simply put, the effort “ran into the power of the state’s teachers union,” EdSource reported.
2.
The New Yorker profiled Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who has been called the “Speaker-in-waiting” for the last two years, as he awaits the biggest vote of his life. McCarthy’s most important political mentor was Bill Thomas, the longtime Bakersfield congressman:
“The Kevin McCarthy who is now, at this time, in the House isn’t the Kevin McCarthy I worked with,” Thomas said. “At least from outward appearances. You never know what’s inside, really. Kevin basically is whatever you want him to be. He lies. He’ll change the lie if necessary.”
● ●
The Jan. 6 panel took the unusual step on Monday of referring McCarthy for ethics violations. Politico | Bloomberg
☀️ Brighten someone’s everyday.
Give the gift of the California Sun.
3.
California’s Legislature will consider a new bill that would decriminalize plant-based psychedelics, such as “magic mushrooms” and ayahuasca. Similar legislation has failed in the past, but public attitudes toward psychedelics have shifted over time. Since 2019, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Oakland have all decriminalized their possession. In August, SF Standard reported that at least half a dozen shops are now openly selling magic mushroom products in Oakland. L.A. Times | S.F. Chronicle
4.
‘Tis the season for best-books-of-the-year lists. Based on a review of more than a dozen of them, here are four books with connections to California that earned multiple mentions:
“Properties of Thirst” by Marianne Wiggins
This novel by a Pulitzer Prize finalist follows a ranching family in the Owens Valley during the time of Japanese internment. Reviewers called it “poignant, “shimmering,” and “a masterpiece.” New Yorker | S.F. Chronicle
“Nightcrawling” by Leila Mottley
Mottley’s debut novel tells the story of a 17-year-old in East Oakland who is forced to turn to sex work. It drew inspiration from true cases of police sexual abuse in the Bay Area. New Yorker | Financial Times
“Stay True: A Memoir” by Hua Hsu
This coming-of-age memoir by a New Yorker staff writer recalls an intimate but unexpected college friendship in 1990s Berkeley cut short by tragedy. Hsu’s book was included on at least 10 best of lists. The Atlantic | N.Y. Times
“Siren Queen” by Nghi Vo
In this fantasy novel set in Golden Age Hollywood, monsters are real and studio heads devour the disfavored. The story alternates, one reviewer said, “from slow and delightfully sexy to vast and terrifying with the turn of a page.” Bookriot | Vulture
Other mentions:
“The Letters of Thom Gunn” by Thom Gunn
“Heartbroke” by Chelsea Bieker
“Mecca” by Susan Straight
“Avalon” by Nell Zink
“Whole Earth” by John Markoff
“The Consequences” by Manuel Muñoz
Northern California
5.
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is trying to expedite the creation of “wellness hubs” — or supervised drug-injection sites — despite calls by the mayor’s office to await “legal clarity” from federal authorities. In a piece on the standoff, Joe Eskenazi noted: “Operating such a site, in the eyes of federal law, is no different than a city-sponsored crackhouse.” But he added, the same could be said of cannabis sites. Mission Local
6.
A prominent 154-year-old Catholic university in Oakland announced Monday that it would close at the end of the spring, citing falling student enrollment and the economic turmoil of the pandemic. Holy Names University, founded in 1868, said it reached a deal with another Catholic university in San Rafael to accept its roughly 450 students. Steven Borg, the Holy Names board chairperson, said he was heartbroken. “This is not just business,” he said. “This is very personal.” Mercury News | A.P.
7.
One day in 2011, a television crew arrived in Yosemite to do a segment on Alex Honnold, the greatest living free-soloist (he climbs without a rope). When they agreed to meet at 9 a.m. the following morning, Honnold leaned over to one of the filmmakers, Peter Mortimer, and said: “Sweet, that gives me time to go climb The Phoenix before. You want to go up there with me?” And that, Mortimer recalled in a new short film, is how he found himself documenting Honnold on what was at the time the hardest free solo ever in Yosemite Valley. REELROCK/YouTube (~9 mins)
8.
A videographer named Mark Day used an artificial intelligence program to imagine what Burning Man, which began in San Francisco in 1986, might have looked like in the 1960s. It was better then, he said. Boing Boing
Southern California
9.
A Los Angeles jury on Monday found Harvey Weinstein guilty of raping an Italian model in 2013, furthering condemning the disgraced movie titan who was convicted for rape nearly three years ago in New York. The verdict was mixed: the jury found Weinstein not guilty of sexually battery against a massage therapist, and it deadlocked on charges involving two other accusers including Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Newsom said she was was confident that Weinstein would never be released: “He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs.” N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
10.
In 1998, an Orange County woman named Janet Carter was convicted of helping to plan her husband’s murder and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. Behind bars, Carter, now 69, has developed Parkinson’s disease and early dementia. According to her sister, Carter is confined to a wheelchair and can barely take care of herself. Yet the California parole board has declined to release her. Critics say the case is part of a humanitarian crisis in California prisons, where aging prisoners have few avenues to freedom. The Guardian
11.
For its latest cover story, Vulture analyzed the phenomenon of the “nepo baby,” young stars who just happen to be the children of actors, rock stars, models, directors, and other insiders:
“It’s no surprise so many nepo babies get their start as models, [a talent] manager says: The child doesn’t have to open their mouth. ‘I’ve learned that once they start speaking, the public doesn’t go along for the ride,’ they say. ‘The more they talk, the more unrelatable they become.'” Vulture
Colin Hanks. Dan Levy. Dakota Johnson. Kate Hudson. Josh Brolin. Maude Apatow. Here’s a guide to the nepo-verse. 👉 Vulture
12.
A Los Angeles jury awarded a photographer $1.2 million after a company used his pigeon photo without permission. Dennis Fugnetti filed a copyright infringement case against Bird B Gone, a Santa Ana company that makes bird deterrents, in 2019 after learning of the unauthorized use of his work. But he died before the trial’s conclusion, leading his daughter to continue the case. She wept as the verdict was read. PetaPixel
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
Give the gift of the California Sun.
Get a California Sun mug, T-shirt, phone case, or hoodie.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information or cancel your support.
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.