Good morning. It’s Tuesday, April 11.
- State stockpiles abortion pills after Texas judge’s ruling.
- Whole Foods closes San Francisco store over crime.
- And a photographic tour of California’s spring wildflowers.
Statewide
1.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California struck a deal to stockpile 2 million pills of misoprostol, an abortion drug used in combination with another pill — mifepristone — that is now the subject of legal battles in federal courts. Doctors say misoprostol can also be used safely its own. “We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services,” Newsom said. “Medication abortion remains legal in California.” NPR | L.A. Times
2.
Two men used drones to fly heroin, meth, cocaine, tobacco, and cellphones into the yards of seven prisons across California, federal prosecutors said. Smuggling contraband into prisons is an age-old ploy. But the recent arrests of Jose Enrique Oropeza and David Ramirez Jr., both of whom pleaded not guilty, highlighted the growing role the skies now play in avoiding detection. Investigators say inmates coordinate drops by sending a phone’s GPS location to a drone pilot. L.A. Times
3.
Ansel Adams’ photography has been derided by some as a little too perfect in such a messy world. In a review of the photographer’s most celebrated works, now on display at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, the art critic Sebastian Smee said he always viewed Adams as boring. The exhibit changed his mind. “Not only does the show remind us how much more there was to Adams than Half Dome, the Grand Canyon and Cathedral Rocks,” Smee wrote, “it makes a powerful case for his ongoing relevance by hanging his work together with a host of living photographers — all of them energetically engaged with his legacy.” Washington Post
Northern California
4.
Elon Musk, who is 51 years old, revealed Sunday that he had the “w” in Twitter painted white on the sign outside the social media company’s San Francisco headquarters so that it reads “Titter.” On Monday, he followed up by changing the name that appears on his Twitter profile to “Harry Bōlz.” The chief executive’s latest childishness seemed certain to further erode Twitter’s brand value as advertisers flee the platform and massive debt payments loom. CNN | New York Post
5.
Whole Foods Market said Monday that it was closing its “flagship store” in downtown San Francisco less than a year after opening over concerns about the safety of its workers. The grocery store slashed its hours last October because of what one manager described as “high theft” and hostile people. Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who lives in the neighborhood, said he regretted the store’s decision to close, but acknowledged its reasons. “I wish they hadn’t, but I’ve also been in there and seen some things that are off-putting,” he said. SF Standard | S.F. Chronicle
6.
About 100 protesters gathered on the steps of Alameda County’s main courthouse Monday demanding justice for a slain toddler and calling for the ouster of the county’s new district attorney, Pamela Price. Jasper Wu was just 23 months old in 2021 when was killed in his car seat during a gun battle between rival gangs on I-880. A firestorm erupted over how Price planned to prosecute three men accused in the killing when she responded to a query about the case by calling for “healing and non-carceral forms of accountability.” Berkeley Scanner | Mercury News
7.
In 1968, Lake Tahoe was so clear you could see a white disk lowered more than 100 feet into its depths. Then an invasive shrimp, added to fatten up game fish, began gobbling up the zooplankton that help cleanse the lake of algae and tiny particles that cloud visibility. Clarity worsened for decades. But the latest survey, released by UC Davis scientists on Monday, revealed a “totally unprecedented” turnaround: Clarity in 2022 was on average nearly 72 feet, up from a low of 60 feet in 2017. They attributed the improvement to an unexplained decline of shrimp populations. KCRA | Sacramento Bee
8.
You can stay in the accommodations once used by Coast Guard families on the grounds of a picturesque lighthouse just south of San Francisco. The writer Bonnie Tsui spent a weekend with her family at Pigeon Point Light Station, built in 1872, in early March. They stargazed, tide-pooled, and marked time by the beacon’s flash. At one point, she wrote, she found herself “radiantly, un-self-consciously, happy.” N.Y. Times
Southern California
9.
Two years after a pipeline burst and sent about 25,000 gallons of oil into the ocean off Huntington Beach, the pipeline is now set to resume operations. The October 2021 rupture, caused by a ship that set anchor in the wrong location, was the state’s worst oil spill in decades, fouling wildlife and wetlands and igniting a series of lawsuits and counterlawsuits. Environmentalists who had hoped the accident would lead to a ban on offshore drilling expressed frustration. “We could see a much larger oil spill any day,” one said. O.C. Register | Bloomberg
10.
In February, the L.A. Times reported that pharmacies in Mexico were selling pills to Americans made of drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine and passing them off as legitimate pharmaceuticals. But both the U.S. State Department and Drug Enforcement Administration knew about the problem for years and issued no warnings. Ryan Bagwell, 19, died last year after taking what he thought was Percocet. The pills contained fentanyl. “Why did they keep that information from us?” his mother asked. “Maybe he would still be alive.” L.A. Times
11.
Bacteria that are resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, have been discovered for the first time in Los Angeles County wastewater, suggesting that the germs are circulating more widely than previously believed. Researchers expressed alarm over the presence of the so-called superbugs in samples taken from treatment plants that serve a total of about 7.5 million people. “We could get to the point where we can’t combat infections with antibiotics,” said Adam Smith, of USC, “so we’re entering sort of a post-antibiotic world.” L.A. Times | KTLA
California the beautiful
12.
The wildflowers are officially popping after our exhaustingly wet winter. In Southern California deserts, fields of violet verbena sway among the cacti; on the outskirts of Los Angeles, miles of golden poppies blanket the hillsides; and along the Central Coast, it looks as though giant buckets of purple and yellow paint were spilled across the plains.
Here are up-to-date reports on the best wildflower spots across the state:
- Southern California, via L.A. Times
- The Bay Area, via Oaklandside
- The North State, via Record Searchlight
- The state parks, via Parks.ca.gov
- The California deserts, via Desertusa.com
And a photo tour, all captured within the last few weeks. 👇
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