Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 12.
- A $20 minimum wage is secured for fast-food workers.
- Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces threat from his right flank.
- And a “dreamy” resort near Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Statewide
1.
Labor groups and fast-food companies in California reached a deal that would set a $20 minimum wage across the industry starting in 2024. The agreement, announced Monday, would mean significantly better pay for roughly half a million workers, currently paid as little as $15.50 an hour. In exchange, restaurant companies agreed to withdraw a referendum proposal aimed at repealing a 2022 law that would have established a state-run council with the power to set wages and labor standards. Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a “win-win.” CalMatters | L.A. Times
2.
Other legislative developments as the 2023 session nears a Sept. 14 deadline to pass bills:
- The state Assembly on Monday approved a measure to end California’s ban on state-funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ laws. Since 2016, the number of offending states has ballooned to 26, most of them Republican-led. A.P. | Politico
- Lawmakers in both chambers on Friday voted to limit when local governments can count election ballots by hand, a move aimed at Shasta County, where supervisors embraced claims of election fraud after the 2020 defeat of Donald Trump. Jefferson Public Radio | A.P.
- Also advanced were bills to give unemployment insurance to striking workers; require corporations to report data on diversity and emissions; and mandate humans behind the wheel in autonomous trucks. Deadline | TechCrunch | A.P. | L.A. Times
3.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing the biggest threat yet to his leadership as the House returns from its summer recess with far-right Republicans spoiling for a fight, several outlets reported. Critics of the Bakersfield Republican have talked of ousting him if he fails to pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Biden or turns to Democrats for help to break a spending impasse. “If Speaker McCarthy stands in our way,” Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote on Truth Social, “he may not have the job long.” Politico | The Hill
4.
The Wall Street Journal issued a new college ranking that emphasizes outcomes, such as graduation rates and salaries. The top five California universities under the methodology were Stanford University — which ranked No. 4 nationwide — Claremont McKenna College, California Institute of Technology, USC, and the University of La Verne. In the category of “social mobility,” a measure of how well schools lift up students from lower-income families, California dominated, capturing six of the top 10 places nationwide. No. 1 in the U.S. was Cal State Los Angeles. Wall Street Journal
Northern California
5.
Five months ago, the Alameda Police Department faced a dire staffing crisis, with a third of its 88 positions sitting vacant. The City Council responded by creating a $75,000 signing bonus for new hires. It worked. The force is now on track to have just 10 vacancies by early next year. But some criminal justice experts are pushing back on what they see as a burgeoning system of haves and have-nots. “It may be a well-intentioned policy, thinking they can attract the best and brightest,” said Diane Goldstein, a retired Redondo Beach officer, “but it creates inequities potentially in policing.” CalMatters
6.
The biggest antitrust trial in 20 years opens Tuesday in Washington, D.C., as Google faces accusations that it abused its market power to thwart competition. Efforts to regulate the Mountain View company, which controls 90% of the U.S. search market, have largely failed to advance in Congress, leading the government to turn to the courts. If Google loses, it could potentially be broken up, analysts say. But it’s more likely that the ruling would limit the big money deals that have made Google the default search engine on numerous platforms. The Verge | A.P.
7.
In August, a team of Bay Area scientists published a splashy study in Nature showing that climate warming had heightened the risk of fast-spreading wildfires in California by 25%. But days later, one of the authors, Patrick T. Brown, wrote an article saying he had “left out the full truth” — such as the role of poor forest management — to get the paper published. “To put it bluntly,” he wrote, “climate science has become less about understanding the complexities of the world and more about serving as a kind of Cassandra, urgently warning the public about the dangers of climate change.” The piece drew a sharp backlash. Washington Post
8.
There’s a “dreamy” cabin resort just 10 miles from the entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park, the most underrated and least crowded of California’s national parks. Highlands Ranch Resort sits at the edge of a picturesque alpine meadow, a perfect launching pad to visit the park’s gurgling mud pots, hissing vents, and the surreal Painted Dunes, pictured above. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the getaway in a piece on six national parks “you don’t know about (but should).”
Southern California
9.
Drew Barrymore resumed her daytime talk show on Monday despite the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike. In a statement, Barrymore said she wanted to bring people together: “I own this choice.” About 100 protesters gathered outside her New York City taping and irate writers flooded social media with messages denouncing the move, some calling her a “scab.” “The reality is that, you know, you stand with the unions or you don’t,” said Cristina Kinon, a writer on Barrymore’s show who joined the protest. Hollywood Reporter | Washington Post
- Photographer Michael Friberg visited the Hollywood picket line: “You won’t recognize these striking Hollywood workers. And that’s the point.” Mother Jones
10.
At the Ryan Rave, Ryans get in free. Bouncers checked IDs multiple times at the name-based party in a downtown Los Angeles warehouse two Saturdays ago. As attendees arrived, someone would shout, “Hey, Ryan’s here!” Chants of “Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!” would rise from the sea of Ryans. Ryan Racela, who flew in from the Philippines, accepted a prize for the Ryan who traveled farthest. “I just want to thank all the Ryans for being Ryan,” he said into the mic, adding “Fuck the Bryans!” to thunderous cheers. L.A. Times
11.
Surfline, a wave-forecasting website, has made it easier for millions of people to decide when and where to go surfing. But the Huntington Beach company with more than 1,000 cameras around the world has also inspired vitriolic critiques, including one that was spray-painted on a wall in Venice Beach. Detractors blame the site for unleashing hordes of people on surfbreaks, upending what had been a sport of closely guarded secrets. The Atlantic
12.
In 1950s California, during a period of fervent architectural experimentation, an heir to the General Mills fortune asked the modernist architect Dale Naegle to build him a guest house on the beach below his bluff-top home in La Jolla. The result was а circular structure atop a giant column that provided magnificent 180-degree views. The main residence was knocked down in 1990, but the concrete structure that became known as the Mushroom House still stands, an abandoned object of curiosity for those wandering along the sand. A pair of travel vloggers paid a visit earlier this year. YouTube (~3 mins)
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