Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Jan. 30.
- California’s divorce from Big Oil is nearly official.
- Neuralink implants first chip in a human patient.
- And a photo essay on 10 of Los Angeles’ best trees.
Statewide
1.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi faced an intense backlash after she called for the F.B.I. to investigate pro-Palestinian protesters for links to Russia. “For them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message,” she said during a CNN interview on Sunday. “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see.” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called Pelosi’s remarks “delusional” and her call for an inquiry “downright authoritarian.” Time
2.
During much of the 20th century, oil derricks loomed over Southern California’s beaches and neighborhoods as the state’s oil output surged to nearly a quarter of the global total. On Friday, the marriage with Big Oil will officially end as Exxon Mobil and Chevron formally disclose a combined $5 billion write-down in the value of their California assets. “They are definitely getting a divorce,” said Jamie Court, president of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. “They’ve been separated for more than a decade, now they are just signing the papers.” Reuters
3.
A group of California lawmakers are pushing a new plan to mitigate the addictiveness of social media for kids: requiring that posts appear chronologically. If approved, legislation introduced Monday would allow parents to turn off the algorithmic sorting of posts that social media companies have designed to encourage compulsive scrolling. “Social media companies have the ability to protect our kids,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, the bill’s author. “They could act; they have not.” engadget | L.A. Times
4.
California now appears to be in the path of two major approaching storms, meteorologists said Monday. The first, a fast-moving atmospheric river, is poised to swirl into Northern California on Wednesday and push into Southern California by Thursday. The second storm, expected to arrive on Sunday, could linger for days and pose grave risks for already drenched Southern California, wrote climatologist Daniel Swain: “The odds are moderately high and increasing that some portion of the CA coast between San Diego and Monterey Bay will experience a very heavy rain event during this interval.” Weather West | Accuweather
- See an animation of the projected storms. 👉 UCSD.edu
Northern California
5.
In 2020, local reporters revealed that officers within Vallejo’s police department were memorializing their kills of people in the line of duty by bending the points of their star-shaped badges. The ritual, Open Vallejo reported, reflected a workplace culture where the pressure to use lethal force is intense. The only known act of discipline to result from the scandal was the firing of a whistleblower who had objected to the badge-bending. Now, four years later, the police force is considering another step: changing the shape of its badges to shields instead of stars. Open Vallejo
6.
Elon Musk said that his company Neuralink, which aims to develop “brain-computer interface” technology, had implanted its first chip in a patient on Sunday. He disclosed no details about the patient, but Neuralink, based in Fremont, said in September that it was recruiting someone suffering from quadriplegia. Musk said on Monday that the company’s first product was called Telepathy. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” he wrote. “That is the goal.” Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
Southern California
7.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced the arrests on Monday of five Inland Empire men in connection with the discovery of six dead bodies at a Mojave Desert crossroads last week. “It looks like illicit marijuana was the driving force behind these murders,” Sheriff Shannon Dicus said. Officials said the killings were reminiscent of a drug cartel, but have not confirmed whether one was involved. “The plague is the black market of marijuana and certainly cartel activity, and a number of victims are out there,” Dicus said. O.C. Register | L.A. Times
8.
In 1994, then-Gov. Pete Wilson faced charges of racism as he championed Proposition 187, which sought to end essential services to unauthorized immigrants. Now, a former San Diego City Council member who is vying to become the new face of the GOP in Sacramento, is coming to Wilson’s defense. In a new campaign ad, the state Assembly candidate declares, “Gov. Pete Wilson Was Right.” It’s a stunning break from the party’s softer immigration messaging, wrote reporter Christopher Cadelago. Politico
9.
A scientist and wildlife photographer have captured what they believe could be the first video of a newborn white shark swimming off the coast near Carpinteria. Observations of free-swimming white shark pups are extremely rare given the predators’ highly discreet behavior. In a study published Monday, the team said drone video captured in July appeared to show a shark covered in a white film that could be remnants of embryonic fluid. “This shark was moving very — not erratically, but almost like it was exploring stuff uniquely,” said Carlos Gauna, the filmmaker. Washington Post | ABC News
- See the video. 👉 YouTube
10.
Writer Ryan Bradley and photographer Devin Oktar Yalkin set out on a quest to find the greatest trees in Los Angeles. “I’ve come to realize,” Bradley wrote, “that what I believe makes a tree great is not necessarily its size or its age but its ability to keep on living, especially if it has persisted despite prolonged neglect.” See their fantastic photo essay on 10 of Los Angeles’ very best trees. 👉 L.A. Times
11.
Four years after Kobe Bryant’s death, the Laker star’s legacy is living on through thousands of namesakes. There are 16 Kobes on NCAA basketball rosters this season. In June, two players became the first post-Bryant Kobes to be drafted into the NBA. Kobe Brown, who joined the Clippers, has found himself surrounded by reminders of the name in a city bedecked with nearly 350 public art pieces honoring Bryant. When he enters games at Crypto.com Arena, chants of “Ko-be! Ko-be!” ring out. “It’s not like I’m a star player or anything, so it’s cool to see that I’m a positive light to people,” he said. Washington Post
12.
Three historic Southern California homes now on the market:
- In the 1960s, Pierre Koenig’s modernist Stahl House became an emblem of Los Angeles. Three decades later, the architect designed a glass-walled home in Santa Monica that is rotated like a Rubik’s cube to optimize sunlight. Yours for $4.6 million. Realtor.com
- In 1946, Albert Frey, the founding father of desert modernism, designed a tract home for a subdivision in Palm Springs. Fifteen identical houses were built, each oriented differently to distinguish them. Only three remain, one of which was just listed for $1.2 million. dwell | The Spaces
- Robert Kennard worked with architectural legend Richard Neutra before founding what became the oldest Black architecture firm in L.A. Before shifting to public works, he designed just a few dozen homes, including a 1954 gem in Beverly Hills. Asking price: $5 million. Realtor.com
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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