Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 13.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologizes for Super Bowl ad.
- Technology executives seek to remake San Francisco.
- And recommendations for a perfect getaway in Fort Bragg.
Statewide
1.
“That experiment failed.”
In 2016, after years of intense debate, California enacted the nation’s first ban on single-use plastic bags to combat one of the state’s biggest pollution menaces. Up until then, plastic bag waste statewide amounted to roughly 140,000 tons a year. By 2022, it soared to more than 231,000 tons as shoppers simply switched to thicker “reusable” plastic bags, without actually reusing them. Now lawmakers are circling back to the issue with another bill: A ban on the thicker plastic bags. L.A. Times | A.P.
2.
In 2018, California voters approved a plan to divert $2 billion earmarked for mental health services toward building 20,000 units of housing for people with mental illnesses. More than five years later, just 1,797 units have been built. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging voters to approve another infusion of money to build homes for the mentally ill along with intensive services. The ask this time: $6.4 billion. “It’s a case study of big promises, good intentions and urgent need caught in a tangle of NIMBYism and red tape,” CalMatters wrote.
3.
During a flight on Air Force Two last week, a reporter asked Vice President Kamala Harris a delicate question: Given questions about President Biden’s age, would she need to assure voters of her readiness to step into the presidency? “I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that,” she replied bluntly. Two days later, a special counsel report said Biden displayed “diminished faculties” and called him an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Wall Street Journal
4.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized for a Super Bowl ad that drew parallels between the presidential candidate and his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, after it drew backlash from his own family members. “My cousin’s Super Bowl ad used our uncle’s faces- and my Mother’s. She would be appalled by his deadly health care views,” wrote Bobby Shriver, the son of Eunice Kennedy and Sargent Shriver. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, said he regretted any hurt caused by the ad, but also pinned it to the top of his X feed. Politico | L.A. Times
- A source of funding for the ad: Nicole Shanahan, former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. In an interview, she cited her concerns about vaccine safety. N.Y. Times
5.
In December, the federal government unveiled a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form. But California students have been panicked to find that it is blocking students who are U.S. citizens — but whose parents are not — from completing the form. The glitch has thwarted their ability not only to seek federal aid but to apply for free tuition at the UC and Cal State systems. Federal officials have provided no information about when the problem will be fixed. CalMatters | L.A. Times
Northern California
6.
Tech executives in San Francisco put up the money for the campaign that ousted the city’s progressive district attorney. They helped fund the recall of three school board members. Now they’re elevating a slate of moderate Democrats in upcoming local elections. Many founders and investors have been living in the city for 10 to 15 years, said Tony Winnicker, who advises wealthy San Franciscans. “They’ve put down roots here and they’re like, ‘What the hell happened to my city?’” he said. “They’re angry.” Wall Street Journal
- An analysis of campaign finance filings revealed the network of big money groups trying to remake San Francisco. Mission Local
7.
Vandals set a Waymo robotaxi on fire in San Francisco’s Chinatown late Saturday, creating a new viral moment in the contentious battle over driverless cars in the city. Politicians wrung their hands, police opened an investigation, and robotaxi opponents appeared to revel in the spectacle. The activist group Safe Street Rebel said the act of destruction reflected public frustration over “these dangerous and unneeded contraptions.” “It didn’t come out of nowhere,” the group added. SF Standard | NBC Bay Area
- See video of the Waymo blaze. 👉 @michael_vandi
8.
A new book by Bloomberg reporter Kurt Wagner suggests that Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter in November 2022 was driven by his anger over @ElonJet, an account run by a Florida college student that tracked his private jet. Musk had asked then-CEO Parag Agrawal to block the account. “The billionaire started buying Twitter shares shortly after Agrawal denied his request,” according to an excerpt from Wagner’s “Battle for the Bird.” A month after the deal closed, Musk suspended @ElonJet. S.F. Chronicle
9.
Nvidia briefly overtook Amazon in market capitalization during trading on Monday, the latest milestone in the Santa Clara chipmaker’s stunning surge over the past year as it helps drive the artificial intelligence revolution. At market close Monday, Nvidia was valued at about $1.78 trillion, within a hair of Amazon’s $1.79 trillion and not far behind Alphabet’s $1.84 trillion. A year ago, Nvidia’s market capitalization was roughly $530 billion. Five years ago, it was about $90 billion, or about 5% of its current value. Bloomberg | MarketWatch
10.
A beach blanketed by kaleidoscopic pebbles. An all-female fishing operation that serves hot prawn po’boys. A restored Arts and Crafts inn that dates back to the 1850s overlooking a river.
Travel+Leisure got recommendations from two long-time locals for a perfect getaway in Fort Bragg along the wild and beautiful Mendocino coast.
Southern California
11.
A theoretical Southern California homebuyer in the final quarter of 2023 needed an annual income of $207,000 to afford a median-priced home, an analysis found. Just two years prior, the same buyer needed only $134,000. Part of that gap can be attributed to the rising cost of the house, which increased 7% to about $775,000. But more importantly, the average mortgage rate surged from 3.3% to 7.4%. As a result, just 14% of the region’s households could afford a home at year’s end. O.C. Register
12.
On Feb. 1, 1960, four Black college students sat at the lunch counter of their local F. W. Woolworth Company store in Greensboro, N.C., knowing they would be denied service. But they refused to leave. Within two months, sit-ins had spread to 54 cities in nine states. By July, the Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro was desegregated, and other stores and restaurants followed suit.
Woolworth’s lunch counters, once a staple of Main Street, USA, vanished by the 1990s — save for one. The last Woolworth’s luncheonette in America has continued to serve burgers, fries, and shakes in Bakersfield’s Historic Woolworth Building since its opening in 1950. When the latest owners took over in 2021, some worried that the diner’s days could be numbered. But the ownership group, Bakersfield locals, unveiled plans to make the counter the centerpiece of a restoration they hope will breath new life into the downtown. There will be one important change, part owner Emily Waite told the California Sun: a form of tribute — as yet undecided — that honors those young students whose quiet act of resistance helped bend the course of history. The target for reopening is early 2025. Bakersfield Californian
Corrections
An earlier version of this newsletter misstated the location of Nvidia’s headquarters. It’s in Santa Clara, not San Jose.
Friday’s newsletter misstated the levels of two California reservoirs. On Feb. 7, 2024, the levels of Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville were 125% and 130% of their historic averages for the date, not 125% and 130% above their historic averages.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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