Good morning. It’s Thursday, Feb. 15.
- House Republicans feel nostalgia for Kevin McCarthy.
- Oakland police surge turns out to be short-lived.
- And a list of brilliant things to do in Hollywood.
Statewide
1.
Four months after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his speakership, frustration over his successor has led to a growing sentiment among House Republicans: McCarthy nostalgia. “Kevin would have a strategy, he’d shop it around, then he’d make a play call,” one senior Republican lawmaker said anonymously. Another Republican went on the record. “Getting rid of Speaker McCarthy has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster,” Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted. Politico
2.
As a teenager a quarter century ago, Ben Chida played video games 14 hours a day. He grew to more than 300 pounds and developed skin rashes. Then he decided to turn his life around — rising through Berkeley and Harvard to become Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top education advisor. Yet even now, Chida is bedeviled by thoughts of suicide. Some days he lies on his office floor, seething over his inadequacies. Chida offered a remarkably frank account of his struggles, along with a message to others like him: “You’re not alone.” L.A. Times
3.
If every American voted in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a vote in Wyoming would be worth nearly four times that of one in California. The disparity arises primarily from the electoral college, which assigns electors equal to each state’s number of representatives in Congress. The small state bias of the Senate, in which every state gets two members regardless of population, translates to presidential contests — suppressing California’s voting power more than any other state. Over the years, mapmakers have used creative ways to highlight this democratic asymmetry. A few standouts:
- Urban planner Neil Freeman created a map that shows how the U.S. might look if carved into 50 states of equal population. Fakeisthenewreal.org
- Graphics reporter Denise Lu depicted the underrepresentation of California and other states over time. Washington Post
- Data journalist Ben Blatt created an interactive map that visualizes how population varies across the country. L.A. County alone is equivalent to groups of four states. Slate
Northern California
4.
On Feb. 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the deployment of 120 CHP officers to Oakland to stamp out rising crime. But on Wednesday, community leaders were stunned to learn that the operation ended after just five days. The revelation came as Newsom announced the arrests of 71 people and the recovery of 145 stolen vehicles in the crackdown. Activists who had expected a much longer commitment accused the governor of a political ploy. “Five days? Come on,” said Chris Iglesias of The Unity Council. “That’s not going to do it.” Mercury News | KTVU
- A group of East Bay leaders announced the formation of a new anti-crime coalition on Wednesday. Officials will meet quarterly to coordinate their response. Oaklandside | Berkeley Scanner
5.
Roughly 72% of San Francisco voters now believe the city is on the wrong track, up from 46% who said so in 2019, according to a new Chamber of Commerce poll. For many respondents, dysfunction in the city’s downtown appeared to be a major concern. More than a third said they felt unsafe visiting the district at night. Large majorities voiced support for measures on the March 5 ballot that would enhance police powers and require drug screening for welfare assistance. SF Standard | S.F. Chronicle
- San Francisco’s fentanyl epidemic is off to grim start in 2024. In January, 66 people died from overdoses, more than in December or November. S.F. Examiner
6.
Charles Barrett, a renowned California climber and guidebook author, was convicted on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a woman in Yosemite National Park in 2016. Prosecutors said Barrett, 39, “used his renown and physical presence as a rock climber to lure and intimidate victims.” In a Jan. 31 investigative piece, Outside magazine chronicled how Barrett faced nine protection orders relating to harassment or assault of at least six women over a 14-year period. Outside magazine
7.
California wildlife officials reported the discovery of two new wolf packs in remote northeastern California, bringing the statewide total to seven, including around 45 individuals. Gray wolves were nonexistent in California for a century until an intrepid male named “Journey” crossed the border from Oregon in 2011. The revival has delighted conservationists and worried many ranchers. Wildlife officials have reported rising numbers of attacks on livestock, including 18 confirmed kills since August. KRCR
8.
Tucked in the foothills of the Cascade range, Burney Falls is one of California’s prettiest waterfalls, tumbling out of the volcanic highlands into a sapphire pool. But the popularity of McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park has exploded over the years, a phenomenon some have attributed to the “Instagram effect.” As a result, officials announced that the park will be closed for an entire year beginning in April so crews can repair trails and add a new guard rail and retaining walls. S.F. Chronicle
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Southern California
9.
On Tuesday, a father in Long Beach briefly stepped out of his vehicle, leaving his child inside, when someone hopped in the car and sped away. Reagan Dunn and Yenni Lu, both 20, were hanging out nearby when the Amber Alert hit their phones. “We had nothing else to do so, we were like, ‘Hey let’s go look,’” Dunn said. After driving around for a bit, they were stunned to spot what looked like the missing car. What followed: a 911 call, an emotional reunion, and an arrest. Long Beach Post | L.A. Times
- See an interview with the two women. 👉 YouTube/ABC7
10.
James Nachtwey, the eminent war photojournalist, has never photographed movie stars. So a magazine dispatched him to capture 12 of the best performers of the year “in the wild,” away from the red carpets. He caught up with Annette Bening on her morning hike. “One of the things that makes living in Los Angeles wonderful, frankly, is the fact that you can go out your door and be in nature among the trees and the bugs and the coyotes and the groundhogs and the deer,” she said. N.Y. Times Magazine
11.
A secret bookshop that attracts an A-list clientele. The bar where Quentin Tarantino was said to have written the script for “Pulp Fiction.” And Frank Lloyd Wright’s mystical hilltop “ode” to California.
AnOther Magazine created an eclectic list of “brilliant things to do in Hollywood.”
12.
“San Diego has snow days too.”
San Diego, by at least one measure, has the second most consistently pleasant weather in America, beaten only by Los Angeles. But it’s still within an easy distance of snow. Photojournalist K.C. Alfred recently captured a fantastic shot of La Jolla with San Gorgonio Mountain blanketed by snow in the distance, above. @kcalfredphoto
- More views of the Southern California’s snowcapped peaks. 👉 FOX 11 | L.A. Times
Correction
Tuesday’s newsletter misstated the location of Nvidia’s headquarters. It’s in Santa Clara, not San Jose.
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