Good morning. It’s Tuesday, March 5.
- A rundown of races to watch as America heads to the polls.
- CBS Studios is sued over alleged racial quotas in hiring.
- And parents shell out thousands of dollars for baby photos.
Election 2024
1.
Happy Election Day.
About 2.7 million ballots had been cast in California’s primary as of Sunday, the S.F. Chronicle reported. That amounts to a mere 12% of ballots mailed to the state’s registered voters, raising worries about poor turnout.
If you haven’t voted yet, polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Find your polling place here. 👉 SOS.ca.gov
Not registered? In California, you can register and vote on Election Day at your county elections office or a community voting center. The votes still count, but they are processed only after officials have confirmed eligibility. More information.
- See what’s on your ballot.
- Consult last-minute voter guides. 👉 CalMatters | KQED
- And track the results. 👉 Politico
2.
Super Tuesday 2024 lacks the drama of years past, with both Donald Trump and President Biden expected to sail closer to their party nominations. But California is hosting one of the country’s marquee contests: the U.S. Senate primary, which has been scrambled by the late surge of Republican Steve Garvey. The state’s jungle primary, in which the top two vote getters advance regardless of party, means the contest has effectively become a race for second place.
Rep. Adam Schiff is favored to clinch the first spot. Less clear is who he would face in the November general election. If Garvey advances, Schiff will look forward to a sure win in deep-blue California. If Rep. Katie Porter advances, it will set up a spirited clash between an establishment Democrat and a younger liberal challenger. Here are key races to watch today. 👉 N.Y. Times | CalMatters
3.
Other election odds and ends:
- Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee made final Senate pitches to voters across the state on Monday. Former Dodgers star Steve Garvey, a Republican, was nowhere to be seen. L.A. Times
- Columnist Matthew Yglesias: “Welcome to the jungle primary, a misguided reform that’s supposed to boost mainstream moderate candidates but in practice leads to chaos and bizarre gamesmanship.” Bloomberg
- California is voting on only one statewide ballot initiative, Proposition 1, which would borrow $6.4 billion to overhaul the state’s mental health system. Opponents have struggled to be heard, with a fundraising imbalance of $1,000 to $17.1 million. Wall Street Journal | Politico
Statewide
4.
“Phenomenal.”
The weekend blizzard that pounded the Sierra over the weekend dumped more than 10 feet of snow, nudging the snowpack above its historic average for the first time this year. State data released early Monday showed the snowpack at 104% of normal for the date. California depends on the melting snowpack to refill waterways and reservoirs during warm months. Rainfall to date has also surged above historic averages across most of the state thanks to a very wet February, reported meteorologist Jan Null. L.A. Times | CalMatters
5.
Over the last decade, the price of almonds has plummeted from as high as $4 a pound to less than $2 now. In California, which produces about 80% of the world’s almonds, the slump has been especially painful for investor groups that bought up acreage when prices were high and are now struggling to meet their borrowing costs. Two weeks ago, the Central Valley almond grower Trinitas Farming declared bankruptcy, saying it was $188 million in debt. Some environmentalists see all this as an opportunity to turn away from thirsty almonds and grow more crops that reflect what’s best for California. L.A. Times
Northern California
6.
Reporter Heather Knight attended a weekly recovery meeting for people battling addiction at San Francisco City Hall that included a prominent participant: Supervisor Matt Dorsey. Dorsey, 59, has battled an addiction to crystal meth for more than a quarter of a century and has been sober for more than three years. He has been remarkably forthcoming about that. “It’s important for people in early recovery to see there’s a better life on the other side of this,” he said. “The fact that we’re talking about our journeys is empowering.” N.Y. Times
7.
A cover story in the Atlantic about American antisemitism included a dispiriting anecdote about an Bay Area high school student:
“At the end of the session a student in a kippah, puffer jacket, and T-shirt pulled me aside. He said he wanted to speak privately, because he didn’t want to risk crying in front of his peers. After October 7, he said, his school life, as a visibly identifiable Jew, had become unbearable. Walking down the halls, kids would shout ‘Free Palestine’ at him. They would make the sound of explosions, as if he were personally responsible for the bombardment of Gaza. They would tell him to pick up pennies.”
- A civil rights complaint alleged “severe and persistent” harassment of Jewish students at Berkeley schools. Berkeleyside
8.
Xavier Worthy, a Fresno native and wide receiver for the Texas Longhorns, ran the fastest 40-yard dash in NFL combine history on Saturday, crossing the finish line in 4.21 seconds. Fans familiar with Worthy’s high school career in Fresno, where he was uncatchable in the open field, weren’t surprised by the new record. MaxPreps, a high school sports site, predicted his next title: fastest player in the NFL. ESPN | KFSN
- See Worthy’s sprint, from two angles. 👉 @AdamSchefter | @NFL
Southern California
9.
The spouse of a shooting victim provided some of the first details of what may have led a gunman to open fire in an El Cajon dental office last Thursday, killing a young dentist and wounding two others. Abby Issaian, whose husband was shot but survived, said suspect Mohammad Abdulkareem was a former patient of Smiles Plus and was unhappy with dental work he received. Over time, she said, he began to “terrorize the office.” Hundreds of friends and relatives gathered Sunday to remember the slain dentist, 28-year-old Ben Harouni. His brother urged mourners to honor him by spreading kindness. NBC San Diego
10.
A script coordinator for the show “SEAL Team” sued CBS and its parent company Paramount Global, accusing them of repeatedly denying him a staff writing position because he is a straight white man. Trade publications portrayed the lawsuit as a first salvo in what could be a wave of lawsuits targeting Hollywood over diversity practices in the wake of the Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious admissions in higher education. In the suit, Brian Beneker said CBS told him he didn’t check off “any diversity boxes” as he was passed over. Hollywood Reporter | The Wrap
11.
A high-end baby photographer in Culver City charges as much as $11,000 to photograph people’s babies in elaborate costumes on custom-made sets. “People are looking for something different, something with a little more personality,” said Erika Clark, who owns The Pod Photography. “They don’t just want a baby laying on white fabric.” Wall Street Journal
California archive
12.
☝️ On county maps of California, an oddly straight horizontal line bisects the state about 30 miles north of Bakersfield.
In perennial debates over where Southern California ends and Northern California begins, no official answer exists and opinions vary widely.
But it was based upon this line — comprising the northern boundaries of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties — that California came closer than ever to actually splitting into two.
In 1859, Southern Californians upset by taxes and land laws pushed the Pico Act to lop off the state’s southern counties and create a proposed “Territory of Colorado.”
The new territory would stretch from the Mexican border to an east-west line along a land grid established by the U.S. General Land Office.
The grid spread across California based on a few geographic anchor points, including the Bay Area’s Mount Diablo. The northern border of the new territory, the Pico Act proposed, would fall along a line of latitude six standard parallels — or intervals spaced 24 miles apart — south of Diablo.
The state Legislature, the governor, and nearly 75% of voters in the proposed territory endorsed the partition plan before it was derailed by the opening of the Civil War in 1861. California would remain intact.
But the prominence of the sixth standard parallel endured. As California settled its county borders over the next couple decades, it drew a boundary line that traced the parallel across the width of the state. The resulting map created a visual reminder of a cultural divide between north and south that was never quite erased.
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