Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 6.
- Rep. Katie Porter falls short in U.S. Senate bid.
- San Franciscans embrace crackdown on crime and drugs.
- And ranking the top 10 surfing rides of all time.
Election 2024
1.
It’ll be Adam Schiff vs. Steve Garvey in November.
Early returns on Tuesday showed Schiff, a Democrat and prominent antagonist of Donald Trump, with a slim lead over Garvey, a Republican, in California’s U.S. Senate primary. Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee were in third and fourth place, respectively. Supporters of Porter, a progressive with a formidable record in Congress, lashed out at Schiff, who elevated Garvey in ads to ensure a weak rival in the general election. Schiff “put his own selfishness above democracy,” said Adam Green, a progressive activist. Garvey, he added, “will now turn out Trump voters in key House races that could determine control of Congress.” Politico | Washington Post
- Schiff appeared visibly shaken as his victory speech was interrupted by protesters chanting for a cease-fire in Gaza. See video. 👉 @ccadelago
2.
San Franciscans fed up with disorder on their streets voted overwhelmingly in favor of measures to require drug testing of welfare recipients and enhanced police powers. The victories offered momentum for Mayor London Breed, who sponsored both propositions, as she faces a tough reelection battle. In a statement late Tuesday, she said the results sent a message: “we are a city that offers help but not a city where you can just come and do whatever you want on our streets.” A.P. | S.F. Chronicle
3.
Other election results:
U.S. presidency
California delivered resounding wins to Donald Trump and Joe Biden, according to early results. Late Tuesday, Trump had 79% of the Republican vote, followed by Nikki Haley, with 19%. Biden had 89%, trailed by Marianne Williamson at 3%. The result meant a windfall for Trump after the California G.O.P changed its rules to give all 169 delegates to the candidate who earns a simple majority of the vote. L.A. Times
Mental health
Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4 billion plan to overhaul the state’s mental health system, was clinging to a slim lead with roughly half of the votes counted. CalMatters | S.F. Chronicle
Los Angeles D.A.
George GascĂłn, the progressive district attorney in Los Angeles County, jumped out to an early advantage with 21% of the votes. A tough-on-crime rival was not far behind, setting up a possible general election showdown between the most progressive candidate one of the most conservative. L.A. Daily News | L.A. Times
- See latest House race results.
- See local results for San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and other Northern California counties.
Statewide
4.
California is trying a new experiment: paying students to attend community college. The Hire Up program is open to former inmates, foster youth, and low-income parents. Leah Richardson, a Santa Rosa Junior College student who has had to rely on food pantries for sustenance, is one of the first participants. Starting this month, she’ll get roughly $2,000 a month, a sum based on 120 hours of school work at $16 an hour, the state’s minimum wage. She said she was “ecstatic.” CalMatters
5.
Greg Flynn, a billionaire owner of two dozen Panera franchises in California, announced Tuesday that his restaurants would raise base pay to at least $20 an hour when the state’s fast-food wage law goes into effect April 1. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom faced accusations of cronyism when Bloomberg reported that he had orchestrated a carve-out in the law for bakeries, benefiting Flynn, a long-time Newsom campaign donor. The governor’s office dismissed the charge as “absurd,” but his attorney general said Monday that he was reviewing Republican demands for an investigation. Bloomberg | KCRA
6.
California’s high-speed rail project released new images of what the train stations could look like in cities along the 171-mile San Joaquin Valley segment. The renderings depict wide station platforms, massive perforated metal canopies, and spacious outdoor plazas. Plagued by cost overruns and delays, the bullet train has faced doubts that it will even happen. But that’s changing, said Tom Richards, chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The concern now, he said, “is how fast can we make it happen.” SF Yimby | S.F. Chronicle
- Airport-like seating, dining cars with bars, and play areas for children. See renderings of train interiors. 👉 SFist
7.
Last week, NPR published a splashy expose about Marc Benioff buying up land in Hawaii. On Tuesday, the Salesforce executive announced that he is donating $150 million to Hawaii’s healthcare system, his largest single philanthropic gift. The giving comes as some residents have pushed back on the influx of tech billionaires who have embraced Hawaii as a playground. Benioff, who is worth $10.9 billion, said on Tuesday that the local misgivings inspired him to donate more. “There is way more mistrust and misunderstanding than ever,” he said. Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
8.
The political essayist Rebecca Solnit wrote about “losing San Francisco” in the London Review of Books. A few snippets:
- “I think of what has come to my city as ‘the great withdrawal.’ People on the street often seem to have their eyes elsewhere, usually on their phones: they might video a crime, but they might also not notice it’s happening.”
- “If you equate your wealth with virtue, you tend to equate poverty with vice, and the enemies of the homeless routinely portray them as criminals.”
- “You can’t really be in favour of both democracy and billionaires, because democracy requires equal opportunity in order to participate, and extreme wealth gives its holders unfathomable advantages with little accountability.”
9.
A retired Oakland judge is trying to exonerate the man executed in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. In 1932, a German immigrant named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of kidnapping the child of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh for ransom. But Lise Pearlman, the retired judge, speculates that Lindbergh offered up his child for medical experiments that led to his death and faked the kidnapping to cover it up. Renewed debate has increased pressure to force DNA testing of evidence. N.Y. Times
10.
Multiple outlets reported last week that the San Francisco Giants’ manager, Bob Melvin, implemented a mandate that all players stand during the national anthem. “It’s just something I embrace,” he said. The policy appeared to be a sharp departure from that of his predecessor, Gabe Kapler, who himself took a knee and avoided the field in acts of protest. But after days of media attention to the change, Melvin on Tuesday said the policy fell short of a mandate. “I said I would like to have a good attendance for it,” he said. “To their credit, pretty much the whole organization’s standing out there.” S.F. Chronicle
11.
In a feature on the top 10 surfing rides of all time, professional surfer and writer Sam George included a wave more than 100 miles from the ocean. In 2015, surfing great Kelly Slater made the debut ride at his paradigm-shifting Surf Ranch wave pool in the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley. What made it remarkable, George wrote, “is that he somehow rode with all his characteristic skill, poise, and verve on a wave unlike any other that had ever before existed on earth.” The Inertia
- See the ride. 👉 YouTube/Kelly Slater Wave Co
12.
In the world of antique auto hobbyists, trailer fanatics are an unusual sort, said Jessica Campbell, the owner of a 1965 Cardinal. If you restore hot rods, it’s much more about the mechanics, she explained: “With vintage trailers, there’s a lot more interior design involved. You can pick your colors and go wild. … whether it’s pink flamingos or metallic glamour.” Reporter Marah Eakin spoke with Campbell and others in a photo-rich dispatch from the 2024 Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show in Palm Springs. Dwell
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