Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 13.
- R.F.K. Jr. considers Aaron Rodgers as running mate.
- Stockton’s Sikh diaspora fuels secession drive in India.
- And a 12-year-old girl runs an under-3-hour marathon.
Statewide
1.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently approached NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers about serving as his presidential running mate, sources told the N.Y. Times. Rodgers, a former Cal standout and native of Chico, faced criticism in 2021 when he misled the public about his Covid-19 vaccination status. Later, calling his detractors a “woke mob,” he explained that he feared the injection would make him infertile. Kennedy, a fellow vaccine skeptic, confirmed Tuesday that Rodgers and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura were at the top of his list. N.Y. Times | Washington Post
2.
The environmental historian Daniel Lewis wrote about the revelations that await in a grove of coast redwoods:
“Redwood groves are quiet places; there is a distinct sense of the sacred. As the writer Anne Lamott noted, ‘The trees are so huge that they shut you up.’ Their mass dampens sound, and people in and around them tend to speak in quiet, reverent tones, as often happens when walking among giants.” Noema Magazine
Northern California
3.
Nestled along the California Delta, Stockton is known for its Gold Rush history, agricultural bounty, and 2012 bankruptcy. It’s also the birthplace of America’s first Sikh temple, which informs how it’s known on the other side of the world — as a symbol of terrorism. India’s Hindu-dominated government portrays the city’s Sikh diaspora as a source of funding for separatists trying to create an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan. On a recent Sunday at the Stockton temple, a speaker praised Sikh assassins in India as martyrs and led congregants in chants of “Long live Khalistan!” L.A. Times
4.
“It’s not going very well.”
Last year, Sacramento gave a homeless camp a lease as an experiment, allowing the residents to remain on a vacant city lot and govern themselves without interference. The first-of-its-kind deal was held up as a model to be emulated by other cities. A year later, life at Camp Resolution is marred by scarcity, and the county district attorney is trying to shut down what it calls “a toxic waste site.” CalMatters
5.
Berkeley on Tuesday agreed to buy a restaurant parking lot that sits atop a sacred Native American site and transfer it permanently to an Indigenous-led land trust, ending years of litigation over plans to build a housing complex there. Under the terms of the deal, the developer will get $27 million for the property, which was said to straddle an Ohlone shellmound, a pile of shells and other objects built over thousands of years. The new owner, the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, plans to create a park and cultural center. Berkeleyside | S.F. Chronicle
6.
In a Bay Area courtroom packed with reporters on Tuesday, lawyers from the LA Innocence Project requested evidence that they say was improperly withheld during the 2004 trial of Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife. The evidence involves a burglary that occurred across the street from the Petersons’ Modesto home around the time of Laci Peterson’s disappearance. A day after the burglary, a van containing a mattress with apparent bloodstains was set on fire nearby. “We are eager to get our investigation underway,” lawyer Paula Mitchell said. KRON | Mercury News
7.
Four out of the five Taco Bells in Oakland have closed their dining rooms in response to crime, shifting to drive-through only. The closures are the latest in a series of moves taken by restaurants in the city to protect employees: In-N-Out, Denny’s, and Le Cheval all announced closures, while a Starbucks and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers locked up their dining rooms. Public anger over crime is Oakland is fueling a campaign to recall Mayor Sheng Thao. KRON | S.F. Chronicle
8.
In 1984, Olga Murray was 59 years old and starting to ponder retirement from her job as an attorney in California. On a trip to Nepal, she was enchanted by the children she met in the Himalayan foothills. They were poorer than anyone she had ever encountered, she wrote: “Yet they were the most joyful, funny, amiable little kids anywhere on earth.” In a bolt of clarity, Murray knew how she would spend the rest of her life. She co-founded the Nepal Youth Foundation, and set about rescuing thousands of kids from hunger, lack of education, and indentured servitude. Murray died on Feb. 20 at her home in Sausalito. She was 98. N.Y. Times
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Southern California
9.
In April 2022, Fredreaka Jack was released from a state hospital in San Bernardino after serving time for burglary. She just had to complete three months at a reentry facility and she’d be free. The only problem: Jack suffered from severe mental illness and was coming off of 15 years of imprisonment and institutionalization. She quickly ran out of her diabetes medication and made repeated trips to the emergency room, where doctors attributed her complaints to mental illness and “drug-seeking behavior.” She died 14 hours after her last hospital visit. The cause: complications from Type 2 diabetes. She was 37. CalMatters
10.
As squatters have become a growing aggravation for homeowners in Southern California, a new hero has stepped forward: The Squatter Hunter. Flash Shelton, a former bouncer and handyman, specializes in removing squatters by out-squatting them, taking the best spot on the couch, hogging the TV remote, blasting music. His motto: “If they can take a house, I can take a house.” L.A. Times
- Shelton shares his exploits on YouTube.
11.
On Feb. 25, Evan Kim ran the Ventura Marathon in a blistering 2 hours 58 minutes, making her the second-fastest female runner — and she’s 12 years old. Born into a family of runners, the 5-foot-tall sixth-grader has an extraordinary level of grit for her age. During the 26.2-mile course, she said she repeated a mantra: “Suck it up.” Her next goal is to run the fastest recorded marathon for a 12-year-old of any gender; she’s only four minutes shy of the mark. After that: the Olympics. L.A. Times
12.
On Santa Rosa Island, a two-hour ferry ride from Ventura Harbor, the clamor of the mainland seems a world away. Humans are outnumbered by island foxes, backcountry beach campsites are surrounded by cliffs and sea caves, and the cosmos sparkles in the dark night sky. Outside magazine recommended Santa Rosa Island in a feature on “11 remote destinations that are definitely worth the effort to visit.”
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