Good morning. It’s Monday, April 22.
- Governor targets red states over abortion access.
- UC Berkeley’s campus reels over Israel-Hamas war.
- And the rise of a surprise progressive star in Sacramento.
Statewide
1.
In his latest effort to call out red states over abortion access, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new television ad set to air in Alabama that shows a police officer pulling over an anxious young woman driving toward the state line. “Miss, I’m gonna need you to step out of the vehicle and take a pregnancy test,” he says before pushing her against the hood and cuffing her wrists. Also on Sunday, Newsom said he planned to push legislation that would offer abortion providers in Arizona, which has revived an 1864 abortion ban, expedited licensing to work in neighboring California. Politico | Sacramento Bee
2.
In a series of rulings going back more than a decade, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that ordinances banning homeless encampments are cruel and unusual when people have nowhere else to go. On Monday, the Supreme Court will consider an appeal that analysts are calling the most important case ever on the homelessness crisis. On Friday, the Washington Post editorial board sided with California leaders who have urged the justices to reverse the 9th Circuit: “There is no constitutional right to pitch your tent on the sidewalk,” it wrote.
- On the contrary, wrote Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s law school: “The 9th Circuit got it exactly right. Every human being must sleep.” L.A. Times
3.
In 2021, Australia passed a law requiring Meta and Google to negotiate payments with news publishers for the news stories that appear in search results and on social media. The companies fought back furiously. But a compromise was reached, and payments were negotiated. Australian news organizations have said the deals allowed them to hire more journalists. A similar series of events unfolded in Canada.
The Washington Post detailed the playbook developed by Big Tech as the companies now fight to beat back mandatory payments to news publishers in California.
Israel-Hamas war
4.
At UC Berkeley, parents have hired private security guard to patrol campus. A scheduled talk by an Israeli lawyer had to be canceled after protesters stormed the hall. And a heated confrontation broke out when a Muslim student disrupted a graduation celebration in the backyard of the law school dean. The turmoil is unlike anything the campus has seen in decades, said Berkeley’s chancellor, Carol Christ: “This is very different because this is student against a student. It’s faculty against faculty. It’s internally the most divisive protest issue that I’ve seen.” Politico
- Jay Caspian Kang offered a reason why stories of campus strife command so much our attention: “They require less courage than addressing the actual war, the incalculable loss of life, the horrific images of October 7th, and the recurring reel of carnage out of Gaza.” New Yorker
5.
Now USC has called off the speeches of the honorary speakers that were scheduled to appear at its 2024 graduation ceremony. On Friday, after days of public uproar over the decision to block the speech of pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassum, the university announced that it would cancel the appearances of all outside speakers and honorees, including “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu and tennis legend Billie Jean King. The ACLU said it was looking into a lawsuit against USC on Tabassum’s behalf. N.Y. Times | A.P.
Northern California
6.
After the March primary, San Francisco’s hometown newspaper declared that the city could no longer call itself liberal because voters backed moderate candidates and tough-on-crime ballot measures. But up in Sacramento, a surprise progressive star surged to the top of the city’s mayoral race. Flojaune Cofer, above, a 41-year-old epidemiologist and first-time candidate, has pledged to reject corporate donations, cut the police budget, and expand protections for renters and managed homeless encampments. The Guardian
7.
Since last fall, Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 45% amid slumping sales. A key demographic turning away from the liberal status symbol has been Democrats, their change of heart coinciding with Elon Musk’s increasingly vocal political statements on social media. The researcher Strategic Vision reported that the proportion of Democrats buying Tesla vehicles plunged more than 60%. In solid-blue California, registrations of new Tesla vehicles fell almost 10% in the fourth quarter, a stunning reversal from the third quarter when registrations rose 43%. Wall Street Journal
8.
Last week, wildlife officials released half a million juvenile salmon in the Klamath River, which began flowing freely for the first time in a century earlier this year as part of a dam removal project. The fish headed straight toward the Pacific. But tribal leaders expect them to flourish when migratory patterns send them back upstream in a few years to spawn in the revived river. Phillip Williams, a member of the Yurok Tribal Council, said the fish are a symbol of hope. “They’re going to feed families,” he said. “So that was really, really emotional.” L.A. Times
9.
Most hikers need two or three days to walk the northern segment of Northern California’s rugged Lost Coast. Earlier this month, ultrarunner Emily Keddie, 37, did it in just under 5 hours and 30 minutes, setting a fastest known time for the famed 25-mile route. She faced nasty poison oak and a nighttime encounter with a mountain lion that she called “terrifying.” S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
10.
A man smashed a back window and entered the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass early Sunday while she and her family were inside, police said. Ephraim Hunter, 29, was arrested on suspicion of burglary. Police said officers responded to an alarm at the Getty House, the official residence of the Los Angeles mayor, and found the suspect standing there as they opened the door. It was the second time in three years that Bass has been the victim of a break-in. NBC Los Angeles | L.A. Times
11.
Among the 15 largest U.S. metro areas, Riverside is home to the highest share of residents facing several key measures of financial stress, a Census survey found. Among respondents in Riverside, 44% reported having difficulty paying for usual household expenses; 14% said there was commonly not enough to eat at home; and 33% struggled to pay energy bills. In the household expenses category, the rate in Riverside was nearly 10 percentage points higher than in nearby Los Angeles. Bloomberg
12.
Murrieta’s school board voted late last week to keep a policy that requires parental notification when students change their gender identity, defying a state order that found the policy discriminatory and illegal. During a hearing, a majority of public speakers backed notification. “Teachers can’t pick and choose when they want to involve parents,” one said. Similar clashes are playing out in at least half a dozen districts across the state, while a proposed ballot initiative would enshrine mandatory notification statewide. L.A. Times | KABC
- California’s attorney general titled the ballot measure the “Restrict Rights of Transgender Youth” initiative. Proponents want it named “Protect Kids of California Act.” They are fighting it out in court. Courthouse News | A.P.
Correction
An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled the name of a New Yorker writer. He is Jay Caspian Kang, not Jay Caspian King.
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