Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 30.
- San Francisco has been flying “Appeal to Heaven” flag.
- Catalina calls off plan to gun down hundreds of mule deer.
- And San Luis Obispo is home to one of the great drive-ins.
Statewide
1.
The U.S. Senate committees on intelligence, armed services, and foreign relations form the core of American foreign-policy making. And there is not a single Californian among their ranks. The result, argued political scientist Markos Kounalakis, is an overemphasis on Europe and the Middle East even as the West Coast offers crucial perspectives on Mexico and the Indo-Pacific region: “Demographically, culturally, and educationally, California is instead ignored and frequently dismissed.” Washington Monthly
2.
Dispatches from the campus protests:
- UC Santa Cruz moved classes online after pro-Palestinian activists blocked the entrances to campus. Chancellor Cynthia Larive called the protests an “effort to cause intentional harm to our campus community unprompted by any action on the part of UC Santa Cruz.” S.F. Chronicle | KQED
- A letter signed by more than 60 faculty members at UC Berkeley called on the UC Board of Regents to reverse concessions made to bring an end to the campus’s “Free Palestine” encampment. “They are, in short, acts of appeasement,” the letter said. Jewish News
- A San Jose State University professor who was suspended over her conduct during protests accused the administration of political motives. “I believe that my temporary suspension is part of an academic freedom suppression campaign against me,” she said. S.F. Chronicle
3.
California drive-ins peaked in the 1960s with more than 220 in operation, according to data from DriveInMovie.com. At last count, the number had fallen to 15. Among the survivors is San Luis Obispo’s Sunset Drive-In, whose owner has resisted the temptation to cash in on prime property just a mile from downtown. The mid-century theater looks much like it did on its opening day in 1950, with its neon marquee, original screen, and stucco concession stand. In a new ranking, USA Today named Sunset one of the 10 best drive-ins in the country.
Northern California
4.
San Francisco has flown an “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside its City Hall since 1964. But officials quietly removed it last weekend after The New York Times revealed that the flag had flown outside a vacation home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in a report that portrayed the American Revolution banner as a provocative symbol linked to Jan. 6 rioters. In a statement, San Francisco officials acknowledged the flag originally signified the “quest for American independence,” but said it has “since been adopted by a different group — one that doesn’t represent the city’s values.” S.F. Chronicle
5.
Tech giants are engaged in a frantic rush for data to train their artificial intelligence systems. To that end, OpenAI has locked up at least six licensing deals with major publishers since April, including two announced on Wednesday: The Atlantic and Vox Media. The deals are part of an expected move into news, allowing users of the company’s chatbot to provide up-to-date headlines. Axios | Washington Post
- Jessica Lessin, founder of The Information, said news organizations are making a huge mistake, trading their credibility for cash from companies “building products quite clearly intended to replace them.” The Atlantic
6.
The Catholic Diocese of Fresno became the latest California diocese to announce plans to seek bankruptcy protection as it faces more than 150 claims of clergy abuse filed under a state law that relaxed the statute of limitations. “Victims of abuse endure a lifetime of pain, and we as Catholics must commit to a lifetime of atonement,” said Bishop Joseph Brennan. At least half of the state’s 12 dioceses have now pursued bankruptcy filings. Critics have accused them of trying to halt discovery and avoid paying victims. KVPR | Catholic News Agency
7.
Scott Peterson’s bid to clear his name in the 2002 murder of his wife and unborn son faced a major setback Wednesday when a judge rejected all but one of his requests for DNA retesting. Lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project had wanted to test numerous objects that they hoped would point to another killer, including a stained mattress found 2 miles from the couple’s Modesto home. Instead, they will only be allowed to retest a piece of duct tape stuck to Laci Peterson’s pants. “It’s not over,” one of Peterson’s lawyers said. “It’s far from over.” Mercury News
8.
The roaring waterfalls of spring and early summer make Yosemite one of the few spots on earth to witness moonbows, when colors erupt in the mist by the light of a full moon. John Muir compared the displays to a religious experience, calling them “one of the most impressive and most cheering of all the blessed mountain evangels.” Photographers posted images and video from the moonbow show at Yosemite Falls last week. @shreeniclix | @yokilive | @markian.b
Southern California
9.
On Oct. 21, 2021, a San Diego TikTok personality named Ali Abulaban used a device to surreptitiously listen as his estranged wife talked and giggled with another man inside their apartment, then barged in and shot them both dead. During his trial, neither side disputed those facts. A jury was instead tasked with deciding whether the killings amounted to murder or manslaughter, mitigated by the heat of passion. Ruling on Wednesday, they went with first-degree murder. Abulaban, 32, is expected to get life in prison with no possibility of parole. City News Service | NBC 7
10.
The Catalina Island Conservancy scrapped plans to shoot nearly 2,000 invasive mule deer from helicopters after a county supervisor mounted an opposition campaign that portrayed the proposal as “inhumane and drastic.” Conservancy officials said on Wednesday that while aerial hunting is the most humane way to remove the deer, they respected critics’ concerns. In the meantime, the deer are starving and dying of thirst in an ecosystem unsuited to them. L.A. Times
11.
“He was targeted for his race, and he died because of it.”
According to his death certificate, Alton Collier died of suicide at the age of 26 after jumping from a ferry in San Diego Bay on April 27, 1946. But that’s not what happened to the Black cement worker, a new examination found. Witnesses quoted in the Black press said two sailors hurled a racial slur at Collier, then hit him with a boat hook, forcing him over the ledge. Now the death is being recognized as a “racial terror lynching,” with plans to engrave Collier’s name at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice museum in Alabama. KPBS
12.
The photographer Eri Morita grew up in an industrial area of Tokyo, where she and her friends roamed the alleyways free from parental supervision. As an adult, she settled in a manicured neighborhood in Encinitas, where her young daughter has had a very different childhood. Morita explored the strangeness of the Southern California childhood in her photo series “In This Beautiful Bubble.” Erimorita.com | Lens Culture
I count on word of mouth to grow the California Sun. Please consider sharing it with a friend. Send them here.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
Make a one-time contribution to the California Sun.
Give a subscription as a gift.
Get a California Sun T-shirt, phone case, hat, hoodie, or tote.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information. To change your email address please email me: mike@californiasun.co. (Note: Unsubscribing here does not cancel payments. To do that click here.)
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.