Good morning. It’s Thursday, June 6.
- The first fatal black bear attack in California history.
- Stanford vows to suspend students behind office takeover.
- And Nvidia becomes second most valuable company.
Statewide
1.
On Nov. 8, Sierra County sheriff’s deputies found 71-year-old Patrice Miller dead in her Downieville home amid signs that she had been mauled by a black bear. At the time, officials suspected the animal had arrived after Miller’s death from natural causes. But after an autopsy, they’ve now concluded that she was in fact killed by the bear, making it the first documented fatal black bear attack in California history. “It’s a big deal,” said Steve Gonzalez with Fish and Wildlife. “That doesn’t happen in California.” KCRA
2.
A judge rejected a lawsuit by environmental groups challenging plans to build the first major reservoir in California in nearly half a century, marking a possible end to the project’s environmental litigation. The groups had argued that the state underestimated the likely harm to fish from creating the Sites Reservoir, which would involve inundating ranch land in Glenn and Colusa counties with water diverted from the Sacramento River. Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the ruling. “California needs more water storage, and we have no time to waste,” he said. Mercury News | Sacramento Bee
3.
Last week, the Democratic leader of the state Assembly removed Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli from the chamber’s judiciary committee because he called a Democratic colleague a “pedophile protector” over her refusal to support a bill dealing with child abuse. On Tuesday, all three Republicans on the committee responded by boycotting a hearing in solidarity with Essayli. “A healthy democracy requires representation from all sides of the political spectrum,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher. Sacramento Bee
4.
“I renounced my American citizenship at Tule Lake, and I feel that was the dumbest thing I ever did in my life. … What kind of man did this make me.”
— Hiroshi Kashiwagi
The new anthology “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” paints a diverse picture of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, who included patriots, firebrands, and cynics. “What they shared was a feeling of powerlessness,” wrote critic Hua Hsu wrote in a review. New Yorker
Northern California
5.
Stanford said it would suspend students who participated in a takeover of the president’s office early Wednesday. Thirteen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after they barricaded themselves inside the office with bike locks and chains and vowed to stay until the university divested from Israel. One officer was said to be injured. Outside, the quad was spray-painted with “kill cops” and “death to Israel.” The words “fuck Amerikkka” defaced a memorial to U.S. war veterans. Spokesperson Dee Mostofi said the university would push for those responsible to face “the full consequences allowed by law.” Stanford Daily | Mercury News
6.
Donald Trump is set to fundraise in San Francisco on Thursday at an event charging $50,000 a ticket. It will also serve as a coming-out party for the host, David Sacks, a venture capitalist who took a meandering path to become one of San Francisco’s biggest Trump supporters. In 2016, he gave $70,000 to Hillary Clinton. After the Jan. 6 riots, he said Trump had disqualified himself from public office. Then his views shifted. After Trump’s conviction last week, Sacks took to X. “Trump has a lot of supporters in Silicon Valley; many are just afraid to admit it,” he wrote. Bloomberg | SF Standard
- Trump critics are planning to greet him with a 33-foot-tall inflatable bird lookalike known as the Trump Chicken. Bay City News
7.
While dairy farms have been in decline for decades, lifestyle influencers are now driving a surge in one surprising niche: unpasteurized milk. The FDA has long warned that raw milk is dangerous, potentially exposing drinkers to salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. Many states ban its sale. But California doesn’t, which has been a boon for Mark McAfee, the owner of the state’s largest unpasteurized milk supplier, Raw Farm in Fresno. “Influencers have really driven us in the last four years to new levels we never imagined,” he said. Wall Street Journal
8.
Alameda’s City Council voted Wednesday to block a solar engineering experiment on the deck of a retired aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay aimed at limiting global warming. Experts assured the council that the tests, which involve blasting sea-salt aerosols into low-lying marine clouds, are safe. But the lawmakers, none of whom are scientists, weren’t convinced. “I don’t have a huge desire to be on the cutting edge,” said Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. “I just feel like this is not the right time.” N.Y. Times
9.
Nvidia is now worth more than Apple after a rally Wednesday lifted its market capitalization to $3.01 trillion, making it the second most valuable company in the world. The Santa Clara chipmaker’s stock has soared more than 200% over the last year as tech companies have scrambled to get their hands on its graphics processing units, which are powering the AI revolution. Its growth has shown no signs of slowing down. “We see this sea change as in the very early innings,” said Angelo Zino, an equity analyst at at CFRA Research. Bloomberg | The Verge
- The federal authorities are setting the stage for antitrust inquiries into Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft, reports said. N.Y. Times | Politico
Southern California
10.
Chula Vista is conducting the first full-blown police drone program in America. In the town just outside San Diego, drones criss-cross the skies daily responding to reports of noise complaints, car accidents, overdoses, and homicides. Some residents report feeling watched, wondering if the machines are following them down the street. “It feels like our home is not ours anymore,” said a woman whose neighborhood has been tormented by the sound of buzzing rotors. “It’s like it belongs to the Chula Vista Police Department.” WIRED wrote about “the age of the drone police.”
11.
A century ago, Los Angeles pulled off a notorious swindle, buying up land in the Owens Valley 200 miles north of town and then siphoning the region’s water via a great canal. If that wasn’t enough, L.A.’s water department has in recent years become a nightmare landlord for the valley’s governments and businesses that still sit on its land, an investigation published in The Guardian found. Local airports and parks have fallen into disrepair as a result of L.A.’s refusal to renew leases. Families have seen their businesses plummet in value because of changes to their lease terms. See the stories on the plight of local government and business owners.
12.
Benjamin and Christine Granillo bought their property in the valley below the San Bernardino Mountains four decades ago, building their home by hand. Then all of their neighbors across the street sold their houses to a developer. The Granillos now look out from their front gate at rubble soon to be replaced by a massive fulfillment center. Their street will become a rumbling truck route. “What can you do about it?” said Christine Granillo, 77. “There’s really nothing you can do about it.” L.A. Times
- See a photo essay on the warehouse takeover of the Inland Empire. 👉 Black Voice News
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