Good morning. It’s Thursday, Aug. 1.
- Donald Trump attacks Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
- Record influx of Chinese migrants surges into San Diego.
- And one of California’s best burritos sells for $5.
Statewide
1.
Speaking at a convention of Black journalists on Wednesday, former President Trump suggested Vice President Kamala Harris decided “to turn Black” for political advantage. “She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person,” he said, drawing gasps from the crowd. Harris, a daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, has never shied from her Black heritage and attended a historically Black college. The Atlantic likened Trump’s attack to “the new birtherism.”
- More than 200 Silicon Valley investors pledged to support Harris on Wednesday. The group includes Reid Hoffman, Mark Cuban, Ron Conway, and Chris Sacca. Politico
2.
The University of California president, Michael Drake, said Wednesday that he would step down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, capping five years of leading the nation’s largest public university system through the pandemic, labor strikes, and antiwar protests. Drake, 74, a physician by training and the first Black person to hold the office, described his tenure as “the honor of a lifetime.” By several accounts, he brought a level of competence and political savvy that helped steady the UC system through bouts of turmoil. L.A. Times | A.P.
- The University of California admitted its largest and most diverse class ever for 2024, officials announced on Wednesday. S.F. Chronicle
3.
“Influencers often talk about their ‘communities.’ Which is really just a cozy term for commenters, likers, and DMers. … Rarely, however, are these communities tested in an intimate, let’s-share-a-tent kind of way.”
Social media personalities are selling the opportunity to travel with them in small groups. San Francisco journalist Rachel Levin signed up for a weeklong trip in Yosemite with a travel influencer expecting a “mashup of the Fyre Festival, Lord of the Flies, and The Bachelorette.” “Instead,” she wrote, “I had fun.” Outside
Northern California
4.
When Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors recently adopted a policy that dilutes the rights of journalists to remain in the chamber, press advocates objected. Asked about the policy during a meeting on Tuesday, Supervisor Kevin Crye said it was the sheriff’s doing. Someone called out, “The sheriff wrote that policy? Can we see?” “Go ask the sheriff,” Crye replied. On Wednesday, Sheriff Michael Johnson issued a statement: “This was NOT introduced or in any way developed by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. In fact, upon learning of this new development, I questioned why it was even discussed.” Record Searchlight | Shasta Scout
5.
In San Francisco, delivery vehicle drivers routinely double-park wherever they want — parking restrictions be damned. An analysis found that three dozen companies amassed more than 14,260 parking citations in 2023, amounting to $1.6 million in fines. UPS led the way, with an average of 15 tickets a day. A union leader for the drivers explained that UPS sees the fines as the cost of doing business. “I don’t care if you park on the sidewalk; just deliver the packages,” he said, paraphrasing the company stance. SF Standard
6.
In January, Rana Robillard was thrilled to get the winning bid on a home in the Bay Area suburb of Orinda. So when an email arrived from her mortgage broker with instructions to wire $398,359.58, she did so without hesitation. Then a day later, a duplicate request arrived. Her heart sank. Robillard, a veteran of tech companies who has worked in cybersecurity, had been scammed. The ruse is increasingly common: criminals hack the email systems of mortgage brokers and wait for the perfect moment to strike. CNBC
7.
“The first time I had the burritos from El Charrito, I went back the next day and had them again. I was dumbstruck.”
— Cesar Hernandez, restaurant critic
One of the best burritos in California comes from a bodega-turned-tortilla factory in the farming town of Salinas — and it costs $5. Some people buy 10 at a time, stocking up for future meals. S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
8.
A few years ago, 3,200 of Los Angeles’s poorest residents received $1,000 a month for a year as part of a basic income pilot program. A new study has concluded that it was a “transformative” success, as participants reported greater financial stability. “Beyond that, the study found, the initiative gave people the time and space to make deeper changes in their lives. That included landing better jobs, leaving unsafe living conditions and escaping abusive relationships,” the L.A. Times wrote.
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9.
Los Angeles officials on Tuesday announced 82 arrests in a crackdown on copper wire theft that has left parts of the city dark. The city established a task force in February to combat the growing crime scourge that involves ripping wiring from streetlights to be sold to scrap metal recyclers for cash. “Our message is very clear to the criminals that are stripping this city part by part. The city of Los Angeles is no longer your ATM machine,” Councilmember Kevin de León said. KCAL | L.A. Times
10.
The largest wave of illegal border crossings by Chinese immigrants in history is surging through the desert mountains east of San Diego. Journalists asked migrants what is driving them. Many cited government oppression, economic malaise, and Covid-19 lockdowns. When Lei Xiaoyue resolved to make the perilous journey with his wife and daughter, he bought a coffin and stashed it in his father’s house, in case he wouldn’t be able to return home to bury him. “I wanted to be able to take care of my dad’s affairs after I’m out,” he said. Washington Post
11.
The owner of Joshua Tree’s most famous residence, the modernist Doolittle house, has been accused of drugging two women in the home in separate incidents. One of the women alleged that he raped her. The singer-songwriter Jamie-Lee Dimes said music executive Scott Leonard invited her to his home in 2022 to discuss her music career. About an hour later, she began to feel extremely disoriented, she said. The next thing she knew, she said, “he was on top of me.” Leonard has not been charged and he declined to answer questions from a reporter. L.A. Times
12.
There’s a beachside enclave in Malibu that’s so coveted three of its homes have sold for more than $100 million since 2020. Among the residents of Paradise Cove, known to local realtors as “Billionaires’ Bluff,” are Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Marc Andreessen, and Laurene Powell Jobs. “Rather than a beach house on the sand or a blufftop mansion with more far-reaching views, homes in Paradise Cove offer the best of both worlds,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in a photo-heavy profile.
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