Good morning. It’s Monday, Aug. 19.
- The California counties that are perpetually on fire.
- San Francisco becomes a hothouse for local news.
- And a writer attempts to camp in 120-degree heat.
Statewide
1.
A pair of reporters interviewed dozens of current and former administration officials for a piece on Kamala Harris’ record as vice president. She quietly found roles to play on signature issues, such as President Biden’s only Supreme Court pick. Harris concluded that Ketanji Brown Jackson would be the boldest option and pushed Biden to choose her even as he was getting advice to the contrary. “Joe, you may only get one chance to do this as president, and you want to be proud of your legacy here,” she told him, according to Ron Klain, then the White House chief of staff. N.Y. Times
- A Wall Street Journal profile portrayed Harris as so cautious that she deliberated over whether to salute military personnel and practiced the gesture in private.
2.
Since 2014, wildfires have burned through 38% of Butte County, where the Park fire ignited in July and became the fourth largest in state history, an analysis found. Other Northern California counties have seen even larger shares blackened by flames. In Napa County, the figure was 57%. In Plumas County: 61%. The New York Times published some detailed graphics on “the California counties constantly on fire.”
3.
“I’ve camped in the desert without a tent and I’ve camped in the desert without a mummy bag, but rarely have I camped in the desert without either, without the physical and psychological mediation they provide. The feeling was one of total vulnerability.”
Outdoors writer Leath Tonino camped in the Mojave Desert as temperatures soared to 120 degrees — to see what it was like. Hydration, he wrote, was impossible. Outside magazine
Northern California
4.
Across the country, local news is dying — but not in San Francisco. In a city of roughly 800,000 residents, San Francisco now has 27 news organizations. Among them is Gazetteer SF, “an upstart only a few months old that has no social media accounts, actively delists its articles from Google search and markets itself via paper fliers stapled to telephone poles around the city.” N.Y. Times
5.
After the A’s announced they were leaving Oakland, a pair of middle-aged dads embraced an audacious vision: make a professional baseball team of their own. Incredibly, they pulled it off, wrote reporter Dan Moore: “Baseball, at root, is a balm for what ails us, a picnic in an urban garden. And though Ballers baseball is not A’s baseball — cannot be A’s baseball; will never be A’s baseball — it’s still baseball, still transportive and pretty, if a bit scrappy and homespun.” The Ringer
- Fans gathered Sunday for the final meeting of the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s, a matchup known for decades as the “Battle of the Bay.” KQED | East Bay Times
6.
Sam Altman has a plan to protect us from the artificial-intelligence-infused world that he is helping to create. His Worldcoin initiative would scan the eyeballs of every person on earth so that we can tell people and robots apart. But the world’s governments aren’t buying his plan. “[Worldcoin] has been raided in Hong Kong, blocked in Spain, fined in Argentina and criminally investigated in Kenya. A ruling looms on whether it can keep operating in the European Union.” Wall Street Journal
7.
Not long ago, the exurbs east of San Francisco were a symbol of the financial crisis as home prices plummeted and housing tracts sat vacant. Now, as families flee the high-cost Bay Area, demand is so strong in the San Joaquin Valley that builders maintain waiting lists. The photographer Ryan McIntosh spent three years chronicling the creation of Tracy Hills, where dry grazing fields have been carpeted with artificial turf and rows of more than 7,000 homes. LENSCRATCH | RyanMcintosh.co
Southern California
8.
In a new lawsuit, Orange County said executives at a nonprofit linked to a county supervisor pocketed more than $10 million earmarked to feed elderly people and bought themselves homes. In November, LAist reported that Supervisor Andrew Do helped direct money to the nonprofit without disclosing that his 22-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, was connected to it. The lawsuit alleges that she used the money to buy herself a $1 million home in Tustin. A lawyer for the nonprofit accused the county of engaging in “a political witch hunt.” L.A. Times | Voice of OC
9.
As California cracks down on homeless encampments, the architecture critic Michael Kimmelman visited two housing projects in Long Beach and Venice. Both, he wrote, lend dignity to formerly homeless residents and distinction to their neighborhoods. But the buildings weren’t cheap: together, they cost roughly $50 million to house about 110 people. N.Y. Times
- Los Angles has lost its patience with roughly nearly 6,900 RVs lining the city’s streets. On Friday, the City Council directed traffic enforcers to start towing occupied vehicles. L.A. Times
10.
In March, a woman said she witnessed three deputies at a shooting range open fire on a small black cat and watch “while it writhed in pain.” She pulled out her camera and confronted them in a video that drew outrage online. “It was damaging the property,” one of the men responded. Kern County’s sheriff, Donny Youngblood, has now said that an investigation confirmed the woman’s allegations. “They’re back to work,” he said, “but they’ve been disciplined and that’s about all I can tell you.” KGET
11.
For as long as anyone can remember, the San Dieguito River Valley in Del Mar was a quiet refuge, home to tomato fields and later polo grounds. Then in 2016, a youth soccer group took over the lease and created a 120-acre sporting complex, bringing noise, traffic, and pollution. A legal fight over the complex has highlighted how powerful the youth-sports industry has become. “It’s not a river valley anymore but a massive commercial venture,” said Maggie Brown, an opponent. “It’s an environmental invasion, an environmental travesty.” Washington Post
In case you missed it
12.
A quick catch-up on headlines you may have missed from the past week:
- Two doctors and a woman known as “the Ketamine Queen” were among five people charged with causing the overdose death of Matthew Perry. At one point, a doctor mused on the money he stood to make. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” he texted. L.A. Times | Washington Post
- A federal judge ruled that UCLA must ensure equal access to campus for Jewish students after protesters blocked them during the spring. UCLA argued that a court shouldn’t be able to meddle in its response to protests. The judge said the university cannot offer classes if Jews are excluded. A.P. | Wall Street Journal
- UC Davis doctors implanted electrodes into the brain of a man who lost his ability to speak due to A.L.S. Computers recognized what he intended to say with 99.6% accuracy, surpassing expectations. Video captured the tear-jerking moment that he first used the system. YouTube | Scientific American
- The authorities said a 56-year-old woman out on a walk near Lake Oroville was mauled to death by dogs. They planned to euthanize seven Great Danes believed to have been involved in the attack. KCRA
- The billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Brewers was accused of using excavators to scoop up sand from a Malibu beach and carry it to his mansion as part of a construction project. “This case is about a private property owner using a public beach as their own personal sandbox,” a lawsuit said. The Guardian | L.A. Times
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