Good morning. It’s Thursday, Aug. 22.
- Google strikes deal to support California newsrooms.
- Gunmen attack Sikh separatist leader near Sacramento.
- And Berkeley welcomes students to $300 million dorm.
Statewide
1.
California will became the first state to partner with tech companies to fund newsrooms under a deal announced Wednesday — but some journalists are not happy. The agreement calls for a $250 million public-private partnership, funded by the state and Google, that will distribute money over the next five years to California newsrooms and an artificial-intelligence research program. Labor leaders said the deal fell far short of what Google is paying in Canada, which adopted a similar measure. “Google won; a monopoly won,” said Matt Pearce, president of Media Guild of the West. CalMatters | A.P.
2.
In the summer of 2020, the state’s grid operator shut off the power to hundreds of thousands of homes as intense heat led people to crank up their air conditioners. Two years later, officials issued 11 “flex alerts” urging Californians to conserve electricity. But this summer, which included the hottest July ever observed, power has been abundant. No warnings. No shortages. Experts cited a remarkable expansion of the state’s battery storage, which stands now at 10,383 megawatts, up from 1,474 megawatts in 2020. Bay Area News Group
3.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, one of the country’s most powerful lawmakers, rarely wades into Sacramento legislative fights. But she recently issued a statement siding with Big Tech over a proposal to regulate artificial intelligence, calling it “ill-informed.” The bill’s champion is state Sen. Scott Wiener, who is expected to run against Pelosi’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, once the former speaker leaves office. “The critique of Wiener’s bill isn’t the first hint from Pelosi that she’s angling for her daughter to replace her,” the reporter Dustin Gardiner wrote. Politico
Northern California
4.
Gunmen opened fire on a pickup truck transporting a Sikh separatist near Sacramento on Aug. 11, officials said on Wednesday. Satinder Pal Singh Raju, who was unharmed, is an organizer in the Khalistan movement, which seeks to create a homeland for Sikhs out of India’s Punjab region. Raju is part of the Sikh diaspora of the Central Valley, a region India’s Hindu-dominated government regards as a hotbed of terrorism. “This is one more example of India’s aggression,” a spokesperson of Sikhs for Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, said of the attack. L.A. Times | Sacramento Bee
5.
In April 2023, a suburban Sacramento hospital told the family of Jessie Peterson, 31, that she had been discharged after a diabetic episode, according to a lawsuit filed this month. Unable to contact her, the family searched relentlessly, posting flyers and filing a missing person’s report. A year passed. Then a detective reached out: Peterson had in fact never left the hospital, the officer told the family; she died there on April 6, 2023. The family is now seeking millions of dollars in damages. “They just totally discarded her,” said Ginger Congi, Peterson’s mother. CBS13 | Sacramento Bee
6.
Al Attles, a Basketball Hall of Fame guard for the Golden State Warriors who went on to coach the club to the 1975 NBA championship, died at his home in Oakland on Tuesday. He was 87. When the Warriors selected Attles in the fifth round of the 1960 draft, he didn’t expect to last long. But he became the face of the franchise, enduring 60 years as a player, coach, and general manager. Along the way, he picked up the nickname the Destroyer. “I never saw Al start a fight, but I never saw a fight we had that he didn’t try to finish,” his teammate Nate Thurmond once said. N.Y. Times | ESPN
7.
UC Berkeley has a new $300 million dormitory that is being described as perhaps the most luxurious residential building in the entire city. The Helen Diller Anchor House, paid for by the largest gift in the university’s history, includes a two-level lounge, a serenity studio, a 8,600-square-foot fitness center, and a 13-story central courtyard draped with vertical gardens, pictured above. On move-in day this week, students were stunned by the opulence. “As soon as I saw the lobby, I thought, ‘Holy shit,’” said Cate Sundahl, 20. S.F. Chronicle
- See photos of Anchor House. 👉 Berkeley News
Southern California
8.
Something in the air appears to be damaging people’s lungs around the Salton Sea, where asthma rates among children are four times the national average. Scientists have long suspected a link to the dust kicked up from the receding lake’s shoreline. Now researchers believe they’ve found the culprit: a naturally occurring toxin in the dust known as lipopolysaccharide, or LPS. The discovery, if confirmed, could help alleviate the health crisis at the Salton Sea and other shrinking lakes around the world. Undark
9.
Costco is preparing to make a big addition to its product offerings: affordable housing. The big-box chain secured permits in South Los Angeles for a new location with 800 residential units over the store. The project is among the first to take advantage of a 2022 law that streamlines approvals for commercial developments that include housing. Supporters praised the project as a step toward alleviating the housing crisis. Joe Cohen, a housing activist, called it a “Costco prison” for its cramped, cookie-cutter design in a viral post on X. Bloomberg
10.
Irvine is the hottest housing market in America. In the last year, median home values surged more than 20% to $1.56 million, the biggest jump in the country, according to a review of Zillow data. In the past, some critics scoffed at the manicured sameness of the Orange County city, one of the nation’s largest master-planned communities. But homebuyers love the village concept, greenbelts, and quality amenities. “Everything is just very neat and well organized,” said Jonathan Sun, 37, who moved to Irvine in 2017. L.A. Times
11.
A trailer to promote Francis Ford Coppola’s new sci-fi opus “Megalopolis” amassed more than a million views early Wednesday with a clever ad concept. It flashed old quotes of prominent critics panning Coppola classics, such as “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” hinting at the mixed early reviews for “Megalopolis.” Then a journalist tried to find the quotes in newspaper archives; they weren’t there. By midday, Lionsgate put out a statement: “We screwed up,” the Santa Monica entertainment giant wrote. How it happened was not disclosed, but the quotes were fake. Vulture | Hollywood Reporter
12.
The Spanish photographer Cristina de Middel spent years documenting the journeys of migrants through Mexico into California. She aimed to flip the narrative of migrants as criminals. “I think this level of sacrifice and of respect and responsibility for the family is not something that we are used to anymore in the Western world. So I really wanted to try and present them as heroes rather than cowards,” she said. The work, a mix of fantasy and photography, turned into an award-winning series called “Journey to the Center.” Magnum magazine
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.