Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 3.
- Killing of bear sets off anger in southern Sierra.
- Power is cut to sliding homes in Rancho Palos Verdes.
- And a Los Angeles “shaman” weds a Norwegian princess.
Statewide
1.
In recent years, environmental groups have thwarted at least six master-planned communities across California with litigation citing fire risk. The legal blockade has frustrated California’s powerful Democrats, traditionally aligned with the green movement, as they face intense pressure to ease the state’s housing crisis. Bruce Babcock, a professor of public policy at UC Riverside, said environmentalists have a point about fire danger, but they go too far. “They’re not in favor of housing anywhere,” he said. Wall Street Journal
2.
One night a couple of weeks ago, a big chocolate-colored bear known fondly by locals as “Victor” ambled through a campground in the Mammoth Lakes area and started eating steaks off a group’s picnic table. A woman stood mere feet away while others held up cameras. When the bear registered her, he swiped her leg with his paw. That was enough for wildlife officials to track Victor down the following day and give him a lethal injection. The killing has led to an outpouring of anger in the Sierra community. Outside magazine | S.F. Chronicle
- Watch the campsite confrontation. 👉 Facebook
3.
Forecasters said another heat wave would engulf California between Tuesday and Friday, with highs reaching into the 80s near the coast and well into triple digits inland. Models showed weak offshore winds pushing hot air toward the Pacific. “Instead of the coasts being where people typically run to, the coasts could also be way above normal,” said Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist. L.A. Times | SFGATE
- Thursday may be the hottest day of the week in many places. Below is a sampling of predicted highs.
4.
California’s most highly rated state park has no old-growth redwoods, no soaring peaks, and no campsites. Yet according to an analysis of more than 300,000 reviews on the sites AllTrails and Google, the Monterey coast’s Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is the finest of all 280 park units operated by the state’s parks agency. The distinction likely comes as no surprise to visitors who have walked among its groves of gnarled Monterey cypresses clinging improbably to misty cliffs above the Pacific. S.F. Chronicle
Northern California
5.
Thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem on Monday for the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the 23-year-old Berkeley native who was among six hostages found dead in Gaza on Saturday. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, his mother, said it was a “stunning honor” to have been his mother. “Finally, my sweet boy,” she said. “Finally, finally, finally, you’re free.” N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
- The killings triggered a wave of nationwide grief and anger in Israel. Washington Post
6.
The Bay Area city of Antioch has become notorious among law enforcement as a hub of illegal marijuana grow operations inside the city’s suburban homes. Roughly 60 houses have been raided since 2022, and police suspect there are at least 100 more still in operation. In April, state agents raided a home in Antioch owned by an Oakland police officer named Samson Liu, recovering more than 80 pounds of marijuana. No arrests were made. CNN
7.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest on Saturday in San Francisco’s Union Square by a gunman who “spotted him for his expensive watch,” police said. The suspect, a 17-year-old male from Tracy, was also shot in the arm by his own handgun as Pearsall, 23, fought back, officials said. Pearsall was released from the hospital Sunday, the bullet having missed any vital organs. S.F. Chronicle
- Video showed Pearsall walking to an ambulance after the shooting. 👉 @Outkick
8.
Elon Musk relied on dozens of investors to help him buy Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. An analysis of newly released figures estimated that Musk and his partners’ overall stake has since shed $24 billion in value, an erasure of wealth with few parallels outside the realm of economic crashes or corporate scandals. Ross Gerber said he invested less than $1 million, a stake he now considers worthless. “Trying to explain to people how he lost” so much money, Gerber said, “is not a fun conversation.” Washington Post
9.
While checking one of his trail cameras in California’s remote northeastern corner in December 2020, Randy Robbins spotted a dead deer covered in frost. He didn’t have time to return with a proper lens before the ice melted, so he snapped a picture with his iPhone. The image has now become the first iPhone photo to win a “highly commended” distinction in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest held by the Natural History Museum in London. The picture speaks to the fragility of life, Robbins told the Sierra Daily News.
- View more of the honored works. 👉 The Guardian
- And see more of Robbins’ photography. 👉@randyrobbinsphotography
Southern California
10.
Residents of Rancho Palos Verdes, a stunning city perched above the sea, have long understood that living there comes with a caveat: a complex of underground landslides causes the ground to move roughly an inch a year. But across part of the peninsula, the pace of movement has quickened to nearly 4 feet a month. “Homes have been yanked apart at the seams, and some have collapsed altogether, their sunken roofs and splintered walls swallowed halfway into the earth,” wrote the N.Y. Times.
- Southern California Edison cut power to roughly 250 homes on Sunday and Monday, citing the wildfire threat posed by contorted electrical equipment. LAist
11.
Jacob Wohl, the Southern California provocateur who in 2022 was convicted of fraud for running a robocall campaign in largely Black neighborhoods telling people not to vote, has been covertly running a new AI lobbying firm. Wohl and his associate, Jack Burkman, have been using pseudonyms in the business, called LobbyMatic, former employees said. They temporarily signed up at least three brand-name clients: Toyota, consulting firm Boundary Stone Partners, and drug company Lantheus, employees said. Politico
12.
Princess Martha Louise, daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, married a self-professed shaman from Los Angeles named Durek Verrett in a picturesque Norwegian village on Saturday. The couple’s romance has captivated Norway, where critics have scoffed at Verrett’s claims that he can communicate with spirits and ward off illness with a medallion. For her part, the princess claims to speak with angels. Netflix said it was producing a documentary about the couple. N.Y. Times | A.P.
Correction
An earlier version of this newsletter, relying on an Outside magazine article, misstated how a bear was killed by wildlife officials after he swiped at a camper. According to the L.A. Times and other outlets, the bear was not shot, he was given a lethal injection.
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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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