Republicans try to claw back power in San Diego // Auroras light up the sky across California

Good morning. It’s Friday, Oct. 11.

Coastal Commission assails Elon Musk’s falsehoods.
Republicans aim to claw back some power in San Diego.
And colorful auroras light up the sky across California.

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Statewide

1.

Launches from Vandenberg have become a source of ire among neighbors and environmental groups. (Glenn Beltz/CC BY 2.0)

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday rejected a military request to allow more SpaceX launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, citing in part Elon Musk’s role in spreading conspiracy theories on X. Meeting in San Diego, Commissioner Gretchen Newsom complained that Musk has been “hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking” the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The commission had earlier clashed with military officials over their reluctance to address environmental harms related to the launches. Politico | Bloomberg

2.

California students have shown slight improvements in their English and math test scores, but they remain well below 2019 levels, data released Thursday showed. In 2024, the share of students who met standards in English rose to 47% and in math to 35.5%. For both subjects, the proficiency was more than 4 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. “We still have under half of our students meeting proficiency standards,” said Alix Gallagher, an education analyst. “So I don’t think there’s a positive way to spin that at this point.” Mercury News | CalMatters

3.

In 1939, the journalist Sanora Babb was putting the finishing touches on a novel about California’s Dust Bowl migrants when John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was released. He was catapulted to literary greatness, while Babb, bitterly dismayed, shoved her manuscript into a drawer. What few knew at the time was that Steinbeck had acquired Babb’s field notes, after which he began a punishing 100-day writing sprint to produce “Grapes.” The Atlantic wrote about “the woman who would be Steinbeck.”

4.

Residents as far south as San Diego reported witnessing the northern lights Thursday night after an unusually strong geomagnetic storm lit up the sky throughout California in brilliant shades of purple, red, and green. Here’s a roundup of photos and video shared on social media, from north to south:

Northern California

5.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s office has missed charging deadlines for more than 1,000 misdemeanor cases since early 2023, in effect clearing all of the suspects, according to whistleblowers inside the office. Among the cases are a woman found carrying brass knuckles in a stolen car and a drunk driver who slammed into parked vehicles. The revelations come as District Attorney Pamela Price faces a recall campaign that accuses her of being soft on crime. S.F. Chronicle

6.

Marshawn Lynch grew up in Oakland. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Mayor Marshawn?

The former Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch teased a potential run for Oakland mayor during a podcast with Gov. Gavin Newsom. Mayor Sheng Thao is facing a recall vote in November that could trigger a contest for a replacement. “It might be a possibility,” Lynch said. Newsom encouraged the idea, citing polling data that showed Lynch had an unfavorability rating of just 7%. “That’s off the charts, brother,” Newsom said. “Seven percent unfavorable? That never has happened in my life.” Politico

7.

The number of homeless tents in San Francisco has fallen to a record low 242, a 60% drop since the Supreme Court upheld a ban on sleeping outdoors in late June. Mayor London Breed touted the new numbers as evidence of progress on Thursday. “We will not let up,” she said. But shelters, paradoxically, have shown no increase in admissions. Homeless people told a reporter that tent sweeps don’t mean there are fewer people on the streets. “We’re still here,” said Zach Wolfe. “We’re just hiding in different parts of the streets.” SF Standard

8.

N17 has proposed two residential towers along Interstate 80 near downtown San Francisco. (N17)

On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked with Oisin Heneghan, a real estate developer whose company N17 is seeking approvals for multiple ambitious residential projects across San Francisco. Heneghan anticipates the city bouncing back economically in the next five years or so, just as his housing units are ready to go on the market. Downturns aside, the city has always found a way to thrive, he said: “I think anyone who would bet against San Francisco in the long term would be making a very bad wager.”

Southern California

9.

Kevin Faulconer is trying to lead a Republican comeback in San Diego County. (Mel Melcon/L.A. Times via Getty Images)

Once a Republican stronghold, San Diego was swept by a blue wave in 2020 when Democrats captured the mayor’s office and a narrow majority on the powerful board that runs the county. Four years later, with public anger over homeless encampments surging, Republicans have a rare chance to reclaim the county board as former Mayor Kevin Faulconer tries to pull off an upset in a wealthy swing district. “I am not going to let San Diego County turn into Los Angeles or San Francisco,” he recently told Politico.

10.

After years of teasing plans, Elon Musk on Thursday unveiled a Tesla vehicle that he said would be fully autonomous. The Cybercab, which he said would go on sale before 2027 at less than $30,000, has two seats and is designed to operate like a taxi. “You could fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” Musk said during a presentation in Burbank. Analysts, skeptical, said there was little evidence the company was close to perfecting the technology. N.Y. Times | Wall Street Journal

11.

The British photographer Owen Harvey visited an escaramuza team training in Southern California’s Jurupa Valley. Older than American cowboy culture, the all-female Mexican rodeo sport is a sort of equestrian ballet, in which riders perform intricate maneuvers while riding side saddle at a full gallop. See photos from Harvey’s project, “The Escaramuza Girls of Jurupa Valley.” The Guardian | LensCulture

In case you missed it

12.

Five items that got big views over the past week:

The story of how Los Angeles drained the Owens Valley of its water has been told endlessly since the events unfolded in the early 1900s. But Los Angeles was just as thirsty for energy. The photographer Brandon Tauszik traversed the Owens Valley to document the hydropower plants of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Distillations Magazine
One reason many Californians don’t think they have an accent: as residents of a global center of pop culture, they turn on the television and hear themselves. But they most certainly do. Eva Morreale wrote about why you may struggle to hear Californians’ distinct way of speaking. Fodor’sTravel
- A phonetician recently recorded the accents of Southern California locals. YouTube
After Elvis Presley married Priscilla in 1967, they honeymooned in a Palm Springs home that looked like a hovering spaceship. In 2022, the house was purchased for $5.7 million by another newlywed couple, who spent a year modernizing it while trying to preserve the groovy aesthetic. Architectural Digest took a tour.
The great gray owls of Yosemite are breathtakingly large, nearly 3 feet long with a 5-foot wingspan. Yet they are seldom seen. The owls number fewer than 200 or so in a small pocket of the Sierra Nevada, blending silently into the trees. The photographer Michael Frye recounted his encounter with a curious gray owl in the park in 2018. 👉 MichaelFrye.com
Berkeley student Daniel Villaseñor was operating on no sleep when his raffle ticket was called at ESPN’s “College GameDay” festivities. He was offered the chance to win $75,000 if he kicked a 33-yard field goal. He missed, but host Pat McAfee gave him one more try — this time for $100,000. Villaseñor nailed it. The crowd went wild. KGO | NBC Bay Area
- See Villaseñor’s epic kick. 👉 @PatMcAfeeShow

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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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