Good morning. It’s Friday, Oct. 25.
- Few California Republicans commit to uphold election.
- Black cats have hard time finding homes in Oakland.
- And two more L.A. Times resignations over meddling.
Statewide
1.
Of California’s 12 Republicans in the House, only four have committed to certifying the election results in November. Once a formality, election certification became a fraught final step in the presidential transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, when 147 congressional Republicans — including seven Californians — voted to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Donald Trump has signaled in recent weeks that he plans to contest the results again if he loses, saying his opponents “cheat like dogs” and declaring “we win without voter fraud.” CalMatters
2.
Usha Vance, raised in suburban San Diego, is a daughter of Indian immigrants, both of them academics and Democrats. She herself is a former Democrat and, according to a friend of husband JD Vance, voted for Hillary Clinton. A friend told the Washington Post that Usha was “generally appalled by Trump.” In a new profile of the would-be second lady, people who have known Usha wonder how she stomachs her new role working to install a MAGA administration. “There is at least some evidence that Usha is holding her nose,” wrote New York magazine.
3.
Californians are about to vote on 10 ballot propositions on Nov. 5. But it was supposed to be 17, before seven of the measures were withdrawn by their sponsors. The erasure of so many propositions — all of which had garnered enough signatures to earn a place on the ballot — marks a major shift in the state’s system of direct democracy, as powerful actors use the measures as bargaining chips with the Legislature. Noema Magazine wrote about the sidelining of voters in “California’s vanishing ballot measures.”
4.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talked with Gustavo Arellano, the Los Angeles Times columnist who recently took a road trip across the Southwest to take the pulse of Latinos this election season. Arellano said many in the national press who try to explain why Latinos have warmed up to Donald Trump end up saying something like, “‘Wow, we didn’t expect this. Latinos are assimilating. They’re becoming American.'” This, Arellano continued, “is what I’ve been screaming as a reporter for the past quarter century.”
5.
Emily Markstein, 31, has spent seven years living in Mammoth Lakes. She holds a master’s degree in historic preservation and has coached skiing, trimmed trees, and waited tables in fancy restaurants. Yet she lives in a 2006 GMC van. “Right now, I rotate through my friends’ houses to get my weekly shower,” she said. There are only about four people per square mile in surrounding Mono County. But even in the wide-open Eastern Sierra there’s almost nowhere for working people to live, the L.A. Times reported.
Northern California
6.
BART will pay six former workers more than a $1 million each after they were fired for refusing to get Covid-19 vaccinations during the pandemic, under a jury decision delivered Wednesday. The workers sued the agency for religious discrimination in 2022, saying that their Christian beliefs forbade vaccination. “The rail employees chose to lose their livelihood rather than deny their faith,” said attorney Kevin Snider. BART declined to comment on the verdict. KTVU | S.F. Chronicle
7.
On a recent visit to the website of Oakland’s public animal shelter, the first seven animals listed on the “adoptable cats” page were black. “Black cats have the hardest time getting adopted,” explained Ann Dunn, the shelter’s director. Superstition, centuries old, is believed to be the primary culprit. One shelter worker, Tiffany Ashbaker, said it’s heartbreaking to see black cats overlooked. But she’s doing her small part: Ashbaker has four black cats at home. Oaklandside
8.
In a Bay Area fire station, there’s a light bulb dangling from the ceiling that’s been burning since 1901, the oldest almost continuously operating light bulb. The Livermore light bulb, hand-crafted with blown glass and durable carbon filament, is more than a curiosity. For many, it is a symbol of a bygone era before the advent of the faintly sinister business strategy known as planned obsolescence.
Among the most cited modern examples is the smartphone, which owners are compelled to replace every few years as the devices become outdated and resistant to repair. Meanwhile, the Livermore bulb, while dimmer than it once was, burns on — 123 years and counting. In an online guestbook, people from around the world have written in to say the light somehow gives them hope for the world.
- See a livestream of the Livermore light bulb.
Southern California
9.
Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board — Robert Greene and Karin Klein — quit over owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s decision to block the newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Greene won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. In a statement on a private forum obtained by the Wrap, Klein called Soon-Shiong a “chickenshit.” The departures followed that of Mariel Garza, the editorial page editor. Notably, the Times had not reported on the turmoil at the paper as of late Thursday. The Wrap | Semafor
10.
The Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascón, said on Thursday that he would ask a judge to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of the 1989 killing of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. “I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascón said. The brothers have spent 34 years in prison on a sentence of 50 years to life. Some observers linked the rare request for resentencing to Gascón’s flagging campaign for reelection. He rejected the idea when asked, saying, “I am not going to talk about reelection.” Politico | N.Y. Times
11.
Some people are paying $20,000 for tickets to sit above the dugout at the World Series, which kicks off today. It’s been 43 years since the Dodgers and Yankees, baseball’s most storied teams, faced off. The matchup also features the sport’s two biggest stars: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. While the cheapest seats at Dodger Stadium are hovering around $975, average tickets for Game 3 at Yankee Stadium are nearly $2,000. That would make it the most expensive game in World Series history. Bloomberg
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- At night, the stars over Yosemite seem to splatter across the face of El Capitan. In reality, the glowing dots are the headlamps of rock climbers setting up their hanging beds, known as portaledges. It’s said that if you turn your flashlight off and on in their direction, a climber may respond in kind.
- Here’s the view from the wall. 👉 Thehearnes.com
- Across California, few communities have donated more money to Donald Trump than Kamala Harris over the last two years. Even in traditionally conservative Redding, residents have given significantly more to Harris. Those are among the insights gathered from a new map that lets you see how your neighborhood is giving to the presidential candidates. Washington Post
- Robin Moore, a former preschool teacher, volunteered for years with a homelessness charity in Sacramento. A few years ago, she felt God was giving her “an assignment,” she said. So she dipped into her family’s savings to buy four tiny homes and put them in her backyard. Sacramento Bee.
- With nearly 2 million installations, California has embraced rooftop solar like no other state. But some researchers say home solar is inadvertently raising electricity costs while undermining the development of large solar farms. Washington Post
- Nearly 60 years after it opened, the utopian Sea Ranch Lodge was given a thorough overhaul, weaving in a mix of midcentury and contemporary touches. The 17 guest rooms retain their distinctive architectural geometry and feel decidedly of their era, wrote the San Francisco Standard.
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