Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 30.
- Paul Pelosi attacker gets life in prison without parole.
- Democrats disappear from X as Elon Musk runs show.
- And flagrant fan interference at the World Series.
Statewide
1.
The Biden administration announced $1 billion in funding for seven California ports to aid their transition to zero-emission operations. The Port of Los Angeles will receive the largest single handout — an unprecedented $412 million — to be augmented by other partners for a total of $644 million. It’s expected to buy battery-powered tractors, forklifts, trucks, and other equipment that will cut carbon emissions by an estimated 41,500 tons a year. The port’s director called the investment “transformative.” Daily Breeze | L.A. Times
2.
Hundreds of Californians have been rising before dawn on Saturdays to join caravans headed to the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, where they knock on doors for Vice President Kamala Harris. They stay at hotels paid for by the Harris campaign or other supporters, then return the following night and resume their regular lives. “I didn’t want to keep on being angry at home,” said Laura Banuet, a former cashier at LAX. “I decided to do something about it.” L.A. Times
3.
The California State University system, the nation’s largest four-year system, announced a major shift in the way it measures success: taking the focus off of graduation rates and putting it instead on employment payoffs. That means advising students on how to set career goals, select the appropriate majors, and network with alumni to land internships and jobs. “We have to show students what’s the endgame,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said. “It’s not graduation.” L.A. Times
4.
This week is poised to deliver the first widespread rain and snow of the season across California and the Sierra Nevada, including the threat of a soggy Halloween in the northern half of the state. Forecasters said two big pulses of precipitation and chilly air from the Gulf of Alaska would push into Northern California between Wednesday and Saturday before sweeping across the rest of the state. Southern California was expected to stay dry until the weekend. S.F. Chronicle | SFGATE
Northern California
5.
In May, a federal judge sentenced David DePape to 30 years in prison for his 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi. On Tuesday, a state judge in a separate case went further, sentencing DePape to life in prison without parole. DePape delivered rambling, sometimes tearful remarks to the San Francisco courtroom: he said his former wife was a body double, that America conducted “evil murder magic rituals,” and that he was persecuted for his 9/11 activism. Analysts said an appeal is likely to focus on DePape’s mental health and whether the dual sentences amount to double jeopardy. S.F. Chronicle | NBC Los Angeles
6.
A pair of investigations turned up evidence that X has increasingly come to reflect the passions of its billionaire owner, Elon Musk:
- As an experiment, the Wall Street Journal created new accounts that signaled interests in strictly nonpolitical subjects, such as cooking and crafts. The algorithm still flooded the feeds with political content. “If that cringe, dingbat, zero-votes, airhead Kamala Harris is able to cheat enough to win the presidency—the USA is over,” wrote catturd2 in a post served to nearly all of the new accounts. Wall Street Journal
- A analysis of months of data found that tweets by Republican politicians now go viral far more frequently those by Democrats. The Republicans have also seen huge spikes in follower counts over the Democrats. Washington Post
7.
The campaign team for Tara Sreekrishnan, a Silicon Valley Democrat locked in a tight race for state Assembly, initially denied allegations that she had egged the car of a person with whom she was feuding in 2019. But with a week to go before Election Day, news outlets published surveillance video on Tuesday. Sreekrishnan can be seen repeatedly lofting eggs in a driveway before fleeing on foot. “I think everyone has things they wish they could take back and this is at the top of my list,” Sreekrishnan said. Politico | San Jose Spotlight
Southern California
8.
Officials on Monday announced a $42 million program to finance buyouts for homeowners hardest hit by landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes. Funded by California and FEMA, the program is intended to help eligible homeowners relocate to safer areas by offering 75% of their property’s pre-disaster fair market value. The homes would then be converted into open space. Mike Hong, 65, who built his home in 2014, called it a “lifesaver.” “It gives us a chance to save our family’s finances, but you’re seeing the labor of love destroyed.” L.A. Times | A.P.
9.
In a region that has become a symbol of the nation’s homelessness crisis, Redondo Beach has now reduced its homelessness numbers to “functionally zero.” How? In 2019, the city of 68,000 people established a homeless court with a mission to steer those arrested for petty crimes toward shelter and treatment. Next, it built a village of 20 tiny homes while leasing additional units at a hotel. The number of people on the streets dropped and dropped. L.A. Times
10.
Before Alan Hostetter was sentenced to 11 years in prison for joining the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, he spent 22 years at the Fontana Police Department, where he climbed the ranks to deputy chief. Former officers are now talking about troubling incidents they witnessed at the police agency, including routine use of racial slurs and the presence of neo-Nazi symbols. A pair of filmmakers spent three years investigating what they described as a hidden “culture of white supremacy” at the Fontana Police Department. The Intercept
11.
The Dodgers’ loss to the Yankees on Tuesday featured one of the most egregious examples of fan interference in World Series history. After Los Angeles right fielder Mookie Betts leaped up a wall to catch a fly ball in foul territory, Yankee fan Austin Capobianco, 38, grabbed Betts’ glove and pried the ball loose. The out was counted and the fan was ejected. Capobianco, a season-ticket holder, later fielded requests for his autograph at a local bar. He told a reporter his interference was no big deal. “If it’s in our area, we’re going to ‘D’ up,” he said. ESPN | Bleacher Report
12.
A San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy pulled a child from the path of an oncoming train a split second before certain tragedy, in a daring rescue captured on video last month. Deputy Michael Castaneda was driving behind a woman whose vehicle got stuck on the tracks along a rural road in Redlands. As a shrieking train neared, she frantically put one child down on the tracks and climbed back into the car to grab another. Castaneda, a former Marine, swooped the child off the tracks as the mother darted clear with the other child — just as the train slammed into her vehicle. People
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