Good morning. It’s Monday, April 14.
- Proposal would let college students live in their cars.
- Bernie Sanders rallies huge crowd in Los Angeles.
- And San Diego city employee works from cruise ship.
Statewide
1.
In the latest sign of California’s bleak housing situation, a Democratic state lawmaker has proposed a remedy for homelessness among college students: Let them sleep in their cars. Assemblymember Corey Jackson said the Legislature should work on long-term solutions to the housing crisis, but in the meantime a stopgap is needed. Under his bill, which cleared its first committee hearing, colleges would have to devise an overnight parking program for students. Politico
2.
Dispatches from the trade wars:
- The Los Angeles region’s port complex, the largest in the U.S., is highly exposed to the trade war between between the U.S. and China. A slowdown threatens to ripple across the metropolis. “One in 9 jobs in L.A. County are directly related to the port,” said City Councilman Tim McOsker. “Think about that. That’s amazing.” Reuters | L.A. Times
- Shares of Silicon Valley stocks swung wildly after confusing signals from the Trump administration. On Friday, U.S. Customs said electronics would be exempt from many tariffs. On Sunday, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said there would be “no exemptions.” Wall Street Journal
- After China issued retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave a jarring response: “So what?” For California farmers, the tariffs threaten their third largest export market. “It’s scary,” said Christine Gemperle, an almond farmer. “Nobody wants to be in the center of chaos.” L.A. Times | CNN
3.
As the weather warms, the sound of spring arrives in the form of birdsong. Every place in the U.S. has a unique sound, shifting across time as birds migrate from winter nesting grounds to their summer homes. Using recordings from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Washington Post created a fun interactive that lets you hear the sounds of spring in your area.
4.
Sensorio, the popular field of lights in the wine region of Paso Robles, unveiled a new installation over the weekend that aims to simulate “what it would be like to stand inside an orchestra of light.” Bruce Munro, the artist, said he was inspired by a childhood memory of attending an orchestral performance and wishing he could wander among the musicians. The new exhibit includes 32 illuminated columns that each play the individual parts of an overall composition, allowing guests to stroll from percussion to strings to horns, and so on. The Tribune
- See video of the exhibit. 👉 Sensorio
Northern California
5.
David Sacks, a “PayPal Mafia” alumnus and ally of Elon Musk, led the tech elite’s rightward shift. Now he is the nation’s tech czar. His influence was clear when President Trump unveiled orders that would lead to more friendly rules for the cryptocurrency industry. “They’re going to make a lot of money for the country,” Trump said after signing the orders, flanked by Sacks. “And so is David.” The Washington Post told the story of how Sacks positioned himself “to drive policy on two of the most disruptive sectors in tech.”
6.
Barbara Lee, the popular former congresswoman from Oakland, entered the campaign for mayor of her hometown as the heavy favorite. But her main challenger, a 47-year-old former City Council member named Loren Taylor, has gained traction with voters by pledging to fix potholes, reduce crime, and shorten 911 response times. His momentum, wrote the New York Times, is the “latest indication that residents in the liberal San Francisco Bay Area are giving greater emphasis on quality-of-life concerns than before.”
- Political writer Joe Garofoli: “Lee may be beloved by the electorate for her career of principled service, but she may be misreading how angry voters remain. They don’t want unifiers. They want fixers.” S.F. Chronicle
7.
Crosswalk buttons in at least three Silicon Valley cities were hacked over the weekend to play the voices of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg when pushed. “Hi this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck,” one voice says. “You know, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcibly insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. And I just want to assure you — you don’t need to worry because there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Anyway, see ya.” Palo Alto Online | The Verge
8.
The Gold Rush town of Nevada City has so much history that the entire downtown is designated a National Historic Landmark. According to local historians, it’s home to California’s oldest original theater, one of the longest continuously operating hotels, and an Art Moderne courthouse that draws architecture students on pilgrimages from across the country. All that charm is nestled along a stunning stretch of Yuba River. Sarah Zlotnick, a writer who specializes in “regional travel,” included Nevada City in a ranking of the 10 best small towns in America. Country Living
Southern California
9.
A rapturous crowd that organizers said totaled 36,000 people gathered in Los Angeles on Saturday to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak during their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Sanders, who won the California presidential primary in 2020, told the crowd that the country was moving toward authoritarianism. But, he added, “despair is not an option. Giving up and hiding under the covers is not acceptable. The stakes are just too high.” Corrin Rankin, chair of the California Republican Party, dismissed the event as “empty theatrics.” Washington Post | Politico
10.
A senior lawyer in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office was given permission to do her job while on an extended sea cruise around the world. Jean Jordan, who set off in January, has made it about halfway through a four-month circumnavigation while collecting her full-time salary of $282,651 a year. City Attorney Heather Ferbert defended the arrangement, saying she determined “all required work could be performed remotely.” A critic likened it to “being an absentee parent.” S.D. Union-Tribune
11.
When Stephen Bannon went to federal prison last year for defying a subpoena, he entrusted Natalie Winters to host his “War Room” podcast in his absence. Winters, 24, grew up in Santa Monica and attended Harvard-Westlake, the elite prep school in Los Angeles, where she said she was ostracized by her peers. She skipped prom and high school graduation. Now she is part of a newly high-profile contingent of conservative White House reporters, jostling for position with major news outlets that she dismisses as “opposition forces.” N.Y. Times
12.
An undercover investigator captured video of animals who in some cases appear to be alive as they are cut up inside a slaughterhouse in Los Angeles. The columnist Nicholas Kristof, a onetime farm boy, said sheep, cattle, geese, and other animals have personalities not so different from our dogs and cats: “Some day, I suspect, we will wonder how we could have allowed so many animals to endure such profound suffering.” N.Y. Times
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