Good morning. It’s Tuesday, May 21.
- Beautiful California state park allows no visitors.
- Scarlett Johansson accuses OpenAI of copying her voice.
- And photos raise hopes of a new Griffith Park cougar.
Statewide
1.
After a recent regulatory decision to add fixed charges to electricity bills, state lawmakers considered a bill to prevent those fees from growing by more than the cost of inflation. Utilities have made no secret of their aim to charge much more; PG&E proposed as much as $92 a month. Yet last week, lawmakers killed the bill — and they did so without casting a single “no” vote. Instead, they abstained from voting to avoid the fallout of staking a position. The S.F. Chronicle editorial board called it a “cowardly cop-out” as Californians face the nation’s second-highest electricity bills.
2.
California is paying meth users for each clean urine test they provide. Since April 2023, 19 counties have enrolled in the innovative experiment designed to incentivize drug addicts to get clean. It appears to be working for Quinn Coburn, a former construction worker in Grass Valley who got $10 for each clean test to start, with payments eventually increasing to $26.50. “It’s that little something that’s holding me accountable,” he said. KFF Health News
3.
In one search for faculty at UC Berkeley, more than 75% of candidates were screened out of consideration on the basis of their diversity statements — irrespective of criteria such as teaching ability or research skills. It’s a small wonder that many applicants now engage in what one critic called “performative dishonesty,” the Washington Post’s editorial board wrote. “Whatever their original intent, the use of DEI statements has too often resulted in self-censorship and ideological policing.”
4.
CEO pay hit a record height in 2023 as stock awards pushed the median pay to $15.7 million, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. But the two most lavishly paid executives, both from California companies, towered above the rest:
- At the top of the list was Hock Tan, CEO of the Bay Area semiconductor giant Broadcom, who earned $162 million.
- No. 2 was Nikesh Arora of the cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. He took home $151 million.
See the entire ranking. 👉 Wall Street Journal
Northern California
5.
In 2019, San Francisco banned its police department from using facial-recognition technology. But some officers found a workaround, asking police departments in neighboring cities to run photos of suspects through their facial-recognition programs, the Washington Post found. A San Francisco police spokesman acknowledged that the requests violated the city ordinance but declined to say whether anyone faced consequences. A police surveillance watchdog suggested the practice is commonplace. Washington Post
6.
A lot of people thought OpenAI’s new flirty voice assistant sounded like the actress Scarlett Johansson. She did too, and she hired lawyers. In a statement Monday, Johansson, who portrayed an AI voice in the movie “Her,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had reached out to her last September to ask if she’d voice the GPT-4o chatbot. She declined. When OpenAI unveiled the chatbot last week, Johansson wrote, “I was shocked, angered and in disbelief” to hear a voice “eerily similar to mine.” Washington Post | Bloomberg
7.
The Sutter Buttes, volcanic remnants that rise from the checkerboard farmland of the Sacramento Valley, contain an oasis of rolling hills, flowers, and wildlife. Nearly 3 square miles of it is state parkland that almost no one is allowed to visit, the L.A. Times reported:
“Bitter debates over the lack of public access to the Sutter Buttes have roiled for years. But most everyone on both sides agrees on this: They encompass some of the most magical and otherworldly terrain in California.”
8.
“You thought you came to a graduation, and you came to a party.”
The country’s largest Latino graduation at Fresno State turned into a dance party last Saturday as a U.S. Marine Band struck up the brass sounds of “El Toro Mambo.” Video of the celebration, which attracted millions of views on social media, showed University President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval dancing alongside Mexican Cónsul Nuria Zúñiga as Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra clapped along. More than 70% of the roughly 1,000 Latino graduates were the first in their families to earn a college degree. Fresno Bee
- Academic workers at UC Santa Cruz walked off the job Monday to protest crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests. More strikes are expected across the UC’s 10 campuses. S.F. Chronicle
9.
Downtown Sausalito looks very much like it did more than a century ago. The small city across the bay from San Francisco has adopted several identities over the years: fishing town, rail hub, wartime shipbuilder, bohemian sanctuary, and its latest incarnation as a playground for the wealthy where free spirits barely cling on. Largely unchanged is Bridgeway, formerly Water Street, the charming main thoroughfare that bends along the waterfront. Stroll a couple blocks and you’ll pass a gallery housed in the former headquarters of the Sausalito News (built in 1899), a burger joint inside the old Fiedler’s General Store (1885), and a menswear shop in the old City Hall (1894).
- Watch a walking tour video queued up to the location pictured above. 👉 YouTube
Southern California
10.
Nobody believed Vladimir Polumiskov four months ago when he said he saw a mountain lion near his apartment at the edge of Griffith Park. But last week, when the cougar showed up again, Polumiskov had his phone ready. His images have made wildlife enthusiasts delight at the prospect that a new mountain lion has taken up residence in Griffith Park 17 months after the longtime king of the island wilderness, the beloved big cat known as P-22, had to be put down. LAist
11.
When Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship on Sunday, he not only clinched his first major, he also notched the lowest score to par in major championship history (21 under) and tied the record for most birdies in a PGA Championship (25). After three years of strife in professional golf, Schauffele, a San Diego native, delivered another surprise as well, wrote sports journalist Eddie Pells: “Schauffele made golf fun again.” A.P. | S.D. Union-Tribune
- Schauffele’s final putt was the stuff of dreams, a 6-foot birdie that teetered on the cup’s edge before dropping to give him a one-stroke victory. See the moment. 👉 @PGAChampionship
12.
A specialty grocer in Los Angeles County has been selling a pineapple priced at $396. The Rubyglow pineapple is produced by Fresh Del Monte in Costa Rica and is said to be the result of 15 years of crossbreeding, featuring a red shell, yellow flesh, and a sweetness that outstrips lesser varieties. But $396? According to the California vendor, Melissa’s Produce, buyers have been snapping up their supply of 50 pineapples. As of Monday afternoon, they were listed as sold out. USA Today | CNN
Correction
Monday’s newsletter misstated the location of the California Republican Party’s spring convention. It was in Burlingame, not Burlington.
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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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