Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Jan. 24.
- Los Angeles Times sheds 115 journalists in cost-cutting.
- O.C. supervisor defiant after report of family contract.
- And Silicon Valley stocks propel S&P 500 to a new high.
Statewide
1.
The annual cost of attending Stanford University, including room and board, runs about $88,000. The cost for a yearlong stay in a California prison: $132,860. Less than a decade ago, that figure was about $70,000. Analysts attributed the soaring price tag of incarceration in California to lucrative prison employee compensation and rising inmate medical costs. The result: even as the state’s inmate population fell about 25% since 2018, corrections department spending rose. CalMatters
2.
Rep. Adam Schiff has $35 million in his campaign war chest for California’s U.S. Senate race — more than twice as much as any other Senate candidate in the nation. “Money like that could help flip multiple House seats and power Democrats’ attempt to regain control of Congress,” wrote reporter Ally Mutnick. “Instead, Schiff and [his closest Democratic opponent, Rep. Katie] Porter, are engaged in an expensive, bruising primary. The tens of millions they’ve raised have largely been spent against each other, not Republicans.” Politico
Northern California
3.
The S&P 500 has surged to a new high and investors have Silicon Valley to thank. Leading the rally are the tech stocks that have become known as the “Magnificent Seven,” including four California companies — Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Nvidia — along with Amazon, Microsoft, and Tesla. Last year, the group of stocks nearly doubled, adding more than $5 trillion in market value. Together, the Magnificent Seven now account for nearly a third of the entire S&P 500’s market value. N.Y. Times | Wall Street Journal
4.
About 64% of the grades given to UC Berkeley undergraduates in 2022 were A’s or A minuses, up 13 percentage points from a decade ago, data showed. Within some departments, the grade inflation was even starker. The share of A’s in philosophy jumped 32 percentage points; in journalism, it rose 46 points. Campus administrators credit stronger students. Stuart Rojstaczer, a retired academic who tracks grade inflation, has linked rising marks at elite universities to increasing tuition costs and the pressure to please families that results. S.F. Chronicle
5.
The founders of Carmel-by-the-Sea rejected mailboxes or numbered addresses for fear that the town would become “citified.” To this day, residents get their mail at the post office and homes have names like “Almost Heaven,” “Faux Chateau,” and “Go Away.” But in the age of Amazon, Instacart, and mail-order medications, the absence of addresses has become enough of a hassle that city leaders are now considering a change. “Yes, it’s a nice little story,” said Councilwoman Karen Ferlito. “But times have changed since this was a tiny little village with a few artists who met at the post office.” L.A. Times
Southern California
6.
“A damn shame.”
The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday began laying off at least 115 employees. Taken in combination with earlier layoffs, the Times has now cut about a third of its newsroom in less than a year. When the billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong shelled out $500 million for the Times in 2018, he promised to invest in the newsroom and set an ambitious goal of reaching 5 million digital subscribers, up from 150,000 at the time. Six years later, digital subscriptions are said to hover around 300,000 and the company is losing as much as $40 million a year. Wall Street Journal | L.A. Times
- The firings deepened an industry-wide crisis. Time, Pitchfork, Condé Nast, and Sports Illustrated have all faced layoffs in recent days.
7.
Since 2020, an Orange County supervisor has directed more than $13 million to his 22-year-old daughter’s nonprofit without disclosing his family connection, records obtained by LAist showed. Reporter Nick Gerda first revealed in November that Supervisor Andrew Do was steering public funds to a mental health center headed by Rhiannon Do, a law student at UC Irvine. The supervisor accused Gerda of using forged documents and called for his firing. On Monday, Gerda followed up with reporting that showed Do’s largess was far more generous than previously known. Do has gone silent. LAist
- On Tuesday, county supervisors killed a proposal to require disclosure of family contracts. Supervisor Don Wagner opposed the measure. “I am aware of no corruption in my office,” he said, drawing audible laughs. Voice of OC | LAist
8.
One night in 2018, Bryn Spejcher, a 27-year-old with no criminal record, took several hits of marijuana with her boyfriend in a Thousand Oaks apartment then stabbed him 108 times. Responding police found Spejcher soaked in blood, screaming, and stabbing herself. In December, a jury found Spejcher guilty of involuntary manslaughter after testimony that she had lapsed into a cannabis-induced psychosis. In a court on Tuesday, a judge spared Spejcher from prison. Sean O’Melia, the victim’s father, was exasperated: “He just gave everyone in the state of California who smokes marijuana a license to kill someone.” Ventura County Star | KTLA
9.
In 2022, the Palm Springs City Council adopted an ordinance that capped the number of short-term rentals in any given neighborhood to 20% of the homes there. Two years later, property values in those areas have plunged, and investors who bought up properties during the pandemic are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. “Homes that used to pull $1.2 million are struggling to get $800,000,” said Tim Sarlund, a real estate agent. “My neighborhood has dropped 30% to 40% in value.” L.A. Times
10.
Victor Llamas is a modern-day train robber — and he loves it. According to Los Angeles detectives, Llamas and his girlfriend would hit trains around Southern California after nightfall, cracking open containers with bolt cutters or a mechanized handsaw. Inside: TVs, beer, clothing, makeup, shoes, hard drives, tablets. Under interrogation, Llamas talked about his crimes rapturously, said Detective Joe Chavez: “He straight out told me, he goes, ‘Detective Chavez, I’m never going to stop doing it.'” The N.Y. Times Magazine wrote about the revival of the train robbery.
11.
The announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominees on Tuesday was overshadowed by perceived snubs of the two most prominent women involved in “Barbie”: its director, Greta Gerwig, and star, Margot Robbie. The results, wrote critic Michael Schulman, “show that the Oscars are as confused as ever about what to do with a big, fun, smart, populist megahit.” New Yorker | L.A. Times
- Despite the anger over “Barbie,” critics praised the “lovely array of quality” represented in the nominations. See the full list. 👉Hollywood Reporter
12.
Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone were photographed there two Fridays ago. A few days later Dua Lipa and her beau stopped by. Other celebrity sightings have included Beyoncé, Chris Pine, Zoë Kravitz, Kendall Jenner, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Kristen Stewart, Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson, and Chris Martin.
The place drawing such star power is not an Erewhon or the Chateau Marmont, but a tiny sushi joint upstairs from a Fedex office in a West Hollywood strip mall. The Face pondered the curious allure of Sushi Park.
- See a gallery of Sushi Park celebrities. 👉 Reddit
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