Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 9.
- Stock sell-off erases $23 billion from CalPERS.
- Border patrol said to misrepresent Kern County raid.
- And buzzy documentary reassesses Thomas Kinkade.
Statewide
1.
CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund, has lost about $23 billion since last week. Before President Trump’s April 2 tariff barrage, the fund that invests the retirement savings of firefighters, police, and other public workers in California sat at roughly $532 billion. By Friday, it fell to $517 billion. On Monday, the figure was $509. CalPERS investment chief Stephen Gilmore expressed “concerns” over the slide on Monday. Terry Brennand, a union official who tracks CalPERS, chose more colorful language: “We just turned the gun on ourselves and fired it,” he said. Bloomberg | CalMatters
2.
Other trade war developments:
- In recent days, consumers have rushed to Apple stores to buy iPhones, which are manufactured in China. Analysts estimate that the price of a $1,000 iPhone could jump by at least $250 if tariffs persist. Bloomberg | Washington Post
- As of Tuesday, Apple is no longer the world’s most valuable company. The title now belongs to Microsoft after shares of Apple plummeted a stunning 23% since last week. Bloomberg | CNBC
- China is reportedly considering a ban on Hollywood movies. The move would be a painful setback for studios trying to dig themselves out of financial holes caused by the pandemic, strikes, and market saturation. L.A. Times | Variety
3.
Fully 34% of applications to California community colleges are now fake, data showed. That’s up from roughly 20% in 2021. Colleges began to notice a surge of suspicious applications during the pandemic. Some had Social Security numbers of retirees. Others used uncommon email domains. Many applications came from Russia, China, and India. Those that successfully enroll typically apply for Pell grants, collect as much as $7,400, then vanish. They’ve become known as “Pell runners.” CalMatters
4.
A new survey found that 57% of Californians believe unauthorized immigrants have a “net positive impact” on the state. Significant majorities also favor extending benefits to the cohort, with 64% in support of offering food assistance regardless of immigration status. The results contrast sharply with those of national polls. A March CBS News/YouGov poll, for example, found that 58% of Americans approve of the Trump administration’s program to deport undocumented immigrants. L.A. Times
Northern California
5.
Avelo Airlines announced that it would cease operations at Sonoma County’s main airport after signing a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to conduct deportation flights. The move drew howls of outrage among local officials. “They’ll never get another dime from me,” said Lynda Hopkins, a county supervisor. “What’s insane is that the Trump administration is making it more lucrative to participate in the deportation industrial complex than supporting the local tourist economy.” Press Democrat
6.
A former Facebook executive, Sarah Wynn-Williams, plans to testify in Congress today that the company undermined U.S. national security and briefed Chinese officials on emerging technologies, according to her prepared remarks. “They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China,” she planned to say. Wynn-Williams’ memoir “Careless People,” published last month, has become a bestseller, while drawing fierce denials from Meta, the Facebook parent. Axios | NBC News
7.
A buzzy new documentary pursues a bold thesis about Thomas Kinkade, the late California painter of luminous cottages: that he was secretly a great artist. Kinkade grew fabulously wealthy selling schmaltzy paintings through an empire of mall shops. The film, “Art for Everybody,” suggests that the kitsch was all part of a lifelong meta-commentary on the art market, wrote the critic Philip Kennicott: “I don’t believe any of it, and I feel sorry for the critics who participated in what seems a transparent effort to cleanse the grime off Kinkade’s reputation and reinvigorate the market for his art.” Washington Post
8.
For his 2024 book “California Houses: Creativity in Context,” design writer Michael Webb included 36 homes completed over the last decade that showcase the state’s pioneering spirit. Asked by an interviewer to pick his favorite home of all, Webb said it was an impossible question, yet he cited a small live-work space in San Francisco dubbed the “Light Box.” The cubic home is clad in a transparent outer skin that is illuminated by interior lighting after dark. Wallpaper published 11 pictures.
Need a gift idea? Give something they’ll open every day.
Give the gift of the California Sun.
Southern California
9.
After arresting 78 people during an immigration raid in Kern County in January, Border Patrol Sgt. Gregory Bovino said his agents targeted a “predetermined list” of known criminals. But a journalism investigation found that the agency had no prior knowledge of criminal or immigration history for 77 of the 78 people arrested, many of whom were agricultural workers. In any case, Bovino said he saw no distinction between going after farmworkers or drug dealers: “If you’re an illegal alien, you’re getting it. A fentanyl dealer, you get it.” CalMatters
10.
Jonny Kim was a Navy SEAL. Then he graduated from Harvard Medical School. On Tuesday, the 41-year-old Los Angeles native blasted off for the International Space Station in his third act as a NASA astronaut. As word of Kim’s feats have spread, he has become a source of awe — but also fear. The novelist Wesley Chu half-jokingly captured the anxiety felt among Asian Americans in a post that went viral online: “My worse nightmare would be if Jonny’s mom and mine are friends.” Wall Street Journal
11.
Just days after his swearing-in, the new U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, announced the formation of a task force to investigate “fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption” in homelessness funding. “If we discover any federal laws were violated, we will make arrests,” said Essayli, a Republican. In March, a scathing audit found that Los Angeles had failed to properly track $2.4 billion in homelessness funding. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, said she does not oppose Essayli’s task force, but added: “I don’t want it to be a fishing expedition.” Los Angeles magazine | A.P.
12.
A woman who had been missing for several days was rescued from deep inside a storm drain in Poway on Monday, but she later died at a hospital, officials said. Officials said Yafang Zhou, 59, appeared to have been in the hole about 10 feet underground for multiple days. Her family had reported her missing on April 3, triggering a police search. Detectives heard Zhou’s voice coming from the drain after being led to the area by pinging her phone. “How she came to be in there — we are unclear,” a fire official said. KGTV | NBC 7
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
Make a one-time contribution to the California Sun.
Give a subscription as a gift.
Get a California Sun mug, T-shirt, phone case, hat, or hoodie.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information. To change your email address please email me: mike@californiasun.co. (Note: Unsubscribing here does not cancel payments. To do that click here.)
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.