Good morning. It’s Friday, June 21.
- California Supreme Court blocks anti-tax measure.
- FBI agents raid the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.
- And Stanford pushes prosecution of student journalist.
Statewide
1.
In a rare intervention, the California Supreme Court on Thursday removed a measure from the November ballot that would have made raising taxes harder, embracing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s view that the change would be too far-reaching. “The measure would fundamentally restructure the most basic of governmental powers,” Justice Goodwin Liu wrote in the 7-0 ruling. More than 1 million people signed a petition to put the Taxpayer Protection Act on the ballot. Matthew Hargrove, a business leader who backed the initiative, called the ruling “a gut punch to direct democracy.” A.P. | CalMatters
2.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman chats with Markos Kounalakis, a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and California’s “second gentleman,” married to Lieutenant Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. They discussed the stifling of California’s voice on foreign policymaking in the U.S. Senate. California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is a powerful state, Kounalakis noted: “The real problem is that presence and that power is not being leveraged by Washington, D.C.”
Northern California
3.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
The FBI raided the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao early Thursday as part of what reports described as a public corruption investigation. Agents simultaneously raided three other properties connected to the politically influential Duong family, whose members run a recycling company. In the past, the Duongs have faced accusations of funneling illegal campaign contributions to Thao and other elected leaders as they sought favorable City Council actions. Thao declined to respond to reporters seeking comment. S.F. Chronicle | East Bay Times
4.
Stanford University is pushing for the criminal prosecution of a student journalist who covered the occupation of the president’s office on June 5. After getting a tip before the action by pro-Palestinian activists, the Stanford Daily dispatched reporter Dilan Gohill, 19, who filed updates from inside barricaded office. He was arrested and suspended along with the activists, but no evidence has emerged that he harbored any intent besides newsgathering. Press freedom groups denounced the university’s stance. “They’re going to regret it,” attorney Nick Rowley said. S.F. Chronicle | KQED
5.
Shasta County’s elections chief retired in May, presenting a hiring opportunity for a Board of Supervisors whose ultraconservative members have made the county a symbol of election denialism. The natural choice, many believed, was Joanna Francescut, a 16-year veteran of the elections office and its second-in-command. Instead, on Wednesday the board chose a semiretired lawyer with no elections experience named Thomas Toller. One thing he did offer was a capacious view of local authority. “I would in no way be beholden to the secretary of state in Sacramento,” Toller told the board. Shasta Scout
6.
Instagram is pushing sexual videos to accounts for young teenagers who appear interested in racy content, researchers found. During testing, when accounts watched suggestive content, the feeds were quickly dominated by promotions from adult sex-content creators, some offering to send nude photos. The findings come as parent Meta faces litigation accusing the company of misleading the public about the dangers its platforms pose to young people. Wall Street Journal
7.
“I’ve got a couple of kids, 6 and 10, but when I take a road trip I’ve got another one on my hands.”
— Hall of Famer Monte Irvin on traveling with Willie Mays
LIFE.com combed its photo archive for a fantastic gallery on the infectious joy of Willie Mays, who died on Tuesday at the age of 93.
- Hundreds of fans gathered at San Francisco’s Oracle Park on Thursday for a Mays tribute. The stadium was adorned with signs that read “Willie Mays Forever Giant.” KGO
Southern California
8.
“It’s the antithesis of Christianity.”
The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has pursued a yearslong legal battle against a 68-year-old charity leader named Suzanne Nunn over an email she wrote to a listserv criticizing what she saw as his meddling in the charity’s finances. Bishop Kevin Vann has persisted despite court defeats, including a January ruling that threw out the case and endorsed Nunn’s criticism of Vann. The ordeal has crushed Nunn, people who know her said. She’s lost her career and financial security while caring for a husband with dementia. L.A. Times
9.
Los Angeles prosecutors said Thursday they would file no charges against a USC student who fatally stabbed a homeless man in an area lined with fraternity houses near campus. On Monday, Ivan Gallegos, 19, and two others saw Xavier Cerf, 27, enter a parked Mercedes, leading to a confrontation that culminated with Gallegos stabbing Cerf in the chest, police said. Witnesses said Cerf claimed to have a gun, though none was found. “We believe that Mr. Gallegos’s actions were driven by a genuine fear for his life,” said George Gascon, L.A. County’s district attorney. L.A. Times | KABC
10.
The L.A. film noir classic “Chinatown” was released 50 years ago this week.
In one reflection, the film writer Scott Tobias said there has been no greater original screenplay in the last 50 years: “None more elegantly plotted and politically charged, none more literate and historically evocative, none more pungent in its hard-bitten dialogue and sophisticated in its play on noir archetypes.” The Guardian
In another, the political journalist Ronald Brownstein argued that “Chinatown” helps explain 2020s America: “Now the passage of half a century has produced the irony that the distrust of institutions, which took root in America after the ’60s, has been most effectively marshaled by Trump.” The Atlantic
11.
Kendrick Lamar, the most celebrated rapper of his generation, held a live-streamed, sold-out show at Inglewood’s Kia Forum on Wednesday, Juneteenth. The show featured appearances by Dr. Dre, Tyler, the Creator, and Russell Westbrook, among others, as well as no fewer than five performances of Lamar’s monster hit “Not Like Us,” a track born out of his rap feud with Drake. Many in attendance said they saw the event as historic, not only for music but also for the celebration of Black Los Angeles. N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
- Copies of the concert were floating around on social media.
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- Great blue herons are among California’s most elegant creatures. The wildlife videographer Jim Zenor captured great footage of the herons expertly hunting gophers in Southern California parks. YouTube (~15 mins)
- In 2021, Kanye West bought an architectural treasure in Malibu designed by the Japanese master Tadao Ando — then turned it into a ruin. The New Yorker recounted how the mercurial artist hired a handyman from New Jersey to carve out the home’s interior.
- A family that lost their pet donkey, Diesel, in a Northern California wilderness area five years ago got some good news. A trail camera captured video of Diesel living happily with a herd of elk. CBS Sacramento
- The Venice Canals community has been shaken by unusually brutal attacks on two women outside one night in early April. Anthony Jones, a homeless 29-year-old, has been charged with forcible rape, murder, attempted murder, mayhem, torture, and sodomy by use of force. L.A. Times
- The architect Ray Kappe’s home in Pacific Palisades is regarded as among the finest examples of the modernist style. It served as a model for another of his masterpieces, a post-and-beam built in 1991 in the same neighborhood. It’s being offered for the first time at $12 million. Archinect | Realtor.com
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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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