Good morning. It’s Friday, Jan. 5.
- Crews barricade People’s Park with shipping containers.
- The Humboldt County town owned by a N.Y. hedge fund.
- And a cherished symbol of Point Reyes reduced to rubble.
Statewide
1.
According to the state’s emergency services agency, there have been more than 200 bomb threats against Jewish institutions in California since Oct. 7. The state’s legislative Jewish caucus cited the statistic in an impassioned letter to colleagues on Wednesday that portrayed the environment of anti-Jewish animus, from both the right and left, as unprecedented in American political life. “For reasons that I don’t fully understand,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, caucus co-chair, it “seems to be going below the radar.” Politico
2.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman interviews David Kipen, editor of a new anthology of historical letters and diaries called “Dear California.” Kipen talked about the paradox of California’s idyllic landscape and the “shockingly consistent” problems that have plagued the state throughout its history. “Somehow, it’s more heart-rending precisely because it exists alongside the beauty,” he said.
3.
The Mavericks Surf Awards, a video contest that celebrates the storied Half Moon Bay break, released an incredible highlight reel from the historic swell that barreled into the coast on Dec. 28. Some surfers say it was the most epic day of big wave riding in years. YouTube (~4:30 mins)
- A new round of big waves is expected to pound the coast this weekend. Washington Post
4.
In 1975, when the photojournalist Peter Turnley was 20 years old, he accepted a commission from California’s Office of Economic Opportunity to document the state’s working poor. During a four-month road trip, he chronicled the lives of hobos who rode the rails, Black migrant workers in the Central Valley, and the urban poor of Watts and the Tenderloin. The stunning work has now been published for the first time in a volume called “The Other California, 1975.” Turnley shared more than 100 of the photos in a video accompanied by a stark piano track. YouTube (~7 mins)
Northern California
5.
☝️ Here’s what People’s Park looked liked on Thursday after police cleared protesters from the storied site and crews built a wall out of double-stacked shipping containers around its perimeter. The remarkable operation, initiated in the wee hours of night, was conducted in preparation for converting the park into student housing, a proposal fiercely opposed by activists. Seven people were arrested on trespassing charges Thursday. Andrea Prichett told a crowd of protesters that the fight wasn’t over. “We have to stay strong,” she said. “This is going to be a long struggle.” Berkeleyside | S.F. Chronicle
6.
A Sacramento City Council member, Sean Loloee, resigned Thursday after federal prosecutors said he hired unauthorized immigrants at his grocery store, underpaid them, and cheated the government out of Covid-19 relief funds. Loloee, who has denied wrongdoing, said he was quitting because of “the recent politically-motivated circus that Mayor Steinberg has created.” The mayor had publicly pressured Loloee to step down. If convicted, Loloee faces up to 20 years in prison. Sacramento Bee | CapRadio
7.
When reports began to emerge of headless seal pups along the Mendocino coast in 2015, Sarah Grimes, a local marine scientist, was stumped: Could the killer be domestic dogs? Or perhaps birds of prey? “I was like marine mammal CSI,” she said. Then last year a wildlife camera identified the culprit: coyotes. Researchers said they are unsure whether coyotes’ taste for marine mammals is new or if the predator-prey relationship had just gone unnoticed. Another mystery: Why are they only eating the heads? Mercury News
- A photographer captured photos of a coyote attack in Point Reyes in 2020. Brianstechschulte.com
8.
Nestled along the banks of the Eel River, Scotia was founded in 1863 to house the lumberjacks who harvested the area’s redwood forests. The Pacific Lumber Company owned everything: the grocery store, the churches, the pastel saltbox homes. About 15 years ago, after the company spiraled into debt, Scotia ended up in the hands of a New York hedge fund, which desperately wants to cash out. As a result, a colorful collection of people and businesses — including a weed hotel and ketamine resort — have arrived in hopes of reinventing California’s last company town. New Yorker
9.
For years, a beached fishing boat known as the Inverness Shipwreck has been among the most recognizable symbols of Point Reyes. Built in 1944, the vessel once transported World War II troops to shore from their boats and later hosted fishermen. At some point at least two decades ago, it washed ashore in Tomales Bay during a storm. But its days now appear to be numbered. Reduced to shambles by time and salt air, locals predicted it would soon be swallowed altogether by the sea. S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
10.
A pack of free-roaming dogs has left a trail of blood and terror in Anza, a rural community at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains. While the threat of canines tends to be overlooked by wildlife agencies, domestic dogs are the second-most lethal predator of livestock, with coyotes taking the top spot, according to federal data. Early last year, the Anza pack killed an estimated 300 sheep and goats in three months. Some residents say they fear a human could be next. L.A. Times
11.
Patrick Koenig, a Laguna Beach photographer, hopped in an R.V. last year on a quest to break the record for playing the most rounds of golf at different courses in 365 days. He demolished the existing mark of 449, playing 580 rounds between Jan. 3, 2023, and Jan. 2, 2024. Somehow, through it all, he kept his relationship with his girlfriend intact. The Wall Street Journal profiled golf’s new “hero maniac.”
- See the celebration after Koenig’s final putt. 👉 @patrickjkoenig
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past couple weeks:
- A San Diego-area man who strapped a motor and wheels to a piece of plywood and filmed himself riding abandoned railroad tracks has upped his game since enjoying a brush with internet fame last year. In a recent video, he traversed a series of trestles and tunnels to reach the Goat Canyon trestle, pictured above. YouTube
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z made the most expensive home purchase in 2023, an analysis found. The pair shelled out $190 million, a California record, for a 42,000-square-foot home atop a bluff in Malibu designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. See photos. 👉 Business Insider
- Since the 1990s, a pair of speed bumps placed perplexingly close to one another on a street in Fresno has been sending heedless speeders airborne. A reporter shared his favorite 16 videos captured by a doorbell camera. Jalopnik
- In California, struggling high school programs are increasingly forced into lopsided contests against football juggernauts. Reporter Albert Samaha wrote a gripping account of what happened when the boys of C.K. McClatchy faced the elite squad from Grant Union in Sacramento. Washington Post
- No out-of-state zip code received more California pension payments in 2022 than 83616 in Eagle, Idaho, a suburb of Boise that has been flooded by retired California firefighters and police. Eagle’s latest mayoral election featured two conservative transplants from the Golden State and hinged largely on one issue: Who is the least Californian? L.A. Times
Correction
An earlier version of this newsletter placed an item about a beached boat in Point Reyes under an incorrect heading. Point Reyes, just north of San Francisco, is in Northern California, not Southern California.
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.