Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 22.
- Gun permit requests boom along California’s liberal coast.
- Los Angeles police accidentally expose undercover officers.
- And the unexpected love story of three senior citizens.
Statewide
1.
Two people killed by falling trees in the Bay Area.
Cars swallowed by rising water outside Fresno.
Unmoored barges tossed against a bridge in San Francisco.
California’s latest storm came in stronger than expected Tuesday, particularly in the Bay Area, as winds reached hurricane force and moderate rainfall on saturated land triggered new flooding and mudslides. More than 200,000 people remained without power Tuesday evening, the majority in the Bay Area. “This was a violent, sudden windstorm,” said climate scientist Daniel Swain. “We’re seeing impacts probably that are similar to a strong tropical storm or a weak hurricane.” S.F. Chronicle | Bloomberg | Accuweather
2.
While the Tuesday storm had people running for cover on the ground, meteorologists were delighting in the view from space. Around midday, the system grew a remarkably clear “eye” that rolled over San Francisco. Experts said it was rare for the eye of a storm to come right up the coast, a development that meant San Franciscans were able to look up for a time and see clear blue sky. S.F. Chronicle
3.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking the Biden administration to let California use Medicaid dollars to pay for patients’ rent, allowing doctors to effectively write prescriptions for housing. The rationale: It’s cheaper in the long run to cover rent than to allow people to fall into costly medical crises. “I’ve been talking to the president,” the governor said of the fellow Democrat. “We cannot do this alone.” California Healthline
4.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms in public, it wiped out rules giving local officials across California broad discretion over who gets permits. But the ruling has been felt most acutely in coastal communities, where permit requests are now booming. That’s because conservative counties had already been freely granting permits. Between 2012 and 2021, Shasta County issued nearly 20,000 permits per 100,000 residents. San Francisco issued 1.3. CalMatters
Northern California
5.
In 2018, Jean McCorquodale, the wife of a former Santa Clara County supervisor, was awarded a $1 million contract to write a county government history book. Then the Mercury News discovered that the draft McCorquodale turned in was plagiarized from Wikipedia, the History Channel, and other sources. County officials said at the time that they were shocked, but they have now decided to let McCorquodale keep the $1 million. “Everyone’s just moving on given where it’s at,” County Counsel James Williams said Monday. Mercury News
6.
An industry group just named San Francisco International Airport the best large airport in North America in a ranking based on more than 460,000 customer surveys. SFO has yoga rooms; art exhibits; water-filling stations with hot, cold, and room-temperature settings; and a therapy pig named LiLou that wanders the terminals. The Wall Street Journal, which also ranked SFO No. 1 in a November survey, cited another perk: the unusual quiet thanks to strict rules limiting overhead announcements. SF Standard | Wall Street Journal
7.
“San Francisco is dying, and I’m leaving.”
Articles chronicling the ills of San Francisco have become so predictable that they almost write themselves. That’s at least the premise of a handy new “Mad Libs” article generator that lets you create your own San Francisco story in one of three genres: “Why this couple had to leave S.F.,” “Angry Nextdoor thread,” and “Out-of town paper discovers S.F.” Mission Local
Southern California
8.
Parents brought their children to recreation centers, relatives’ homes, and their workplaces on Tuesday as tens of thousands of Los Angeles school workers walked off the job on Day 1 of a planned three-day strike. Workers seeking better wages gathered downtown in rain ponchos for a boisterous rally. Jovita Padilla, 40, a bus driver, said she felt invisible in an industry that tends to revere teachers. “Everybody else gets raises, what about us?” she said. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
Give something they’ll open every day.
Give the gift of the California Sun.
9.
The Los Angeles Police Department accidentally released the names and photos of numerous undercover officers to an activist group called the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, which in turn published them online. An LAPD source who works with undercover units said the disclosure led to “shock and panic that shuddered through their ranks and families.” Hamid Khan, a coordinator with Stop LAPD Spying, dismissed concerns about the sensitivity of the information. “This is all public information,” he said. L.A. Times | Fox 11
10.
A Mexican man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to coordinating a migrant smuggling operation that led to a horrific vehicle collision in Imperial County two years ago. Jose Noguez, 49, of Mexicali, faces at least 15 years in prison. On March 2, 2021, an eight-seat Ford Expedition carrying 25 people drove through a hole cut in the U.S.-Mexico border fence and later pulled into the path of a big rig, causing a crash that killed 13 people. A second man from Mexicali was also charged and remains a fugitive. A.P. | City News Service
11.
The sounds of Long Beach echoed in Glasgow last week.
When Snoop Dogg, currently on a tour of Europe, stepped onto a drizzly tarmac at the Scottish city’s airport Thursday, he was greeted by a kilted bagpiper playing a plaintive rendition of his and Dr. Dre’s classic “Still D.R.E.” Video of Snoop dancing was shared widely on social media. Glasgow Live
12.
“There are many different kinds of love.”
Will, 84, fell in love with Adina, 90, after moving into a retirement home in Los Angeles. Then he was kicked out after the couple was found living together. So Will moved into another facility where he met Jeanie, 81. He fell in love with her too. That’s when Jeanie, Will, and Adina formed a trio. Isadora Kosofsky’s photography series on the unusual arrangement, called “Senior Love Triangle,” is a poignant study of the need for human connection at any age. Isadorakosofsky.com
Scheduling heads up: My kids are on spring break next week, which means I’ll be on spring break too.
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.
Get a California Sun mug, T-shirt, phone case, or hoodie.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information or cancel your support.
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.