Good morning. It’s Friday, April 21.
- State promises more water to cities and farms.
- Oakland mourns as A’s plan move to Las Vegas.
- And prosecutors drop charges against Alec Baldwin.
Statewide
1.
California’s water managers said Thursday that they would deliver water to cities and agricultural regions in amounts not seen since 2006. The announcement follows years of steep cutbacks from the state’s system of reservoirs and canals that led to residential water limits and fallowed fields in the Central Valley. As of Thursday, reservoirs statewide were filled to 105% of their historic average, with the melting Sierra Nevada snowpack poised to keep their levels rising into summer. Bloomberg | S.F. Chronicle
Climate scientist Daniel Swain: “The Big Melt is now officially arriving…this weekend.” @Weather_West
2.
First, ice in the Arctic Ocean shrinks.
That allows more sunlight to hit the ocean, heating it up.
The warmer water releases heat into the air, which rises.
That creates spinning masses of air that nudge the polar jet stream.
That allows a zone of hot, dry air to form over the Western U.S.
NPR explored the connection between melting Arctic ice and the explosive wildfires that have become increasingly common in California more than 3,000 miles away.
3.
California has too much pot. Thanks to ideal growing conditions and a wealth of expertise, the state’s growers have managed to produce a vast supply of the drug. But the surplus is trapped within state borders because of federal marijuana prohibition. Some are now pinning their hopes on convincing the Biden administration to allow trade among the 21 states that have relaxed their cannabis laws, the Associated Press wrote in a report on “the failed economics of legal marijuana.”
4.
Larry Elder announced on Thursday that he was running for president. The conservative talk-radio host who bills himself as “the sage from South Central” became a breakout star on the right when he sought to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in a failed 2021 recall effort. He joins a Republican field led by former President Donald J. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has not yet made his run official. Explaining his run on Twitter, Elder wrote in part: “America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable.” N.Y. Times | A.P.
Northern California
5.
The Oakland A’s, who forged a storied legacy and a deep fan base in the East Bay for more than half a century, have agreed to buy land in Las Vegas and move to a new stadium there by 2027, the team confirmed Thursday. Oakland officials said they were blindsided by the deal, and some accused the A’s leadership of failing to negotiate in good faith on a new stadium in Oakland. The departure means Oakland sports fans have been forced to accept the exit or planned exit of all three of its major sports teams in a span of less than four years. The Warriors left in 2019 and the Raiders in 2020. ESPN | Mercury News
- Mercury News’ Dieter Kurtenbach: “Good riddance.”
- S.F. Chronicle’s John Shea: “An embarrassment.”
- Athletics Nation’s Tyler Bleszinski: “As of today, I’m no longer an A’s fan.”
6.
A Native American community in a remote corner of Mendocino County is reeling after a 15-year-old girl was accused of killing a 16-year-old girl late last week. The killing in tiny Covelo came less than a month after a 20-year-old man was fatally shot in the same town, a spate of violence that some attributed to scourges of drugs and alcohol along with a general reluctance to report crime. On Monday, Round Valley tribal leaders declared a state of emergency over what they described as rising lawlessness. “We need help,” said Lewis Whipple, a tribal member. SFGATE
Southern California
7.
New Mexico prosecutors said Thursday that they would drop involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust.” The decision came after prosecutors received new evidence that showed Baldwin’s prop gun had been modified, according to unnamed sources cited in multiple reports. That buttressed the possibility that it may have misfired, as the actor has claimed. Prosecutors cautioned that their investigation is ongoing. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
8.
Agricultural interests have warned that reductions to the Imperial Valley’s water supply from the Colorado River would pose a threat to the nation’s supply of vegetables. But 70% of the river water used for irrigation goes to alfalfa, hay, corn silage, and other grasses that are used to fatten up cattle for beef and cows for dairy. “The Colorado River is going dry to give us milk, steak, and hamburgers,” Vox wrote.
9.
In 2010, a San Diego veterinarian named Kwane Stewart walked into a 7-Eleven for coffee and encountered a homeless person sitting with a dog whose skin was ravaged by a flea infestation. Stewart returned the next day with medication. “It was five minutes of my time and $3 out of my pocket,” he said. Ever since, he has been roaming San Diego’s homeless encampments, offering desperately needed pet care — at no cost. L.A. Times
- “[I’ve seen] people who have $3 to their name and after I’m done with a treatment, they will try and give me that $3.” See video of touching moments from Stewart’s rounds. 👉 @drkwane
10.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, now underway, is one of the world’s biggest annual music festivals. But it’s just as much a place for people to be seen showing off their boho-chic fashions. This year’s festival has abounded in cowboy hats, parasols, tiny sunglasses, and “naked dresses.” The Wall Street Journal published a gallery of notable looks.
11.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with the Los Angeles poet Victoria Chang, who was recently awarded the prestigious 2023 Chowdhury Prize in Literature. She talked about the musicality of poetry. “Language is sonic,” she said. “Putting together different words and choosing the words is like putting together a musical composition and if you can hear that music, I think, your writing will be more interesting.”
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- More than 100 years ago, an artist created a magnificently detailed map of Los Angeles. Zoom in on the upper left corner and you can make out a village of quaint homes and fruit orchards. That’s the future epicenter of the American film industry. Library of Congress
- A Twitter user who goes by Dril has amassed 1.7 million followers with his absurdist humor, establishing himself as king of what’s often referred to as “weird Twitter.” After 15 years of anonymity, he just emerged from the shadows. The Ringer
- Willy Staley wrote about the deranging effect that Twitter has on society. He quoted a researcher who noted that most people don’t use the platform, and of those who do just a tiny fraction produce almost all of the posts. N.Y. Times Magazine
- In 1980s Los Angeles, N.W.A. popularized gangsta rap, Guns N’ Roses made one of the best-selling albums in history, and the Sunset Strip crawled with glam rockers. The Los Angeles Public Library scoured its archives for a photo exhibit on the musical era. Flashbak
- Jay Caspian Kang offered a smart analysis of what public perceptions of crime mean for the progressive-district-attorney movement in the Bay Area. He noted how prosecutors had fixed their ire on a local TV news reporter, Dion Lim. New Yorker
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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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