Good morning. It’s Thursday, Feb. 13.
- Evacuation warnings issued as storm hits L.A.
- Riverside County sheriff plans run for governor.
- And Navy fighter jet plunges into San Diego Bay.
Statewide
1.
Evacuation warnings were in effect near burn scars across central and southern California on Thursday as a powerful atmospheric river threatened to trigger deadly debris flows. A worst-case scenario would involve rain falling too hard and too fast over recently burned areas, sending rock, mud, and ash barreling down hillsides at speeds of up to 35 mph, covering cars and homes. “Things could escalate very fast,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist. L.A. Times | LAist
- See storm timing and find evacuation information for Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange counties.
2.
The U.S. Department of Education said on Wednesday that it opened a Title IX investigation into California’s governing body for high school sports after it vowed to disregard President Trump’s order to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports. Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said California and Minnesota, also under investigation, “are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law.” Legal experts expect the issue to be settled in the courts. The Hill | Sacramento Bee
3.
Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff who has drawn national attention for his dalliance with the Oath Keepers militia and defiance of coronavirus mandates, is planning to run for governor in 2026, sources told Politico. A law-and-order conservative and staunch supporter of Donald Trump, Bianco has accused California’s Democratic leaders of having a “love affair” with criminals. He now becomes the highest-profile Republican to seek the governorship, last won by a member of the party — Arnold Schwarzenegger — in 2006. Politico | L.A. Times
Northern California
4.
Homeless advocates reacted with alarm after the Bay Area city of Fremont adopted one of the harshest anti-encampment bans in the country on Tuesday. The ordinance goes a step further than prohibiting homeless camps, also making it a crime to “aid or abet” a camp. Ron Hochbaum, an associate clinical professor of law at University of the Pacific, said the law as written means that simply handing out food could be a violation. “The first and most obvious thing is that this is kind of designed to criminalize charity,” he said. Washington Post
5.
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder convicted of fraud in 2022, gave her first interview from behind bars at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas. “It’s been hell and torture to be here,” said the 41-year-old mother of two, who is serving an 11-year sentence. Holmes said she has changed. “There are things I would have done differently,” she said of her role at the blood-testing startup. But she still insists that she is innocent. “I refused to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit. Theranos failed,” she said. “But failure is not fraud.” People Magazine
6.
Just three states in the contiguous U.S. host fourteeners, mountaineering parlance for peaks that surpass 14,000 feet. California has 12, all of them clustered around the southern end of the Sierra Nevada — with one exception. Mount Shasta, anchoring the lower Cascade Range, towers 5,000 feet above its tallest neighbor, making it visible from more than 100 miles away on a clear day. In 2017, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured an incredible view that showed the lonely peak punching through the fog, pictured above. NASA Earth Observatory
- “I’m kind of out of shape, but at least I’m old.” Shasta’s summit is a bucket-list destination for skiers, some of whom go up and down in a single day. Here’s a great trip report. 👉 YouTube (~11 mins)
Southern California
7.
A Navy fighter jet plunged into San Diego Bay early Wednesday after its two aviators safely ejected, naval officials said. A fishing boat captain, Brandon Viets, recalled seeing two parachutes off to the side of the plane, an EA-18G Growler, which was flying “super low.” He raced to where the aviators splashed down and brought them aboard. “They seemed very calm for what had just happened,” Viets said. The cause of the crash remained unclear. S.D. Union-Tribune | KGTV
- Video captured the jet entering the water. NBC 7
8.
A state appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a Bakersfield bakery broke the law when it refused to sell a cake to a lesbian couple for their wedding, reversing a 2018 ruling that allowed the denial on religious freedom grounds. Lawyers for Cathy Miller, the owner of Tastries bakery, argued she should not be compelled to endorse a marital union that tramples on her religious beliefs. The appeals court noted that the pastry in question was a plain white cake that could not be construed as protected speech. The California Supreme Court will be asked to weigh in next. Bakersfield Californian | CalMatters
9.
UCLA suspended two pro-Palestinian campus groups after masked members of the groups vandalized the home of University of California Regent Jay Sures and surrounded his wife while she was in her car during a rally last week, campus officials said on Wednesday. Photos on social media showed banners hanging on hedges and handprints smeared in red on the home’s garage doors. “Divest now, or you will pay,” one sign read. Sures, who is Jewish, said he believes he was targeted because of his support for Israel. L.A. Times | Daily Bruin
10.
The Los Angeles Times owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, is planning a new media venture designed to appeal to the MAGA movement, according to the media publication Status. Among the names floated for the project, the report said: Candace Owens, the far-right provocateur who left the Daily Wire after embracing antisemitic rhetoric. The development comes at a moment of plunging morale among Times journalists over Soon-Shiong’s public denigration of their work, which he has portrayed as shot through with bias. The Wrap | Daily Beast
- A Times reporter responded to concerns over Soon-Shiong on Tuesday: “We want you to know the journalists of the L.A. Times remain as a bulwark against distortions of reality, even if those calls are coming from inside the house.” Guild Eagle
11.
Peter Atwood, a Southern California cartographer, used data from NASA, FlightAware, and the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World to create a stunning animation of the aerial firefight over Los Angeles over a 24-period beginning on Jan. 9. By his count, dozens of aircraft flew a cumulative total of more than 15,000 miles to contain the infernos. According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, the effort saved the communities of Brentwood and Encino. LinkedIn
12.
The No. 1 restaurant in America is a seafood counter in South Los Angeles, according to an annual ranking by Yelp based on the volume and ratings of customer reviews, among other factors. Holbox, opened inside a historic food hall in 2017, has been widely celebrated for Yucatán-style ceviches, octopus tacos, and grilled spiny lobster. Yelp
● ●
No fewer than 37 of Yelp’s top 100 restaurants are located in California. A sampling of favorites in major cities:
- San Diego: Beyer Deli
- Long Beach: Shlap Muan Wings
- Tustin: Berry Brand
- Anaheim: Sunbliss Cafe
- Riverside: Cardelli’s Italian Market Deli & Catering
- Stockton: Genova Bakery
- Fresno: Heirloom
- San Francisco: Rintaro
- Sacramento: Engawa Fusion
Correction
Wednesday’s newsletter misstated the source of a $1 million donation to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. Apple CEO Tim Cook personally donated the money, not Apple itself.
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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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