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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Jan. 17.
- Intense rainfall causes havoc along North Coast.
- “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement blooms in San Diego.
- And wealthy L.A. Times owner said to meddle in newsroom.
Statewide
1.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday shut down an effort to ban youth tackle football that had been gaining support among the state’s Democrats. In a statement, he said California would work to promote youth football safety, “while ensuring parents have the freedom to decide which sports are most appropriate for their children.” The governor’s move seemed to reflect a desire to avert a new culture war fight. Critics, including Democrats, had already started to portray the measure as the latest example of nanny-state overreach. Politico
2.
New guidelines issued by California’s health department came as a shock to some parents and teachers: people who test positive for Covid-19 should now feel free to go to work or school as long as they show no symptoms, officials said. The update departs from the agency’s prior recommendation of a mandatory five days of isolation. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease expert at UCSF, said the change was justified given rising levels of immunity. S.F. Chronicle
3.
A chalet-style retreat surrounded by lush forest in Idyllwild. A colorful two-bedroom cottage with a guesthouse in Mendocino. And a midcentury-modern home at the foot of Riverside’s Mount Rubidoux.
The N.Y. Times’s latest “What you get” column featured three gorgeous California homes offered for about $1.1 million, a sum shockingly close the statewide median.
Northern California
4.
Intense rainfall since last Friday has caused havoc for residents in remote pockets of the North Coast. Over the weekend, the Mad River rose to its highest level in 60 years, forcing rescues and swamping homes and farmlands. As of Tuesday, the tiny hamlet of Redwood Valley, 20 miles outside of Eureka, was severed from the outside world after the only two roads into town were washed out. “The situation for us is rather serious,” said Lana Borealis. “People are without electricity and without a way to easily get food and supplies.” Eureka Times-Standard | Redheaded Blackbelt
5.
Since UC Berkeley barricaded People’s Park behind shipping containers on Jan. 4, the university has appeared to capture momentum toward a new chapter for the historic site. Opponents want the park to continue operating as an autonomous public space for art and activism, as it has for decades. If the university gets its way, the 2.8 acres will be completely transformed, with one structure rising 12 stories. The S.F. Chronicle shared the renderings.
6.
Investigators said Tuesday that the plane that crashed into the ocean Sunday shortly after taking off from Half Moon Bay Airport was an experimental aircraft built from a kit and that four people were on board, not two as previously reported. Three of the victims were identified in news reports: Lochie Ferrier, the pilot, who graduated from MIT in 2019; Cassidy Petit, his fianceé, an analyst at RH Capital; and Emma Willmer-Shiles, 27, a San Francisco native who also graduated from MIT. NBC Bay Area | Daily Mail
7.
Brittany Pietsch shot to social media fame last week when she posted a video of her firing from the San Francisco cybersecurity firm Cloudflare. In it, Pietsch, 27, demands to know why she was being let go, and why her manager wasn’t on the call. “To be let go for no reason is like a huge slap in the face,” she says. The video divided viewers and drew a response from the CEO, who called it “painful for me to watch.” Pietsch said she has no regrets. “I have received so many messages of people telling me, ‘I wish I would have stood up for myself the way you did.'” Wall Street Journal
8.
The discovery of silver in Death Valley’s Argus Range in 1875 created a need for fuel to power an on-site smelter. So the mining tycoon George Hearst ordered the construction of a row of 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped ovens in a nearby forest that could produce charcoal from the pinyon pines. The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, as they became known, only remained in operation for a couple years. But the elegance of the structures led to their preservation as industrial art, illuminated like museum objects under starry skies. Nearly 150 years later, they still smell of smoke. Atlas Obscura | California Through My Lens
9.
America’s oldest and largest Japanese community. A stretch of road transformed into a bustling car-free promenade. And a legendary dive bar where the dance party is seemingly endless.
The BBC asked San Francisco journalist Laura Kiniry to share her seven favorite locals-only gems.
Southern California
10.
Three years after the Hidden Hills socialite Rebecca Grossman was accused of running over and killing two brothers, ages 11 and 9, as they walked in a crosswalk, her murder trial began on Tuesday. Prosecutors are expected to tell jurors that Grossman was impaired by alcohol and Valium and that she continued driving after striking the children at nearly 30 mph over the speed limit. Grossman’s legal team, led by a high-powered Texas lawyer, says the evidence will show that the boys were in fact hit by some other unknown vehicle. L.A. Times
11.
In January, California enacted a new law that allows houses of worship to build affordable housing on their parking lots, even when the zoning forbids it. In San Diego, which adopted a similar measure back in 2019, one church already had a head start. This month, Bethel AME began pouring the foundation for the city’s first so-called “Yes in God’s Backyard” project, which will offer 25 units to low-income seniors and veterans. Rev. Harvey Vaughn III, the church’s pastor, cited scripture: “When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was naked, did you cloth me? When I was homeless, did you house me?” KPBS
12.
The Wrap published insider accounts of what led to the sudden departure of Los Angeles Times editor Kevin Merida last week. A few highlights:
- Merida was said to bristle at Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s meddling in the newsroom. Soon-Shiong “likes to get involved in the journalism,” an insider said. “He has a lot of very strong opinions about journalists and journalism.”
- When Merida barred 20 journalists from covering the Mideast conflict because they publicly condemned Israel, Soon-Shiong and his daughter Nika — a critic of Israel — let Merida know they were displeased. Before long, Merida’s relationship with Soon-Shiong “had broken down irreparably.”
- The Times collected three Pulitzers under Merida, whose 2021 hiring was seen as a coup. One source said he would be very hard to replace. “I would be surprised if they get an outsider. There are not a lot of people inside who even want the job.”
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