Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Nov. 7.
- A Jewish man dies after protest clash in Thousand Oaks.
- Congressman apologizes for vote on campus antisemitism.
- And Mark Arax reports on the rebuilding of Paradise.
Israel-Hamas war
1.
A 69-year-old Jewish man died on Monday after sustaining injuries during protests over the Israel-Hamas war in Thousand Oaks on Sunday in what the authorities said they were investigating as a possible hate crime. Witnesses told investigators that Paul Kessler was struck in the head during an altercation with a rival protester, then fell backward and hit his head on the ground. The Ventura County medical examiner attributed the death to “blunt force head injury.” No arrests were made as of Monday night. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
- Video: Dozens of community members held a vigil for Kessler late Monday. @MrOlmos
2.
Last week, Rep. Jared Huffman, of San Rafael, was one of 22 House Democrats to oppose a resolution condemning support of Hamas and Hezbollah on university campuses. On Monday, he apologized for the vote. “I screwed up folks,” he wrote in an open letter. “I hope that by owning my error and issuing this apology I can somehow lessen the pain and confusion my vote has caused.” It was the first such apology by Huffman in 11 years in Congress. Marin Independent Journal | Press Democrat
3.
Other developments:
- A “Stop the Genocide in Gaza Now!” mural has divided residents of a neighborhood in San Francisco. First, someone painted “Stop hate” over the mural. Then, someone added the words “by Hamas” to the original slogan. Most recently, someone used white paint to cross out the message. Jewish News of Northern California
- San Francisco school officials said they were investigating what appeared to be a swastika on the wall of a stairwell at George Washington High School. The incident heightened fears among Jewish families after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests in the city. S.F. Chronicle
Statewide
4.
Gov. Gavin Newsom exercised his power under a new state law Monday to fast-track the first major reservoir in California in nearly half a century. “We’re cutting red tape to build more faster,” he said in a statement. The proposed $4.5 billion Sites Reservoir in rural Glenn and Colusa counties would send water as far away as the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Once complete, it’s expected to increase Northern California’s water capacity by up to 15%. S.F. Chronicle | Sacramento Bee
5.
America’s largest private landholder is a 94-year-old in Redding who barely graduated high school and goes by the nickname “Red.” According to a profile in the Land Report magazine, Archie Aldis Emmerson, born in 1929, took his first job at a lumber mill in Arcata when Harry S. Truman was president. Partnering with his father, he acquired more than 2.4 million acres of timberland across California and the Northwest. See a new analysis of California’s mega-landowners and maps of what they control. 👉 S.F. Chronicle
Northern California
6.
“Everyone who outran the flames that morning, dodging flying embers and bullets that ricocheted from stashes of ammo, might have kept on running. But within days of the town reopening, the builders and realtors and Chamber of Commerce evangelists had planted their signs deep in the ash. ‘Rebuild. Recoup, Recover.’ ‘The Best is Yet to Come.’ ‘We Are Ridge Strong.’”
Five years after the wildfire that leveled Paradise and killed 85 people, the singular California journalist Mark Arax wrote about the choice to rebuild. N.Y. Times
- Map: See the extent of rebuilding in Paradise. 👉 Mercury News
7.
San Jose, America’s most expensive city for housing, has created six “quick-build” tiny home villages in response to rising homelessness. The units, numbering about 500 across the city, are made from shipping containers at a cost of $150,000 each and include a bed, desk, mini fridge, and private bathroom. Mayor Matt Mahan credited them with a 10% drop in homelessness. “They are our single best solution to the crisis on our streets,” he said. SF Standard | Bloomberg
8.
Yuba City, a community in the Sacramento Valley known for its sizable Sikh population, hosts the largest Sikh festival outside of India each November. The 44th Nagar Kirtan Festival, held last weekend, drew more than a quarter of a million revelers, swelling Yuba City to more than four times its normal population. There were fireworks, Bhangra music, and a parade. All of the food was free, an expression of the Sikh tenet of seva, or selfless service. KCRA did a nice video report. 👉 YouTube (~2 mins)
Southern California
9.
Jerry Boylan, the captain of a dive boat that caught fire and sank off Santa Cruz Island in 2019, was found guilty Monday of criminal negligence in the deaths of 34 people aboard the vessel. Boylan, 70, was the first to jump overboard as passengers sleeping in a bunk room below deck were trapped by the flames. Relatives of victims hugged one another and wept outside the Los Angeles courtroom. “We are very happy that the world knows that Jerry Boylan was responsible for this and has been found guilty,” Clark McIlvain said. Boylan faces up to 10 years in prison. A.P. | L.A. Times
10.
The allegations against Louis Kwong, a high-ranking doctor at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, started trickling in a decade ago:
- Kwong discussed with his staff how anesthetized patients “would groom their pubic areas,” a medical secretary said.
- He entered an operating room to peek “under the hood” and gauge the size of a patient’s genitalia, a medical student said.
- He engaged in “finger banging” a patient’s hip wound while making sexual sounds, fellow doctors alleged.
Last month, three prominent physicians sued Los Angeles County, which oversees the hospital, accusing it of ignoring the complaints against Kwong. L.A. Times | NBC News
11.
Someone built his home into a hillside in Topanga Canyon to make it resistant to wildfire. To create the “Dome house,” crews excavated the hillside, erected a steel frame, filled it with foam, and slathered it with several layers of concrete. Finally, they removed the foam and covered the whole thing back up with dirt. LAist took a tour.
12.
Matthew Broderick is starring in “Babbitt,” a stage adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 satiric novel of the same name, opening today at the La Jolla Playhouse. The playwright Joe DiPietro said he wrote the title character specifically for Broderick, forever linked to his portrayal of an impish high schooler in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” because it requires the ability to be simultaneously offensive and likable. “When the play takes a political turn, we have to make the decision on whether we’re still rooting for him. With Matthew, you always follow him,” DiPietro said. S.D. Union-Tribune
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