Good morning. It’s Monday, Feb. 24.
- Yosemite workers hang “distress flag” from El Capitan.
- Gambling inquiry hits Fresno State men’s basketball.
- And Mayor Karen Bass defends firing of fire chief.
Statewide
1.
A group of Yosemite workers hung a massive upside-down American flag from the top of El Capitan on Saturday to protest workforce cuts. The historical distress symbol atop the fabled 3,000-foot rock face was timed during the weekend of the annual firefall spectacle, when visitors descend on the valley to see a waterfall illuminated by a favorably angled sunset. In a statement, the workers said the cuts are devastating even if invisible to many park guests. “Think of it as your public lands on strike,” they said. S.F. Chronicle | SFGATE
- More flag photos: @ohtombombadil | @elysecphotos | @yotzin
- Fired Yosemite worker: “You’d be amazed with how many diapers I pick up off the side of the road.” A.P.
2.
Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Congress to approve nearly $40 billion in funding to help Los Angeles recover from January’s wildfires. With more than 16,000 destroyed structures, the economic losses could surpass $250 billion, according an Accuweather estimate. In his letter, sent Friday, Newsom reminded lawmakers that L.A. is among the world’s most economically productive places. “But it can only rebound and flourish with support from the federal government as it recovers from this unprecedented disaster,” he wrote. Some Republicans have insisted that aid have strings attached. L.A. Times | Washington Post
3.
A wallet-sized card that lists legal rights of immigrants, known to bearers as the red card, has been finding its way into pockets and purses across America. The San Francisco legal aid group that distributes the card said it has received orders for roughly nine million of them since the election. For many immigrants, the the rights outlined on the cards can be the difference between being deported and staying in the country. For the president’s border czar, Thomas Homan, they amount to a roadblock. “They call it ‘Know Your Rights,'” he said. “I call it, ‘How to escape arrest.'” N.Y. Times
Northern California
4.
An assailant ambushed and shot a Bay Area police officer in the rear parking lot of a police station on Saturday before fleeing on foot, the authorities said. The Hillsborough police officer’s injuries were not disclosed, but the officer was expected to make a “full recovery,” officials said. Police said they interviewed a “person of interest” early Sunday. Hillsborough, a quiet affluent city on the San Francisco Peninsula, said its town hall would remain closed until further notice. CBS Bay Area | Patch
5.
The Fresno State men’s basketball program removed one player from its roster and suspended two others over gambling accusations, several outlets reported. Sources told KFSN, a local broadcaster, that two of the players, Mykell Robinson and Jalen Weaver — both strong scorers — placed bets that Fresno would underperform on points and rebounds. The team’s coach Vance Walberg was said to have discovered the betting, setting off an internal investigation. KFSN | A.P.
6.
The Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and San Francisco Chronicle all published new reporting over the weekend on the Zizians — described as “a group of computer savants and vegan activists committed to the study of human cognition, most of them trans women” — who have been linked to killings across the country. A few takeaways:
- A Vallejo landlord was so unnerved by members of the group that he started carrying a gun. A man cut his throat as neighbors watched in horror.
- Jack LaSota, known as “Ziz,” allegedly called for “Nuremberg trials” for meat eaters.
- The identity of one person accused of murder remains a mystery. According to prosecutors, she was once Tessa Berns, a National Merit Scholar from Denver who vanished.
7.
When asked which mayors he would model himself after, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie didn’t hesitate: Michael Bloomberg and Dianne Feinstein, he said. “That a new San Francisco mayor would unabashedly embrace two centrists points to a remarkable shift in the Democratic Party’s center of gravity,” wrote political columnist Jonathan Martin in a new Politico Magazine profile.
8.
Chinook salmon are now swimming in Northern California’s North Yuba River for the first time in more than 80 years. The eggs from which the fish hatched were brought from a hatchery as part of an innovative program designed to revive the species in rivers where their natural migration to the sea has been arrested by dams. To get around the obstacles, scientists plan to catch the juveniles and truck them downstream. “We want to have a self-sustaining population but until that is possible, we will step in,” wildlife official Colin Purdy told the S.F. Chronicle. L.A. Times | SFGATE
Southern California
9.
On Saturday, Mayor Karen Bass rejected criticism of her decision to fire Los Angeles’ fire chief, Kirstin Crowley, over her handling of preparations ahead of the Palisades and Eaton fires. “She was absolutely not scapegoated,” Bass said. “I would never do that.” Monica Rodriguez, a councilmember, accused Bass of trying to deflect criticism over her absence from the city when the fires erupted. Freddy Escobar, a labor leader, accused Bass of ousting Crowley because she called out underfunding of the department. “She’s being terminated for telling the truth,” he said. ABC7 | L.A. Times
10.
After rumors of a massive immigration enforcement sweep in Los Angeles County, the operations on Sunday produced few arrests, reports said. A source told the Los Angeles Times that immigration agents had asked a lockup in downtown Los Angeles to be ready to accept up to 120 bookings from the raids. Fewer than a dozen people were brought in. “We are hearing they aren’t getting the numbers they want,” the source said. In Alhambra, activists disrupted ICE operations, shouting through a loudspeaker: “If they don’t have a warrant, you don’t have to open the door.” L.A. Times | Fox 11
11.
“The thieves stealthily board eastbound freight trains, hiding out until they reach lonely stretches of the Mojave Desert or high plains far from towns. They slash an air brake hose, causing the mile-long line of railcars to screech to an emergency stop. Then, they go shopping.”
The Los Angeles Times wrote about a string of heists targeting trains in California and Arizona that have resulted in the theft of about $2 million worth of Nike sneakers.
12.
Brenda Spencer, who notoriously told a reporter that she carried out a 1979 mass shooting at a San Diego elementary school because “I don’t like Mondays,” was denied parole on Friday for the sixth time. Spencer was 16 at the time of the shooting. But she was charged as an adult and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Commissioners said Spencer, now 62, was denied parole because she continues to minimize the shooting and her motivations to carry it out. CBS8 | KGTV
Correction
The subject line on the emailed version of this newsletter misstated the official fired by the mayor of Los Angeles. It was the fire chief, not the police chief.
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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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