Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 12.
- Mass layoffs imperil offshore wind along North Coast.
- An emotion reunion with a cat that survived L.A. fires.
- And the pink season arrives as cherry blossoms bloom.
Statewide
1.
California produces about 80% of the world’s almonds, with most of it bound for export. Retaliatory tariffs threaten to devastate the industry. But some farmers say the larger challenge is the uncertainty over President Trump’s shape-shifting trade policies. Almond farming is a long-term commitment, with orchards only yielding their first crops after three years. “If the tariff is a known thing, business finds a way,” said Zachary Williams, of Stewart & Jasper Orchards in the San Joaquin Valley. “But uncertainty about whether there will be, or won’t be, is a little harder to plan around.” A.P.
2.
While Democrats enjoy dominance in California’s state capital, a full quarter of the seats in the Legislature are held by Republicans. Yet when it comes to writing bills, the two sides seldom work together. Of the 2,278 bills filed by the deadline last week, only 11 had Republicans and Democrats as joint lead authors, an analysis found. That represents less than 1% of all the legislation files this session. CalMatters
3.
Columnist Rick Reilly wants to ask a favor:
“Can you stop scattering your dearly departed’s ashes all over my favorite golf course? I want to play Pebble Beach, not your grandpa. For that matter, stop dumping your meemaw’s sandy ‘cremains’ on Disneyland rides. Last year, somebody on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance pulled the stunt, forcing the ride’s shutdown for cleaning. What are parents in the next car supposed to tell the kids when a cloud of human ash hits them in the face?” Washington Post
Northern California
4.
Marin County declared a shelter crisis on Tuesday as a conservation deal was poised to displace roughly 100 low-wage farmworkers upon the closure of ranches at Point Reyes National Seashore. The move would permit temporary accommodations, including RVs, for families left jobless and homeless. Many of the workers have deep roots in the community, having lived there for decades. Addressing the board, Enrique Hernandez became emotional talking about his disabled son. “This is not enough,” he said. KQED | Marin Independent Journal
5.
Last September, the Bay Area city of Fremont became the first municipality in the U.S. to buy its own citywide flood insurance policy. After the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, where nearly one in 10 homes is said to be uninsured, the experiment with what’s known as parametric insurance is drawing attention as a model for future catastrophes. “The parametric basically allows me to provide specific coverage and then broaden it,“ said Steven Schwarz, Fremont’s risk manager. “I’m actually covering the event and not the building itself.” Bloomberg
6.
When the Biden administration opened up an area off Humboldt County to wind farm development, it stirred hopes of a revival in a region scarred by the gold, timber, and cannabis rushes of the past. The project now appears increasingly in doubt. Two multinational energy companies leading the efforts in Humboldt County recently conducted mass layoffs in response to President Trump’s move to pause all offshore wind leases and permits, Lost Coast Outpost reported.
7.
A San Rafael school board trustee who introduced a resolution that criticizes the term “toxic masculinity” and seeks to boost young men’s “sense of worth and belonging” was met by a room full of women during a Monday board meeting. Taking turns at the podium, they called Mark Koerner’s proposal “ridiculous,” “offensive,” “a mockery of women’s history month,” and “a vanity metric.” Chastened, Koerner apologized and withdrew his resolution. SF Standard | CBS News
8.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook for seven years beginning in 2011, eventually as director of global public policy, has written an inside account of the company called “Careless People.” In it, she describes how the company cozied up to authoritarian regimes; accuses Mark Zuckerberg of lying to Congress; and says a pajama-clad Sheryl Sandberg once demanded she “come to bed” during a flight on a private jet. The New York Times gave the book a positive review.
9.
Francis Ford Coppola said he’s out of money after his self-financed passion project “Megalopolis” flopped with audiences. The Napa Valley filmmaker sold two of his Bay Area wineries to raise money for the $120 million project. “I don’t have any money because I invested all the money, that I borrowed, to make ‘Megalopolis,’” he told the podcaster Rick Rubin. “It’s basically gone.” In February, the Razzies gave Coppola its dubious honor of “worst director” for “Megalopolis.” S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
10.
Katie Porter, the former congresswoman from Orange County who rose to Democratic stardom by chastising drug executives with a whiteboard on Capitol Hill, announced that she is running for California governor on Tuesday. “What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit,” she said in a video. The 2026 contest is Porter’s second statewide campaign in as many years after a bitterly fought loss to Adam Schiff in the race for U.S. Senate. But this one may end without so much as a debate: Porter, 51, is expected to quit if Kamala Harris enters the race. S.F. Chronicle | NBC News
11.
Katherine Kiefer, 82, feared her beloved cat Aggie was dead after the Palisades wildfire left her home in ashes. Then, after two months, Kiefer got a call from the a local shelter. Aggie was found in the fire ruins — alive, if badly injured. “She really means, I don’t want to say everything, but that’s the only word that comes to mind,” Kiefer said. A TikTok video showing the emotional reunion of cat and owner, pictured above, drew more than a million likes. FOX 11 Los Angeles
12.
The pink season has begun. The springtime arrival of cherry blossoms has been celebrated in Japan for more than a thousand years. In California, groves typically reach full pinkness sometime between March and April, a transformation now underway at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, and the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park, pictured above.
- Here’s a good roundup of where to see cherry blossoms across the state. 👉 A Charming Escape
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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