Good morning. It’s Thursday, Aug. 24.
- Gunman kills three people at biker bar in Trabuco Canyon.
- Republicans score culture war wins at school boards.
- And another leap in restoring speech to paralyzed people.
Statewide
1.
Sidelined in California’s deep-blue state Capitol, Republicans have been pushing socially conservative priorities at the school-board level. In Murrieta Valley, Chino, Temecula, and Anderson, districts have adopted policies requiring that teachers notify parents if a student identifies as a different gender. Orange, Elk Grove, and Rocklin may be next. “We welcome this fight,” Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli said of opponents. “We want the public to know what your agenda is and we want to run on this in the next election.” Politico | KVCR | Sacramento Bee
- After a drama teacher at Temecula Valley High invited students to read the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angels in America,” a parent complained about its sexual themes in May. The teacher has been on leave ever since. S.D. Union-Tribune
2.
The Feather River isn’t the best known California river, but it’s one of the most important. Originating near Lassen Peak, it rushes down the cascading hydroelectric system known as the “stairway of power” in the northern Sierra, then crosses the valley floor and joins up with the Sacramento River on its way to the San Francisco Bay. A team of reporters spent four months tracing the journey for an ambitious project on how the Big Melt has transformed California. S.F. Chronicle
3.
Octopi typically live solitary lives. So in 2018, when biologists stumbled upon thousands of octopus mothers huddled together protecting their eggs off the Central Coast, they were stunned. Researchers studied what they called the “Octopus Garden” for the next three years. According to their findings, published on Wednesday, the nursery sits atop a hydrothermal spring that helps the octopi eggs hatch faster. “There are clear advantages of basically sitting in this natural hot tub,” said Janet Voight, an octopus biologist. A.P. | Washington Post
- See video of the “Octopus Garden.” 👉 YouTube/MBARI
Northern California
4.
UC San Francisco researchers have made another remarkable leap in converting the thoughts of a paralyzed person into speech. Doctors implanted electrodes on the brain of Ann Johnson, who was a teacher and volleyball coach when a stroke robbed her of the ability to talk at the age of 30. With the help of artificial intelligence, the device converted her brain signals into language and enabled an avatar on a screen to speak the words and even display smiles and other expressions. “It let me feel like I was a whole person again,” Johnson said. N.Y. Times | Wall Street Journal
5.
Dueling rallies faced off outside a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Wednesday as city lawyers urged the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift an injunction on sweeps of homeless encampments. A lower court judge imposed the ban in December, citing insufficient numbers of shelter beds. But Mayor London Breed and other city leaders say the camps pose intolerable hazards and many people refuse offers of shelter. “‘Anything goes in San Francisco’ is not the way,” Breed told the crowd Wednesday. A.P. | SF Standard
- See video of activists’ chanting battle. 👉 @jachristian
6.
For the past five years, a company called Flannery Associates has been buying vast areas of land surrounding Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, while maintaining a shroud of secrecy around its plans. The Chronicle now may have cracked the case: Flannery, it appears, wants to create a new city. Residents in the area have received surveys asking their opinion about a proposal to build “tens of thousands of new homes,” as well as “a large solar energy farm, orchards with over a million new trees, and over 10,000 acres of new parks and open space.” S.F. Chronicle | SFist
7.
On July 25, Fox News ran a story that claimed the family of Sgt. Nicole Gee, a Sacramento-area Marine killed in Afghanistan in 2021, had been forced to pay $60,000 to transport her remains. The story spread widely, becoming grist for partisan skirmishing online. But it was false. James Stenger, a Marine Corps spokesman, wrote to Fox executives demanding a retraction, according to emails obtained by Military.com. “Using the grief of a family member of a fallen Marine to score cheap clickbait points is disgusting,” he wrote. Eventually, the article quietly disappeared without comment, correction, or apology to the Gee family. Military.com
8.
The national forest system was originally established to supply timber and drinking water. While the emphasis shifted toward preservation and recreation, the forests were never marketed like the national parks. Yet they contain some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. The veteran outdoorsman Graham Averill shared a list of his favorite national forest hikes, including one between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe where the high alpine meadows are full of wildflowers in the summer and lit up in gold during the fall. Outside Magazine
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Southern California
9.
A gunman opened fire at a historic biker bar in the Orange County community of Trabuco Canyon as a crowd gathered for spaghetti night on Wednesday, killing three people and leaving five others with gunshot wounds, the authorities said. The shooter was killed by responding deputies. Sources cited in several news reports said the gunman was retired from the Ventura Police Department and that he was targeting his estranged wife. O.C. Register | NBC Los Angeles | L.A. Times
- Betty Fruichantie, who witnessed the shooting, posted several videos of the aftermath on Facebook.
10.
The Los Angeles police union spent millions of dollars trying to defeat the mayoral bid of Karen Bass. Now they have her to thank, at least in part, after the City Council approved a new labor contract on Wednesday that will increase spending on officer pay by $1 billion over the next four years. Bass argued that raises were necessary — starting pay will jump from $74,000 to more than $86,000 — to attract recruits to the understaffed department. The deal infuriated the Council’s progressive bloc. L.A. Times | LAist
11.
Paul Flores, the man convicted of murdering Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in 1996, was hospitalized after being attacked in state prison, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Corrections officials shared scant details except to say his condition was “serious.” The Instagram account of the “Your Own Backyard” podcast, which played a significant role in advancing the Smart investigation, said another inmate cut Flores’ throat. “Paul reportedly experienced substantial blood loss,” the podcast wrote. @yourownbackyardpodcast | A.P.
12.
In 1924, investors founded a summer retreat in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains for Black Californians who were excluded from California luxuries like sunny beaches, parks, and hotels. At Val Verde, there were impromptu concerts by the likes of Count Basie and Duke Ellington and annual beauty pageants, like the one pictured above. A new exhibit at the California African American Museum features photos from Val Verde’s heyday as the “black Palm Springs.” The Guardian
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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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