Good morning. It’s Thursday, Jan. 19.
- New duplex law does little to spur housing.
- Gallerist who doused homeless woman is arrested.
- And a British actor is missing in San Gabriel Mountains.
Statewide
1.
In 2021, a fiercely contested legislative bill allowing homeowners to convert their properties into duplexes was portrayed as both a game-changer for housing affordability and a death knell for single-family neighborhoods. Two years after it was enacted, the measure has so far been a dud, a report found. Across Anaheim, San Jose, San Diego, Long Beach, and Berkeley, a total of just 15 project applications had been submitted by the end of November. In Bakersfield, Danville, and Santa Maria: zero. L.A. Times
2.
The L.A. Times analyzed America’s widening political schisms through the rival states of California and Florida. Gov. Gavin Newsom has depicted California as a refuge for “vulnerable communities” under attack in places like Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis sees California’s progressive program as its own sort of oppression, calling Florida “a refuge of sanity.” Both men enjoyed landslide electoral victories, and both have ambitions to reach the White House. L.A. Times
3.
Climbing and surfing, lifestyles as much as sports, have arguably reached their highest forms of expression in California. The 1950s was a golden era, when climbers in canvas sneakers rappelled off cliffs in Yosemite and surfers with chiseled physiques played guitars on the beach in San Onofre. Here’s a great collection of photos of California surfers and rock climbers in the 1950s. 👉 Conde Nast Traveler
Northern California
4.
San Francisco police on Wednesday arrested a gallery owner who was caught on video spraying a homeless woman with a garden hose after she refused to move from a sidewalk he was cleaning. The Jan. 9 video of Collier Gwin, who was initially unrepentant but later apologized, triggered national outrage and led to vandalism of his gallery. He was charged with misdemeanor battery, carrying the possibility of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. S.F. Chronicle | SF Standard
5.
After slashing jobs and falling behind on rent, Twitter raised cash on Wednesday by auctioning off office supplies from its San Francisco headquarters. A neon sign of Twitter’s bird logo fetched around $100,000. An espresso machine went for $12,000. In December, Musk characterized Twitter’s finances: “This company is like, basically, you’re in a plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed with the engines on fire and the controls don’t work.” A.P. | Wall Street Journal
6.
During the Pandemic, San Francisco invented a substitute for the canceled Chinese New Year Parade: placing animal statues across the city. In 2021, it was oxen, and in 2022 tigers. This year, the parade is on for Feb. 4, but the statue tradition is being continued with five giant foam rabbits. Residents have made a game of finding every one. SFist | SF Standard
7.
☝️ Viewed from space, the northern edge of California looks like it’s been scarred by several inky black spills. They are indeed spills, but of magma that erupted thousands of years ago and cooled into rivers of rock. About 30 of the lava flows are located within Lava Beds National Monument, with names like Mammoth Crater flow and Devil’s Homestead flow. The park’s hostile landscape would seem to have few practical uses for humans, but NASA found one in 1965: training astronauts headed to the moon. Last Adventurer | NASA
Southern California
8.
Julian Sands, a British actor known for roles in films such as “A Room With a View” and “The Killing Fields,” has been missing for nearly a week in the San Gabriel Mountains, officials said Wednesday. Search efforts have been complicated by severe weather since he was reported missing Friday on a trail on Mt. Baldy. The area is known to be treacherous; another hiker was reported missing Monday. Sands, 65, who lives in North Hollywood, has been described as an enthusiastic mountaineer. Variety | The Guardian
9.
Los Angeles police officers used a Taser to stun Keenan Anderson for an agonizing 42 seconds as he screamed and struggled on Jan. 3. “Help me, please,” he cried out. Anderson, 31, a father and high school English teacher, died hours later. Policing experts who reviewed video of the arrest said the repeated Taser discharges were unnecessary. “He is not a threat of harm to the officers,” said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer. “The only threat is a delay.” L.A. Times
10.
After a 17-year-old girl tearfully told a city council meeting about seeing a “naked male in the women’s locker room” at her YMCA, she was invited onto Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox. Now the YMCA, in Santee, has become the latest flashpoint for dueling protests over transgender rights. Christynne Lili Wrene Wood, 66, the transgender woman cited by the teenager, said she was “absolutely crushed” by the controversy. KGTV | S.D. Union-Tribune
11.
It’s now common for young people to carry fentanyl test strips when going out to clubs and parties in Los Angeles. “No longer just a threat to chronic drug users, fentanyl is increasingly a danger to occasional drug users and even teenagers — those who may be less familiar with how dangerous the drugs have become or what tools might protect them as fentanyl is showing up in drugs that don’t usually contain opioids.” Wall Street Journal
12.
Maurice Henao was in his parked car outside his home along Pacific Coast Highway last week when his girlfriend called. “Can you please go get my bag inside?” she asked. As he was fetching it, a commotion rang out. He ran outside to find that a boulder the size of a mini refrigerator had tumbled down a hillside and crashed through the roof of his car. “Taking a call like that, it was some kind of a divine intervention,” Henao said. “It wasn’t my time to go.” Washington Post
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