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Good morning. It’s Thursday, Aug. 3.
- Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis agree to a debate.
- Number of wealthy Californians soars in just two years.
- And Santa Barbara County becomes cannabis capital.
Statewide
1.
Govs. Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis have tentatively agreed to a televised debate. Newsom has tried for months to entice the Florida Republican into joining him on stage. On Wednesday, he agreed, telling Sean Hannity, “Absolutely I’m game.” Reporter Christopher Cadelago said the face-off would put Newsom under a national spotlight brighter than he’s ever experienced: “A debate would — to put it mildly — be an unpredicted event in modern presidential politics even in an age of seemingly endless cable news town halls.” Politico | S.F. Chronicle
2.
A ballot proposal filed on Wednesday could overhaul California’s open records law, forcing lawmakers to disclose meetings with lobbyists, political fundraising events, and investigations of misconduct. Similar efforts have failed before in the Legislature. But Bob Stern, who coauthored the state’s political reform law in 1974, said the public always favors more disclosure. “So that’s what these proponents have going for them is that this is for more transparency, more disclosure,” he said. “And who could be against that?” Politico | L.A. Times
3.
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of California residents reporting more than $50 million in income surged 158% to 3,182, a Bloomberg analysis found. All told, more than 288,000 Californians reported more than $1 million in income in 2021. In New York, there were just 80,000 millionaires. “We’ve never seen an absolute growth in the number of millionaires like this data,” said Cristobal Young, a professor at Cornell University who has studied wealth migration. “Ultimately, California is a great place to make money.” Robb Report
4.
A study out of Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that average wave heights off California have grown by as much as a foot in the last 50 years. In a painstaking process, researchers spent years digitizing drums of paper seismic records going back to 1930. The data revealed that swells rose in height after 1970, when global warming is believed to have begun to accelerate, making the oceans stormier. NPR | E&E News
Northern California
5.
Last month, supervisors in El Dorado County, straddling the Sierra Nevada between Tahoe and Sacramento, voted to designate July American Christian Heritage Month. Supervisor John Hidahl, who proposed the proclamation, said it was intended as reminder that “we were founded based upon Christian faith.” “That’s all this is,” he said. A secularist group called it “embarrassing,” ahistorical, and probably unconstitutional. Sacramento Bee | ABC10
6.
Nearly eight months after a city tree smashed through his home’s roof in Sacramento during the January storms, Juan La O said he has been unable to get the necessary permits to rebuild it. So he hung a large banner on the home. “City tree smashed my house on 1/8/23 Still no permits!!!” it reads. “It’s just like one thing after another,” La O said. “It’s almost like the whole system is set up to make it as slow as possible.” CBS News
7.
Driving up the Sonoma coast, you may spy what looks like a Hobbit dwelling at the edge of a meadow just off the highway. The Sea Ranch Chapel, completed in 1985 as a gift to the public, was built by a team of craftsmen and engineers who eschewed construction plans, working instead off a model dreamed up by the artist and architectural designer James Hubbell. It’s open to everyone, 365 days a year. The travel journalist John Bartell paid a recent visit. YouTube (~2:30 mins)
Southern California
8.
The Temecula Valley school board was sued Wednesday over its December resolution banning critical race theory. The lawsuit — filed on behalf of seven students, three teachers, and the district’s teachers union — accuses the board of censoring teachers and violating the “fundamental right” of children to an education. Board President Joseph Komrosky, who supported the ban, reasserted his belief that critical race theory is a “racist ideology” and said the district would respond “in due course.” EdSource | Press-Enterprise
9.
George Thomas Dave, the billionaire owner of GT’s Living Foods, has always insisted that good vibes are the secret to the success of his kombucha empire. Each bottle says on the label: Made with “100% pure love!!!” But a Los Angeles judge ruled that the company subjected undocumented workers to “deplorable and abusive and disturbing working conditions” in its Vernon kombucha factory for years. Dave himself, who testified in court, “demonstrated a total absence of credibility,” the judge said. L.A. Times
10.
Santa Barbara County is now the state’s capital of legal cannabis, with more acres than the storied Emerald Triangle. The county is home to about a third of all cultivation licenses issued in California, despite making up only 1.8% of the state’s land. Residents had hoped the industry would provide an economic boost. But a coalition of opponents say it threatens to destroy the region’s character. Ann Louise Bardach, an author, described the smell as “like a few dozen skunks letting loose at the same time.” She added: “And it just hangs in the air 24/7 on some days.” The Guardian
11.
Bill Ray, one of the last staff photographers for Life magazine, chronicled politicians on the campaign trail, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, and the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots. But much of his work focused on the glittering world of celebrity as he captured a Who’s Who of 1960s popular culture. LIFE.com published a look back at some of Ray’s classic celebrity shots.
- Explore more of Ray’s photography. 👉 Google Arts & Culture
In case you missed it
12.
Here’s a quick catch-up on news you may have missed from the past week:
- The actor Angus Cloud died at his family’s home in Oakland on Monday. He was 25. The cause of death is not yet known. “With his limpid gaze and profound stillness, the ‘Euphoria’ star conveyed the soul of a man trapped by circumstance,” wrote the New Yorker.
- California’s largest wildfire of the year erupted along the California-Nevada border on Friday. It’s been burning through delicate Joshua tree forests. A.P.
- A man’s body was found in a barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach on Monday. He was identified as an aspiring Los Angeles recording artist. L.A. Times
- An independent investigation found widespread corruption in Anaheim. Released Monday, the report accused the former mayor of “influence peddling” and described the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce as a “money laundering operation.” Voice of OC | O.C. Register
- The company formerly known as Twitter installed a giant flashing “X” on the roof of its San Francisco headquarters late last week. It was removed by Monday after residents complained. S.F. Chronicle | Washington Post
A note from Mike:
Thank you for your patience with the inconsistent delivery over the past several weeks. I need to take a couple more days off next week and again over Labor Day weekend, and then it will be back to regular programming.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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