O.C. judge said to be arrested after killing // Black bear boom

Good morning. It’s Friday, Aug. 4.

Dianne Feinstein fights family members over finances.
Orange County judge said to be arrested after killing.
And the black bear population booms around Los Angeles.

Please note: The newsletter will be off Monday and Tuesday. Back Wednesday.

Statewide

1.

Senator Dianne Feinstein is embroiled in a fight with family members. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Dianne Feinstein, who at age 90 is struggling to function in the Senate, has handed power of attorney to her daughter as she battles over the fortune of her late husband Richard C. Blum. The dispute pits Feinstein and her only daughter, Katherine Feinstein, against Blum’s three daughters from a previous marriage. A trust lawyer questioned why a sitting senator would require someone to have power of attorney over her. He hoped it was a misunderstanding, he wrote, “rather than a stepdaughter engaging in some kind of misguided attempt to gain control over trust assets to which she is not entitled.” N.Y. Times

2.

The Central Coast is at the center of a reclamation movement by the Chumash tribe. (Danita Delimont)

“It is a moment of change.”

The Chumash people have been advocating for a marine sanctuary along California’s Central Coast for decades. President Biden’s election gave a jolt to the movement. The tribe’s application to protect 7,000 square miles of coast and sea moved into the next bureaucratic phase; NOAA began outlining the terms of the potential sanctuary; and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland spoke in favor of the proposal. The biggest challenge now may be the clock as the 2024 presidential election threatens to derail the effort. Washington Post

3.

Forecasters said another round of sweltering temperatures would roast California between Friday and early next week, peaking on Sunday and Monday. The coast was expected to be warmer than during previous heat waves, reaching into the 80s, while the state’s interior soars into the 90s and triple digits. A sampling of predicted highs on Sunday: Oceanside, 82 degrees; San Bernardino, 102; Fresno, 102; San Luis Obispo, 89; Santa Rosa, 95; Sacramento, 105; and Ukiah, 105. ABC10 | L.A. Times

Temperature outlooks:

4.

The remains of an old pier rise from the surf in Davenport.

The beaches of the Santa Cruz County coast, surrounded by grassy terraces and gnarled sea stacks, are thrilling even without any post-apocalyptic play structures. But the primary attraction of a cove in tiny Davenport is a homemade swing dangling from a cement arch that once held a pier on the edge of the surf. Getting there requires scrambling down a crumbly bluff, but it means chances are good you’ll have the swing all to yourself. Outdoor Project | California Through My Lens

Some other great swings:

on the cliffs of La Jolla
inside a graffitied cave overlooking Simi Valley
atop a hill with jaw-dropping views in Big Sur
dangling from the “hippie” tree of Tiburon
beside a forested cove in Humboldt County

Northern California

5.

Carlos Dominguez appeared in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland on June 20. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee via A.P.)

Carlos Dominguez, the former UC Davis student accused of a murderous stabbing rampage that left two men dead last spring, is headed for a state hospital after prosecutors conceded Thursday that he is not fit to stand trial. The move followed testimony from roommates and a former girlfriend about Dominguez’s descent into apparent mental illness, including a belief that the Devil was talking to him. One psychologist said he presented a “textbook example of schizophrenia.” Sacramento Bee | KCRA

6.

When a code enforcement agent followed up on a complaint about a business operating without a permit 15 miles outside of Fresno last December, she discovered violations far more disturbing. Inside the old warehouse in Reedley were dozens of refrigerators filled with vials of blood; hundreds of bioengineered mice; and an inventory of biological agents that included HIV, the coronavirus, chlamydia, rubella, and malaria. The illegal lab, whose owners live in China, is now the subject of multiple investigations. Fresno Bee

7.

In fiery remarks during a town hall in San Francisco’s Tenderloin on Thursday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office has mounted an aggressive campaign against the city’s fentanyl dealers but courts keep letting them go. “We do everything we can and you can see the same person out on the street the same day,” she said. “Repeat and chronic offenders are selling the most deadly substance we’ve seen in this city. That tells you something about what has been going on in the courtrooms of this city. The judges are not taking this seriously. The judges are ignoring it.” S.F. Chronicle

8.

A maze of homes filled the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on Nov. 23, 2021. (Jane Tyska/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Before officials cleared Oakland’s Wood Street homeless encampment in the spring it was one of the state’s largest, with inhabitants who called it home for years. Residents installed solar panels, hot-water showers, and a community garden. Some traded goods. They had Christmas and birthday parties. In a monthslong reporting project, Livia Albeck-Ripka chronicled the efforts of former residents to reassemble their lives after being ejected. N.Y. Times

Southern California

9.

The authorities arrested an Orange County Superior Court judge after a fatal shooting at his home in the Anaheim Hills late Thursday, according to law enforcement sources cited in multiple reports. Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was being held at the Anaheim city jail, the reports said; the victim was said to be his wife, Sheryl. No further information was immediately released. L.A. Times | O.C. Register

10.

Bears have become a growing presence in neighborhoods on the edge of Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/L.A. Times via Getty Images)

The black bear population is booming throughout Los Angeles’ foothill communities, and officials are struggling over how to handle it. The 400-pound omnivores can be entitled, pushy, and terrifying. “I don’t like it. It’s nerve-wracking,” said Cynthia Compton, of Sierra Madre. “I’ve seen him right there by my living room window. And I’m pounding on the window: ‘Go bear, go, get out of here,’ and pull out the stun gun.” KCRW

Police captured video of bear lounging in a Burbank homeowner’s jacuzzi last Friday. 👉 @BurbankPD

11.

Two Navy sailors in Southern California were arrested on charges of passing military secrets to China, according to a pair of federal indictments unsealed on Thursday. The authorities said Jinchao Wei and Wenheng Zhao, both Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizens, were approached by Chinese intelligence officers and agreed to operate as spies in exchange for cash. The shared information included a blueprint for a radar system, technical manuals for vessels, and operational plans for military exercises in the Indo-Pacific, the authorities said. Washington Post | A.P.

12.

On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with Faith Pinho, a Los Angeles Times reporter and creator of a podcast series that explores the Romani diaspora in California. She talked about how the practice of fortunetelling, deeply woven in Romani culture, has been crucial skill for both the safety and livelihood of the community. “It’s the idea of the oppressed knowing their oppressor better than they know themselves,” she said.

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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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