Good morning. It’s Tuesday, June 18.
- Tests find pesticides in legal California cannabis.
- State lawmaker spends campaign funds on 49ers games.
- And Los Angeles Unified weighs school cellphone ban.
Statewide
1.
☝️ This was how California looked Monday according to Cal Fire’s live incident map as no fewer than 18 significant wildfires burned across the state. The largest, the Post fire, expanded to more than 24 square miles, straddling Ventura and Los Angeles counties near the Grapevine. It was 20% contained, fire officials said.
In Northern California, a destructive wildfire near Healdsburg quieted down on its second day, even as two new fires erupted on the western edge of the Sacramento Valley and east of Stockton in the San Joaquin Valley. The Sites fire raced across nearly 7 square miles in remote Colusa County. The Aero fire forced evacuations around the agricultural community of Copperopolis in Calaveras County. L.A. Times | Press Democrat | CBS Sacramento
- See live fire map. 👉 Cal Fire
2.
Even after California’s wet winter, farmers in the Central Valley will get just 40% of the federal water they are supposed to this year as officials seek to protect native fish. The decision has ignited outrage in America’s fruit and vegetable basket. “There’s no reason for it and it’s dangerous for the country,” said Wayne Western, farm manager of Hammonds Ranch. “You don’t know how to plan. You kind of come to a standstill.” Wall Street Journal
3.
California’s Democratic lawmakers are pushing a package of bills aimed at addressing mounting concerns about crime. But they added amendments that void the legislation if voters approve a November ballot measure to roll back parts of Proposition 47, the 2014 initiative that reduced penalties for drug and theft offenses. Critics say they are poison pills designed to subvert the ballot initiative. The San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven called the move “shady.” L.A. Times columnist George Skelton called it cynicism on steroids. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times
4.
The legalization of recreational cannabis in California was supposed to ensure the market’s safety through state regulation. But an investigation by the L.A. Times and cannabis newsletter WeedWeek found alarming levels of pesticide in legal marijuana products across the state. Of 42 purchased products, 25 had high concentrations of pesticides, including those linked to cancer, liver failure, and thyroid disease. The investigation concludes that California regulators have fallen down on the job. L.A. Times
5.
The world is on the verge of a carbon storage boom, and California communities will have to weigh the risks of capturing, moving, and injecting emissions underground. Climate reporter James Temple explored the incentives at stake for one company, the oil giant California Resources Corporation:
“Carbon sequestration projects can qualify for 12 years of US subsidies. If [CRC subsidiary] Carbon TerraVault injects half a million tons of carbon dioxide into each of the 31 wells it has applied for over that time period, the projects could secure tax credits worth more than $15.8 billion.” MIT Technology Review
6.
Police dismantled the pro-Palestinian encampment at Cal State Los Angeles on Monday, clearing away the last major antiwar camp at a Los Angeles college. The law enforcement action came days after activists occupied and trashed a building while the school’s president, Berenecea Johnson Eanes, was still inside. In a statement released Monday, Eanes said: “We will not negotiate with those who would use destruction and intimidation to meet their goals.” L.A. Times | A.P.
- Rock climbers strung a “Stop the genocide” banner across the face of Yosemite’s El Capitan on Monday. S.F. Chronicle
Northern California
7.
State Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat from San Francisco, spent more than $65,000 in campaign funds on 49ers tickets since the beginning of last year, listing the expenses in campaign disclosures as “fundraisers.” He also tapped campaign funds for a membership in an exclusive social club, Broadway shows, and luxury hotels. “You can’t use your campaign money for vacations or ball games for yourself or your family, that is absolutely not legal,” said Ann Ravel, the former chair of the Federal Elections Commission. SF Standard
8.
The Justice Department sued Adobe on Monday, accusing the San Jose company of making it too hard to cancel subscriptions to creative software products such as Photoshop and hiding early termination fees. A wave of Adobe critics celebrated the development on social media. The move is part of a wider push by U.S. regulators to rein in Big Tech’s power, building on antitrust lawsuits against Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Meta. N.Y. Times | TechCrunch
9.
When both of her parents died within a few months of each other, the photographer Annette LeMay Burke processed her grief by returning to the suburban Bay Area home where her family grew up. She projected old family pictures against the same locations where they were originally shot, evoking memories ingrained within the structure itself. The project, Memory Building, was honored by LensCulture Critics’ Choice Awards for what one critic described as a “deeply personal reflection on the American dream.” LensCulture | Atelierlemay.com
Southern California
10.
Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, appears poised to ban the use of cellphones during the school day. Los Angeles schools technically prohibited cellphone use in class in 2011 but allowed students to continue carrying the devices. Predictably, teachers were transformed into de facto cellphone police. “It’s absolutely exhausting to try to continually stay vigilant,” said teacher Hazel Kight Witham. “To tell students again and again the same thing, and still have it happen.” LAist | L.A. Times
- The U.S. surgeon general announced Monday that he would push to put tobacco-like warning labels on social media platforms. A.P.
11.
A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint while President Biden was campaigning in Los Angeles over the weekend, authorities revealed on Monday. The assailant stole a bag from the agent, who fired his government-issued weapon during the incident late Saturday in Tustin, officials said. The Secret Service said they did not know if anyone was shot. Tustin Police said they had not yet located a suspect. L.A. Times | A.P.
12.
A burst of high-end outdoors magazines is thriving in print media, defying the odds in an industry beaten down by the digital age. At the heart of the old-school trend is Adventure Journal, an unapologetically analog magazine produced in Dana Point. “People will have this in their hands, on their coffee table,” said Stephen Casimiro, its founder. “That was the idea. We’re all exhausted from our screens. We want something to savor.” N.Y. Times
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