Public menorah destroyed in Oakland // NBA has had it with Draymond Green

Good morning. It’s Thursday, Dec. 14.

Hundreds gather to restore menorah in Oakland.
NBA has had it with the Warriors’ Draymond Green.
And the inspiring transformation of downtown Lancaster.

Statewide

1.

Rabbi Dovid Labkowski looked at a damaged menorah at Lake Merritt on Wednesday. (Jane Tyska/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Oakland awoke on the sixth morning of Hanukkah Wednesday to find that a large public menorah had been torn from its moorings and tossed into Lake Merritt. Spray-painted nearby were the words “we’re gonna find you, you’re on fucking alert asshole.” The authorities opened a hate crime investigation. “I want to be very clear,” said Mayor Sheng Thao, “that what happened was not just an attack on Oakland’s Jewish community but our entire city and our shared values.” Hundreds gathered later to restore the menorah. KGO | NBC Bay Area

2.

Other developments related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Dozens of people calling for a cease-fire in Gaza sat across a busy stretch of the 110 in Los Angeles Wednesday, bringing the morning commute to a standstill for more than an hour. Some irate motorists got out and fought with protesters. L.A. Times | KTLA
A Berkeley City Council meeting had to adjourn early Tuesday night as pro-Palestine protesters disrupted the proceedings. Truncated sessions have become a regular occurrence as council members rebuff demands to adopt a cease-fire resolution. Berkeleyside | East Bay Times

3.

Rep. Mike Garcia at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 3. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Mike Garcia, a Southern California Republican, quietly sold up to $50,000 in Boeing shares weeks before his committee released a damning report into crashes of the company’s 737 Max airliner. Garcia then skipped a mandated deadline to report the transaction, waiting until after he had won reelection. It was called a blatant ethics violation. “And it raises the question of whether he’s looking out for his constituents or is he just trying to enrich himself,” said Jordan Libowitz, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Daily Beast

4.

(Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle, via A.P.)

The San Francisco Chronicle published a look back at memorable images captured by its photo staff in 2023. They cover disasters of water and fire; the renewal of spring; the agony of addiction and homelessness; and moments of joy, including a fantastic shot of Taylor Swift at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 28, above. S.F. Chronicle

Northern California

5.

Visitors gathered near Yosemite’s Bridalveil Fall on April 29. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Yosemite National Park is reviving its reservation system in 2024 after overcrowding last summer led to three-hour backups at entrances. Between April and October, reservations will be required on weekends; between July and August, they’ll also be required on weekdays. Park officials are considering making the system permanent after years of rising visitor numbers. In a survey this year, a majority of respondents supported a move to reservations. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times

6.

The NBA suspended the Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green indefinitely on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face, earning his third ejection in 15 games. The unusual disciplinary result, the league said in a brief statement, “takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” Green, 33, will have to “meet certain league and team conditions” before he can play again, the league added. Mercury News | A.P.

“I don’t live my life with regrets.” Green rarely shows remorse after his outbursts, wrote Brian Windhorst. ESPN

7.

“I’m smelling something.”

Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer who delighted the internet by baiting package thieves with so-called glitter bombs, has now gone to war with people stealing from cars in San Francisco. Rober placed a rigged backpack in the back of a vehicle that would explode with glitter and fart spray when stolen, a humiliation captured by tiny hidden cameras. Dozens of thieves fell into the trap, including one who randomly yelled an anti-Asian slur at a bystander then found himself dry-heaving in a cloud of glitter and fart spray moments later. YouTube

Southern California

8.

A prominent nonprofit in Los Angeles, known as HOPICS, received $140 million in public funding to house the homeless. Now more than 300 people have been evicted because the group failed to pay their rent. A review found that HOPICS repeatedly ignored eviction warnings from landlords and took on far more clients than it could handle. The deputy director of HOPICS is former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill, a Democrat who resigned in 2019 over accusations that she had inappropriate relationships with staffers. “We’re learning as we go,” she said. CalMatters

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9.

Stephanie Lazarus appeared in court in Los Angeles in 2009. (Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images)

In 1986, a Los Angeles police detective named Stephanie Lazarus murdered her ex-boyfriend’s wife, Sherri Rasmussen. She got away with it for 25 years. Then in 2009, DNA testing on saliva collected from a bite mark on the victim’s arm matched Lazarus. She was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 27 years to life, though she never publicly admitted guilt — until last month. During a parole hearing on Nov. 16, she acknowledged killing Rasmussen. The panel recommended her for parole, meaning she could go free in six months. Rasmussen’s family is outraged. NBC News

“Now you’re accusing me of this? Is that what you’re — is that what you’re saying?” The moment investigators confronted Lazarus in 2009 was captured in a chilling video. 👉 YouTube

10.

After court staff complained that a San Diego judge was difficult to reach, investigators found that he had failed to show up to work on Fridays for 18 months. All told, Superior Court Judge Howard Shore logged 155 unexcused absences from work in 2021 and 2022 — the equivalent of more than seven months. On Wednesday, the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance issued Shore a rare “severe” public censure, the strongest sanction short of removal. S.D. Union-Tribune

11.

Lancaster in 2009, top, and after a revitalization effort. (John Massengale, via City of Lancaster; Adobe)

In 2010, Lancaster transformed its drab downtown into an elegant tree-lined boulevard for a mere $11.5 million. The change was estimated to attract 48 new business, $130 million in private investment, and more than 800 permanent jobs. Road injuries plummeted and tax revenue soared. “By choosing people over cars and palm trees over parking spaces, Lancaster became a darling for the new urbanism movement, which counters suburban sprawl by promoting smaller scale, pedestrian-focused downtowns,” wrote SFGATE.

12.

The comedian Ray Romano, an avid golfer, fell in love with the desert during vacations in the golfer’s paradise of the Coachella Valley. After a decade of visits, he and his wife built a home from the ground up in La Quinta with help from the celebrity designer Nate Berkus. It includes a personal putting green. They gave Architectural Digest a tour. 👉 YouTube (~13 mins)

Correction

Tuesday’s newsletter misdefined the term speedball. A speedball combines a stimulant such as cocaine with an opioid such as fentanyl. It is not crack cocaine mixed with meth.

Thanks for reading!

The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.

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