Good morning. It’s Monday, May 15.
- Teacher shortage leads schools to adopt remote instruction.
- Underground tech party scene known as “The Lifestyle.”
- And one man’s struggle to survive on San Diego’s streets.
Statewide
1.
After a 2016 storm destroyed most of the bluff beneath a seaside neighborhood in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, residents rushed to reinforce it with a rock wall. But the Coast Commission rejected the proposal, sending what seemed like a message: The homes’ days are numbered. Now the homeowners are suing for the right to stay along the eroding shore. The battle, wrote Jake Bittle, “could derail the state’s climate adaptation push.” Grist
2.
California’s teacher shortage was severe before the pandemic, driven in part by teacher burnout and insufficient wages. The crisis has only worsened. In San Jose, a charter network has now resorted to teaching classes remotely — with teachers from Alaska, Maryland, and Texas. It’s not ideal, the CEO of Alpha Public Schools said: “But until we really, radically change the education profession here in the United States, we’re going to be looking at solutions like this.” Mercury News
3.
The New Yorker published a nice photo essay on California’s superbloom, which is still popping: “Some of the seeds that caused this bloom have lain dormant for years, waiting for conditions to improve. These flowers are like earthly versions of starlight: they are the past made visible. They are also a vision of the future, a prediction, a promise, of what will happen when it rains again, if we can wait.”
Northern California
4.
The Wall Street Journal published a deep dive on the life of Bob Lee, the tech executive who was fatally stabbed in San Francisco last month. A few memorable details:
- Lee was said to be part of an underground party scene fueled by drug use and casual sex known as “The Lifestyle.”
- According to friends, he was having an affair with a fellow member of that crowd, Khazar Momeni, the wife of a plastic surgeon.
- Unlike his glamorous sister, Nima Momeni, the accused killer, was prone to brood on the sidelines at parties.
5.
CNN aired an hourlong report Sunday night titled “What happened to San Francisco?” In it, Mayor Breed said she understands residents’ frustration over the city’s homelessness and drug crises, telling an interviewer that her own car was broken into last year. “We are not throwing up our hands,” she said. S.F. Chronicle | CNN
- Dave Chappelle at a San Francisco show: “What the fuck happened to this place?” SFGATE
6.
“The Brookfield.” “The Bird.” “The Smeeze.” “The Cliff.” “The Swoop.” “The Thizzle.” “The Mobby.”
A TikToker asked locals on the street: What is the most iconic Bay Area dance? He got some great demonstrations. 👉 @mario0o0o0o0o0o
7.
On May 10, KCRA sent a helicopter over Feather Falls along the Fall River in Plumas National Forest. Among the prettiest California waterfalls outside of Yosemite, it cascades more than 400 feet into a granite gorge and it’s currently at full volume thanks to the snowy winter. See aerial views of the falls along with Lake Oroville. 👉 YouTube/KCRA
- Explore a new map showing where to find more than 50 Northern California waterfalls. 👉 S.F. Chronicle
8.
There’s a 14-foot-tall sculpture in Sacramento shaped like three giant misshapen disco balls. Installed in 2017, “Subtile” is wrapped by more than 34,000 stainless-steel disks that flutter with the breeze. The project is part of Sacramento’s commitment to public art as a way to enliven the city. The result has been a downtown blanketed in murals, an airport that doubles as a museum, and touches of whimsy along the riverfront like “Subtile.” Atlas Obscura
Southern California
9.
“If there’s any way I can still be saved, please save me.”
Some people call Abdul Curry, 64, the “homeless mayor of San Diego.” He consistently cares for others on the street, bandaging their spider bites, testing the safety of their drugs with fentanyl test strips, and staying awake to watch over them. He also needs someone to care for him. The Pulitzer-winning writer Eli Saslow told a moving story of one man’s struggle to survive San Diego’s streets. N.Y. Times
10.
“Why, she wondered, were we consuming the breast milk of another animal?”
Marielle Williamson, 17, wanted to hold an event promoting nondairy milk at her Los Angeles high school. But when she asked for permission, she said, school administrators agreed, but only if she also had provided pro-dairy information. Williamson filed a lawsuit, accusing the school of violating her free speech rights. Washington Post
11.
Fed up with street takeovers, a Los Angeles suburb advanced an ordinance last week that allows the city to seize vehicles involved in the gatherings of cars doing donuts in the middle of intersections. Confiscated vehicles would be sold at a public auction. The measure in Pico Rivera would also subject spectators within 500 feet of the sideshows to fines of up to $2,000. “We strongly urge that you cease this illegal activity in our city,” Councilwoman Monica Sanchez said. The Drive | KTLA
12.
Miles from anywhere in the bowels of the Mojave desert, the carcasses of two abandoned B-52s have been slowly roasting in the sun for decades. Viewed from the sky, one looks like a child’s toy shattered to pieces. They were not crashes. According to the aviation history site Check-Six, both planes were used as test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, which encompasses the area, then simply put out to pasture. Here are a couple of photo collections that show the B-52s along with a handful of other discarded desert aircraft. 👉 Noel Kerns | Stephen Freskos
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