Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 19.
- Democrats seek to exclude Donald Trump from ballot.
- Signs of an office-market revival in San Francisco.
- And judge allows forest thinning to restart in Yosemite.
Statewide
1.
A group of Democratic state legislators are mounting an effort to exclude former President Trump from California’s primary ballot. Nine lawmakers asked Attorney General Rob Bonta to seek a court opinion on the matter, arguing that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot made him ineligible. Assemblyman Evan Low, who initiated the letter, said he wanted to avoid unilateral action. “This naturally will be seen as a political effort,” he said, “but again that’s why the court’s opinion will be incredibly important.” N.Y. Times | Politico
2.
A federal judge on Monday blocked a sweeping 2022 California law that was designed to make the internet safer for children. The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act required companies such as TikTok and Snapchat to curb risks that certain features — such as messaging between strangers — pose to users under 18. But Judge Beth Labson Freeman said the legislation likely violates the First Amendment. The state has no right, she wrote, to “essentially press private companies into service as government censors.” S.F. Chronicle | Washington Post
3.
The University of California could diversify its campuses by giving a leg up to poor students of all races. But it hasn’t and it appears disinclined to try. The reporter Marc Novicoff explored why: It would lower the university system’s overall academic credentials; it would threaten schools’ self-image as high-minded practitioners of “holistic” admissions; and more low-income students would mean more financial aid. Politico Magazine
4.
The opening scene in a new documentary on the life of Jerry Brown shows him in a cranky mood. Asked to explain who he is, the four-term California governor, two-term Oakland mayor, and almost one-time priest answers, “I find that kind of a non-question.” The interviewer tries again: “How would you describe yourself?” “I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t,” he says. Such exchanges make “Jerry Brown: The Disrupter” a compelling watch, film critics said. They also illustrate what made Brown so unique in American politics: he remained rigorously authentic. L.A. Times | Variety
- The film is free to stream. 👉 PBS
Northern California
5.
Company searches for office space in San Francisco are the highest they have been in years, signaling that the city’s beleaguered business district may be flickering back to life. In recent months, artificial intelligence firms have leased large blocks of space and investors have bought or agreed to buy five major office towers. Analysts said the transactions have resumed in part because sellers are finally accepting steeply cut prices. It’s an adjustment officials have been waiting for, said Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist: “The market-moving is healthy.” Wall Street Journal
6.
In the summer of 2022, an environmental group got a judge to block forest thinning for fire prevention in Yosemite National Park over accusations that the National Park Service was engaged in logging for profit. Last week, a federal court of appeals lifted the ban, ruling that the group behind the lawsuit, Earth Island Institute, had mischaracterized the project. No entity was profiting from the removed biomass and the “minimal monies” generated offset only a fraction of the work costs, Judge Michelle Friedland ruled. Union Democrat
7.
Margaret Chung, born in Santa Barbara in 1889, was the first known American woman of Chinese ancestry to earn a medical degree. After graduating from USC’s medical school, she opened a private practice in San Francisco’s Chinatown that became one of the few places to provide Western medical care to Chinese and Chinese American patients. During World War II, Chung was celebrated for her patriotic efforts, hosting dinners for men in the military, who took to calling her “Mom.” The N.Y. Times published an obituary for Chung as part of its “Overlooked No More” project.
8.
Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, was one of San Francisco’s most renowned oddballs. Born in 1818, the Gold Rush-era merchant lost his fortune and then, after a period of despondency, declared himself the nation’s emperor, donning imperial garb and issuing grandiose decrees. San Franciscans deemed him insane, but they played along. More than a century after his death, San Francisco on Sunday marked the renaming of a street after Norton. Hundreds of people, many in period dress, came out for the occasion. S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
9.
The authorities on Monday arrested Kevin Salazar, 29, at his family’s Palmdale home for the murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer. Members of Salazar’s family said that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago, heard voices, and twice attempted suicide. At times, said Marle Salazar, the suspect’s mother, her son would become so disturbed by voices that he would cover his ears with his hands and yell. “It’s not my son that did it,” she said, “it’s the disease that did it.” L.A. Times | L.A. Daily News
10.
Bruce had kind eyes and dressed well. Evelyn, 50 and recently divorced in Los Angeles, fell for him on the dating platform Hinge. After weeks of courtship, Bruce offered to let Evelyn invest a small amount of money in crypto. She eventually drained her retirement savings, committing $300,000. It was all part of a scam that has grown alarmingly common. “I have so much PTSD driving by the local bank where I made the wire transfers,” Evelyn said. “I walked to the bank on my own two feet. It kills me to drive by.” WIRED
11.
The authors of the book “Floppy Disk Fever” interviewed Tom Persky, a bulk supplier of floppy disks in Lake Forest:
“Over time, the total number of floppy users has gone down. However, the number of people who provided the product went down even faster. If you look at those two curves, you see that there is a growing market share for the last man standing in the business, and that man is me.” Eye On Design Magazine
12.
Sean Penn held forth on why he is so angry in a new interview. A few choice quotes:
- On the Oscars’ refusal to let Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak. “I thought, well, fuck, you know? I’ll give [my Oscars] to Ukraine. They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians.”
- On Will Smith: “He seemed very nice when I met him. He was so fucking good in ‘King Richard.’ So why the fuck did you just spit on yourself and everybody else with this stupid fucking thing? … Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?”
- On data privacy: “So you want my scans and voice data and all that. OK, here’s what I think is fair: I want your daughter’s, because I want to create a virtual replica of her and invite my friends over to do whatever we want in a virtual party right now.” Variety
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