Good morning. It’s Tuesday, April 22.
- California Catholics mourn the death of Pope Francis.
- Survivor recalls what led to deadly Marin crash.
- And vandal cuts down dozens of Los Angeles trees.
Statewide
1.
A renovation of the state Capitol in Sacramento will include private hallways for lawmakers that allow them to avoid the public and journalists, sources said. Assemblyman Josh Hoover, a Republican, called it “the height of hypocrisy” for lawmakers to use taxpayer dollars on a design that “shields you from accountability.” The Capitol project had an original cost estimate of roughly $543 million in 2018. That figure has since soared to more than $1 billion, a price tag that approximates the cost of professional sports stadiums. KCRA
2.
When announcing his tariff lawsuit last Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom referred to the debate over wrongfully deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia as “the distraction of the day.” That angered Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who flew to El Salvador last week to meet Abrego Garcia. “I think a lot of voters, both Republican and Democrat, are tired of elected officials and politicians who just put their finger to the wind,” Van Hollen told CNN on Sunday. “Anyone who’s not prepared to stand up and fight for the Constitution doesn’t deserve to lead.” L.A. Times | CNN
- Four more Democratic leaders, including Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, arrived in El Salvador on Sunday to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release. Politico | L.A. Times
3.
Steve Hilton, a former Fox News pundit who also used to advise then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, announced on Monday that he is running for governor of California, making him the second prominent Republican to enter the 2026 race. “It’s time to end the years of Democrat failure,” he said. “It’s time for a new future.” Hilton, 55, moved to Silicon Valley because his wife was working for Google in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. He has positioned himself as non-ideological while ardently backing Donald Trump and blaming “liberal incompetence” for the “ruin” of California. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
4.
Pope Francis never visited California. But his death on Monday reverberated across a state that was forged by Franciscan friars and is now home to more than 10 million Catholics.
At the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, worshipper Veronica Dilao was overcome with emotion. “It’s like we lost our father,” she said.
In San Luis Obispo, the Mission bell rang 88 times, a tribute to the pontiff’s 88 years of life.
At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, which serves America’s largest population of Catholics, mourners left bouquets of flowers at the base of a portrait of Francis.
And in San Diego, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Pham noted the pope’s special concern for immigrants in the border community. “The Holy Father cared deeply for all of us,” he said, “but especially for people living at the margins of our society.” Sacramento Bee | The Tribune | L.A. Times | NBC 7
Northern California
5.
A 14-year-old survivor of a horrific car crash that killed four teenage girls in Marin County said they had been “run off the road” by an oncoming vehicle, her parents told reporters on Monday. Marley Barclay was one of two survivors of the Friday crash in which a vehicle carrying six students from Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo hit a tree along a winding two-lane road before bursting into flames. The parents said all the girls wore seat belts. “What Marley remembers of the moments before the accident is that they were going around a blind turn, and another car veered into their lane,” they said. S.F. Chronicle | Marin Independent Journal
- Here’s what is known about the victims. KRON
6.
The San Francisco Democratic Party is planning to make a dramatic shift toward the political center over fears that the party could suffer another national election wipeout. Party leaders say their revised ideology, dubbed “new pragmatism,” would reject past priorities that marred the Democratic brand, such as the “defund the police” movement and the removal of U.S. presidents’ names from school buildings. “It’s an astonishing pivot for the party in a longtime bastion of progressivism,” Politico wrote.
7.
Blaire Fleming, a former starter on the women’s volleyball team at San Jose State University, was a good but unremarkable player. Then, a few months before her senior season, an online publication claimed that Fleming was “a feminine male.” She became a national symbol of injustice — on both sides of the debate over trans athletes in women’s sports. Long silent, Fleming has now talked to a journalist for the first time, confirming that she is in fact transgender. The New York Times Magazine wrote nearly 10,000 words on “how the war over trans athletes tore a volleyball team apart.”
8.
No matter how hard officials try to direct far Northern California’s growing wolf population toward their natural prey of mostly deer and elk, many seem to prefer dining on big domestic cows lumbering through open fields. Joel Torres, a 25-year-old herdsman, says the wolves don’t kill quickly, instead ripping their victims apart while still alive. He has found dozens of mortally injured young cows, trembling and in shock, after attacks. He shoots them to put them out of their misery. “He’d like to shoot the wolves, too,” wrote the Los Angeles Times.
9.
While riding BART, the Bay Area filmmaker Vincent Woo had always wished he could see the conductor’s view from the front of the train. So he secretly adhered GoPros to the front of several trains, hopped on board, and hoped his cameras would still be there when the ride ended. He spent six months recording and editing before releasing his film, “Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART ride.” It’s mesmerizing to watch. YouTube
Southern California
10.
Someone cut down dozens of trees in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, and police said they were searching for a suspect who was armed with a cordless chainsaw and rode a BMX-style bike. Along a half-mile stretch of Grand Ave, few trees remained standing, reports said. Pictures of the felled trees spread on a Los Angeles forum on Reddit, which convulsed with outrage. “That someone would do this is truly beyond comprehension,” Mayor Karen Bass said. L.A. Times | LAist
11.
A Southern California mayor is drawing heat after telling a City Council gathering that he wants to address the homelessness crisis by handing out “free fentanyl.” Mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster, a high desert city of roughly 60,000 residents north of Los Angeles, doubled down during an interview with FOX11 on Friday. “Quite frankly, I wish the president would give us a purge,” he said. “Because we do need to purge these people.” L.A. Times | KTLA
12.
The Coachella Music and Arts festival wrapped up Sunday after two weekends that drew hundreds of thousands of fans to the marquee pop extravaganza in the desert outside of Palm Springs. Some coverage highlights:
- More than a few people suggested Lady Gaga may have delivered the best Coachella performance ever. “You needed to take notes to keep track of even half of the vividly wacked-out visual setpieces she packed into a 110-minute performance,” Variety wrote.
- Coachella is not all glamping and golf carts, as influencers might have you believe. The Washington Post ventured into the tightly packed tent city where most festival goers stay.
- Also: a drunk Deadmau5 blacked out during his set; Bernie Sanders made a surprise appearance; and the Irish rap group Kneecap courted controversy by projecting the words “Fuck Israel; free Palestine.”
- Photo collections:
- Billboard captured the performers.
- The L.A. Times focused on fan fashions.
- Harper’s Bazaar found all the celebrities.
Correction
Friday’s newsletter misstated the size of the U.S. market for digital ads. It is nearly $300 billion, not nearly $300 million.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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