Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 8.
- Former mayors allege lawbreaking in San Francisco race.
- Tech sector pours millions into intimidating politicians.
- And Sonoran Desert hotel is named among world’s finest.
Statewide
1.
The most effect treatment for methamphetamine addiction is also one of the most disregarded: handing out gift cards for negative drug tests. It works, studies suggest, because the excitement of getting the gift stands in for the rush of the drug. Persuaded by the research, California launched a gift card program last year and has since enrolled nearly 4,000 people. The vast majority of urine samples submitted by patients have come back clean, while many participants have gotten into housing, returned to work, and reconnected with family. NPR
2.
California utilities are increasingly relying on an extreme measure to stop wildfires: shutting off the power. PG&E, which was driven into bankruptcy after starting deadly fires, has expanded its use of so-called “fast-trip” sensors, which automatically cut power whenever something hits a power line. This year, the program caused roughly 1.3 million customer outages, data showed. Residents of the fire-prone communities complain that the outages, triggered sometimes by a bird or squirrel, are incessant. Bloomberg
3.
While Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi came up in the same 7-by-7-mile-wide political cauldron of San Francisco, they are not close. Pelosi, who backed Harris’ rival during her inaugural political campaign in 2003, never really advocated for Harris’ rise. After President Biden dropped out of the White House race, Pelosi declined to immediately endorse Harris — even after Biden did so. The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to dozens of sources about the relationship of two of the world’s most powerful female lawmakers.
- Sala Burton, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, London Breed. Here’s how San Francisco became a launching pad for the most powerful women in politics. 👉 L.A. Times
4.
One reason many Californians don’t think they have an accent: as residents of a global center of pop culture, they turn on the television and hear themselves. But they most certainly do. Across the state, residents exhibit what’s known as the California vowel shift. In short, the vowel in “kit” moves toward the sound of the vowel in “dress.” So “kit” becomes “ket.” “Dress,” in turn, becomes more like “drass,” and “trap” more like “trop.” Eva Morreale wrote about why you may struggle to hear Californians’ distinct way of speaking. Fodor’sTravel
- A British phonetician recently ventured into the wilds of Southern California to record the accents of the locals. YouTube
Northern California
5.
Three former San Francisco mayors called on prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into mayoral candidate Mark Farrell on Monday. In a remarkable rebuke four weeks before election day, Art Agnos, Frank Jordan, and Willie Brown signed a letter that accused Farrell of diverting funds donated in support of a ballot measure to prop up his candidacy. “Mark Farrell appears to be laundering significant sums of money,” the former mayors wrote. Farrell said of the allegations: “This is nothing but pure political tactics, and it is shameful.” S.F. Chronicle | SF Standard
6.
Last February, three weeks before California’s Senate primary, Katie Porter learned that a pro-cryptocurrency group called Fairshake was about to spend roughly $10 million on ads designed to derail her campaign. The ads called her a “bully” and a “liar” and falsely implied that she’d accepted money from drug and oil companies. Porter, who had initially polled well, lost decisively. The message was simple, a person familiar with Fairshake said: “If you are pro-crypto, we will help you, and if you are anti we will tear you apart.” Charles Duhigg reported on the “new lobbying monster” that is Silicon Valley. New Yorker
7.
Thirty years after the film “Pulp Fiction” hit theaters, director Quentin Tarantino’s wardrobe decision to put hit man Vincent Vega in a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs T-shirt still reverberates in the beach city’s souvenir stores. Of all the merchandise sold by the university, the T-shirt featuring the slimy yellow mollusk native to Northern California’s redwood forests remains the top seller by far. “Everyone gets it,” said Ray Rideout, UCSC’s apparel buyer. SFGATE
8.
Willy Staley wrote about how Netflix has scrambled our collective sense of culture:
“‘The Night Agent,’ ‘Outer Banks,’ ‘ONE PIECE,’ ‘Dear Child,’ ‘Who Is Erin Carter?’ ‘The Gentlemen’ — these are all Top 5 shows on Netflix from the three spreadsheets released so far. I don’t know anyone who watches these, and I don’t think I’d ever read a word about them until I sat down to write this.” N.Y. Times Magazine
9.
You can drive right up to one of Yosemite’s prettiest alpine lakes. At 8,150 feet, Tenaya Lake’s silky water, granite peaks, and pristine blue sky create a tableau that is, according to Yosemite guide author Russ Cary, “arguably as gorgeous as anything in Yosemite.” Getting there is half the delight. Tenaya is reached along Tioga Road, the squiggly 46-mile route through the park’s scenic high country. In October, the sights are especially enchanting as the aspens and wild berry shrubs erupt in gold and fiery red. Outdoor Project | Afar
Southern California
10.
Raised in poverty, José Huizar overcame enormous odds to attend top universities and ascend Los Angeles’ political ladder from school board to City Council, where he became a power broker and symbol of the American Dream. On Monday, he began serving a 13-year sentence for corruption at a federal prison in Lompoc. The judge who delivered the sentence said it was necessary to “engender respect” for the law and acknowledge the harms to Los Angeles and democracy itself. Boyle Heights Beat | L.A. Times
11.
Starting this fall, all incoming students at UC San Diego will have to complete a climate change course to graduate, the first such requirement at a major public university. Wayne Yang, an ethnic studies professor who helped shepherd the course in, said the university wanted to turn students into agents of change. “I don’t know how we’re going to solve climate change, but I have no doubt that our students are going to be part of it,” he said. KPBS
12.
For its annual Hotel Awards, National Geographic Traveller awarded its top prize in the “Wellness Haven” category to Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel, an hour from San Diego in the Sonoran Desert:
“Housed near an ancient Native American healing site, the dinky 20-room retreat once drew curious visitors such as Hollywood A-listers Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich to its mineral-rich waters. Having fallen on hard times for some decades, it’s now risen from the ashes to attract a new crowd, drawn to its bubbling pools, heated naturally by the earth’s core and said to offer healing benefits.”
Correction
Monday’s newsletter misspelled on second reference the surname of a 2019 shooting victim in South Los Angeles. He was Jose Flores Velázquez, not Jose Flores Vasquez.
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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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