Good morning. It’s Friday, December 13.
- The PayPal Mafia is taking Washington by storm.
- Patrick Soon-Shiong blocks another L.A. Times editorial.
- And ladybugs descend by the thousands on Oakland park.
Statewide
1.
The California Latino Legislative Caucus is ostensibly dedicated to furthering the interests of all of the state’s Latinos. But not all Latinos are welcome among its ranks. Under caucus rules, no Republicans are allowed. Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a Latino Republican representing suburban Sacramento, said the caucus’ rejection of people like him is revealing. “They talk about a lot about diversity,” he said, “but they’re not interested in diversity of thought, in differing political opinions. L.A. Times
2.
Thanks to higher-than-expected tax revenues, California’s fiscal outlook had brightened in recent months. Then came an expansion of healthcare benefits to undocumented immigrants and proposals to bolster Hollywood and create a war chest for battle with the incoming Trump administration. The Los Angeles Times writes: “As analysts warn about the need for California to restrain spending, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wish list and other new costs are threatening to unwind progress toward balancing the state budget.”
Northern California
3.
The FBI said Luigi Mangione wasn’t on anyone’s radar before he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on Monday. But four days earlier, a San Francisco police officer recognized Mangione as a potential suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson based on a missing person’s report, sources told the San Francisco Chronicle: “The revelation that a police officer was able to recognize Mangione after viewing the surveillance images raises questions about whether any of Mangione’s many friends, relatives, past co-workers and former classmates did the same.”
- “Friends and family have been left bewildered by the jarring transformation of a young man who seemed destined for a life of achievement,” the New York Times wrote.
4.
Over the weekend, tech bros gathered at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts for a Christmas party organized by the MAGA-friendly podcast “All-In.” The party doubled as a celebration of the ascendant power of the PayPal Mafia, the nickname for founders and early employees of the digital payments company. “All-in” co-host David Sacks is a PayPal alumnus and ally of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, two other PayPal mafiosi. An entrepreneur in attendance observed: “The PayPal Mafia’s takeover of the government is now complete, so good work on that.” The Economist
5.
The Bay Area has a higher share of residents earning more than $1 million a year than any other region in the country, an analysis of payroll records found — and it’s not close. Roughly one in 185 Bay Area jobs paid more than $1 million a year, data from 2023 and 2024 showed. Coming in second place was Florida’s Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area, where the ratio was one in 313 jobs. Nationally, it was one in 455. S.F. Chronicle
6.
Every fall, thousands of ladybugs descend on an otherwise unremarkable stretch of trail inside a park in the Oakland hills, where they hibernate for the winter. The beetles cling to branches, swarm leaves, and cluster atop fence posts. “Amazement,” East Bay Regional Parks naturalist Michael Charnofsky said of his feeling toward the bugs. “It’s also kind of baffling. Why are they doing this? How are there so many of them in one place?” S.F. Chronicle
Southern California
7.
The ex-wife of a popular Woodlands Hills doctor who was killed outside his clinic on Aug. 23 was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder, authorities said. Hamid Mirshojae, 61, was shot in the back of the head as he walked to his car after work. Five people have now been arrested in what investigators believe was a conspiracy to ambush and kill him. In August, his former wife, Ahang Kelk, denied being involved. “It’s all lies,” she said at the time. L.A. Times | L.A. Daily News
8.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, killed a recent editorial that criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. The action was the latest in a series of interventions by Soon-Shiong, to the horror of his staff, as he implements what he has described as a “redo” of the Times. He has demanded personal oversight of opinion headlines, recruited a Donald Trump supporter to join the editorial board, and unveiled plans for a “bias meter” that would alert readers to the political slant of reported articles. N.Y. Times
9.
A young woman who had a double mastectomy at age 14 is suing two California doctors, accusing them of rushing her “down a life-altering … and irreversibly damaging” gender transition. One of the defendants is Johanna Olson-Kennedy, an influential doctor who runs the country’s largest youth gender clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Kaya Clementine Breen, now a 20-year-old drama student at UCLA, was put on puberty blockers at age 12 and hormones at 13, but later regretted her gender transition. In an interview, she said, “I wish that somebody had suggested real, genuine therapy first.” NBC News
10.
A former California Highway Patrol officer named Gregg Musgrove discovered 12 unreleased tracks from Michael Jackson, recorded circa 1990 — enough for an album. The tapes were found in a San Fernando Valley storage unit once owned by a music producer who worked with Jackson. “I’m listening to this stuff, and I would get goosebumps because nobody’s ever heard this stuff before,” Musgrove said. It’s likely he’ll be among the few to ever hear the songs: The Jackson estate owns the copyright on the recordings, meaning they can not be released publicly. Hollywood Reporter
11.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with James Tejani, author of the new book “A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth,” a history of the Port of Los Angeles. Unlike San Francisco’s protected natural harbor, the Port of Los Angeles represented a feat of human will driven by railroad barons, real-estate speculators, Civil War veterans, scientists, and Mexican-era landholders. Much of that history, Tejani said, was hidden: “The process of forgetting tells us so much about Los Angeles and its rise, the city’s need for a curated mythology about itself.”
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- Rob Schanz, a Sausalito photographer, did a four-day, 32-mile hike with a few friends through the High Sierra’s John Muir Wilderness. “The loop,” he wrote, “pretty much beat the hell out of us.” Schanz shared a trip report with some fantastic photos. Field Magazine
- In 2023, a geographer created a map that visualized the walkability of Seattle neighborhoods to parks, libraries, supermarkets, restaurants, and more than a dozen other amenities. It went viral. Now he’s released a map for the entire U.S. Bloomberg
- Look up your city. Close.city
- The Botanical Building, known as the crown jewel of San Diego’s lush Balboa Park, reopened to the public after a three-year, $26.5 million restoration. Crews replaced the entire redwood lath and restored arched windows that had been removed. The pictures look fantastic. S.D. Union-Tribune | NBC San Diego
- On Black Friday, the San Francisco Standard published a shopping guide highlighting the deals to be found at an illegal outdoor market in the Mission district. The piece triggered a fierce backlash, prompting editors to append a note acknowledging that it “crossed a line.” Voice of San Francisco
- Now on the market is a historic Victorian just a few blocks from downtown Nevada City, one of the prettiest mountain towns in the West. Among the vintage features: a cast-iron stove and original hardwood floors. Yours for $829,000. N.Y. Times
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
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