Good morning. It’s Monday, June 24.
- Violence erupts outside Los Angeles synagogue.
- Missing man found after 10 days in Santa Cruz Mountains.
- And photos from the wild early days of skateboarding.
Statewide
1.
Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom was boasting about California’s estimated $100 billion budget surplus. “Simply without precedent,” he said then. Now the state faces a nearly $50 billion budget shortfall in the coming year as a result of fluctuating tax revenue. On Saturday, Newsom and Democratic lawmakers struck a deal to bridge the gap by making $16 billion in cuts, delaying a healthcare worker wage increase, and dipping into reserves. The reductions include cuts to affordable housing, prisons, and college scholarships. Washington Post | CalMatters
2.
Violence broke out early Sunday as a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempted to block the entrance of a synagogue in Los Angeles’ most Jewish neighborhood, Pico-Robertson. According to reports, the group was met outside of the Abas Torah synagogue by pro-Israel counterprotesters and tensions turned into shoving matches and fist fights as police in riot gear struggled to restore order. In a statement, Mayor Karen Bass called the episode “abhorrent” and ordered extra LAPD patrols in the neighborhood. KCAL | L.A. Times
- Police dismantled antiwar camps at UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Channel Islands over the weekend. KEYT | Ventura County Star
3.
Wildlife officials released a family of seven beavers into the south fork of the Tule River in southern Sierra Nevada this month, reintroducing a native species to waters where it had been absent for more than a century. Beavers were abundant in California’s waterways before being hunted to near-extinction during the European-American fur trade that began in the 1600s. A campaign to revive the species has been driven in part by greater awareness of their role in creating wetlands that buffer flooding and provide habitat for other species. SFGATE
- See video of the release. 👉 YouTube
4.
An artist once called the sculpted headland south of Carmel Bay “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world.” But the grandeur literally escalates just down the coast in Big Sur. It’s there, and along the Lost Coast, where California juts most dramatically out of the sea — rising thousands of feet in less than a mile. That’s according to a new interactive map that ranks the impressiveness of peaks based on height above the immediate surroundings and distance from the eye of the beholder. Other standout areas: the Sonoma coast just north of Jenner; Pedro Point Headlands on the San Francisco Peninsula; and the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara. Peakjut.com
Northern California
5.
A 34-year-old man who went missing on June 11 during what was meant to be a short hike in Big Basin Redwoods State Park was found alive last Thursday, having survived nine nights and 10 days in the wilderness on berries and creek water. In an interview with KSBW, Lukas McClish described being ravaged by hunger, dreaming of a burrito. “Just help, help. I’m over here,” he recalled thinking. His rescue came after people heard his cries for help and alerted the authorities. He emerged ragged, shirtless, and 30 pounds lighter. KSBW | N.Y. Times
6.
Four days after federal agents raided her home, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao had not spoken publicly by Sunday. A rally gathered outside Oakland City Hall Sunday night to demand her resignation, chanting “Where’s Sheng Thao? Where’s Sheng Thao?” “She’s supposed to be our leader,” said Gregory Nash, 63. “We don’t even know where she at.” Mercury News | KGO
- Probably the worst news for Thao came the day after the raid, wrote Joe Garofoli: “That’s when few of her friends publicly stepped up to defend her. Or vouch for her. Or condemn the recall and raid.” S.F. Chronicle
7.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are drawing protests again; this time in one of Northern California’s gayest towns. When the Sonoma County library system revealed plans for a story time led by the group of gay activists in nun’s habits at its Guerneville branch, a national Catholic group launched a petition demanding the event’s cancellation. The library refused, and on Saturday a group of protesters gathered outside the library and recited the rosary, as a nun who goes by Sister Sorenda ‘da Booty read to a crowd inside. Press Democrat
8.
☝️ Meet the winner of the 2024 “World’s Ugliest Dog” contest.
Wild Thang — an 8-year-old Pekingese dog with wild hair, crooked teeth, and bulging eyes — took the crown at the annual celebration of canine imperfection held in Petaluma on Friday. According to his biography, Wild Thang suffered an infectious disease early in life that caused his tongue to stick out and his right front leg to paddle constantly. “He really tugged at our heart strings,” said State Treasurer Fiona Ma, one of the judges. Petaluma Argus-Courier | CNN
Southern California
9.
In 2018, a 16-year-old named Denmonne Lee faced murder changes for his alleged part in an Antelope Valley gas station robbery that led to the death of a 61-year-old former Marine. But when George Gascón rose to the L.A. County district attorney’s office two years later, he barred prosecutors from trying juveniles as adults. Lee was released last year. In April, he was arrested and charged in another homicide. Critics seeking Gascón’s election defeat in November are now highlighting the case to draw a link between his progressive policies and violent crime. L.A. Times
10.
Wagmor Pets became the go-to dog rescue for Hollywood celebrities after Ellen DeGeneres name-checked the organization on her show in 2019. The publicity translated into big business for Wagmor, which performed hundreds of adoptions a year. But something seemed off to other rescue groups. Wagmor had a lot of the prized sorts of dogs that are rare at shelters: puppies, purebreds, popular doodle mixes. Wagmor’s owner, Melissa Bacelar, is now facing several lawsuits accusing her of buying dogs from breeders and misrepresenting them as rescues. L.A. Times
11.
Carlos Castaneda became a leader of the New Age movement with his books about a mysterious shaman named Don Juan. He also oversaw a cult in Los Angeles where a group of women changed their names, disowned their families, cut their hair short, and had sex with him. After his death from liver cancer in 1998, six of those women disappeared. Rumors have swirled for years that they took their own lives in a suicide pact. “The only clues to their whereabouts were found on the desert floor in Death Valley,” journalist Geoffrey Gray wrote in an investigation into “the case of the missing chacmools.” Alta
12.
Skateboarding is a California invention, created by surfers trying to kill boredom when waves were flat in the late 1940s or early 50s. Its growth into a full-fledged sport came decades later thanks in large part to the introduction of polyurethane wheels that allowed for smoother rides and a drought that turned empty Southern California swimming pools into proto-skate parks. Between 1975 and 1978, photographer Hugh Holland chronicled the subculture during its wild and free early days. His archive is showcased in a forthcoming volume, “Last Days of Summer.” PetaPixel
- See 28 photos from Holland’s collection. 👉 MBphoto.com
Get your California Sun T-shirts, phone cases, hoodies, hats, and totes!
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
Make a one-time contribution to the California Sun.
Give a subscription as a gift.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information. To change your email address please email me: mike@californiasun.co. (Note: Unsubscribing here does not cancel payments. To do that click here.)
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.