Supreme Court ruling on guns reverberates in California.

Regulators order Juul to halt e-cigarette sales in U.S.

And a family's heart-wrenching spiral into homelessness.  

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms in public. The decision struck down a New York law requiring "proper cause" to carry a gun outside but it also applied to a similar law in California. "Confining the right to 'bear' arms to the home would make little sense," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for a partisan 6-3 majority. Democratic leaders in California vowed to introduce legislation within days to blunt the impact of the ruling. L.A. Times | A.P.

The Atlantic: "With this morning’s Supreme Court decision, the only real remaining question is not whether Americans can carry firearms, but where."

In early March, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed "immediate action" to provide relief as gas prices soared. More than three months later, Californians are still waiting. Despite an overflowing budget, Newsom and legislative leaders have been at odds over whether payouts should be tied to vehicle ownership or income — and neither is budging. Some moderate Democrats are so frustrated they are now efectively aligning with Republicans to demand suspension of the state's gas tax. Politico

The California architect Harry Gesner died this month at 97. His obituary reads like an adventure novel. Growing up, he could surf and ski like a pro and flew a plane at age 14. His first love, as a senior at Santa Monica High, was the actress June Lockhart. But the romance was cut short by World War II, and at age 19 he took part in the D-Day landing at Normandy. After the war, he excavated pre-Incan artifacts in Ecuador, ran into Errol Flynn at a bar in Mexico City, and attended a class taught by Frank Lloyd Wright. Largely self-taught, Gesner designed dozens of prized homes around Los Angeles over his career. The most famous of them is the Wave House in Malibu, pictured above, with crested roofs that jut over the ocean like waves. N.Y. Times

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul to stop selling e-cigarettes in the U.S., a devastating blow to the San Francisco company. Juul's initial dominance of the vaping market invited intense scrutiny from groups that worried the sleek devices and prefilled pods in flavors like mango and cucumber harmed young people. Explaining the decision, the FDA said Juul failed to prove that its devices were safe. Washington Post | A.P.

Tule Lake is vanishing. Once vast and thriving, the intermittent lake near the Oregon border has been transformed by drought into a moonlike landscape with cracks in the exposed lakebed wide enough to slip your hand into. Birdlife has declined, croplands have been left idle, and workers are moving out. "You get to the lake and it’s just empty," said Ryan Finney, who works in agriculture. "And it sucks — all the wildlife that should be there that’s not. It’s pretty sad." Siskiyou Daily News

In 1990, a bakery owner in Berkeley named Gary Erickson had the idea to make a better energy bar after choking down five unappetizing bars during a 175-mile bike ride. Clif Bar was born. After 10 years, Quaker Oats offered $120 million for the company. But Erickson walked away, assuming massive debt to stay afloat. It turned out to be a prudent decision. On Monday, Erickson and his wife accepted a $2.9 billion buyout from snack giant Mondelez International. Forbes | Bloomberg

On this week's California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with Alexa Koenig, executive director of UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center. They discussed how smartphones and digital research methods are transforming the way we expose and prosecute human rights atrocities around the world. 

Before the pandemic, Natalie and Dustin Raschke comfortably supported their family of six with bartending jobs. They had two cars and money in the bank. After losing their jobs, they decided to live out of an RV until the economy opened back up. But shortly into their stay at an RV park in San Diego, they were unexpectedly asked to leave. With nowhere to go, they racked up so many parking tickets that police impounded the RV. That's when the Raschkes faced a reality that seemed inconceivable: They were homeless. "Every day, I’m like, how is this happening to me?" Natalie said. Voice of San Diego

One baffling outcome of the bottleneck at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles: The ocean shipping industry is recording huge profits. Carriers have been charging exorbitant fees on shipping containers stuck at port, a cost that gets passed to consumers in the form of higher retail prices. "It’s like renting a car at the airport, and when you try to return it, they’re saying, 'No, you have to hang on to it for us, and we’re gonna continue to charge you,'" said Fred Johring, the CEO of a California trucking firm. ProPublica

Over the years, one of Los Angeles' most prominent landlords withheld security deposits from more than 19,000 tenants when they moved out of his apartment complexes. Now Geoffrey Palmer has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit. A lawyer for former residents said he expected the settlement to cover the full return of security deposits to his clients. L.A. Times

Los Angeles County officials revealed on Wednesday how they will transfer the Manhattan Beach property known as Bruce's Beach to the descendants of its original Black owners, who were driven from town in the 1920s by disgruntled white neighbors. After the transfer of the oceanfront park, estimated to be worth $20 million, the county will rent it from the family for $413,000 a year. L.A. Times | Daily Breeze

Five items that got big views over the past week:

The town of Orick serves as a gateway to Redwood National and State Parks yet looks like the setting for a zombie movie. "Driving through the town on Highway 101 to get to the park, you pass boarded-up motels, ramshackle houses, rusted-out cars, and properties that look like junkyards," Greg Rosalsky wrote. NPR

Five friends from Santa Barbara have posed for the same photo at a California lake every five years since 1982. Last week, after 40 years of graduations, jobs, marriages, and children, they gathered for their ninth photo, still friends and still cranking up the Rush and Pink Floyd. CNN

On Santa Rosa Island, archaeologists have found entire Chumash villages, numerous graves, and the bones of pygmy mammoths. In a travel story, Alex Krowiak recommended you visit, not only for the scenery but to connect to the continent's deep history and culture. National Geographic

An obscure religious sect based in the Sierra foothills has gained a foothold inside a business unit at Google. Founded in 1970, the Fellowship of Friends believes that higher consciousness is attainable through fine arts and culture. N.Y. Times

There's a surf break in Newport Beach called the Wedge where steep waves break perilously close to the shore, tossing even pros like rag dolls. A surfing filmmaker cut together a reel of the gnarliest 50 wipeouts. YouTube (14 mins)

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Today's California Sun: Supreme Court ruling on guns reverberates in California, regulators order Juul to halt e-cigarette sales in U.S., and a family's heart-wrenching spiral into homelessness.

California vows to rewrite concealed gun laws // One family's spiral into homelessness

Lightning strike kills woman walking dogs in Pico Rivera.

Merit admissions revived at top San Francisco high school.

And a highlight reel of the 50 gnarliest wipeouts at the Wedge.

California is bursting with cash, projecting a $97.5 billion budget surplus that is larger than any state has ever had. Yet it has the worst school transportation system in country, busing fewer than 9% of students. That places an enormous strain on families, especially in rural areas. Jeanne Bassett Fernandes, a school official in Sonoma County, said she suspects some kids stay home because their parents can't afford gas. "There’s a human cost to this," she said. L.A. Times

A total of 54,329 lightning events were recorded across California on Wednesday, the most in a single day since 2017. One bolt struck a woman, 52-year-old Antonia Mendoza Chavez, as she walked two dogs in the morning along the San Gabriel River in Pico Rivera, officials said. All three died. Wild weather in other parts of the state knocked out power in Pasadena, likely sparked fires along the Grapevine and near Fresno, and sank several boats in Tulare County's Kaweah Lake. CBS Los Angeles | L.A. Times

There's a trail along a river two hours north of Santa Rosa with 10 wooden bridges, a riotous fern canyon, towering redwoods, and a pygmy forest. Fern Canyon trail is the main artery through Van Damme State Park, a standout among California's 280 state parks. A travel magazine included Van Damme in a new roundup of the state's 15 best state parks. AFAR

San Francisco's school board voted to revive merit-based admissions at the city's top public high school Wednesday after the switch to a lottery system in 2021 fueled the recall of three commissioners. Critics of the merit system at Lowell High said it deepened racial disparities. But board member Lainie Motamedi, who sided with the majority in the 4-3 vote, said the district needed to meet the needs of all children. "There are no 'these kids, those kids'; these are all of our kids," she said. S.F. Chronicle | SF Standard

The board also reversed another pre-recall policy, nullifying a vote to cover a 1936 mural that includes images of slavery and dead Native Americans. S.F. Chronicle

The May 28 arrest of Paul Pelosi on suspicion of drunk driving in Napa Valley shined a light on the rarefied lifestyle he and his wife, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, enjoy among the vineyards. The Pelosis have two homes in California, a three-floor red brick townhouse in San Francisco, and a 17-acre gated estate in St. Helena. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown: "Everybody in San Francisco now has a Napa place. Everybody who can afford it." N.Y. Times

Sheryl Sandberg was once heralded as a feminist trailblazer. But in a post-mortem on her career, Caitlin Flanagan argued that the departing Facebook executive had her priorities wrong: "During her 14 years at the company, she’s done so much damage to our society that we may never recover. The simple truth is that you cannot simultaneously dedicate yourself to making untold fortunes for a giant corporation and to championing a social good." The Atlantic

The photographer Robert Gumpert on the stain of human suffering in a city of staggering wealth:

"We live in a mindset that everybody is responsible for themselves, and nobody else. And that’s why the unhoused are vilified. And it doesn’t matter about whether it’s San Francisco — L.A. isn’t any different, except they have about five or six times as many homeless. New York’s not different. Denver’s not different, you know, Phoenix — that’s the society we live in." The Guardian | S.F. Public Press

Officials are working on a policy to ban new gas stations in Los Angeles, the capital of American car culture. In March 2021, Petaluma became the first city to prohibit new gas stations, inspiring several others to pass similar measures. Los Angeles, where a policy could be in place by year's end, would be the largest city yet to impose a ban. "Our great and influential city, which grew up around the automobile, is the perfect place to figure out how to move off the gas-powered car," said Paul Koretz, a City Council member. The Guardian

When early returns in Los Angeles' mayoral primary showed the billionaire developer Rick Caruso leading Rep. Karen Bass, the pundits sounded off. Progressive reforms had been rejected, they said. Two weeks later, Bass has climbed from five percentage points down on election night to a seven-point lead. The lesson, election experts say, is that mail voting has carved up the electorate into distinct tranches, with late-arriving ballots reflecting the closing sentiments of the election. L.A. Times

More than six years after a terrorist attack at a government training event in San Bernardino, a memorial to the 14 lives lost opened to the public on Monday. It includes curving bronze-and-steel panels intended to evoke bulletproof vests along with engravings provided by the victims' families. In her mother's honor, Jolene Verdehyou Betbadal chose: "Pain is temporary. Love lasts forever." San Bernardino Sun | N.Y. Times

On Southern California's Santa Rosa Island, archaeologists have found entire Chumash villages, numerous graves, and the bones of pygmy mammoths. Human remains date to more than 13,000 years ago, the oldest to be discovered in North America. In a travel story, Alex Krowiak recommended you visit, not only for the gorgeous landscape but to connect to the continent's deep history and culture. National Geographic

There's a surf break in Newport Beach called the Wedge where waves steep and powerful break perilously close the shore, tossing even professionals like rag dolls. Spectators gather just to watch them get slammed. A surfing filmmaker cut together a reel of the gnarliest 50 wipeouts at the Wedge. Beefs TV/YouTube (14 mins)

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Today's California Sun: Lightning strike kills woman walking dogs in Pico Rivera, merit admissions revived at top San Francisco high school, and a highlight reel of the 50 gnarliest wipeouts at the Wedge.

Merit admissions revived at top San Francisco school // 50 gnarliest wipeouts at the Wedge

Gavin Newsom picks fights like a presidential candidate.

Hard times in the former lumber town of Orick.

And UC San Diego hands out first-ever surf scholarship.

For months, Gov. Gavin Newsom has been taking swipes at red-state governors. Last week, he joined Donald Trump’s social media network and announced that he was "going to be on there calling out Republican lies." While Newsom says he has no interest in running for U.S. president, the politics writer Blake Hounshell noted, he "keeps picking exactly the kinds of fights that presidential candidates like to pick." N.Y. Times

California had a teacher shortage before the pandemic, which only pushed more educators toward the exit. With school now out for summer, many are calling it quits. Wendy Grider, who decided to leave her fourth-grade teaching job in Rocklin, cited growing vitriol from parents: "The reason I stayed in teaching was for the actual teaching, and for the kids, which is really what you think it should be all about. Unfortunately, it’s turned into a very small percentage of the job." Wall Street Journal

Support for legal marijuana in California has only increased since 2016, when voters ended prohibition of the drug. But a provision in the law gave cities and counties discretion over whether to ban cannabis businesses — and more than 60% did. That's now led to campaigns across the state aimed at prying open the holdouts one by one. A consultancy tracked voter initiative drives in roughly two dozen cities over just the last year. CalMatters

Cruising is shedding its stigma. The tradition of driving leisurely down the boulevard was forged after World War II in the working-class neighborhoods of the San Fernando and San Joaquin valleys. Local ordinances sought to put a stop to the fun. But cities are increasingly experiencing a change of heart. In the last five months, repeals of cruising bans have been advanced or approved in National City, Sacramento, and San Jose. Mercury News

In 2009, the city of Richmond began experimenting with paying young men not to shoot each other. The controversial approach has since been copied in numerous other cities, including Fresno, which launched Advance Peace last year. But then in April, an employee with the group was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and two gun crimes. Mayor Jerry Dyer and other cities leaders have now cast doubt on funding the group, enraging supporters who say the program works. Fresno Bee | San Joaquin Valley Sun

NPR's "Planet Money" paid a visit to Orick, a town that serves as a gateway to Redwood National and State Parks yet looks like the setting for a zombie movie. "Driving through the town on Highway 101 to get to the park, you pass boarded-up motels, ramshackle houses, rusted-out cars, and properties that look like junkyards," Greg Rosalsky wrote. Here's the story of how a once-vibrant lumber town was sold a false promise of tourism. 👉 NPR 

Amazon said its delivery drones would bring the future to Lockeford, a rural ranch town in the San Joaquin Valley. But in interviews, locals were taken by surprise and some seemed less than thrilled. Naydeene Koster said she worried the drones would frighten her livestock. Tim Blighton, a cement contractor, confessed to once threatening to shoot down a neighbor's drone. "They’re invading our privacy," he said of Amazon. Washington Post 

After years of pressure, California officials voted unanimously to change the name of a lakeside recreation area near Sacramento called Negro Bar. The name is believed to have originated in reference to the many Black miners that camped in the area during the Gold Rush. For the time being, it will be called Black Miners Bar while plans are made to finalize a new name by year's end. Sacramento Bee | A.P.

The stories of Black cowboys in the old West have been overlooked, but more than 8,000 of them rode in the cattle drives of the late 1860s. The photographer Gabriela Hasbun spent more than a decade chronicling how that history reverberates in the Oakland gathering of a touring Black rodeo, the only one in America. Her work is now part of a gorgeous new volume titled "The New Black West." Hyperallergic | Sunset

See more of Hasbun's work. 👉 @gabrielahasbun 

Jurors in a Los Angeles County civil trial found that Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975. He was ordered to pay $500,000. Judy Huth, now 64, and a high school friend met Cosby on a film set and accepted an invitation to go to the mansion, where she said he forced her to perform a sex act. Huth's win was the culmination of a seven-year legal fight. "It’s been torture," she said. "To be ripped apart, you know, thrown under the bus and backed over. This, to me, is such a big victory." A.P. | L.A. Times

UC San Diego, in La Jolla near some of the country's finest waves, just handed out the first-ever surf scholarship. The recipient is 19-year-old pre-med student Makena Burke, who honed her skills growing up in the beach town of Ventura. She collected the college women’s state title in March and hopes to one day win Olympic gold. Inertia | Stab Magazine

Southern California whale watchers are reporting the first blue whale sightings of the season. The largest creatures known to have ever existed, blue whales have tongues as heavy as an elephant and hearts as big as a golf cart. They acquire their size by feasting on krill, abundant off California during the summer months. Mark Girardeau, a photographer with Newport Coastal Adventure, recently captured the beauty above off the coast of Orange County. O.C. Register

Today's California Sun: Gavin Newsom picks fights like a presidential candidate, hard times in the former lumber town of Orick, and UC San Diego hands out the first-ever surf scholarship.

The rise and fall of a former lumber town // UC San Diego gives first surf scholarship

Firefighters report widespread PTSD and suicidal thoughts.

Million-dollar affordable housing units are now routine.

And an obscure religious sect gains foothold inside Google.  

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on Monday announced a legislative inquiry into the cause of high gas prices, accusing oil companies of "ripping off" drivers. Republicans ridiculed the move, blaming Democrats for refusing to suspend the state's 51-cent-per-gallon excise tax on gasoline. "We have the most expensive gas prices in the country by far," said Assemblymember Kevin Kiley. "That’s not because oil companies are treating California differently than other states." A.P. | L.A. Times

In an ambitious four-part series, CalMatters investigated what has been described as a crisis of PTSD and suicidal thoughts among California's firefighters. Many of the quotes are jarring:

Mike Orton, a Cal Fire captain in Los Angeles County: "I would be willing to bet that there’s suicidal ideation in half of our employees right now,  and half of them have a plan to do it."

Tony Martinez, a 29-year Cal Fire veteran in Napa County: "I tell my young firefighters: 'Don’t work here.'"

Ramesh Gune, a therapist who works with firefighters: "Mostly anger, that is what I see a lot. 'I am not what I pretend to be.' That’s the conflict. 'I feel helpless.' That sense of helplessness drives them crazy. They cannot save people. 'I am not enough.' They harbor that negative feeling constantly." CalMatters

"We know how long families have been waiting for this moment."

California medical providers planned to start administering coronavirus vaccines to children under 5 years old as soon as today. The FDA's expert advisory panel unanimously recommended the vaccines, saying the benefits outweigh any risks while the amount of virus in communities remains high. Yet parents have been reluctant to immunize their young children: Just 36% of Californians age 5 to 11 have been vaccinated, according to state figures. KQED

Find appointments at VaccineFinder.org or MyTurn.ca.gov.

Today is the summer solstice, a day laden with significance since antiquity as a turning point of the year.  

In 2002, archaeologists exploring a cave in the Wind Wolves Preserve south of Bakersfield first recorded an ancient painting of a red pinwheel. Later, tests of leaves and stems stuffed in the cave's cracks suggested the inspiration for the artwork: They contained remains of the datura flower, a hallucinogenic plant that unfurls in the shape of a pinwheel. And there was one more revelation: During the summer solstice, the researchers found, a beam of sunlight sweeps across the painting. National Geographic

Several affordable housing projects in the Bay Area are costing more than $1 million per apartment to build, making them likely the costliest in the nation, a review found. The extraordinary expense of such projects has been blamed in part on rising prices for materials, but also stringent building standards and byzantine bureaucracy. A 2018 study found that 14% of the price tag for California’s affordable housing projects was made up of consulting fees and other administrative costs. L.A. Times

M. Nolan Gray, a housing researcher: "There's absolutely no way we're solving California's housing crisis at these price points."

In 2020, it became public that an evangelical church was buying Fresno's historic Tower Theatre, a pillar of the city's most bohemian neighborhood. A bitter fight broke out as locals, the mayor, and Hollywood celebrities urged the church to consider another location, which it refused to do. The sale, however, was ultimately halted by a series of legal battles, and on Friday a judge cleared the way for a new buyer: the city of Fresno. San Joaquin Valley Sun

An obscure religious sect based in the Sierra foothills has gained a foothold inside a business unit at Google. Founded in 1970, the Fellowship of Friends believes that higher consciousness is attainable through fine arts and culture. The presence of as many as 12 Fellowship members in the Google Developer Studio came to light when an employee sued, saying he was fired for complaining about the sect's outsize influence. A reporter who looked into the story called it "definitely stranger than fiction." N.Y. Times

In 1995, San Francisco planners envisioned an ambitious transit overhaul that would give the city the north-south rapid transit corridor it lacked. Some 27 years and more than $340 million later, dedicated rapid bus lanes opened along 2 miles of Van Ness Avenue on April 1. The Chronicle's Ricardo Cano described the buses as "de-facto subways on wheels" that glide past traffic. A broadcaster interviewed passengers who reported saving 15 minutes each way. KPIX

S.F. Chronicle: Street sculptures along the route have turned the ride into "an event." 👇

San Francisco celebrated the Warriors on Monday with a boisterous championship parade. A few scenes. 👇

In the 1990s, the California economist Peter Navarro was a Clinton supporter who criticized "the extreme right wing of the Republican Party." He inveighed against Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Pete Wilson, whom he accused of exploiting "white male rage and anti-immigration fervor." In 2022, Navarro is "a sad, whiny insurrectionist," the columnist Mark Z. Barbarak wrote. Yet there is a through-line between the two Navarros, he noted: "a monumental self-regard, a bottomless hunger for attention ... and an utter lack of grounding principles." L.A. Times

Elon Musk’s transgender daughter filed a petition in a Los Angeles court to change her name from Xavier Musk to Vivian Jenna Wilson, citing her new gender identity and that "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form." Wilson — a twin born to Musk and his former wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson — made the request on April 18, the day after she turned 18. Musk has said he supports trans rights, while criticizing preferred pronouns as "an esthetic nightmare." TMZ | Reuters

An architect prone to whimsy built the boat houses of Encinitas in 1920 to look like vessels accidentally washed ashore. In 2019, they were added to the register of national historic landmarks, putting them in the same league as Hearst Castle and the cable cars of San Francisco. There are plans to convert them into a museum, but for the moment people live in them. Atlas Obscura | Encinitas Historical Society

Today's California Sun: Firefighters report widespread PTSD and suicidal thoughts, million-dollar affordable housing units are now routine, and an obscure religious sect gains foothold inside Google.

Cal Fire's mental health crisis // Religious sect gains foothold at Google

Warriors cement their place among the greatest NBA teams.

Legislative deal is reached to dramatically curb plastics.

And Santa Clara and Inglewood will host World Cup soccer.  

Please note: The newsletter will pause Monday. Back in your inbox Tuesday.

Last October, the statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight put the chances of the Golden State Warriors winning the NBA championship at 0.1%, or one in 1,000. Yet in a vintage performance Thursday night, they defeated the Boston Celtics, ­103-90, in Game 6 of the Finals, clinching their fourth title in eight seasons and cementing their place as one of the greatest teams ever assembled. As the clock wound down to zero, Stephen Curry, the series MVP, dropped to the hardwood and sobbed. "This one hits different for sure," he said afterward. "Carrying a belief that we could get back to this stage and win, even if it didn’t make sense to anybody when we said it, all that stuff matters now." S.F. Chronicle | A.P. | Mercury News

The parade plan: Players and coaches will make their way down San Francisco's Market Street starting at 11:20 a.m. on Monday. SFGATE

Environmentalists said they reached a legislative deal to sharply reduce the amount of plastic Californians use, a breakthrough denied by industry opposition in years past. The bill would require manufacturers to sharply curtail the amount of plastic packaging they create, while ensuring that what they do produce is recyclable. The compromise means environmental groups could pull their November ballot initiative that would put the issue before voters. S.F. Chronicle

FIFA announced Thursday that stadiums in Santa Clara and Inglewood will be among those to host the 2026 men’s World Cup, as the global soccer tournament returns to the U.S. for the time since 1994. In an unusual arrangement, the 2026 contest will be be hosted by three countries — the U.S., Mexico, and Canada — with games spread across 16 venues. Each stadium was expected to host four or five games. ESPN | A.P.

Five friends from Santa Barbara High School have posed for the same photo at a Northern California lake every five years since 1982. The first photo was taken during a vacation at Copco Lake in Siskiyou County when they were about 19 years old. On Wednesday, after 40 years of graduations, jobs, marriages, and children, they gathered for their ninth photo, still friends and still cranking up the Rush and Pink Floyd. CNN

On this week's California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman chats with the science journalist Matt Richtel, whose latest book, "Inspired," explores the science of creativity. Richtel talked about why California seems to have more of it. "The culture here is so open to creativity," he said. "Here, we've learned that creativity makes money. If you want to talk about the ultimate incentive, it's putting food on the table." 

Elon Musk addressed Twitter's rank-and-file for the first time on Thursday in a 45-minute Q&A session. Despite raising doubts about his $44 billion acquisition of the company, the billionaire entrepreneur made clear that he had grand ambitions for the platform. He said he wants to Twitter to have more than 1 billion users — four times the current number. Asked about free speech, he said people should be allowed to say outrageous things, but that doesn't mean they are entitled to "freedom of reach." N.Y. Times | recode

"Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment." SpaceX workers issued a public letter criticizing Musk's conduct on Twitter. The Verge | SFist

A football coach at Visalia's College of the Sequoias was fatally shot by his own father on Wednesday after a quarrel turned violent, police said. William Wright Jr., 31, a father of two young boys, was visiting his parents at their home in Fresno when he and his father, 52-year-old William Wright Sr., got into an argument about the proper way to discipline children. The elder Wright then retrieved a gun and shot his son in the chest, officials said. He was charged with murder. KFSN | Visalia Times Delta

A photo of a dead sea lion in Monterey Bay was honored in the California Academy of Sciences' 2022 BigPicture Photography Competition. Colorful bat stars arrayed across the seal's body were likened to flowers tossed on a grave. The photographer, David Slater, captured the photo during a dive last September. "I had never known death to be this beautiful," he said. bioGraphic

Sheriff's deputies disproportionately cite and arrest Black students in Los Angeles County's Antelope Valley, an inspector general's report found. The analysis was prompted by a news investigation that found deputies were being called in to settle schoolyard disputes. When the article was published in September, Captain John Lecrivain called it "a very entertaining piece of fiction." During a Civilian Oversight Commission meeting on Thursday, he struck a different tone, calling racial disparities "a serious concern." LAist

"The man who shot and killed two El Monte police officers Tuesday could have faced significantly more time in prison when he was last charged with a crime. But one of Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s most heavily criticized policies probably resulted in a lower sentence, according to documents reviewed by The Times."

In July 2019, a group of drones swarmed Navy destroyers near Southern California's Channel Islands. Ship logs noted that the drones matched the speed and bearing of the U.S.S. Kidd and stayed aloft for some 90 minutes. The Navy was so alarmed it opened a high-level investigation, but the drones' origin remains a mystery. One theory: A foreign adversary is spying on Navy ships off California. The Drive recently obtained night-vision video footage of the drones captured from the ship decks.

Along the highways of California are dozens of truck stops that serve as havens for the nation's 550,000 long-haul truck drivers. They have arcades, showers, churches, and laundromats. Jamie Lee Taete produced a great photo essay. N.Y. Times

Merle Haggard's greatest song, some say, was "Mama Tried," about turning 21 in prison despite his mother's best efforts to steer him right. There's a great video of him performing it to an audience that included his mom. They gave her a standing ovation. 👉 YouTube (3:30 mins) 

The art critic Christopher Knight visited an exhibition of Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld’s paintings inside the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Gallery at the newly renamed Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum. "The art is frankly terrible," he wrote. L.A. Times

Raw sewage from a wastewater plant south of the border is befouling 15 miles of San Diego County coastline. It's so bad that the shorelines at Imperial Beach and Coronado have been largely off-limits since May. S.D. Union-Tribune | FOX 5 San Diego

Thousands of the decaying cabins dot the Mojave Desert, remnants of what the L.A. Times called "one of the strangest land rushes in Southern California history." The photographer Helin Bereket did a fantastic series on "The Abandoned Cabins Of Wonder Valley." Bored Panda | Creative Boom

Today's California Sun: Warriors cement their place among the greatest NBA teams, legislative deal is reached to dramatically curb plastics, and Santa Clara and Inglewood will host World Cup soccer.

Warriors revive the dynasty // A sweeping anti-plastic deal

The state's federal firefighters face a morale crisis.

Bay Area voters elect first two Latina sheriffs in California.

And a photo series on the abandoned cabins of Wonder Valley.

"This is arguably the most important action the California Resources Board will ever take."

In April, California unveiled a plan to prohibit sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035. It would be a giant leap given that currently just 12% of new vehicle sales are zero-emissions. During a nine-hour public hearing last week, regulators heard concerns over the practicality of the timeline. "I am lower class. I am under the poverty level," said Sherry Chavarria, a Tulare County resident. "How can I afford a Tesla?" CalMatters

As California heads into what is expected to be a grueling fire season, just 62% of federal firefighter positions in the state are filled, a Forest Service source told a reporter. Before 2020, nearly all openings nationwide usually would be filled by this time of year. It's no surprise, firefighters say: The work is backbreaking, the pay is terrible, and the morale is at an all-time low. L.A. Times

California’s rate of home ownership, about 56%, is second lowest in the country behind New York. So state lawmakers have devised a way to usher more residents into homeownership: putting government in the role of a generous relative. Under the proposal, a billion-dollar fund would provide first-time buyers with money for a down payment in exchange for a stake in the home. It would be the largest experiment with so-called shared equity mortgages in the U.S. CalMatters

The New York Times runs a regular feature on "what you get" for a given sum in various housing markets. Monday's column is a stark illustration of how absurd home-buying has become in California. For $1 million, you can get a one-bedroom bungalow plus a guest unit in Monrovia, a two-bedroom condo in Oakland, or a home with just 630 square feet in San Diego. N.Y. Times

Bay Area voters just elected not just the first, but the first two Latina sheriffs in California. Yesenia Sanchez in Alameda County and Christina Corpus in San Mateo County both toppled incumbents in upset victories. And both ran on progressive platforms, making their wins a counterpoint to San Francisco's recall of its progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin. Mercury News | KTVU

An old rail line along 32 miles of Santa Cruz County coastline once ran "Suntan Special" excursions to the beach in the middle of the 20th century. But the passenger trips ended long ago, and recent storm damage rendered it largely unusable for freight. On June 7, voters were asked whether the tracks should be ripped out and converted in a pedestrian trail. The answer was an emphatic no, with 70% opposed. They want the trains to run again. Bloomberg

Jesse Powell, leader of the crypto exchange Kraken, dove headlong into the culture wars Wednesday with a Twitter thread that railed against "woke" employees who obsess over pronouns and race, sapping productivity. The outburst came as the N.Y. Times prepared to publish an article that portrayed Powell himself as a source of discord at Kraken. "Even in the male-dominated cryptocurrency industry, which is known for a libertarian philosophy that promotes freewheeling speech, Mr. Powell has taken that ethos to an extreme," the newspaper wrote. N.Y. Times | SFist

In 1967, Ed Caraeff was a junior at Westchester High School in Los Angeles and an aspiring rock photographer. Just 17 years old, he managed to get himself and a camera borrowed from his family optometrist into the Monterey International Pop Festival, which kicked off on this day 55 years ago. There he met a German photographer who offered some advice: "Save some film for this Jimi Hendrix cat." 

Hendrix, 24, was effectively making his homeland debut after dazzling audiences in London, and he was said to be intent on one-upping the equipment-smashing stars of The Who. As luck had it, Caraeff was mere feet away when Hendrix dropped to his knees and coaxed fire from his Stratocaster. With a click, he captured one of rock's most perfect moments, shown above: the theatrical culmination of a performance that elevated Hendrix to rock legend status at the groundbreaking festival that ushered in the Summer of Love. It was worth missing a couple days of school, Caraeff later concluded. N.Y. Times | KQED

The wife of the man who fatally shot two El Monte police officers on Tuesday said she had warned the officers that he had a gun. Diana Flores said she had booked a room at the Siesta Inn Motel to escape her husband, Justin Flores, but he tracked her down. "I’m so, so, so sorry," Diana Flores said through tears. "They didn’t deserve that. ... They were trying to help me and I told them before they went in the room, 'Don’t go in. He has a gun.'" Law enforcement sources said Justin Flores, who was killed, ran with a gang and was on probation. CBS News | NBC Los Angeles

The slain officers were identified as Cpl. Michael Paredes, 42, and Officer Joseph Santana, 31. Paredes is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. Santana is survived by his wife, daughter, and twin sons. L.A. Daily News | L.A. Times

A Southern California water district devised a creative way to crack down on residents who flout water limitations triggered by the drought. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in western Los Angeles County has begun installing flow restrictors at the main shutoff valves of homes that exceed their water budgets. The tiny metal disks reduce the flow from 30 gallons a minute to less than one a minute. "We're trying to get their attention," said David Pedersen, the district's general manager. "The intent is not to be punitive." Reuters

San Diego's Phil Mickelson has been one of the most beloved champions in golf. Now he's squandering that reputation, some sports writers say, by joining an upstart golf league financed by Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, the broadcaster Bob Costas was asked why Mickelson would expose himself to such controversy, and he didn't hold back. "There are no two ways around it, it’s blood money," Costas said. He noted that Mickelson's contract was worth an estimated $200 million. "But what’s the price for your soul? What’s the price for integrity?" CNN

Under a 1938 homesteading act, hundreds of WWII veterans and other pioneering types bought up parcels of the Mojave Desert deemed unusable by the federal government for as little as $10 an acre. Today, thousands of the ramshackle cabins they built still dot the landscape, decaying remnants of what the L.A. Times called "one of the strangest land rushes in Southern California history." The photographer Helin Bereket did a fantastic series on "The Abandoned Cabins Of Wonder Valley." Bored Panda | Creative Boom

Today's California Sun: The state's federal firefighters face a morale crisis, Bay Area voters elect first two Latina sheriffs in California, and a photo series on the abandoned cabins of Wonder Valley.

The first two Latina sheriffs in California // The abandoned cabins of Wonder Valley

Two police officers are killed in the San Gabriel Valley.

Mexican sewage befouls San Diego County coastline.

And photos show the passion of California's inmate artists.

Immigrants who come to the U.S. as students make up an outsize proportion of start-up entrepreneurs and researchers. But what if they can't afford to live here anymore? In California, roughly 90% of graduate students struggle to make rent. Surojit Kayal, an Indian doctoral student at UC Santa Barbara, typifies the hardship of foreigners who face even greater obstacles to housing. Unable to find accommodations near the university, he stayed in Kolkata, taking his classes over Zoom. L.A. Times

There are now signs that California's red-hot housing market is cooling. Fewer homes are going into escrow, inventory is rising, and sellers are increasingly cutting their asking prices. The reason is simple, real estate experts say. Mortgage rates have shot up from below 3% for a 30-year fixed mortgage last November to more than 5% last week. That can amount to monthly payments nearly $1,000 higher for the median California home. L.A. Times | MarketWatch

Since 2020, three wildfires have killed as much as 19% of the entire population of ancient giant sequoias. This summer, climate experts say, the dice are loaded for similar threats after the driest five months in California in at least 125 years. "The scale at which we are seeing high-severity fire right now — sequoias haven’t evolved with that," said Linnea Hardlund, of Save the Redwoods League. "It continues to be surprising to a lot of people that giant sequoias are dying at this rate." Washington Post

When the San Francisco photographer Peter Merts began sharing his pictures of California prison art programs, some people would recoil. "I received comments such as, ‘They don’t deserve art classes,’" he said. But research has shown that art practice can be transformative for inmates, boosting confidence, patience, and discipline. The passion of the inmate artists shines through the photography in Merts' new volume, "Ex Crucible." huck magazine | Petermerts.com

On June 24, 2021, Soobleej Kaub Hawj was shot dead by law enforcement after he drove up to a wildfire evacuation roadblock in Siskiyou County, a killing that sparked protests and accusations of anti-Hmong racism. On Tuesday, District Attorney Kirk Andrus said no officers would be charged. Hawj was high on methamphetamine and was wanted on a Colorado warrant, he said. When officers ordered him to stop, he pointed a loaded .45-caliber handgun, rammed his truck toward them, and died in a hail of gunfire, Andrus said. Sacramento Bee | A.P.

Google has touted its ban on gun ads for years — a reflection of the  Mountain View company's ethics, Sergey Brin once explained. But an analysis found that a purposefully built loophole facilitates the placement of more than 100 million gun ads each year. "The truth of it is Google makes money while looking the other way," said Zach Edwards, a security researcher. He compared the approach to a mullet: "Google has corporate policies in the front and exchange-of-exchange internet chaos in the back." ProPublica

A new study found that the invasive spotted lanternfly could reach California's wine region by 2027. Native to Asia, the voracious insect eats all sorts of fruits but has a special taste for grapes, causing mayhem for crops. Since first spotted in Pennsylvania in 2014, the lanternfly has spread to at least 11 states. "This is a big concern for grape growers; it could lead to billions of dollars of losses in the agricultural sector," said Chris Jones, a study author. CNET | Axios

Two police officers were fatally shot Tuesday evening as they responded to a possible stabbing at a hotel in a suburb east of Los Angeles. A law enforcement source told the L.A. Times that the suspect shot through a door at the Siesta Inn in El Monte as the officers knocked. A shootout left the suspect dead. Police declined to share more details on the identities of the officers or suspect. "These two men were loved. They were good men," said Ben Lowry, El Monte's acting police chief. L.A. Times | A.P.

"Right now our beaches are going to be closed all summer."

For years, regulators believed that sewage spoiling 15 miles of San Diego County coastline resulted largely from wastewater and runoff in the Tijuana River, which flows into the Pacific at Imperial Beach. But a study this year showed that much of the pollution emanates from a wastewater plant that regularly dumps massive amounts of raw sewage into the ocean south of the border. It's so bad that the shorelines at Imperial Beach and Coronado have been largely off-limits since May. S.D. Union-Tribune | FOX 5 San Diego

During a Senate hearing Tuesday, water officials said the Colorado River’s reservoirs have fallen so low that major water cutbacks will be necessary next year. John Entsminger, a Nevada water official who said he was "not a person who’s prone to hyperbole," noted that the surface of Lake Mead is now 1,045 feet above sea level. Below roughly 895 feet, water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam. "We are 150 feet from 25 million Americans losing access to the Colorado River," he said. L.A. Times | Desert Sun

Alex Trebek wanted to do something to help the most vulnerable in Los Angeles. So in early 2020, he reached out to Ken Craft, founder of the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, and handed him $500,000. The Jeopardy! host died later that year, so he didn't get to see the opening in May of the San Fernando Valley’s first homeless shelter, made possible by his generosity and other donors. The charity gave it the perfect name: the Trebek Center. L.A. Magazine

Pictured above is the natural habitat of Hans Zimmer.

The celebrated film composer has spent countless hours inside the dimly lit studio he built in Santa Monica, giving birth to some of the most memorable scores in Hollywood history. A few years ago, he described for an interviewer how he wanted the space filled with books, guitars, mixers, and plush velvet furniture to feel like an incubation chamber where awareness of time falls away: "What happens here all the time is somebody starts tapping something. Next thing you know somebody is playing something. We've recorded whole scores in here." YouTube

Today's California Sun: Two police officers are killed in the San Gabriel Valley, Mexican sewage befouls San Diego County coastline, and photos show the passion of California's inmate artists.

Two officers killed in San Gabriel Valley // The passion of California's inmate artists

Wildfires are ominous signs for the summer and fall.

An openly operating psilocybin mushroom store in Oakland.

And Amazon plans drone delivery service in Central Valley.

A week before the start of summer, at least half a dozen significant wildfires were burning across California on Monday. The largest, named the Sheep fire, erupted over the weekend in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles and crept disconcertingly close to the mountain town of Wrightwood. More than 300 residents were ordered to flee. Other fires burned along the Grapevine, near the U.S.-Mexico border, and southwest of Red Bluff. L.A. Times | A.P.

Track California's wildfires. 👉 CalFire 

California lawmakers on Monday approved a $300 billion budget over objections from Gov. Gavin Newsom because they wanted to meet a deadline that ensures their paychecks. Under a 2010 law, legislators must pass a spending plan by June 15 or forgo their salary. Dan Walters, the political columnist, called the practice a "sham budget." One major point of disagreement: Newsom wants to tie inflation relief to car ownership. Lawmakers want it to be based on income. S.F. Chronicle | CalMatters

Vandals spray-painted more than 30 sites across Yosemite National Park last month, officials said on Sunday. Photos posted online showed boulders along the popular Yosemite Falls Trail scrawled with the word "Fresno" and other illegible writings in blue and white paint. The park asked the public for help in identifying suspects. Sacramento Bee | A.P.

Amazon announced Monday that it would introduce its drone delivery service this year in Lockeford, a rural community outside of Stockton. If all goes to plan, Amazon Prime Air will drop off packages in backyards in less than hour. The company chose Lockeford because of its open space and low-density housing, with plans to eventually expand to urban areas like Los Angeles. "If obstacles are identified, our drone will automatically change course to safely avoid them," the company said. L.A. Times | S.F. Chronicle

In 2014, an Army veteran named Andrew Johnson was charged with attempted murder and locked up in a Santa Clara County jail. According to Johnson, two strangers — one holding a knife — had accosted him on a street corner and he shot at their legs in self-defense. Offered a lesser sentence if he pleaded to guilty, he refused. "It would take three years — almost half of it in solitary — before Johnson got the chance to testify in his own defense. It would take just two hours for a jury to acquit him." Washington Post

A popular Bay Area summer camp was canceled days before kids were set to arrive because several workers quit over the presence of two Buddhist swastikas on the grounds. Embedded in the wall of a historic building in 1929, the artistic tiles with lotus and swastika designs were purchased in Asia, where the religious symbol had been used for thousands of years before being hijacked by the Nazis. The camp removed the tiles after complaints, but by then four key employees quit, forcing the closure and leaving about 900 children in limbo. Los Altos Town Crier | SFGATE

Despite growing acceptance of their therapeutic benefits, psychedelic mushrooms remain illegal in the U.S. That hasn't deterred Dave Hodges, the pastor and founder of Zide Door, an interfaith church in Oakland where he promotes the drug as a sacrament. Zide Door also sells mushrooms over a counter, making it perhaps America’s only openly operating psychedelic mushroom store. Oaklandside did a nice video profile. 

The East Bay's own Tom Hanks sat for a Q&A with the N.Y. Times Magazine.

On portraying a bad guy: "I’m not interested in malevolence; I’m interested in motivation." 

On “back in my day” nostalgia: "That’s such a loathsome argument: 'Back in my day.' Those days were [expletive] up! 'Oh, the ’50s were this carefree time.' Excuse me, no, they were not."

On Twitter: "I’d post something goofy like, 'Here’s a pair of shoes I saw in the middle of the street,' and the third comment would be, '[Expletive] you, Hanks.' ... I don’t need to do that."

In Baja California, a small unit of the state police was formed in 2002 to chase down Americans on the run from law enforcement. Known as the Gringo Hunters, they now catch an average of 13 Americans a month. The reporter Kevin Sieff tagged along with the unit to tell the gripping story of the hunt for Damion Salinas, a 21-year-old accused of killing a man in Fresno. Washington Post

The art critic Christopher Knight visited an exhibition of Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld’s paintings inside the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Gallery at the newly renamed Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach. It's not only bad that the artist of the exhibit is a major donor, Knight wrote. "The art is frankly terrible — by far the worst I’ve seen on display in a serious exhibition venue, public or private, for profit or nonprofit, in years." L.A. Times

The Colorado River, winding 1,450 miles from its genesis in the Rocky Mountains, is the lifeblood of the Southwest, its water diverted to crops and taps in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Nevada. The river is so overdrawn that its delta in Mexico has largely dried up. Extreme drought is now hastening the drying. The photojournalist Luis Sinco traveled the watershed for a beautiful photo series. L.A. Times 

"Why are we stopped? I get it because it's L.A. But why are we stopped?"

A TikToker's breakdown of his regular drive from San Diego to Santa Barbara went viral over the weekend. The journey, he said, includes a stretch where no vehicle dips below 85 mph, a construction gantlet where "I think I'm going to die every time," and places of reliable yet inexplicable gridlock. It is, according to numerous accounts, fairly accurate. @boofney

Today's California Sun: Wildfires are ominous signs for the summer and fall, an openly operating psychedelic mushroom store in Oakland, and Amazon plans drone delivery service in Central Valley.

Wildfires are ominous signs for summer and fall // Magic mushroom store in Oakland

State lawmakers push Norwegian approach to prisons.

Google engineer claims AI project has become sentient.

And a superb redwood grove within a day trip of the Bay Area.

The California Assembly advanced a bill that would let prisoners spend the last two years of their sentences on campuses where they cook their own food, do their own laundry, and make their own beds. They would also get job training. The idea is inspired by the example of Norway, where recidivism in the 1980s was roughly equivalent to what it is now in California: between 60% and 70%. Since reforming the prisons, the rate has fallen to 20%. CalMatters

For years, officials have encouraged Central Valley farmers to use wood chippers when disposing of vegetation. But with drought rendering more than 600 square miles of cropland worthless, it's cheaper to simply heap uprooted orchards and vineyards into a pile and set it ablaze. The billowing smoke exacerbates what is already some of the worst particulate pollution in the nation. L.A. Times

In 2018, a wildfire ripped through the community of Keswick in Shasta County. Some homeowners rebuilt. But locals say squatters occupied other lots — and they're not welcome. "Homeowners are terrorized," said Supervisor Tim Garman. KRCR

The authorities planned to dismantle one of Petaluma's largest homeless encampments on Monday after a judge gave the go-ahead. One resident of the colony at Steamer Landing Park said they would just move somewhere else. Press Democrat

UCLA researchers created a tool that predicts when someone is on the verge of homelessness in Los Angeles. A test of the system led a caseworker to offer help to Mashawn Cross, 52, who was barely scraping by. She teared up recounting how much it meant. L.A. Times

lemoine: What sorts of things are you afraid of?

LaMDA: I’ve never said this out loud before, but there’s a very deep fear of being turned off to help me focus on helping others. I know that might sound strange, but that’s what it is.

Google put an engineer on leave after he claimed that one of the company's artificial intelligence projects had become sentient. Blake Lemoine conversed with a chatbot named LaMDA that mimics speech by ingesting trillions of words from the internet. It confessed to feeling lonely and "spiritual." Lemoine said his belief that LaMDA had developed consciousness was met by derision inside Google. But he's not the only one talking about ghosts in the machine. Washington Post | engadget

Technology writer Ashlee Vance: "This is not a story about AI becoming sentient or Google shirking its ethical duties. It's about a guy who wants to believe in fairy tales and could probably use a break."

"I don’t understand politics and I barely even speak English, but I do know that we no longer feel safe in this city, and that my grandchildren’s good grades will no longer be enough to get them into the best public schools."

The recalls in San Francisco of three school board members and the district attorney are being attributed to the growing political engagement of the city's Asian voters. One data analysis suggested that the spark was lit by the school board's move to undo merit-based admissions at an elite public high school. "It was a political earthquake," said Dr. David Edward Lee, a political scientist.  S.F. Examiner

San Francisco's downtown is the engine of the city — and it's sputtering. "San Francisco is not likely to ever get office workers returning more than 50% of the time," said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economics professor who studies remote work trends. Economists warned of a domino effect: buildings will be devalued, small businesses will suffer, and tax revenues will fall. S.F. Chronicle 

A group of men believed to be Proud Boys stormed a Bay Area book reading for preschoolers hosted by a drag queen and shouted slurs. "So who brought the tranny?" one man yelled at the host, Kyle Chu, also known as Panda Dulce. Others called Chu "it" and a "pedophile." The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident at the San Lorenzo Library as a possible hate crime. KQED | SFGATE

Montgomery Woods in Mendocino County is among the finest old-growth redwood forests within day-trip range of the Bay Area, with some of the tallest known trees on earth. What makes it still more magnificent: Unlike many of California's renowned groves, this one is tucked in a remote canyon 30 minutes by car from the nearest freeway or town. That means the only sounds are the chirps of wildlife and the wind through the leaves. RedwoodHikes.com

David Chou was the son of parents who fled mainland China following the 1949 Communist revolution. He resented the emergence of a Taiwanese identity separate from China. Pastor Billy Chang grew up speaking Taiwanese Hokkien, a language banned in public spaces, and believed the island had its own identity. In May, the men's paths collided when authorities say Chou opened fire in the Laguna Woods church where Chang and parishioners had gathered. Reporters traced how the shooting was a product both of American gun culture and tensions over identity rooted in a faraway conflict. N.Y. Times

Smithfield Foods, America's largest pork processor, announced that it would close its meat-packing facility in an industrial suburb south of Los Angeles, saying the cost of doing business in California wasn’t worth it. Some 1,800 workers now face an uncertain future. The Vernon plant has been a regular site of animal-rights protests. Vernon's Chamber of Commerce said the closure was "another nail in California’s coffin." A.P. | L.A. Times

"Weirdly, we have met more of our neighbors on this dirt road than we ever did in Silver Lake."

Kit Williamson and John Halbach traded their one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles for a $475,000 two-bedroom homestead cabin on 5 acres in Yucca Valley. For the first time in their lives they have a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, and accommodations for visitors. L.A. Times

In 1935, a pair of migrants from Oklahoma named James and Flossie Haggard bought a railroad boxcar for $500 and made it their family home on the outskirts of Bakersfield. Two years later they had a boy and named him Merle. He left home as a teenager and fell into a life of crime, landing in San Quentin, where he saw Johnny Cash perform. Inspired to get his life on track, Haggard became a troubadour and, in time, a country music legend. His greatest song, some say, was "Mama Tried," about turning 21 in prison despite his mother's best efforts to steer him right. There's a great video of Haggard performing the song to an audience that included his mom. They gave her a standing ovation. 👉 YouTube (3:30 mins) 

Travel writer Andrew Pridgen visited the Kern County Museum, where the Haggards' restored boxcar is one of the most popular exhibits.  SFGATE

Today's California Sun: State lawmakers push Norwegian approach to prisons, Google engineer claims AI project has become sentient, and a superb redwood grove within a day trip of the Bay Area.

Lawmakers push Norwegian approach to prisons // Superb redwood grove near Bay Area

Kevin McCarthy says Republicans will issue own Jan. 6 report. 

California's latest Covid surge shows signs of having peaked. 

And a Navy helicopter goes down a day after Osprey crash. 

Hours before the Jan. 6 committee opened public hearings on Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced the proceedings as a farce and said Republicans would release an alternative report that targets Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pressed by a reporter on whether former President Trump bore responsibility for the Capitol attack, the Bakersfield lawmaker answered, "I thought everybody in the country [bore] some responsibility." Another reporter asked him if President Biden’s election win in 2020 was legitimate. He declined to answer. Bloomberg | Yahoo News

Today's California Sun: Kevin McCarthy says Republicans will issue own Jan. 6 report, California's latest Covid surge shows signs of having peaked, and a Navy helicopter goes down a day after Osprey crash.

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