Newsletter: Essential California: L.A. proposes millions for the homeless

Good morning. It is Thursday, April 21. In honor of the Pink Moon, there will be a party Saturday night at the top of Mammoth Mountain. Revelers are encouraged to run, ski or bike to the top of the 11,053-foot mountain. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Unpleasant visit

Cambodian Gen. Hun Manet’s visit to Long Beach, home to the largest Cambodian population in America, has opened old wounds. The lowest point of the trip came April 9 when a private investigator says he was attacked while attempting to serve Manet with a lawsuit. “I’m outraged that a person who was just doing their job was subjected to this brutal attack. I am also outraged that Hun Manet’s untimely presence brought this violence to what was a peaceful demonstration and especially during the celebrations of the Cambodian New Year,” said U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). Los Angeles Times

College debt

Administrators at UC Berkeley are facing criticism from faculty over their handling of the university’s $150-million budget deficit. “It’s unbelievable to me that a Berkeley professor can head the Federal Reserve [Fed Chair Janet Yellen] and yet somehow the campus budget is a more opaque and difficult program than the entire U.S. economy,” said Paul Fine, an associate professor of integrative biology. Los Angeles Times

Helping the homeless

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposed $8.76-billion spending plan for next year includes $138 million to help the homeless, but already critics are questioning whether the city can deliver that money. Half of those proposed funds would come from sources that do not yet exist. “These are phony numbers. The mayor and the council continue to try to make the public think they’re doing something about this when they’re doing almost nothing,” said Mark Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Assn. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Smoggy air: Bakersfield and Los Angeles have some of the dirtiest air in America, according to a study. Eight out of 10 Californians live in an area with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution some time during the year. Associated Press

Ready for a quake: The eastern edge of the Sierra is long overdue for a major earthquake. “We’ve experienced such a long stretch of not having earthquakes, we’ve sort of built in a sense of complacency,” said Nevada Seismological Laboratory Director Graham Kent. Associated Press

L.A. AT LARGE

New attractions: Long Beach is counting on a $250-million development to bring attention back to the Queen Mary. Urban Commons is looking to build a boutique hotel, marina amphitheater, jogging and bike paths and possibly a Ferris wheel. The big question, though, is whether this project can deliver where so many others have failed. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Fight over hacking: Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter are coming together to lobby against a federal bill to restrict what type of encryption the companies can use on their devices and products. The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “We believe it is critical to the safety of the nation’s, and the world’s, information technology infrastructure for us all to avoid actions that will create government-mandated security vulnerabilities in our encryption systems,” according to the tech companies. BuzzFeed

New fees: The city of Oakland is looking to implement a new fee on developers as a way to raise money for affordable housing. The effect, however, will be fairly small — the fee will pay for 600 units over the next 10 years. In the last year and a half, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Oakland has increased from $1,600 to $2,250 a month. KQED

Changing of the guard: The U.S. attorney in Sacramento is leaving his post. Benjamin Wagner is expected to step down at the end of April. Sacramento Bee

CRIME AND COURTS

Legal settlement: The city of Los Angeles will pay $750,000 to a woman who says she was raped by a police officer while his partner acted as a lookout. The plaintiff in the civil suit is one of four women who accused Luis Valenzuela and James C. Nichols of forcing them into sexual acts. Prosecutors say Valenzuela and Nichols preyed on women from 2008 to 2011 and abused them in their unmarked patrol car while threatening them with arrest. Both men have pleaded not guilty. Los Angeles Times

On the rise: San Bernardino has had 20 killings so far this year, up from 13 during the same period of time last year. On Tuesday, a man was killed and a woman shot as they drank in Blair Park, authorities said. San Bernardino Sun

Joy ride: A 46-year-old man commandeered an airport shuttle at San Diego International Airport on Tuesday, police said. Eight airport employees were on the bus at the time. The man was arrested on felony charges of kidnapping and auto theft. Los Angeles Times

Students arrested: Two lacrosse players from Chapman University are accused of stealing a turkey from the Orange High School’s petting zoo. Tim the turkey was found wandering around a neighborhood by himself. He was covered in a sticky substance and was suffering from numerous injuries, including a broken toe and a partially missing tail, according to a teacher. Orange County Register

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

In the water: A great white shark was spotted jumping out of the water near Sunset Beach. At six-and-a-half feet, the shark is probably still a juvenile. Orange County Register

Where to eat: Pizza! Coffee! Burritos! It’s the eating guide to San Francisco. Vice

Back in time: In honor of her 90th birthday, here is a look back at Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to California in 1983. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will be mostly sunny and 75. It’ll be mostly sunny and 79 in Los Angeles. Riverside will be 88 and mostly sunny. Sacramento will have clouds as temperatures reach a high of 75. San Francisco will have low clouds and a high of 66 degrees.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Tom Summerfield:

“It was 1958. My family lived just north of Whittier Boulevard in East Whittier on a small street named Calmada Avenue. Our world changed a lot when Bob’s Drive-In opened on that corner. My friends in eighth grade and I went early in the morning and were the first people to ever eat there. They put up my dollar bill on the wall. Everyone would party in the drive-in portion of the restaurant and wouldn’t eat much. Finally Bob’s had to close — fun was more important than food. Cruising Whittier Boulevard was the ‘in’ thing to do, and it all started with Bob’s.”

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.