Newsletter: Essential California: Protesters rally outside LAPD headquarters
Good morning. It is Wednesday, July 13. The newest trend in San Francisco is robots acting as security guards. But can they be trusted to keep us safe? A mother says her toddler was knocked down and run over by a robot in Palo Alto. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:
TOP STORIES
Police shooting
Protesters marched outside LAPD headquarters before taking to City Hall on Tuesday as the Police Commission found that the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old woman was within the department’s policy. Redel Jones was killed in August 2015 after police say she moved toward an officer with a knife. A witness, however, said Jones was running away at the time she was shot. “Shame on you,” one activist yelled after the commission’s decision. Los Angeles Times
Taxing marijuana
Los Angeles County supervisors agreed Tuesday to place a measure on the November ballot that would allow marijuana businesses — both medical and, potentially, recreational — to be taxed 10%. The tax money would then be used to pay for services for the homeless. The tax measure requires a two-thirds vote for approval. Los Angeles Times
Tech dispute
Hyperloop Technologies finds itself in the middle of a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Co-founder Brogan BamBrogan alleges he was pushed out of the company after complaining of widespread mismanagement and poor behavior. An attorney for the company called the allegations “pure nonsense.” Los Angeles Times
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DROUGHT AND CLIMATE
Saving water: In Los Angeles, city officials want to turn alleyways “green” to capture stormwater. “The alleys funnel water into underground storage receptacles, preventing water from rain, hoses, fire hydrants and other sources from making its way, through sewers, drains and concrete riverbeds, to the ocean.” New York Times
L.A. AT LARGE
Falling apart: When the Los Angeles Rams take to the field in six weeks, it’ll be in a venue that was state-of-the-art circa 1923. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has chipped paint, old bathrooms, spotty cellphone coverage and out-of-date concession stands. It will be home to the Rams until the team’s $2.6-billion stadium in Inglewood is finished. Variety
Presidential home: The former chairman of Univision, Jerry Perenchio, paid $15 million for the longtime Bel-Air home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The couple moved to the home after leaving the White House. Perenchio is on the board of trustees for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Los Angeles Times
In the neighborhood: Capturing the spirit of Historic Filipinotown in a new book. LA Review of Books
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Just say no: That’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s position on legalizing marijuana. Proposition 64 lacks protections for children and would clash with the state’s regulations on medical marijuana, she said. “I am not really for recreational use of marijuana. Medical use, yes,” Feinstein said. Sacramento Bee
Hidden away: San Diego is having a busy month with the MLB All-Star Game and Comic-Con and with all those tourists in town, homeless advocates say city officials would prefer it if the homeless could just get out of the way. Signs in the East Village warned homeless individuals that if they didn’t clear out their encampments, they could be ticketed. “It’s a process of criminalizing homelessness,” said Michael McConnell, a local homelessness activist. CityLab
CRIME AND COURTS
Tragedy remembered: Forty years ago, Paul Paulsen completed the two toughest tasks of his life — he had to identify the body of his sister and tell their mother that her daughter had been murdered in a mass shooting at Cal State Fullerton. “All of the families of the victims serve life sentences. We’re the ones who are suffering,” Paulsen said. Orange County Register
Dog attack: A 37-year-old woman survived a brutal dog mauling in San Bernardino thanks to the quick thinking of a retired Los Angeles city firefighter. Penny Holt was on an evening walk when she passed a cyclist with a German shepherd. After the dog attacked Holt, the cyclist and the animal disappeared. “In my 34 years in the fire service and as an EMT, this was one of the worst injuries I had ever seen of a person who survived a dog mauling,” said Randy Souza. San Bernardino Sun
Mystery man: The FBI officially closed the investigation in D.B. Cooper on Tuesday, but some former agents believe the elusive criminal is Scotts Valley native Robert Wesley Rackstraw. He was questioned about the 1971 jump out of a commercial airliner, but Rackstraw has always maintained he’s not Cooper. He now lives on a boat in the San Diego Bay. SFGate
Utility trial: Witnesses at PG&E’s federal trial on pipeline safety will be allowed to mention the San Bruno explosion of 2010. U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson declared it “time to be honest with the jury.” Mercury News
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Second generation: El Mercado in Boyle Heights is now an example of gentefication, which happens when a neighborhood’s change is driven not by whites but by Latinos with higher incomes and education levels. The younger generation that’s now running El Mercado wants to appeal to Latinos who were born in America and may not share the same tastes as their parents and grandparents from outside the country. Los Angeles Times
Make way: A California Highway Patrol officer was driving down the 134 Freeway when he spotted a duck standing over a grate. It turned out her 10 ducklings had fallen in. Crews were able to reach the baby ducks and get them into a cardboard box. Mama and babies were reunited in the Los Angeles River. Los Angeles Times
Surprise visitors: This is amazing — two kayakers were in the San Francisco Bay when they spotted some birds. As they got closer, they encountered a group of humpback whales. “Three at once coming up from the bottom like a Polaris missile with their mouths open to capture all the water. We had never seen this behavior before in the bay,” said Lyrinda Snyderman. Good Morning America
Home sale: In the town of Julian, $1.3 million will get you a house, a saloon and a barbecue restaurant. The two-acre property also comes with a horse pasture and liquor license. Curbed LA
CALIFORNIA ALMANAC
San Diego will have low clouds and a high of 76 degrees. Los Angeles will have clouds and a high of 82 degrees. Riverside will be sunny and 96 degrees. Sacramento will be sunny and hot at 100 degrees. San Francisco will have low clouds as temperatures reach a high of 73.
AND FINALLY
Today’s California Memory comes from Natalie Ochoa:
“As a little girl, I loved the day trips to Long Beach with my grandmother. My favorites were the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose. My grandma told me the stories she learned as a young mother back in Indiana. She told me of Howard Hughes and his hopes for the wooden plane and the ocean liners like the Queen Mary that ruled the seas bringing hopeful immigrants and wealthy titans of industry in steel palaces across the ocean. Those visits imbued with stories of a beautiful ship and unsuccessful plane gave me a thirst for deep connections with the past that I have never quite lost.”
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.
