Newsletter: Essential California: In walkouts, students remember Parkland victims, push gun control
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, March 15, and here’s what’s happening across California:
TOP STORIES
A national day of walkouts
At Hamilton High School, the protest began with a young man and a bullhorn. Ari Elkins, a senior, stood on the front lawn of his Palms school and in a voice both firm and loud, cried out: “No more silence! End gun violence!” Seconds later, hundreds of his fellow students came pouring out the building’s double doors. Calm and defiant, they joined tens of thousands of students on Wednesday in a historic national walkout, exactly one month after a gunman stormed a Parkland, Fla., school and killed 17 people. Los Angeles Times
Big deal in San Diego
Two days after President Trump blocked Broadcom in its hostile takeover bid of U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm, the Singapore company is officially withdrawing its $117-billion bid. Broadcom Ltd. said Wednesday that it was disappointed as it withdrew its proposed candidates for the board at Qualcomm Inc., but that plans to move its headquarters to the U.S. will move forward. Los Angeles Times
Plus: Driverless cars. Internet-connected homes. Robots. None of these futuristic technologies can advance without a faster wireless infrastructure. That’s the promise of 5G, the fifth generation mobile network being developed by Qualcomm. Los Angeles Times
Shasta problems
The Trump administration is advancing a colossal public works project — heightening Shasta Dam, which is specifically banned under California law. But it would be a windfall for Westlands Water District, which has friends high in the administration and in Congress quietly pushing it forward. Los Angeles Times
L.A. STORIES
New museum alert! The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially broke ground in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park and is expected to be completed in 2021. It will house George Lucas’ personal collection of fine and popular art, a mix that includes the original Darth Vader mask and other “Star Wars” ephemera as well as Norman Rockwell paintings. Los Angeles Times
Plus: Frank Gehry has been tapped to design a Colburn School extension and concert hall in downtown L.A. Los Angeles Times
And: The unexpected firing of the Museum of Contemporary Art‘s highly respected chief curator didn’t just shock the art world. It raised the question of a full-blown institutional identity crisis. Los Angeles Times
Homelessness: “As the U.S. homelessness crisis reaches new heights, [The Guardian] spoke to people in L.A., Oakland and Seattle about their shelters.” The Guardian
Plus: “Who would live within a few feet of freight trains speeding along railroad tracks? Transients and homeless people..” Orange County Register
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Novel legal strategy? Stormy Daniels’ Newport Beach lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has a very explicit legal strategy for his client. He has taunted Trump, saying the president had to know that Daniels was paid $130,000 just before the 2016 election to cover up her alleged affair with him. Los Angeles Times
What’s up in Newport? Columnist Steve Lopez visited Tuesday to test the water on how locals feel about Trump. Los Angeles Times
Plus:Times reporter Benjamin Oreskes spent the night in an expensive hotel in downtown Los Angeles and inside Trump’s security bubble. Los Angeles Times
CRIME AND COURTS
Silicon Valley bombshell: “Theranos Inc.’s 15-year odyssey to revolutionize the blood-testing business began with huge promise but has been engulfed by ignominy. Federal regulators filed civil securities-fraud charges Wednesday against the company, founder Elizabeth Holmes and a former Theranos president, alleging they raised more than $700 million from investors while deceiving them about the capabilities of the company’s technology.” Wall Street Journal
Plus: “Buried within the SEC’s legal complaint, filed in federal court in San Jose, are indications that there may be many more companies just like Theranos still collecting money from investors,” writes columnist Michael Hiltzik. Los Angeles Times
Big crash: Two people are dead after their SUV flipped over in Delano while they were apparently fleeing from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, police said. Los Angeles Times
Hmm: A teacher at a Monterey County high school accidentally fired a gun in a classroom Tuesday afternoon during a lecture on “public safety awareness,” authorities said. Los Angeles Times
Scary: “While thousands of students walked out of school Wednesday in California and across the country to demand stricter gun laws, San Leandro High’s protest was preempted by graffiti threatening to shoot up the school.” San Francisco Chronicle
THE ENVIRONMENT
A new fight: “The Trump administration’s chief environmental regulator signaled a coming showdown with California, warning the state won’t dictate the future of ambitious automobile fuel economy regulations enacted by the Obama administration.” Bloomberg
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Change is coming: Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday that it is restructuring, combining its international media business and its streaming content into one unit and creating another unit to house its consumer products business along with Disney Parks and Resorts. Los Angeles Times
Yum: When farm-to-table comes to your own front yard. Los Angeles Times
Interesting debate: Should this Silver Lake service station be preserved? Curbed LA
Fun read: “A former teenage mall rat’s ode to the Westside Pavilion.” Los Angeles Magazine
CALIFORNIA ALMANAC
Los Angeles area: partly cloudy, 64, Thursday; rainy, 60, Friday. San Diego: partly cloudy, 60, Thursday and Friday. San Francisco area: rainy, 54, Thursday; rainy, 52, Friday. Sacramento: rainy, 53, Thursday; rainy, 55, Friday. More weather is here.
AND FINALLY
Today’s California memory comes from Joan Duryee:
“When I was 6 in 1960, my father got a job in L.A. We moved from Chicago and lived in an apartment in Westchester for about six months. Then my parents bought a new model home in the city of La Puente (now Valinda) in the San Gabriel Valley. My dad negotiated flex hours due to ‘too much traffic.’ He was supposed to work 8 to 5 but got it changed to 9 to 6. He was home every night at 6:30. I attended the local Catholic school, where my classroom overlooked sheep grazing and we had 42 students in every class. You had better do what the nuns told you or it was double trouble at home. It was a young community where many bonds were made. I am still close friends with a gal I met in third grade. I rode my bike all around Valinda after homework every day with no worries. My dad purchased a boat in Santa Barbara and then moved it to Dana Point, which was a brand-new harbor. His was the second boat there. I remember there not being much around there to do, as opposed to the established city of Santa Barbara, where my friend and I roamed the streets and beaches all day long with no supervision and of course, no cellphones.”
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 Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
