Californians are not keen on a second Biden run

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Aug. 22, 2022. I’m Freddy Brewster, the Washington bureau intern, writing to you on a rainy and humid day in our nation’s capital.

I am fresh off a trip to Wilmington, Del., where I covered President Biden’s recent visit home. I was part of what is called the protective press pool — a group of 13 journalists that follows the president, documenting all of his public activities. On Aug. 16, we were flown from Joint Base Andrews to the Delaware Air National Guard landing strip in a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey — a fascinating aircraft that is part plane, part helicopter and pretty dangerous.

This was the president’s 49th trip to Delaware since taking office. The only time Biden left his home from Aug. 17 to Aug. 20 was to golf twice. He also attended Mass on Saturday evening at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, just before departing to Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Covering the president was slow going; we never met up with him before noon and he never took questions. The days started at 7:30 a.m. with the press pool getting COVID-19 tests and then sitting around until the president decided what he wanted to do for the day, which was relayed to the press pool via a White House representative, known as a “press wrangler.” At times it felt rather intrusive to be documenting every minor incident of the president’s life, but the protective press pool serves an important purpose, even on these sleepy trips.

One person on the Wilmington trip jokingly referred to our duties as the “presidential death watch,” not because of the president’s age, but because most of the footage we ended up getting on this soporific trip was of the president landing and departing, which could serve as a “last known photograph,” if the worst were to happen.

The president’s national approval rating is at 41% — up from a low of 37.5% a month ago. And Californians are none too fond of a potential second term for the president. According to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Times, nearly 60% of state respondents are against the president running again in 2024.

There also isn’t much enthusiasm for a campaign by Vice President Kamala Harris, who polls behind Gov. Gavin Newsom and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, both of whom have said they will support Biden if he chooses to run.

But there is a lot of time before the general election. The midterms are approaching and the focus for Democrats is to keep control of both chambers of Congress. Biden and Democrats are coming off a number of legislative wins, an investigation of former President Trump looms, and House committee hearings into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection resume next month.

Biden has repeatedly said he intends to run in 2024, but much like my trip, we will have to hurry up and wait for a formal decision.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

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The Wiyot tribe of Humboldt County acquires 46 acres of ancestral land. The plot, located just south of Eureka, is known as “Mouralherwaqh,” or wolf’s house, to the Wiyot people and is one of the last undeveloped pieces of land in the area. This is the second time in recent years the Wiyot tribe has acquired ancestral lands. In 2019, the Eureka City Council voted unanimously to return 200 acres called Tuluwat Island, the spiritual center for the Wiyot tribe and the home of an 1860 massacre of over 200 Wiyot people by white settlers. Lost Coast Outpost

The town of Paradise, home to the deadly 2018 Camp fire, will receive nearly $200 million in federal funds. The money is part of a package of grants totaling more than $300 million from the federal government to help jurisdictions across the state rebuild after the devastating fires in 2018. Los Angeles County is slated to receive $3.7 million. Sacramento Bee

L.A. STORIES

Autumn McWilliams has been homeless for nearly half her life, but recently she’s found comfort in her sidekick, Cardi D, an “emotional support duck.” Reporter Brittny Mejia documents a story of McWilliams — who suffers from schizophrenia, depression and anxiety — and her path to homelessness, the struggles of living on the streets and the joys Cardi D brings. Los Angeles Times

What do Sylvester Stallone, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Hart and Kim and Kourtney Kardashian all have in common? They all may be among the largest water wasters in the upscale San Fernando Valley enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office threatens to cut funding for Oakland homeless housing project. The governor’s office sent a letter to Oakland on Thursday alleging the city is skirting its responsibility to provide housing for homeless people occupying land under other government agencies. If Oakland doesn’t address the issue, it could lose over $4 million in funding. San Francisco Chronicle

The U.S. and Mexico pledge nearly $500 million to build a new sewage treatment facility in Tijuana with the aim of cleaning up the ocean. By signing a treaty through the International Boundary and Water Commission, the two countries are committed to building a treatment plant by 2027. The new facility will reduce by half the number of days when wastewater flows from Mexico to Imperial Beach and other coastal San Diego communities. San Diego Union-Tribune

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Drugged-out doggos? Columnist Anita Chabria gets to the bottom of an internet rumor being pushed largely by right-wingers: That dogs in San Francisco are eating drugged-laced human feces and getting high. Los Angeles Times

It’s getting hot, hot, hot. Los Angeles County is expected to have triple the number of hot days per year by 2053. According to a new study, L.A. County will join Del Norte and Orange counties as the California jurisdictions that will experience the most drastic increase in hot days. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

The dog days of summer are here. Check out this beautiful photo essay by The Times’ photography staff, which captures the summertime heat of our beloved region of Southern California. Los Angeles Times

Ben and JLo wedding details. After breaking our hearts years ago, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez held a formal ceremony in Georgia over the weekend to follow their earlier surprise wedding in Las Vegas, proving that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Los Angeles Times

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! We have everything you need to know about the “House of the Dragon,” a new “Game of Thrones” spinoff, which debuted last night on HBO. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: partly cloudy, 82. San Diego: partly cloudy, 76. San Francisco: partly cloudy, 76. San Jose: sunny, 85. Fresno: sunny, 103. Sacramento: sunny, 100.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory is from Trish McCall:

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (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 to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.