This is California’s most fiercely contested political turf
CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER/ARIEL GANS: "On an already-hot Saturday morning in east Bakersfield, state Assembly candidate Leticia Perez stands at the front of the electrical workers’ local union hall, working a crowd of fellow Democrats ready to knock on doors and talk to voters.
But the thrust of Perez’s message has bipartisan appeal. Bakersfield is not like the rest of California: “Many people outside this community think they know us. They don’t.”
Indeed, voters are being told what to do in millions of dollars in TV ads produced by high-powered consultants from Sacramento and Washington, D.C. They’re being interviewed by national reporters parachuting in to take the pulse of a pivotal area."
After Kevin Spacey verdict, accuser Anthony Rapp vows to ‘fight for accountability’
LAT, ALEXANDRA DEL ROSARIO: "Hours after a New York jury found that Kevin Spacey did not molest him in the ‘80s, “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp said his sexual assault lawsuit and its accompanying civil trial against the former “House of Cards” star represent something bigger.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have my case heard before a jury, and I thank the members of the jury for their service,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence.”
In September 2020, the former “Rent” actor and another man (identified only by the initials C.D.) filed a $40-million lawsuit against Spacey accusing the two-time Oscar winner of sexual assaults in the ‘80s, when they were teenagers."
LAT, GRACE TOOHEY/JEONG PARK: "After the leaked recordings of racist comments from some of Los Angeles’ most powerful Latino leaders upended the city over the last two weeks, it was clear healing wasn’t going to come during Thursday night’s hourlong town hall. But many Angelenos were determined to unite and move forward — starting with the resignations of the City Council members involved.
The most common message that came from dozens of residents at “L.A. in Crisis: The Call for Change,” hosted by The Times and KTTV Channel 11, was that Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo should resign. Both have been stripped of their committee assignments but have resisted calls to leave office.
Nury Martinez, the council president who made the majority of the anti-Black and anti-Indigenous comments in the recorded discussion with De León, Cedillo and labor leader Ron Herrera, already has resigned, as has Herrera, who was president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor."
Is there really a COVID ‘nightmare variant’ spreading? Here’s what experts say
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "While the United States contends with the newly detected COVID omicron BQ.1 subvariants, another highly mutated strain of the coronavirus called XBB is tearing across Southeast Asia, where in some countries, it has caused the number of cases to double in a day.
Some more sensationalist reports have called XBB a “ nightmare variant ” due to its apparent ability to evade immunity and dampen some therapies. But infectious disease experts say it is too soon to jump to such broad conclusions."
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "The Stockton serial killer suspect allegedly used an untraceable ghost gun to carry out a summertime killing spree in the central California city, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect, Wesley Brownlee, is accused of fatally shooting of three people with the illegal firearm between Aug. 30 and Sept. 27.
Brownlee, 43, who was barred from buying or owning guns due to his status as a convicted drug offender, allegedly “used a ghost gun” to carry out the slayings, Stockton police department spokesperson Joseph Silva said Thursday afternoon."
Ex-UCLA gynecologist James Heaps guilty of sexually abusing patients
LAT, RICHARD WINTON: "A Los Angeles County jury on Thursday found former UCLA gynecologist Dr. James Heaps guilty of sexually abusing female patients during his tenure at the university.
Heaps, 65, had been charged with 21 felony counts, but was found guilty of only five: three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. The assaults date from 2013 to 2017, the portion of his tenure that falls within the statute of limitations for which criminal charges could be brought.
He was found not guilty of seven other counts, including one count of sexual exploitation."
Hazing ‘traditions’ and sexual assault plagued UCLA summer camp job, students say
LAT, JONAH VALDEZ: "When UCLA students Samea Derrick and Lydia Dixon were hired as camp counselors at Bruin Woods, a Lake Arrowhead summer getaway for alumni, they were excited to land the coveted job with its networking opportunities.
But after less than one week at the camp, the two would head back down the mountain and return home, traumatized by intense hazing at the hands of other counselors, they said.
During those five days in June, Derrick, 19, and Dixon, 20, said they were sexually assaulted and hazed by returning student counselors, including physical and verbal abuse, sensory deprivation, forced nudity, and coercive drinking games."
EdSource, ALI TADAYON: "It’s not uncommon for teachers to be shuffled around to various campuses during the first week or two of school. But such shifts more than a month into this school year have triggered controversy at West Contra Costa Unified and Los Angeles Unified.
At least a half-dozen West Contra Costa Unified teachers were reassigned to different schools or classes this fall semester, some to different schools and others to combined classes in order to fill gaps caused by the ongoing teacher shortage. Some say the disruption will have lasting negative impacts on students.
Reassigned teachers say they had spent weeks building trust with their students and teaching them social and emotional skills, only to have to start from scratch with a new set of students when they should now be focusing on curriculum. District officials said a total of six teachers have been reassigned since the start of the year."
‘Like nothing we'd seen before’: Here's what scuba divers found when cleaning up this Sierra Lake
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS: "In their latest battle to remove decades’ worth of litter and junk from the alpine lakes dotting the High Sierra landscape, trash-collecting scuba divers set their sights on June Lake, the centerpiece attraction of a ski town in the Eastern Sierra.
Nestled between Mammoth Lakes and Lee Vining, the modest lake is just 2.7 miles around and 168 feet deep, with a small public marina. But it draws scores of trout anglers in the warmer months who drop lines from their boats or post up on June’s wide sandy beach to hook meaty rainbows, browns and Lahontan cutthroats.
Evidently, it’s commonplace for at least some fishers to chuck their empty bait jars and beer cans into June’s crystalline waters, because the cleanup crew removed thousands of both — in fact, divers couldn’t retrieve all that they found in the lake due to time constraints. Over two weeks in September, divers with the Tahoe nonprofit Clean Up the Lake removed 6,522 pieces of litter from the lakebed — more than 3,404 pounds — which included 3,071 bait jars and upwards of 1,100 aluminum beer and soda cans, according to the group."
How old is Yosemite Valley? It’s been a mystery, until now
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The striking rock walls and majestic domes of Yosemite Valley that draw millions of visitors each year were created much more recently than many scientists had thought, new research shows.
Such world-renowned sights as El Capitan, Half Dome and Yosemite Falls are known to be the product of an extraordinary combination of mountain uplift and glacial erosion that gave rise to the 3,500-foot-deep valley. However, when this occurred has remained a matter of debate."
This popular Golden Gate Park spot honoring anti-Semitic politician could be renamed
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "Citing the anti-Semitic rhetoric of its Gold Rush-era namesake, three San Francisco supervisors want the city to rename Golden Gate Park’s Stow Lake, a man-made pond known for its pedal boats and Chinese pavilion.
The lake’s namesake, William W. Stow, a 19th century state Assembly member, promoted anti-Jewish policies and held xenophobic views, according to a resolution introduced this week by Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan."
Orionids meteor shower peaks tonight. Here’s when and where to get the best views in the Bay Area
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "Bay Area stargazers willing to stay up very late Thursday could see an incandescent sky show linked to the famed Halley’s Comet — though weather conditions may obscure the most intense period of activity.
The event, the annual Orionid meteor shower, will peak in the early morning hours Friday."
12 secret stops on California’s iconic road to Big Sur
LAT, CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS: "You’re in a hurry to see Big Sur, which makes sense. There’s no place like it.
But the coastline on the way is remarkable enough to make a destination in itself. And often it’s a more affordable, less crowded destination.
Even you’ve already done the most obvious attractions — Hearst Castle in San Simeon, for instance — why not spend more time exploring roadside nooks and ocean-adjacent crannies as you go?"
These Bay Area cities have seen the biggest declines in home prices as mortgage rates rise
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "The Bay Area housing market continues to shift away from the buying frenzy seen earlier in the pandemic, with home-value declines continuing to outpace the national average — especially in one part of the region.
According to real estate listings website Zillow, typical home values decreased 3% from May to August in the San Francisco metro area, which comprises Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties."
Russian general who led bombing in Syria is the new face of Moscow’s war on Ukraine
AP: "The general carrying out Vladimir Putin’s new military strategy in Ukraine has a reputation for brutality — for bombing civilians in Russia’s campaign in Syria. He also played a role in the deaths of three protesters in Moscow during the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
Bald and fierce-looking, Gen. Sergei Surovikin was put in charge of Russian forces in Ukraine on Oct. 8 after what has so far been a faltering invasion that has seen a number of chaotic retreats and other setbacks over nearly eight months of war.
Putin, Russia’s president, put the 56-year-old career military man in command after an apparent truck bombing of a strategic bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which embarrassed the Kremlin and created logistical problems for Russian forces."