Federal prosecutors urge 40 years in prison after Pelosi attacker’s ‘assault on our democracy’
LAT's BRITTNY MEJIA: "Federal prosecutors are recommending a 40-year sentence for the man convicted of attempting to kidnap former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband with a hammer after he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home in 2022.
In a sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, prosecutors said that David DePape has failed to take responsibility for his crimes and has not shown remorse. They also argued that his sentencing should include a terrorism enhancement."
Meet Laura Friedman, the pool-playing assemblywoman who’ll likely succeed Adam Schiff
LAT's JULIA WICK: "There are certain candidates who have lived their lives like perfectly calibrated political arrows, arcing ever upward through all the right stops toward higher office.
Not Laura Friedman."
How Vietnamese lawmakers struck back when L.A. County declared Jane Fonda Day
BANG*Mercury News, RYAN SABALOW: "As Saigon was falling, Janet Nguyen’s uncle – an officer in the South Vietnamese Army – was taken before his village and executed. After the city fell on April 30, 1975, the communists put Nguyen’s father and mother in jail. Their “crime?” They got caught trying to escape the country.
After Saigon fell, Tri Ta’s father spent years in a re-education camp prison. His “crime?” He wrote books critical of communism."
The Micheli Minute, May 13, 2024
Capitol Weekly, TIM FOSTER: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
Capitol Quick Hits: How do you keep a lobbyist in suspense?
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "California lobbyists could see one of their annual fees rise as much as 900 percent if an under-the-radar bill by Sen. Steve Glazer survives Suspense Day.
Under the Political Reform Act, audits of political committees and lobbyists are conducted by the Fair Political Practices Commission or the Franchise Tax Board. Glazer’s SB 1404 would make the audits the sole responsibility of the FPPC."
L.A. mayor’s dog helped stop man who shouted ‘Karen!’ during break-in, sources say
LAT's JAMES QUEALLY, RICHARD WINTON and DAVID ZAHNISER: "The man who broke into the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shouted her first name repeatedly during the early morning security breach last month, leaving a trail of blood after smashing a glass door at the Windsor Park mansion before getting spooked by the mayor’s German shepherd, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors allege that during the April 21 break-in, Ephraim Hunter, 29, screamed “Karen!” several times as he attempted to access several bedrooms in Bass’ home around 6:40 a.m., said three law enforcement sources who requested anonymity in order to discuss a pending case."
If you’re the rare person who hasn’t had COVID, are you a super-dodger?
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "More than four years have elapsed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and during that time nearly everyone in the U.S. has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Yet, there remains a subset of people who have still never gotten sick or tested positive, myself included.
Experts say it’s not easy to gauge how many of these people are true “Novids,” or super-dodgers, because some may have had COVID without knowing it."
Breakthrough therapies are saving lives. Can we afford them?
BANG*Mercury News, LISA M. KRIEGER: "Harnessing the body’s own cells to fight disease, long a medical dream, is finally a reality.
Now comes the bill."
Northern lights: California’s outlook dims for return of spectacular skies Sunday night
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "The strongest solar storm to hit Earth in more than two decades is expected to continue Sunday into early Monday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which forecasts space weather events.
A “secondary peak” in the solar storm is likely early Sunday into Sunday night, NOAA said, which will probably result in another period of enhanced aurora borealis activity, also known as the northern lights."
An ‘unusually high number’ of emaciated California brown pelicans are turning up onshore
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "Large numbers of California brown pelicans are turning up on shore with signs of malnutrition, prompting a California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigation.
California brown pelicans are a federally protected species, and Central and Southern California wildlife rehabilitation facilities have begun admitting “an unusually high number of debilitated pelicans,” according to the CDFW."
After A’s plan falls apart, a new twist changes everything for the future of Oakland’s waterfront
BANG*Mercury News's SHOMIK MUKHERJEE: "Departing sports teams and frustrating politics haven’t detracted from the elegance of Oakland’s waterfront — a gleaming reminder that, despite its troubles, the city and its bustling port remain a cultural and economic cornerstone of the Bay Area.
But for years, Oakland has struggled to establish a large-scale vision to place the waterfront — with its nightlife hub at Jack London Square and the industrial harbor a short walk away — at center stage in the city’s attractions."
Apple apologizes after ‘really disturbing’ iPad ad sparks backlash
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "Apple has apologized after facing backlash over a new iPad Pro commercial.
The short video titled “Crush!” was shared by Apple CEO Tim Cook on his social media channels Tuesday. It features a hydraulic press methodically flattening a collection of vintage instruments, video games and audio equipment."
Popular Sriracha hot sauce is halting production for months. Here’s why
The Chronicle's JESSICA FLORES: "The maker of the popular hot sauce Sriracha has halted production until after Labor Day, citing the color of its red jalapenĚo peppers, according to reports.
“After reevaluating our supply of chili, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the color of the product,” Huy Fong Foods, the Southern California maker of the hot sauce bottles with green caps, told wholesale buyers last week in a letter obtained by USA Today."
We checked in with Hollywood writers a year after the strike. They’re not OK
LAT's CHRISTI CARRAS, STACY PERMAN: "For 14 straight years, Ted Sullivan was consistently paid to pen stories for the screen. The Hollywood-based, 53-year-old TV writer and producer’s résumé boasts credits on hit shows such as “Riverdale” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”
Now, he spends seven to eight hours a day writing without pay, preparing for the unforeseeable moment that Hollywood studios start greenlighting projects and hiring writers again. He misses the picket lines of the WGA strike, which, to him, were the next best thing to working in a writers’ room, surrounded and supported by colleagues."
Should California be able to require sobriety in homeless housing?
CALMatters's MARISA KENDALL: "Desperate for a way to help the tens of thousands of people living in tents, cars and RVs on California’s streets, lawmakers are attempting to upend a key tenet of the state’s homelessness policy.
Two new bills would allow state funding to support sober housing — a significant departure from current law, which requires providers to accept people regardless of their drug and alcohol use."
Historic S.F. landmark on troubled corner up for sale for first time since 1909
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "A historic building on a troubled corner of downtown San Francisco is up for sale for the first time since the structure rose from the ashes of the city’s great earthquake and fire more than a century ago, as the fraternal organization that owns it, now dwindling in number, seeks to relocate.
The six-story Odd Fellows Temple at the corner of Seventh and Market streets is the longtime home to the San Francisco district of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, one of the nation’s oldest fraternal and philanthropic organizations. Constructed in 1909, with a tall blade-shaped sign bearing its name, the building replaced a structure that was blown up to stop the fires raging in the aftermath of the 1906 quake."
Man dies in Sacramento jail during fingerprinting — second death at sheriff’s facility in week
Sacramento Bee, CHRIS BIDERMAN: "A 55-year-old man in custody died Sunday morning during intake at the Sacramento County Main Jail, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
It was the second death in a week at the downtown facility following the May 5 death of a 45-year-old man in custody when he was found unresponsive in a cell used by inmates to detox from narcotics."
Sheriff’s Department official on decision to cover alleged deputy gang tattoo: ‘Embarrassed’
LAT's KERI BLAKINGER: "When word got out, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department rumor mill sprang into action. Some said Joe Mendoza was a hard worker and deserved the coveted promotion. But others whispered that he sported the mark of a “deputy gang.”
And he did — but he doesn’t anymore."
Peggy Moore and Hope Wood, couple rooted in East Bay politics, killed in car crash
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "A longtime East Bay political leader who worked on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and built solid ties in Oakland City Hall died in a car crash in Southern California, according to friends.
Tributes to Peggy Moore, 60, rippled through social media after reports that she and her wife, Hope Wood, 48, had died Friday night in a head-on collision on Highway 76 in unincorporated San Diego County."