Newsletter: Essential California: One neighborhood declares drought is over

Good morning. It is Wednesday, April 27. “No Trump Anytime” parking signs are popping up across Los Angeles. They’re not from LADOT but an artist known as Plastic Jesus. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Take me out to the ball game

California lawmakers often enjoy free tickets to high-profile sporting events, according to a Times analysis of disclosure forms. Half of the $32,000 they took in sporting gifts went toward golfing. Tickets to the San Francisco Giants and its minor-league affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, were the second-most popular sporting gifts. “There are always ways to get money to politicians and essentially treat politicians to nice events. The gift limits, they do some work, but there are loopholes,” said Jessica Levinson, president of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. Los Angeles Times

Revenues drop

Apple Inc. had its first quarterly decline in revenue in 13 years. The drop is due, in part, to sluggish sales of the iPhone, which is often too expensive for emerging markets. “I view this year as a transition year. By no means does it mean doomsday for the company,” said Ryan Reith, mobility research director at research firm IDC. Los Angeles Times

Insuring the undocumented

Beginning next month, undocumented children living in California will be eligible for health insurance through Medi-Cal. But the tougher challenge for politicians will be figuring out how to insure their parents. “The next steps are harder, the air gets thinner, the angles get tougher to ascend,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Sacramento-based advocacy group Health Access. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Watering the lawn: In the gated community of Blackhawk, it’s time to get back to keeping up appearances. The Bay Area neighborhood will require homeowners to return to watering their lawns beginning on June 1. “The reality is that with the most recent rains and snowpack, [water storage] has really been uneven in parts of the state,” said George Kostyrko, spokesman for the State Water Resources Control Board. Los Angeles Times

L.A. AT LARGE

Election complaint: In Studio City, there’s a fight raging over a neighborhood council election. After two candidates edged out rivals for seats on the board, they were accused of electioneering. A city panel agreed, and that may prevent Eric Preven and Patrice Berlin from taking office. The issue has since been referred to the city attorney’s office. Los Angeles Times

Car culture: Were the Red Cars destroyed by a conspiracy? Specifically, a conspiracy from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”? Probably not, as declining ridership and revenue already plagued the lines. Curbed LA

What is art? The Broad popped up as a category on “Jeopardy!” this week. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

New digs: Taxpayers shelled out about $130,000 to furnish the new office of Jerome Horton, chairman of the tax-collecting Board of Equalization. “By contrast, three of the other four board members furnished their offices with hand-me-down surplus items produced by a program that uses cheap prison labor to produce furniture and other goods for state agencies.” Sacramento Bee

Pepper sprayed: Protesters clashed outside Anaheim City Hall on Tuesday as the politicians inside debated a resolution denouncing the Republican presidential front-runner. According to witnesses, Donald Trump supporters and critics yelled obscenities at one another, and both sides resorted to pepper spray, which hit two young girls. “I’m so sick of the anger in this country,” said one Trump supporter from Laguna Niguel. Los Angeles Times

Bridge safety: The city of San Diego may soon add suicide barriers or nets to the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. Since it opened in 1969, the bridge has been the site of more than 360 suicides, with a spike coming in just the last four years. There are similar safety nets on the Golden Gate Bridge. San Diego Union-Tribune

CRIME AND COURTS

A daughter lost: In a barbershop in Norwalk, Beatriz Gonzalez mourns the loss of her daughter Nohemi, the only American killed in last year’s terror attack in Paris. “The heartache seemed particularly strong for children of immigrants, and parents, who saw in her a sister, a daughter. To them, Nohemi transcended the bonds of growing up poor and the tyranny of lowered expectations.” Los Angeles Times

Texting controversy: New records show the vile things San Francisco Officer Jason Lai allegedly sent to his colleagues via text message. It’s the second time in two years that the San Francisco Police Department has been rocked by a scandal involving racist text messages. “It’s hard to say any of those things in context but there is context to it,” said a lawyer for the officer. CNN

Overdoses in the streets: Fifteen people on Los Angeles’ Skid Row were hospitalized over the weekend after they consumed a tainted version of “spice,” a form of synthetic marijuana, police said. “It’s common to buy it in skid row for anywhere from 1 to 2 dollars for one joint,” said LAPD Officer Deon Joseph. Los Angeles Times

Couple killed: A husband and wife were found shot to death in their San Jose home. Police found a chilling note next to their bodies: “Sorry, my first kill was clumsy.” Shamima Rabbi, 57, and Golam Rabbi, 59, had two sons and were active members of the South Bay Islamic Assn. and the Evergreen Islamic Center. Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION

UCSF donation: Former Citigroup chairman Sanford I. Weill is donating $185 million to the University of California, San Francisco for a new neuroscience research center. It’s the largest gift the university has ever received. New York Times

Harassment allegations: The woman who accused Sujit Choudhry, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, speaks out about her experience. “It was a slap on the wrist for him and slap on the face to me. I knew I was expendable,” said Tyann Sorrell. The Guardian

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

How rude: Fans of “Full House” and its reboot “Fuller House” can’t stay away from a San Francisco house whose exterior serves as the home of Danny Tanner and family. The property’s owners have repainted the house and gotten rid of its famous red door, but that hasn’t stopped a steady stream of looky-loos. Wall Street Journal

What are you wearing? Coachella is a great place to find music fans in what some consider to be culturally insensitive costumes, including dashikis, bindis, cornrows and headdresses. Vice

Women in tech: Tracy Chou, 27, is a rising engineer in Silicon Valley who is taking on the industry’s treatment of women. She’s starting by tracking the number of women at various tech firms. “It felt hypocritical that we were being so disciplined about using metrics in building our products, yet not at all with workforce demographics. If we didn’t even know what the baseline was, how could we know if some new strategy to improve diversity was helping or not,” she said. Vogue

Can you hear me now? California’s pay phones have gone from being sources of revenue to necessities. If there’s a natural disaster or emergency, cellphones might not work, but the state’s 27,000 pay phones probably will. San Diego Union-Tribune

Now watch me whip: Disneyland is credited with making Dole Whip so popular, even though the tasty treat is available at other locations. “It’s as synonymous with Disney as warm churros or Mickey Mouse ears.” LAist

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will have clouds and a high of 69. Riverside will be partly sunny and 75. In Los Angeles, there will be sun and a high of 71. There will be thunderstorms in Sacramento with highs reaching 69 degrees. San Francisco will have clouds and a thunderstorm with temperatures reaching a high of 62.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Donald Lugers:

“Some my fondest memories of Southern California were the mornings by the ocean driving in my ‘63 Dodge van. I can still smell the foggy air and remember being the only one driving around Huntington Beach in 1982. I spent the summer living in that van right near the beach. It was the best year of my life. Boy, that little outside diner that served flavored shaved ice was such a treat on hot days! I lived all around O.C., and there was never a boring moment. I met my first love there. I regret leaving.”

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.