California Sun

11/07/2025

A curvaceous home in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego looks like it was designed for a Hobbit family.

Designed by James Hubbell — the same artist who brought the whimsical Sea Ranch Chapel to life — it comfortably sleeps a family of four full-sized humans.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/nvidia-becomes-first-4-trillion-company-a-home-fit-for-hobbits-in-the-cuyamaca-mountains/ -6

10/07/2025

Carved into the neat rows of vines in rural Sonoma wine country is a regulation-sized baseball field.

Balletto Vineyards added it for use by workers and family more than 20 years ago. Last week, they hosted their second annual Old Timey Baseball Event.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/activists-clash-with-federal-agents-in-san-francisco-harrowing-rescue-on-sierra-peak/ -6

06/07/2025

Down an unassuming alley in San Francisco’s Mission District, there’s a dime-sized portal to other worlds.

Peephole Cinema plays short silent films — all day and night — for any audience of one inclined to crouch down and peer inside.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/catholic-prelates-rally-against-ice-raids-donors-ambivalent-about-a-kamala-harris-bid/ -10

25/06/2025

City official calls for gangs to step up against ICE // Long Beach congressman wins powerful post https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/city-official-calls-for-gangs-to-step-up-against-ice-long-beach-congressman-wins-powerful-post

24/06/2025

At Malakoff Diggins, once California’s largest hydraulic gold mine near Nevada City in the Sierra foothills, glampers stay in cabins designed to resemble those of Gold Rush-era miners. They walk the historic town; visit the elaborately carved cliffs of the “Diggins,” pictured here; and grill dinner over an outdoor fire pit. KQED included Malakoff Diggins in a list of five favorite glamping destinations in the Bay Area and beyond.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/silicon-valley-executives-join-army-reserve-tribal-kayakers-to-paddle-entire-klamath-river/ -9

21/06/2025

To truly leave civilization behind, visit the most distant park in the North State — Jedediah Smith Redwoods — drive 2 miles along a winding unpaved road, and head down the Boy Scout Tree Trail. It's included in Lonely Planet's list of the 12 best hikes in all of California.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/trump-officials-reverse-halt-on-ice-farm-raids-a-trip-to-ojais-school-of-canine-massage/ -9

11/06/2025

The Berkeley photographer Richard Misrach, known for his painterly large-scale color images, unveiled a new project on cargo ships to and from the Port of Oakland.

He sees them as “chess pieces” loaded with symbolism about the impact of global trade.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/700-marines-deployed-to-los-angeles-governor-calls-president-a-dictator-and-a-liar/ -12

06/06/2025

Smog in L.A. between the 1950s and ’70s was so bad, people covered their mouths with handkerchiefs. Parents kept children home from school, and athletes trained indoors.

It’s less than half what it was, but the air is still among the nation's dirtiest.

Less than two years had passed since the attack on Pearl Harbor when a strange mist settled over Los Angeles. People's eyes and throats stung. The haze

04/06/2025

Animal advocates are demanding something be done about dogs enduring brutal conditions on Los Angeles’ Skid Row.

A recently posted video showed several dogs being kept in small wire crates, covered by plastic tarps.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/fighting-for-survival-in-big-sur-mysterious-cabin-in-arcata-redwoods/ -11

01/06/2025

There’s an incredible footbridge that skirts the base of a roughly 1,300-foot waterfall in Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley.

Wapama Falls is said to rival the finest waterfalls of Yosemite Valley, while attracting far fewer visitors.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/ice-agents-descend-on-immigration-courts-incredible-waterfall-in-hetch-hetchy-valley/ -9

30/05/2025

Every spring, after the snow melts, the marmots of Sequoia National Park descend on trailhead parking lots to chew on the tubes and hoses of hikers’ car engines.

What the squirrel-like rodents with sharp claws are after, according to Sequoia National Park ecologist Harold Werner, are crusty mineral deposits often found on engine parts. Some guzzle antifreeze, he said, giving them “a bit of a high.”

“Junkie marmots,” as one writer dubbed them, have become such a menace that hikers routinely wrap their cars in tarps before setting off down trails.

https://www.californiasun.co/newsletter/huntington-beach-is-labeled-a-sanctuary-city-santa-monica-residents-go-to-war-with-waymo/ -12