West
LA Times editor implores ex-Californians to stop insulting the state on their way out
Los Angeles Times’ letters editor Paul Thornton implored Californians leaving the state to stop criticizing it on the way out.
“To the people leaving California: May the road rise to meet you as you seek better lives in new places. Now, can you please extend some goodwill to those of us who remain?” Thornton asked in a Saturday piece headlined, “Commentary: If you want to leave, fine. But don’t insult California on the way out.”
He went on to describe how staggering numbers of Californians are fleeing to other states.
“More than 800,000 Californians moved away in 2022, and many thousands more left last year. Often, the departees, cash in hand from the sale of their $1-million bungalows, feel the need to express disdain for their home state, and even some anger too,” he wrote.
Americans have been leaving the state of California in droves. ((Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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Thornton went on to describe a relative of his who told him about having relocated to a small town in another state far away, but being warned against bringing “those weird California ways” to his new neighborhood.
“And which ways would those be?” Thornton asked rhetorically. “Perhaps it’s our embrace of LGBTQ+ Californians. Or it’s our liberal politics, with the state Republican Party shrunk to irrelevance after its vicious attempt in 1994 to marginalize immigrants with Proposition 187.”
Proposition 187, which passed by almost 60% but blocked by the courts from ever going into effect, proposed denying state social services to illegal immigrants. Since then, California has expanded access to government benefits and services to illegal immigrants.
The Golden State started the new year by granting illegal immigrants free healthcare, despite the state’s looming $68 billion deficit. This new healthcare policy will cover sex change surgeries for California residents without regard for their citizenship status.
The California State Capitol in Sacramento. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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“Perhaps I’m sensitive because California — and especially Los Angeles — used to be the place people would come,” Thornton wrote. “And plenty still move here, especially immigrants. I come from an immigrant family blessed by the working-class riches our state once offered.”
He touted California again as a place where putting “progressive ideals” in political practice remains a key goal.
“California is big, powerful and therefore tempting to disparage. We have 39 million people, Hollywood and Shohei Ohtani. This state is a haven for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, but income disparity and the housing crunch are critical problems we have to fix for progressive ideals to match the reality on the ground,” he said.
“If you must leave California for Texas, Arizona, New England or anywhere else, don’t be a person who trash-talks the home of 39 million people,” he pleaded.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, California lost a net of 75,423 people in 2023.
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San Francisco police officers arrested 20 people late Saturday night in SoMa after breaking up an unauthorized “Stud Alley” block party with hundreds of participants, according to the police department. It marked the second round of arrests of Pride attendees this weekend after police arrested five people at the tail end of the Trans March on Friday.
Police officers arrived near Kissling and 11th streets at 10:58 p.m. and “encountered an unsanctioned and unpermitted block party” that had about 300 participants and a D.J., according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department. The following details are based on the department statement and social media videos; two participants reached by Mission Local declined to comment.
The department said that the large crowd “prompted the response of additional SFPD resources.” Social media footage shows dozens of officers marching through SoMa streets armed with batons, wearing riot helmets and carrying plastic zip-ties.
Officers then gave an order to disperse, the department said, and told the D.J. to leave the area. The D.J. left but the partygoers did not, the department said, and officers tried to “disperse the crowd.” Two people “resisted,” the department said, and officers arrested them.
Several people also “vandalized two vehicles passing through the area,” the department said, and made them “inoperable.” The two vehicles may have been Waymos: One online video shows two Waymos in the street blinking hazard lights, and appears to show one officer telling others that the Waymos had been vandalized.
The party then reformed a few blocks later at Washburn Street about two blocks away, the department said, with about 200 people; the police shut that gathering down as well.
Footage from the scene shows a line of officers in tactical gear advancing rapidly on the crowd, shoving people out of the alleyway before forming a cordon line to block the street. In total, 18 people were arrested on Washburn Street, the department said, for “obstructing or delaying a peace officer and unlawful assembly.”
The department said that “makeshift barricades” had been set up to keep officers at bay; at one point in a video, an officer moves several large rocks that were placed in the street. Two officers sustained minor injuries, the department said.
SoMa has been the site of unsanctioned “Stud Alley” parties on the Saturday evenings of Pride weekend for at least the past six years. The parties have made headlines in past years for graffiti, broken windshields and outraged neighbors.
The organizers of Stud Alley posted an announcement this year that they would not host a party, saying that the party had recently “outgrown itself,” but reminded past party-goers of the unofficial slogan that is frequently graffitied onto walls around the party: Every alley is Stud Alley.
Jesse, a bartender at the nearby bar the Willow, reported seeing cops “everywhere” after the Saturday incident, when people “fled” to the bar to escape. He did not report hearing of any incidents of violence between party-goers and police.
The arrests mark the second encounter between Pride-goers and police this weekend. On Friday, at the end of the Trans March, police officers arrested five marchers for alleged vandalism and assault after march-goers allegedly spray-painted several statues and a person.
On Sunday afternoon, Washburn and Kissling streets still bore signs of the party. Spray painted on the walls of buildings were “Fuck SFPD,” “No Cops at Pride,” and “Every Alley Stud Alley.”
The Mariners have made the first move in what’s sure to be a rip-roaring Trade Deadline season, acquiring INF Buddy Kennedy from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations.
Kennedy was designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier this morning as outfielder Heliot Ramos returned from the Injured List.
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The 5’10” infielder has spent most of the season with Triple-A Sacramento, hitting well, even for the PCL. He’s in the 78th percentile for xWOBA, has a nearly identical K% and BB% (12.6%/12.1%) and rarely whiffs. This all has come out to a .322 batting average and a 152 wRC+. He’s made just a minimal impression in the bigs this season, with 8 plate appearances in 7 games, and zero hits.
Kennedy is likely to head to Tacoma. He can play 3B and 2B in a pinch, and will likely backfill Patrick Wisdom’s role if Wisdom is called up to take over right-handed pinch hitting duties from the currently-employed Rob Refsnyder.
The 27-year-old has not found much traction in the five years since his debut with Arizona in 2022. He’s amassed less than 200 plate appearances across 74 games, with a career 50 wRC+. On the mound, Kennedy has made one appearance this season, pitching one inning and giving up four runs, all earned.
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