Nigel Duara

California cities just saw their lowest homicide rates in decades. It's not clear why Homicides in California surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, killings are down to historic lows in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and many other cities.

In case anyone is wondering, crime rates keep going down in California. Some, like homicide, are at or near historic lows @nigelduara.bsky.social calmatters.org/justice/2026...

How fear of Trump's immigration blitz is changing life in California farm towns Tax receipts are down almost 30% in one California farm town, where immigrants are afraid to go out and some longtime workers are weighing self-deportation. People panicked when probation agents in gr...

"If you did let your imagination run wild, especially if you were undocumented, everywhere you look, around the corner, is somebody that you’re fearful is going to try and get you and deport you.”

Nice deep dive by my colleague @nigelduara.bsky.social

calmatters.org/economy/2025...

This movie has the same problem as A House of Dynamite. It’s better, much better, but the first act writes a check the second two acts can’t cash.

Glad @jupinwhm.bsky.social and @szyszka.bsky.social had the same reaction to WEAPONS I did. Waited to give it a rewatch on streaming, but man. Problems.

This feels like a late King miniseries adaptation — The Outsider. Starts with a cool slow reveal and then “oh whoops it’s just a witch/vampires”

They’re gonna pay him all $4.2 million.

The fact they waited to fire Todd Grantham until after this episode is tragic. It should have hit like a banner headline. Didn’t even make it five games.

While a stated purpose of worksite raids is to remove illegal competition from the labor marketplace, the reality is far messier: Studies have found that immigration raids don’t do much to raise wages — and actually deflate them.
Good story by @nigelduara.bsky.social & @jeannereporter.bsky.social

Watch the slow motion: it appears to me that the officers discuss the photographer and reporter before the one on the end fires on them (it looks to me like he's aiming at the camera, not the reporter, but you decide)

LAPD fired rubber bullets at Australian journalist @laurentomasi.bsky.social

Young Democrats’ POV: How California politicians can better resonate with young voters California’s young Democrats have tips for candidates on how to make inroads with their peers: Be concise, progressive and … not too old.

Really worth reading about a reckoning for California Democrats last weekend calmatters.org/politics/202...

By Stella Yu

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

He died of an overdose. Now his mom is taking on the health insurance industry "Without speaking to Ryan, they denied the care he needed," she said, her voice tight with unspilled tears. “They said he could control his addiction if he really wanted to.”

Great @jocelynwiener.bsky.social look at how a health plan denied a 23-year-old substance abuse treatment, and his mother’s battle in the Legislature to change that after his death.

calmatters.org/health/menta...

100 days in, California is suing Trump at almost double the pace of his first term Trump's deluge of executive orders means California, usually the state suing to advance a progressive agenda, now finds itself fighting in court to preserve the status quo – playing defense, not offen...

Despite holding back on some of the more confrontational rhetoric, California is actually suing the Trump administration at a much faster pace than during the first term, @nigelduara.bsky.social reports calmatters.org/justice/2025...

Charlottesville is in Virginia, not North Carolina.

What faves and encouragement to this account looks like

holy moly

Office-to-Residential Conversion at 995 Market Street, San Francisco - San Francisco YIMBY New permits have been filed for a partial office-to-residential conversion inside 995 Market Street in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood...

New: Network State group plans a "vertical village" on San Francisco's Market Street:

"The project team has been associated with the Network State, a controversial political movement to create decentralized and sovereign communities..."

sfyimby.com/2025/04/offi...

Space is not an either or, it’s a both

Yabba Dabba Vote or Die!!!!

Rad. Still waiting on the “Wish You Were Here” musical tho 🐬

In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life's Final Chapter In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life's Final Chapter - Kindle edition by Parker, Paul. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life's Final Chapter.

The former leader of the San Diego police review board has written a book. We profiled Paul Parker last year amid his frustrations with the sheriff’s office, which led him to resign.

Book link:

geni.us/intheshadows...

Yeah tell me which bar they give you extra free booze so I know to stay away from there

A post from the Ask Los Angeles subreddit titled Kanye West bought a property next to my apartment, plays music extremely loud all day. What can I do? The body of the post is: He sets up a PA loudspeaker outside and plays music really loud all morning and afternoon. Sometimes there's a group of guys dressed all in black being trained to march. It's driving me insane. We've already called the non emergency line a couple of times and nothing helps. What could I do? Even "unethical life hack" type solutions.

lol

Palestinian Student Leader Was Called In for Citizenship Interview — Then Arrested by ICE Palestinian Columbia student leader Mohsen Mahdawi was called in for a citizenship interview. Instead, ICE arrested him for deportation.

SCOOP: Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi went into an interview today hoping he would come out a U.S. citizen. Instead, ICE arrested him. theintercept.com/2025/04/14/i...

The rideshare to the airport is an uber with delorian doors and I want to ask him to drop me off a few blocks away like going to the mall in middle school

San Mateo lunchtime sports bar sighting of @kerithburke.bsky.social

I talked to NPR in SoCal about this for 20 minutes, here’s one of them:

Reports of immigrations sweeps are warping life in California's Central Valley ‘It feels like you’re on edge all the time,’ one immigrant advocate said about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement posture and the seemingly constant rumors of impending sweeps.

Here’s a story that goes to a Bakersfield migrant detention center, the orange groves outside Visalia and a couple small churches where a network of people spread the word about potential ICE sightings.

This is the Central Valley today, and it is full of fear:

calmatters.org/justice/2025...

Reports of immigrations sweeps are warping life in California's Central Valley ‘It feels like you’re on edge all the time,’ one immigrant advocate said about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement posture and the seemingly constant rumors of impending sweeps.

While immigration agents keep detaining individual people outside of their homes or at the entrance to a Walmart, it's still unclear whether the Trump admin's deportation plans are working. As for creating fear, that part is working just fine @nigelduara.bsky.social calmatters.org/justice/2025...

A CHP officer thought a stroke victim was on drugs. Years later, his family gets permission to sue The Highway Patrol officer, Samantha Diaz-Durazo, did not call an ambulance. Instead, she observed the man for 45 minutes after she arrived on the scene, then arrested him on suspicion that he was on ...

A California Highway Patrol trooper found a disoriented man at the site of a crash. She observed him for 45 minutes, then decided he was on drugs and arrested him.

Steven D’Braunstein wouldn’t get to a hospital for more than three hours.

calmatters.org/justice/2025...