Gavin Newsom blocks AI guardrails // Awesome corn maze designs

Good morning. It is Monday September 30th.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom blocks artificial intelligence bill.
• Americans are smuggling fentanyl across the US-Mexico border.
• And a photo tour of this year’s corn maze designs.

Statewide

1.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday blocked a sweeping artificial intelligence security bill that had broad support in the Legislature but was fiercely opposed in Silicon Valley.. The bill would have required companies to test AI systems before releasing them to the public and hold them liable if the technology was used to harm people. In his veto letter, Newsom argued that the regulations were too onerous and threatened innovation. Sen. Scott Wiener, the bill’s author, said the governor has left Californians vulnerable to real danger. “It’s not science fiction at all,” he said. KQED | Reuters

2.

Newsom has decided the fate of numerous bills in recent days as he faces a midnight deadline Monday to act on legislation proposed by state lawmakers. Notable bills that received his signature:

Bills he vetoed:

See the CalMatters invoice tracker.

3.

“meltingly tender, wobbly brisket”

“spot-on vibes and energetic dishes”

“a perfect fine dining restaurant in California”

The New York Times has named five California locations – two in Los Angeles and three in the Bay Area – to its annual list of the 50 Best Restaurants in America.

4.

Los Angeles artist Darren Pearson practices what is known as light painting. He conjures up imaginative creatures by waving LED lights in front of a camera that captures a long exposure. His sets include some of California’s most beautiful places: including Big Sur, Trona Pinnacles, Joshua Tree and Lake Tahoe. He shared a great video revisiting some of his best work. 👉 @dariustwin

Northern California

5.

Kris Kristofferson, the country singer and songwriter whose hits included “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” died Saturday at his home in Maui.. He was 88. Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, but grew up in San Mateo and attended Pomona College. He earned a Rhodes Scholarship, flew helicopters in the Army and was offered a prestigious teaching position at West Point. When he decided to pursue music instead, his mother disowned him and called him a “huge disappointment.” Kristofferson became, Rolling Stone wrote, “one of the greatest songwriters of all time.” NY Times | WashingtonPost

6.

San Jose State’s women’s volleyball program has become the latest flashpoint in the debate over transgender athletes in the sport. Last week, OutKick reported that one of the team’s players, Brooke Slusser, had joined a lawsuit accusing the NCAA of discriminating against women, claiming that one of her teammates is transgender. In her complaint, Slusser said she had never seen a woman hit a ball so hard. In recent weeks, two schools have refused to play scheduled games against the San Jose team, without giving specific reasons. Mercury News | SF Chronicle

7.

While the mighty banana slug gets all the attention—celebrated as a university mascot and official state symbol—California is home to more than 200 native species of mollusks, each stranger than the last. Leopard slugs eat other slugs and ‘mate while dangling from a rope of slime’. The reticulated taildropper can self-amputate its own tail, a distraction technique used to escape predators. Illustrator John Muir Laws has answered your questions about the Bay Area. 👉 Bay Nature

Southern California

8.

The amount of fentanyl crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has increased tenfold in the past five years. But the drug couriers are not primarily illegal immigrants: More than 80% of people convicted at the southern border for fentanyl trafficking are U.S. citizens, federal data shows. “Officials say these numbers point to a new and alarming strategy: Mexican drug cartels are turning thousands of Americans into fentanyl mules, deploying a flood of couriers who can easily travel back and forth to their home countries,” the New York Times wrote.

9.

Three mansions on Los Angeles’s Tony Westside are covered in graffiti after being abandoned by their owners. Two of the homes, located in the Hollywood Hills, are owned by John Powers Middleton, a film producer and the son of Philadelphia Phillies co-owner. The third house, in Bel Air, is partly owned by a half-brother of Osama bin Laden. According to a real estate agent, it has been empty for more than twenty years. “It’s just crazy,” a neighbor told the LA Times. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful house there. I mean, who does that?” CBS News | LA times

10.

Laura La Rue, a single 32-year-old mother, bought an old school bus and converted it into a house on a plot of land in Ojai. It includes a composting toilet, a shower, a propane stove and a nook for her six-month-old daughter, Lasca. They live mostly outdoors, along with a cat and a dog, where La Rue grows all of her own produce and makes clothes for her tie-dye business. It is non-traditional, she acknowledged: “This is what I wanted: a safe haven where I can receive people and enjoy the basic necessities.” LA times

11.

There’s a Michelin-starred restaurant in Culver City where tall people eat for free. Before you get too excited, Lustig defines tall as taller than the restaurant’s 6-foot-2 chef Bernhard Mairinger, which rules out NBA players like Luka Doncic or Kawhi Leonard. “Verification is serious,” wrote the Westside Current, “with a height line and a designated shoe spot at the entrance.” Westzijdestroom | SFGAAT

California seasons

12.

Fall is just around the corner, which means California’s pumpkin patches have unveiled their 2024 corn maze designs. Once the hustle and bustle of a small farmer, pumpkin patches have become big business, reflected in the proliferation of offerings – including carnival rides, apple cannons, zip lines, live music and increasingly elaborate corn mazes.

Check out a quick photo tour of some of this year’s designs below.

Brookshire Farms in San Luis Obispo chose a “Peanuts” theme.

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Cool patch pumpkins in Dixon became patriotic.

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Fantozzi Farms in Patterson paid tribute to a local car dealer.

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Los Rios Rancho in Oak Glen has carved out a veritable maze.

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Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark created an elegant pattern.

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The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.

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