California's Homeless Crisis

Good Morning, it’s May 15 and these are the stories we are following:

✔  Chat GPT can now listen, talk, and see. Who’s paying attention to AI advancements?

✔  Governor Newsom blames local leaders for the homeless crisis

✔  Big money, big box, and a small town. There’s a battle brewing in California farm country.

✔  The edible gel that could prevent you from getting drunk

Have a great Wednesday!

Netter News Team

OPEN-AI UPGRADE: ChatGPT LISTENS, SEES AND TALKS

This week OpenAI debuted its newest, most life-like Artificial Intelligence technology. The San Francisco-based tech giant shifted ChatGPT from an online tool to intelligence that we can “collaborate, learn and grow with”.

Frankly, the demonstration was scary, eye-opening, or astonishing, depending on how you view this technology.

What You Need to Know

• The newest model is called GPT-4o ( “o” for omni). And OpenAI released an online demonstration.

• At about the 9:50 mark- the group talks to ChatGPT as if it’s a good friend.

• The voice is so realistic and calm, not like Apple’s SIRI, or Amazon’s Alexa.

• You can interrupt ChatGPT and it stops like a human, listens, and picks up on your emotion. In fact, at one point, the AI told the demonstrator to calm down and then showed him HOW to calm down.

• Chat GPT can also see- it can analyze live video and text.

• Around the 14:30 mark, ChatGPT walked the demonstrators through a math equation after the demonstrator wrote it on a piece of paper and asked it for help. I mean, it solved it better than I could help my kid with his math homework. Could this mean ChatGPT will eventually take the place of teachers?

• The company is also in the works of developing an AI-powered search engine.

Who’s Paying Attention?

Despite all the advancements in AI technology, the United States still has no comprehensive federal legislation to regulate the development of Artificial Intelligence. However, we were told this week that something is finally in the works from the Senate.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, EDUCATION & SCIENCE

NEWSOM BLAMES LOCAL LEADERS

There is no doubt that homelessness is probably the most frustrating issue for all Californians. The state has spent more than $20 billion on the problem during Governor Newsom’s terms and yet the crisis grows. Right now there are about 181,000 Californians on the streets.

And that takes us to Redwood City, where Governor Newsom tried to flip the script and blame local leaders for the crisis.

Newsom was there pushing for cities to build more mental health treatment centers and homeless housing. This is part of his Prop 1 ballot measure push. Yes, that Prop 1, which barely passed in March, with 50.2% of the vote.

Newsom had a message for all local leaders across California, “It’s time to do your job. It’s time to get things done. You asked for these reforms, and we’ve provided them. Now it’s time to deliver.”

But here’s the rub, most cities and counties opposed Prop 1, fearing it wouldn’t help the homeless issue, but instead the new funding structure of the tax on millionaires will threaten programs that are not solely focused on housing or treatment.

HOMELESS HOTEL BATTLE

In Southern California, remember that former Ramada Hotel which was a focal point in Venice’s heated debate over homelessness and crime. The city of Los Angeles purchased the property with an $11 million taxpayer-funded loan, but residents opposed its conversion into a homeless shelter. An update: it’s been sitting empty now for three years.

UC BERKELEY ENCAMPMENT DISMANTLES

One of the longest-running anti-Israel campus encampments is being cleared today. The protesters at UC Berkley started taking down their tents late Tuesday after Chancellor Carol Christ reached an agreement with demonstrators.

The Agreement

So how did she get them to finally pack up their stuff without calling in the police to clear them out?

Christ agreed to the following demands:

📌The university will review complaints about discrimination against Palestinians and other groups in academic partnerships such as exchange programs.

📌The university will create a task force (with students and faculty) to examine UC Berkeley Foundation investments.

📌The chancellor agreed to examine Berkeley’s investments in a “targeted list of companies due to their participation in weapons manufacturing, mass incarceration, and/or surveillance industries.”

📌Christ refused to target Israel by divesting from it, or cutting ties with Israeli universities.

And in case you are wondering, UC Berkeley’s endowment is massive, it has a total market value of around $7.4 Billion.

CALIFORNIA MASS EXODUS

In a state long known for booming growth rates, fueled by the lure of the California Dream, the Golden State has been reeling from a mass exodus in recent years.

• The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that California lost about 500,000 people between April 2020 and July 2022.

• A significant driver of the population loss was the pandemic, but also people moving to other states like Texas and Arizona.

• Housing costs are a big reason, with 34% of Californians in a recent survey saying the state is too expensive to live in.

REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

This news hit us hard, but it makes sense. According to a new federal report, the “real” unemployment rate shows 9.5% of Californians are out of work. That’s more than double the “official” jobless rate the government puts out each month.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics looks at those who are jobless, discouraged workers, and those who are underemployed. What does that mean? It includes part-time workers who want full-time work and they also tracked people who aren’t counted as unemployed because they gave up looking for jobs.

FENCE BOAT MURAL

Okay, this gave us a chuckle. A Seaside man gave a figurative “finger” to the city officials who told him he had to keep his boat out of sight.

How did Etienne Constable respond to the ultimatum: yes, he moved his boat behind his fence. But then, he asked a local artist to paint a mural on the street side.

Constable said, “I’m not a rule breaker, but I like to make a political statement as necessary, as well as a humorous statement and a creative statement.” We say he nailed it.

HOT TAKES

🚨 SMALL TOWN VS. WEALTHY FAMILY: In Kern County, there’s a battle brewing, where California’s wealthiest farming family threatens to reshape a small town with a new mega-warehouse for big box retailers.

🚨 TRUMP LEADS IN NEW POLLS: New polls reveal former President Trump leading President Biden in key battleground states that Biden won in 2020. You can find the full results of the polls, including the questions that were asked, here.

🚨 RED LOBSTER TROUBLE: The Red Lobster seafood chain is closing 99 restaurants nationwide (5 in California) as it struggles to fight off bankruptcy.

🚨 WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Park officials say a joy rider went off-road in Death Valley, got stuck, and then damaged a historic piece of Death Valley history.

🚨 EDIBLE ALCOHOL GEL: A new gel that you can eat apparently might prevent you from getting drunk by breaking down alcohol before it gets into your bloodstream. Research on this is VERY early, but you can read all about it by clicking on the link.

GOLDEN STATE GLOW

• 🌴 Last week, we told you about a building in Fresno that sold for just one dollar. Now, a historic California town is up for grabs at $6.6 million. You can’t even find a home for that price in some parts of SoCal! The town is called Campo and it’s located just a little over an hour from San Diego. The community, while offering unique opportunities, does come with its own set of challenges.

• 🌴 The busy summer travel season is about to begin and a crucial route that connects the Central Valley to the Central Coast is closed. And it’s having a major impact on the 5’s most popular pit stop.

• 🌴If we didn’t need another reason to love our first responders, check out OC firefighters 👩‍🚒 after they were called to a home to rescue a puppy that somehow crawled into a wall.

 🗓THIS DAY IN CALI-HISTORY

MAY 15: 

• 1928: On this day in 1928, The first Mickey Mouse film 🎥 was screened at a theater in Hollywood. Directed by Walt Disney, “Plane Crazy” featured Mickey Mouse and friends attempting to fly an airplane 🛩.

  
  .

• 1930: On this in 1930 in San Francisco, Ellen Church and seven trailblazing women soared into history as the nation’s first flight attendants. Church, a registered nurse, and licensed pilot, broke barriers by appealing to the biases of airline executives, telling them that women like herself could get the public over their fears of flying. Church and four other women flew the first route from the Bay Area to Cheyenne, Wyoming, while the remaining four continued the historic trek to Chicago. Now known as the “Fly Girls” their visionary efforts not only opened new horizons for women but also revolutionized the aviation industry.

• 1940: Maurice “Mac” and Richard “Dick” McDonald" fired up the grill at their very first fast-food joint, “McDonald’s Bar-B-Q, in San Bernardino. Little did they know this humble beginnings would spark a global phenomenon.