This has been an especially busy year for news in California. As we approach the end of 2023, we’re presenting the Golden State’s year visually, through photographs. There were moments of heartbreak, transformation and wonder, many of which will resonate through the state for years to come.
The year began with a series of atmospheric-river storms that dropped tremendous amounts of precipitation on California. The record-breaking storms caused terrible flooding, wreaked all sorts of havoc across the state and killed at least 21 people.
Eleven people were killed and nine more were injured when a gunman opened fire at a dance studio in Monterey Park in January, one of America’s deadliest mass shootings of 2023. My colleague Corina Knoll wrote a beautiful article about the community of older Asian dancers who were devastated by the tragedy and sought a way to carry on.
Less than 48 hours later, seven people were shot to death at two sites in Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The back-to-back massacres were an upsetting illustration of what to many people feels like a near-constant drumbeat of mass shootings in America.
All that winter rain made for “as close to a miracle year as you can get,” replenishing reservoirs and easing drought conditions, a California state water official said. California’s snowpack built up to the greatest depth recorded in at least 40 years, a huge lake of runoff spread over farmland in the Central Valley, and a rainbow of wildflowers emerged across the state in the spring.
Some people called it the “hot labor summer”: A season of strikes began when Los Angeles school support staff members staged a three-day walkout in March. Then Hollywood writers and actors went on strike, as did dockworkers, hotel workers, Amazon drivers and more.
A rare tropical storm arrived in August and brought more than two inches of rain to Southern California. The tropical storm warning for Hurricane Hilary was the first ever issued for Southern California. The rain even formed a new lake in famously parched Death Valley.
In September, Dianne Feinstein, the grande dame of California Democrats and an influential voice in the U.S. Senate for more than 30 years, died at 90. Our San Francisco bureau chief, Heather Knight, wrote about how central Feinstein, a former mayor, was to some of the city’s greatest triumphs as a financial and cultural capital of the West Coast.
The culture wars were felt in California as Republicans, who have almost no power in the state government or in the state’s largest cities, took aim at school boards as a forum for pushing right-wing policies like requiring parental notification when students seek to change their gender identity. A San Diego library’s small Pride display led to unexpected fighting and made news around the nation.
The rest of the news
Baseball fans everywhere were hoping that the megastar Shohei Ohtani would choose their team in free agency. Los Angeles Dodgers fans won the sweepstakes.
Southern California
How hard is it to board an international flight to the United States with no ticket and no passport? One man managed it last month, flying to Los Angeles from Copenhagen carrying only Russian and Israeli identification cards in his bag, prosecutors said.
A number of small Los Angeles art galleries, often in less obvious neighborhoods — including Residency Art Gallery, Band of Vices, Charlie James Gallery and others — are beginning to play a major role in the city’s art scene, bringing young Black and Latino artists to the attention of collectors and curators.
More than 300 people, many of whom were formerly homeless, have been evicted after the nonprofit that had housed them failed to pay rent on time, CalMatters reports.
Central California
Federal prosecutors reached a settlement with the City of Fresno over compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act after violations were found at the Fresno Amtrak station, The Business Journal reports.
Northern California
An outbreak of avian flu has reached five counties in California, including a duck farm in Sonoma County that supplies many restaurants in the Bay Area, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Where we’re traveling
Today’s tip comes from Jorge Moreno, spokesman for California State Parks. Moreno recommends Henry W. Coe State Park in Morgan Hill:
“With 87,000 acres of scenic hills and mountain ridges in the Diablo Mountain Range, this largely undeveloped park welcomes backpackers, equestrians, mountain bikers, day-hikers, and anyone seeking solitude in a nearly untouched setting. Fall is a particularly good time to visit, with temperate days, cool nights, and a chance to enjoy the color of the turning leaves.”
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.
Tell us
What will be your New Year’s resolutions? Tell me what you’re hoping for in 2024.
Email us at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your full name and the city in which you live.
And before you go, some good news
The Michelin Guide on Tuesday added seven new restaurants to its California guide, including a vegetarian restaurant and wine bar in Koreatown in Los Angeles and an eastern Mediterranean restaurant in the Presidio in San Francisco.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.
Maia Coleman and Geordon Wollner contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.