>
Article snippet: Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.) In 1967 the novelist Wallace Stegner wrote: “Like the rest of America, California is unformed, innovative, ahistorical, hedonistic, acquisitive, and energetic — only more so.” I’ve been repeatedly reminded of this over the last 14 months as the writer of this newsletter. But now, it’s time for a bittersweet personal announcement: Today is my final California Today — I’ve decided to leave The Times to pursue new opportunities. The Times will continue to publish California Today, and it will remain as strong and vibrant as ever. In fact, The Times is looking for a new writer to take it over. (In the meantime, other Times journalists will fill in.) For me, it’s been a dizzying experience: We saw California’s transformation into America’s “rebel state,” devastating floods and fires, the end of a five-year drought, a raucous debate over campus speech, sexual misconduct crises in Hollywood and Sacramento — and so much more. If I’m honest, the challenge of trying to convey so much drama every day has been at times overwhelming. How could it not be? In short, California is messy. But it’s also where the future is made. You can’t help but be enthralled by it. Over the coming year, California will face the start of recreational marijuana sales, an affordable housing crisis, a major fire recovery effort and a governor’s race. I’ll miss this job. I feel honored to have held the post. And truly, thank ... Link to the full article to read more