In California: Nunes' name gets dragged through the dirt, literally

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes calls a guy who apparently stole one of this campaign signs "homeless" based on his appearance. Plus: 195 people are set free after testing negative for coronavirus. And the feds file suit to force the state to keep private prisons and immigration detention facilities open.

It's Arlene with Tuesday's news.

But first, during this week for lovahs, meet the man who has spent the past six years whisking couples around the Oxnard harbor in a Venetian gondola. He has heard "Will you marry me?" 1,400 times.

And later, don't miss my conversation with Sebastián Hidaglo, a visual journalist who spent months chronicling the housing crisis in one of the state's hardest-hit regions.

In California has your daily news, features and interviews from across Paste BN Network newsrooms and beyond. Click here to get this straight to your inbox.

Nunes labels a campaign sign thief as 'homeless' 

Republican Rep. Devin Nunes used a video of one of his campaign signs being dragged down the road by a cyclist to make a political point.  

"Homeless guy stealing my sign! Welcome to California," the congressman from Tulare captioned a video he uploaded this week on Instagram. 

It's not clear who the man was or if he was homeless. The video (of unknown origin) only shows a man and his plumber's crack, and attached to his bike is a small three-wheel trailer with a few belongings. The Nunes sign is dragging behind that.

Nunes' supporters used the video as an example of the state's problem with homelessness. Nunes' challengers in the March primary didn't see it that way.

"That 'homeless guy' is a person, who is undoubtedly struggling & needs a representative who is working to solve the problems that have led to this crisis," Democratic challenger Phil Arballo said in a tweet. Eric Garcia, an independent hoping to win the seat, also took to social media to criticize Nunes, saying this was no internet cow: "This is your district and state why not try and fix it."

195 freed after 2-week coronavirus quarantine

All 195 travelers quarantined since late January at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County have tested negative for the deadly coronavirus and were released from quarantine Tuesday, free to go home, health officials announced.  

The quarantine was ordered shortly after the group arrived at the air base on a State Department-chartered flight out of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 1,100 people worldwide.

Its quick, deadly spread — more than 40,500 people have tested positive for the virus —prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

• A patient in San Diego on Monday became the seventh confirmed case of novel coronavirus in California and the 13th in the United States. 
• Coronavirus, amid the rising death toll, represents a "very grave threat to the rest of the world," the WHO said.
• What can I do? Get a flu shot and wash your hands regularly.

Derelict housing, juvi bills and high winds

Cockroaches, mice and mold are increasingly roommates to families forced by the state's housing crisis into substandard living conditions in Salinas.

California in 2018 banned the practice of charging parents for the time their child spent in the juvenile justice system. But it wasn't retroactive, and 22 counties are still charging hard for the $137 million they're owed. 

High winds in SoCal caused a massive tree in Yucaipa to crush a car and led to six semis overturning, but they should calm by late Tuesday. 

DOJ to CA: Allow private prisons and immigration detention centers

California wants to phase out private prison and immigration detention centers. The U.S. Department of Justice is moving fast to make sure they stay in place, now and into the future. 

Last month, DOJ sued Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra over AB 32, the law that phases out the facilities. Then last week, it filed a motion to stop the state from moving forward with implementation in the meantime. The department’s lawsuit contends that the ban is unconstitutional and interferes with the federal prison and immigration detention system.

The department will argue its case for a preliminary and permanent injunction on April 23 in federal court in San Diego.

“California, of course, is free to decide that it will no longer use private detention facilities for its own state prisoners and detainees,” the Justice Department says in its Feb. 5 motion. “But it cannot dictate that choice for the United States, especially in a manner that discriminates against the Federal Government and its contractors.”

What else we're talking about 

His instrument was the harp and if you lived in Ventura County, chances are good you heard musician/artist Xavier Montes play. The De Colores Art Show founder, easily recognizable wearing his guayabera and Panama-style hat, died last week.

Why Luke Perry of Beverly Hills, 90210, wasn't in the Oscars' In Memoriam. Mmm hmm.

An Ohio Amish family helped bring Redding's steam donkey back to life.

STOPPIT. Disneyland raises single-ticket prices over $200. 

A grueling job, a crowded home ... and hope

Sebastián Hidalgo is a local fellow with CatchLight, which partners with organizations and newsrooms to support, promote, fund and encourage deeper storytelling through visual journalism. Hidalgo partnered with reporter Kate Cimini of The Salinas Californian, part of the Paste BN Network, to tell the story of living in one of the most expensive places in the United States on farmworker wages. 

The story chronicled efforts to find a "Sense of Home" in crowded, sometimes unsafe living conditions. I talked about the project via email with Hidalgo, who found a link to Salinas in Chicago, where he lives now. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get involved in reporting this story?

I began to research the housing conditions in Salinas by talking to mentors, musicians, muralists, writers, and scholars who were raised in the city and now live in Chicago. I was surprised at how interconnected the two cities were to one another. ... It turned out CatchLight was also interested. 

How did you get the Salvador family (and others) to let you into their space? 

We worked as a team at The Salinas Californian. Resi Salvador was someone we wanted to collaborate with even before I arrived in the city. After asking her and her family if the project was something they wanted to be a part of, they agreed and we laid out the process. 

There seemed to be a lot of love and hope in the people you interviewed, even as they lived and worked under sometimes dangerous and definitely grueling conditions.

That was important to show. It wouldn’t be the whole truth to only look at the grueling conditions and not how people retain some sense of hope. People struggle but they also have good questions of their own. We listened. 

Salinas’ community development director said it wasn’t possible to build structures higher than four floors because of cost. Others said if you put in dense housing it’ll just draw/create crime. It reminded me of the NIMBY things I used to hear in city council meetings. Are these excuses or valid reasons for why housing isn’t getting built?

You touch on a lot of things with the question: The housing landscape is a deep web of complex issues with no easy answer or solution. History shows that you can’t just build on a good idea without including the community’s input throughout the process. As far as Not-In-My-Back-Yard people: In a landscape where everyone is on board for "affordable housing" then everyone should know what that means and make room for it collectively. 

What do you hope people get out of your story?

The reporting process involved collaborations with community members and organizations. We held two events asking community members for feedback on the story. Then we listened to the information that we received and adjusted accordingly. 

It resulted in a free Know Your Rights booklet in English and Spanish, and a story I hope gives our viewers a better understanding of the housing landscape and how to maneuver it.

Do you feel more or less optimistic about the housing crisis than when you started?

I came into the project from the affordable housing crisis in my home in Chicago. It’s happening everywhere. I tell myself that there has to be an oasis somewhere. (I found) it in the hearts of people.  

You probably got hundreds if not thousands of images over the months-long project. How do you decide which images to use?

I believe that images should show both the emotions and the facts of any given story. The images that made it to the final story resemble that, having touched on themes of hope, love, labor and "home" and the facts of the housing landscape. When I saw that an image married the two, then I included it. 

Learn more about Hidalgo and his work here. 

In California is a roundup of news from across Paste BN Network newsrooms. Also contributing: CalMatters, Healthline.