California Today: In California, Some Cities Are Done With Drive-Throughs

August 3, 2026, 6:31 a.m. Pacific time

Today’s Top Story

In California, Some Cities Are Done With Drive-Throughs

The state gave rise to fast-food culture decades ago, but some cities are spurning drive-throughs because of the environmental and aesthetic impacts.

Officer Charged With Violating Privacy for Recording Colleagues’ Racism

The charges stem from recordings that Daniel Flores made over the course of 2024, when he was working in a Los Angeles police unit that recruited new officers.

Inside the Meltdown of a Wunderkind’s A.I. Hedge Fund

Situational Awareness, led by a 24-year-old, exploded onto the artificial intelligence scene — and then nose-dived.

Moving Back Home After College? All Your Friends Are Doing It.

More young adults are living with their parents. The development suggests that they face a weak job market, but also that fewer face stigma in returning to the roost.

For a Day, Google Made It Easy to Spoof Satellite Imagery

A new Google Earth tool allowed the creation of A.I. deepfake maps. The tech giant quickly pulled it back after a backlash and concerns about disinformation risks.

‘Spider-Man’ Opens to $927 Million Worldwide, Defying Superhero Slump

The Sony Pictures movie, the 11th big-budget Spider-Man blockbuster since 2002, was on pace to have one of the biggest domestic first weekends ever.

A California Beach House Meant to Be Handed Down

After wildfires burned a couple’s primary home, they decamped to their beach house and, years later, started to renovate with longevity in mind.

Mildred Pitts Walter, Author of Books for Black Children, Dies at 103

Teaching kindergarten in South Central Los Angeles in the 1950s and ’60s, she realized that her students were not represented in the books they read. So she wrote her own.