Fatal plane crash, State fair preview. Top Sacramento Bee stories on July 16

From a fatal plane crash in Yuba City to a $3.2 billion shipyard loss for Solano County, Sacramento-area news is moving fast today.

Here’s a quick digest of the top stories:

• A 68-year-old Yuba City man has been identified as the pilot killed in Thursday’s fatal plane crash at Sutter County Airport. Gerald Binse was the only person aboard the homebuilt Van’s RV-4, which crashed through a fence around 7 a.m. after taking off and circling back over the runway.

• The 173rd California State Fair returns to Cal Expo starting Friday for 17 days under the theme “Wish You Were Here.” This year’s fair — the last mid-summer edition before the event shifts to September in 2027 — features a new Hip Hop thrill ride, a grand carousel with horses valued at more than $30,000 each and the debut First Peoples’ Art Showcase.

• California Forever lost a potential $3.2 billion shipyard project to Texas after Austin-based Saronic Technologies chose the Port of Brownsville over Solano County. Texas approved a $211 million abatement package to land the Port Alpha shipyard, despite California Forever hiring former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg as lobbyists to fast-track a deal.

• Sacramento City Unified School District has named Jill Thom interim principal of John F. Kennedy High School after Principal Reginald Brown went on a leave of absence. Some parents say they never received the district’s ParentSquare notifications about the change and learned about it only through a school board member’s Facebook post.