Newsletter: Essential California: Two LAPD officers arrested in assaults on women

Good morning. It is Thursday, Feb. 18. A 3-year-old German shorthaired pointer from Temecula is “Best in Show,” according to the Westminster Kennel Club. Congratulations to California Journey. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Exide cleanup

Gov. Jerry Brown is calling for $176.6 million toward the cleanup of potentially thousands of lead-contaminated homes around the shuttered Exide battery recycling plant. It’s a major boost from the $8.5 million he earlier proposed for the southeast Los Angeles County communities. “With this funding plan, we’re opening a new chapter that will help protect the community and hold Exide responsible,” the governor said in a statement. Los Angeles Times

Color of authority

Two Los Angeles police officers were charged with repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting four women between 2008 and 2011 — usually when the officers were on duty. The alleged victims, who ranged in age from 19 to 35, were women arrested for drug-related offenses. The allegations against James Christopher Nichols and Luis Gustavo Valenzuela were first reported by The Times in 2013. Los Angeles Times

Security vs. privacy

The rift between Silicon Valley’s tech firms and the intelligence community is about to move from a philosophical difference to a courtroom brawl. Apple CEO Tim Cook says he will fight a court order that his company help FBI agents crack into a phone used by one of the two terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino last December. “Apple is now viewed as the flag bearer for protecting citizen data, and if they succeed, there will be a flood of other companies following suit,” said Chenxi Wang, chief strategy officer at the network security firm Twistlock. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Climate change: Data from NASA show that wet places are becoming wetter and dry places are becoming drier. “This concept of wet-get-wetter, dry-get-drier — they call it the rich-get-richer mechanism — has already been proposed as something that might happen under human-driven climate change,” said J.T. Reager, a hydrologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Desert Sun

Flowers everywhere: Death Valley may be on the cusp of a once-in-a-decade “super bloom” of wildflowers. We can thank El Niño for that. The last “super blooms” were in 1998 and 2005. LAist

L.A. AT LARGE

Hospital hacked: Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoins to a hacker who seized control of the hospital’s system, its CEO said. The hacker’s assault took place Feb. 5. “I have never heard of this kind of attack trying to shut down a hospital. This puts lives at risk and it is sickening to see such an act,” said one cybersecurity expert. Los Angeles Times

New leadership: Over at ABC television, Channing Dungey made history Wednesday when she became the first African American to head a broadcast network. She will replace entertainment chief Paul Lee. “Channing is a gifted leader and a proven magnet for top creative talent, with an impressive record of developing compelling, breakthrough programming that resonates with viewers,” said Ben Sherwood, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. Los Angeles Times

School protests: Parents and teachers participated in “walk-ins” Wednesday in support of traditional public schools that could soon become charters. “This is a fight about whether we provide real opportunities for all kids or whether the privatizers and billionaires get to decide which kids get opportunities and which kids don’t,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Disclosure requirements: The leadership shake-up at the California Coastal Commission has some lawmakers calling for greater disclosure requirements. Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and her colleagues want the commission to follow the same rules that apply when lobbyists communicate with politicians and other state agencies. “It’s become very, very clear that the influence that certain lobbyists have on the Coastal Commission far outstrips what the general public has,” said Assemblyman Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay). Los Angeles Times

Congressional jockeying: The race is on to replace Rep. Lois Capps in the 24th Congressional District. “It’s not a certainty which candidates will reach the threshold to appear on the November ballot, or if voters will give both a Republican and a Democrat the chance.” Los Angeles Times

Coronageddon: A major freeway closure is coming to Corona. The 91 between the 71 and 15 will shut down for 55 hours as part of a highway widening project. “If you insist on using the 91 in that vicinity, we’re forecasting delays of up to three to four hours, which is not the best way to spend your weekend,” said Anne Mayer, executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission. The Press-Enterprise

CRIME AND COURTS

Death of a baby: When deputies arrived at a Compton home to find a 1-year-old baby suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, they made the decision to “grab and run.” They placed Autumn Johnson and her father in the back of a patrol car and drove 50 mph to get to a hospital in the hopes of saving the infant’s life. “What sticks to me is seeing her in that state, and it’s the age — the fact that she looked like a 1-year-old, like a baby, like a toddler,” said Deputy Ricardo Eguia, who was behind the wheel that night. Los Angeles Times

Violent duo: The final days of San Bernardino terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. The New Yorker

Students sentenced: Three high school students from China were sentenced to prison Wednesday for kidnapping and assaulting a fellow classmate. Yunyao “Helen” Zhai was sentenced to 13 years in prison, Yuhan “Coco” Yang to 10 and Xinlei “John” Zhang to six. The case brought attention to “parachute kids” who leave China on their own to attend school in Southern California. Los Angeles Times

Public corruption: The FBI and San Francisco District Attorney’s Office will work together as part of a new task force on public corruption. “The good old boys, the pay-to-play system that has worked in San Francisco so well for so long, has to end,” said D.A. George Gascón. The announcement follows a multi-year investigation that led to the arrests of former state Sen. Leland Yee and Chinatown crime boss Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow. SFGate

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Fall from grace: The man behind “NYPD Blue” and “Deadwood” is $17 million in debt thanks to a gambling addiction, according to a lawsuit. “That marks a breathtaking financial fall for one of the most admired creative figures ever to grace the world of television.” Hollywood Reporter

Cinematic portrayal: An Army sergeant who sued the makers of “The Hurt Locker” for portraying him without his permission lost in court Wednesday. A federal appeals court said the film was about issues of public interest and therefore protected by free speech. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento and San Francisco will both be cloudy and rainy with a high of 60 degrees. Los Angeles will have a morning shower and a high of 68. Riverside will have rain and a high of 67. San Diego will have morning rains and a high of 67 degrees.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Sean Murphy:

“My grandparents moved to Southern California in the 1920s. They felt it was a healthier place to live than Illinois. During WWII, we moved from our house below the Hollywoodland sign into my grandparents’ house above Western Avenue and Los Feliz. I grew up playing in fields of sagebrush and cactus (not like that any more). As was the trend during those years, we used to go on ‘Sunday Drives’ and one Sunday, having heard that L.A. was now so big that there were actually houses with addresses that were so big that they were five numbers long. It took a while, but we found some.”

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.