Today: Harrowing Stories From Inside the Oakland Inferno. Forget the Swamp, Drain the Oil.

Dec. 5, 2016 5 AM PT

I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Harrowing Stories From Inside the Oakland Inferno

At least 33 are dead after a fire broke out in an Oakland warehouse that was hosting a dance party and appears to have housed an artists’ collective in a makeshift residential and studio space. As authorities, including criminal investigators, search for remains and clues, harrowing tales from some survivors are emerging too. “I was shouting for help and people started to run towards the fire. They were grabbing fire extinguishers to try to put it out,” said one artist. “Nobody knew what was going on.” Meanwhile, families and friends are anxiously awaiting news on missing loved ones and mourning the victims who have been found.

A ‘Tinderbox’ With a History of Complaints

Partygoers and former residents recalled the warehouse known as the Ghost Ship as a labyrinth filled with pianos, antique furniture and sculptures. On the first floor, they said, RVs provided living spaces. One woman who said she lived there from November 2014 to February 2015 says police were repeatedly called to address complaints, though police could not confirm that. City inspectors had been investigating an allegation of illegal construction inside the building as well as allegations that people were living there. And a person who attended previous parties called it “a tinderbox.”

Mourners hug next to flowers near the site of the warehouse fire.

More About the Fire

-- Remembering the victims: a teacher, a guitarist and DJ, and more.

-- Artists living in nearby warehouses are shaken but worry they’ll be forced from their homes and studios.

-- Photos from the aftermath in Oakland.

Forget the Swamp, Drain the Oil

The billionaire Koch brothers sat on the sidelines during Donald Trump’s campaign. Now that Trump’s heading to the White House, their pro-oil, anti-green-energy views are taking center stage, as one of the Kochs’ former lobbyists is overseeing the Energy Department transition. Backers of solar, wind and other renewable-energy technologies are gearing up for a cold winter.

More Politics

-- Trump nominates retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson to become secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

-- As Chinese leaders try to make sense of Trump’s phone call with Taiwan, the president-elect pokes China again on Twitter.

-- Trump warns of massive tariffs for American corporations that export jobs.

-- Steve Lopez on the threat to California’s greatest natural resource and the new urgency for a strong Coastal Commission.

The Water Protectors Get a Victory, for Now

Thousands of self-proclaimed “water protectors” protesting the Dakota Access pipeline got a morale boost over the weekend when more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans joined them. Then, the Army Corps of Engineers handed them a more tangible victory, by denying permission for the pipeline to cross under a section of the Missouri River. But with Trump taking office, that could be short-lived.

He Was a Diver, a Doctor and a Dreamer

When Sammy Lee learned to dive, the Pasadena pool in which he practiced let people of color use the facilities only on Wednesdays, the day before it was drained. That angered Lee, the son of Korean immigrants, “but I was going to prove that in America, I could do anything.” He went on to become the first diver to win back-to-back gold medals in two Olympics; a doctor in the U.S. Army; and coach to diving greats Bob Webster and Greg Louganis. This is the inspirational story of Lee, who died at age 96.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- Trump talks to the public through Twitter. Here’s what happens when your next president blocks you.

-- For 11 years, he’d never felt as if he’d been targeted for the way he looked. Trump’s victory changed that.

-- “Life is not going to be the same”: USC remembers a beloved professor who was slain.

-- A stone “fort” at Lunada Bay has been demolished. Will that stop territorial surfers from bullying outsiders?

-- California lawmakers want to reform a bail system they say “punishes the poor for being poor.”

-- In more and more hotels, you won’t find a Bible in the bedside nightstand.

-- The warehouse business in California keeps growing thanks to online shopping, but the jobs are increasingly going to robots.

-- Writer-director Stephen Gaghan was on top of the world in Hollywood. Then things fell apart.

CALIFORNIA

-- Paramount residents say that if regulators were doing their jobs, they might have found out years ago that toxic emissions from metal businesses were putting people at risk.

-- Lou Correa, Orange County’s self-described “homegrown” congressman, plans to bring an immigrant’s perspective to Washington.

-- Some Iranian Americans in Southern California are cancelling trips to Iran after recent arrests in that country.

-- Ahead of Pearl Harbor’s 75th anniversary, George Skelton recalls growing up in World War II California and gives us lessons for today.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Grammy nominations are coming up Tuesday, but some musicians are just too cool for them.

-- “Moonlight” led the way at the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. awards.

-- Can a new production of “Merrily We Roll Along” finally solve the riddle of this musical?

-- Watch the “Saturday Night Live” skit that Trump got upset about this weekend.

-- The director of “La La Land” explains what he loves about musicals.

-- Japan’s No. 1 film this year is playing in L.A. Here’s why you should see it.

NATION-WORLD

-- Iran says it won’t walk away from the nuclear deal that Trump has said he will dismantle.

-- Italian Premier Matteo Renzi says he is resigning after voters defeated constitutional reforms on which he staked his premiership.

-- Far-right populist Norbert Hofer, who had railed against migrants and Muslims while hoping for a tailwind from Trump’s election in the U.S., lost his bid to become Austria’s president.

-- Fidel Castro’s ashes were interred in a private ceremony after Cuban officials made a last-minute cancellation of plans to broadcast the events live.

-- Ski season is underway in Hawaii. The island’s two highest peaks got more than 2 feet of snow, and more is on the way.

BUSINESS

-- Sports programming is driving up the cost of cable and satellite TV packages. Will the ball game change next year?

-- Is Fox News star Megyn Kelly heading elsewhere? So far, TV news executives say other networks haven’t topped Fox’s offer for her to stay.

SPORTS

-- In a dramatic turnaround for its football program, USC is going to the Rose Bowl. The Trojans will play Big Ten champion and fifth-ranked Penn State on Jan. 2.

-- Rams Coach Jeff Fisher has received a contract extension, despite a losing record.

OPINION

-- What to do about the rise of fake news? Greta Van Susteren says the solution lies in real reporting.

-- Opera singer and actor Craig Gilmore: This painting was looted by the Nazis, then seized from my living room.

-- Do you talk to yourself? There’s no reason to be ashamed!

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Here’s why Vladimir Putin is seen as a “white knight” among extremists in the West. (New York Times)

-- How do surgeons stay focused for 10 hours at a time? (Wall Street Journal)

-- Meet the newest elements in the periodic table and learn about the naming process. (Christian Science Monitor)

ONLY IN L.A.

Black-eyed pea stew with braised collards? Check. A burger-like sandwich that consists of “a slab of beer-battered tofu on a bun with pickles and slaw”? Of course. Los Angeles eateries are serving up vegetables all kinds of ways, but Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold thinks Erven, a new Santa Monica eatery, is the best vegan place he’s been to. Here’s why Mr. Gold is still skeptical of the desserts, though.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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