Newsletter: Today: Locking Up Families.

I'm Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times.  The Obama administration is in trouble with a federal judge over the way it locks up immigrant families; and the LAPD could be facing a tough test in South L.A. Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Locking up families

When thousands of "family units" were caught illegally crossing the southern border, the Obama administration was in a bind. Immigration courts couldn't keep up. The answer was big detention centers, including one dressed up to look like "neighborhoods."  A federal judge isn't buying it. She says conditions are deplorable and the kids, at least, should be released. So what happens now?

LAPD put to the test

The department's community policing skills could be getting a tough test in South L.A. A rash of gang-related shootings over the weekend left one dead and 11 hurt. Flooding the zone with tighter enforcement is part of the plan, but police also are talking to social workers and clergy to try to keep heads cool. One big problem: A rampage of rumors and threats on social media.

Liking Clinton

Hillary Clinton was widely liked as secretary of state; her favorability rating peaked at 66%. Now that she's back in politics, it has tumbled into the low 40s. Her campaign crew professes not to be worried, but they aren't taking any chances. So get used to her talking a lot more about  her mother, her granddaughter and her dreams as a young girl (she wanted to be an astronaut).

Road warriors

Great gas mileage is a good thing -- except, perhaps, for highways. The 18-cents-a-gallon federal tax long ago became inadequate to keep up with crumbling bridges and widening potholes. Now, with a deadline looming, Congress can't agree on a fix. Unusually, it's not a true partisan fight, but somehow the Export-Import Bank is in the mix and the highway program is due to expire in a few days.

Minimum wage, maximum fuss

Why would labor unions want their members exempt from L.A.'s new minimum wage rules? After all, they were among its biggest supporters. Nevertheless, they're asking for just that. Labor leaders say it's a routine protection against challenges to the wage ordinance under federal labor law. Critics find that a little hard to swallow and see something else at work.

CALIFORNIA

-- Mexico steps up inspections of sports fishing boats and other vessels that venture into its waters.

-- The Legislature is taking up a package of bills that aim to improve the way colleges deal with campus sexual assaults.

-- California Retrospective: What navigating L.A. was like before the 25-year-old Americans With Disabilities Act.

-- L.A.'s city attorney says he has a plan to help homeless people clear their records of minor citations. 

NATION-WORLD

-- China's stock market drops 8.5%, its biggest single-day fall since 2007.

 -- Calling himself a "Kenyan American," President Obama wraps up his visit to Kenya with a personal plea to embrace social progress.

-- Taliban fighters seize a government military base in northeastern Afghanistan.

-- War on its borders, refugees flooding in -- but what's really bugging Lebanon is a trash crisis.

BUSINESS

-- Microsoft is hoping Windows 10, due out Wednesday, gets some love from computer users. Here's why it might take a couple of years before it gains acceptance among big businesses.

-- Uber is now spending more on lobbying than Wal-Mart, Bank of America or Wells Fargo.

SPORTS

-- Jason Day's fantastic finish earns him a Canadian Open victory.

-- Chris Froome of Britain wins his second Tour de France in three years.

-- Zack Greinke's shutout streak ends at 45 2/3 innings as the Dodgers lose to the Mets.

-- The latest scores, stats and schedules.

ENTERTAINMENT

-- Weekend box office: "Ant-Man" edges out "Pixels" to retain the top spot.

-- Bill Cosby's legal team tunes up its public relations effort, but it may be too late to save the comedian's reputation.

-- Travel: The perfect splendor of Crater Lake.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The Economist sees danger in the global movement toward much higher minimum wages.

-- The New Yorker looks at the growing push against performance reviews.

-- "Police training: What's reasonable when a gun is involved?" (Crosscut)

ONLY IN L.A.

Dog massage services aren't peculiar to L.A., but there seem to be a lot of them. Also dog yoga and dog plastic surgery, for people with that kind of discretionary income. There's no way columnist Steve Lopez would force his rescue dog into yoga pants. Out of curiosity, though, he scheduled a Buddha Dog massage for Dominic. It made for a very weird visit to Griffith Park.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.