Newsletter: Today: Truth in Policing. Adieu to Email’s Inventor.

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

TOP STORIES

Honesty’s (Now) Department Policy

Telling the truth would seem to go hand-in-hand with wearing a badge. But in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, it hasn’t always been so. More than a dozen former employees have been convicted of crimes in a five-year-old FBI investigation, including making false reports and trying to obstruct justice. Last month, former Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators. His successor, Jim McDonnell, has reemphasized honesty, firing deputies who dissemble and reviewing the assignments of those who have lied in the past. Still, he can’t clean house completely.

Unintentionally Priming the Pump

A group of South Los Angeles residents hoped to force an oil company to plug more than a dozen wells sitting unused near a school. And an arcane section of city code seemed to back them up. It said that after wells have been idle for a year or more, they must be either shut down or reactivated. But instead of plugging the wells, the Freeport-McMoRan oil company says it has reactivated them, restoring the flow of natural gas across the street from an environmental studies academy named for conservationists Rachel Carson and Al Gore.

Unwelcome Attention

They were tracked by surveillance cameras and denied basic services such as water. When they called 911, police took their time responding. Federal authorities said this was how nonbelievers were treated in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., both run by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On Monday, a jury found that the two towns had violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers. The next step is for a judge to decide on a remedy. Federal receivership is one possibility.

It’s International Women’s Day

It has been more than 100 years since a group of socialists in New York City started International Women’s Day, which never quite caught on in the United States but is celebrated in many other countries. So how has the global movement for women’s equality fared? In Yemen, a woman is considered half a witness in court cases and is forbidden to leave the house without her husband’s consent. In Tanzania and Lesotho, women cannot inherit land. We take a look at some key indicators of women’s well-being around the world.

CALIFORNIA

-- How the question of whether to issue an emergency declaration to protect Los Angeles’ street people from expected winter storms became a game of “hot-potato keep-away.”

-- It’s accepted wisdom that parents should be involved in their children’s education. But some immigrants feel reluctant because of language barriers or their own limited education. At Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles, a book club for parents is writing a new chapter of inclusion.

-- Fourteen people were injured when a Bay Area commuter train struck a tree that had fallen onto the tracks in heavy rain.

-- A fast-moving storm soaked Southern California Monday, complete with lightning strikes that startled commuters and momentarily cut power at Los Angeles International Airport.

NATION-WORLD

-- In a victory for gay rights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that states must honor adoptions by same-sex parents who move across state lines.

-- Clashes in Tunisia near the border with Libya left at least 53 people dead in what may be a sign of the spreading influence of Islamic State.

-- Raymond Tomlinson, the man who invented email and forever raised the profile of the @ symbol, has died.

-- Drought, famine and the spread of infectious diseases were long viewed as problems of the developing world. Today, there’s a greater understanding of how the world is interconnected and how challenges to its future are universal. I’m pleased to introduce our new Global Development Watch initiative, which launches today with support from the U.N. Foundation. Here, you will find coverage that highlights some of the issues and challenges in building a sustainable future. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Viacom Chairman Philippe Dauman talked up his plan to auction off a 40% stake in Paramount Pictures, the studio that made “The Godfather,” “Forrest Gump,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Transformers.”

-- Disney’s “Zootopia” delivers lessons about race and prejudice, and a major reason they’re subtle rather than preachy is Michael Giacchino’s upbeat, character-focused score.

-- Some schools have bake sales. A West Hollywood private school landed Beyoncé.

BUSINESS

-- In 2005, Congress limited liability for gun sellers and manufacturers whose products get used in a crime. Would repealing the law end gun manufacturing in America? Highly doubtful, writes Times columnist Michael Hiltzik.

-- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under attack from an unexpected source: Democrats.

SPORTS

-- Tennis star Maria Sharapova revealed that she had failed a drug test at this year’s Australian Open. Should the World Anti-Doping Agency punish Sharapova? Join the discussion.

-- What’s Peyton Manning planning to do in retirement? His dad, Archie Manning, gives The Times’ Sam Farmer some insight.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The Los Angeles Unified School’s District secret stash of art includes a Salvador Dali. The nation’s second-largest school district has amassed a collection of more than 50,000 artworks, donated over the years by alumni and donors. Now, a small selection can be viewed online. (KPCC)

-- What’s behind the low representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the vaunted STEM disciplines that underpin advanced economies? A female geochemist says an unacknowledged cause is sexual harassment. (Jezebel)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Visitors to the Monterey Bay Aquarium got a rare sight: a sea otter giving birth. The mother had perched on a rock to escape rough seas stirred up by El Niño storms. It was the second time since December that a pregnant sea otter had used the pool to deliver a pup. “Sea otter scientists working for decades on research … had never seen anything like this before,” said an aquarium official.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.