Newsletter: Today: Clinton’s America. Race and Your Neighbors.

Hello. I'm Davan Maharaj, the editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines you shouldn't miss today.

TOP STORIES

Clinton and the Obama Coalition 

Hillary Clinton's video announcing her presidential run included two young white mothers, a pair of Latino brothers, a gay couple, a black couple expecting a child, a young Asian American woman about to graduate from college -- you get the picture. Here's why, writes Washington Bureau Chief David Lauter: "By putting a diverse group of Americans symbolically on stage with her, the video ... stressed the Democrats’ claim to be the party that represents a changing America, particularly the women and minority voters who helped President Obama win two elections. And it sought to undo the image of an aloof candidate with a sense of entitlement, which dogged Clinton eight years ago." Read the entire analysis here.

A Word and His Holiness 

The term "genocide," coined during World War II, fused two words to describe the killing of a race or tribe, including heinous acts of Nazism and Stalinism. More recently, 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were killed in Rwanda by rival Hutus. But mention the Armenian genocide, and it's bound to cause an international incident. Speaking before a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis defined the slaughter of as many as 1.5 million Armenians  in Turkey as “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Turkey immediately recalled its ambassador to the Vatican. It asserts that just half a million Armenians died in fighting when they rose up against their Ottoman rulers after World War I, and denies that their deaths constituted genocide. In Glendale, home to thousands of Armenian Americans, the mayor praised the pope's "courageous stand."

Race and Your Neighbors

Most California voters say race relations are better here than elsewhere, a USC Dornsife/L.A. Times poll shows, though most also say blacks and Latinos still face plenty of discrimination. People also tend to think relations are good in their neighborhoods, a sign of the state's deep diversity. As one analyst said, it's harder to discriminate against people who live on your block.

A Nightmare Cycle

In 2 1/2 years, his parents had taken him to a psychiatric hospital eight times on 72-hour hospitalizations, known by police and mental health workers as “5150 holds.” After some treatment, the staff would release him. He would refuse to follow up on treatment and deteriorate again. One fateful day, the 19-year-old San Bernardino youth grabbed a baseball bat and a knife. He approached his father who sat reading in bed. Read Abby Sewell's account of a family ripped apart by mental illness.

Dancing in the Desert

Jack White thrilled. Run the Jewels, well, sparkled. The Alabama Shakes had fans dancing in the grass, and AC/DC lived up to its reputation for "Dirty Deeds." Weekend 1 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival got off to a rousing start, and Times reporters and photographers were there to cover it all — the bands, the fans, the scene and the parties. We even checked out the place for misplaced smartphones, aka Lost and Found. (The horror of not having selfies as evidence of attendance!) Here's full coverage. 

CALIFORNIA

-- 15 years after "Erin Brokovich," the town of Hinkley is still fearful about its groundwater.

-- George Skelton on government over-promising: In the last century, the state has handed out rights to five times as much surface water as our rivers produce.

-- California's history of droughts: A look back at 1928-35, 1976-77 and 1987-93. 

-- One suggested change to L.A. parking rules would slash many first-time tickets to $23.

NATION-WORLD

-- Stalling over Obama's nomination for attorney general has left the Justice Department stuck in partial limbo.

-- Another fatal police shooting on video: An Oklahoma reserve thought he was using a Taser, not a gun.

-- In Iraq, another violent struggle for Fallouja, long a center of antigovernment -- and anti-American -- sentiment.

BUSINESS

-- Passenger complaints soar for Frontier Airlines.

-- Stock Spotlight: Pasadena's Guidance in pursuit of criminals, profit and a new CEO.

-- Michael Hiltzik: The wrong way to think about California water.

SPORTS

-- The Masters: What a day for Jordan Spieth. At 21 years, 8 months old, he is the second-youngest winner (Tiger Woods won at 21 years, 3 months). Spieth also shot a record-tying 270 (Woods' score in '97). It's his first Grand Slam win. "The most incredible week of my life," he said.

-- The Ducks must weather a Winnepeg "whiteout" in their Stanley Cup quest.

-- The latest scores and stats.

ENTERTAINMENT

-- Festival of Books: A forgotten figure, the man who killed Lincoln's assassin, is the focus of Scott Martelle's latest book.

-- Box office: "Furious 7" is still in the driver's seat. "The Longest Ride" debuts at No. 3.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- How an O.C. food blogger is bringing back Naugles by beating Del Taco.

-- How Seattle business owners are paying the new minimum wage.

-- A flood of Yemeni refugees to Djibouti conceivably could outnumber the country's population.

-- A chance encounter in a taxi in India changes a neuroscientist's life and research forever.

-- Germany's troubling rise in anti-refugee violence.

ONLY IN L.A.

Another sign of gentrification downtown: Urban pioneers become pedestrians. Many ignore the "flashing red hand" and step into crosswalks late. Police don't ignore them. It's called a "21456" violation, and a lot more $197 tickets are being handed out lately. Residents are trying to take it in stride but wonder if L.A. can ever shake its bias toward the car. 

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.