Newsletter: Essential California: L.A.’s favorite hiking trail will reopen
Good morning. It is Friday, July 29. A bear in Arcadia found the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day -- go for a dip in the pool. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:
TOP STORIES
Corruption case
South El Monte Mayor Luis Aguinaga agreed to plead guilty Thursday to a corruption charge that he took $45,000 in bribes from a city contractor. Aguinaga admitted to taking cash bribes left in City Hall bathrooms or the pockets of car doors beginning in 2005. During a 2012 meeting monitored by FBI agents at a local Ramada Inn, Aguinaga said he was nervous because officials in Cudahy had just been busted for corruption. Los Angeles Times
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L.A. AT LARGE
Leader passes: Sherman Mellinkoff was the dean of the UCLA School of Medicine for 25 years, and during that time he helped create a world-class medical school. “What made him so great as a dean was his humanity,” said Charles Young, who became chancellor in 1969. Mellinkoff died July 17 at the age of 96. Los Angeles Times
Trail reopens: Break out your yoga pants -- Runyon Canyon will reopen next week. The popular hiking spot closed four months ago so crews could replace a water main. An estimated 35,000 people visit Runyon every week. Los Angeles Times
Dirty waters: The recreational areas of the Los Angeles River are showing high levels of bacteria, the group Heal the Bay says. People are advised not to swim in the river. Kayaking is still allowed, though you’ll want to avoid hand-to-mouth water contact. Los Angeles Times
Stop and go: The Hollywood (101) Freeway is America’s “Highway to Hell,” according to a new report from the Auto Insurance Center. Getting from Woodland Hills to downtown can take 90 minutes at an average speed of 17 mph. Curbed LA
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Party faithful: Roz Wyman, who joined the Los Angeles City Council in 1953, has been to every Democratic convention since 1952 (minus the one in ’68). This one is particularly meaningful, she says, given the nomination of Hillary Clinton. “You mean to tell me America, the greatest country in the world, couldn’t produce a great woman to be our president? But we’ve got a chance this time,” she said. KQED
Military honor: The United States Navy reportedly will name a ship after Harvey Milk, the late San Francisco politician and gay icon. Milk joined the Navy during the Korean War and served on a submarine rescue ship as a diving officer. He was assassinated in San Francisco’s City Hall in 1978. NBC Bay Area
CRIME AND COURTS
Juvenile detention: A supervisor at Central Juvenile Hall choked a youth back in May, prompting an employee with the L.A. County Office of Education to contact police, according to a probation commissioner. At a meeting Thursday, commissioners complained that no one from the Probation Department notified them of the incident. Los Angeles Times
One year ago: The 16-year-old Santa Cruz boy accused of killing 8-year-old Madyson Middleton last year will go on trial in February. On this sad anniversary, Madyson’s father wants to keep the focus on the child he lost. “I think Madyson would want it this way, would want for me to not have hatred and anger. You just don’t want this to happen again,” said Mike Middleton. Mercury News
Man charged: A 45-year-old man who works in Downtown Disney, and who was previously employed at Disneyland, is accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy in a City of Industry movie theater restroom. Richard Camarena pleaded not guilty to charges of lewd acts upon a child. Los Angeles Times
EDUCATION
New venture: Former LAUSD Supt. John Deasy’s new challenge is keeping juvenile offenders from returning to jail. His new nonprofit is “New Day, New Year” and will include the opening of alternative juvenile prisons. Deasy wants to reduce the recidivism rate by 50%. Los Angeles Times
DROUGHT AND CLIMATE
Out of control: The Soberanes fire north of Big Sur has grown to more than 27,000 acres. So far, 34 homes and 10 buildings have been destroyed. “Intensified by high temperatures and low humidity, scorching flames have severely affected soil along the rugged mountains and weakened trees already dry from years of drought.” Los Angeles Times
Environmental policy: Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t have time for people, like Donald Trump, who deny climate change. “Trump says global warming is a hoax. I say Trump is a fraud,” he told the Democratic National Convention. Los Angeles Times
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Remembering a tragedy: It’s been 25 years since a school bus carrying a group of Girl Scouts crashed on Tramway Road in Palm Springs. The bus driver and six people were killed that day, and 47 more were injured. The rescue effort mobilized the entire community, including then-Mayor Sonny Bono, who helped carry victims to waiting helicopters. Desert Sun
Beach access: Columnist Steve Lopez visited a stretch of beach that billionaire Vinod Khosla says belongs to him. “There really is no reasonable theory on which [Khosla] can prevail, unless the Coastal Act is declared unconstitutional,” said Mark Massara, an attorney representing the Surfrider Foundation in a lawsuit to allow access to Martins Beach. Los Angeles Times
Special honor: An 8-year-old boy who is terminally ill was made an honorary member of the United States Marine Corps. Wyatt Gillette’s father is a Marine drill instructor. “He has fought harder in the last almost 8 years than I will ever have to. If I earned the title, I believe he has as well,” said Jeremiah Gillette. Orange County Register
Yummy, yummy: Here are 11 quintessential L.A. dishes. LAist
CALIFORNIA ALMANAC
San Diego will be foggy with a high of 79. Riverside will be sunny and 104 degrees. It will be sunny and 88 in Los Angeles. Sacramento will be sunny with a high of 106. San Francisco will be cloudy and 71.
AND FINALLY
Today’s California Memory comes from Michele Hernandez:
“Raised in the foothills of the San Bernardino Forest in the ’90s, we three kids had the best adventures roaming the streams, hiking up ravines, climbing trees and rocks or anything over 6 feet. Even our friends considered us ‘wild’ as we all knew how to recognize and deal with poison oak, rattlesnakes and the occasional mountain lion. We commuted down the 15 to get anywhere: through fields of grapes, flocks of sheep and citrus orchards to get to school in Rancho Cucamonga. I’m so grateful to have lived and grown up in a small rural town, a rarity in Southern California that is disappearing.”
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.
