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Newsletter: Essential California: The three finalists for LAPD chief

The three finalists for Los Angeles police chief are Robert Arcos, left, Michel Moore and Bill Scott.
(Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
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Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday, May 18, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

As young cops, the three finalists for chief of the Los Angeles Police Department— Robert Arcos, Michel Moore and Bill Scott —were taught a harsh style of policing that emphasized crackdowns and arrests. They have since disavowed that strategy, rising through the ranks of a department that has recast itself as a kinder, gentler LAPD. All three use similar catchphrases: building ties with residents, investing in youth sports and academic programs, assuring immigrants that the LAPD wants to help them, not deport them. But for Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is considering a run for president, each of the veteran cops brings contrasting political benefits. Los Angeles Times

More USC fallout

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USC has aggressively courted Chinese students and donors as part of its storied expansion. But a Times investigation quoted former co-workers alleging that Dr. George Tyndall targeted young women, especially those from China and other Asian countries, for exams that included inappropriate touching and lewd remarks about patients’ sex lives and bodies. This has sparked alarm from the Chinese government and students. For USC, the stakes are high. Los Angeles Times

Huge fight

A Delaware judge refused to issue a restraining order against Shari Redstone and her family Thursday, allowing them to continue to keep tight control over CBS Corp. — and possibly begin to replace members of the board. Los Angeles Times

Plus: This ugly brawl between CBS and Viacom could spell the end of CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves’ illustrious career at the media company. Los Angeles Times

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Azita Milanian is reunited with Matthew Whitaker, whom she found 20 years ago abandoned as a newborn on the side of a trail in Altadena.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times )
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L.A. STORIES

Amazing: While out for a jog, she discovered a baby buried alive. Twenty years later, they reunited. Los Angeles Times

Explosion update: Authorities investigating an explosion that killed the owner of an Aliso Viejo day spa and injured two customers say they have discovered two “complete” improvised explosive devices in the home of the dead woman’s former boyfriend. Los Angeles Times

They wrote what? Less than two weeks before Starbucks is scheduled to close every U.S. store to conduct racial-bias training, the chain is taking heat again after a customer said a racial slur was written on his coffee cup at a Starbucks in La Cañada Flintridge. Los Angeles Times

Safety alert: Nearly half of all Latino children don’t know how to swim. With summer just around the corner, that’s a problem. L.A. Taco

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

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In Congress: A judge has ruled that attorneys can name a Los Angeles politician accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a recent lawsuit. The decision allows attorneys to serve the suit against the politician, previously identified in court papers only as John Doe. Rep Tony Cárdenas identified himself as the target of the lawsuit earlier this month. His attorney called the allegations “100%, categorically untrue.” Los Angeles Times

In Sacramento: Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has been removed from all of her committee posts after facing accusations of sexual harassment, with the investigation into her conduct coming to a close Thursday. Los Angelees Times

First person: Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School, followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Here’s what she took from the experience. High School Insider

2020 watch: “Eric Garcetti is employing a unique and potentially potent home-state advantage as he prepares for an expected presidential campaign — delivering Hollywood’s expansive donor network to Democratic Party officials from early primary states.” Politico

CRIME AND COURTS

The ash-thrower: Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has obtained a temporary restraining order against a woman who threw a substance at him during a Police Commission meeting, court records show. Los Angeles Times

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Payout approved: Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday approved a $1.95-million payment to compensate a man wrongly sent to prison for more than 38 years for a double murder in Simi Valley that is now being investigated to determine whether it was actually the work of the Golden State Killer. Los Angeles Times

Chilling story: “Thousands of women are emotionally bruised and physically battered — and in some cases killed — in domestic violence attacks in Fresno every year.” Fresno Bee

A helping hand: At a medium-security prison in Vacaville, the hospice is staffed by inmates who become caregivers to fellow convicts who will never make it out alive. New York Times Magazine

THE ENVIRONMENT

Will he show up for work? The White House finally found its man to take on the stress and grief of running EPA’s headquarters for California and the southwest in San Francisco. Except the guy — a climate denier and Trump loyalist — refuses to live in San Francisco. He may be put in charge anyway. Los Angeles Times

Taller than Niagara Falls: A giant-sequoia forest is going to be preserved as a result of a landmark conservation deal. Mercury News

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CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Royal wedding! Meghan Markle’s father won’t attend the royal wedding and walk her down aisle, she says in a palace statetment. Security tightened as elaborate rehearsal preparations took place in the ancient town of Windsor. Los Angeles Times

Plus: Like nature, the UK celebrity-industrial complex abhors a vacuum. So when the wedding of Prince Harry and Markle threatened to be just another pretty royal ceremony, the British press went to town on Markle’s relatives, who probably had no idea what was about to hit them, writes columnist Robin Abcarian. Los Angeles Times

And: Markle’s Los Feliz Catholic school has energized students about its most famous alumna — but don’t ask them if they want to be royalty when they grow up. Los Angeles Times

The state of things: What a $500,000 home looks like in L.A., Sacramento and beyond — and how it shapes where we move. CalMatters

Nxivm: Actress Allison Mack’s alleged descent from “Smallville” to sex cult. Hollywood Reporter

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Nice! A Riverside man, who was recently bullied, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the May 29 Dodgers game. Press-Enterprise

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: partly cloudy, 71, Friday and Saturday. San Diego: partly cloudy, 66, Friday and Saturday. San Francisco area: partly cloudy, 62, Friday; cloudy, 60, Saturday. Sacramento: sunny, 83, Friday; partly cloudy, 81, Saturday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Ed Arvizo:

”Moved to Buena Park in 1959 from Watts. Looked out in the backyard and saw orange groves and dairy farms. Population grew so fast I went to four elementary schools in six years. Mom would send me to the corner burger joint ‘2 For,’ where you could get a burger and fries or burger and coke for 25 cents. Dad would take us to Knott’s Berry Farm on Sundays, where we would stroll the museums and Ghost Town and relax. If we had the money, we would ride the stagecoach for 10 cents and hit Thrifty for a 5-cent ice cream. We did not have a lot, but as my mom would always say, ‘We are making memories.’ ”

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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 Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.

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