Newsletter: Essential California: Gravitational pull can trigger earthquakes on San Andreas fault

Good morning. It is Tuesday, July 19. Police descended on a San Mateo neighborhood after receiving reports of a mountain lion in the area. Residents were told to shelter in place, but it was all for naught. The ferocious puma turned out to be a regular house cat. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Sun and moon could trigger quake

The gravitational tug between the sun and moon can trigger a special kind of earthquake on the San Andreas fault. “It’s kind of crazy, right? That the moon, when it’s pulling in the same direction that the fault is slipping, causes the fault to slip more — and faster,” said Nicholas van der Elst, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist. Los Angeles Times

Back to the drawing board

A federal judge rejected a plea deal Monday that would have allowed former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca to serve six months in prison for lying to authorities. U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson said the punishment would “trivialize the seriousness of the offenses.” That leaves Baca with three options — go ahead with sentencing, withdraw his guilty plea, or negotiate a new deal with prosecutors that would include more prison time. Los Angeles Times

Airbnb as tax collector

Airbnb will start collecting taxes from its hosts in Los Angeles, which could result in millions of dollars a year for the city government. The city has struggled with how to collect lodging taxes from property owners who rent out their rooms and homes for short-term stays. Airbnb will facilitate that process beginning next month. Los Angeles Times

STORIES TO WATCH TODAY …

-- The Los Angeles Police Commission will meet in closed session to discuss officer-involved shootings.

-- We’ll be following the second day of the Republican National Convention.

Readers, we always love hearing from you. You can keep up with Alice and Shelby during the day on Twitter. Follow @TheCityMaven and @ShelbyGrad.

L.A. AT LARGE

Old is new again: Japanese newsstands are selling a 1976 magazine all about life in Los Angeles. “It’s hard to capture the feeling now, but then, it was just all so different. We had seen running in the Olympics, but seeing jogging in real life was completely strange,” said Yoshihisa Kinameri, who was editor of the inaugural issue of Popeye. Los Angeles Times

Cost of doing business: Pann’s, the classic Googie-style diner near LAX, will stop serving dinner. Owner Jim Poulos says the cost of complying with the city’s new minimum wage law killed service after 3 p.m. And it’s not just because he has to pay his employees more; Poulos notes that his suppliers have raised prices. “It’s been a huge hit. How else is the restaurant industry supposed to deal with it?” he said. LAist

Understanding each other: A black writer uses her experiences growing up in Los Angeles to describe “white privilege” to her friends. “Nobody is mad at you for being white. Nobody. Just like nobody should be mad at me for being black.” Good Black News

Animal waste: Why it’s so hard to get dead whales off Southern California beaches — and keep them off. Daily Breeze

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Wrongful termination? The former top attorney for Los Angeles County is suing the county and its Board of Supervisors for allegedly ousting him when he tried to prevent misconduct by the board. Mark Saladino says he was targeted by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas for refusing to direct contracts to the politician’s supporters. Ridley-Thomas was not immediately available to respond to the lawsuit. Los Angeles Times

Down in front: California is a blue state, but its delegates have some of the best seats in the house at the Republican Party Convention in Cleveland. That’s because all of the state’s 172 delegates are for presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Organizers believe that putting the Golden State’s delegates near the front of the stage will help show party unity. Los Angeles Times

Forty years ago: Columnist George Skelton remembers the 1976 convention when a “rebel Californian nearly wrested the party’s nomination from a powerful sitting president.” Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Personal experience: Cheryl Dorsey is in a unique position to comment on the Black Lives Matter movement, police shootings and the recent attacks of officers. She’s African American, the mother of four sons and a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. “Dorsey was the kind of cop who absolutely loved her job … but had conflicts with colleagues and bosses because of her gender, her race, her attitude and the LAPD’s infamous crony culture,” writes columnist Robin Abcarian. Los Angeles Times

Sad discovery: Firefighters responded to a brush fire Sunday in the Angeles National Forest, but when they got there, they found a charred body inside of a car. The body was so badly burned the Coroner’s Office will need to do DNA testing to identify the victim. CBS Los Angeles

You’re (not) on camera: Not much has changed six months after it was revealed that the BART system is equipped with decoy cameras. New cameras won’t be installed until late 2017. “It just takes a lot of time to custom install a camera system on custom-built train cars that are decades old,” said BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby. KQED

Big break: An investigator for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is looking to pay-to-play television acting auditions. It’s illegal to exchange money for the prospect of employment in California. The Hollywood Reporter

EDUCATION

More cases: The number of children with autism in California’s public school systems has increased sevenfold since 2001. That’s about 97,000 students. Officials say the jump can be attributed to better screenings, a broader definition of the autism spectrum and more children being born with the condition. Sacramento Bee

New chancellor: Eloy Ortiz Oakley is the new chancellor for the state’s community college system. He is the first Latino to hold that position for the 113-college system. “In Oakley we see a change agent — someone whose relentless focus on student success will help more students obtain certificates and degrees or transfer to four-year institutions on time,” said Board President Geoffrey L. Baum. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Water funds: Here’s the latest round in the $16-billion plan to construct tunnels that will bring water from the Delta to Southern California. The issue is a misunderstanding over an East Bay water supplier’s payments for the project. Mercury News

Harnessing the sun: The California Independent System Operator reached a milestone last week: It managed enough solar energy to power 2 million homes. The state produces about half of the solar industry’s megawatts in the U.S. Sacramento Bee

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

And he’s off: Columnist Steve Lopez is driving the coastline from Oregon to Mexico to mark the 40th anniversary of the California Coastal Act. “The challenge now is to preserve what’s left and to demand that coastal commissioners remain faithful to the letter and spirit of the Coastal Act during a year of tumult, controversy, legislative reform and political drama, with developments big and small up for consideration,” Lopez writes. Los Angeles Times

Brain games: At UCSF, researchers have designed computer games to strengthen the mental abilities of patients with schizophrenia. “Hallucinations and delusions may be the public face of schizophrenia, but the hidden cognitive symptoms … make it very hard for people with the condition to live satisfying, productive lives.” BuzzFeed

Never work with animals: Does your dog know how to surf? He or she could appear on a Rose Parade float in January for the Lucy Pet Foundation. Auditions will be held on Friday in Oakland. SFist

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will start the day with low clouds and ultimately reach a high of 78 degrees. Los Angeles will be 85 with some sun. Riverside will be sunny and hot at 98 degrees. It will be sunny and 86 in Sacramento. San Francisco will have low clouds as temperatures reach a high of 66.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Patric Barry:

“I was invited to a lunch in Huntington Beach 1977 where the speaker was Ronald Reagan. I knew little about him other than he’d been an actor and California governor. He gave what we now know as ‘The Speech,’ but what a delivery. Mr. Reagan held the audience in his hand. I was glued, and attended to every word. Ever since I held Mr. Reagan in great esteem — never have I heard a speaker like him — his sincerity, his passion. It was amazing to be present. He gave his speech and quickly left with his security detail. The room was stunned. Applause, yes, but the audience was overwhelmed by the strength of his speech and his delivery. Usually people resort to chat after a speaker finished, but this day the audience was stunned by his strength. I’ve since visited the Reagan Museum and it was a special visit for me — the reverence of visiting his crypt.”

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.