Newsletter: Essential California: Embezzled funds allegedly financed L.A. homes, ‘Wolf of Wall Street’
Good morning. It is Thursday, July 21. A 7-month-old puppy that ingested heroin and methamphetamines has found a new home. Bubba, a Jack Russell Chihuahua mix, was adopted Wednesday morning. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:
TOP STORIES
Follow the money
The U.S. Justice Department moved Wednesday to seize four Los Angeles homes, a Beverly Hills hotel and a stake in the film “The Wolf of Wall Street” because all were allegedly purchased with money stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. The fund was established to promote economic development but instead, authorities say, $3.5 billion was stolen and laundered through things like a $35-million jet and works from Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. “The Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale in schemes whose tentacles stretched around the world,” said Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director. Los Angeles Times
Bizarre killing
Everyone agrees that Beong Kwun Cho shot his friend Yeon Woo Lee in the back of the head along an empty road in Anaheim. But why? Cho says his friend wanted to die after a business deal went south and he didn’t want to leave his family with the stigma of suicide. Police say Cho came to resent his lifelong friend after he attacked Cho’s wife. Los Angeles Times
Razors clean up
The $1-billion sale of Dollar Shave Club to Unilever represents the largest acquisition ever of a venture-backed startup in Los Angeles. The company, which mails razors to subscribers, had $152 million in revenue last year, though it has yet to make a profit. The sale will allow Unilever, which has no major razor product, to skip years of development and marketing while automatically acquiring 10% of the market. Los Angeles Times
L.A. AT LARGE
Look of the city: It used to be that street furniture, like bus benches, was designed to provide a place to sit but not for too long. In Los Angeles, planners are experimenting with shade, parklets and solar panels to help people stay a while. “The key component to this approach is partnerships with local businesses and neighborhood groups that require them to take ownership of the furniture.” Curbed LA
Road trip: Columnist Steve Lopez is making his way down the coast and celebrating the Coastal Act. “I don’t think you can appreciate the Coastal Act until you go to other states, where the beaches are private. It’s different here, where we have this California experiment,” said Patty McCleary of the nonprofit Smith River Alliance. Los Angeles Times
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Political design: The design of the Republican National Convention is “Teflon minimalism,” writes architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne. “The set is a shotgun marriage of Star Trek and MacBook modern, with perhaps a touch — in the rounded stairs, lighted from below — of Art Deco,” he writes. Los Angeles Times
What’s wrong with California? “Make America California -- without the nice beaches.” That’s what author Ann Coulter warns could happen with a Hillary Clinton victory in November. Capital Public Radio
CRIME AND COURTS
Troubles inside: Why are so many inmates at the California Institute for Women trying to kill themselves? Since 2013, six women have killed themselves, and there have been 73 suicide attempts. “There’s a greater sense of despair there that I haven’t seen in other prisons,” said Angie Junck, supervising attorney for the California Coalition of Women Prisoners. LA Weekly
Pleas for security: LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and the Game are in a new PSA that calls for an end to gun violence. The ad is a follow up to a meeting between the chief and the rapper at LAPD headquarters two weeks ago. “We have to stop killing one another,” the Game says in the 48-second spot. Los Angeles Times
DROUGHT AND CLIMATE
Tree deaths: Sudden oak death has killed at least 5 million trees in California and researchers at UC Davis are leading the way in understanding the irreversible disease. “What was once a densely packed oak and bay laurel forest was now a botanical emergency room.” Cal Matters
Never too old: You could drive from Point Mugu to the Palisades (boring), or take six days and ride a horse over the Backbone Trail. The Backbone Trail Cowgirls are led by 81-year-old Ruth Gerson. 89.3 KPCC
Fire dangers: These photographs capture the danger of California wildfires. Bloomberg
BUSINESS
Fairness in housing: Airbnb hired former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to help the tech firm draft a new anti-discrimination policy. Critics have said hosts act on their biases when deciding on who can rent their homes. “Airbnb is committed to building a community where everyone can belong, no matter who they are or what they look like,” Holder said. USA Today
Put a ring on it: I’m just a supermodel, standing in front of a billionaire, asking him to love her. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr are engaged. Buzzfeed
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Surf’s up: The U.S. Open of Surfing will begin in Huntington Beach on Saturday. “The surf contest attracts about 200 surfers from around the world to compete for the prestigious titles. Each year the event draws more than half a million people to one concentrated area.” Orange County Register
L.A. lady: Betsy Bloomingdale was known as the “First Friend” because of her close relationship with former First Lady Nancy Reagan. She entertained at her Holmby Hills home and supported the Los Angeles Cathedral and Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. She died Tuesday at the age of 93. Vanity Fair
Split screen: This short film shows side-by-side footage of a changing Bunker Hill. The New Yorker
CALIFORNIA ALMANAC
San Diego will have patchy fog and a high of 82. Riverside will be sunny and 104 degrees. Los Angeles will be sunny with a high of 90. It will be sunny and 91 in Sacramento. San Francisco will have clouds and a high of 69.
AND FINALLY
Today’s California Memory comes from Hal Weaver:
“Los Angeles. Five in the morning, June 6, 1944. Pebbles thrown at my bedroom window woke me up. I was 15 and had been getting up at 5 o’clock, seven days a week, for the winter and spring to deliver The Times in the neighborhoods southwest of the Farmers Market. That spring, each delivery boy was given one morning to sleep late; our manager took our route that day. And this was my morning! But when I got up and looked out the window, there he was. He said the headline that day announced the beginning of the Normandy Invasion (“D Day”), and he thought I should have the honor of delivering this important news to my still sleeping customers. He said I would remember this day. At 87, I do remember it clearly.”
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.
