Newsletter: Essential California: The 2028 Olympics give L.A. a chance to imagine its future

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 8, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

A dream coming to a city near you

“L.A. is a conglomerate of small towns striving toward immensity and never making it, thank God,” famed author Ray Bradbury wrote. The 2028 Olympics give Los Angeles a chance to imagine this future where its immensity is a given. As The Times’ Thomas Curwen notes, Los Angeles is no longer powered by the innocence that Bradbury described. By many measures, it has become the world-class city that it could only once dream of. Los Angeles Times

Plus: What will Los Angeles transportation be like when the Olympics arrive in 2028? Los Angeles Times

And: This author believes the 1984 Olympics fueled the LAPD’s war on crime in minority communities. Will 2028 be a repeat of that? Washington Post

Oh yeah, and this: Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2028 Olympics will receive financial support from the state, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a letter to city officials. Los Angeles Times

A recycling problem

Eight months ago, the Los Angeles City Council voted to overhaul the way trash is picked up at tens of thousands of businesses and large residential buildings, giving the work exclusively to a select group of companies. The new program, known as RecycLA, is not being universally welcomed by the businesses and residents who will rely on it for their trash pickup. In recent weeks, customers have been complaining about soaring prices, uncollected trash and calls to their new waste hauling companies going unreturned. Los Angeles Times

The Cambodian jewelers of California

Learn how Cambodian refugees found a new life in Southern California’s jewelry market. About two dozen stores are packed into a single Chinatown strip mall, and about 30 more crowd the downtown jewelry district. Cambodian jewelry stores line Anaheim Street of Long Beach’s Cambodia town, cluster in a Fullerton strip mall and dot Orange County’s Little Saigon. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Where are the parks? L.A. is park-poor. So why is one of the most beautiful green spaces in the city — the Rowena Reservoir — locked behind a fence? Los Angeles Times

More Hadid news: For 5½ years, Juan Carlos Gonzalez worked as a security guard and driver for Mohamed Hadid. In a suit filed in U.S. District Court, Gonzalez accused Hadid and his assistant of making numerous wire transfers — out of the company that used to pay Gonzalez and in to out-of-state entities — to keep from paying him what he’s owed. Los Angeles Times

Bring sunscreen: By 2100, Southern California could see average summer temps in triple digits. KPCC

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

A last-ditch reprieve: An immigration appeals court Monday granted a last-ditch reprieve to a man whose arrest and looming deportation have made him a cause celebre in the country’s roiling debate over illegal immigration. Romulo Avelica was arrested in February in Los Angeles by immigration officers moments after he dropped off one of his four daughters at school. Los Angeles Times

States fighting cities: Proposed state laws designed to crack down on sanctuary cities are putting local leaders in those municipalities on the defensive, forcing many to fight off measures they say could cripple their crime-fighting abilities and threaten economic growth. NBC News

Clothing and culture: Here’s how 11 women wear their immigrant identities. BuzzFeed

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Tough crowd: “May you die in pain.” That, from an older man in the audience, was the nastiest moment of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s town hall in Chico on Monday. Los Angeles Times

Understanding homelessness: Even as Los Angeles starts a $1.2-billion homeless housing construction program, residents from Temple City to Venice are fighting to keep homeless projects out of their neighborhoods. These experts explain that mental illness and homelessness are connected, but not how you might think. Los Angeles Times

Pipeline problem: California has now taken the unprecedented step of asking Shell to replace parts of the pipeline that ruptured twice (once in 2015 and again in 2016), which the company has started to do. KQED

CRIME AND COURTS

Headmaster sentenced: The former headmaster of a Carlsbad military boarding school was sentenced to 48 years in prison for repeatedly molesting a ninth-grade cadet. Los Angeles Times

Police shooting: Long Beach police shot a man late Sunday night who was holding a woman hostage and is suspected of stabbing another woman, authorities said. Los Angeles Times

Flier arrested: A federal complaint unsealed Monday alleges in graphic detail the extent to which a man aboard a flight from Seattle to San Jose discussed in text messages that he planned to molest children. Los Angeles Times

Not guilty: Two Los Angeles police officers were acquitted Monday of conspiring to obstruct justice after prosecutors accused them of failing to arrest a drunk driving suspect and writing false reports so that they could wrap up their shift and go home. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

Slow and steady: How big sea turtles from central Mexico found new homes on a Long Beach river. Los Angeles Times

Something in the air: Scientists are beginning to understand what makes the Salton Sea air so dusty. Desert Sun

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

They bought a street: “Tina Lam and Michael Cheng have bought Presidio Terrace, a private San Francisco street lined with expensive homes. Residents apparently had no idea the common spaces were up for sale.” San Francisco Chronicle

An expensive house: The Bel-Air estate may be known as Chartwell, but it’s off the charts in terms of asking price. The home of the late Univision billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio is for sale at $350 million — making it the most expensive U.S. residential listing. Los Angeles Times

Paying their respects: Hundreds of Linkin Park fans flooded downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park Sunday night, with cellphones and flameless candles raised to the stars to honor the late singer Chester Bennington. Los Angeles Times

Watch out: Here’s why L.A.’s vintage bars and restaurants are in danger. LA Weekly

Puig playing great: Incredibly, Yasiel Puig, a player who was once the center of attention, has discovered satisfaction as a peripheral figure on baseball’s best team. Los Angeles Times

The master: Meet the man who carried out Steve Jobs’ vision for the new Apple headquarters. Wall Street Journal

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento and Los Angeles area: sunny Tuesday and Wednesday. San Diego and San Francisco area: partly cloudy Tuesday and Wednesday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Karl Klausner:

“Growing up in Bakersfield, we couldn’t wait for our annual summer trip to Avila or Pismo Beach. It meant a one- to two-week break from 100-degree days and hot nights, and required a two-and-a-half-hour ride in our crowded car. We loved staying in Avila at the Dun Sailing Motel (just past the smelly sulfur hot springs). Early mornings would find my sister and I dropping our fishing lines off the pier and afternoons in the water followed by a visit to the penny candy stores on the beach. In Pismo we stayed at the Edgewater Motel, where my grandmother Sibyl would get us up at sunrise to collect clams on the beach. Then we’d help clean them so she could make clam fritters, chowder and dip. I learned to play bridge there at age 12 after my grandmother declared: ‘We’re one short of a foursome and it’s high time you learned.’ Bridge games (i.e. lessons) were punctuated with grandmother’s soft blows to my shins when I misplayed. The last day of our vacations was a little sad, and we tried to extend it by uploading as much cold air into the car before leaving and keeping the windows up as far as we could on our trip home.”

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.