Newsletter: Today: Love Trump or Leave Him? Is Rio Ready for Prime Time?
I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.
TOP STORIES
Love Trump or Leave Him?
What a week it’s been for Donald Trump. On the plus side for him, he got a big bump in donations in July: $80 million, narrowing the gap with Hillary Clinton thanks to a large number of small donors. On the minus side, well, let’s focus on his support: He’s seen a drop in the polls and a number of high-profile GOP defections. Take a look at this graphic that shows who’s actively campaigning for him, who’s jumped to Clinton’s side and all the variations in between.
Meet Politics’ Billionaire Rebel (No, Not Him)
Napster cofounder Sean Parker has spent millions trying to transform politics. He’s donated to groups pushing for campaign finance reform and gun control. He’s invested in a company that aims to help voters network online. But he’s also finding the rules of politics aren’t easily broken, and that includes helping out Republicans and Democrats. Meet the billionaire without a signature cause.
More Politics
-- The White House and Clinton face questions about a $400-million payment to Iran that President Obama disclosed publicly in January.
-- How deferments protected Trump from serving in Vietnam.
-- Melania Trump’s immigration history leads to questions; she says she always followed the rules.
Is Rio Ready for Prime Time?
Dirty water. Political strife. Zika. Amid all the concerns, Brazilian officials are still hoping to put their best foot forward as the Olympics’ opening ceremony takes place in Rio de Janeiro today. Will the Games be a bright spot for a country that’s been in its worst recession in maybe a century? We’ll know in about two weeks’ time.
More From the Olympics
-- U.S. expectations are high for a large medal haul.
-- A newspaper investigation alleges USA Gymnastics turned a “blind eye” to abuse.
-- Bill Plaschke: On the eve of Olympics, the indifference of locals is evident in all corners of Rio.
-- Photographer’s journal: Behind the scenes with the 2016 Summer Olympians.
An OMG Moment in Court
Two concert promoters will avoid jail time in a plea bargain with L.A. County prosecutors who acknowledged, for a second time, that they mishandled evidence in a corruption case involving raves at the Coliseum. One of the mistakes even prompted the judge to say, “Oh my God!” in response. What did happened? Read on.
Activists Tell Art Galleries the Show’s Over
Activists fighting gentrification in Boyle Heights say the neighborhood needs more affordable housing, and they’ve adopted some in-your-face tactics to get their message across. A main target of their wrath: nearly a dozen art galleries, many of which have opened in the last year. But one, Self-Help Graphics, has been in East L.A. and Boyle Heights for more than four decades.
CALIFORNIA
-- Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow was sentenced to life in prison for murder and other charges stemming from a massive corruption case.
-- Eight dead, 350 square miles burned, 300 homes destroyed: The grim beginning of fire season.
-- Gov. Jerry Brown wants to keep the state’s climate change initiative alive, possibly through a ballot measure.
-- The mayor of Stockton has been arrested and accused of playing strip poker with minors and giving them alcohol.
NATION-WORLD
-- Three vaccines prevent Zika infection in monkeys, as a vaccine trial in humans gets underway.
-- Orlando’s mayor wants to turn the Pulse nightclub into a memorial for the dozens killed. Here’s what happened to the sites of past mass shootings.
-- An East Coast mob sweep accuses 46 of conspiracy, with some details that seem as if they’re straight out of a Martin Scorsese movie.
-- In Louisiana, the rush to sign up for Obamacare highlights a “long overdue” demand for health insurance.
-- Abubakar Shekau says he’s still in charge of Boko Haram and calls successor named by Islamic State an “infidel.”
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Milestone: With “A Wrinkle in Time,” Ava DuVernay is the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a production budget over $100 million.
-- Adapting the 1943 French novella “The Little Prince” as an animated film was a tricky task.
-- Take a closer look at how LACMA plans to remake its galleries.
-- Aziz Ansari says his series “Master of None” was inspired by the cinema of the 1970s.
-- David Huddleston, who played the title role in “The Big Lebowski,” has died at 85.
BUSINESS
-- Rejected for credit? Newfangled scores that go beyond FICO may be to blame.
-- Grocery strike averted: Workers have reached a tentative deal with Ralphs and Albertsons.
SPORTS
-- Respect flows across athletic boundaries between boxer Andre Ward and his admirers.
-- Starter Kenta Maeda helped the Dodgers avoid a sweep by the Rockies with a 4-2 win in Colorado.
OPINION
-- Bernie Sanders: I support Hillary Clinton. So should everyone who voted for me.
-- Nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis writes that Rio Games-bashing is not an Olympic sport.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- An illustrated history of the AK-47 and AR-15, the “tools of modern terror.” (New York Times)
-- Fifty years ago, Chairman Mao went for a “world record-breaking” swim in the Yangtze. Few outside China believe it, but other world leaders have emulated it. (South China Morning Post)
-- The funniest man Sacha Baron Cohen has ever met? A French “clown guru” who gives tongue lashings to his students. (The Guardian)
ONLY IN CALIFORNIA
Let’s get right to the point: Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wants lawyers to keep their briefs brief. Or at least adhere to the word count. When a California prosecutor wanted to be more verbose, he wrote: “I don’t feel bound to read beyond the 14,000 words allowed by our rules, so I won’t read past page 66.”
Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
