Newsletter: Today: The FLOTUS and the Trump Say Their Pieces. Bring On the Cubs!

I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers won their National League Division Series, so read on!

TOP STORIES

The FLOTUS and the Trump Say Their Pieces

Michelle Obama never said Donald Trump’s name. She didn’t have to. Yet she delivered a stinging rebuke: “I can’t believe I am saying that a candidate for president of the United States has actually bragged about sexually assaulting women.” If Obama’s speech offered a defining moment, Trump’s speech that followed did the same. His response to new allegations of sexual assault? Trump vehemently denied them and said the media, special interests and Hillary Clinton’s machine are out to destroy him, but “nevertheless, I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you.” Meanwhile, GOP strategists and even Newt Gingrich worry the election is slipping away.

More Politics

-- Trump once told 14-year-old girls, “In a couple of years, I’ll be dating you.”

-- Advisors to Clinton debated how billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer could help the campaign without violating campaign finance laws, according to newly leaked emails.

-- Read the New York Times’ response to Trump’s lawyers.

-- The “Access Hollywood” tape: another example of the searing power of video.

Bob Dylan, the Nobel Laureate: How Does It Feel?

The debate began from the moment Bob Dylan was named the 2016 Nobel laureate for literature: Should he have won? The Swedish Academy lauded the man from Hibbing, Minn., for “having created new poetic expressions within the American song tradition,” and many a Dylan fan would agree. Yet some in the literary community were less than pleased: “This feels like the lamest Nobel win since they gave it to Obama for not being Bush” is how “Gods Without Men” author Hari Kunzru put it.

More About Dylan

-- Why Dylan has been called “the Homer of our time.”

-- The poetry of Dylan: a sampling of lyrics on life, love, idiots, war mongers, religion, self-esteem, desire, fashion and insufferable people.

Bring On the Cubs!

Now that was a seventh-inning stretch: Four runs for the Dodgers and two for the Washington Nationals in one inning that took more than an hour to play. It left the Dodgers ahead, 4-3, but there would be more theatrics. Their $220-million man, Clayton Kershaw, two days after he threw 110 pitches, ended up recording the final two outs to send the Dodgers to Chicago to start the National League Championship Series against the Cubs on Saturday.

A Shoe Salesman’s Gift From Beyond the Grave

In the small town of Aberdeen, Wash., Ken Millen was known as the friendly salesman who worked at the shoe store — until it went out of business in the 1980s. Unlike some residents who would have used that as an excuse to leave for bigger and better things, Millen stayed, living in a modest house that fell into disrepair. After he died at age 85, he left the town a big surprise.

Trying Times for Tiny Houses

The hype over tiny homes is booming, spawning TV shows, lifestyle websites and endless photo spreads. But some builders trying to make money off the craze are having trouble nailing down profits, thanks to barriers such as insurance, financing and laws regarding the size of homes. And then there’s the problem of when someone housejacks your home.

CALIFORNIA

-- “He wasn’t just one of us. He was the best of us”: Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Owen was honored at a memorial in Lancaster.

-- A jury convicted an 18-year-old woman of murder for her role in the 2014 bludgeoning death of a USC graduate student from China.

-- L.A.’s new bike-share program isn’t as popular as it is in other cities, a Times analysis shows.

-- Parents who want their kids to attend L.A.’s most competitive magnet schools face daunting odds.

YOUR WEEKEND

-- Jonathan Gold checks out Gus’s Fried Chicken and the Italian restaurant Kettle Black.

-- See Laurel & Hardy’s short film “The Music Box” at the steps where it was filmed.

-- Picasso prints, youth culture in L.A. and more: eight art shows and events to check out.

-- The portable wood-fired pizza oven that hits 900 degrees in about 10 minutes.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Kenneth Turan reviews “The Accountant,” starring Ben Affleck, and declares it “a nifty piece of genre entertainment.”

-- “Newtown,” a documentary about the 2012 massacre of kindergarten and first-graders, will break your heart.

-- Loud and lively at 90, Mel Brooks discusses Gene Wilder, political correctness and his classic movies.

-- Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters is planning a solo tour in 2017 to address societal, political and cultural divisiveness.

NATION-WORLD

-- Twenty-one Nigerian schoolgirls released by Boko Haram will receive medical treatment and trauma counseling. About 200 remain missing.

-- The death of Thailand’s beloved king sent the stock market reeling and thrust the country into deeper political turmoil.

-- The promise of a revolutionary gene-editing technology is beginning to be realized in experiments aimed at curing sickle cell disease.

BUSINESS

-- Critics say Wells Fargo must do more than change its CEO to mend its image.

-- David Lazarus: A proposed DNA database highlights the need for new medical privacy protections.

SPORTS

-- A former Rams offensive lineman has accused the NFL’s Player Disability and Neurocognitive Benefit Plan of denying benefits because he couldn’t travel to out-of-state examinations.

-- Every game is a road trip for the driver of the UCLA football truck.

OPINION

-- Trump gropes for someone else to blame.

-- What threatens America isn’t the arrival of more Muslim immigrants or refugees but rather the alienation of immigrant communities.

BACK IN TIMES

One hundred years ago, a banner headline on The Times screamed that “Americans Cancel Sailings in Fear of U-Boats” off the Atlantic coast. Sharing Page One — the death notice of Henry Miller, the Cattle King of California, at age 89 on Oct. 14, 1916: “It has been said that the secret to the rise of Henry Miller to the position of millionaire cattle baron was that he possessed a remarkable knowledge of cattle and equally remarkable judgment of men. He owned, at the time of his death, ‘a western empire twice the size of Belgium.’” Though that may have been overstatement, Miller was indeed one of the largest landowners in the U.S.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A story that will make you cry: “My Friend Sam.” (The New Yorker)

-- The famed Ghent Altarpiece has been restored. Let’s hope it doesn’t get stolen again. (The Guardian)

-- The story of “London’s greatest bookseller.” (Literary Hub)

ONLY IN L.A.

The real robots of Beverly Hills? Leaders there say the ’bots are coming sooner rather than later, as the city looks to commission a fleet of driverless mass-transit vehicles to ply its well-maintained streets. But some details still need to be worked out, including where to put the “valet” zones.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.