Newsletter: Today: California’s Monster Storm, ‘Alternative Facts’ and the Women’s March
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
California’s Monster Storm and Drought Buster?
Flooded streets, mudslides and record rainfall in Southern California. A monster 34-foot wave in the Monterey Bay. Blizzard conditions in the eastern Sierra Nevada. A fierce winter storm is pummeling California, forcing evacuations and creating dangerous conditions on the roads. The rainfall is expected to continue until Tuesday morning. Here is the latest.
More About the Storm
-- Scenes from the storm in Southern California.
-- How do mudslides happen? This motion graphic explains.
Should ‘Alternative Fact’ Be in the Newspeak Dictionary?
Donald Trump painted a picture of “American carnage” in his inauguration speech and said, “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.” Here’s a sampling of what happened the first weekend: He signed an executive order to ease “burdens” that Obamacare places on Americans, though the order’s effects are unclear. In front of the CIA’s Memorial Wall, he praised the intelligence community he had previously impugned, then attacked the media. And there was White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s presentation of “alternative facts,” as Kellyanne Conway put it, about the size of the crowd at the inauguration. What happens to an administration’s credibility when it makes provably false claims?
More Politics
-- Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil chief executive who is President Trump’s pick for secretary of State, has won key support from Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
-- Here’s how a repeal of Obamacare would affect the health insurance you receive through an employer.
-- Behind the headlines: The view from an L.A. Times reporter who covered Barack Obama longer than anyone else.
On Day Two, They Protested: Trump Triggers Global Protests
They came. They saw. They marched. In cities across the U.S. and the world, a pink-capped wave of demonstrators rallied in support of women’s rights and in protest of the Trump administration. In L.A., officials said it appeared to be the largest demonstration since a 2006 immigration march. So where does the protest go from here? Cathleen Decker writes in her analysis that it could signal an emerging anti-Trump movement à la the tea party, but as we saw with Occupy Wall Street, keeping momentum could be difficult.
More About the Marches
-- Why they marched: Demonstrators give their views.
-- How well did Los Angeles’ public spaces work with a mass of humanity? Our architecture critic’s report card.
-- Steve Lopez: Massive marches and a cranky new president. We’re certainly off to a colorful start.
-- Watch this aerial video of the massive turnout at the women’s march in L.A.
No ‘Body Counts’ in This South L.A.
Actress-writer Issa Rae wanted to create something that showed a side of South L.A. different from the images of gang violence and rioting that made headlines in the 1990s. Her experience growing up in the area’s well-to-do View Park neighborhood didn’t match the pop culture stereotype. With her show “Insecure,” she wants to make South L.A. “feel sexy in a way that other places in L.A. are allowed.”
The View of Baghdad From 7,500 Miles Away
Joel Wing has never been to Iraq, but each day he reads 44 English- and Arabic-language newspapers (with the help of Google Translate) to track the violent toll of the 14-year conflict in the troubled country. Here’s how an Oakland high school teacher’s blog has become a go-to source for data and trends on the killing in Iraq.
OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND
-- Trump’s inauguration, just like his campaign, broke with Washington norms.
-- Fear and concern, but also Champagne: The world reacts to the inauguration.
-- California Republicans celebrated Trump’s inauguration: “In L.A., you can’t even put a bumper sticker on your car.”
-- It started with a Facebook event page: How the women’s march came into being.
-- As Trump pushes for U.S. manufacturing jobs, “Made in America” is losing its luster in the fashion world.
-- Inside the Beverly Hilton, the hardest-working hotel in Hollywood during awards season.
CALIFORNIA
-- Despite the state’s strict new vaccination law, a measles outbreak has hit L.A.’s Orthodox Jewish community.
-- A man who vandalized a Vietnam War memorial last year in Los Angeles has been sentenced to four years in prison.
-- San Diego’s aging Horton Plaza, once a landmark of urban design, is losing its luster and tenants.
-- This stings: Someone stole 488 hives of bees that were headed to the Central Valley.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Aziz Ansari took to the “Saturday Night Live” stage and delivered some stand-up logic to Trump.
-- The Oscar nominations come out Tuesday, and “La La Land” could end up tying a record.
-- M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy psychological thriller “Split” pulled off a surprising victory at the box office in its opening weekend.
-- Photos, videos and the latest news from Sundance.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
-- Carnac the Magnificent. Aunt Blabby. Floyd R. Turbo. Who could forget the characters the King of Late Night played? Take a look back at Johnny Carson, who died 12 years ago today.
NATION AND WORLD
-- Tornadoes killed at least 14 people in rural south Georgia as severe weather hit the Southeast U.S.
-- With Trump in the White House, Israel is moving aggressively to build on disputed land.
-- A terrorist attack in Germany could have hurt Angela Merkel politically. So far, it hasn’t.
-- Here’s how UCLA scientists worked to protect climate change databases on government websites.
-- It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Therein lies the problem at Lebanon’s international airport.
BUSINESS
-- Here are three major areas that are likely to be at the top of Trump’s agenda to eliminate business regulations.
-- The Trump administration has indefinitely suspended a pending rate cut for mortgage insurance required for FHA-backed loans.
-- Samsung blamed defective batteries from two separate manufacturers for causing its Galaxy Note 7 phone to catch fire.
SPORTS
-- The New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons will meet in the Super Bowl.
-- Wayne Gretzky is happy to share the spotlight with 99 other all-time hockey greats, as the NHL celebrates its 100th anniversary before Sunday’s All-Star game in L.A.
-- The Lakers suffered their worst loss in franchise history.
OPINION
-- Imagining the royal court of Donald the First. See it up close here.
-- Should California’s new attorney general sue Trump early and often? Absolutely not.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- Media columnist Margaret Sullivan on what this weekend’s White House press briefing means for journalists trying to cover the presidency “responsibly, fairly and fearlessly.” (Washington Post)
-- Did you see that weird cloud formation above L.A. on Saturday? It wasn’t “Independence Day.” It was a “hole punch” cloud. (NBC Los Angeles)
-- Photo essay: the ballet school in Kenya’s biggest slum area. (The Guardian)
ONLY IN CALIFORNIA
On Jan. 1, denim became California’s first official state fabric. For those who are really into bluejeans — the kind of people who wash their pants only every seven months — it was reason to celebrate. Columnist Robin Abcarian has a closer look at why denim occupies a seat of power.
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