Newsletter: Today: Trump’s Mexico Policy — Good Cop, Bad Cop? The Oscars Secret That’s Underfoot.

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, including our weekend recommendations and weekly look back into the archives.

TOP STORIES

Trump’s Mexico Policy: Good Cop, Bad Cop?

Trump administration officials have gone to Mexico three times this month to mend fences. This week, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security John F. Kelly in Mexico City, the third time wasn’t the charm. Despite talk of cooperation, tensions are still running high over the prospects of a trade war and deportations. On the latter, Kelly said there would be no mass deportations or use of military force — right after Trump had said recent immigration raids were unprecedented and called efforts along the border a “military operation.” The White House later said Trump wasn’t speaking literally.

More Politics

-- Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, railed at the “corporatist, globalist media” at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

-- The White House put states that have legalized recreational-use marijuana on notice that federal law enforcement agents could be targeting them soon.

-- The Trump administration wants to overhaul the tax code by August, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

-- Los Angeles officials are urging ICE agents to stop identifying themselves as police.

Note From Psychiatrists: Trump Is Stressing People Out

Panic attacks. Insomnia. Feelings of isolation. Therapists nationwide say they are hearing patients talk a lot about their anxieties related to Trump being in the White House, and not just those who dislike the president. Some Trump supporters say they can’t reveal their feelings in the workplace or at home for fear of being harassed. Either way, it’s putting therapists in an awkward position.

How ‘Get Off My Lawn’ Turned to ‘Shot Fired’

The video shows an off-duty LAPD officer confronting a 13-year-old boy in Anaheim, apparently over teens having walked through his yard. Eventually, the officer draws his gun and fires a single shot, which Anaheim police said was aimed at the ground. Now officials from Anaheim and L.A. are investigating the incident and trying to calm a community that’s been shaken in recent years by police shootings.

An AIDS Nonprofit Is Accused of NIMBYism

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation runs 43 pharmacies and 20 Out of the Closet thrift stores in the U.S., and its philanthropic activities span 38 countries. It’s also the driving force behind Measure S, an L.A. ballot measure to restrict the construction of housing, shops and offices. An L.A. Times analysis found the group has spent more than $4.6 million, or nearly 99% of the campaign’s contributions, on the initiative.

The Oscars Secret That’s Underfoot

It is fabricated at an undisclosed mill in Dalton, Ga. Its color specifications are secret. It is constantly under watch, lest someone steal a piece. It is the Oscars red carpet upon which cinema’s royalty will walk on Sunday. How did this 50,000-square-foot carpet, which is closer to a burgundy color, get here? Read on.

More About the Oscars

-- The full list of nominees and columnist Glenn Whipp’s fearless predictions.

-- Fashion quiz: Can you guess the dress?

-- Where do the Oscars get politically edgy? In the short films.

In ‘Chinese Beverly Hills,’ the Mainland Money Slows

For years, Arcadia and the rest of the San Gabriel Valley have been a destination for Chinese home buyers to bring their families and stash their cash. But tighter controls on currency in China have made it more difficult for mainlanders to buy overseas property, and that’s translated into a slower — some might say, “more normal” — real estate market in Arcadia and beyond.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

In the wee hours of Feb. 25, 1942, L.A.’s air raid sirens wailed. Searchlights lighted up the sky. Antiaircraft guns fired more than 1,000 rounds. But the next day, the secretary of the Navy said there had been no air raid. And after the war, Japan too said it had flown no planes over L.A. that night. Here’s a look at the Battle of Los Angeles on its 75th anniversary.

CALIFORNIA

-- At last: After being battered by weeks of record-setting rain, the vast majority of the state is out of drought.

-- An appeals court has ruled that hugging employees may create a hostile work environment.

-- How did officials so badly miscalculate the flooding that ravaged San Jose?

-- After trying to speak about the late Tom Hayden and his opposition to the Vietnam War, a Republican lawmaker was removed from the state Senate floor.

YOUR WEEKEND

-- Why the benefits of sleep go far beyond beauty.

-- Seven things you can do right now to put yourself on a path to better health.

-- Of course, there’s always dessert. Here are our favorite cheesecake recipes. Then get back to doing those seven healthful things.

-- Artist tattoos, Teen Angels magazine and writers in performance: eight things to see at the L.A. Art Book Fair.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Movie review: Jordan Peele’s clever horror-satire “Get Out” is an overdue Hollywood response to our racial anxiety.

-- Beyoncé, who had previously announced she is pregnant, pulled out of her gig at the Coachella music festival. She’ll headline next year.

-- CMT’s “Sun Records” takes the history of rock ’n’ roll on an entertaining ride.

NATION-WORLD

-- Federal agents in Texas moved a hospitalized Salvadoran woman awaiting emergency surgery to a detention facility.

-- White nationalist Richard Spencer was kicked out of the Conservative Political Action Conference after organizers gave him credentials, then wavered on letting him stay.

-- Prosecutors charged a 51-year-old man with murder and attempted murder after they say he opened fire in a crowded suburban Kansas City bar. He reportedly uttered racial slurs and yelled “get out of my country.”

-- Malaysian police said that Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, could have been killed by VX nerve agent, a highly toxic chemical compound.

BUSINESS

-- When Trump hosted several manufacturing company chief executives, some told him there are still plenty of openings for U.S. factory jobs but too few qualified people.

-- In just six years, Nasty Gal went from an eBay store to a booming fashion brand with nearly $100 million in sales. So why did it go bankrupt?

SPORTS

-- The Lakers didn’t make any big moves at the NBA trade deadline, though they still may be in the hunt eventually for Indiana Pacers star Paul George.

-- If you live in L.A., here’s your chance to watch some high school players who could be destined for NBA stardom.

OPINION

-- Bernie Sanders is the leaderless Democrats’ anti-Trump evangelist: See the David Horsey cartoon.

-- L.A. is defined by its streets, strip malls and the softness of its hills. Not by breathless Oscar hype.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The thoughts of a prominent “Never Trump” conservative on the president: “On camera, I give him a C-minus, so far. Off camera, I give him a B-minus.” (The New Yorker)

-- How big is the universe? A lot more vast than even science fiction can portray. (Aeon)

-- “Alas, poor Yorick!” The famous skulls (and other objects) that have served as props in “Hamlet.” (The Guardian)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

You might think of a cider house as being in a farmhouse or cottage, but a metal warehouse stuck between an aircraft supply store and an auto tools shop off the 101 Freeway will do. This Westlake Village fermenter is making experimental sour ciders out of produce sourced from farmers along — where else? — the freeway it’s on.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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