Newsletter: Today: More Than 50 Dead in Las Vegas Strip Shooting

More than 50 people have been killed and at least 200 others injured in a shooting at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, according to authorities.

TOP STORIES

A Deadly Mass Shooting on the Las Vegas Strip

A gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip, killing more than 50 people and injuring at least 200 others, authorities said. Police reported that the suspect, a Las Vegas resident, was dead, and were seeking to interview a woman who was believed to be traveling with him. Chilling videos captured the scene and its aftermath at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, where singer Jason Aldean was performing when gunfire rang out. “I thought it was like bottle rockets going off,” said Seth Bayles of West Hollywood. “Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running.” Here is the latest.

More From Las Vegas

-- Police at an early-morning news conference said they believed the gunman was “a solo act, a lone wolf attacker” and made an urgent appeal to find two vehicles and his companion.

-- Aldean was scheduled to be the final act of the three-day festival, where dozens of others had played, including Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Maren Morris. In tweets, the artists expressed their sorrow and prayers and told loved ones they were safe.

-- The mass shooting temporarily shut down nearby McCarran International Airport‏.

Puerto Rico: The Fight to Save Lives and a Verbal Spat

Before the Las Vegas tragedy, much of the weekend’s news focused on disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico. After the mayor of San Juan pleaded for lifesaving aid, President Trump responded with tweets lambasting the mayor, saying she was among those who “want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort”; praising the island’s governor and federal recovery efforts; and saying reports of trouble were “fake news.” In places such as rural Lajas, locals said they are indeed helping one another, but there is only so much they can do — and they painted a picture of a less-than-responsive FEMA. A funeral director says about 100 people died in the region in the three days after Hurricane Maria, twice the typical rate. Only one death in Lajas has been officially ruled storm-related.

Nuclear ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop,’ Part 2?

Is it a “good cop, bad cop” routine, a true disagreement over diplomacy’s role, or something else? Once again, President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were giving mixed signals on nuclear-armed North Korea. On Saturday, Tillerson suggested the beginnings of a possible diplomatic breakthrough with Kim Jong Un. The next day, Trump tweeted that Tillerson “is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.” Remember it was just in August when Trump threatened “fire and fury” and Tillerson said, “Americans should sleep well at night.”

To Her, He Seemed Like the Perfect Man

She was 59, divorced four times with four grown kids, and looking for a man with whom she could share her success as the owner of an Orange County interior design firm. He was 55, claimed to have kids of his own, and told war stories of being an anesthesiologist in Iraq that explained the scars on his chiseled physique. They met on an over-50 dating site. To Debra Newell, meeting John Meehan seemed like a dream. Her kids thought otherwise. As you’ll discover in the first two parts of our weeklong series and podcast “Dirty John,” the truth came pouring out.

California’s Pot Goes Up in Smoke and Out of State

Last year, growers in California produced at least 13.5 million pounds of marijuana, yet only a fraction of it — an estimated 2.5 million pounds — was consumed in state. Where’d the rest of it go? Experts say much of it was exported to other states, some of which ban it as an illegal substance. That could make the Golden State a target for the U.S. Justice Department under Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, an outspoken foe of pot, especially as the state begins issuing licenses to grow, transport and sell marijuana starting Jan. 2.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- Squeezed again: Americans face even higher Obamacare costs unless Congress acts to stabilize insurance markets that have been weakened by the Trump administration.

-- Islamic State’s deadly drone operation is faltering, but U.S. military officials foresee more drone threats ahead.

-- After Hurricane Harvey hit, one Texas nursing home evacuation began with a gun drawn.

-- L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is increasingly traveling outside California, and that’s raising eyebrows back home.

-- A fix for California’s housing shortage? Some dying malls may be replaced by residential developments.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- California’s ancient bristlecone pine forests are being overwhelmed by climate change.

-- Film critic Justin Chang reviews “Lucky,” starring Harry Dean Stanton in one of his final roles before the actor died at age 91.

-- How to make the Filipino dessert halo-halo like a world-class pastry chef.

CALIFORNIA

-- Up to 600,000 are expected to apply for just 20,000 spots for Section 8 federal housing subsidies when L.A. reopens its list this month.

-- Two Southern California school districts gave conflicting messages amid a scare touched off by an investigation of a music specialist suspected of contaminating musical instruments with semen.

-- Witnesses to two massive rockfalls at Yosemite National Park that killed one man and injured at least two others are telling some harrowing stories.

-- How’s your penmanship? A sloppy signature might disqualify your 2018 ballot from being counted.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is back, and so is J.B. Smoove, who explains how tough times put him on the path to being on the HBO show.

-- With Alec Baldwin’s Trump on board, “Saturday Night Live” returned with Ryan Gosling but some uneven timing.

-- Two of the most revered U.S. orchestras in New York and Cleveland are feeling “the L.A. Effect,” classical music critic Mark Swed writes.

-- Art critic Christopher Knight says the exhibition “Radical Women” at the Hammer Museum is a startling show you need to see, maybe twice.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Those crazily dressed contestants. The handmade signs. And that agonizing question: “Or do you want what’s behind Door No. 2?” Monty Hall, the original host and co-creator of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal” who used his fame for philanthropy, has died at 96. Here’s how he and the show got their start.

NATION-WORLD

-- For once in the last 20-plus years of O.J. Simpson’s public life, a media circus wasn’t there to witness his release from a Nevada prison and into a waiting car. That’s because officials, concerned with safety, ran a trick play as to the place and time of his walk out the door.

-- After scenes of chaos and violence, Catalonia’s vote on independence from Spain is projected to pass overwhelmingly. What happens after that isn’t clear.

-- Armed with a knife, a man shouting “Allahu akbar!” killed two women at the main train station in the French city of Marseille.

-- The accused Libyan ringleader of the 2012 Benghazi attacks will go on trial in federal court in Washington starting today.

-- Allowing women to drive is expected to boost Saudi Arabia’s economy.

BUSINESS

-- Since the last major quake in the L.A. area 23 years ago, the percentage of homeowners and renters who have earthquake insurance has dropped sharply. Recent devastation in Mexico may have provided a wake-up call.

-- Airline seats are not getting bigger, but designers are coming up with all kinds of ideas to make them more comfortable.

SPORTS

-- Break up the Rams?! They went to Texas and defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 35-30, and stayed atop the NFC West with a 3-1 record.

-- The L.A. Sparks didn’t close out their WNBA championship series with the Minnesota Lynx at Staples Center, so they’ll head back to the Midwest for the fifth and final game.

OPINION

-- Angelenos dream of a new “citified” Los Angeles, but will we be able to practice what we preach?

-- Hurricane relief or abandonment? Independence or statehood? Puerto Rico waits, as always.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Are Trump’s immigration policies helping to make Canada great again? (Politico)

-- An interview with one of the more compelling figures in Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s “The Vietnam War”: John Musgrave. (Vanity Fair)

-- On the healing powers of Ray Charles’ “America the Beautiful.” (The Undefeated)

ONLY IN L.A.

In San Gabriel, it is possible to step into Nothingness. That’s because it is the name of a restaurant, which does specialize in something. As restaurant critic Jonathan Gold found out, that something is steamed whole fish, braised lamb with jelly noodle, and pig feet with hot pepper, Sichuan-style. And yes, there is a story behind the name.

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