Newsletter: Essential California: A major step for women’s health

Good morning. It is Monday, Feb. 15. Two hours, 13 minutes and eight seconds. That’s how long it took Weldon Kirui of Kenya to win the Los Angeles Marathon this weekend. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

No RX needed

A new state law expected to take effect in April will allow California women to obtain birth control pills without a prescription. It will be the third state to have such a law. “The easier it is for someone to access medication, the more likely they are to use it,” said Sarah McBane, president of the California Pharmacists Assn. and a professor at UC San Diego. Los Angeles Times

Public education

Inglewood’s public schools are among the worst in the state, and in response, charter schools have opened up there in large numbers in recent years. While test scores show students at charter schools overall do better than students at the district schools, a closer look shows the movement is far from a panacea for the struggling city. Los Angeles Times

Political appointees

More details are emerging about the long dispute that led to the ouster last week of the head of the California Coastal Commission. Two members of the commission met with Gov. Jerry Brown‘s top advisor two weeks earlier and were told the governor did not plan to intervene, the chairman of the commission said. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Turf removal: Last year, the Metropolitan Water District’s turf removal program helped spur an unprecedented change in the Southern California landscape. But there are questions about whether the program will be around this year. Los Angeles Times

Gone dry: East Porterville, where thousands of wells have gone dry, is falling deeper into despair. Families have run out of water. Employees are out of work. “It’s a stress and a burden on them. The kids are dirty. Feces stays in toilets. You can sense the tension. You can feel it and see it in their eyes,” said Fred Beltran Jr., who delivered tanks of water when the wells dried up. Washington Post

L.A. AT LARGE

A message for the pope: Angelenos will make a pilgrimage to El Paso, Texas, this week in the hope of speaking to Pope Francis about immigration in America. “My brother and I need our mother. There are many American children who don’t have their parents because there is no immigration reform,” said Iris Alondra Hipolito, 17, whose mother lives in Mexico because she does not have legal status in the States. Los Angeles Times

I do: Love was in the air Sunday as thousands of runners tackled the Los Angeles Marathon. Thirty-four couples renewed their vows and two others were married along the course as part of a movie promotion. “We were already running it, it’s his birthday, it’s Valentine’s Day, so we figured, ‘Why not?’ ” said one runner clad in a veil, running shorts and pink tutu. Los Angeles Times

Billboard warfare: Someone defaced a billboard in Silver Lake in response to trees being cut so that a billboard would be more visible. The graffiti read: “Outfront Media hacked our trees so you could see this billboard.” LAist

Lunch spots: There’s a restaurant shake-up taking place in San Pedro. Coco’s and Carrows, two staple restaurants in the area, abruptly closed. Coco’s then reopened in the Carrows spot. It’s all part of a corporate merger. Daily Breeze

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Something stinks: Columnist Steve Lopez writes that “disgrace” does not begin to describe the 12-hour Coastal Commission hearing he sat through on the performance of Charles Lester, the now-fired executive director. “What I do believe — as do dozens of commission staffers, current and former commissioners and watchdogs — is that a disturbing shift is at play in the division of labor and power between the commissioners and the commission staff. And that shift benefited property owners rather than the public,” he writes. Los Angeles Times

SCOTUS picks: Could state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris find herself on the United States Supreme Court? The 51-year-old attorney, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate, is being mentioned as one potential nominee in the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. Another Californian is also being mentioned -- Jacqueline Nguyen, a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. New York Times

Tax proposal: Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia will ask voters to increase the city’s sales tax this June. The funds would pay for more police officers and infrastructure improvements. The city’s previous two mayors, Bob Foster and Beverly O’Neill, have also signed on to the proposal to increase the sales tax by 1 percentage point for six years and then half a percentage point for four more years. Long Beach Press-Telegram

CRIME AND COURTS

Jailhouse love: Meet the woman who performs weddings for women who fall in love with prison inmates. Long Beach Press-Telegram

Buyer beware: San Francisco law enforcement agents are warning about a scam trying to take advantage of people as they celebrate Chinese New Year. The crime occurs when the criminal “blesses” a person’s gold and cash, only to then take the valuables. “Do not give up your valuables. And don’t tell a stranger your Social Security number,” said Dist. Atty. George Gascon. SF Gate

Son arrested: A 23-year-old Bay Area man was arrested this weekend on suspicion of killing his father, a pastor at a Menlo Park church. Bishop Teman Bostic Sr. was discovered at home with multiple stab wounds. The Alameda County district attorney expects to formally charge Isaiah Bostic on Tuesday. SF Gate

Activist killed: A 69-year-old activist in San Diego was painting over graffiti Friday night when she was struck by a driver accused of road rage and intoxication. Maruta Gardner died Saturday. “She was a great friend and neighbor, and worked hard in the community to make it better,” said Karen Mitchell. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Green rush: The rush is on in Adelanto, which has OK’d commercial cultivation of marijuana. “Investors are also looking toward November, when California voters are expected to legalize recreational marijuana – with the Golden State projected to dwarf the nearly $1 billion brought in by Colorado’s adult-use market in 2015.” Orange County Register

Focused on the present: Esa-Pekka Salonen is back in L.A. with his family and feeling like the grand old man of music. “We’re back here,” he says, “because we realize we are happiest here and feel like we belong to the city.” Los Angeles Times

Innovation guru: Meet the creative force who will bring “Star Wars” to the Disney theme parks. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Francisco will be mostly sunny with a high of 71 degrees. Sacramento will be sunny and 77. There will be lots of sunshine and a high of 88 degrees in Los Angeles. Riverside will have sunshine and a high of 86. San Diego will be sunny and 81.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for notable Californians:

Rep. Jared Huffman (Feb. 18, 1964), Andre “Dr. Dre” Young (Feb. 18, 1965), author Amy Tan (Feb. 18, 1952), Nobel laureate George Smoot (Feb. 20, 1945) and entertainment mogul David Geffen (Feb. 21, 1943).

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.