Newsletter: Essential California: SpaceX and the future of space travel

Good morning. It is Wednesday, Dec. 23. A wild sea otter decided the Monterey Bay Aquarium was the perfect place to give birth to her new pup. Mom and baby have been hanging out in the Great Tide Pool there as a way to protect themselves from winter storms. Here's what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Visa application

A 21-page visa application file shows what information Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik provided to immigration authorities regarding their courtship and marriage overseas. The two connected online and met in Saudi Arabia after several weeks of emailing back and forth, according to the document. The two were engaged the same day they met in person. The couple later married at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Los Angeles Times

American Dream

Two brothers are selling the American Dream in San Bernardino. Jose and Ricardo Ponce guide low-income renters as they take on home ownership. “In San Bernardino, the castles and compounds of casino operators are perched on the foothills above a city in which transients, dealers and prostitutes parade along Baseline Boulevard, and abandoned buildings beg for a date with a wrecking ball,” writes columnist Steve Lopez. Los Angeles Times

Future is here

When Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket touched down at Cape Canaveral on Monday night, it was a major step toward the day when space travel will be attainable for the masses. “I haven’t been as excited as this since the moon landing,” said Charles Lurio, a space analyst in Boston. It costs the company $60 million to $70 million to launch a flight — about half the cost of other firms. If they can make the rocket reusable, that will further drive down the costs. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Search history: Drought and wildfires together came in as the sixth-most searched-for news topic in 2015 among the U.S. users of Microsoft Bing. What did drought-interested users search for? Jerry Brown, Starbucks and Tom Selleck. Los Angeles Times

Storms sweep in: The new storm that moved into Southern California on Tuesday is weaker than expected. But it still could bring snow at the 4,000-foot level. Once again, Northern California got the lion’s share of the storm activity. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Gas leak: L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer will be in court this morning to ask a judge to oversee the relocation process of thousands of Porter Ranch residents affected by an ongoing natural gas leak. The city attorney says Southern California Gas Co.’s response to the disaster has been too slow. So far, there have been more than 5,000 requests to move out of the area due to the fumes associated with the leak. Los Angeles Times

Also, are you affected by the gas leak? Let the Los Angeles Times know about your experience.

Ride home: It’s a big day for passengers at LAX — Lyft drivers can now pick them up at the terminal. It will be the only ride-sharing app authorized to do pickups for the time being. Los Angeles Times

Media mogul: At 25, “The Shade Room” creator Angie Nwandu may well be “the first media mogul of the distributed content age.” Nwandu overcame a violent childhood and was a product of the L.A. foster care system. BuzzFeed

Booming business: The rising tide of Chinese tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the L.A. economy. How big a business? Officials estimate there will be 750,000 Chinese visitors in 2015. Los Angeles Magazine

Park makeover: Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles is one of the most mocked parks in all of the city. Now, four firms are vying to redesign the space. Their final designs are due in the spring. Curbed LA

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Inside the district: Do voters care whether their congressional representative lives in the district? It’s not a requirement, but living away from your constituents can create some bad optics. In California, some members of Congress found themselves on the wrong side of the district boundary thanks to redistricting. “When you are voting, particularly on big national issues like gun control, foreign policy, taxes, education ... the fact that somebody lives in a different area isn't exactly going to be a trump card,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of consulting firm Political Data Inc. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Return to L.A.: Real estate heir Robert Durst, the subject of a riveting HBO documentary about the 1982 disappearance of his wife and 2000 killing of a friend, is expected to return to Los Angeles next summer to face a murder charge. Durst has been held in Louisiana on a gun charge essentially since the documentary series ended with this famous recording: "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Los Angeles Times

Hit-and-run: A Boyle Heights church is in mourning after a beloved nun was killed in a hit-and-run accident near the house of worship. “She was a little fireball. She was all heart. You were a better person just by being around her,” one parishioner said. Los Angeles Times

Definition of discrimination: A federal judge in California has ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation falls under the Title IX law. The decision means that two former players for the women’s basketball team at Pepperdine University may proceed with a lawsuit that claims they were discriminated against because of their lesbian relationship. “Simply put, the line between sex discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination is 'difficult to draw' because that line does not exist, save as a lingering and faulty judicial construct,” Judge Dean Pregerson wrote in his decision. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Did you see the light? What exactly was that bright light streaking across the California sky Tuesday evening? Los Angeles Times

Just sold: The Beverly Hills home of the late billionaire Kirk Kerkorian sold for $19 million. The property was originally purchased for $4 million in 1998. Los Angeles Times

Big spender: What does a $1,000 dinner look like? And yes, we are talking about San Francisco. “Each dish features a glistening little jewel box of food.” SFGate

No pickups: Uber is a convenient app for passengers but what about drivers? Here are six places in Los Angeles where your Uber driver doesn’t want to pick you up. LAist

What is La Tijera? What do the Spanish names of Los Angeles’ streets mean in English? LA Weekly

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will have some clouds and a high of 65 degrees. In Los Angeles, it will be partly cloudy and 66. Riverside will have clouds and sun with highs reaching 63 degrees. In San Francisco, it will be mostly cloudy and 55 degrees.

AND FINALLY

Today's California Memory comes from Joan Davis Doner:

“My most vivid memories come from a botany class I took during the '60s as a student at UC Santa Barbara. The class took several field trips to places that were new to me. We studied wildflowers in Anza Borrego, ancient bristlecone pines in the White Mountains, and dogwood and firs in Yosemite. We learned taxonomy by lantern light and slept under the stars. I think these experiences made such an impression not just because they were new, but because the beauty and peace of nature were in such stark contrast to the turmoil of the times.”

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

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.