Newsletter: Today: Super Tuesday Is Here. Hot Time in the City.

I’m Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

‘Big Government Republicans’ and Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday is upon us, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump poised for big nights. Will it play out that way? You can follow all the action on our live blog. For now, here’s something to chew on: the role of “big government Republicans.” Though they’d probably object to the term, pollsters say these voters are focused not on slashing government, but on getting programs such as Social Security and veterans’ aid working more for people who “have earned it.” Here’s one guess as to whom they support.

Kids With Nowhere Else to Go

Last year, more than 5,000 children spent time at two county-run waiting rooms for foster youths. Many ended up there because they were the most difficult to place: newborns, older teenagers, the mentally ill and so on. As The Times reported last year, the rooms had evolved into makeshift shelters where some spent weeks at a time and some fell prey to sex trafficking by other youth. In a few days, the county plans to close both centers, acknowledging they didn’t work as intended. And no one seems too happy with the alternatives in place.

Can an Oscar Stop the Honor Killings?

The documentary “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” tells the story of a teenage girl whose father shot her in the head and dumped her in a river for marrying a man her family didn’t approve of. The film has drawn praise from human rights organizations and the Pakistani government. On Sunday, it won an Oscar. But can it stop the so-called honor killings?

Who Wants the Dogs Out?

Dogs may be man’s best friend, but can they coexist with veterans? The Brentwood dog park has become a flashpoint in the debate about federal plans to build housing for thousands of homeless veterans. The idea is to finally develop the Veterans Affairs Department’s West Los Angeles campus. But that means some current tenants, such as the city-operated dog park and a private school, are negotiating with the VA to protect their turf. See how “they’ve all lobbied up and lawyered up,” as one official says.

Yes, It Was That Hot

It wasn’t your imagination: By one measure, this February in Los Angeles was the hottest on record. The average high temperature: 77.5, almost two degrees above the previous record set in 1954, according to a Times analysis. As for the much-anticipated El Niño rains: The month was the 37th driest out of 137 years of National Weather Service records.

CALIFORNIA

-- All of California’s voters are now in one online database.

-- Everything you need to know about the healthcare plans tax the Legislature just passed.

-- L.A. County looks into an increase in hate crimes against Muslims and Sikhs.

-- The state’s system of seizing and spending “unclaimed” cash has survived a Supreme Court challenge.

NATION-WORLD

-- Apple wins a round in its fight over accessing locked iPhones in criminal investigations.

-- Hark! Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asks questions in court for the first time in 10 years.

-- Refugees are buying one-way tickets home after becoming disenchanted with Germany: overcrowded housing, bureaucracy, even the food.

-- Will a trial in Japan reveal “the hidden truths” of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown?

-- A 14-year-old student opened fire in an Ohio school cafeteria, injuring four, police said.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The Oscar producers explain how the show came together. They weren’t happy with the thank-you scroll, for one.

-- The Academy Awards had its smallest audience since 2008: 34.3 million viewers.

-- Chris Rock’s joke about Asian American accountants stirred outrage.

-- Inside Vanity Fair’s Oscar party (yes, Ben and Jen were there).

-- “Spotlight’s” Tom McCarthy took the unusual actor-writer-director path on his way to victory.

-- Charlie Tuna, one of the “Boss Jocks” of L.A. radio, has died at 71.

-- George Kennedy, who won a supporting actor Oscar in 1968 for “Cool Hand Luke,” has died at 91.

-- The Griffith Park Teahouse has been moved and is reopening in San Pedro.

BUSINESS

-- Many young adults are staying away from homeownership, and it’s a chicken-and-egg thing.

-- A judge allows the Sumner Redstone competency case to proceed.

-- David Lazarus: When court-savvy tenants play the eviction system and frustrate landlords.

-- Would eliminating the $100 bill cut down on crime? Join the conversation.

SPORTS

-- The L.A Galaxy is aiming for a fear factor as it fields a more physical team.

-- “Horses just like to run for” jockey Rafael Bejarano, the leading rider at Santa Anita.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- An analysis by the Atlantic finds students of color in U.S. cities are more likely to attend schools where most of their peers are poor or low-income.

-- Artist Anish Kapoor gets exclusive rights to the world’s darkest pigment. (Hyperallergic)

-- What makes con artists tick? (Slate)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Would you like to buy some cookies? The Girl Scouts at the Oscars didn’t have to make that pitch, with Chris Rock urging celebrities to pony up. And as it turns out, the proceeds aren’t going to his children and their pals, as he said on TV. Instead, the scouts were members of a troop based in Inglewood, and according to Rock, they collected $65,243. “The money is going to the Inglewood troop,” a spokesperson for the Girl Scouts’ L.A. branch said. “We’re working with the team on the final count.” That would indeed be a lot of dough.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.