Newsletter: Essential California: Is the Roman Polanski case close to ending?
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, June 10. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend:
TOP STORIES
Polanski saga continues
After four decades of legal battles, the woman Roman Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting in 1977 when she was 13 years old appeared in court Friday and urged a judge to dismiss the case against the fugitive director. Samantha Geimer stood before Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon in downtown Los Angeles and said she wanted the case to end. Los Angeles Times
Who takes a taxi?
One California lawmaker wants to make it easier for taxis to compete with Uber. But is it too little, too late? Assemblyman Evan Low has introduced AB 1069, which aims to ease taxi regulations to make the companies more competitive with their ride-hailing rivals. Los Angeles Times
Big game Sunday: The U.S. and Mexican soccer teams have carried on a fierce rivalry since their first face-off in a World Cup qualifier 83 years ago. They play again in a pivotal qualifying match Sunday, and fans are getting excited. Los Angeles Times
Is it possible? California has made a big show of being on the forefront of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and regulating the emissions standards of vehicles. The big question now is whether the state can get 100% of its electrical power from renewable energy sources by the end of 2045, which is the stated goal of some politicians. San Diego Union-Tribune
Surprise! A majority of California voters oppose the state’s recently passed gas tax and vehicle fee increases that will pay for state roads and expand mass transit, according to a poll released Friday. Los Angeles Times
Someone’s in trouble: A Bay Area immigration consultant and host of an immigration radio talk show is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges she violated requirements of the Immigration Consultants Act. East Bay Times
President Harris? Sen. Kamala Harris’ performance during the recent high-profile congressional testimony has drawn praise and raised some eyebrows. “The first-term California senator often described as risk-averse and overly cautious appears to be eagerly shedding that profile and embracing a role as one of the Senate’s fiercest critics of the Trump administration.” Politico
Big sweep: Twenty-two people have been accused of operating a cross-border drug trafficking organization in a scheme that used houses in the San Gabriel Valley to store illicit merchandise. Los Angeles Times
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Before Twitter gave citizens real-time news faster than they could say “tweet,” there was this billboard. It was part of a wartime promotion that The Times designed as an unusual method to disseminate the news: The billboard featured a generic front page of the Los Angeles Times, but the headline changed daily.
A story in the Oct. 23, 1943, Los Angeles Times explained:
These are days of big headlines.
Big, not only in importance, but now, in actual size as well. Starting today, Los Angeles is going to see the largest one in the world. The giant headline appears on a new Times billboard at Wilshire Blvd. and Shatto Place.
The spectacular board, the first of its kind in the country, shows a reproduction of The Times’ front page 30 times its actual size.
Letters used in the headline are three feet tall, and are an exact enlargement of the type used by The Times in front page headlines. The news line will be changed each morning at 6, enabling motorists, pedestrians and bus riders to keep up with “The Times.”
See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here
This week’s most popular stories in Essential California:
1. Ancient Native American site found on California island. Associated Press
2. 10 of the worst landlords in Los Angeles. Curbed LA
3. L.A.’s crisis: High rents, low pay, homelessness rising and $2,000 doesn’t buy much. Los Angeles Times
4. Will this L.A. congressional district known as a Latino political base make history for Koreans? Los Angeles Times
5. In the Texas vs. California rivalry, California is winning. Houston Chronicle
ICYMI, here are this week’s Great Reads
A life cut short: Neng Thao, 18 and a UC Berkeley-bound honor student, is one of at least 17 people who have drowned during what may be the deadliest year on Central California’s rivers. Thao was the youngest of 10 children, and is Hmong — a mountain people who had helped the Americans during the Vietnam War. After Saigon fell, they were killed and hunted. The ritual poetry chanted at his funerals told the story of the Hmong people, including how many drowned crossing the Mekong River trying to escape. Los Angeles Times
Busted: Southern California billionaire Thomas J. Barrack, who was a major backer of the Trump campaign, is the mastermind behind founding a company five years ago that has taken 31,000 single-family homes off the housing market. He calls it “the greatest thing I’ve ever done.” Now his company has become a slumlord of sorts throughout Southern California. Reveal
Getting rich: California activist investor Andrew Left sniffs out corporate fraud — and gets rich doing it. New York Times Magazine
A changing policy: “The Trump administration has moved to reopen the cases of hundreds of illegal immigrants who had been given a reprieve from deportation, according to government data and court documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with immigration lawyers.” Reuters
A boldfaced name: Lynn Castle was famous for cutting rock stars’ hair — now we learn that she might be famous as a songwriter as well. LA Weekly
Looking Ahead
Sunday: Los Angeles LGBTQ #ResistMarch held in Hollywood and West Hollywood.
CicLAvia cyclist event in Glendale and Atwater Village.
Friday: Rep. Karen Bass holds town hall meeting in Westwood.
Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
