Newsletter: Essential California: ‘Chinatown’ revisited: Owens Valley wants revenge

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, July 13, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

‘Chinatown’ redux

Owens Valley officials are using eminent domain to loosen Los Angeles’ century-long grip on the region’s land and water rights. The scheme that first got Los Angeles the water became an essential piece of California history and the subject of the classic 1974 film “Chinatown.” In the Owens Valley, it is still known as the original sin that sparked decades of hatred for Los Angeles, as the valley dried up and ranchers and farmers struggled to make a living. Now residents want it back. Los Angeles Times

Zeroing in on Disneyland wait times

Average wait times at Disneyland have been on the rise over the past few years, despite efforts by the park to ease crowding by raising ticket prices on peak demand days and expanding a ride reservation system, among other changes. A Times analysis found that the average wait time for the resort’s most popular rides in the first six months of the year was 24.4 minutes, a 28% increase over the same period in 2015 when the park drew record-high attendance numbers. Los Angeles Times

Plus: Don’t waste your time at Disneyland. Here’s how to avoid the lines. Los Angeles Times

And: Here’s a video primer on how to game the lines. Los Angeles Times

Getting into politics

A wealthy young Silicon Valley venture capitalist hopes to recruit statewide and congressional candidates and launch an affordable-housing ballot measure in 2018, because he says California’s leaders are failing to address flaws in the state’s governance that are killing opportunities for future generations. Sam Altman, 32, said in May that he was considering a run for governor. That’s not going to happen. Instead Altman will roll out an effort Wednesday to enlist candidates around a shared set of policy priorities. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

About the Olympics: One author of several books about the Olympics argues that if Los Angeles is considering the Games for 2028, “it should mean a renewed round of community consultation, with open public forums and new polls that ask locals how they feel about the prospect of hosting the Games in 2028 instead of 2024.” Los Angeles Times

The resistance resists: Los Angeles-area Rep. Brad Sherman has introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump. He says he hopes it will “inspire an ‘intervention’ in the White House.” Los Angeles Times

UCLA bomb threat: UCLA evacuated several residence halls on Wednesday night after receiving a bomb threat via telephone. The threat was later announced to be unfounded. Los Angeles Times

Lost landmark: The director of the new film “War for the Planet of the Apes” says he was inspired to get into filmmaking on a trip to the now long-gone ocean-themed entertainment park Marineland of the Pacific in Rancho Palos Verdes. “There were some tourists filming dolphins with an 8-millimeter camera, and it hit me like a lightning bolt,” says Matt Reeves. Los Angeles Times

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

A drug lord to watch: With El Chapo behind bars, an even more dangerous drug lord has emerged. He’s known as “El Mencho” and actually got his start dealing drugs in San Francisco. Rolling Stone

On the border: “Border agents are systematically intimidating and turning away asylum seekers at the U.S.–Mexico border, a lawsuit filed on Wednesday alleges.” Buzzfeed

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Doctor problems: A group of Medi-Cal beneficiaries filed a lawsuit against the state Wednesday, alleging that low payments to doctors are creating an unequal healthcare system in California. Los Angeles Times

A splintered group: The coalition pushing for single-payer health care in California is fracturing. The Intercept

City manager is let go: The Anaheim City Council met Tuesday in closed session and, on a split 4-3 vote, requested and accepted City Manager Paul Emery’s resignation. Orange County Register

A close call: A Mountain View pilot found that an Air Canada Airbus 320 came within 11 seconds of striking the first of four fully loaded passenger jets on a SFO taxiway Friday in one of the scariest close-calls aviation experts have ever seen. Mercury News

CRIME AND COURTS

Going to prison: A Pasadena man who was found guilty of fatally strangling and stabbing the mother of his two children was sentenced to 26 years to life in state prison on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Los Angeles Times

“Uncomfortable!” A video that shows a San Diego police canine aggressively biting and shaking a man in handcuffs while he was face down on the ground Sunday has gained attention on social media. The man can be heard repeatedly shouting, “Uncomfortable!” Los Angeles Times

On the lam: Authorities are looking for a 21-year-old man accused of murder who they say climbed through window and escaped Fresno police headquarters five days ago. Los Angeles Times

Bad costume choice? A Halloween party at the state Judicial Council where employees dressed up like characters from “Orange Is the New Black” has upset the local NAACP chapter. It is demanding an apology. Sacramento Bee

THE ENVIRONMENT

Farm to table: A Los Angeles nonprofit is helping California’s Asian American farmers grow their businesses. Part of its goal is to bring culturally relevant produce to Asian enclaves in Los Angeles. NPR

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

New movie alert: The three California men who thwarted a terror attack on a French train in 2015 will make the rare move of playing themselves in a Clint Eastwood-directed film about their heroics. Associated Press

On location: Shoots in Los Angeles County declined 4.7% in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, according to a new report from FilmLA, the organization that oversees local filming permits. Los Angeles Times

A landmark in trouble: A co-op that owns the landmark Gage Mansion is divided about whether to safeguard the more than 200-year-old single-story adobe. It’s “tucked among 56 mobile homes in Bell Gardens: the oldest home in L.A. County and a state historic landmark, owned and operated by the Casa Mobile Home Co-Op.” Los Angeles Magazine

At the fair: “Tractors from the California Agriculture Museum in Woodland will be on exhibit at the California State Fair’s agriculture gardens.” The Davis Enterprise

In bookstores someday: “Calexit, a new comic from Black Mask Studios, portrays a near-future world in which the state of California is in open rebellion against the Trump-led U.S. government.” Entertainment Weekly

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: sunny Thursday and Friday. San Diego and San Francisco area: partly cloudy Thursday and Friday. Sacramento: sunny Thursday and Friday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from John Droeger:

“It was a dark and stormy night — New Year’s Eve 1933. I was 5, my sister 8. With our mother we’d just arrived by train from wintry Detroit. We were staying with our grandparents in a large two-story Montrose house. The rain continued to pour, and water rushing past the house was causing objects to crash against the outside. The radio advised evacuating to the Legion hall, but it was too late. Water had flooded Grandpa’s car. So we huddled upstairs. Morning dawned calm and clear. The house across the street had vanished, its wreckage was in Grandpa’s back yard. First responders soon arrived searching for survivors. They told us that the Legion hall had been swept away, with loss of life. Relief arrived the following day in the form of large truckloads of oranges. Orange juice was our drinking supply until water was restored a few days later. This was the great Montrose Flood.”

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 Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.