Newsletter: Essential California: World Series is tied after a wild game at Dodger Stadium

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, Oct. 26, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Dodgers lose

The Dodgers lost 7-6 in a thrilling extra-inning affair full of home runs and great starting pitching. Now the series is tied after the Dodgers bullpen was unable to keep up its dominant ways. Throughout the postseason, “They were the team who broke hearts, who snuffed out dreams. Except until this week, they had not stared down an opponent like the Houston Astros,” writes Times reporter Andy McCullough. Los Angeles Times

Out in L.A.: Even with this loss, for the Dodgers faithful, cheering a home team playing in its first World Series in 29 years is a prayer answered. Parents let their children cut class to get to Dodger Stadium early. There were infants in blue onesies at Game 1 who will never remember what happened these sweltering October days atop Chavez Ravine, but who’ll never stop hearing about it. Los Angeles Times

History lesson: By pushing Frank McCourt aside, Bud Selig helped set the stage for this World Series. Los Angeles Times

They all bleed blue: The diversity of the Dodgers fan “is fantastic,” said Jaime Jarrin, the Dodgers’ longtime Spanish-language radio announcer. “When I first started in this job, the Latinos coming to the ballpark were about 8 to 10 percent.’’ Now, he believes its 45%. New York Times

Yes! Vin Scully showing up was almost as big as the game. Los Angeles Times

More Weinstein fallout

Colony Capital is no longer providing a much-needed cash infusion for the Weinstein Co., the latest sign that the beleaguered mini-studio may be headed for bankruptcy in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Los Angeles Times

Lawsuit: An attorney for a woman accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct said the Weinstein Co. should be held liable for millions in damages because key executives at the company must have known of the producer’s behavior. Los Angeles Times

Plus: Natassia Malthe is the latest woman to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault. Los Angeles Times

Um, never mind?

After several hours of confusion over the Trump administration’s position on a massive water delivery project, the Interior Department said Wednesday it would continue to work with the state on California WaterFix. California officials were scratching their heads over a department statement that the Trump administration does not support the project, which the federal government has helped plan. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Brother arrested: A brother of Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of possessing hundreds of images of child pornography, according to authorities. Bruce Douglas Paddock, 58, was taken into custody at a nursing facility in L.A.’s Valley Village neighborhood. Los Angeles Times

Grimy streets: While weekly street sweeping is a way of life on one-third of Los Angeles streets, to the chagrin of residents chasing scarce parking, the rest of the city’s roads can go a year or more without being cleaned, according to a city controller audit released Wednesday. Los Angeles Times

A public health crisis: “California’s exorbitant housing costs are driving a public-health crisis here, as a developing-world disease is racing through homeless encampments in cities along the coast.” Washington Post

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

A day with El Chapo: In the Netflix docu-series “The Day I Met El Chapo,” Mexican actress and L.A. resident Kate del Castillo tells her story. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

New center coming: The University of California, the birthplace of the free speech movement that is now struggling with growing and sometimes violent protests over campus speakers, will launch a national center to research 1st Amendment issues and step up education about them. Los Angeles Times

Constitutional matters: Kevin Shaw claims Pierce College restricted his free speech when he was handing out Spanish-language copies of the U.S. Constitution, and the Justice Department agrees. Los Angeles Times

Making a statement: Protesters took graffiti-covered toilets to Los Angeles City Hall and occupied bathroom stalls on Wednesday to highlight what they called a severe hygiene shortage for homeless people on skid row. Los Angeles Times

By the bay: “Why is San Francisco the state’s worst county for black student achievement?” CALmatters

CRIME AND COURTS

Big court ruling: A federal judge in San Francisco refused Wednesday to block President Trump’s order to end government subsidies required by the Affordable Care Act. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, an Obama appointee, said Trump’s action would create little harm because most states anticipated it and established measures to keep premiums stable. Los Angeles Times

Settlement reached: Paul Walker’s daughter, who previously settled with the estate of the man who was driving in the fatal crash that killed her actor father in 2013, has settled a wrongful-death suit she filed against Porsche as well. Los Angeles Times

Impact: Federal prosecutors in Connecticut have begun a criminal investigation into Purdue Pharma Inc.’s marketing of the controversial opioid painkiller OxyContin. This comes after an L.A. Times investigation, “published last year, found that Purdue ignored evidence showing the drug’s effects failed to last that long in some patients, increasing the risk of withdrawal, abuse and addiction.” Bloomberg

THE ENVIRONMENT

Out in the desert: “The remote town of Nipton in the Mojave Desert has been bought by the United States’ largest publicly traded marijuana company, which will rely entirely on groundwater to develop a new cannabis-themed resort.” Water Deeply

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Weezer is back! Why Rivers Cuomo wanted to make “the most different-sounding Weezer record ever.” Los Angeles Times

Valley talk: Prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm DFJ said it has been conducting an investigation into allegations against partner and co-founder Steve Jurvetson, who sits on the boards of Elon Musk-led companies SpaceX and Tesla Inc. Los Angeles Times

Oh, man: “The cost of a median-priced rental on one real estate website jumped sharply in Sonoma and Napa counties after this month’s wildfires, a surge apparently accelerated by an influx of luxury vacation rentals into the local housing market.” Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Costs of the American Dream: What the depressing side of “House Hunters” says about our broken real estate dreams. Curbed

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: sunny, 89, Thursday; sunny, 87, Friday. San Diego: sunny, 81, Thursday; sunny, 80, Friday. San Francisco area: sunny, 80, Thursday; sunny, 74, Friday. Sacramento: sunny, 87, Thursday; sunny, 86, Friday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Mike O’Brien:

“In 1988, I’d already been living in Los Angeles for 11 years. That World Series year, a writer friend of mine, and some of his writer friends, had a brainstorm: ‘We’ve never been to a World Series game. We’re not sports fans. If we ever want to write realistically about being at a game, we should go to at least one.’ You guessed it. We were seated at the end of the first-base line at the only World Series game any of us ever attended, when Kirk Gibson hit that famous home run right to us. I still remember watching Tommy Lasorda staring at his shoes as the bat cracked. His head snapped up like he’d been electrocuted. Gibson, who really should have been on the injured list, could barely hobble around the bases. He had to come out and wave again after about 10 minutes because the crowd wouldn’t let the game continue. As we were leaving, a half-hour later, one of our number exclaimed dreamily, ‘This was a complete failure. We can’t ever write about this. No one would believe it!’ ”

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.