Newsletter: Essential California: As homes keep rising beside freeways, California air regulators ease development guidelines

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 27, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Why the change?

Twelve years ago, California air quality officials delivered a warning to cities and counties: Avoid putting new homes in high-pollution zones within 500 feet of freeways. That advice, which relied on years of research linking traffic pollution to asthma, heart attacks and other health problems, was aimed at keeping “children and other vulnerable populations out of harm’s way,” according to the state Air Resources Board’s 2005 handbook. But earlier this year, the air board shifted its stance. It issued a new advisory that emphasizes design rather than distance, recommending anti-pollution features like air filters, sound walls and thick vegetation as “promising strategies” to reduce the health risks from freeways. With those measures, communities can build “while simultaneously reducing exposure to traffic-related pollution,” the air board said. Not everyone is happy with this shift. Los Angeles Times

Accusations at a resort

Last week, Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers in Southern California, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of State on behalf of Falak Rashid and her fiancé, Wahid Rahman. The complaint alleges the Terranea Resort “replaced nearly its entire entry-level cook workforce” with interns from Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and India. Unite Here asserts that the resort misled interns and violated the State Department’s regulations for the J-1 cultural and educational exchange visa, as well as human trafficking and labor laws. A spokeswoman for the resort called the allegations baseless. Los Angeles Times

Checking back in

Steve Lopez’s relationship with Nathaniel Ayers was made famous by the film “The Soloist.” It’s been more than a decade since Lopez first met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding. So much has changed since then, but a lot has also stayed the same. Los Angeles Times

BEST OF 2017

Over the next week, Essential California will reboot some of the stories that moved us most this year. Have a nomination? Let us know:

Tragic tale: The shocking double life of the former dean of USC’s medical school rocked the campus for months after this story by Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini was published. Los Angeles Times

Not cut and dry: California’s leadership in the battle over climate change is getting international attention in the era of Trump. But Julie Cart and Laurel Rosenhall show how the climate policies could end up benefiting some big polluters. CalMatters

End-of-life hero: The children were going to die. Mohamed Bzeek knew that. But in his more than two decades as a foster father, he took them in anyway — the sickest of the sick in Los Angeles County’s sprawling foster care system. He has buried about 10 children. Some died in his arms. Sill, Bzeek spends long days and sleepless nights caring for L.A. County’s terminally ill foster children. Hailey Branson-Potts tells the story. Los Angeles Times

A really wild ride: “In just 30 hours, a superfit reality TV producer went from the top of his game to the precipice of death. What happened next would teach him everything about grace, resolve, and the power of love.” Los Angeles Magazine

L.A. STORIES

A cub’s tale: Officials in Santa Paula captured a mountain lion cub whose paws were burned in the Thomas fire and turned it over to veterinarians with UC Davis, who will treat the paws and then help determine whether the cub should be released back into the wild, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said. Los Angeles Times

About that thing in the sky: The launch of the latest SpaceX rocket Friday night wasn’t just a hit on social media — it appeared to create at least a couple of actual hits between vehicles on Southern California’s freeways, according to a video posted to YouTube. Los Angeles Times

Get ready: Here are four things every California employer should do before Jan. 1. Los Angeles Times

Up near the Getty Center: Meet billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, who is building a “21st century monastery.” It will house his own think tank. Los Angeles Magazine

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

In Texas: Could the Big Bend be the border’s weakest link? The smuggling of drugs and migrants is on the rise. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Not so fast: Four state lawmakers who face sexual harassment allegations have $2 million in surplus campaign funds, but experts believe they might not be able to tap the money to defend themselves against ongoing investigations. Los Angeles Times

How should artists respond to a nation in crisis? “Playwrights and their collaborators, not wanting to be the proverbial fiddler sawing away as Rome burns, have had no choice but to contemplate their responsibility in a year of stark political turmoil,” writes theater critic Charles McNulty. Los Angeles Times

Interesting connection: There’s a surprising administrator pipeline between a handful of East L.A. school districts and a small, turbulent and low-income school district in south San Diego. Inewsource

CRIME AND COURTS

Fun one: Music rolls on at Folsom Prison, 50 years after Johnny Cash made history. Los Angeles Times

Tragic: Detectives believe that a man fatally shot his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself Monday afternoon in Bellflower, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Los Angeles Times

New report: California teens are committing fewer crimes than their parents did. KPCC

See you in court: The cities of San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of failing to live up to its legal duty to notify the FBI when members of the military are convicted of crimes that would bar them from buying or possessing firearms. San Francisco Chronicle

THE ENVIRONMENT

What now? “California has the toughest air quality regulations of any state in the country. But they’re not tough enough to satisfy a new state law that requires California to double the rate at which it cuts greenhouse gases.” NPR

Major impact: “A desperate decision to truck California’s native baby salmon toward the Pacific Ocean during the state’s drought may have resulted in generations of lost young salmon now hard-pressed to find their way back to their reproductive grounds.” Associated Press

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Good news for Clippers fans: Blake Griffin worked out extremely hard after the Clippers’ shoot-around Tuesday and may be returning from his injury to play before the end of December. Los Angeles Times

Move over, pot brownies: California prepares for marijuana in wine, trail mixes, tacos and other edibles. Associated Press

Catching up: Here are the 17 film performances of 2017 that deserve a second look. Los Angeles Times

Uh-oh: Pivoting to video is the biggest trend in media — but it may not prove as lucrative as publishers hope. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: sunny, 73, Wednesday; sunny, 77, Thursday. San Diego: sunny, 68, Wednesday; sunny, 72, Thursday. San Francisco area: foggy, 57, Wednesday and Thursday. Sacramento: partly cloudy, 61, Wednesday and Thursday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Emmanuel Hadzipetros:

“My first job in L.A. was at Paramount Pictures, where a British immigrant told me that once you check into the Hotel California, you never check out. One day I was strolling through the backlot and saw a guy dressed as a space alien sitting outside a soundstage reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette. ‘What’s up?’ I asked. ‘I’m in a “Star Trek” episode,’ he said. ‘I get killed today.’ ‘Then I guess you’re reading the help wanted ads?’ I replied. We both laughed. After nearly 10 years in L.A., I moved to New York in 2011; but I never checked out of the Hotel California.”

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.