Newsletter: Today: Tragedy in Baton Rouge. Making Conventions Great Again?

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

TOP STORIES

Tragedy in Baton Rouge

Airline Highway in Baton Rouge has been the scene of repeated protests since the July 5 police shooting of Alton Sterling. On Sunday, it became the scene of a rampage that killed three officers and wounded three more. The shooter was an Iraq war veteran identified by law enforcement as a “black separatist.” Said East Baton Rouge’s sheriff: “If ... this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people.” Read the latest.

Making Conventions Great Again?

The biggest TV show of Donald Trump’s life, the Republican National Convention, starts today. Will it help or hurt his chances of getting into the White House? Some observers say he needs a triumphant, glitch-free convention in Cleveland to create that still-elusive presidential aura. Our own Cathleen Decker writes that if Trump wants to convince Americans that he can keep them safe, he’ll need to stay on message -- something that didn’t happen during his introduction of Mike Pence this weekend.

More Politics

-- Meet the Orange County native coordinating what could be a wild convention.

-- “I’ve got to mow my lawn”: Here are the prominent Republicans skipping the convention and why.

-- These are some of the extremists expected to be outside the convention.

-- Get more insight from our Essential Politics newsletter.

How Turkey’s Coup Was Botched

The coup plotters in Turkey made many missteps, but none bigger than this: failing to capture Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was vacationing at an Aegean hotel. When rebels showed up at the resort, they had to ask for directions to the president’s villa, one journalist said. By the time they reached it, Erdogan was long gone.

France Asks, ‘Why the Children?’

The question appeared on signs posted on walls and fences and left at memorials in Nice: “Pourquoi des enfants?” France is mourning the more than 80 people who died in last week’s terrorist attack, none more so than the deaths of 10 children, the youngest of whom was 6 months old.

More About the Attack in Nice

-- A UC Berkeley student, missing since Thursday, was confirmed dead in the attack.

-- “Don’t hang up”: An L.A. teen’s call from Nice brings home the horror of terrorism.

-- The perpetrator asked for “more weapons” before the rampage began, authorities say.

‘Sheriff Moonbeam’s’ Tainted Legacy

Lee Baca was once admired for his progressive ideas as L.A. County sheriff: rehabilitating inmates, building ties with minority communities, and pushing to help the homeless and mentally ill. At the same time, the department’s problems worsened under him. Today, Baca is expected to be sentenced for lying to federal authorities in an investigation of jail abuses. How much prison time, if any, will he receive?

A Full Day of School. A Full Night of Work.

Nearly one-fourth of the estimated 1,000 students at Los Angeles’ Belmont High School are from Central America. Many arrived without family or friends. That can mean taking on jobs or else risk going homeless. Here is the story of Gaspar Marcos, as told by reporter Cindy Carcamo and in a video by Adam Perez.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- Why France has a more fraught relationship with its Muslim communities than the U.S.

-- How an angry national mood is reflected in pop culture.

-- As demand has soared for a life-saving antidote to prescription painkiller overdoses, so has its price.

-- What stance will the Los Angeles Police Department take on releasing videos of police shootings and other controversial encounters?

-- Former Rams coach Chuck Knox, suffering from dementia, has a loving advocate for his legacy in his granddaughter.

-- Police are investigating after a Playboy model posted a body-shaming photo of a woman secretly shot at an L.A. gym.

-- First person: I have terminal cancer and I know my friends want to ask, “Aren’t you dead yet?”

CALIFORNIA

-- Hip-hop artist the Game met with L.A. gang members in an effort to stop violence.

-- Meanwhile, L.A.’s mayor says the LAPD will receive extra resources in light of recent violence against officers across the nation.

-- She’s the mom of four black men, a former L.A. cop and a major skeptic of “justifiable” police shootings.

-- Fewer visually impaired people are learning Braille, but a teacher in Anaheim is trying to change that.

NATION-WORLD

-- The brother of a Pakistani model says he killed her for “family honor.”

-- Hong Kong demands that candidates take a pro-China pledge to run for office.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Sometimes I wish he would go away: the uncomfortable evolution of being a Woody Allen fan.

-- Cirque du Soleil’s “The Beatles Love” show undergoes big changes after 10 years in Las Vegas.

-- Walton Goggins usually plays scary bad guys. He’s showing his lighter side in “Vice Principals.”

-- Such glorious decay: The musical “Grey Gardens” comes to the Ahmanson.

-- “Ghostbusters” can’t overtake “The Secret Life of Pets” at the box office.

BUSINESS

-- Can Israeli-type security measures work at LAX and other U.S. airports?

-- Herbalife Ltd. will pay $200 million to settle federal regulators’ claims that it falsely told people they could quickly get rich.

-- Uber or Lyft ... for women? Some start-ups hope to match female passengers with female drivers.

-- Auto review: The Ford Fusion Energi is a platinum-grade plug-in.

SPORTS

-- Henrik Stenson won a classic duel with Phil Mickelson to take the British Open title.

-- The Dodgers aren’t ready to say when pitching ace Clayton Kershaw will return.

OPINION

-- Ruth Bader Ginsburg has nothing to apologize for in her criticism of Trump, writes professor Erwin Chemerinsky.

-- One group is responsible for America’s culture of violence, and it isn’t cops, black Americans, Muslims or rednecks. It’s men.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- More than 50,000 people are believed to have died in terrorist attacks in Iraq since 2003. This chart shows the toll there and in 14 other countries. (The Economist)

-- A boundary-pushing writer and artist says Google deleted his blog. Some call it censorship. (The Guardian)

-- On the ubiquity of headphones and what they’re doing to us and our music. (The New Yorker)

ONLY IN L.A.

When a powerful windstorm toppled thousands of trees in L.A. County nearly five years ago, who would have thought some of the fallen would end up as furniture in a museum? An L.A.-based group of sustainable furniture designers and makers transformed the wood into lounge chairs, coffee tables, bowls and more. Get a look at their creations here.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.