Newsletter: Today: After the Manhunt, the Missing Answers. Clinton’s High-Tech, High-Cost Playbook.

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

After the Manhunt, the Missing Answers

It’s become a familiar line of inquiry: How did the man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey slip the authorities’ notice and how did he become radicalized? The 28-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen and native of Afghanistan had made at least three months-long trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014, according to an official. The case also prompted a familiar response from the presidential candidates: Donald Trump seized upon it to reiterate his support for racial profiling of Muslims, while Hillary Clinton questioned whether tech companies were doing enough to stop terrorists.

Clinton’s High-Tech, High-Cost Playbook

The Clinton campaign has plenty of cash. It has the technology to reach voters in all kinds of ways Trump’s organization can’t. Come election day, will it amount to a hill of beans? Even though there’s great disparity between the two candidates’ infrastructure aimed at getting out the vote, there’s also a lot of debate as to what that will mean. One professor says that if Republicans fail to improve their ground game in swing states, Clinton could gain an advantage of as much as 3 percentage points.

More Politics

-- Did Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal promote “birtherism”? Emails show only that he pushed other stories on Obama and Kenya.

-- Topics for the first debate: “achieving prosperity,” “securing America” and “America’s direction.”

‘If You Are Going to Execute Me, Execute Me’

Would you end the death penalty or speed the process for execution? Those are the choices facing California voters, as two measures to reform capital punishment go on the November ballot. A recent USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll showed 51% oppose doing away with the death penalty as suggested by Prop. 62. As for what death row inmates think, the opinions among the condemned at San Quentin are surprisingly varied.

Where Drug Addicts Are Hunted

Since Rodrigo Duterte assumed the Philippine presidency at the end of June, an estimated 687,000 people across the country have surrendered to police. Why? Because Duterte declared open season on drug users, saying, “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself.” More than 3,500 suspected drug users and dealers have been killed, some by police, others by vigilantes.

He Wants to Make Russia Great Again

Interventions in the Middle East. Annexing Crimea from Ukraine. Cyberattacks. In terms of restoring Russia’s influence on international affairs, Vladimir Putin is harking back to the USSR days. Though the Russian economy is struggling, Putin has largely succeeded in making the country a world power again. On Friday, he’ll speak at the U.N., and lots of people will be listening for clues to his plans — just like the Kremlinologists of yore.

CALIFORNIA

-- After a boy’s death, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors may revamp a program intended to measure children’s risk of abuse.

-- A retired U.S. Marine colonel is looking to unseat longtime San Diego County Rep. Darrell Issa.

-- UC Berkeley has reinstated a course on the history of Palestine, just days after suspending it amid criticism that it fostered anti-Semitism.

-- Should LAUSD shift the start of the school year from mid-August to after Labor Day to beat the heat?

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Michael Weatherly is back on TV in the show “Bull,” but first he does a little busking for us.

-- Trump isn’t the first candidate to use the music of “Les Misérables” for political ends.

-- Ratings for the Emmys telecast hit an all-time low.

-- Today’s opera quiz: Which two major opera librettos feature ladies with beards?

-- Among the takeaways from this year’s Toronto Film Festival: Crying is back.

NATION-WORLD

-- The politics of calling an act of violence “terrorism”: Why some people hold back.

-- Syria’s military declared an end to the weeklong cease-fire brokered by U.S. and Russian officials.

-- Bridgegate: A prosecutor says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was told about a plan to close traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge, a claim Christie has long denied.

-- At the U.N., global leaders promised to better protect the rights of refugees and migrants.

-- The Food and Drug Administration is calling for the development of a cellphone app to help deal with the nation’s epidemic of opioid drug use.

BUSINESS

-- When the Senate Banking Committee grills Wells Fargo & Co.’s chairman today about the banking giant’s sales scandal, look for the word “clawback” to come up.

-- The U.S. Department of Transportation will issue long-awaited guidelines for the development of autonomous cars.

-- Southern California gas prices may spike soon after a Torrance refinery shut down due to a power outage.

SPORTS

-- Amid much drama, the Dodgers made a ninth-inning comeback to beat the Giants 2-1.

-- USC has changed its starting quarterback, opting for the younger, more mobile Sam Darnold over Max Browne.

-- HBO’s challenging environment in staging boxing cards this year could wind up enhancing the sport.

OPINION

-- Trump and the origins of post-factual politics.

-- It’s long past time to get serious about superbugs.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Author-blogger Andrew Sullivan: We’re living our lives online, and that’s threatening our souls. (New York Magazine)

-- Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offers his prescription for how to fix the U.N. (Foreign Policy)

-- A skeleton is found on an ancient shipwreck off Greece. (Scientific American)

ONLY IN L.A.

The Dodgers’ Vin Scully will end his 67-year career on Oct. 2, but another L.A. sports broadcasting legend is coming back: Bob Miller, the Kings’ Hall of Famer, is returning for his 44th season after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Miller will be taking it a little easier, though, with plans to call only 58 of the Kings’ 82 games. That’s still a lot of “he shoots, he scores!”

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.