Newsletter: Today: He Called for Calm Before L.A. Burned
What’s the legacy of the unrest that shook L.A. 25 years ago? 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
Video: He Called for Calm Before L.A. Burned
The Rev. Cecil L. Murray of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church knew a storm was brewing. “Be cool,” he would say during a Sunday sermon, three days before the rioting began on April 29, 1992. “Even in anger, be cool.” When the verdicts came down, acquitting the LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King, the church filled with people, including Mayor Tom Bradley. Despite their prayers, the city outside erupted in “the fires of Hell,” as Murray recalls those first few hours of the riots.
Voices on the Riots’ Legacy: How It Changed L.A.
How did the riots transform L.A.? To Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, “those fiery days of 1992 obliterated — perhaps once and for all — the illusion that we are separate.” To Henry Keith “KeeKee” Watson, one of Reginald Denny’s attackers, what fed the fury has only gotten worse: “Twenty-something years ago they was beating guys like Rodney. Now they’re shootin’.” To Brenda Stevenson, a UCLA professor, “what has not changed in the past 25 years is that people demand equality and are willing to fight for it.”
Don’t Bother Us, We’re Reinventing Healthcare
If at first you don’t succeed…. President Trump and House Republicans are trying once again to roll back the Affordable Care Act and get a vote on it as Trump’s 100th day in office nears. Rather than working with those in the healthcare industry to craft their plan, though, they’ve gone into a bubble: Industry officials say they’ve been almost completely shut out, along with doctors, hospitals and patient advocates. “They’re not interested in how health policy actually works,” said one insurance company official.
This Colorado County Has No Regrets That It Flipped for Trump
What to make of Trump’s first 100 days has been the talk all week. In Pueblo County, Colo., a Democratic stronghold that flipped for Trump, the people who voted for him have no regrets. They see a president besieged from all sides — Democrats, the media, academics and Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress. Here’s the view from a town that was built on steel.
More Politics
-- Former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s legal troubles worsened when a House committee disclosed that the Pentagon inspector general is investigating whether Flynn violated military rules by accepting foreign payments.
-- Trump is expected to sign an executive order that could open large parts of the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans to new oil and gas drilling.
-- A public database that the Trump administration said would help crime victims track the custody of suspected criminal immigrants mistakenly listed babies and other children.
Mexico’s National Dog Has Its Day
Try saying “Xoloitzcuintle” three times fast. The breed of dog, whose name is pronounced SHOW-low-ITS-quintley in the indigenous language of Nahuatl, was popular with the Aztecs more than 3,000 years ago. Now, as part of “a revolution of Mexicanness,” the brown, hairless dogs have become a status symbol among the upper-class in Mexico. Puppies command up to $5,000 in a country where the average daily wage is less than $20.
An Oasis in the Food Desert
Watts has long been at the center of a “food desert,” which the government defines as an area with little access to big grocery stores. So when the restaurant Locol opened in early 2016, the idea was to bring affordable and healthy food to an underserved area. At the time, L.A. Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold called it “the new quick-serve restaurant that is trying to transform Watts one spicy noodle bowl at a time.” Now it’s been named the L.A. Times’ “restaurant of the year” for its efforts, as we launch a monthlong festival called Food Bowl.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
More than 60 people lost their lives amid the looting and fires that ravaged Los Angeles over five days in 1992. City officials tallied more than 1,000 damaged properties. It was also dangerous work for the staff of the L.A. Times: Some employees were threatened and shot at, and the building was attacked. Two photographers ducked under their car dashboard and one hit the accelerator with his hand to escape an assailant.
CALIFORNIA
-- A sweeping measure that would establish government-run universal healthcare in California has cleared its first legislative hurdle, but there’s still one huge question: How to pay for it?
-- The fight against climate change in California has gained an unlikely ally: Republicans.
-- Ann Coulter didn’t show up in Berkeley, but protesters on both sides did.
-- The union that represents L.A. police officers has launched a broadside against Mayor Eric Garcetti’s budget.
YOUR WEEKEND
-- Evan Kleiman gives her recipe for pasta all’Amatriciana, the classic Italian pasta dish.
-- Video: This certified organic gardener shows you how to get your pots ready for spring planting.
-- Now you’re going to want one: Soaking tubs are the new luxe trend.
-- Behind the scenes: The making of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- “The Simpsons” is pulling no punches when it comes to lampooning President Trump, as evidenced by its detail-dense video commemorating his first 100 days in office.
-- Ahead of this weekend’s Stagecoach festival, singer Elle King talks about finding success in country music thanks to a hit duet with Dierks Bentley.
-- Here are four Latino stereotypes in TV and film that need to go.
-- The IMDb files: Actor Oscar Isaac looks at his page and breaks down his key roles in “Star Wars” and beyond.
NATION-WORLD
-- The death penalty has long divided Americans. Here’s why those who oppose it are winning.
-- The Pentagon said two U.S. troops were killed and a third wounded in Afghanistan, close to the site where an 11-ton bomb was dropped earlier this month.
-- Pope Francis arrives in Cairo today, at a time when Christians across the region find themselves threatened by political repression and violent attacks.
-- In an act of defiance, Venezuela may become the first country to withdraw from the Organization of American States.
-- Does Parkinson’s disease begin in the gut? New research suggests it does.
BUSINESS
-- United Airlines has settled with Dr. David Dao over the injuries he received when he was dragged off one of the airline’s planes this month.
-- How do you get millennials to gamble? Casinos are betting on multiplayer video games.
SPORTS
-- A museum dedicated to Jackie Robinson, the late baseball giant who broke the color barrier of Major League Baseball, celebrated its groundbreaking in New York.
-- Everything you want to know about last night’s NFL draft.
OPINION
-- The Times has rescinded its endorsement of Joe Bray-Ali for L.A. City Council.
-- On the 25th anniversary of the L.A. riots, we see the limits of what a city can accomplish.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- “He’s 27 years old. His father dies, took over a regime. So say what you want but that is not easy, especially at that age,” Trump said of Kim Jong-un. “I’m not giving him credit or not giving him credit, I’m just saying that’s a very hard thing to do.” (Reuters)
-- What happened with Ms. Spicuzza’s students from 1978? A look at Milwaukee’s problems through the eyes of one class of kids. (Journal Sentinel)
-- What would the author of “Amusing Ourselves to Death” think of America today? (The Atlantic)
ONLY IN CALIFORNIA
When Disneyland altered its Pirates of the Caribbean ride to feature Johnny Depp’s Capt. Jack Sparrow character a decade ago, theme park purists were ready to walk the plank. So their timbers were probably shivered again when Depp took a break from a legal fight with his former business managers this week to make a guest appearance in the attraction, complete with eyeliner and dreadlocks. And yes, he talked like a pirate.
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