Newsletter: Today: Trapped by Flames, They Spent 6 Hours in a Pool
The death toll from Northern California’s wildfires continues to climb, but amid the devastation, there are tales of survival as well. Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:
TOP STORIES
The Wildfires’ Toll Becomes More Clear and Grim
Fire crews have begun to make progress against the Northern California wildfires that have killed at least 31 people, as officials search for more remains among the ashes. Hundreds of people are still reported missing. In Santa Rosa, the hardest-hit city, an estimated 2,834 homes were destroyed. But elsewhere, officials were pointing to some bright spots: To the east, the deserted town of Calistoga was still standing. Many of the region’s wineries, essential to the area’s economy, have escaped relatively unscathed because of their qualities as natural firebreaks. Yet, as this graphic explains, the wildfire season this year might be one of the worst ever. Here is the latest from the scene.
Trapped by Flames, They Spent 6 Hours in a Pool
Jan and John Pascoe had a choice no one should ever have to make: Do we burn or do we freeze? Flames had enveloped their Santa Rosa neighborhood, whipped by winds and generating cellphone-melting heat. It was too late to evacuate. Then they remembered their neighbor’s pool. Though the water was frigid, that’s where the married couple would stay for six hours until help arrived. Columnist Robin Abcarian recounts their story.
Trump Rolls the Dice on Iran
It’s not quite the rip-up of the Iran nuclear deal that Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail, but the president will propose that the agreement be changed to toughen restrictions on Tehran and impose new sanctions on the country’s military. The amendments would have to go through Congress, but the attempt to renegotiate won’t sit well with Iran or the United States’ allies who signed off on the 2015 deal.
A Double Whammy for Obamacare
President Trump didn’t succeed in getting a repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act through Congress, so he’s taking a two-step approach to undermine it. First, he ordered agencies under his control to develop rules that would bypass some of Obamacare’s requirements. Trump’s executive order aims to clear the way for cheaper, skimpier insurance options — but don’t look for the new plans any time soon, given a lengthy administrative process and potential court challenges. The second part? Trump plans to stop subsidies to insurers, a move that will further roil the market and most likely trigger a lawsuit from state attorneys general.
More Politics
-- Trump drew a sharp and dismayed backlash from Democratic lawmakers, activists and many Puerto Ricans with his threat to limit federal and military help in the territory.
-- White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly held a news conference and said he’s neither quitting nor getting fired.
-- The U.S. has quit UNESCO, the U.N.’s educational and cultural agency. It’s not the first time.
Hollywood’s Not-So-Secret Past and Present
Harvey Weinstein is being investigated by police in New York and London, and his former company is facing the possibility of being sold in pieces. Amazon studio head Roy Price has been suspended after producer Isa Hackett said he had repeatedly propositioned her and made lewd comments. Hollywood has long been known for its “casting couch” stereotype, and now amid a swirl of sexual harassment allegations, it’s having to confront a problem that many say has been ignored or swept under the rug for too long. Critic Lorraine Ali examines what turned the whispers into shouts.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
Five years ago, the space shuttle Endeavour made its final journey on the streets of Los Angeles. Over two days, the shuttle traveled 12 miles from Los Angeles International Airport, through Inglewood, to the California Science Center in Exposition Park. This time-lapse video compresses the journey to 2½ minutes.
MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- How Earth’s carbon dioxide looks from space.
-- Film critic Kenneth Turan says “Marshall” delivers the heroic bio-pic treatment that the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall deserves.
-- Behind the scenes of Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights.
CALIFORNIA
-- Eli Broad, the billionaire philanthropist who has been a force in L.A. arts, education and politics, is stepping back from the day-to-day operations of his foundation.
-- Sen. Dianne Feinstein is running for reelection again, but “the resistance” thinks she’s too bipartisan. State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León may challenge her.
-- No one has ever gone straight from City Hall to the White House. Could L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti end that streak?
-- Here’s what the prototypes of a U.S.-Mexico border wall being built in Otay Mesa look like.
YOUR WEEKEND
-- Sari Sari Store, a Filipino-style lunch counter in downtown L.A.’s Grand Central Market, is restaurant critic Jonathan Gold’s latest crush. Will it be yours?
-- Craving a bowl of soup? Even if it doesn’t always feel like fall yet, here are 31 of our favorite soup recipes.
-- This Halloween, the trend in decorations is toward the vintage and the ghoulish.
-- Fighting fatigue? Here are six easy ways to recharge your personal batteries.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Judd Apatow on Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment and how to stop abusive men in power.
-- Bruce Springsteen has a new sold-out Broadway show. Our theater critic loved it; our pop music critic, not as much.
-- How bestselling poet Rupi Kaur made a name for herself sharing poetry on Instagram.
NATION-WORLD
-- The company that runs the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino has disputed the timeline offered by Las Vegas police for the Oct. 1 mass shooting. Officials have said they’ll release a more complete timeline today.
-- U.S. and Pakistani officials say they’ve rescued an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children from militants linked to the Taliban.
-- Most family members of extrajudicial killing victims in the Philippines’ brutal drug war are too afraid to pursue justice through the courts. This widow is fighting back.
-- Madagascar is facing its worst plague outbreak in years.
BUSINESS
-- Equifax Inc. took part of its website offline after code on the site redirected users to a malicious URL urging them to download malware.
-- Will the “Southwest effect” lower the cost of flights to Hawaii?
SPORTS
-- Two Dodgers “ballgirls” survived the Las Vegas massacre. On Sunday, they’ll be back at work, as the team goes up against the Chicago Cubs.
-- Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma is making a play for a starting position on the team.
OPINION
-- If the film academy chooses to expel Harvey Weinstein, it will need to take a hard look at its other accused predators.
-- Trump the grifter sells tax cuts for the rich as a great deal for workers: See the David Horsey cartoon.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- How Facebook helped change democracy in America. (The Atlantic)
-- Women and men have very different views on how equal the American workplace really is. (Wall Street Journal)
-- If you see warplanes buzzing Southern California today, don’t panic. (Bakersfield Californian)
ONLY IN L.A.
Like a lot of sidewalks in Los Angeles, the concrete outside Rita Tateel’s Fairfax District home has buckled badly because of a 100-year-old carob tree. How to keep people from tripping over it? Tateel decided to get people’s attention by turning the tree into a mini “habitat” for fairies and gnomes. “You can do this with any tree. It doesn’t take a lot of work or time,” she says. “I’d love it if, instead of neighbors complaining about traffic or car thefts or new McMansions, they could share this spirit of joy.”
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