Newsletter: Today: Trump’s EPA Fuels a New Fight With California

Once again, the Trump administration has put “out of control” California in its sights.

TOP STORIES

Trump’s EPA Fuels a New Fight With California

The “Trump administration versus California” battle has many fronts: immigration, oil drilling, civil rights. On Monday, two of the state’s environmental policies — one old, one new — came under fire. In scrapping ambitious federal fuel economy rules, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt says the administration may revoke California’s decades-old authority to set its own clean-air standards. That would please automakers but would almost certainly end up in a protracted legal fight, which could ultimately harm them. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is suing to block a law that lets California veto any sale of federally owned land in the state. It was passed last year amid concerns about Trump’s plans to roll back protections for public land.

More Politics

-- The Trump administration will pressure U.S. immigration judges to process cases faster by establishing a quota system tied to their annual performance reviews, according to new directives.

-- Amid international outrage over a poisoning in Britain, the Kremlin said that President Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House when the two men spoke by phone last month.

-- Trump asked a federal judge to order private arbitration in the Stormy Daniels case, while the publisher of the National Enquirer asked a California court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Don’t Shoot? The Court Tells Cops, Don’t Worry

In the midst of an outcry over police shootings of unarmed people across the U.S., the Supreme Court keeps making it harder to bring legal action against officers who use excessive force — even when the person being shot is innocent. With Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting, the majority tossed out a lawsuit by a Tucson woman who was shot four times in her front yard while carrying a large knife. The ruling and others like it have managed to do something seemingly impossible: unite civil liberties advocates on the right and the left.

When the Old Neighborhood Pushes You Out

Lincoln Heights was one of L.A.’s first neighborhoods, but for longtime residents, the old, familiar feeling is going away. Investors have discovered the area, fueling a renewal that is also driving up rents and pushing people aside. “I’m all for improvements,” says one homeowner, “but how are they making it better by getting rid of some of the people who enjoy being in this area?” In Part 2 of our in-depth series on Lincoln Heights, we spend time with those feeling the effects of gentrification firsthand.

How a Boy, Trapped in a Sewer Pipe, Was Found

“I was just praying to God to help me and to not die.” That’s how 13-year-old Jesse Hernandez described getting through an ordeal that began on Easter when he went missing in a maze of sewer pipes under Griffith Park. Through the night, emergency workers searched, deploying video cameras into the pipes because they were too toxic to navigate. Then, at 4 a.m. Monday, crews spotted the first signs of life: his handprints streaked along a pipe wall. See the video here and learn how this Easter nightmare turned into a miracle.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Is Wes Anderson’s film “Isle of Dogs” cultural appropriation or appreciation?

-- Rita Moreno is having the time of her life on “One Day at a Time.”

CALIFORNIA

-- In a blow to privacy advocates, the California Supreme Court decided 4-3 that the state may continue to take DNA from any adult arrested on suspicion of a felony.

-- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is dropping plans to push ahead with a two-tunnel proposal to revamp the state’s water delivery system in favor of a one-tunnel version.

-- Along the Mendocino Coast, hopes are fading in the search for three missing siblings feared dead after their family’s SUV plunged down a cliff into the sea last week.

-- Residents, business owners and others in Montecito have filed more than $421 million in insurance claims as a result of the mudslide in January.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The late Steven Bochco took lots of risks to turn TV upside down. Many of his shows gained acclaim (“NYPD Blue,” “L.A. Law,” “Hill Street Blues”), but he also regarded the flop “Cop Rock” as a milestone.

-- NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live” shouldn’t have worked. TV critic Lorraine Ali explains why it did.

-- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has opened up about his past struggles with depression: “We’ve all been there on some level or another.”

-- Brian Wilson is planning to bring the Beach Boys’ Christmas recordings to life during a limited tour for the holidays.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

It’s been 25 years since “The Sandlot” hit theaters. Director David Mickey Evans says his cult classic about a group of young baseball players growing up in 1962 has given him some proud moments. “We could talk for the next year and a half about all the times in my life when I’ve been in airports and heard moms and dads saying to their kids, ‘You’re killing me, Smalls!’ ”

NATION-WORLD

-- Thousands of Oklahoma teachers went on strike to demand higher pay and more education funding. Meanwhile in Kentucky, teachers protested changes to their pension plans at the state Capitol.

-- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela who died at age 81, was revered by many in South Africa as the “Mother of the Nation” but criticized by others over an apartheid-era killing by her bodyguards.

-- Venezuela’s attorney general said that five jailed officials had been negligent in their handling of a prison fire that killed 68 people last week, but he shed little light on the cause.

-- Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince said in an interview that Israelis, alongside Palestinians, “have the right to have their own land.” Could that signal an eventual normalization of ties with Israel?

-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached agreement with the U.N. on African refugees, then suspended it hours later in the face of criticism.

BUSINESS

-- Volatility is back in the stock market. Shares opened the second quarter with another sharp decline Monday on fears of a U.S.-China trade war and bad news for tech companies (including Trump’s attacks on Amazon).

-- Fox News is standing by host Laura Ingraham, who has seen advertisers flee her show over a tweet aimed at Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor David Hogg.

SPORTS

-- For the second time in three years, Villanova won the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo led the way.

-- The injury-riddled Clippers have a little more than one week to try to claim a playoff spot, but they’ve got to win all five of their remaining games.

OPINION

-- It’s up to California and other environmentally responsible states to fight for cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars, against the Trump administration’s wishes.

-- Community colleges deliver the good jobs that Trump keeps promising. So why does he dump on them?

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A teenager told police all about his gang, MS-13. In return, he was slated for deportation and marked for death. (ProPublica)

-- “The reign of Lew Alcindor in the age of revolt.” (The Undefeated)

-- Mash Donalds? The rise of bootleg fast food in post-revolutionary Iran. (Atlas Obscura)

ONLY IN L.A.

“Take me out to the ballgame … buy me some peanuts and … quinoa salad?” Yes, it’s among the new offerings this season at Dodger Stadium, along with lobster rolls, Chicken N’Waffle sandwiches and something called Cheet-O-Lote. We’re not sure what Babe Ruth would say, but our very own Chris Erskine stepped up to the plate to try them out.

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