Newsletter: Today: Miles Apart at the EPA
Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency say the facts don’t support the Trump administration’s plan to weaken targets for better mileage in cars, pickups and SUVs.
TOP STORIES
Miles Apart at the EPA
When the Trump administration announced its intent to roll back aggressive fuel economy targets for cars and trucks, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency argued the plan would save lives. Newly released documents show that the administration ignored its own senior scientists’ warnings that the computer modeling used to reach that conclusion is flawed and unsupportable. In fact, those experts wrote that the proposal would be “detrimental to safety, rather than beneficial.” The revelations could help California and other states fight the rollback in court.
More Politics
-- President Trump’s feud with former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman escalated, with the president calling her “a dog,” while his reelection campaign tried to enforce a nondisclosure agreement she signed during the 2016 race.
-- Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer has ended his campaign to keep his job, conceding the Republican primary to Kris Kobach, a close ally of Trump.
-- Paul Manafort’s lawyers rested their case without putting him or any other witnesses on the stand.
An End to a Vicious Cycle?
For many a homeless person, it’s a cycle that’s hard to escape: They’re cited for a minor offense, fail to pay the fines and then end up with a bench warrant for their arrest. For police stations, jails and the courts, the overwhelming number of these cases is a problem too. That’s why new LAPD Chief Michel Moore says his department is considering an amnesty plan that would let thousands of homeless people eliminate old bench warrants.
One Father’s Labor of Love
In the streets of Mumbai, Dadarao Bilhore is a one-man road crew, filling potholes across the city with stones, gravel and paver blocks. In all, he estimates he’s filled nearly 600 in the last 36 months — ever since his teenage son died when the motorbike he was on crashed into a 2-foot-deep pothole. “I do this so that hopefully no one else suffers the pain I did,” he says.
Just Breathe In the Scenery (Not Too Deeply)
After being closed for nearly three weeks because of the deadly Ferguson fire nearby, the Yosemite Valley is back in business. Some visitors on Tuesday were surprised that flames and firefighting operations could still be seen on the drive in. “You see the smoke and flames, and you just want to turn around,” said one. “But once you get through that area, it’s beautiful — it’s smoky — but you’re still here at Yosemite.”
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MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- Tuesday was the first day of school in the L.A. Unified School District. At Baldwin Hills Elementary, steel drums greeted the students.
CALIFORNIA
-- L.A. County’s rail system will be the first in the U.S. to deploy body scanners that can detect suicide vests and other improvised explosives, transportation officials say.
-- LAPD Chief Moore says the controversial retirement plan that recently paid him $1.27 million is ripe for reform.
-- A big battle over a potential increase in property taxes on commercial land is shaping up for the 2020 ballot.
-- After Yea Ji Sea served more than four years in the U.S. Army, a piece of paper has derailed her military career and put her immigration status in jeopardy.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- A New York judge has ruled that an aspiring actress can sue Harvey Weinstein for violating sex-trafficking laws because the proverbial casting couch could be considered a “commercial sex act.”
-- In this podcast, we explore how the films “Crazy Rich Asians” and “BlacKkKlansman” shine a spotlight on the underrepresented.
-- Two months before the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is set to remodel, critics, architects and others have decried the plan as “a tremendous mistake.”
-- Emmy hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” fame are prepping for the show next month with some advice from Tina Fey.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
Before Bob Fosse won the Oscar for directing 1972’s “Cabaret,” an Emmy for directing the TV special “Liza With a Z” and a Tony for directing “Pippin” all in a single year, he brought the razzle dazzle as a choreographer. UCLA is showing two of his 1950s gems this Saturday.
NATION-WORLD
-- In Pennsylvania, a grand jury report has revealed accusations of decades of sexual abuse involving more than 300 Catholic priests.
-- Nebraska authorities have carried out the first execution in the U.S. using the powerful opioid fentanyl.
-- The mayor of Genoa, Italy, says a bridge collapse during a violent storm killed at least 25 people.
-- Britain’s Boris Johnson may have finally crossed the line with a comment about burkas, though some say it’s just Boris being Boris.
BUSINESS
-- Tesla’s board says it’s forming a special committee to explore going private, while shareholders have sued over Elon Musk’s “funding secured” tweet.
-- MoviePass is facing more trouble as customers struggle to cancel their subscriptions.
-- Aviation service company Swissport is cutting 830 jobs and ending all of its ground handling and transportation services at LAX.
SPORTS
-- Billy Knight and Tyler Honeycutt were former UCLA basketball stars who died within weeks of each other under different circumstances, but their deaths have left many wondering why.
-- How bad has the Dodgers’ bullpen been this month? Pretty bad.
OPINION
-- Marijuana is not really legal in California if residents don’t have a reasonable way to buy it.
-- Columnist Gustavo Arellano has an idea: Instead of breaking up California, make it even bigger.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- More than four decades ago, six Filipino nurses arrived in the U.S. to launch their careers. This is their story. (Wall Street Journal)
-- In Jacksonville, Fla., transgender women are being killed. The authorities refer to them as men. (ProPublica)
-- Clothes make the spy: How a British intelligence agency made clothing to help its agents go behind enemy lines in World War II. (JSTOR Daily)
ONLY IN L.A.
Billy Kheel and Robert Mahar may be in the cutthroat world of reality TV, but on the NBC craft competition “Making It,” they act downright neighborly. No wonder, because they live just down the same alley in Silver Lake. “I remember when the show sent a car for me,” says Kheel. “I saw another car service drive by at the same time and thought, ‘That’s funny. Could there be two of us in the same neighborhood?’ ” Here’s how they each ply their crafts.
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