Today’s Headlines: Did Larry Elder failed to disclose income sources?

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today.

TOP STORIES

State investigation into whether Larry Elder failed to disclose income sources

California regulators have launched an investigation into whether recall election gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder failed to properly disclose his income sources, a spokesman with the Fair Political Practices Commission confirmed Sunday.

A Times article earlier this month first reported that Elder likely failed to properly disclose his finances because he appeared to own a company he listed, meaning he was required to report ownership as well as income sources to the company above certain amounts.

After the story in The Times, the California Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that Elder failed to properly disclose the business and its sources of income.

More politics

— Legal scholars have debated whether the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom could be found unconstitutional if Newsom failed to realize a “no recall” majority of the ballots cast and was ousted by a candidate who received fewer votes than he did. Although it’s impossible to predict how courts will rule, many experts say the current recall process has long survived legal challenges and probably would again.

— Newsom and the state Democratic Party are urging voters to leave the second question on the recall election ballot blank. That means if voters recall the Democratic governor next month, his replacement is likely to come from a group of top Republican candidates — almost all of whom have publicly supported Trump.

— If Newsom is recalled — a possibility that once seemed remote — polls suggest it will be Elder who takes over, despite his lack of government experience and extremist views. The Times Editorial Board says in the long run, this could be a gift to California democrats.

— Who are the candidates in the recall election? L.A. Times editorial board interviews five of them (video).

Sign up early for our California Politics newsletter, coming in August, to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting, including full coverage of the recall election and the latest action in Sacramento.

The fall of Kabul doesn’t need to spell the end of U.S. global power

Politicians and pundits have declared the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan a defeat from which U.S. influence may never recover. Doyle McManus says everyone needs take a deep breath and remember some history.

Even amid the fall of Kabul and the frantic, last-minute military operation to rescue thousands of Americans and vulnerable Afghans, the White House has maintained its overarching focus on the domestic matters it has prioritized for the last eight months — President Biden’s big infrastructure push.

Ventura County enacts indoor mask order as hospitalizations jump

Ventura County has ordered that people wear masks in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status, a policy in effect for a majority of Californians. Ventura’s order was announced the same day the region’s per capita COVID-19 hospitalization rate became worse than that of Los Angeles County.

More top coronavirus headlines

— A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who was a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized with COVID-19 has died. He was 61.

— More than 250 people who were protesting coronavirus lockdowns in Australia were arrested Saturday, and many faced fines for defying health orders, authorities said.

— The Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, have been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.

— A Q&A on the Delta variant in schools: Is my child safe?

For more, sign up for Coronavirus Today, a special edition of The Times’ Health and Science newsletter.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

— Molly Shannon is a comedy legend. Now she’s opening up about the tragedy that shaped her.

— The remains of American-born singer and dancer Josephine Baker will be reinterred at the Panthéon monument in Paris, making the entertainer the first Black woman to receive France’s highest honor.

— I’m an Asian American woman in academia. Here’s what Netflix’s “The Chair” gets right about chairing a department at a university.

— Op-Ed: Here’s how the U.S. military can better fight climate change after Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III declared global warming an existential threat to U.S. national security.

— Don Everly, the last surviving member of the Everly Brothers and a pioneer of rock ’n’ roll, died Saturday at his home in Nashville. He was 84.

— L.A. Affairs: The secret to ending my lonely nights? I’ve started dating couples.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Fifty-six years ago this weekend, the San Francisco Giants’ Juan Marichal brought a baseball bat down upon the head of the Dodgers’ John Roseboro. It was a brawl that forever defined one of sports’ fiercest rivalries, with an ugliness that offered a new and frightening definition of sports violence. In 2015, 50 years later, L.A. Times Columnist Bill Plaschke revisited the episode.

CALIFORNIA

— The Caldor fire burning east of Sacramento topped 100,000 acres late Sunday, but fire officials said strong winds that have fanned the flames of the fast-moving fire are expected to weaken over the next few days.

— As California burns, some ecologists say it’s time to rethink forest management, but reimagining well-worn approaches will require a reckoning with what is and isn’t working amid the state’s shifting landscape. In lieu of focusing funds and resources on fuel treatment, ecologists have said, the onus should shift toward home hardening and community protection.

— As a recovering economy pulled more Californians back to work last month, and residents, many vaccinated, ventured out after months of isolation, the shadow of the coronavirus’ Delta variant loomed.

— After Sgt. Shawn Silva recorded his 25th shooting of an electronic stun gun, his friends and co-workers in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department presented him with a custom-made plaque featuring a replica Taser and tally marks denoting each incident.

NATION-WORLD

— With the Taliban cementing its grip on Afghanistan, the country faces an economic cataclysm as world powers and international financial institutions move to withhold or freeze billions of dollars in assets and aid from a government run by a pariah movement.

— An Israeli government commission investigating a deadly accident at a Jewish pilgrimage site held its first day of hearings Sunday, almost four months after the stampede at Mt. Meron left 45 people dead.

— Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with heavy wind and rain as it made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island, knocking out power to more than 100,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and left many people stranded in their vehicles.

— At least 22 people were killed, and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing, after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Tennessee.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— It’s time for Western cultural leaders to speak up and support Afghan artists. Here’s what can be done, and why it is important.

— On Aug. 29 at the Ford in Hollywood, Filipino up-and-comers from the worlds of music, comedy and dance will share the stage for “A Night of ‘Pinoy’tainment” with established stars such as comic Rex Navarrete and Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas.

— Four new films with major stars, including Hugh Jackman and Michael Keaton, opened in North American movie theaters this weekend. Only the film with animated puppies fared well.

— With a focus on Black composers, a young SoCal native is poised for the big time. A violinist from San Diego recently made his Bowl debut with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

BUSINESS

—Once listed at $195 million, the famed Hearst estate is hitting the auction block. The compound covers 3.5 acres — by far the largest piece of land currently on the market in Beverly Hills proper.

— Scarlett Johansson’s legal battle with the Walt Disney Co. has heated up. Disney wants the case arbitrated; Johansson’s team wants an open court.

SPORTS

— An assembly line of mediocre opponents kept alive the fantasy in recent years, but reality became inescapable for Manny Pacquiao Saturday night.

— Torrance shut out Ohio and is now halfway to the Little League World Series final.

— The Dodgers’ nine-game winning streak ends with a loss to the Mets, but Mookie Betts took another step toward returning to the lineup Sunday morning, completing a wide-ranging workout at Dodger Stadium.

OPINION

— California has failed to build enough housing to keep up with population growth and demand. But when more than two-thirds of residential land in the state is zoned for single-family homes, it becomes difficult and expensive to add housing. Senate Bills 9 and 10 would allow small multifamily buildings on single-family lots, the editorial board writes.

— Math is alive and flourishing, and most of it remains a vast and uncharted countryside. Fresh ideas are constantly being discovered, opening new and fascinating puzzles. These puzzles allow us to play at the very edge of the mathematical unknown, and many of them are accessible for our students.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— California enacted a groundwater law seven years ago. But wells are still drying up — and the threat is spreading. (CalMatters)

— Why the government’s clever investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot might actually work. (Slate)

— Consumers in California may be on the hook for pricier ride shares and food delivery after a state judge struck down a voter-approved ballot to let gig-economy giants like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. continue to classify app-based drivers as independent contractors. (Bloomberg)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

California distillers have the advantage of being, well, in California, where experimentation is famously welcome. At San Francisco tropical bar Smuggler’s Cove, owner Martin Cate is known for rum lists with hundreds of bottles, helping to inspire a more-is-more culture among amateur collectors, who are often willing to try new things and splurge on unusual offerings. (In addition, California drinkers have taken especially well to agave spirits, usually lightly aged or unaged — a good sign for distillers who haven’t been around long enough to age rums more than a few years.)

Relatively free of red tape? No need to deal with stifling local traditions? No wonder distillers up and down California have taken to rum.

Today’s newsletter was curated by Seth Liss and Laura Blasey. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.