Today’s Headlines: How the recall election is still about Trump

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

In red California, Trump’s lies about a rigged election echo among recall supporters

The Republican-backed recall election could not be more consequential for California. Set amid a deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with record-breaking wildfires and a relentless drought drying fields and faucets, it gives the GOP its best shot in more than a decade at governing the nation’s most populous state.

And if there’s a symbolic heart of recall mania, it may be here in Amador County in the Sierra foothills, where about 1 in 5 registered voters signed petitions to give Newsom the boot. That’s the highest concentration in California.

And in many ways, this election is still about a man named Donald J. Trump.

More California politics

— Barabak: The stakes are high in this recall election, yet Democrats nationwide have been slow to fight for Newsom.

— There was little shock when a recent poll found that a majority of likely voters in left-leaning coastal metro areas of California like Los Angeles and San Francisco oppose the recall of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. But zeal for the recall is muted even in areas where the Republican Party remains a competitive force, like Orange County and the Inland Empire, the poll found.

— Skelton: The math is simple — California Republicans probably won’t pull off Newsom recall.

— Vaccines, unemployment, housing, drought: Here is where top recall candidates stand on the issues.

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

Abcarian: The end may be coming for Roe vs. Wade. But abortion will still be legal in many states

Consider this an elegy for Roe vs. Wade, a lamentation for the impending death of a law that has enabled millions of American women over the past half-century to control their bodies, their economic lives, their personal fates.

We now live in a country where women with unwanted pregnancies will be forced to bear children — in one state so far, but probably two dozen eventually, writes columnist Robin Abcarian. Even if they have been raped. By a stranger. By a lover. By a teacher, a minister, a father or a brother.

We now live in a country where a state has willingly turned itself into a North Korean-style hotbed of snitchery, and others will undoubtedly follow.

More on the Texas abortion law

— Op-Ed: The threat posed by the Supreme Court’s refusal to block the Texas abortion law goes far beyond reproductive rights. It opens the door to insidious copycat laws that could be used to attack other constitutional rights.

— Letters to the Editor: I saw a woman die before Roe vs. Wade. We’re going back to a dangerous time.

— The Supreme Court signals Roe vs. Wade will fall after allowing Texas to ban most abortions.

— What the Supreme Court ruling on the Texas abortion ban means for politics.

The world needs more COVID-19 vaccines. That gives Biden a chance to lead

President Biden has a huge opportunity in the next few months to regain his footing as a foreign policy president after the fall of Kabul — a chance to demonstrate that the United States can still lead and to push back against China, writes columnist Doyle McManus.

It’s an opportunity he can’t afford to duck, because it involves a deadly challenge: the continued spread of COVID-19. So far, the U.S.-led international effort to provide vaccines to poor countries has been a story of shortfalls and failures.

More top coronavirus headlines

— A coronavirus variant recently determined to be a “variant of interest” has been detected in 167 people over the summer in Los Angeles County, officials said. The variant now known as Mu was mostly detected in July.

— The nation’s public health community appears to be rallying around the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ unprecedented 3-2 decision to challenge what it says is a growing body of COVID-19 falsehoods that are eroding confidence in vaccines and perpetuating the spread of the coronavirus.

— COVID-19 affects college football powerhouses and their fans.

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

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

— Has California’s unique brand of direct democracy gone too far? Recall is ultimate test.

— Saving Britney Spears: The inside story of the #FreeBritney movement.

— The drought has farmworkers dreaming of escape from California’s breadbasket.

— As El Salvador adopts bitcoin, its young president is dismantling democracy.

— With prayers and promises, a California city remembers a fallen Marine.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

25 years ago today Hurricane Fran shrank to a tropical depression, leaving 17 dead, a million homes and businesses without power, and destruction worth uncounted millions of dollars stretching from Cape Fear, N.C., to the nation’s capital.

The storm stranded hundreds of people in seaside towns and along barrier islands off the North Carolina coast. It left Wilmington, N.C., reeling and smashed one of its landmark church steeples. It drove four people into trees along Naked Creek near Elkton, Va., where they hung for hours until a helicopter rescued them.

President Clinton declared major disasters in North Carolina and Virginia, making victims eligible for federal aid.

CALIFORNIA

— Restorative justice or justice denied? With D.A. George Gascón, teens tried as adults get a second chance, but it can be a difficult situation for victims of crimes.

— Evacuation orders are lifted in South Lake Tahoe as crews keep Caldor fire reined in.

— Comedian Kate Quigley, who was hospitalized, said she was doing “OK,” after reported overdose killed three, including comic Fuquan Johnson.

— Lopez: It’s one blaze after another inside the L.A. Fire Department, now home to an anti-vax movement.

NATION-WORLD

— Labor shortage leaves union workers feeling more emboldened.

— As patients stream into Mississippi hospitals one after another, doctors and nurses have become all too accustomed to the rampant denial and misinformation about COVID-19 in the nation’s least vaccinated state.

— New Orleans residents continue to face food, water and gas shortages from Hurricane Ida while battling heat and humidity.

— A major maritime industry association backed plans for a global surcharge on carbon emissions from shipping to help fund the sector’s shift toward climate-friendly fuels.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Michael K. Williams dies; “The Wire” actor was poised to win his first Emmy.

— “Donda” was pure psychodrama; Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” is irresistible even at its bleakest.

— How Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” was inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s “Hollywood.”

— Visiting L.A.’s oracle of “Freedom,” the all-seeing essayist Maggie Nelson.

BUSINESS

— Many wealthy Silicon Valley investors and executives have used their money to oppose the effort to unseat Gavin Newsom as California’s governor. Here’s a closer look at who gave.

— From proofreading to reviewing, here’s how you can get paid to read, how much you’ll earn and where you can find these jobs.

SPORTS

— Hernandez: Dodgers’ biggest problem isn’t the Giants, it’s the broken bat in their lineup, Cody Bellinger.

— “Sissy blue shirt?” UCLA fan taunted by Ed Orgeron has ideas on where he can geaux.

OPINION

— Editorial: What if every week was a four-day workweek?

— Goldberg: You think California’s recall system is dangerous? Check out the initiative process.

ONLY IN L.A.

A significant work of public art in Hollywood is being demolished in plain sight, and its creator can do little but watch.

Erika Rothenberg’s 2001 artwork “The Road to Hollywood” has long been embedded in the outdoor stairwells, walkways and plazas of the Hollywood & Highland development. Her winding concrete and mosaic pathway — called one of the best public art projects in L.A. by Times critic Christopher Knight when the center opened — is peppered with true stories of how successful Hollywood figures got their start in showbiz.

Portions of “The Road to Hollywood” have already been jackhammered. According to Kristofer Golder, a senior development manager at DJM, the firm that bought Hollywood & Highland two years ago, demolition on the remainder of the artwork will “be commencing over the next few months in phases.”

Rothenberg is looking for an ally who could help remove and store the work.

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