Today’s Headlines — Massive oil spill sends crude onto Orange County beaches

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TOP STORIES

Massive oil spill sends crude onto Orange County beaches, killing birds, marine life

The spill, first reported Saturday, originated from a pipeline off the coast of Huntington Beach connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly. The failure caused at least 126,000 gallons of crude to spill into coastal waters creating a slick that spanned about 8,320 acres — larger than the size of Santa Monica — and sent oil to the shores of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach early Sunday.

Oil from the spill also infiltrated Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre ecological reserve in Huntington Beach that is home to dozens of species of birds.

More headlines from the oil spill

— The smell of oil wafted in the air Friday. Why did it take another day to identify the massive O.C. spill?

— What caused the oil spill off Huntington Beach? Here is what we know

— Oil spill seeps into O.C.’s coastal wetlands, a critical link along migratory bird routes

— What it was like to surf on day of the Orange County oil spill: Frantic dolphins, exhaust smell

— Huge ecological losses feared as Orange County oil spill hits wetlands, marshes

— Photos: Major oil spill closes Orange County beaches

— What’s closed because of the oil spill in Orange County and how to help

— Editorial: Huntington Beach shore is covered in oil. This is why the U.S. needs to end coastal drilling

Coastal erosion in San Clemente threatens railroad tracks, pricey homes

The forces at work along this San Clemente beach and the rest of the California coast cannot, in the long run, be stopped by a stack of boulders. Climate change has led to rising sea levels, which translates to more intense battering of beachside communities.

What’s more, decades of development have paved over sand and soil that would help block the encroaching waves.

COVID-19 deaths eclipse 700,000 in U.S. as Delta variant rages

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 700,000 late Friday — a number greater than the population of Boston. The last 100,000 deaths occurred during a time when vaccines — which overwhelmingly prevent deaths, hospitalizations and serious illness — were available to any American over the age of 12.

More top coronavirus headlines

— As Congress considered a massive COVID-19 relief package earlier this year, hundreds of mayors from across the U.S. pleaded for “immediate action” on billions of dollars targeted to shore up their finances and revive their communities. Now that they’ve received it, local officials are taking their time before actually spending the windfall.

— Russia on Sunday reported a record daily death toll from COVID-19, the fifth time in a week that deaths have hit a new high.

— Merck says its experimental pill cuts COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths by half.

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

L.A. prepares to clear homeless people from MacArthur Park; set to close Oct. 15 for ‘rehabilitation’ work

In the fight to reclaim Los Angeles’ public spaces, a new battleground is about to open just west of downtown. MacArthur Park, where tents lie scattered among jacarandas, crape myrtles and palms, will be closed starting Oct. 15.

The popular but benighted destination for residents of the city’s Westlake neighborhood will join Echo Park and the Venice boardwalk as a potential flashpoint between the unhoused living in the park, their advocates, residents and city agencies attempting to do their jobs.

Nine reasons the Dodgers should worry about the Cardinals in the wild-card game

The hottest team in baseball, one that has won 19 of 21 games entering Sunday, is not the opponent anyone wants to face in a playoff elimination game, but these are the Cards the Dodgers have been dealt.

Here are nine things to know about the Cardinals.

More Dodgers headlines

— Dodgers shift their focus to wild-card game before sweeping Brewers

— For Giants, NL West title a stress-reliever, not a cause for big celebration

— Plaschke: Is Clayton Kershaw done as a Dodger? Decision on future looms for injured pitcher

— What is the Dodgers’ history in MLB tiebreaker playoff games?

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

— Traffic lights gone dark. Factories shut down. What caused China’s power crisis?

— He made history as Hollywood’s first animal trainer. Then he scammed L.A. with ‘iceless ice.’

— The raft of conservative legislation and executive actions by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott confounded expectations that Texas was turning blue as it diversified and attracted transplants, including Californians.

— Puerto Rican Kemuel Delgado hates having ‘one foot in and one foot out’ of America. But race wasn’t on his mind when he began pushing for statehood.

— Financial secrets of international elite are exposed in ‘Pandora Papers’

— Meet the Korean dancer whose houseplant obsession inspired her new career in ceramics.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Twenty-five years ago today the Social Security Administration determined that about 700,000 Americans had been shortchanged out of more than $850 million in retirement benefits since 1972.

The error in the formula was coded into the software system in 1972 and went undetected until late 1994, when the agency’s inspector general and its office of integrity review discovered the error.

The Social Security glitch ranked among the most serious computing errors in government history, when measured by the number of people and the amount of money involved.

CALIFORNIA

— Crews faced challenging conditions as they worked to contain wildfires in the southern Sierra amid unusually warm temperatures and historic drought.

— Orange County is still ‘mother ship’ for GOP money, but the shift from red to purple accelerates.

— Long after Aliso Canyon gas rupture, residents still fear long-term toll on their health.

— Newsom orders COVID vaccines for eligible students, the first state mandate for K-12 schools.

— How a Black lawmaker from L.A. won a ‘mammoth fight’ to oust bad cops.

NATION-WORLD

— Ex-Facebook manager alleges social network fed Capitol riot.

— U.S. raises concern as China flies warplanes south of Taiwan.

— U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry said Saturday he thinks ‘enormous progress’ can be made at the upcoming United Nations climate talks in Scotland.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— How Sid Krofft, at 92, became an Instagram Live star and why celebs ask to be on his show

— More than a year and a half into the pandemic, we’ve come to expect the unexpected. Perhaps the socialist revolution can start in an improv community?

— ‘Weekend Update’ pays tribute to late Norm Macdonald during season premiere of ‘SNL.’

— For years, the question has been debated by fans of the seminal HBO series “The Sopranos.” After thoroughly exploring every dark, violent nook and cranny of the world of mob boss Tony Soprano, even “Sopranos” creator David Chase didn’t know what actually led to the demise of Tony’s oft-mentioned mentor.

BUSINESS

— Entering the final quarter of 2021 with a mounting number of head winds threatening to slow the recovery from inflation to supply chains, the global economy has a lot of worries.

— Today’s tight talent market spells opportunity for freelance workers, who are cashing in as corporations turn to contractors to fill millions of open positions.

SPORTS

— As far as Arizona is concerned, blowout win over Rams was in the Cards.

— Super Bowl contenders? Rams’ struggles in loss to Cardinals showcase shortcomings.

— On Monday night against the Las Vegas, Mike Williams will have a chance to showcase this updated, upgraded version of himself as the Chargers and Raiders meet in the NFL’s lone game — in prime time.

— UCLA’s inconsistency under Chip Kelly is once again in the spotlight after loss.

OPINION

— Greene: Is it virtuous or villainous to grow a garden during a drought?

— Abcarian: The Los Angeles Fire Department’s sexism problem.

ONLY IN L.A.

Singer Grimes has broken her silence on those paparazzi photos of her reading a copy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ “Communist Manifesto” shortly after she sort of broke up with billionaire boyfriend Elon Musk.

Over the weekend, the experimental pop musician shrugged off mounting criticism and jokes over the three images, which captured the “Oblivion” hitmaker poring over the seminal anti-capitalist text while strolling the streets of Los Angeles.

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