Today’s Headlines: The right to carry a loaded weapon in public just got a boost

By Amy Hubbard

Hello, it’s Friday, June 24, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

The Supreme Court bolstered gun owners’ right to carry weapons in public. Where does that leave California?

The high court upheld the rights of gun owners to carry a loaded weapon in public, ruling that the 2nd Amendment right to “bear arms” overrides laws in New York and California that restrict who may legally take guns when they leave home.

California’s gun laws are widely viewed as some of the strictest in the country. Some of those restrictions — for example, the one banning guns in state government offices — aren’t likely to be affected by the ruling, which says the government’s ability to ban guns in “sensitive places” is “settled” law. But other limits on carrying weapons outside the home could wind up in the legal crosshairs. Senior editor Jon Healey looks at who can get a license to carry a gun and when that license is necessary.

The director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program said allowing more Californians to bring a handgun into public spaces would probably result in an increase in gun violence. After the ruling, California leaders vowed new restrictions.

In other gun news ... the Senate OKd a landmark gun violence bill

The bipartisan bill — which seemed unthinkable just a month ago — was easily approved, clearing the way for final congressional approval of what will be lawmakers’ most far-reaching response in decades to the nation’s run of brutal mass shootings.

After years of GOP procedural delays that derailed Democratic efforts to curb firearms, Democrats and some Republicans decided that congressional inaction was untenable after last month’s rampages in New York and Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but a group of senators from both parties emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock — yet no longer surprise — the nation.

Former DOJ officials said they refused Trump’s requests to intervene in the 2020 election

The former president nearly replaced the head of the Department of Justice with a supporter of his fraud theories when the acting attorney general refused to comply with his demands to falsely claim there was evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, the House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection detailed in its hearing Thursday.

Among focal points of the Jan. 6 committee’s hearing:

• Trump’s move to replace acting Atty. Gen. Jeffrey A. Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, head of the DOJ civil division, prompted a warning from Justice officials and White House counsel that the entire leadership would resign en masse.
• Clark circulated, by email, a draft letter that amounted to a road map for how Georgia could overturn its election results, suggesting the state’s Legislature could ultimately choose a new slate of electors who would back Trump over Biden. Clark’s email indicated similar letters would be sent to officials in other states. One official was said to have referred to the letter as “a murder-suicide pact. It’s going to damage everyone who touches it. And we should have nothing to do with that letter.”
• The committee also revealed that multiple Republican members of Congress asked for presidential pardons from Trump in the days after Jan. 6, 2021, including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Here are other key takeaways.

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Officials reveal the plan to return Bruce’s Beach to its rightful Black heirs

In a plan made public for the first time, Los Angeles County officials have detailed how they would complete the unprecedented transfer of Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of a Black couple who were run out of Manhattan Beach almost a century ago.

The beachfront property, estimated to be worth $20 million after a complicated appraisal, would be transferred to the Bruce family following an escrow process, according to the proposed plan. The county would then rent the property from the Bruces for $413,000 per year and maintain a county lifeguard facility at the site.

The war for eastern Ukraine has reached a ‘fearful climax’

Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers appeared to be all but encircled as Russian troops advanced Thursday around two strategically important cities in eastern Ukraine in what a senior Ukrainian official called a “fearful climax” of the battle for the Donbas, signaling that the fall of a significant part of the region was imminent.

Millions of people are displaced, cities are in ruin and air-raid sirens have become a terrifying part of everyday life across wide swaths of the nation even as Western support for it grows. Meeting in Brussels, European Union representatives acting with unusual speed granted Ukraine status as an EU candidate. The idea that once faced significant hurdles in the bloc gained greater appeal amid the protracted war and economic sanctions against Russia.

As China shuts out the world, internet access from abroad gets harder too

One of the most sweeping surveillance states in the world, China has all but closed its borders since the start of the pandemic, accelerating a political turn inward as nationalism is on the rise and foreign ties are treated with suspicion.

At the same time, academics and researchers have complained that the digital window into China seems to be constricting too. That compounds a growing concern for China experts locked out of the country amid deteriorating relations with the West. A tightening of internet access means observers will struggle to decipher what internal pressures China’s leader Xi Jinping may be facing and how to keep track of Beijing’s diplomatic, technological and military ambitions.

CALIFORNIA

They didn’t get their security deposits back. Now a big L.A. landlord has agreed to pay $12.5 million. Geoffrey Palmer agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing his company of withholding security deposits from more than 19,000 tenants when they moved out of his apartment complexes. Tenants “all the way back to July 2014” stand to see their full security deposits returned, said attorneys for the former residents.

In-person classes were canceled at Stanford due to a power outage from a wildfire burning in unincorporated San Mateo County. There was no cellular reception, no Wi-Fi, no air conditioning, said one student. Meanwhile, in Northern California, multiple brush fires spurred evacuation orders: the Canyon fire near Pleasanton in Alameda County, the Scenic fire in the Port Costa area of Contra Costa County, and in Solano County, the Timm fire near Vacaville.

Excessive heat on the train tracks caused a BART train to derail near Concord earlier this week, officials said. About 50 passengers had to be evacuated Tuesday evening after the Bay Area Rapid Transit train derailed. Several reported minor injuries. The derailment occurred during a triple-digit heat wave. Temperatures on the track exceeded 140 degrees — about 35 degrees above the rail’s ordinary operating temperature — a BART spokesman said.

Nancy Pelosi’s husband was charged in Napa County with misdemeanor driving under the influence. The charge stems from a May 28 two-car collision on State Route 29 in Yountville. Pelosi, 82, was driving a 2021 Porsche and collided with a 2014 Jeep driven by a 48-year-old, the California Highway Patrol said last month.

NATION-WORLD

Coach Andrea Fuentes swims toward Anita Alvarez at the bottom of a pool in Budapest.

(Oli Scarff / AFP via Getty Images)

Dramatic images show a U.S. coach saving a swimmer. While U.S. artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez was performing her solo free routine Wednesday at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, her coach noticed she had sunk to the bottom of the pool.

Federal health officials ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market. It was the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

The World Health Organization was considering declaring monkeypox a global health emergency. The organization convened its emergency committee to consider if the spiraling outbreak of the disease warranted the move. Meanwhile, some experts said WHO’s decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID vaccines saved 20 million lives in their first year, scientists said. According to a new modeling study, the vaccination effort prevented deaths on an unimaginable scale. In other vaccine news, an expert panel backed a second COVID-19 vaccine option for kids ages 6 to 17. This age group already has been able to get shots made by Pfizer; now they can get Moderna.

A judge approved a deal of more than $1 billion in the deadly collapse of a beachfront condo in Florida. The decision came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South disaster in the Miami suburb of Surfside, which killed 98 people. The judge praised the dozens of lawyers involved for averting what could have been years of litigation with no sure outcome for victims.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

It’s the sitcom of the summer. “Gordita Chronicles” is on HBO Max, but it’s a network-style memory piece, like “The Wonder Years” or “Fresh Off the Boat,” writes TV critic Robert Lloyd. It’s a 1980s-set family comedy of a classic sort with a few significant differences. It’s also funny, appealing and sometimes moving.

Netflix laid off 300 workers. It was the latest round of cuts as the company responded to a revenue slowdown and its first subscriber loss in more than a decade.

It’s 2022. Does Elvis Presley still matter? Baz Luhrmann’s splashy “Elvis” biopic attempts to make the King relevant to a new generation. But it’s been half a century since Presley’s last hit, and the decline of rock ’n’ roll is a permanent problem. But in her review of “Elvis,” Katie Walsh argues the opposite. The erotically charged film doesn’t just reinvigorate the Presley myth, she argues, it resurrects the King and makes him relevant again. She also lauds Austin Butler’s “fully transformed, fully committed and star-making turn as Elvis.”

A stage musical based on “Transparent” will make its world premiere in Los Angeles in 2023, nearly a decade after the groundbreaking TV show debuted. The musical is part of the 2022-23 season at the Mark Taper Forum that, as promised, will feature works written exclusively by women, transgender or nonbinary artists. Also coming: “Fake It Until You Make It,” the new L.A.-set comedy by Larissa FastHorse.

Inside a new TV show’s Michelin-starred plan to get restaurant kitchens right. At Pasadena’s Institute of Culinary Education and Santa Monica’s Pasjoli, “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White sharpened his skills to play a chef in the new FX series.

BUSINESS

Beverly Hills’ historic Saks Fifth Avenue complex is set for development into offices and apartments. The famous department store will move to make way for a mixed-use complex that could energize a sedate stretch of Wilshire Boulevard near Rodeo Drive. The intention is to revive the glamour that once made Wilshire the pinnacle of upmarket Beverly Hills shopping.

Nike will fully shut down operations in Russia. The company joins other international corporations that have withdrawn from the country after its invasion of Ukraine.

OPINION

Editorial: California gun laws are under threat by a right-wing Supreme Court. The court’s gun ruling may lead to more legal challenges that will further erode California’s strong gun safety laws. Evidence shows that states with stronger gun laws also have fewer murders and suicides by firearms. Research published in 2020 found that restricting concealed-carry permits was one of three policies that could help reduce gun deaths by more than 10%. It’s an abomination that the Supreme Court is making it harder for states to keep people alive, The Times editorial board writes.

SPORTS

“Because of that word, it’s the only reason, really, that we have women’s sports today.” Billie Jean King notes that in Title IX, the 1972 law that forbids discrimination, denial of benefits or exclusion on the basis of sex in any education program or activity that receives federal financial assistance, the word “sports” does not appear. Luckily, “activity” does. King talked to Sports columnist Helene Elliott about why Title IX is so important to women’s sports and why she has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights.

The next Usain Bolt? The sky-high expectations, the comparisons to Bolt — Erriyon Knighton isn’t running from any of it as the U.S. track and field championships begin this week at Eugene’s Hayward Field, where Knighton can secure berths in July’s world outdoor championships by finishing in the top three in the 100 or 200 meters. “He’s fearless,” said an NBC Sports analyst.

YOUR WEEKEND

Eyvind Earle’s concept art for Walt Disney Productions’ 1959 film “Sleeping Beauty.”

(© Disney Enterprises Inc. )

Gallop on over to the Getty. Towering castles, knights on horseback, wizards in flowing robes and long-necked, roaring dragons fill the Getty Center’s galleries this summer. “The Fantasy of the Middle Ages” plumbs the intersection of medieval life and pop culture. It grew out of the museum’s “Getty of Thrones” social media campaign, launched in 2014. Curators recapped “Game of Thrones” episodes using images from the museum’s collection. Continuing in that participatory DIY spirit, a section of the exhibition includes items loaned by Getty staffers: toys (Morgan le Fay and Merlin Ken and Barbie dolls, dragon Beanie Babies, Dungeons & Dragons miniatures), an indication of how our love of medieval times seeped into pop culture and consumerism.

Swing by Topgolf, if you have the fortitude and the funds. The parking lot at the El Segundo driving range and party spot appears perennially packed. But we have six insider tips for visiting the site, which is the only Topgolf with an actual golf course attached. Among tips: Claim your space in advance. The 102 bays can be reserved one week in advance, and they fill up quickly. Also: Budget a few hours and a couple hundred bucks.

Cook a feast that honors early Black chefs. Chef Martin Draluck, of Post & Beam, writes about growing up around his grandfather’s restaurant, Dem Bones Bar B-Que Shack on Santa Monica Boulevard, and of his Black Pot dinners, where he cooks like early chefs, over wood fire and coals in an open hearth. A gas or charcoal grill will do, however, for his recipe for grilled rabbit legs. Also: baked beans, Parmesan macaroni and cheese, and peach crisp.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

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How animals perceive the world. “Every animal is enclosed within its own sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.” The author looks at some of these sensory worlds in a gripping account: “In the Tetons ... mosquitoes bite me through my shirt, attracted by the smell of the carbon dioxide on my breath. While I itch, an owl flies overhead, tracking its prey using a radar dish of stiff facial feathers that funnel sound toward its ears.” The Atlantic

What makes Wasabi special. It’s nearly time for the Pekingese who won best in show at the Westminster dog show to bow to his successor. Not everyone appreciates the breed. Wasabi’s co-owner has been asked why his dog “looks like a mop.” But the best in show judge, Patricia Craige Trotter, saw the dog’s star quality immediately: “This little breed was honored in the Chinese court, and he signaled to me that he had that sort of dignity.” Co-owner David Fitzpatrick said he preferred Pekingese for their lofty attitudes and proud refusal to beg for attention, abase themselves for treats, fetch sticks, herd livestock, run for help, perform feats of agility or do anything that suggests “working for a living.” New York Times

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Oct. 20, 1963: Mary Pickford is seated under a portrait of herself at Pickfair Estate in Los Angeles.

(Los Angeles Times)

One hundred and six years ago today, on June 24, 1916, Mary Pickford became the first Hollywood actress to sign a million-dollar contract.

As The Times wrote in 1994, “America’s Sweetheart” realized the power of her popularity and turned herself into a mogul: “She tended to be innocent on screen but a sharpie with good sense off it.” She formed the Mary Pickford Film Corp. to “out-studio the studios.” She also joined with her then-husband, Douglas Fairbanks, as well as Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith, to create United Artists, which quickly became a major player in Hollywood.

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