Today’s Headlines: Mar-a-Lago searched by FBI agents, Trump says

By Elvia Limón and Amy Hubbard

Hello, it’s Tuesday, Aug. 9, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today.

TOP STORIES

Mar-a-Lago was raided by FBI agents, Trump says

Former President Trump said in a statement that the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, in what he described as a “raid.”

It was not immediately clear why agents searched his Palm Beach home and what was removed, but Trump said the property was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” He added that the agents broke open his safe.

A large-scale search of a former president’s home by federal law enforcement is unparalleled in American history, and while Republicans quickly decried the move as the politicization of the Justice Department, it demonstrates an extraordinary level of potential legal trouble for Trump.

Executing a search requires the sign-off of a federal judge, who issues a warrant based upon evidence of a potential crime. It is unlikely that such a high-profile warrant — to search the personal residence of a former president — would be sought without top Justice Department officials reviewing the evidence and approving the request.

More politics

• Here’s what to watch in the primary elections in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut.

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Chief justice calls for new regulation of private judging

California’s chief justice raised the possibility of new regulations to the private judging industry in light of a Times report last week on how for-hire judges enabled disgraced Los Angeles attorney Thomas Girardi in cases where he is suspected of swindling clients out of millions of dollars in settlement money.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye called revelations about the conduct of the retired judges, including a former state Supreme Court justice, “shocking” in a statement to The Times.

For decades, Girardi paid well-regarded private judges as much as $1,500 an hour to help him administer mass tort cases involving thousands of clients. The Times described how Girardi traded on the names of these former jurists to deflect questions about missing money and how the retired judges in some instances aided his misappropriation of client funds.

The people left out of California’s abortion policies

As red states move to prohibit abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs. Wade in June, California’s political leaders have heralded a different path. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats have called California a haven or sanctuary for residents of other states who need an abortion.

Compared with the rest of the country, California has some of the nation’s most progressive abortion policies, including state-funded coverage of abortion in Medi-Cal. But for the patients who have needed an abortion late in pregnancy, the California sanctuary leaves them behind.

War brings desperation and danger to Ukraine’s farmers

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended the workings of what before the war was the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter. Almost six months into Moscow’s blockade of the Black Sea, more than 22 million tons of grain and other crops remain stranded inside the country, with nowhere to go and few places for storage. Countries that rely on Ukrainian wheat are suffering.

With Russia’s shift in its military campaign to the vast steppes of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions, there is even less of a solution for the very real danger facing farmers trying to do their job in what has become a battleground. That campaign, with its relentless artillery barrages, has transformed wide tracts of farmland into cratered, Swiss-cheese-like landscapes.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Mourning in Windsor Hills: Carmen Dorsey stands at a makeshift memorial near the site of last week’s fiery car crash that killed five, including a pregnant woman.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

Mercedes driver is charged with murder in the deadly Windsor Hills crash. Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, is accused of reckless disregard for life in connection with the multivehicle crash. Prosecutors say she was behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz that was speeding up to 100 mph when she ran a red light shortly after 1:30 p.m. California Highway Patrol investigators identified 13 prior crashes involving Linton.

A grand jury is investigating the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s handling of a deputy who knelt on an inmate’s head. It’s unclear how many subpoenas were issued or who received them. It’s also unclear whom prosecutors are targeting in their investigation. The district attorney’s office declined to comment.

‘The sound I heard was a crash’: Residents recount accident involving actor Anne Heche. The actor suffered significant burns and slipped into a coma after the crash, a representative told The Times. She is now the subject of a driving-under-the-influence and hit-and-run investigation in connection with the incident.

LAUSD chief promises expanded early education, more bus seats and other ‘swift’ changes. Supt. Alberto Carvalho pointed to his recently school-board-approved strategic plan, “laying out exactly how we will position Los Angeles Unified as the premiere urban school district of choice,” in a speech that was intended to be both pep rally and aspirational.

NATION-WORLD

The Biden administration launched its Africa strategy. But the real targets seem to be China and Russia. America’s top diplomat pitched a “new chapter” in U.S.-African relations, promising robust trade and calling for democracy despite political upheaval in much of the continent. But Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made no secret of his condemnation of Moscow and Beijing and what he said was their exploitation of African countries and resources.

Russia and Ukraine are trading accusations over attacks on a nuclear plant. The nations said each side was shelling the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claimed that Ukrainian shelling caused a power surge and fire and forced staff to lower output from two reactors, while Ukraine countered that Russian forces had planted explosives at the facility to head off an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

China extended its military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit. The military maneuvers have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict.

Biden surveyed flood damage in Kentucky, pledging more U.S. help. The president and First Lady Jill Biden witnessed the damage from deadly and devastating storms that resulted in the worst flooding in Kentucky’s history, as they visited the state to meet with families and first responders.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Olivia Newton-John, acclaimed singer and star of “Grease” and “Xanadu,” has died at age 73. Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and underwent years of treatment. The cancer returned in 2017. The multiple Grammy-winner saw her fame rocket with her role as Sandy in “Grease.” Co-star John Travolta was among those paying tribute: “Your impact was incredible. I love you so much.”

Ashton Kutcher revealed he had a “super rare” disease. The autoimmune disorder took away his vision, hearing and ability to walk, he said, and it took a year “to build it all back up.”

“Heat 2” is an odd sort of novel. The debut novel by filmmaker Michael Mann happens to be a sequel to his 1995 film “Heat.” The L.A. neo-noir classic brought Al Pacino and Robert De Niro together onscreen for the first time. Why a novel? It allowed Mann to revisit the era and his characters unfettered by casting decisions — never mind the contortions and delays of the development process.

Mike Birbiglia swims for his life in “The Old Man and the Pool” at the Taper. In his existential stand-up show, Birbiglia fills us in on the travails of his body and a YMCA pool.

“In tears.” Lizzo, Kelly Rowland, Jill Scott, Missy Elliott and more have reacted to their shout-outs in Beyoncé and Madonna’s “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix).”

BUSINESS

Want to watch free TV? One way to bring down the cost of subscription streaming is by watching TV the old-fashioned way: with an antenna. The monthly price is the same as it’s always been: zippo. But some who grew up with cable TV and streaming don’t realize that free over-the-air broadcasting exists or understand how it works. Media company E.W. Scripps is out to change that. One tool is a site where users type in their ZIP Codes to learn what stations they can get for free.

Hollywood lawyer Bert Fields died at age 93 after a battle with long COVID. Fields represented such stars as Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson and Mel Brooks.

Amazon “drop-shipping” resellers are working a hustle. Sellers, often guided by how-to tutorials on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, scour the internet for products with lower prices than on Amazon, post the items on the website and wait for someone to order. They then purchase the product from another retailer, have it shipped directly to the customer and pocket the difference.

OPINION

Editorial: Some 10,000 to 20,000 L.A.-area kids are unaccounted for as schools plan the start of classes on Aug. 15. They’re concentrated in the earliest grades and in high school. By contacting a sampling of families, officials found that older kids were taking care of younger siblings; some new immigrants didn’t realize they had to enroll their children; everyone had transportation issues. What’s needed? School buses and an enrollment campaign; for older kids, vocational education needs to be beefed up, which can help graduates’ earning power. That’s something working teens can appreciate right now.

Op-Ed: Solve the insulin pricing problem by getting government into the business. Insulin, essential for more than 8 million Americans, is so costly that diabetics often must skip or ration the treatment. Some 14% spend 40% of their income on the drug. Yet 43 Senate Republicans just stripped from the Inflation Reduction Act a provision capping the cost of insulin for non-Medicare patients.

SPORTS

With Matthew Stafford limited, backup QBs taking on bigger roles for the Rams. Stafford has an elbow problem, a condition he is expected to play through this season as the Rams aim to repeat as Super Bowl champions. But John Wolford and Bryce Perkins — and coach Sean McVay — are preparing for the worst-case scenario.

How the Los Angeles Sparks could still make the WNBA playoffs. With two games left against playoff-bound Connecticut and the regular-season finale against playoff-hopeful Dallas, the Sparks (13-20) are one game out of the playoff race yet buried at 11th in the standings and likely need to win out.

Orange High football star Kobe Boykin wants to be the one in his family to make it. Boykin’s father and brothers had their paths to college football derailed, but he has been given a chance to succeed that he doesn’t want to waste.

ONLY IN L.A.

Los Angeles is the perfect place for micro forests, says native plant horticulturist Katherine Pakradouni. They’re essential in L.A.’s urban areas — on school grounds, park perimeters or even as part of residential yards — because insects, birds and other wildlife are rapidly running out of places to live, she says.

Micro forests are plots of land as small as 10 by 10 feet devoted to dense, multilayer plantings of indigenous shrubs and trees that serve as “kind of complete ecosystems and biodiversity magnets.” Read more about micro forests and Pakradouni here. And on Wednesday, she’ll talk about the micro forest she built for L.A. at Griffith Park — the city’s first! The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Friendship Auditorium at 3201 Riverside Drive in the park; Pakradouni’s talk is at 7:30. Admission is free. You can also watch online via Zoom with pre-registration.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

July 19, 1976: At JPL, Dr. Thomas Mutch and other scientists examine images of the Mars surface. The first successful landing on Mars, by Viking 1, occurred the following day.

(John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)

Forty-six years this week, on Aug. 7, 1976, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena announced that NASA’s Viking landers had tested for the presence of life on Mars, and the results came back positive. The Times’ headline on Aug. 8 read: “Viking Unveils New Mars Soil Surprise.”

Scientists were cautious, however, saying the findings “could be interpreted as having been caused by living organisms … but that is just one of several possible explanations.”

Since then, as EarthSky reported in 2019, most scientists have come to the conclusion that the results were due to “unusual chemistry in the soil, not life.” Yet the principal investigator for the life-detection experiment, Gilbert Levin, has maintained that life was found: “The data curves signaled the detection of microbial respiration on the Red Planet.”

More recently, the Curiosity rover has been drilling into rock, looking for organics, or the ingredients of life; findings can be found in NASA’s June report. Meanwhile, on July 29, the space agency announced that it would launch two more mini helicopters to Mars to return rocks and soil samples to Earth.

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