Advertisement

Today’s Headlines: Local air regulators say Southern California can’t hit smog targets alone

A city skyline is seen above a bank of smog.
The downtown Los Angeles skyline and a layer of smog, as seen from Griffith Park in 2019.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Share

Hello, it’s Monday, Dec. 5, and

here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Local air regulators say it’s impossible to meet smog standards without federal help

Southern California air regulators have approved a sweeping plan to reduce pollution in the nation’s smoggiest region within the next two decades but say they cannot meet national air quality standards without federal action.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District governing board voted 9 to 2 on Friday to adopt a nearly 5,000-page plan, which is expected to serve as a roadmap on how the air district expects to comply with the 2015 federal standard for ozone (the lung-aggravating haze commonly known as smog).

Advertisement

Within the voluminous report, the air district outlines dozens of potential measures that could reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides and bring the region closer to meeting the 2015 ozone standard, which it is required to meet by 2037. But air district officials said these proposals alone would not help the region meet that target, and they implored the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to curtail pollution in ports, rail yards and airports — all of which fall under federal authority.

Senior citizens have been hit hard as COVID-19 surges across California

There has been a troubling spike in coronavirus-positive hospital admissions among seniors in California, rising to levels not seen since the summer Omicron surge. Although hospitalizations have roughly tripled for Californians of most age groups since the autumn low, the jump in seniors has been particularly dramatic.

Rising hospitalization rates are a reason health officials are urging people, especially seniors, to get the updated COVID-19 booster shot and, if they test positive and are eligible, to access therapeutic drugs that likely will reduce the severity of any illness.

Disgraced crypto exec Sam Bankman-Fried spent big in two SoCal Congress races

Advertisement

Before his business empire imploded, Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and the second-biggest donor to Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections. Groups connected to him spent about $2.4 million in two races: Sydney Kamlager’s bid for the 37th Congressional District and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia’s race in the 42nd District in southeastern L.A. County.

The questions now are how he zeroed in on Kamlager and Garcia, and whether he wanted them to support his plan for crypto regulation in Washington.

The vast majority of Bankman-Fried’s contributions were funneled through political action committees, which are barred under federal law from coordinating with candidates. Still, some Democrats have tried to distance themselves from him, wary of the optics of being backed by a mega-donor whose customers at cryptocurrency exchange FTX may have lost everything.

More politics

  • As competing sides talk vampires and voter access, the Georgia Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker remains a question mark.
  • California lawmakers are expected to begin a special session today to consider a penalty on oil profits in response to high gas prices.
  • Former President Trump faced rebuke from officials in both parties after calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution over his lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
  • In August, administration officials thought they might be near a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, but the outbreak of protests have made that impossible. Still, the nuclear issue will be back, writes Washington columnist Doyle McManus.

For more news and analysis, sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter, sent to your inbox three days a week.

Check out "The Times" podcast for essential news and more.

These days, waking up to current events can be, well, daunting. If you’re seeking a more balanced news diet, “The Times” podcast is for you. Gustavo Arellano, along with a diverse set of reporters from the award-winning L.A. Times newsroom, delivers the most interesting stories from the Los Angeles Times every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Advertisement

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

“Lula is our only hope.” In the Brazilian Amazon, pristine jungle is giving way to cattle pastures, loggers are felling thick trees that have stood for centuries, and wildcat miners are heading deep into the forest in search of gold. But Amazon dwellers see a glimmer of hope in the election of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to halt the destruction of the rainforests and throw invaders out of Indigenous reserves.

Black Californians have long celebrated cowboy culture. We’re just catching up. The Times’ Tyrone Beason writes: “Growing up, I couldn’t think of a more powerful symbol of the American West than a white man with his horse: Clint Eastwood as cattle driver Rowdy Yates, staring me down with his icy gaze. The Lone Ranger crusading against injustice on his stallion Silver. ... I wasn’t taught about the Black rodeo athletes, trail riders, ranchers and horse trainers who draw strength from the same traditions that Hollywood made me fall in love with. Black cowboys and cowgirls are finally getting their moment to shine in the mainstream.

Brittney Griner is facing a “terrible” life at a remote penal colony in Russia. Among Russia’s hundreds of prisons, the 21 facilities clustered in Mordovia are especially notorious. A humanitarian group based in Moscow alleges labor conditions violate national law, medical care is limited, and substandard food provides little sustenance, especially during long, cold winters. One former inmate said sleep-deprived workers, pushed to their limits by unrealistic production quotas, endured intimidation and beatings.

CALIFORNIA

The iconic car floats that were a part of the Virgen de Guadalupe procession were replaced. The floats cruised down East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue for decades as part of the East Los Angeles procession. But the 91st annual Catholic devotion saw them replaced with wooden platform shrines hand-carried by volunteers. The cost-cutting shift was welcomed by some who saw the floats as a distraction and dismissed by those who loved the pageantry.

After more than 70 years, the Griffith Park Pony Rides will close this month. Owner Steve Weeks said the city of Los Angeles decided not to renew his business’ contract.

The Golden Gate Bridge “suicide net” could cost $400 million, double the original estimate. Two construction firms in charge of the project recently filed a motion requesting that they be able to sue the span’s managing entity for damages and breach of contract. The contractors allege the district concealed information regarding bridge deterioration and other issues, resulting in increased construction costs and project delays.

Advertisement

Support our journalism

Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.

NATION-WORLD

Shootings at two power substations caused outages in North Carolina. The incidents were being investigated as a criminal act, could take days to repair and left tens of thousands of people without electricity, authorities said.

The status of Iran’s morality police status was unclear after an official’s “closure” comment. An Iranian lawmaker said Iran’s government was “paying attention to the people’s real demands,” which were “mainly economic,” a day after a top official suggested the country’s morality police, whose conduct helped trigger months of protests, had been shut down.

OPEC decided to keep its oil supply cuts in place. The Saudi-led oil cartel and allied producers including Russia did not change their targets for shipping oil to the global economy amid uncertainty about the effects of new Western sanctions against Russia that could take significant amounts of oil off the market. Today, two measures aimed at hitting Russia’s oil earnings in response to its invasion of Ukraine were set to begin: an EU boycott of most Russian oil and a cap of $60 per barrel on Russian exports imposed by the EU and the Group of 7 democracies.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Our Entertainment team released a slew of year-end picks. The categories included:

  • The best movie performances, from Justin Chang, including Cate Blanchett in “Tár” and Colin Farrell in “After Yang” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
  • The 14 best TV shows, from Robert Lloyd, including “This Fool” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”
  • The 20 best albums, from Mikael Wood, including Beyonce’s “Renaissance” and Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti.” (And the 100 best songs, complete with playlist!)
  • The five best novels, according to Mark Athitakis.

Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster. The lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, alleges that Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment Inc., engaged in fraud, price-fixing and antitrust-law violations while selling advance tickets to the pop superstar’s Eras Tour.

BUSINESS

You’re going to pay higher gas prices as California decarbonizes. A state mandate will phase out sales of new internal combustion cars and light trucks by 2035. The retail price of gasoline is likely to rise as refineries and other industry players seek to maximize profit before demand for the product fades away.

Advertisement

OPINION

What Sheriff Villanueva got right (and why it wasn’t enough). Villanueva’s tenure was disastrous for the county and his department, but he got a few things right, usually despite himself. His most obvious on-target policy was to remove federal immigration officials from county jails.

Believe in ghost stories and visits from the dead? It’s more natural than you think. We tend to see the mind as separate from the physical body. So once the body ceases to exist, the mind can very well persist. It is this dualist tendency that meddles with many aspects of our thinking and promotes our fascination with spirits, demons and ghosts.

Free online games

Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our new game center at latimes.com/games.

SPORTS

The four teams vying for the national championship to be played at SoFi Stadium will carry no local flavor. USC’s loss Friday to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game knocked the Trojans out of the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings. Top-ranked George will play No. 4 Ohio State in the Peach Bowl, and No. 2 Michigan will take on No. 3 Texas Christian in the Fiesta Bowl. Both games are Dec. 31. The CFP selection committee got it right, says The Times’ J. Brady McCollough.

The Chargers can’t afford any more losses after the Raiders setback. The Chargers, 6-6 and ninth in the AFC, now will meet teams consecutively that currently hold playoff positions (Miami and Tennessee). The offensive line can’t afford any more setbacks either. The Raiders had five sacks and 14 hits against quarterback Justin Herbert, strong-arming the game away.

“Playing like the MVP.” By the time it was done, Anthony Davis had scored 55 points, his most as a Laker, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked three shots in the Lakers’ 130-119 win Sunday over the Wizards, another historic performance for the big man.

Advertisement

ONLY IN SoCAL

A man stands on a desk and yells during an office Christmas party.
“Bob’s Holiday Office Party,” an irreverent romp set in a small-town insurance office, is in its 25th year, at Beverly Hills Playhouse.
(Louisa Gauerke)

Your ultimate guide to live holiday shows. Here’s a roundup for Southern California, where performances are well underway. Among them: South Coast Rep’s hit production of “A Christmas Carol”; a “Merry-Achi Christmas” at the Cerritos Center; and, through Dec. 31, the Actors’ Gang’s “Shambles,” an “immersive, 1960s-themed holiday panto featuring music, dance, comedy and cirque-style acrobatics.” Many more here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The top portion of a newspaper with seven narrow columns of type and the title "The Los Angeles Daily Times."

One hundred forty-one years ago this week, on Dec. 4, 1881, the Los Angeles Times launched as the Los Angeles Daily Times. It was published daily except Mondays. (See a portion of the first edition above and, below, an ad for Christmas toys including wax dolls, autograph albums and velocipedes.)

The paper’s first home was a small brick building at Temple and New High streets in downtown L.A. In October 1886, the “Daily” was removed from the title.

The intervening years have brought several changes of headquarters and many ups and downs, as well as continuing notoriety and pride. The Times has won 49 Pulitzer Prizes. The first, in 1942, was a Gold Medal for Public Service for a 1st Amendment campaign confirming “the right of free press as guaranteed under the Constitution.” And the most recent, this year, was for breaking news photography by Marcus Yam — “raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan.”

Advertisement
An old newspaper ad boasts "Christmas Presents! For Everyone."
Dec. 4, 1881: A holiday ad from the inaugural edition of The Times.

We appreciate that you took the time to read Today’s Headlines! Comments or ideas? Feel free to drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com.

Advertisement