A sewage spill could cost L.A. up to $21.7 million

Hello, it’s Thursday, April 20, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

A massive sewage spill could cost L.A. city up to $21.7 million in fines.

The Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant was cited for more than 150 violations of its environmental permit, including failure to comply with ocean monitoring and reporting requirements after torrents of raw sewage flooded the facility in July 2021.

They left gangs and found God. But they weren’t spared in El Salvador’s crackdown

When a young man just out of prison came to Pastor Nelson Moz in 2012, saying he’d found God and wanted to leave his gang, the pastor agreed to help. Word soon spread, and others seeking to abandon their criminal lives started showing up at the church. Twenty-five men at a time stayed at the church. Dozens more filtered through, seeking redemption.

Last spring, it all came to an abrupt halt.

Why Fox News didn’t apologize in Dominion defamation case

A day after Fox News agreed to pay $787 million to settle a defamation case involving Dominion Voting Systems, media critics debated whether the conservative network should have also issued an on-air apology.

Frank Ocean dropped out of Coachella Weekend 2, citing leg injury

“After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1, Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity,” the statement continued.

“On doctor’s advice, Frank Ocean is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”

The great big highly specific guide to Disneyland

Plan an epic visit to Disneyland and California Adventure. From the best rides to tasty food to unexpected tricks, here’s what to add to your itinerary.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has died at 92

The take-charge venture capitalist who as mayor shepherded Los Angeles’ rebound from the 1992 riots, expanded its Police Department and masterminded its recovery from the Northridge earthquake, has died at his Brentwood home.

The last Republican mayor of what became a liberal city, Riordan was 92.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Jon Andre Parrilla, 23, left, and Jeffrey Perez, 24, right, of Connecticut, attend Coachella weekend one on April 14, 2023.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

One aspect of Coachella you can only get in person? The showstopping fashion. For two weekends, the lush green field at the Empire Polo Club becomes a catwalk.

Big, bright colors are still in, as is showing skin — Coachella is in the desert, after all. Take a look at some of the most memorable outfits we came across at the festival, and the inspiration behind them.

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles gets an F grade for air quality again in national report. Despite tremendous progress in reducing air pollution over the last several decades, 98% of Californians live in communities with unhealthy levels of smog or fine particles, according to a new report released by the American Lung Assn.

Before-and-after satellite photos show the great California snowmelt underway. The Sierra and Southern California mountain ranges are beginning to shed their record snowpack as weather warms up.

Climate change is here. It’s time to stop clinging to the past. As the planet continues to heat up, the state’s landscapes, watersheds and weather are shifting so fast it can be difficult to keep track. Let’s stop and look around, writes energy reporter Sammy Roth.

Plan for luxury L.A. hillside homes in fire danger zone sparks protests. A 20-year battle over the fate of a rugged, verdant hillside in is barreling toward an epic conclusion as developers move forward with plans to construct a luxury housing project. But opponents say there have been considerable environmental changes in the area since the project was first approved 20 years ago.

NATION-WORLD

A parking garage collapsed in New York, killing one person and injuring five others. Vehicles tumbled into what looked like a frozen stream of sedans and SUVs. People nearby described a fearsome rumbling, followed by screams.

Can a doorbell ring justify a ‘stand your ground’ shooting? The case of an 84-year-old white man opening fire on a 16-year-old Black boy who went to the wrong Kansas City address could shine a light on one of the most common self-defense policies in the U.S. — the right to protect yourself in your home.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Who is David Choe? The ‘Beef’ star’s 2014 ‘rapist’ comments resurface. The artist — whose graffiti work and paintings famously graced the walls of Facebook headquarters — is facing renewed backlash over his 2014 claims of a sexual encounter with a massage therapist who did not give her consent.

A former Menudo band member alleged he was raped by Menendez brothers’ slain father. Roy Rosselló’s allegation comes 27 years after siblings Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder in the 1989 slayings of their parents, and sentenced to life in prison.

A wrongful conviction led to deeply personal art about the ‘broken criminal justice system.’ Sherrill Roland creates art only out of materials he had access to, or saw, while incarcerated. One series in his solo exhibition, etched acrylic wall sculptures called “Thirsties,” uses Kool-Aid as a primary material; it’s something he drank frequently while behind bars.

Megan Thee Stallion penned an essay on the Tory Lanez verdict: ‘The final time I’ll address this.’ “I don’t want to call myself a victim. As I reflect on the past three years, I view myself as a survivor because I have truly survived the unimaginable,” she wrote in an essay published Tuesday in Elle.

BUSINESS

Fox News-Dominion settlement doesn’t end the crisis for Rupert Murdoch’s empire. The Dominion case was the latest costly scandal for the company, which has spent millions of dollars over the last decade paying victims of phone hacking by Murdoch’s now-defunct British tabloid.

Tesla slashed U.S. prices again. Some industry analysts say demand may be slowing for the company’s vehicles as more competition enters the market. Others say Tesla is using its high profit margins to take market share from competitors.

Tech firms try to muzzle workers with NDAs, SEC tipsters say. Companies — including an Apple subcontractor, Electronic Arts and Block — improperly used nondisclosure agreements that prohibit workers from reporting bad behavior to the SEC.

SPORTS

‘That’s what he stood for’: Loyola High fights through an emotional game after loss of beloved teammate. Loyola lost a game this week it was in no way prepared for and, frankly, in no shape to play. Last Wednesday night, Loyola High’s baseball team officially got word: Ryan Times was dead. He’d been struck by a North County Transit District Coaster train in Carlsbad.

Clayton Kershaw is superb in joining 200-win club as Dodgers blank Mets. Kershaw not only became the 117th major league pitcher to reach the 200-win club, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, but he got there with a higher career winning percentage (.694) than any other member, improving his career regular-season record to 200-88.

OPINION

Opinion: I’m 63 and I don’t want to lose my TikTok. Congress needs to examine the pitfalls of every social media platform and set up safeguards that protect users from abuses from Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram — not just TikTok. Let’s fix it, not ban it.

Opinion: Cars don’t have to rule Culver City, or the future of L.A. transit. Culver City is a small town, and 1.3 miles of transportation infrastructure may seem inconsequential. However, if the city votes to take down the Move Culver City project, it will be a devastating setback, not just for those who use the lanes but also for how Angelenos see the future of transportation in the region.

Column: Bass is right to add cops in L.A., but quality matters more than quantity. “Of course the city needs more police officers. That was one of the issues Bass campaigned on. What she has to avoid is creating an administrative culture in which the premium is placed on quantity of policing rather than quality, in an attempt to fulfill that campaign promise,” LZ Granderson writes.

ONLY IN L.A.

Overnight guests’ packed bags in the tunnel during a sleepover at the Last Bookstore.

(Julia Carmel / Los Angeles Times)

The Times’ Julia Carmel spent all night at the Last Bookstore in downtown L.A. “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up for one of the first ever sleepovers at California’s largest new and used bookstore. I had vague hopes of staying up until sunrise, reading and exchanging slumber party-esque gossip with strangers, all while surrounded by the highly Instagrammed book tunnel and book sculptures that fill the former bank building,” Carmel writes.

While those hopes didn’t exactly come to pass, things did get spooky.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

A bud tender displays a jar of cannabis at the High Times 420 SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino.

(Richard Vogel / Associated Press)

Happy 4/20 to all who celebrate! You probably know what many people do today, but you might not know how the date became an international celebration of cannabis culture.

In 2016, the Times’ James Queally wrote about the rumors surrounding the origins of 4/20. Is 420 the police radio code for smoking marijuana in public? Was it the day Adolf Hitler died? Or Jim Morrison of “the Doors”? Did it mark the day of death of someone else famous or infamous? Nope. Negative. Try again.

The rumors about how 4/20 began tend to drift around like smoke from a tightly rolled joint. But most marijuana enthusiasts do agree that the 4/20 name has its roots in California.

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