Today’s Headlines: How the Hollywood writers’ strike could top 2007

Hello, it’s Monday, May 8, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Impact of writers’ strike on L.A. economy could surpass 2007 stoppage, experts say

The cascading impact of the Hollywood writers’ strike could touch almost every facet of the economy in Southern California, including the housing market, and lead to economic fallout that eclipses the estimated $2.1 billion in losses during the last work stoppage, experts say.

The last strike dragged on for 100 days as writers lost lucrative gigs. So did carpenters and caterers, prop houses and production assistants. Soon a ripple effect set in, and some consumers spent less at shops and restaurants — even car dealerships took a hit.

Analysts predicted this stoppage could last three months or more, according to one recent report. While it’s possible the sides may come to an agreement faster this time, it’s not likely, according to several economic experts.

Is California giving reparations for slavery? Here’s what you need to know

California’s Reparations Task Force voted on Saturday to recommend that the state issue a formal apology for slavery and potentially provide billions of dollars in cash payments, moving forward a historic effort to enact remedies and compensation for descendants of African Americans who were enslaved in the U.S.

The vote at a public meeting in Oakland marks the beginning of the end of the nine-member panel’s two-year process to craft a report recommending reparations for slavery, which is due to the state Legislature by July 1.

The report will act as a manual for lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom as state elected officials begin to debate righting the wrongs of the past.

Restrictive border policy Title 42 ends this week, leaving imprint on future of asylum

A decades-old measure invoked by the Trump administration in March 2020, Title 42 was based on a public health order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used to block asylum seekers and other migrants from entering the United States.

Though it was presented as a way to slow the spread of COVID-19, revelations from whistleblowers and statements from politicians have made clear that it has been largely used in an effort to deter migration. Now that the declared health emergency is ending, so will Title 42 orders. The policy is set to end Thursday.

But many predict border crossings will increase in the short term, and the backlog of asylum seekers likely isn’t going anywhere.

This tribe was barred from cultural burning for decades — then a fire hit their community

Cultural burning — the practice of using controlled fires to tend the landscape — was once widespread among many Indigenous groups, but ended with the arrival of European settlers.

Now, many experts say the lack of regular, low-intensity fire in some California ecosystems has contributed to an overgrowth of vegetation that has made wildfires grow larger and more severe. And, in a cruel irony, Native Americans are among those most affected, they say.

Indigenous residents are over three times more concentrated in California census tracts that see fires most frequently and where the most acreage burns, according to a study by UC Irvine researchers published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

Workers at a Trinity County cannabis farm accuse the owner of locking them in and not paying them what they were owed. The owner disputes the claims.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Cannabis workers face death and exploitation. California is stepping in after Times investigation. Acknowledging growing concern over the mistreatment of cannabis workers, California regulators have quietly assembled a team to pursue labor exploitation in the state’s burgeoning weed industry.

$55,000 to leave a rent-controlled apartment? Why these tenants say no thanks. In a city faced with a housing and homelessness crisis, where many renters pay more than half their income to live in overcrowded, aging homes, some tenants have what many others long for: low-cost housing, and they know just how valuable it is.

CALIFORNIA

Illegal dumping has plagued Watts for decades. Residents are fed up. Watts has been known as a trash hot spot for more than half a century — yet the city has still not solved the problem, leaving the neighborhood’s overwhelmingly Black and Latino residents fuming.

San Bernardino County pays $1.1-million ransom over Sheriff’s Department hack. The ransomware attack, discovered in early April, forced the department to temporarily shut down some of its computer systems, including email, in-car computers and some law enforcement databases — even the system that deputies use for background checks.

It’s official: San Diego’s City Hall complex is being advertised for sale or lease. On Friday, the city of San Diego published what’s called a “notice of availability,” kick-starting a solicitation process under California’s Surplus Land Act.

NATION-WORLD

8 dead after being hit by vehicle at bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, police say. At least 10 others were injured Sunday after they were struck by a vehicle while waiting at a city bus stop outside of a migrant shelter in the border city.

Gunman kills 8, wounds at least 7 at Dallas-area mall. The gunman stepped out of a sedan and opened fire at a Dallas-area outlet mall before being killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby, authorities said.

Crowned king at long last, Britain’s Charles III formally ascends to the throne. Britain pulled out all the ceremonial stops for its first royal coronation since Charles’ late mother, Elizabeth II, formally assumed the throne in 1953.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Queen Charlotte and King George III: What does the ‘Bridgerton’ prequel get right? “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” arrived Thursday on Netflix and offers more of the bodice-ripping and exciting modern twists we’ve come to expect from the “Bridgerton” universe.

‘Stranger Things’ shoot delayed by strike: ‘Writing does not stop when filming begins.’ Showrunners and brothers Matt and Ross Duffer announced Saturday that the Netflix series is among several small- and big-screen projects that have been affected by the strike.

Yes, Nick Cannon has 11 kids with six women. He also makes $100 million a year. Forget the kids — the tabloid headlines mask a bigger and more interesting truth about Cannon: He quietly oversees what could reasonably be described as a multimedia empire, as he tells The Times’ Amy Kaufman.

BUSINESS

Fox News host set to take Tucker Carlson’s time slot blasted over racially offensive joke about protesters. Kayleigh McEnany, who served 10 months as press secretary in the Trump administration, is getting a weeklong tryout in the high profile 8 p.m. Eastern hour starting Monday. She’s already proving to be controversial.

Chris Pratt (‘Guardians 3’) dethrones Chris Pratt (‘Super Mario’) at the box office. Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” opened in first place at the domestic box office with $114 million, according to estimates. After a four-week streak at No. 1, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” came in second.

SPORTS

Her grandparents were track legends. Her mother was a USC star. Joelle Trepagnier wants to outpace them all. She is the third generation of Edmonson family track stars, a precocious Culver City sophomore who won the 400 at the Arcadia Invitational on April 9 with big dreams of more wins.

Pieces of Lakers puzzle are falling into place as they take series lead over Warriors. The series isn’t over. But the Lakers were so resourceful, so deep, so disciplined Saturday in their 127-97 rout of the defending champion Golden State Warriors that they gave the Warriors a lot to think about and respond to in Game 4, columnist Helene Elliott writes.

OPINION

It took him two years to get his homeless friend into housing. Mayor Karen Bass, he’d like a word. In this Hear Me Out, a series of video letters to the editor, Los Angeles resident Nicholas Melillo explains how he spent more than two years maneuvering through bureaucratic red tape. He nearly gave up.

California has passed more than 100 housing laws since 2016. Are any of them working? Despite the deluge of legislation, annual building permits have remained stubbornly stagnant at just over 100,000 homes annually for the last few years. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

ONLY IN L.A.

A coyote seen in an El Cajon development site in San Diego County. A different coyote walked into a home in Woodland Hills, Calif.

(Karen Pearlman / San Diego Union-Tribune)

That’s one weird-looking dog. A Woodland Hills resident got more than she bargained for early Friday morning when a coyote breezed through the dog door and unnerved her cat.

Around 4 a.m. Friday, a video camera captured a coyote walking into the living room and encountering Mia Shoshan’s 14-year-old cat, which became agitated and alerted the household. The coyote got spooked by the activity and fled. The encounter was unusual, if frightening, though experts say interactions with coyotes are on the rise as human development encroaches on their habitats.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

May 8, 1959: Aurora Vargas is carried by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies after her family refused to leave their house in Chavez Ravine. The photo was taken by Los Angeles Mirror-News photographer Hugh Arnott.

(Hugh Arnott/Los Angeles Times Archive/UCLA)

In May 1959, as preparations were being made to build Dodger Stadium, negotiations to relocate the few remaining residents of Chavez Ravine failed.

The city acquired the land under the mostly Mexican-American neighborhood, with promises to build a public housing project for the families who agreed to leave. The housing was never built, and the city instead traded the land to the Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping to secure the team’s presence in L.A. But a few families had refused the city’s relocation offers, distrusting officials.

On May 8, sheriff’s deputies arrived to carry out evictions and forcibly remove the remaining Chavez Ravine residents, a brutal and violent episode captured by news photographers. The Arechiga family was among them. Even after their home was razed, members of the family returned to the site to camp in protest. The story remains a controversial and dark chapter of the city’s history.

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