Today’s Headlines: Southern California bakes as heat wave, fire and smog continue

Hello, it’s Tuesday, July 18, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Southern California bakes under another day of scorching heat, fires and smog

At the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center, a digital thermometer read 123 degrees and counting — within striking distance of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth.

By midday Monday, as Southern Californians wilted under another day of a long, scorching heat wave that has brought triple-digit temperatures and increased fire danger, the canyons and gorges of the vast Death Valley National Park near the California-Nevada border shimmered beneath the white-hot sun. Still, the relentless, eyeball-stinging heat wasn’t enough to stop visitors from braving the danger.

• Surviving Death Valley at 128 degrees is “like a blow-dryer in my face.”

Construction concerns came decades before the Rolling Hills landslide

Some residents at the Rolling Hills Estates development battered by a destructive landslide raised concerns during the neighborhood’s construction years ago about the potential for problems from water and heavy rainfall, city planning documents obtained by The Times show.

Authorities are trying to determine the cause of the slide, which sent multiple homes slipping down a canyon wall.

Asian American model finds her voice amid political backlash

Julia Lee, a fashion model and social media influencer, is part of a legion of newcomers to Los Angeles who’ve helped to transform the city into an epicenter for emerging online personalities in the worlds of fashion and pop culture.

But it’s hard to conduct business as usual and celebrate accomplishments when living in a country that’s experiencing a spike in identity-based hate crimes and a political backlash.

With all the recent turbulence, it seems to Lee that the nation is growing even more divided.

• Anti-Asian hate attacks are down in Los Angeles. Why some are worried.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Buhurt combatants face off at a tournament in Loveland, Colo. In the sport that uses steel swords, axes and maces, the weapons are blunt; the pain, often sharp.

(Mike Barry / For The Times)

Getting medieval: This sport is a brutal human demolition derby with armor, axes and swords. Welcome to the world of buhurt, a modern medieval combat sport where athletes wearing suits of armor fight with heavy metal swords, axes and maces.

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles politicians are joining picket lines. The city attorney wants them to stay away. In the middle of L.A.’s hot labor summer, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has advised city officials to refrain from speaking out at strikes or union protests.

Winning numbers drawn as Powerball jackpot nears record territory: 4 things a winner could afford.
Monday’s Powerball jackpot is estimated at $900 million, making it the third largest payout in lottery history.

The California Supreme Court upholds Uber workers’ right to sue. State’s high court rules an Uber driver whose contract required him to take disputes to arbitration could represent his peers in a class-action suit.

NATION-WORLD

A famous rock on the Oregon coast had a surprise visitor this weekend: A cougar. But not for long. By Monday morning, the cougar had vanished.

Georgia’s top court rejects former President Trump’s attempt to thwart prosecutor in a 2020 election investigation. Trump’s legal team argued that Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis and her office should be barred from seeking charges and that a special grand jury report that is part of the inquiry should be thrown out.

Why allowing Ukraine to ship grain during Russia’s war matters to the world. Russia has suspended a wartime deal brokered by the U.N. and Turkey that was designed to move food from Ukraine to parts of the world where millions are going hungry.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

James Cameron shuts down ‘offensive’ rumor he is making a movie about OceanGate submersible disaster. The “Titanic” director set the record straight Saturday on Twitter, less than a month after five people died aboard an OceanGate Expeditions submersible that imploded during its descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.

Elton John testifies for the defense in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial. The singer briefly testified Monday as Spacey’s lawyer attempted to discredit a man who claimed that the Oscar winner aggressively grabbed his crotch while they were driving to the singer’s summer gala.

Taylor Swift is the first living artist in nearly 60 years to achieve rare feat on the charts. The pop musician is the first living artist in nearly 60 years to boast four albums simultaneously in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart.

BUSINESS

Microsoft and U.K. regulators win more time to resolve a blocked $69-billion Activision deal. Microsoft and British regulators won more time from a court as the U.S. tech company uses a rare second chance to overcome opposition to its $69-billion bid for video game maker Activision Blizzard.

SPORTS

Commentary: Ranking 25 films about sports and moving Black America forward. The list is far from scientific, Herbert Lowe writes, but these key factors came into play: “Did it make me cry a little, laugh a lot or swell with pride? It’s likely the ones at the top did all three.”

How family and determination forged teenager Alyssa Thompson’s World Cup talent. At only 18, Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson is part of a new wave of soccer players looking to carry the torch of dominance for the U.S. women’s national team.

Commentary: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti explains why elite soccer clubs love U.S. tours. Real Madrid and AC Milan are among the big international soccer clubs looking to grow and strengthen their fan bases and bottom lines with U.S. friendlies.

OPINION

Gov. Newsom says California’s anti-housing environmental law is ‘broken.’ So why won’t he fix it? “In sum, Newsom’s big push to reform a ‘broken’ law won him a statutory right to implore judges to speed up a few more cases — and little else,” Chris Elmendorf writes.

Affirmative action is banned — except at military academies? Why that won’t help students. “In permitting race-based admissions policies at military academies alone, the court seems to invite minority candidates to pursue an education and career in the military, where discriminatory policies and attitudes can stifle success,” Zoe Kreitenberg writes.

ONLY IN L.A.

Taylor Lindsey at her nursery in South Los Angeles on March 28, 2023. She founded the Plant Plug, a curbside nursery and garden with a focus on bringing urban farming and education to Los Angeles.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

No yard? No problem. L.A. native Taylor Lindsey will teach you how to grow mobile gardens that’ll shift your thinking.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

South African President Nelson Mandela dances at a celebration concert after his 1994 inauguration in Pretoria.

(John Parkin / Associated Press)

On this day 105 years ago, Nelson Mandela was born.

Before he became president of the new post-apartheid South Africa and a Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate, Mandela visited Los Angeles. It was 1990, and he had been a free man for only a handful of months after spending 27 years in prison. But he had been a symbol for years — of endurance, of the black-and-white apartheid battle in South Africa.

Once he landed at LAX, local television stations covered him live. Imagine — no freeway chase, no sirens, just an elderly man shaking hands and talking. The L.A. Times printed eight stories about his one-day visit.

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.