Newsletter: Today: Picking a National Security Advisor, ‘Apprentice’-Style? From the Front Lines of Mosul.
I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss on Presidents Day.
TOP STORIES
Picking a National Security Advisor, ‘Apprentice’-Style?
Amid a busy Presidents Day weekend of attacking the “fake news media” — a.k.a. “the enemy of the American People!” — and holding a rally in Florida in which he uttered a falsehood about Sweden, President Trump interviewed four candidates for national security advisor. Two others had already dropped out of the running to succeed Michael Flynn. As with much in the young administration, reports of internal strife are clouding the process, even as Trump repeats that everything is running smoothly.
More Politics
-- An official says the Department of Homeland Security has drafted broad new guidelines to more aggressively capture and deport people living in the country illegally.
-- White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus flatly denied any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
-- So, what happened that night in Sweden?
Welcome to Maywood: Sanctuary City Trailblazer
Maywood in southeast L.A. County had fewer than 30,000 residents in 2006, but it got national attention when it declared itself a sanctuary city that year. Back then, folks weren’t even sure what the term meant. The decision angered some residents, for sure. Then came the conservative talk-radio hosts and the anti-illegal-immigration group called the Minutemen Project. Eleven years later, with Trump threatening to punish sanctuary cities, the landscape looks a lot different.
When Americans at Home Were Treated Like Enemies
Seventy-five years ago Sunday, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps scattered across deserts and swampland. At a forum in L.A.’s Little Tokyo to mark the anniversary, visitors wondered if the lessons of that injustice had been forgotten in today’s political climate.
Oroville Dam Faces a New Test
Another powerful storm is hitting Northern California, once again testing the region’s flood prevention network and prompting more furious preparations at Oroville Dam’s damaged spillways and crippled power plant. As officials investigate the cause of the emergency spillway’s near-failure last week, interviews and records suggest it grew out of fundamental problems with its original design. For those with families who have lived along the mighty Feather River for decades, the drama is another example of how humanity lives at the whims of nature.
From the Front Lines of Mosul
The first phase of the campaign to drive out Islamic State from the city of Mosul lasted 100 days and reportedly inflicted casualty rates as high as 50% for some units of the Iraqi military. Now, after taking about a month to recuperate, those fighters, aided by U.S. special forces, have begun to retake the remainder of Mosul. Another grueling fight is expected, as Islamic State uses car bombs, suicide bombers and snipers to battle back. Our intrepid correspondent Nabih Bulos is there.
A Secret List of ‘Problem’ Sheriff’s Deputies
If a law enforcement officer has a history of dishonesty or other misconduct, how easy should it be to find that out? That’s the crux of a battle over a list the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has compiled. It contains the names of about 300 deputies, and Sheriff Jim McDonnell wants to send it to prosecutors so they can inform criminal defendants if a “problem” deputy is involved. But the union representing rank-and-file deputies says it’s a violation of privacy and could put mistakes from long ago under unfair scrutiny.
CALIFORNIA
-- An Escondido family has been split in two after a mother was deported to Mexico, leaving her twin 18-year-old daughters without a parent.
-- A stuntman, a bookkeeper and a bar owner are among the 20 candidates in a crowded contest for a Los Angeles City Council seat.
-- George Skelton: Does California really need more dams? We’re running out of places to put them.
-- Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles: “We are looking at a totally new political world.”
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Richard Schickel, one of America’s most important film critics, has died at 84.
-- Countdown to the Oscars: The acting of Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe helped drive two best-picture contenders this year with “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures.”
-- What was up with Bill Maher’s “Real Time” interview with Milo Yiannopoulos?
-- Laura Dern on fame, feminism and subversive roles.
-- L.A. Opera’s 30-year-old “Salome” is back and not a kid anymore.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
They call him Mr. Poitier. Sidney Poitier became the first African American to earn a best actor Oscar for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field.” In 1967 alone, he starred in three classic films — “In the Heat of the Night,” “To Sir, With Love” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” And then he went on to direct. Find out more about a Hollywood legend who turns 90 today.
NATION-WORLD
-- Trump promised a coal renaissance, but keeping open this Arizona plant will test his resolve.
-- Treason! It’s a provocative charge being leveled against Trump, and one that rarely amounts to much.
-- Amid Madagascar’s drought, mothers send their children to bed without water to drink.
-- Exit polls show leftist candidate Lenin Moreno leading Ecuador’s presidential vote.
BUSINESS
-- SpaceX launched almost 5,500 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station in the first commercial launch from the historic pad where the Apollo and space shuttle missions began.
-- How to make sure your financial planner is looking out for you.
-- San Francisco loves tech and fancy coffee. So of course it has barista robots.
SPORTS
-- The Western Conference All-Stars beat the Eastern Conference 192-182, but the big news — the Kings’ trade of DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans.
-- Dustin Johnson ran away with L.A.’s Genesis Open and took over the No. 1 spot in the world golf rankings.
-- Bill Plaschke takes in this weekend’s UCLA victory over USC on the basketball court.
OPINION
-- Seventy-five years later, looking back at The Times’ shameful response to the Japanese American internment.
-- Is the “deep state” out to get Trump? We’re not there yet.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- John McCain sounds the alarm on Trump, but it isn’t easy for him. (New York Magazine)
-- The lessons of a 100-year-old fake news story. (BBC)
-- Abraham Lincoln’s best friend forever. (Smithsonian Magazine)
ONLY IN L.A.
What’s it like to hear the L.A. Phil play your music in Disney Hall? Four composers found out last week, and it was a learning experience. They are all high schoolers, after all. Read on to see how one discovered inspiration for his classical piece on the L.A. Metro.
Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
