Newsletter: A $20-million plan to clean up MacArthur Park

Good morning. It is Monday, Oct. 17. The bicycle collection of the late Robin Williams is going up for sale. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Blood and chaos

Two men were arrested Sunday in connection with a weekend shooting at a West Adams restaurant that left three people dead and 12 injured. Mowayne McKay, 33, and Diego Reid, 25, are both Jamaican nationals who are expected to be charged with murder. “This is real tragic,” said Deputy Chief Bill Scott, head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Bureau. “We have a lot of sorting out to do. When the shooting started, everyone scattered.” Los Angeles Times

Police oversight

The Inglewood Citizen Police Oversight Commission was created in 2002 as a way for the public to review the actions of police officers. But it hasn’t quite worked out that way. The commission is scheduled to meet monthly, but it’s convened just four times this year. And as for its power: “Before commission members were even sworn in and held their first meeting, opposition from the police union resulted in laws that reduced the panel’s authority.” Los Angeles Times

Cleaning up the park

“It’s like trying to push the waves back from the ocean.” That’s how L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo describes the ongoing efforts to clean up MacArthur Park, one of the poorest and densest parts of Los Angeles. He wants to undertake a $20-million renovation that will include a new boathouse, outdoor classroom and play areas. Los Angeles Times

L.A. AT LARGE

Reflection: A view of the homeless crisis in L.A. “Sukkot is the perfect time to make you feel guilty about the homeless.” Jewish Journal

Sense of ownership: Pay a visit to the Maravilla Handball Court in East L.A. “This place is a lighthouse,” said Amanda Perez, who has been an advocate for the property for a decade. “And when a storm comes in, what does the lighthouse do? It gets brighter.” Los Angeles Times

College acceptance: The story of how one Chinese company has paid thousands of dollars in perks and cash to admissions officers at some of America’s top colleges. Reuters

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

State races: Here’s what shifting demographics are doing to state races in the San Gabriel Valley as Democratic Sen. Carol Liu and Republican Sen. Bob Huff are both termed out of office. San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Making it in O.C.: Orange County is losing young people who can’t afford to live on “poverty wages.” The trend “could devastate O.C.’s pool of workers, creating talent gaps as large swaths of the workforce retire, leaving open positions that will likely go unfilled,” said Wallace Walrod with the Orange County Business Council. Orange County Register

Identity politics: An email leaked by Wikileaks purportedly shows that one aide to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said of the December 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack: “Better if a guy named Sayeed Farouk was reporting that a guy named Christopher Hayes was the shooter.” Fox News

Campaign donations: President Obama will be in Beverly Hills on Oct. 24 to raise money for his fellow Democrats. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Tainted cases: The potentially large shadow of police corruption in Kern County. Bakersfield

Deadly crash: A pickup truck swerved off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge on Saturday and plunged 60 feet to Chicano Park. Four people were killed and nine others were injured. The driver, a 25-year-old Navy man stationed in Coronado, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. San Diego Union-Tribune

Continuing the movement: A half-century later, some in the Black Lives Matter movement want to take over where the Black Panthers left off. San Francisco Chronicle

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

An old technique: California farmers and winemakers are exploring the technique of dry farming as the drought marches on. “We’re at an important inflection point,” said Heather Cooley, water program director at the Pacific Institute. “Farmers have to figure out how to produce crops with less water.” Quartz

No help: A methane leak in Aliso Canyon left the affluent community of Porter Ranch covered in noxious fumes. The response there was swift, unlike what’s happened in Eight Mile, Ala. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

L.A. vs. Chicago: It’s the baseball trash-talk edition. Here is the Chicago Tribune’s dis on L.A. and Steve Lopez’s response. Los Angeles Times

Lost history: Yes, there was a time when L.A. had its own Wrigley Field. Los Angeles Times

Changing views: These photographs show the Los Angeles of the poor. New York Times

Death of a unicorn: Fab.com was once valued at $1 billion before it fell apart. What can other start-ups learn about failure? Bloomberg

PR strategy: What the framing of Steph and Ayesha Curry says about race and class — “to be the Good Black Family is to be subject to the pressures and whims of a fickle American public.” Buzzfeed

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento will be 69 degrees and cloudy. San Francisco will be 67 and cloudy. In Los Angeles, clouds will give way to sunshine as temperatures reach 74 degrees. San Diego will have a high of 75 degrees with some clouds. Riverside will have some clouds and a high of 74.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for notable Californians:

California Controller Betty Yee (Oct. 19, 1957), L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis (Oct. 20, 1957), state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris (Oct. 20, 1964), rapper Snoop Dogg (Oct. 20, 1971), actress Carrie Fisher (Oct. 21, 1956), Kim Kardashian (Oct. 21, 1980) and musician Weird Al Yankovic (Oct. 23, 1959).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.