Newsletter: Essential California: Bill to bring transparency to Coastal Commission gets murky

Good morning. It is Friday, Aug. 12. In Malibu, one supermodel has installed a system to pull water from the air. It’s apparently collecting enough water to cook, take a shower and fill a koi pond. Here’s what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Unhealthy air

Southern California is seeing its worst smog in years. Ozone pollution has exceeded federal standards on 91 days so far this year. In June, there were just four days that had healthy air across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. “It’s disgusting. The air is so thick you can almost taste it,” said youth soccer coach Garry Attridge. Los Angeles Times

Secret talks

A watered-down version of a bill that would prohibit ex parte communications between members of the California Coastal Commission and applicants was released by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. One amendment would in effect allow such private talks to continue at project sites. “I am concerned that several of the amendments may have departed from the intent and purpose of this bill, which was to curb lobbyist and developer influence, level the playing field for all Californians and restore transparency and trust in the Coastal Commission,” said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara. Los Angeles Times

Violence in juvie

A new report finds a jump in use-of-force incidents at juvenile facilities in Los Angeles County. In the first six months of the year, reports increased 85% at Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey and Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. “While we do regularly review these incidents, we’re assessing this specific information to identify the reasons for the fluctuations. It’s too soon to know now what the results of the analysis are,” said Kerri Webb with the Probation Department. Los Angeles Times

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L.A. AT LARGE

Serious crash: A driver in MacArthur Park attempted to avoid a parking ticket by throwing his truck in reverse, but authorities said that in doing so, he hit four pedestrians. Two were critically injured. Los Angeles Times

Wedding bells: Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a married man — again. He tied the knot with Patricia Govea on Saturday in Mexico. Villaraigosa is widely expected to run for governor of California in 2018. Associated Press

1% problems: Zare and Seda Baghdasarian sold their home in the most exclusive part of Malibu to their real estate agent for $5.795 million in 2012. He renovated it and then sold the house for $15 million three years later. The Baghdasarians are now suing Chris Cortazzo, alleging he defrauded them. Cortazzo denies any wrongdoing. Hollywood Reporter

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Military families: The state attorney general’s office reached a $252,000 settlement with two contractors who unlawfully evicted 18 service members and their families in San Diego and Orange counties. “This agreement holds these contractors accountable for their unlawful conduct — including illegal evictions and privacy violations — and ensures that veterans’ rights under the law are protected,” said Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. KPBS

Career path: Former staffers to President Obama are flocking to Silicon Valley companies, from Apple to Uber to Square. “We’re viewed as foreigners. In start-up culture, it’s like these regulations and all this stuff is just a burden,” said Ryan Metcalf, a former senior analyst in the White House. CNN Money

Targeting voters: An explanation of why GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump doesn’t really need to win the Latino vote in November. New York Times

Words have meaning: Former President Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, has some strong words for Trump and his comments on “Second Amendment people.” “I am the daughter of a man who was shot by someone who got his inspiration from a movie, someone who believed if he killed the President the actress from that movie would notice him ... Yes, Mr. Trump, words matter.” Facebook

CRIME AND COURTS

Looking for clues: Detectives are searching Boyle Heights to find more witnesses to the shooting death of Jesse Romero. The 14-year-old was killed by police after they say he fired a gun at them. However, one woman told The Times that Romero’s gun went off after he threw it over a fence. Gun experts say that’s not an impossible scenario. Los Angeles Times

Hollywood breakup: TMZ and Starline Tours have had an awfully ugly breakup. In the latest chapter, TMZ had sheriff’s deputies raid the bus line’s Hollywood office to collect on a court judgement. A representative for Starline Tours accused the celebrity gossip site of drumming up drama for its TV show. Los Angeles Times

Comedian convicted: A Vietnamese comedian who traveled to Orange County for work was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting a boy. The case of Minh Quang Hong has captured the attention of his homeland. He’s expected to be sentenced to 18 months in prison. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Not a drop to drink: Columnist Robin Abcarian took to the skies with the Westlands Water District to check out California’s water supplies. Officials for the water district say California has enough water and that it’s just mismanaged. “I like people to be able to see with their own eyes that the state is not out of water because of lack of rainfall or snow pack … Too much is being allowed to flow out to sea,” said Johnny Amaral, Westlands deputy general manager. Los Angeles Times

Call of the wild: A mountain lion killed a pony this week in Auburn Lake Trails near the Northern California town of Cool. “It is statistically rare for a mountain lion to attack a horse, but it does occur on occasion, and it is usually a smaller horse,” said Kyle Orr, information officer with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Sacramento Bee

Off the list: It’s the fastest recovery of any mammal on the Endangered Species Act. Three subspecies of foxes living on the Channel Islands were removed from the list 12 years after they were on the brink of extinction. “We’re ecstatic that we’ve reached this point so quickly,” said Steve Henry, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s office in Ventura. Associated Press

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Dignity in death: Diagnosed with ALS in 2013, Betsy Davis was determined to die on her own terms. Rather than spend her final days with ventilators and feeding tubes, Davis took advantage of California’s new aid-in-dying law. “She turned death into a reason to celebrate, and she was there to enjoy the party,” her sister wrote in an essay. Voice of San Diego

Get the moving van: It was only a matter of time — San Francisco is getting too expensive for the techies. And if they took similar jobs in cities like Austin or Seattle, their dollars would go a lot further. “It used to be people in San Francisco made much more, but that gap is decreasing. With the dramatic increase in cost of living, the economics are becoming less favorable to workers,” said Paul D’Arcy of Indeed. BuzzFeed

International appeal: Will the airport in Ontario soon have direct flights to China? Elected officials in the Inland Empire want to draw international trade and expand the L.A./Ontario Airport. “We want to make it a first-class international airport,” said San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman. San Bernardino Sun

Memory lane: What’s in actress Drew Barrymore’s storage unit? Some fantastic Hollywood photos from the ’80s and ’90s. Vanity Fair

Fast food innovation: Panda Express has apparently introduced the “chork.” It is the combination of a fork and chopsticks. SFGate

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will have low clouds and a high of 77 degrees. Los Angeles will have fog as temperatures reach 82 degrees. It will be sunny and 95 in Riverside. It will be sunny and 97 in Sacramento. There will be clouds and a high of 68 in San Francisco.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Joan Kosowski:

“We traveled to L.A. to visit. It was freezing cold in the dead of winter in the Midwest. I was 8 years old. We parked near a university campus; class was spilling out into the sunshine. The students seemed impossibly grown up and glamorous. At that moment I decided I couldn’t wait to be a grown-up and I would move to California.”

For the record: An item in yesterday’s newsletter gave the wrong date for the Rams’ preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys. The game is on Saturday, not Sunday.

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.