Newsletter: Essential California: USC scandal will be decided behind closed doors

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Aug. 7, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Behind closed doors

How USC handles the scandal over former medical school dean Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito will be decided behind closed doors by a small group of wealthy and powerful people. Little is known about exactly who will make key decisions and whether the findings will be made public. And the trustees have been largely silent. Los Angeles Times

High-profile deportation

The Lincoln Heights man who became the face of Trump-era deportations is set to be sent back to Mexico. Sitting in an immigration detention center, Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez counted up all the family events he has missed since his arrest Feb. 28. There’s the Los Angeles Marathon, for which he helped his 14-year-old daughter, Fatima, train for several months. And the joint celebration they share every year — their birthdays are one day apart. He also missed his 28th wedding anniversary and his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation. Los Angeles Times

Plus: How a Bay Area family is being torn apart by immigration enforcement. Los Angeles Times

And: This could get interesting. Gov. Jerry Brown this weekend expressed reservations about a bill in the state Legislature to increase limitations on how local law enforcement agencies can work with federal immigration authorities. “We’re having discussions with the author,” Brown said on “Meet the Press.” “There are some changes that I think would be very important.” Los Angeles Times

Lending trees grow

Simply put, buying a home isn’t easy, especially in high-cost metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles County, where the median price of a home hit $569,000 in June. But changes in the mortgage industry are afoot, with the goal of loosening some of the strict standards established after the subprime crisis — rules some blame for impeding sales. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Rich life: This 85-year-old drummer in Hollywood shows you don’t have to have any money to be rich. Los Angeles Times

Big cleanup: Inside the largest toxic cleanup in California history. By this fall, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control plans to begin removing lead-tainted soil from 2,500 residential properties near the shuttered Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon. It spans seven southeast Los Angeles County neighborhoods, where plant operations have threatened the health of an estimated 100,000 people. Los Angeles Times

New locale: Chargers fans … welcome to Carson. Los Angeles Times

Dream over? Some L.A. immigrants wonder whether the dream resides somewhere else. “My parents have always told [us] opportunities are anywhere. They brought us to this country because it was supposedly the land of opportunity. But if we find opportunity in another place, our country is wherever our feet take us.” Press-Enterprise

Big games: Irvine is planning a massive sports park complex larger than Disneyland. Orange County Register

Party time: “Don’t light the candles just yet. We need to wait for the wind to die down.” Meet one of Hollywood’s most successful party planners -- less formal planning, fewer Instagram followers than the competition. But making a statement. New York Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Warning sign? In the tiny Northern California town of Loyalton, four retired city employees became the first in California to see their pensions sliced by CalPERS because of a city defaulting on its payments to the fund, but hundreds of other government retirees across the state may soon face a similar fate. Los Angeles Times

Clock’s ticking: Six months after the Oroville Dam crisis, the race is on to make repairs before the rainy season comes. Mercury News

A fighter: One of California’s top lobbyists has a new all-consuming battle: His young daughter’s health. Sacramento Bee

Follow the money: Late donations from philanthropist Eli Broad and others helped charter backers shift the balance of power on the school board. Los Angeles Times

Slow-speed departure: California bullet train chief executive Jeff Morales announced in April that he would be leaving June 2 after five years running the nation’s largest infrastructure project. But in the four months since, the high-speed rail board has not taken any public action to replace him. In fact, Morales is still on the state payroll, and officials say he will be at the authority at least through Tuesday. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Grief in Fresno: They tried to fight off armed robbers at the family store. A son was shot and killed. Fresno Bee

Pronoun litigation: Nikki Brar and her parents are suing Heritage Oak school in Yorba Linda for discrimination. The school allegedly did not let the transgender girl to use the pronouns or bathroom of her choice. Los Angeles Times

Deputy killed: An off-duty 29-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was killed when he was struck Saturday by a vehicle while he was stopped on the shoulder of the 605 Freeway in Cerritos. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

Pacific Coast walk: How one of California’s most scenic drives has become a foot path. San Francisco Chronicle

Joshua Tree fight: The struggles to generate power from the Joshua Tree area. Some believe it could ruin the area. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Ratings redo: TV ratings, according to Nielsen, have been on a steady decline across broadcast and many cable networks in recent years. That’s led to frequent headlines that streaming services such as Netflix are eating traditional TV’s lunch, especially among younger viewers. Network and advertising executives have groused that the measurements are wrong and are demanding changes. Los Angeles Times

Fare not fair? On a flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco — one of the nation’s most popular air routes — a passenger can pay up to six times more for an economy seat than another passenger on the same flight. Los Angeles Times

Diversity in Silicon Valley: Google has been talking a lot about workplace diversity in recent years. There appears to be a backlash within the company. Gizmodo

Final frontier: In San Diego County, this might be the last frontier of affordable home ownership. San Diego Union-Tribune

Trippy: A surreal tour of California. BuzzFeed

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: partly cloudy and in the low 80s. San Diego: partly cloudy and in the high 70s. San Francisco area: partly cloudy and in the mid-60s. Sacramento: sunny and in the low 90s. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made a mark in California: Angels player Mike Trout (Aug. 7, 1991), actor Dustin Hoffman (Aug. 8, 1937), Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Aug. 11, 1950) and former L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich (Aug. 12, 1939).

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 Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.