Newsletter: Protests over the Breonna Taylor case decision

Demonstrations took place around the U.S. after a grand jury decided to not charge Louisville police officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor.

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Protests Over the Breonna Taylor Case

The shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police during a raid on her home in March could easily have slipped into obscurity — one more deadly encounter between law enforcement and a Black American.

Instead, her name and image became nationally known during a summer of protests against racial injustice and excessive use of force. On Wednesday, a Kentucky grand jury decided not to hold the officers legally responsible for Taylor’s killing, instead bringing three charges of wanton endangerment against an officer who shot into Taylor’s neighbors’ homes.

That generated fresh protests Wednesday across the country, including in New York, Chicago and downtown Los Angeles. In Louisville, authorities said two police officers were shot near the protest site where demonstrators had wept and chanted Taylor’s name. Authorities announced a curfew of 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent 500 National Guard troops to the city.

Here is the latest.

California’s ‘Zero Emissions’ Order

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to require all new car sales in the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035, and he threw his support behind a ban on the use of hydraulic fracturing by oil companies.

Under Newsom’s order, the California Air Resources Board would implement the phaseout of new gas-powered cars and light trucks and also require medium and heavy-duty trucks to be zero-emission by 2045 where possible. California would be the first state in the nation to mandate 100% zero-emission vehicles, though 15 countries already have committed to phasing out gas-powered cars.

Newsom did not take executive action to ban the oil extraction method known as fracking but called on the state Legislature to do so.

State Senate Republican leader Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, which is in the heart of California oil country, criticized Newsom’s order as “extremist.”

Young but Not Invincible

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the median age of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. has declined over the spring and summer, with Americans in their 20s now accounting for more cases than people in any other age group.

The findings suggest that if the U.S. wants to get its coronavirus outbreak under control, it will need more cooperation from young adults.

Experts say young adults are more likely to work in jobs where their risk of exposure is greater and are less likely to be fastidious about wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and practicing physical distancing.

More Top Coronavirus Headlines

— Johnson & Johnson is beginning a huge final study to try to prove if a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine can protect recipients from the coronavirus. It’s one of the world’s largest studies among the vaccines that have reached the final testing stage.

— How is Southern California’s Little Saigon curbing coronavirus? By respecting elders, listening to authorities and embracing masks.

— As in many states, New Mexico’s small towns are bearing the brunt of the pandemic.

— Reopening colleges drove a coronavirus surge of about 3,000 new cases a day in the United States, according to a preliminary study.

For more, sign up for Coronavirus Today, a special edition of The Times’ Health and Science newsletter.

Debate Prep 101

On Tuesday, President Trump and Joe Biden are scheduled to face off in Cleveland in the first of three presidential debates. Their approaches to preparation differ as much as the candidates’ views do.

While Trump publicly insists he doesn’t rehearse for debates, behind the scenes he is quietly studying videotapes of Biden’s debate performances in 2008 and 2012 to look for weakness or vulnerabilities. And Trump is batting around attack lines with aides, rather than holding a more formal mock debate or sessions devoted to memorizing facts and data points.

For his part, Biden is huddling with a small group of advisors in Wilmington, Del. The former vice president plans to attack Trump’s leadership as unsteady, challenge the president’s repeated falsehoods, and contrast his own experience in a crisis.

More Politics

— Trump refused to commit to giving up power should he lose the November race, adding to concerns that a contested election could lead to a constitutional crisis and a unique challenge to the nation’s democracy.

— In Arizona, voter outreach groups have become lifelines for people hit by COVID-19, offering them contacts to aid organizations and a sympathetic ear.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

In 1932, Hollywood movie studios sponsored a charity event called the Electrical Parade and Sports Pageant to raise money for the motion-picture relief fund and the Marion Davies Foundation. On Sept. 24, an estimated 60,000 people gathered at the Memorial Coliseum for the festivities. There were speeches, a slew of celebrities, a polo game and marching bands, plus an appearance from a guest of honor, presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, then-governor of New York.

But the main event was the parade, “a glittering procession of beautiful floats,” according to The Times. About 20 floats with twinkling lights participated.

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CALIFORNIA

— The California State University system is getting its first chancellor of color in Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro, the grandson of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student.

— Beleaguered fire crews have made significant progress on the Bobcat fire burning in northeastern Los Angeles County. Track the progress of California’s wildfires with our map.

— The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hid a methane leak for a year. Activists are calling for the power plant to shut down.

— Despite their campaign efforts, Uber, Lyft and other app-based companies have yet to persuade voters to support a ballot measure that would allow them to again classify their workers as independent contractors, a new poll finds.

— Fall in Southern California has begun and so has the race between rains and Santa Ana winds.

NATION-WORLD

— A judge ruled that Eric Trump must testify in a New York investigation into his family’s business practices before the November presidential election, rejecting his lawyers’ claims that his “extreme travel schedule” on the campaign trail warranted a delay.

— Two Republican-led Senate committees issued a politically charged report on the work Hunter Biden did in Ukraine.

— Chad Wolf, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, denied allegations that he molded intelligence reports to suit the administration, telling a Senate committee that a recent whistleblower’s report is “patently false.”

— Tensions are rising along the Pacific coast of South America as a giant Chinese fishing fleet of roughly 300 vessels moves from the edge of the Galapagos marine preserve to the waters off Peru.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Mariah Carey has a memoir out, and our reviewer calls it her best performance yet.

— How Sofia Coppola and Rashida Jones put their own family lives into their new movie, “On the Rocks.”

— A new study found that TV shows with immigrant characters and immigration storylines — including “Ramy,” “One Day at a Time,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “Superstore” — changed viewers’ understanding of and attitudes toward immigrants.

— Sherlock who? Millie Bobby Brown is terrific in Netflix’s clever “Enola Holmes” movie, deputy film editor Kevin Crust writes in his review.

BUSINESS

— There’s a pandemic, but Southern California home prices are at record levels. Industry experts say it’s not as much of a surprise as it sounds.

— Tesla has sued to block the Trump administration from collecting tariffs on parts the electric car maker imports from China.

SPORTS

— The Lakers have presented a case to the NBA that their star, LeBron James, is not getting his fair share of free throws against the Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference finals playoff series.

— Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor is recovering from a medical accident in which a pregame injection inadvertently punctured his lung.

OPINION

— There are few good options to settle the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court. Maybe it’s time to expand it, writes columnist Doyle McManus.

— Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and his colleagues are introducing the first set of major democracy reforms since Watergate. He explains why.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— “What we do is really try to not take a point of view.” Leaked audio shows how Facebook has tried to hold the center as employees question its friendliness with the Trump administration and urge a harder line, and as its right-leaning U.S. users urge the opposite. (The Verge)

— We’re six months into the pandemic. What will the next year look like? STAT consulted dozens of experts and explored 30 key moments, possible turning points and barometers for how the virus is reshaping our lives. (STAT News)

ONLY IN L.A.

How does a six-mile bike ride around downtown Los Angeles that doubles as a history lesson on the forgotten past of Latinos sound to you? Columnist Gustavo Arellano found the Los Angeles Explorer Club‘s audio tour to be intriguing — a chance to “learn a better, fuller history about L.A. than whatever you learned back in high school.” Then came the hard part: pedaling uphill.

Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.