Today’s Headlines: Hollywood crews union reaches a deal with studios

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Hollywood crews union reaches a deal with studios, averting a strike

The world’s mightiest media companies bowed this weekend to demands of Hollywood worker bees: the lighting and sound technicians, carpenters, makeup artists, set decorators, costume designers and others who work behind the scenes on film and TV sets.

It was a rare display of muscle for the industry’s “below-the-line” production crews, who were threatening to stage a devastating strike.

IATSE said the tentative contract improves wages and working conditions for streaming productions, provides a retroactive wage increase of 3% annually and higher penalties for companies that don’t provide meal breaks. The agreement also includes unspecified diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the union said. Here’s how the studios and crews union reached a deal.

They’ve been stuck for months on cargo ships now floating off Southern California. They’re desperate

Some 300,000 of these migrant merchant sailors have been stranded on vessels at sea or in ports around the world. They endure unbroken monotony and growing desperation. Their unions and charity groups describe exhaustion, despair, suicide and violence at sea, including at least one alleged murder on a cargo ship headed to Los Angeles.

Lopez: The clock is ticking on those unvaccinated L.A. city workers. Will they come around?

The day of reckoning is almost upon us. Come Wednesday, the deadline for getting COVID-19 vaccinations, we’ll find out what the penalty will be for Los Angeles city employees who refuse to comply with the mandate.

But here’s a taxpayer blood pressure alert: Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department are named in a notice of intent to sue the city over the mandate, and are each asking $2.5 million for what they claim is a violation of their rights.

More top coronavirus headlines

— Op-Ed: The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. The Delta variant that devastated India has spread worldwide — and the next variant could be even more deadly.

— L.A. County now requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination at indoor bars, wineries, breweries, distilleries, nightclubs and lounges. Last weekend, county health inspectors visited 129 businesses that were subject to the new requirement. Of those, 24 needed training related to implementing the mandate.

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

L.A. County supervisors may order audit to examine Mark Ridley-Thomas bribery charges

Two Los Angeles County supervisors are calling for an independent investigation into federal criminal charges against their former colleague Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is accused of taking bribes from a USC dean in exchange for lucrative county contracts.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will consider a motion to hire an outside law firm for the investigation, which would focus on both the allegations against Ridley-Thomas and “the associated county processes and policies.”

Regulators badly underestimated the devastation of a possible oil spill off the O.C. coast

Regulators scrutinizing plans for an oil pipeline off the Orange County coast in the 1970s examined the potential damage in the event of a ship anchor strike but downplayed the risks, concluding that a resulting spill would be minor, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

— Lake Tahoe’s water level has dropped so low that water is no longer flowing into the Truckee River and salmon aren’t expected to spawn in a major tributary this year.

— Mexico’s new culture war: Did a pyramid light show ‘decolonize’ or rewrite history?

— The seedy world of private lending in ‘Squid Game’ is a real temptation in South Korea.

— Biohackers at the gate: The untold story of how DIY experimenters waged war on COVID-19.

— Arellano: Is L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva rounding up a ‘posse’ of cowboys?

— L.A. Affairs: How a friend’s divorce affected my own marriage.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

After a tough night for Dodger fans, we are going to go all the way back to Oct. 18, 2020, to remember Cody Bellinger’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to win Game 7 against the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers clawed their way back from a 3-1 deficit in the National League Championship Series to beat the Atlanta Braves.

The Dodgers won three straight elimination games to win a playoff series for the second time in franchise history, joining the 1981 club that went on to win the World Series in a strike-shortened season. They were the first Dodgers team to ever win a seven-game series after facing a 3-1 deficit.

And we all know what happened after that.

Arlington, Texas, Oct. 18, 2020. The Dodgers and the Braves in game seven of the NLCS at Globe Life Field.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

— La Niña is back. What does that mean for a parched Southern California?

— At Rep. Karen Bass’ kickoff mayoral campaign event, she offered some of her most specific remarks on how to address the crisis in Los Angeles since she announced her candidacy last month. She cited the success of the local and state program to buy hotels known as Project Homekey, along with a similar program to rent rooms for vulnerable homeless people known as Project Roomkey.

— In a case prosecutors and defense attorneys agree “covers novel questions of fact and law,” two Tijuana men have been indicted on drug trafficking and hostage-taking charges in connection with the killing of a San Diego teenager in Mexico.

— Nearly a year out of the White House, Donald Trump continues to circle the Republican Party, commanding attention and influence as he ponders another run for the presidency. And still circling Trump is Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank).

NATION-WORLD

— Kidnapping of American missionaries in Haiti highlights the perils of religious workers abroad.

— Former President Clinton was seen leaving an Orange County hospital Sunday morning, six days after he was admitted and treated for a urological and blood infection.

— Movie star Matthew McConaughey, who describes himself as a “statesman-philosopher, folk-singing poet,” has been toying with the idea of a run for governor of Texas but has refused to commit. The question is, can he win?

— The number of people in Puerto Rico who identified as “white” in the most recent census plummeted almost 80%, sparking a conversation about identity on an island breaking away from a past where race was not tracked and seldom debated in public.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— The 12th installment in the blockbuster “Halloween” franchise, which was projected to gross $35 million to $40 million, smashed the opening-weekend box office record for a horror film released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

— The new trailer for ‘The Batman’ is here. What’s different about Robert Pattinson’s superhero?

— Yes, ‘The Last Duel’ is a true story. Here’s what’s historical fact and fiction.

— What’s on TV This Week: ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bachelorette,’ NBA Basketball and more.

BUSINESS

— Once again, some of Wall Street’s wealthiest financiers and other luminaries are descending on the Beverly Hilton hotel this week for a Milken Institute Global Conference — a year after COVID-19 forced them to participate virtually from behind their desks. But like much else in the pandemic era, it’s not quite what it was before.

— Zillow Group Inc. is taking a break from buying U.S. homes after the online real estate giant’s pivot into tech-powered house flipping hit a snag.

SPORTS

— Dodgers lose to Braves on walk-off single in Game 2 of the NLCS.

— Rams win easily to improve to 5-1 but there were Giant disappointments.

— Blowout loss to Ravens provides plenty of teaching moments for Chargers.

— Beating Oregon could help Chip Kelly finally take flight at UCLA.

OPINION

— Greene: Polly Klaas’ murder accelerated the tough-on-crime movement. Her sisters want to stop it.

— Abcarian: Add this to the list of things I’ll never miss: The gas-powered leaf blower

ONLY IN L.A.

Lisa Warmuth thought she had found an ideal community of like-minded creatives when moving into the Santa Ana Arts Collective apartments a year ago. The silverpoint artist sold her lakefront home in northern Minnesota and looked forward to a new lease on life.

The five-story bank building along 17th and Main streets had been transformed into a highly touted 58-unit affordable housing complex intended as a live-work haven for low-income artists. Meta Housing, the Los Angeles-based developer behind SAAC, received Innovative Development honors at the Affordable Housing Awards in September.

But instead of inspiration or innovation, Warmuth found dread at her doorstep after regular run-ins with several nonresident drug users who seemingly had easy access to the premises.

Today’s newsletter was curated by Seth Liss. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.