Hello, it's Wednesday, May 17, and here are the stories you shouldn't miss today.
TOP STORIES
Almost 40% of land burned by western wildfires can be traced to carbon emissions
Almost 40% of forest area burned by wildfire in the western United States and southwestern Canada in the last 40 years can be attributed to carbon emissions associated with the world's 88 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, according to new research.
In findings published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the authors concluded that the emissions generated in the extraction of fossil fuels, as well as the burning of those fuels, have increased the amount of land burned by wildfire by raising global temperatures and amplifying dry conditions across the West.
The study is the latest in a growing body of research known as extreme event attribution, or attribution science, which seeks to determine how much global warming has contributed to extreme weather events.
How TikTok and other social media have reshaped the way people migrate to the U.S.
As migrants from across the globe camped out in border towns following Title 42's expiration, sleeping outside and fighting hunger and nerves, they have increasingly turned to TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and other social media not just for the comfort of family contact but also for updates on the policy change.
Their frequent searches and scrolling — complicated by spotty cell service and dwindling batteries — underscore how social media and technology have made migration into the U.S. more accessible but also, in ways, more perilous. Influencer accounts have increased the speed of information-sharing in languages from Spanish to Chinese to Pashto, while also accelerating the spread of disinformation.
Feinstein responds to questions about her absence from Washington
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has said little publicly since her return to Washington, briefly spoke with reporters this week, though she did not provide many answers. Her months-long absence from the Senate didn't derail the confirmation of President Biden's judicial nominations or the work of federal government, but it caused angst among Democrats who worried that the slim margins of their majority could make their work difficult or impossible.
In the short interview after voting, she mentioned a problem with her leg but said she was feeling better. Then a reporter asked about the well wishes she'd received from her Senate colleagues since her return last week.
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For easy living and California vibes, China's digital nomads flock to 'Dalifornia.' Can it last?
Whenever John Wang, a 40-year-old Chinese tech entrepreneur, hears "Hotel California" by the Eagles, he can't help but sing along — with one minor modification. During the chorus, Wang and his friends like to belt out their welcomes to the "Hotel Dalifornia" instead.
The renaming is an ode to Dali, a city of 774,000 in southwestern China that over the last three years has become a refuge for digital nomads and burned-out workers seeking a reprieve from harsh pandemic controls and the grind of big-city life. The atmosphere there has invited comparisons to California — or at least to the California that exists in the popular Chinese imagination.
Brink's drivers shocked by size of jewelry heist — stolen bling may be worth $100 million
On July 11, thieves made off with more than 20 large bags of jewelry, gems and other items that a Brink's tractor-trailer had been transporting from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo to the L.A. area.
Now, court filings have revealed details of the drivers' actions after the heist — as well as the public disclosure of their names — from a transcript of body-camera footage recorded by the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies.
Among the revelations in the transcripts and other filings: One of the drivers said he told several colleagues about a man who watched him at the jewelry show, but no one followed up about the matter. And the value of the shipments was much higher than the drivers had realized they were carrying.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
The aftermath of a landslide that damaged the historic Casa Romantica in San Clemente. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
An Orange County beach town finds itself between a bluff and a hard place. The Casa Romantica landslide is the latest in a season of crumbling cliffs in California following a winter of wet and powerful storms. For San Clemente, the damage to Casa Romantica has been a particularly difficult blow.
CALIFORNIA
City investigating Hollywood restaurants for allegedly keeping service fees, stiffing workers. The L.A. city attorney is examining whether Ten Five Hospitality — the group that operated Mother Wolf, Ka'teen, Mes Amis, Bar Lis and the Terrace — violated an ordinance for allegedly keeping the entirety of the 5% service fee they charged to customers instead of distributing it to workers.
After mpox outbreak, vaccinations plummeted. Now, officials are renewing the push. Health officials across the state are encouraging vulnerable people, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, to get vaccinated ahead of June Pride Month and summer events.
San Francisco D.A. releases video of guard killing alleged shoplifter and declines to file charges. The video shows a Walgreens security guard fatally shooting an unarmed man he suspected of shoplifting on April 27. Prosecutors said the evidence does not support filing charges against the guard.
Dancers at this California topless bar have become the only unionized strippers in U.S. The dancers at North Hollywood's Star Garden won union recognition after management withdrew challenges to their guild election following a sometimes testy 15-month battle.
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NATION-WORLD
A New Mexico gunman who killed 3 and injured 6 shot randomly at cars and homes, police say. Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said the gunman fired at least three weapons, including an "AR-style rifle." The shooting was "honestly one of the most horrific and difficult days that Farmington has ever had as a community," he said.
Beijing LGBTQ+ center shuttered as China cracks down on gay organizations. The closure marks a major blow to advocacy groups that had been able to be public about their work for LGBTQ+ rights.
The suspect in an attack on Congress staffers appears to have struggled with mental illness. The man has been violent before, attacking police officers last year. His father told the Washington Post that his son is schizophrenic and has been dealing with mental illness since his late teens.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
Kid Rock donated to the legal defense of the man who put Jordan Neely in a lethal chokehold. "Mr. Penny is a hero," Kid Rock wrote alongside his donation. "Alvin Bragg is a POS — Kid Rock." His $5,000 pledge put him among the fund's top donors.
LACMA has transitioned to a de facto contemporary art museum. But not a very good one. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art launched more than 60 years ago as an encyclopedic place to collect and explore global art from the last 3,000 years. Now, history has largely been abandoned.
'Live in love': Anne Heche was buried on Mother's Day and rests with Hollywood stars. Heche's remains were buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery nine months after she died in August 2022. A representative said her crypt is next to Mickey Rooney's.
Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough settle dispute over Lisa Marie Presley's estate. The deal brings an end to uncertainty over who will control the late Lisa Marie Presley's will, the legacy of the Graceland Mansion and many of the King of Rock 'n' Roll's personal possessions.
BUSINESS
Can revived music venue Saint Rocke bring a punk-powered spotlight to the South Bay? The South Bay has produced some of the most revered bands in punk history. Yet the region has struggled to maintain a venue that could host national, touring and local acts. The new owners of Hermosa Beach's Saint Rocke are trying to change that.
Who owns the phrase 'Taco Tuesday'? According to Taco Bell, it should be everyone. A decades-long, taco-promotion turf war reached new heights on Tuesday when Taco Bell launched a campaign to cancel federal trademarks for "Taco Tuesday," held through much of the country by Taco John's since 1989.
More companies help pay for fertility treatment, but it's still out of reach for many. A total of 54% of the biggest U.S. employers — those with 20,000 workers or more — covered IVF in 2022. That's up from 36% in 2015. But coverage gets spotty with smaller employers.
SPORTS
Commentary: Mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S. could damage the 2026 World Cup bottom line. It's the randomness of the shootings in a country with more guns than people that is likely most unsettling to visitors. If people who have lived here their whole lives can't avoid the bullets, what chance does a tourist have?
Dodger Stadium food guide: Twelve new items to tantalize your taste buds. Foods that have made their debuts include takes on the classic Philly cheesesteak sandwich, a fried cheesecake on a stick, a hot dog sprinkled with hot Cheetos dust, Greek fries, a chicken sandwich and bowl, potato taquitos and a new BBQ platter.
A gondola to Dodger Stadium? 'Repulsive,' 'something doesn't add up,' readers say. We asked readers if they would or would not use the gondola, or if they were not sure. The responses might surprise you.
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OPINION
Opinion: Think our treatment of animals has improved in 50 years? Think again. Because of the growth and further intensification of animal production, humans inflict more suffering on animals today than they did in 1975. Nevertheless, the trend since 1975 is not all negative.
Column: After Title 42, there's a border crisis, whether Biden admits it or not. The Biden administration seems to struggle more with the "messaging" of the crisis than the actual crisis — which is why it has often agonized about whether to use the word "crisis" at all.
ONLY IN SOCAL
The ruins of the Llano del Rio colony in the southeastern corner of the Antelope Valley. (Devin Oktar Yalkin / For The Times)
Five miles east of Pearblossom, in the southeastern corner of the Antelope Valley, lie the ruins of a town that wanted to change the world.
Although there's no plaque in sight, the ruins are supposedly registered as California Historical Landmark No. 933. For a brief while, it was the location of the Llano del Rio colony, which styled itself as "the world's greatest co-operative community."
The reality is that many of Los Angeles' utopian experiments have failed over the years. And although it is typically argued that communes collapse due to infighting, the majority of Californian utopian projects failed for another reason altogether: disputes over water rights.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court decided unanimously that "separate but equal" education denied Black children their constitutional right to equal protection under the law. (Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA)
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
In its decision, the high court struck down the long-standing "separate but equal" doctrine first laid down by the Supreme Court in 1896, when it maintained that segregation was acceptable if equal facilities were made available for Black and white people.
The L.A. Times published a story about the decision on the front page the day after it was announced.
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