Hello, it's Monday, July 17, and here are the stories you shouldn't miss today:
TOP STORIES
'A lot of blood in the water.' Why actors' and writers' strikes are a big blow to Hollywood studios
Simultaneous strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — the first joint work stoppage since Ronald Reagan led SAG in 1960 — couldn't come at a worse time for traditional entertainment companies.
"There's going to be a lot of blood in the water," Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus of USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab, said. "This is not going to end well."
More on the strikes across Los Angeles
Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the best of The Times' reporting on the business of Hollywood.
Top L.A. police union official tells cops to go 'somewhere that understands your worth'
Police union vice president Jerretta Sandoz advised LAPD officers on Facebook to work in a city that doesn't have two or more council members "who hate you."
In a comment that was apparently later deleted, the union leader for more than 9,000 LAPD officers laid out what she saw as the hardships of being a cop in L.A.: hostile City Council members, a ban on displaying the "thin blue line" flag and the lack of a "great" contract.
Risk of tap water exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals higher in Southern California
Tap water in urban areas of Southern and Central California appears more likely to be contaminated by PFAS "forever chemicals" than drinking water in many other regions of the nation, although rural Californians are far less likely to suffer similar exposure, according to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Inside the world of L.A.'s gym-fluencer ecosystem
When visibility is currency, influencers have unveiled the most vulnerable activities: waking up, eating, getting dressed. Now, exercise — a sweaty, uncomfortable experience once executed under baseball caps and oversized sweaters to avoid attracting attention — has too become primed for public consumption.
Judging by the 190 billion video submissions filed under #gymtok, there's a market for it. Between an undeniable emphasis on aesthetics and obsession with wellness, Muscle Beach is no longer confined to a strip of sand in Venice, but stretched across the entire city.
OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND
After 10 years, is this the beginning of the end for Black Lives Matter? The short answer is probably not. But the movement is 10 years old and, after several controversies, public opinion is down. Some want a new strategy writes Erika D. Smith.
The 'Un-Becoming': A former gang member finds his resurrection tale. Jessi Fernandez is part of a swelling pipeline of ex-convicts who make it to a UC or Cal State school and find an unexpected path forward.
The ending of the new "Mission: Impossible" is a real train wreck. Just as they planned it. For the film's gripping final sequence, the biggest in one of Hollywood's biggest action franchises, a spectacular crash is just the beginning.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
Being Asian American and LGBTQ+ can feel lonely, with institutions such as ethnic churches often disavowing non-heterosexual relationships while traditional LGBTQ+ spaces such as gay bars can be unwelcoming.
Welcome to the nightclub where where queer Asian Americans no longer feel like "black sheep."
CALIFORNIA
New evidence may back Menendez brothers' sexual abuse claims. But can it free them? Twenty-seven years after Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of killing their parents, attorneys say new evidence supports the brothers' claims that they were sexually abused by their father.
Adam Schiff dominates rivals in fundraising for California's U.S. Senate race. Schiff collected roughly double the combined total raised by his top Democratic opponents — Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee — in the same period.
Rockhounds fight for access to their jewel in the desert: Mojave Trails National Monument. A fierce seven-year debate over whether to prohibit the removal of rocks and minerals from Mojave Trails National Monument threatens to end rock collecting within its 1.6 million acres.
Support our journalism
Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.
NATION-WORLD
DeSantis presidential campaign is cutting staff as new financial pressure emerges. DeSantis, the Florida governor, let go fewer than 10 paid staffers late last week to help reduce operating expenses, according to an aide granted anonymity to discuss internal campaign strategy
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
What to know about an actors' strike: Five questions answered. The walkout will halt productions worldwide and cause more economic pain and disruption for the film and TV industry already shaken by the writers' strike that began May 2.
A genre-hopping novelist reinvents the ghost story as a Mexico City horror film. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Silver Nitrate" continues her tradition of overturning genres — this time in the chilling story of film horror fanatics in Mexico City.
"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" opens with $80 million at the box office. Paramount Pictures' "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," starring Tom Cruise, opens with softer-than-expected ticket sales domestically.
BUSINESS
Have student loans? These employers will help you pay them off. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down President Biden's loan forgiveness plan, companies are looking to offer student debt repayment as a benefit.
SPORTS
U.S. refs are poised to make history during the Women's World Cup. A record number of U.S. referees, including one mother of three, are on track to call games during the Women's World Cup.
Maxwell Lewis is living an NBA dream that shocks one Lakers-loving fan — his dad. Robert Lewis grew up a Lakers fan but never thought his son Maxwell would get a shot at playing for the team he idolized — until NBA draft night.
Free online games
Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our new game center at latimes.com/games.
OPINION
RFK Jr.'s left-wing appeal in L.A. is no joke. Kennedy's popularity on Los Angeles' Westside, a hot spot of "conspirituality" — where wellness and spirituality meet conspiracy theories — shows a growing left-wing distrust in democracy, columnist Jackie Calmes writes.
Newsom says California's anti-housing environmental law is 'broken.' So why won't he fix it? The California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, blocks housing and climate-friendly infrastructure. But the governor's recent reform falls woefully short, writes Chris Elmendorf, a professor at the UC Davis School of Law..
ONLY IN L.A.
(Los Angeles Times illustration; photo by Josh K. Brede)
They help people with disabilities scale mountains and win championships, and they've just opened a new chapter in Los Angeles. ParaCliffHangers primarily focuses on climbers with physical and vision disabilities, some of whom have limited or no use of their legs. Through a mechanical system using pulleys, adaptive climbers are able to take some of the weight off their legs.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
The Los Angeles Times covers the opening of Disneyland in July 1955. (Los Angeles Times)
Disneyland opened in Anaheim on July 17, 1955, "across 160 acres formerly occupied by orange groves," says the L.A. Times story. Entry at the time would run you $1 per person. That's about $11 today, accounting for inflation.
But the park today costs much more than that, and in the 68 years since it opened, has become larger and more advanced. But its allure seems timeless. Read the Los Angeles Times' great big highly specific guide to Disneyland to learn everything you might need to know to understand that magical kingdom today.
We appreciate that you took the time to read Today's Headlines. Comments or ideas? Drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com.
Comments
Post a Comment