Newsletter: Today: In Texas, the Waters, Fears — and Heroes — Rise

Amid the storm in Texas, dramatic rescues are taking place, as the rain and flooding go on. Experts had long warned of such a deadly scenario in Houston. Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

In Texas, the Waters, Fears — and Heroes — Rise

Tropical Storm Harvey continues to wreak havoc across southeast Texas, leaving at least nine people dead and submerging much of Houston. As heavy rain and floodwaters hit Texas and Louisiana, authorities say more than 30,000 people across the Gulf Coast are likely to seek temporary shelter. “Harvey has in many ways turned southeast Texas into an inland lake,” says one Red Cross official. Amid the disaster, emergency personnel and a navy of amateurs in virtually anything that would float ferried stranded survivors to safety. One crew of volunteers used a boat, a dump truck and a school bus to rescue dozens of Houston families.

Why Houston Is a Sitting Duck

For years, experts had been warning that Houston was a hurricane disaster waiting to happen. The city is built on a massive flood plain next to the Gulf of Mexico, which routinely sends big rainstorms its way. As the city has grown into the nation’s fourth largest, developments have gone up in areas that more strictly regulated states wouldn’t allow. And with the long-term risks to Houston rising, there’s no easy or cheap fix.

More About the Storm

-- President Trump will visit Corpus Christi and other parts of Texas today, and promised that Congress would move swiftly to approve long-term recovery funding.

-- Speaking of the politics of disaster.... More than 20 Texas representatives and senators voted against aid after Hurricane Sandy. How will they vote on Harvey?

-- The storm is hurting Texas’ oil refinery output, but its full economic hit is too early to tell.

-- Here are some ideas for how you can help the victims.

‘Trump Tower Moscow’ Had a Ring to It

The plan: Build Trump Tower Moscow, a luxury hotel and condominium project. The players: Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and Felix Sater, a Russian-born businessman. The timing: Cohen says he worked on it for five months after Trump declared his candidacy for president in 2015. “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote in an email to Cohen. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this.” In a statement to the House Intelligence Committee, Cohen says he abandoned the Moscow project in January 2016 after deciding it was “not feasible.” He also says Sater is prone to using “colorful language.”

More Politics

-- North Korea launched a missile over Japan, U.S. military officials said, increasing tensions again.

-- A panel of U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges heard arguments in Seattle over how broadly President Trump’s travel ban can be enforced.

‘Antifa’ Violence Strikes a Nerve

The videos are graphic: People clad in black, their faces covered in masks, kicking and beating supporters of President Trump and others whom they accused of being Nazis. The “black bloc” was only one of dozens of groups at Sunday’s protest in Berkeley, but its actions have prompted soul-searching among the leftist activist movement: Some are worried the violence helps advance the idea that the two sides are the same.

The Long Armor of the Law

When police have surplus military gear, does it make cities safer? That was the idea behind a Pentagon program created by Congress in 1990. But after images of police quelling the Ferguson, Mo., protests of 2014, President Obama stopped the distribution of armored vehicles, high-powered weaponry and grenade launchers, saying it could create the impression of “an occupying force.” As he has with many Obama policies, President Trump has now reversed that decision. For its part, the LAPD says that won’t change its approach.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Six months after student Juan Castillo was found shot to death, Santa Monica High School retired his football jersey number.

-- Inside the kitten nursery at Best Friends Animal Society of Los Angeles.

-- Poolside with Kaley Cuoco of “The Big Bang Theory” and her two pit bull mixes and shaggy terrier mix.

CALIFORNIA

-- Forecasters say a Southern California heat wave will go through the middle of the week, raising fire danger and probably setting records.

-- The city of Los Angeles may get rid of its ban on the sale of “ultracompact” guns after legal warnings from gun-rights groups.

-- A state Supreme Court decision may make it easier for local tax increases to finance specific repairs or expansions of schools, roads and more.

-- Border Patrol agents say they found a cross-border tunnel in Otay Mesa after dozens of people emerged from it.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Actor Aidan Gillen talks about that Littlefinger moment on the “Game of Thrones” season finale.

-- Celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Beyoncé and Drake are helping to raise money for storm-hit Texas.

-- Singer-songwriter Bedouine recorded her early songs on an iPhone in a closet in Echo Park. Her debut album has gained acclaim.

-- “Gone With the Wind” won’t be shown in the future by a Memphis theater that decided it was “insensitive” to many in the community.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

This week in 1964, moviegoers were feeling “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” after “Mary Poppins” hit theaters. Julie Andrews would win a lead actress Oscar for playing the super-nanny. A sequel starring Emily Blunt is coming out next year: “No one is ever going to out-Julie Julie Andrews, so I just had to do my version of her.”

NATION-WORLD

-- Depleted and on the run, Islamic State lost the city of Tall Afar, Iraq, without much of a fight. It was the hometown of some of the group’s top figures.

-- A German nurse convicted in 2015 of killing two people with heart medication overdoses is now suspected in the deaths of dozens more.

-- Russia had its own version of the Confederate monument problem. The solution was a sculpture park in Moscow.

-- The quiet mountain kingdom of Bhutan has found itself in the middle of a dispute between China and India.

-- The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on clinics offering questionable stem-cell treatments for cancer and other diseases.

BUSINESS

-- Little name recognition, little baggage: Why Uber chose Dara Khosrowshahi to be its new chief executive.

-- Amazon has slashed some of the prices at Whole Foods, sending more shock waves through the grocery industry.

SPORTS

-- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez are close friends, a relationship that benefits the team.

-- Developers of the future home of the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood hope pricey stadium suites will transform the NFL game day experience.

OPINION

-- How Houston can prevent Harvey-like disasters in the future.

-- Some Republicans are asking whether the president is borderline insane: See the David Horsey cartoon.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- In March 2016, this in-depth, interactive series looked at why Houston isn’t ready for a hurricane. (ProPublica)

-- “Why are people still expecting me to apologize and grovel to a man that tweets like this?” Kathy Griffin has lost money and friends over a photo meant to provoke. (The Cut)

-- An American reading list: One fiction, nonfiction and famous book set in each state. (Literary Hub)

ONLY IN L.A.

The hotel on Sunset Boulevard known in its heyday as the Riot Hyatt saw more than its fair share of antics: a motorcycle racing down a hallway, TV sets hurled about and fires set by some of the golden gods of rock ’n’ roll. So why did the avant-pop band Sparks once get banned over the defenestration of a bagel?

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