Newsletter: Essential California: More questions about a former USC med school dean and Pasadena police

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, July 26, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

A former USC medical school dean and the Pasadena police

The police officer who last year questioned the then-dean of USC’s medical school about his role in the drug overdose of a young woman expressed skepticism at Dr. Carmen Puliafito’s account, according to an audio recording made by the officer released Tuesday. The recording raises new questions about how Pasadena police handled the incident. Los Angeles Times

Connecting the dots

“This reminds me of the Steve Sarkisian fiasco.” That’s what one USC physician told Times columnist Steve Lopez of the brewing fiasco surrounding Puliafito. The physician was referencing the former Trojan football coach, who was dumped in 2015 after a Times investigation into his alcohol use in his previous coaching job. The point is that this is not the first scandal to hit USC in recent years, and the responsibility for these scandals falls on the school’s leadership.Los Angeles Times

Plus: The New York Times on the scandal: “The university is under intense scrutiny over the circumstances of Dr. Puliafito’s exit from the school’s leadership and whether the administration deliberately turned a blind eye to problems with a prodigious fund-raiser.” New York Times

Preparing for Armageddon

American cities have long prepared for a terrorist attack, even one involving nuclear weapons or a “dirty bomb,” but North Korea’s long-range missile and weapons programs have now heightened concerns along the West Coast over increasing vulnerability to a strike. Los Angeles Times

Red-hot housing

In many corners of Southern California, home prices have hit record highs. And they keep going up. Said one expert: “Candidly, the only thing that could upset the apple cart in California is if we build a whole bunch of housing and that’s as likely as an alien attack.” Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

A long-simmering fight between two mayors: More than four years ago, the mayors of the Antelope Valley’s two largest cities — Palmdale and Lancaster — faced off in a deposition. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris peppered Palmdale Mayor James Ledford with hours of questions, and some of Ledford’s answers got the attention of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Last month, it filed charges against Ledford alleging he received nearly $500,000 from local consultants and failed to publicly disclose the income on economic statements. Los Angeles Times

Shootings ruled to be justified: “The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled Tuesday that officers were justified in firing their guns in two separate shootings, including a controversial encounter in Boyle Heights that left a 14-year-old boy dead.” Los Angeles Times

Rosemead fights back: The city of Rosemead is alleging in a recently filed lawsuit that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority “abused its discretion and violated the law” when the agency’s directors came out against the proposed tunnel and agreed to spend more than $700 million to address congestion near the 710 Freeway’s abrupt northern terminus. Los Angeles Times

The cleanup begins: More than four months after a pair of towing contractors quit, Los Angeles is expected this week to begin clearing a “backlog” of motor homes parked illegally on city streets. Los Angeles Daily News

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

‘Sanctuary’ crackdown: The Trump administration strengthened its crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities Tuesday, announcing a new policy that says local governments will lose some federal grants if they do not give advance notice when illegal immigrants are about to be released from custody and give immigration agents access to local jails. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Signed and sealed: Cementing California’s role as a leader on climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program while surrounded by a coalition of supporters including his predecessor, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Los Angeles Times

Plus: Schwarzenegger explains why he’s so hot on trying to reform the redistricting process. Politico

A new bank, maybe: Los Angeles should explore whether to create a municipal bank that would finance affordable housing and throw its doors open to the cannabis industry, City Council President Herb Wesson declared Tuesday. Los Angeles Times

Attempting to remove a mayor: “The Laguna Niguel city attorney will investigate a list of complaints and alleged municipal code violations against Mayor Jerry Slusiewicz and explore how to remove the mayor from office, a first for the south Orange County city.” Voice of OC

CRIME AND COURTS

A tragic story: A family is reeling after a California teen live-streamed a car crash, while driving, that killed her sister. “I think she don’t know what’s happened,” the teenagers’ father, Nicandro Sanchez, told KFSN-TV. “What I think, she knows she’s done something wrong.” Los Angeles Times

Durst in court: A witness who described herself as one of Robert Durst’s “closest, dearest friends” took the stand Tuesday to testify for the prosecution in his murder case, saying that she hoped he would be acquitted if innocent but that it would be wrong to “judge a person’s entire life by one act.” Los Angeles Times

Oakland man indicted: A federal grand jury indicted Amer Sinan Alhaggagi, a 22-year-old Oakland man, on several felony charges, including attempting to provide material support or resources to the militant group Islamic State. Los Angeles Times

Viral video for the wrong reason: The confrontation was almost tailor-made for social media: a bearded man wearing a Guns N’ Roses shirt holding a dog on a leash versus a young Mexican immigrant street vendor pushing his wares on a cart. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

The yuugest tanker! “The world’s largest aerial firefighting tanker in the world is here in California, but there is a delay before the SuperTanker can take flight.” ABC 7

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

A grim reality: “More than 37% of California households have so little cash saved that they couldn’t live at the poverty level for even three months if they lost a job or suffered another significant loss of income.” San Gabriel Valley Tribune

A legend passes: Barbara Sinatra, who gained prominence as “Lady Blue Eyes” — Frank’s fourth wife — and as an advocate against child abuse, died Tuesday at 90. The Desert Sun

Make plans? Or not: The pop-up “O.J. Simpson Museum” will take over Chinatown’s Coagula Curatorial Gallery from Aug. 18-22. LAist

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: partly cloudy Wednesday, mostly clear Thursday. San Diego: partly cloudy Wednesday and Thursday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California Memory comes from Denise Bleak:

“Camarillo State Hospital is now closed, but imagine what it was like for me as an 18-year-old nursing student in 1970. Drug treatment was run by mental hospitals, so I saw several of my fellow high school graduates there wearing diapers outside on their pants to infantilize them, for some reason. It was a beautiful campus and was familiar to me because when I was 10, I would go to work with my grandma on her night shift at Camarillo. At night under strict guard there was no one outside, and I crept all over the grounds. Maybe I needed more adult supervision! Now that land belongs to the California State Channels Islands campus and I haven’t been back. I plan to go see their art gallery.”

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.