Today: Walking Through the Jungle of Fear. Entertainment's Existential Crisis.

Dec. 23, 2016 5 AM PT

I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today, including our weekend recommendations and weekly look back into the archives.

TOP STORIES

Walking Through the Jungle of Fear

Poisonous snakes. Murderous rebels. Unscrupulous smugglers. Many dangers await in the 60-mile section of dense rainforest along the Colombia-Panama border known as the Darién Gap. But for migrants from around the world trying to make it to America’s door, crossing through this stretch of jungle is their only hope. In the second installment of our four-part series about this unprecedented migration, follow a young man who dodged snipers to escape from the African nation of Eritrea, then flew to Brazil, before embarking on a treacherous jungle hike. The tattoo on his arm: “Never look back.”

Trump and the Veterans: Is the Honeymoon Over Already?

Veterans helped Donald Trump win the White House, but their alliance is already being tested as the president-elect looks for someone to lead the Veterans Affairs department — and possibly upend the entire veterans healthcare system. Some groups feel shut out of the process. “The highest-ranking person the leading veterans services organizations have met with is Omarosa,” says the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

More Politics

-- Why is Trump’s team singling out State Department programs for women for a special review? The request has rattled some officials.

-- The Obama administration is taking apart a dormant national registry program that once tracked visitors from countries with active terrorist groups, making it harder for Trump to revive it.

-- As Democrats ponder their future, Joe Biden makes a plea for a focus on the middle class.

She Lost a Child to Murder … Twice

In June 2007, Barbara Pritchett-Hughes received a phone call. Her 15-year-old son had been shot in the head on his way home from a high school graduation; three days later, he died. In July of this year, she got another call. This time, her oldest son had been fatally shot outside their Watts home. “Every day I ask, why? Why him, why us, why me?” said Pritchett-Hughes, who is part of a small group of mothers who have lost more than one child to murder.

Baca’s Big Break

The jurors deliberated for more than three days. The outcome: Eleven wanted to acquit former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca in his corruption case, but one did not, and a mistrial was declared. Now federal prosecutors must decide whether to retry Baca, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Also pending: a separate trial about whether he made false statements to federal investigators.

Year in Review: Entertainment’s Existential Crisis

Is it a TV show if it never is on a TV screen? Can you be a pop star without ever releasing a CD? What is entertainment’s reason for being? The industry struggled with all these questions and more in 2016, and the answer was more or less that whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. As Mary McNamara writes: “This never-ending blur of entertainment, available on a dizzying assortment of devices, reinvigorates all the art forms while shaking up many of the traditional citadels.” Here’s the latest from our year in review, rolling out through New Year’s.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

A century ago, The Times reported on a record harvest from the “real Christmas trees of Southern California.” From Dec. 24, 1916: “In the land of frost and snow the pine tree is symbolic of Christmas, but here in Southern California the citrus tree is recognized as the tree which means most at Christmastime, for it is evergreen and laden with big, round, golden balls, which are food for us if we partake of them, and gold for us if we sell them.” The pre-holiday haul that year, according to the article? $1.5 million.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND

-- Chris Erskine: I’m ready for Christmas, a holiday so significant Tchaikovsky set it to music.

-- Guess who’s coming to town? That’s right, the gray whales, and we have some tips for finding them.

-- Movie picks for this weekend from The Times’ critics.

-- Cooking for Hanukkah, Turkish style, with two kinds of latkes and bulgur meatballs.

-- Salute your holiday gatherings with eggnog and our other festive cocktail recipes.

-- Where to dine out on New Year’s Eve.

CALIFORNIA

-- An air traffic controller who mistakenly routed a jet with 353 people aboard toward Mt. Wilson has been removed from her current assignment amid an investigation into the incident.

-- Speaking of LAX, storms and the holidays have been causing canceled flights and delays.

-- The heavy rain might be a sign of wetter times to come in drought-plagued L.A.

-- There’s a push to name a portion of the 134 Freeway that runs from Glendale and into Eagle Rock the President Barack H. Obama Freeway.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Movie reviews: “Hidden Figures” is a Grade-A Hollywood crowd-pleaser in the best way, while Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” is an anguished masterwork of spiritual inquiry.

-- Whether by design or neglect, here are three Netflix series you may have missed in the deluge.

-- Robin Thicke shares some memories from admirers of his dad, the late Alan Thicke.

-- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform at Trump’s inauguration.

-- Why was a YouTube star removed from a Delta flight?

NATION-WORLD

-- The Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a crowded Christmas market was killed in a shootout with police in Milan on Friday.

-- The Syrian army says Aleppo has returned to government control.

-- North Carolina’s failure to repeal its “bathroom bill” ensures that politics there will remain deeply divided in 2017.

-- The latest hardship in Venezuela: a shortage of cash.

-- Each year, from May to September, nearly 3.5 trillion insects traverse the skies above southern England. And researchers think the number may be even higher in Southern California.

BUSINESS

-- Can Stone Brewing, an Escondido-based brewer, sell beer to Germans? Here’s why other craft breweries hope the plan doesn’t go kaputt.

-- David Lazarus: Trump, who doesn’t settle lawsuits (ahem), gets the OK to settle the Trump U lawsuit.

-- A Chinese developer wants to build three residential towers across from L.A. Live.

SPORTS

-- What is behind Ronda Rousey’s reclusive behavior? One UFC champion weighs in.

-- A New York Giants player says the NFL fined him $18,000 for wearing cleats inspired by the late broadcaster Craig Sager during a game. The idea was to auction them off for charity.

OPINION

-- The scary truth about TSA’s PreCheck security vulnerabilities.

-- President Sanders? Bernie would have beaten Trump, opines David Horsey. See the cartoon here.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The biggest digital ad fraud ever? A security firm says Russian criminals are making $3 million to $5 million a day by faking clicks on video ads. (Forbes)

-- Prince Charles warns against the rise of populist extremism and religious intolerance. (The Guardian)

-- A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voter offers his solution on how to correct the voting process. (Vulture)

ONLY IN L.A.

If you’ve hiked Mt. Baldy any time recently, you probably know Sam. He’s the 78-year-old from Culver City who has climbed the mountain nearly 750 times and is trying to reach 1,000 by next year. “I’m feeling God’s embrace — this is better than church,” he said one recent Sunday, on the way up for his 100th day in a row. “My shortcut is the holy spirit.” See Sam tell it on the mountain here and be uplifted.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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