Today’s Headlines: After U.S. troops depart Afghanistan

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TOP STORIES

The last U.S. troops depart Kabul airport

Within moments of the final U.S. takeoff, Taliban fighters swiftly moved into Hamid Karzai International Airport, where a massive airlift had carried more than 116,000 people out of the country since the militant group seized power two weeks earlier in a swift but nearly bloodless offensive.

Taliban fighters fired salvos into the air and shouted “Allahu akbar!” Strings of tracers lit the sky as the last U.S. plane flew toward the horizon.

More Afghanistan headlines

— A family says 7 children were killed in Kabul drone strike; the U.S. is investigating.

— An Afghan family in L.A. is running out of time to rescue family in Kabul.

— Homeland Security will coordinate efforts across federal agencies to resettle vulnerable Afghans as resettlement groups brace for mammoth task.

Caldor fire creeps closer to Tahoe

The South Lake Tahoe area was placed under a mandatory evacuation order Monday as the Caldor fire pushed closer to the popular vacation spot, fueled by intense winds.

As firefighters make an all-out push to keep the fire out of Lake Tahoe, experts warned of potentially catastrophic losses if flames move into neighborhoods along the lakeside resort.

Monday’s evacuation order was a worrisome indication that crews could be losing footing on the wind-whipped fire. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings indicating gusty wind conditions in the area from 11 a.m. through 11 p.m. Tuesday.

More wildfire headlines

— All of California’s national forests will be closed late Tuesday through Sept. 17 for public and firefighter safety amid extreme fire conditions.

— Why the Lake Tahoe area is vulnerable to wildfires.

— Multiple wildfires burning across California are creating misery for residents as they spur evacuations, threaten homes and spew noxious smoke into the air.

— Here’s our California wildfire map

California Gov. Newsom is taking cues from a tea party darling

In his fight to keep his political life afloat, Gov. Gavin Newsom has staked his future on how well he can emulate a budget-slashing tea party darling: former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. But although Walker may offer a road map for a Newsom victory, a close look at the Wisconsin race underscores the challenges, both procedural and political, facing the California governor that may complicate his resurgence.

More California politics headlines

— Column: The award for the dumbest idea of the recall election goes to the rookie Democrat who proposed building a water pipeline from California to the Mississippi River, writes columnist George Skelton.

— Column: Of course I’m worried about Newsom being replaced by an inexperienced talk show host with dangerous views. But the reasons I object to the recall are nonpartisan, writes columnist Nicholas Goldberg.

— Democratic lawmakers have dropped a controversial proposal to mandate vaccinations in the state.

— An attempted recall of five members of the Huntington Beach City Council has hit a snag, and petitioners may have to start from scratch on a majority of their efforts.

Sign up for our California Politics newsletter to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting, including full coverage of the recall election and the latest action in Sacramento.

L.A. teachers union calls for vaccination mandate for eligible students

The Los Angeles teachers union is calling for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all eligible students and stricter quarantine rules while raising some objections to a district mandate for online instruction when students are in quarantine.

The nation’s second-largest school district is operating the most ambitious coronavirus testing operation in the county, with weekly mandatory testing of all on campus and mask mandates indoors and outdoors.

More top coronavirus headlines

— Hours after a rally in Santa Monica against COVID-19 vaccination mandates on Sunday, protesters showed up at the homes of two Los Angeles City Council members.

— Column: Instead of vaccination mandates, companies turn to ‘wellness’ programs. That’s a problem.

— The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections here.

— Rumbles from the motorcycles and rock shows of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally have hardly cleared from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and the reports of coronavirus infections among rallygoers are already streaming in.

For more, sign up for Coronavirus Today, a special edition of The Times’ Health and Science newsletter.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

On this day in 1986, The Times reported that state senators voted down Gov. George Deukmejian’s top-priority plan to build the first state prison in Los Angeles County, on an industrial site near the Eastside community of Boyle Heights. It was a major defeat for Deukmejian, amid pushback from the communities near the the proposed site.

At the time, California prisons were operating at 150% of capacity, and the Deukmejian administration hoped to open new ones and announce a Los Angeles County prison by the time of the November elections.

The state did eventually get its way and built a prison. The California State Prison, Los Angeles County, opened in Lancaster in 1993.

For more archived stories, search L.A. Times articles from 1881 to the present.

CALIFORNIA

— Over the last two years, politicians, civic leaders and community activists across Los Angeles worried that Latinos would not be properly counted in the census. Despite their efforts, some at City Hall are disappointed with results that show Eastside declines.

— A former board chairman at a Los Angeles church was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for stealing $11.4 million from the church.

— A man holding a butane lighter with a pistol-like grip was fatally shot by two Los Angeles police officers on Hollywood Boulevard last month. A video gives a clearer picture of what took place.

NATION-WORLD

— The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it was investigating five Republican-led states that had banned mask requirements in schools, saying the policies could amount to discrimination against students with disabilities or health conditions.

— Rescuers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters Monday, and utility repair crews rushed in, after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid.

— China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the gaming industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Hollywood’s return to production has been welcomed by many in the industry, but the scramble to make up for lost time is taking a toll on crews. An Instagram account is highlighting the darker side for workers.

— Imagination, razor blades and ganja: How Lee “Scratch” Perry changed the sound of popular music.

— Adam Levine shows compassion for Olivia Rodrigo amid allegations that her chart-topping debut album, “Sour,” plagiarized the work of other musicians.

— It’s video game release season. Here are 10 games our critic can’t wait to play.

BUSINESS

— One consequence of the pandemic is showing up in an unlikely place: space. A summer surge in COVID-19 patients is diverting liquid oxygen from rocket launch pads to hospitals.

— “Mission: Impossible 7” was shut down seven times as a result of the pandemic, and Paramount Studios, the film’s distributor and producer, is suing its insurance company to recover the sizable losses.

SPORTS

— Blind runner Kym Crosby is preparing for the Tokyo Paralympics, but a key piece of her team is missing: her guide dog. Pandemic restrictions and travel rules on animals have forced some athletes to make hard choices.

— USC quarterback Kedon Slovis is entering the 2021 season feeling “the best I’ve felt in a long time.”

OPINION

— “I have watched many movies about high school,” writes Sidhi Dhanda. But as a COVID-era student, she has yet to experience the real thing herself.

— Biden has big ambitions in foreign policy, writes columnist Doyle McManus. Can they survive the Kabul exit?

ONLY IN L.A.

The end of summer 2021 has in many ways taken on the chaotic vibes of early 2020, when we had a sense that COVID-19 would change our lives drastically, but we didn’t know how, when or for how long. That familiar stomach lurch — the confusion, panic and uncertainty — is back with a vengeance thanks to the highly transmittable Delta variant.

Over the last year and a half, doctor of clinical psychology and licensed clinical social worker Courtney Tracy has emerged as one of the leading voices in a thriving community of TikTok therapists giving advice on everything from dealing with intrusive thoughts to navigating the emotional fallout of the pandemic. (She’s also one of the most satisfying to watch: After all, who doesn’t love hearing their therapist drop an F-bomb from time to time or seeing them dance to Soulja Boy?)

Posting under the handle @the.truth.doctor, the SoCal native has built a community of more than 1.6 million followers on the app with a refreshing willingness to get personal — citing her own experiences with severe anxiety, drug use and borderline personality disorder when giving advice to her followers.

Today’s newsletter was curated by Seth Liss and Laura Blasey. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.