Today’s Headlines: Mayor Bass, LAPD union reach a deal for pay hike for officers

Hello, it’s Wednesday, Aug. 2, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Starting pay for LAPD officers would go up by 11% under a deal reached by Mayor Bass and the union. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the city’s negotiators have struck a deal to provide an extensive package of raises and bonuses to about 9,000 officers, as part of her larger effort to rebuild the ranks of the L.A. Police Department.

Bass said the deal would support her goal of hiring more police, speeding up recruitment and improving retention rates among those who have already been hired to work at the LAPD.

More

• LAPD officers caught joking about earning overtime after shooting someone

Trump was indicted again Tuesday. The former president has been indicted on four counts after a special counsel investigation into efforts to stop the transfer of power after his 2020 election loss and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The indictment is the result of a lengthy, wide-ranging inquiry by special counsel Jack Smith that scrutinized Trump’s attempts to mislead the public with claims that the election had been stolen, despite his private acknowledgment that he had lost.

Trump will rally California Republicans after party aided him by changing primary rules. Days after the former president’s advisors successfully convinced California Republicans to change the rules of the state’s GOP primary, his campaign confirmed Tuesday that he will visit the state next month. Under the new rules, if a Republican presidential candidate receives more than 50% of California’s vote, he or she will receive all of the state’s 169 delegates — the most of any state in the nation.

If no candidate reaches the benchmark, delegates will be awarded proportionally based on the statewide vote.

More politics

• A Democratic and Republican battled for Congress. They became unlikely friends.

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

As Joshua trees burn, a massive wildfire threatens to forever alter the Mojave Desert. California’s largest wildfire of the year has grown to over 80,000 acres in the desert around the southern Nevada border, burning primarily in the national preserve, located in southeastern California.

Aided by brief rain, crews made the first real inroads against the fire after sunset Monday — reporting 23% containment by Tuesday morning — but officials remain worried the fragile landscape might never fully bounce back.

As actors and writers push back on automation, Hollywood is in the midst of an AI hiring boom. Getting paid $900,000 a year to manage artificial intelligence projects for Netflix would’ve been an eye-popping sum even before two different Hollywood unions went on strike.

But now that the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild are both picketing outside Netflix’s headquarters in protest of low streaming pay and ascendant automation, such a job listing seems acutely emblematic of where the entertainment industry currently stands — and where it’s going.

Global warming is making big(ger) waves off the California coast, scientists say. Ocean waves along the California coastline have long symbolized the best the state has to offer: surf-ready swells at Malibu and Rincon; the misty beauty of breakers crashing along the North Coast; the foamy, playful waves welcoming beachgoers from San Diego to Santa Cruz.

But climate change has left no part of the sea unaltered. As melting glaciers and hotter temperatures force global sea levels ever higher, the height and power of ocean waves are increasing along California’s coast — and elsewhere.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Hikers follow a trail along Rainbow Falls in the Devil’s Postpile National Monument near Mammoth Lakes on Thursday, July 27, 2023. The falls are fed by the middle fork of the San Joaquin River, which is running strong after last winter’s record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Postcards from the Sierra, where they are still skiing and the water is flowing. Mammoth Mountain and the Sierra Nevada range recorded an unprecedented amount of snow, as area reservoirs returned to full capacity. Times photographer Luis Sinco took a drive down the Eastern Sierra to see firsthand the snowmelt that is finally giving way to summer.

CALIFORNIA

A happy ending as urban farmers beat a mega-warehouse development in North Richmond. Concerned donors raised more than $5 million to ensure an urban farm in the Bay Area would not wither in the shadow of a huge click-and-ship distribution center.

‘No one is coming to our rescue’: Inside rural California’s alarming teacher shortage. In small, rural districts such as Modoc Joint Unified in Alturas, a cattle ranching town of 2,700, being short even a few teachers can send a school spiraling. At Alturas Elementary School, there are six vacancies — a quarter of the teaching staff.

Inglewood tells Taylor Swift fans: No dancing in the middle of the parking lot at SoFi Stadium. Bad news for Swifties in the Los Angeles area: If Inglewood has its way, you won’t get the chance to “Tayl-gate” at SoFi Stadium.

The median home listed in Los Angeles will soon cost more than $1 million — up 30% in 5 years. The rising prices are not just a headache for those seeking to buy a home either. “Rents and home prices are typically going to move in the same direction.”

NATION-WORLD

An 8-year-old was attacked by a cougar in Washington. Mom yelled and her kid survived. “The cougar casually abandoned its attack after being yelled and screamed at by the child’s mother,” park officials said.

Do you believe in angels? About 7 in 10 U.S. adults do, a new poll shows. Compared with the devil, angels carry more credence in America. Angels even get more credence than, well, hell.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

‘Dahmer’ director Paris Barclay wasn’t in it for the gore. He had bigger issues in mind. The Emmy-nominated director got assurances from Ryan Murphy before signing on to helm an episode of the gruesome story.

The influences behind ‘The Simpsons’ Emmy-nominated scare fest. The long-running animated series’ annual Halloween episode has been a fan favorite for its clever spoofs of popular genre fare since the first one arrived in October 1990.

It’s a love story, L.A. just says yes: How Taylormania took over the world. The record-breaking road show, which launched in March and is expected to rake in more than $1 billion by the time it wraps next year, has already transformed the American concert business with its sheer scale and ravenous fan demand.

She’s ‘Black, fabulous and on TV.’ Niecy Nash-Betts is living her full self. “I’m blessed beyond measure, you know what I mean?” Nash-Betts says. “Which is not to say that I have not had a life that has been filled with a lot of pain. That is true too. But it still does not take away from the fact that in the moment, it is so charming. It is so divine. And the cherry on top is that I get to share my success with someone I love.”

BUSINESS

L.A.’s kombucha empire exploited workers for years. Kombucha has treated George Thomas Dave well. But Dave’s kombucha factory treated workers terribly for years, according to a new ruling in a long-running lawsuit against his company, GT’s Living Foods.

Want to live at a theme park? This online auction gives you a chance — with a tiny catch. This won’t be any old tract home but rather a four-bedroom beachfront abode with a designer kitchen, Jacuzzi and firepit — and designed by a real estate celebrity.

SPORTS

‘I don’t know, man.’ U.S. barely advances in World Cup after scoreless draw with Portugal. The U.S. women’s soccer team struggled to fend off Portugal’s relentless attack during a 0-0 draw and advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup.

Shaquille O’Neal lists his top 10 greatest NBA players, still ‘all good with Dr. J’s list.’ When Julius “Dr. J” Erving left LeBron James and Stephen Curry off his top 10 during a recent interview, it rubbed some the wrong way. O’Neal was not partaking in the criticism, quickly saying anyone disagreeing with Erving should just stop.

MLB trade deadline tracker: All the moves by the Dodgers, Angels and everyone else. Deadline day has arrived.

OPINION

Long COVID is debilitating to me and 65 million other people. Where is the urgency to treat it? “In the rush to declare the pandemic over, the low quality of life experienced by millions with long COVID has apparently been deemed acceptable. It is not acceptable,” Julia Moore Vogel writes.

Affirmative action ruling demands earlier intervention for equal college access. “For now, it’s urgent that colleges abandon legacy and other admission policies that favor white and wealthy students. It’s encouraging that’s starting to happen,” writes Minerva Canto.

ONLY IN L.A.

(Zifei Zhang / Los Angeles Times)

Summer temperatures in Southern California are rising. Thankfully L.A. is brimming with phenomenal hotel pools, and you don’t have to spend $1,000 a night to take a dip. Instead, cool off in 14 of L.A.’s hottest pools with day passes.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Jackie Joyner-Kersee of East St. Louis, Ill., makes her javelin throw during a heptathlon competition at the Seoul Olympics on Sept. 24, 1988.

(Lennox McLendon / Associated Press)

On this day 31 years ago, Jackie Joyner-Kersee won the heptathlon at the summer Olympics in Barcelona, becoming the first person to win the event in consecutive Games.

The Times was on the scene that day, when Joyner-Kersee was anointed as the greatest athlete in the world.

We appreciate that you took the time to read Today’s Headlines! Comments or ideas? Feel free to drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com.