| On June 12, Sen. Alex Padilla interrupted a news conference by Homeland Security director Kristi Noem. Pushing toward her, he said, "I have questions for the secretary" before several agents dragged him out of the room. |
| Then in early July, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass arrived amid the chaos of an ICE operation in MacArthur Park. Dressed in a bright turquoise blazer amid a sea of federal camouflage, her arms folded tight in anger, she declared, "They need to leave and they need to leave right now!" Not long after, a top immigration official said the feds had considered arresting her. |
One message from L.A.'s summer of ICE |
| In today's divided media world, these events were instantly cast as either a dangerous erosion of democracy or grandstanding by politicians searching for a viral clip, depending on your source. |
| But they underscored a clear message from our summer of ICE: Los Angeles isn't afraid anymore. |
| A lot of very dark things have happened in Los Angeles over its 244-year history, events driven by misguided zeal, greed, bigotry and intolerance. |
| But they are always abetted by fear. |
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Fighting our fears |
| California historian Kevin Starr wrote eloquently about that part of the Los Angeles psyche that sets the city into "a state of psychosis, surrendering itself to the dream-fear." Real events become magnified into anxiety that no one is willing or able to control. In 1993, Starr wrote about the paranoid rumors sweeping the city in advance of the verdict in the Rodney King civil trial. (More riots! Military occupation! A gang invasion of the Westside!) He thought immediately of the city's past sins. |
| "Future historians will look back to these days and struggle to interpret a time in which fear became fact and rumor became the basis of policy," he wrote. "It became its own horrible reality, and the City of the Angels, as it always feared it would, dreamt itself out of existence." |
A city of dissent |
| There are a lot of reasons for L.A. to fear criticizing the sweeps and stay silent. It just gives Trump more ammunition. What will he unleash on us next? But that is not happening this time. The protests, the aid efforts, and the many individuals speaking out against the arrests happening before their eyes show that dissent is alive and well here. Yes, living in a deep blue state gives them some cover. But isn't it better to speak your mind and not fear the consequences? Isn't that one of the things supporters love about Trump? |
| Taking a stand can also bring change. |
| The 1871 Chinese massacre occurred in an L.A. still ruled by vigilante justice, which made dissent hazardous to your health. But as John Mack Faragher chronicles in "Eternity Street," the killing of 10% of the city's entire Chinese population brought shame to L.A. — and forced some to finally speak for change. A few brave voices led to a larger movement that established L.A.'s first real criminal justice system and police force, marking an end to the vigilante era. |
| It didn't curb racism or injustice, but it was a start. |
Today's top stories |
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| Activists protest in downtown Los Angeles in early June, when immigration raids set off protests, prompting President Trump to order thousands of troops into the city. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) |
Federal cuts leave Los Angeles County's health system in crisis |
- President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which passed earlier this month, is expected to soon claw $750 million a year from the county Department of Health Services, which oversees four public hospitals and roughly two dozen clinics.
- And the Trump administration's budget for the next fiscal year will likely result in a $200-million cut to the county Department of Public Health, whose responsibilities include monitoring disease outbreaks, inspecting food and providing substance use treatment.
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After six months under Trump, California and L.A. are battlegrounds |
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How a California cloud-seeding company became the center of a Texas flood conspiracy |
- A Los Angeles-based cloud-seeding company called Rainmaker was accused of causing this month's deadly Texas flood after conducting operations in the area.
- Experts say Rainmaker's activity could not have caused the flood, but the incident has fueled conspiracy theories and renewed a national conversation around weather modification.
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
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This morning's must reads |
| | | In little more than a year, Juan Heredia, a scuba instructor from Stockton, has developed a strange specialty: He has found the bodies of a dozen drowning victims in California rivers after authorities had either given up or paused searches because they deemed conditions too dangerous. | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: What TV show do you think should win the Emmy for best drama? |
| The 2025 Emmy nominations have been announced. "Severance" was the top nominee, earning 27 total nominations. Who should win? |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| (Mariah Tauger / For The Times) |
| Today's photo is from Times contributor Mariah Tauger at the Mount Washington home of Los Angeles architect Lindsay Sheron and her husband, Daniel, who designed their two-story house after they couldn't afford to buy a house in L.A. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff writer
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
