Today’s Headlines: Southern California braces for even more rain and snowstorms

Hello, it’s Tuesday, Feb 28, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Southern California bracing for even more rain and snowstorms

New winter storms are expected to bring even more precipitation to Southern California through Wednesday, though forecasters say it won’t be a repeat of last week’s epic storms, which dumped record-breaking rainfall and brought historic snow to the Southland.

The coasts and valleys can expect about 1 inch of rain through Wednesday, and the foothills could see up to 2 inches, forecasts show — significantly less than totals from last week.

Fox News boss aware of false election fraud claims, filing says

New court documents show that Rupert Murdoch and his top lieutenants at Fox News were aware that former President Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election were false but agreed to give them continued coverage in an effort to keep its unhappy viewers from fleeing.

The stunning revelations based on deposition testimony were in a brief filed Monday in Delaware State Court by Dominion Voting Systems, the latest salvo in the company’s $1.6-billion defamation suit against the conservative news network.

One man’s battle to expose LAPD abuse during 2020 protests

Since Deon Jones first alleged that a Los Angeles police officer had unjustly shot him in the face with a hard-foam projectile at a 2020 protest, he and his legal team have gone to great lengths to prove it.

Jones’ civil case against LAPD Officer Peter Bueno is set to go to trial in federal court today. It showcases how difficult it has been for protesters to hold individual officers accountable for wounding them.

According to data provided to The Times, LAPD investigators have rejected all but about 2% of misconduct allegations out of the hundreds leveled against officers during and after the protests.

What should student loan borrowers do while waiting for the Supreme Court to rule?

If you’re reading the Supreme Court tea leaves, you’re probably thinking that the Biden administration won’t be canceling a lot of student loan debt after all.

So what do you do now?

Mexican protesters see an electoral overhaul as a threat to democracy.

More than 100,000 people marched Sunday in Mexico City against the major downsizing last week of the agency that oversees Mexico’s elections, a measure that they say jeopardizes the country’s democracy and could harm the 2024 presidential race.

Mexican lawmakers backed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador approved changes Wednesday that drastically reduce the institute’s staff and autonomy and are expected to result in a challenge before the nation’s Supreme Court.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

People attend a Mass in honor of Bishop David O’Connell at St. Francis X. Cabrini Parish in Los Angeles on Sunday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

California lawmakers revive an effort to ban involuntary servitude as punishment for crimes. California lawmakers could let voters decide whether to “prohibit slavery in any form,� which could change work requirements in prisons.

Historic movie lot that gave Studio City its name to get $1-billion makeover. Radford Studio Center, a storied movie lot in Studio City that has been home to generations of landmark television shows — including “Gunsmoke� and “Seinfeld� — will gain as much as 1 million square feet of new soundstages, production facilities and offices.

A Los Angeles utility worker was seriously injured while trying to restore power during storms. A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power worker was injured while trying to restore power in the San Fernando Valley as a historic winter storm slammed Southern California. About 27,600 customers remained without power Monday morning.

What an off-the-radar teachers union election means for the education of L.A. children. The union that staged a strike and pushed hard for COVID safety — inspiring love and loathing among parents — is electing its leaders.

Los Angeles fugitive in sprawling COVID relief scam is extradited from Montenegro. Tamara Dadyan, who fled to a resort in Montenegro to dodge a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for a pandemic relief swindle, is extradited to the U.S.

NATION-WORLD

Jimmy Carter’s final goal: Eradicating a parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia. Carter’s most enduring global legacy could be making Guinea worm the second infectious human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox in 1980.

New magnitude 5.6 quake hits Turkey, killing one person and toppling more buildings. Malatya was among 11 Turkish provinces that suffered damage in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is responsible for ‘massive’ human rights violations, U.N. chief says. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered “the most massive violations of human rights� in the world today, the head of the United Nations said, as the war pushed into its second year with no end in sight and tens of thousands of people dead.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Review: ‘Treelogy’ is a sublime, classical ode to California’s redwoods, sequoias and Joshua trees. We’ve changed the climate. Now what? Can three splendid pieces of music, inspired by trees, save our state? Of course not. But the real value of “Treelogy� is subliminal. Trees inspire art. Art serves to enhance awareness. Awareness saves the day.

‘Surreal’ scenes and unguarded moments from the SAG Awards party. What’s it like to party with enough stars to cause a singularity? Our correspondent at the SAG Awards comes back with an answer.

John Williams and Steven Spielberg: Sometimes friends take it personally. Scoring the director’s latest film, the composer tapped into the deep emotions of “The Fabelmans.�

BUSINESS

Tesla pauses rollout of driving software subject to U.S. recall. Tesla Inc. has temporarily stopped rolling out its $15,000 driver-assistance system until it addresses issues that led the carmaker to recall almost 363,000 vehicles.

SPORTS

How did USC trainers save Vincent Iwuchukwu after cardiac arrest? After going through cardiac arrest, Iwuchukwu insists that his goal of going pro hasn’t changed. USC helped him make his comeback to college basketball.

Lakers takeaways after beating Dallas. The Lakers came back from 27 points down to beat the Mavericks 111-108 in Dallas on Sunday. Here are four reasons why they were able to mount their largest comeback for a win this season.

Here’s what the Chargers might focus on this offseason. With the NFL combine starting Tuesday in Indianapolis, here are five positions the Los Angeles Chargers might focus on during this offseason.

OPINION

California and its neighbors are at an impasse over the Colorado River. Here’s a way forward. The state should negotiate a long-neglected deal to share available water with Arizona and Nevada, recognize climate change and restore Lake Mead.

Only radical intervention can rescue L.A. juvenile probation. The systemic problems at the Los Angeles County Probation Department’s Juvenile Division will not be solved by merely replacing one more department chief.

Known as the “Great Mall of China� or the “Chinese Disneyland,� the Focus Plaza paved the way for similar malls throughout the country.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

An iconic Chinese mall is getting a revamp. That represents a shift in L.A.’s Chinese community. Columnist Frank Shyong writes “I will miss the Focus Plaza I knew. Much like the immigrants who patronized it, it retained the memories of a China that no longer exists. It was one generation’s effort to construct a home from flavors, smells and feelings, a home that can live only in memory.�

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The March 1, 1993 issue of the Los Angeles Times tells of a shootout in Waco, Texas.

(Los Angeles Times)

Today in 1993, federal agents attempted to arrest David Koresh, a cult leader operating out of a compound in Waco, Texas. They met resistance from members of the cult (who called themselves Branch Davidians), and a siege and standoff that lasted 51 days began.

In the ensuing months and years, federal agents came under scrutiny for leading a failed raid that led to several deaths, both inside the compound and out.

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