Good morning, I hope you had a good weekend. I’m still mourning USC’s defensive woes versus Colorado on Saturday. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Watchdog groups said a site owned by Boeing and the federal government is likely leaking carcinogenic “forever chemicals” into the LA River, which many of the region’s farmers draw their water from. Advocates say federal regulators have allowed Boeing to continue polluting despite evidence and pressure to act from environmental groups. “California’s pollution control agencies are not just asleep at the switch but appear to be in a coma,” one advocate said.

2.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint Laphonza Butler, a labor leader and abortion rights advocate, to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The appointment fulfills Newsom’s promise to name a Black woman to the Senate and allows the governor to avoid tipping the scales in the hotly contested 2024 race by appointing somebody not already in the competition.

3.

Armenian students and their supporters protested the presence of Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. at a foreign policy conference at Wallis Annenberg Hall Friday, outraged by a Turkish-supported blockade that’s resulted in dozens of Armenian deaths in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The demonstrators also accused the ambassador and his government of denying the Armenian genocide of 1915. USC Annenberg stood by its decision to invite Mercan to speak, noting that the school believes free speech is a foundational tenet of a research university.

4.

A dozen LA County cities sued to halt a controversial zero-bail system that went into effect Sunday, citing a threat to public safety. The new system eliminates cash bail for most people arrested for non-violent crimes, instead allowing them to be released for free with a later court date — an attempt to base bail on the severity of crime rather than a suspect’s ability to pay a fee. It’s unclear whether the 11th-hour suit will halt the policy.

5.

Gov. Newsom vetoed a bill that would’ve allowed striking workers to collect unemployment pay, a loss for union leaders hoping to ride the momentum of the state’s “hot labor summer.” Business owners, whose payroll taxes fund unemployment benefits in California, had staunchly opposed the bill. Newsom said that “now is not the time” to incur costs, citing an upcoming $302 million interest payment due on a federal loan that the state took out to provide benefits during the pandemic.

You’re all caught up. Thanks for reading Morning, Trojan, and have a good day. Anna Hsu copy edited this newsletter.

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