View this email in your browser

By Tomoki Chien & Claire Qiu

Good morning. It’s Thursday, and we’re excited about this weekend’s spring football game. (Or at least Tomo is.) Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein will temporarily give up her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee while she recovers from shingles, capitulating to growing calls from her Democratic colleagues to step down after her absence slowed the confirmation of President Biden’s judicial nominees. Still, the 89-year-old San Franciscan pushed back against calls for her to resign altogether.

Mariana Alfaro and Liz Goodwin / The Washington Post

2.

Two former employees of Kenneth Mejia, the newly elected LA city controller, alleged that the politician created an uncomfortable work environment by frequently commenting on the sex lives of campaign workers and pressing staffers to move into his apartment complex. Mejia denied the allegations and said the first he heard of the issues was when staffers posted about them on social media this week.

Julia Wick / Los Angeles Times

3.

California is among several states who reached a $462 million settlement with Juul Labs, resolving lawsuits that alleged Juul failed to warn young customers about the high levels of addictive nicotine in its e-cigarettes. The company’s efforts to broker deals over lawsuits have cost an estimated $3 billion thus far.

Christina Jewett and Julie Creswell / The New York Times

4.

LA Police Chief Michel Moore said last month’s accidental release of photos identifying the department’s undercover agents hasn’t significantly affected any covert operations. Rank-and-file officers — who are suing the city for negligence in failing to redact the photos in a public records release — said Moore was downplaying the leak’s effects.

Josh Cain / Los Angeles Daily News

5.

The LA City Council approved an ordinance allowing police to arrest anyone possessing a catalytic converter not attached to a vehicle in an effort to tamp down on rampant theft of the car part. Thieves steal catalytic converters because they contain precious metals and often target Priuses because hybrid vehicles contain more of those metals.

David Zahniser / Los Angeles Times

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

3630 Watt Way, ANN 102, Los Angeles, CA 90089.

Subscribe | Unsubscribe