Fire breaks out in Village apartments
Tomo Chien
February 21, 2024
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and you can vote in the Undergraduate Student Government elections here. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
A fire erupted on the fifth floor of Cowlings and Ilium Residential College Tuesday night, prompting officials to evacuate the building. Firefighters extinguished the blaze using a crane to access the building, and students have since returned to their residences. One witness said students tried unsuccessfully to put out the flames using fire extinguishers. It’s unclear what started the fire.
2.
Russian authorities detained an LA woman with dual U.S.-Russia citizenship on suspicion of treason for raising money to support the Ukrainian war effort. Kseniya Karelina, 33, could face up to 20 years in prison. U.S. officials said Karelina entered Russia in early January and that they learned of her arrest on Feb. 8., and the White House said it’s working to secure consular access. Russian authorities accused Karelina of providing “financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of our country,” but offered no further details or evidence.
3.
U.S. companies are axing their diversity, equity and inclusion teams, and California tech giants are no exception. Meta, DoorDash, Snap, Zoom, Lyft and X all slashed their DEI staff, and in some cases plan to replace them with outside consultants. Corporate America has increasingly retreated from diversity promises made in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, particularly as conservatives mount a growing legal, political and cultural effort against such efforts.
4.
Republican Steve Garvey sits at second place in the race for California’s U.S. Senate seat, according to the latest polling. It’s a rather remarkable feat, mostly Garvey doesn’t even seem to be trying. He has next to no substantive policy proposals. He barely campaigns. And he tends to play the role of punching bag in debates with his Democratic rivals. Thank Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, the race’s frontrunner, for Garvey’s success. In California, the top two primary candidates regardless of party advance to the general election: So Schiff has run attack ads that depict Garvey as his main opponent in a successful effort to boost his rival’s stature. In such a deep blue state, Schiff would stand a better chance of winning a general election against a Republican than one of his Democrat rivals.
5.
You can kayak in Death Valley right now, thanks to recent heavy storms. The temporary Lake Manly is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and a foot deep, and is named after an ancient lake of the same name that evaporated tens of thousands of years ago. It’ll likely only be deep enough to kayak in for a few weeks, but, mind you, this is the same barren desert that boasts the hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” a park spokesperson said.