Good morning, it’s Election Day. Go vote (!) and check back in tomorrow for our coverage of the results. And now, here are the stories you need to know for today.

Looking to vote? The closest polling station to USC is a mosque just across campus at 1025 Exposition Blvd. There’s also a ballot drop box in the Village next to the Hoover Street gate.

CJ Haddad / Daily Trojan

Will the Los Angeles rain affect today’s voter turnout? Bad weather can make the wait at a polling station seem like a daunting task; a Dartmouth study found that 1 inch of rainfall above the normal rain for the day can decrease voter turnout by up to 1%.

Eve Washington and John Keefe / The New York Times

Federal immigration authorities want to deport David DePape, the man accused of assaulting the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer — but the district attorney refused to turn over the Canadian citizen, citing San Francisco’s sanctuary city policies.

Rachel Swan / San Francisco Chronicle

A dramatic expansion in battery storage helped the state power grid avoid outages during September’s record-breaking heat wave, a report from the California Independent System Operator found. The state has added 3,250 megawatts of battery storage since 2020, allowing the power grid to draw on more energy stored from solar panels at night.

Erin Stone / LAist

California settled a lawsuit against a German company for its role in the 2015 Volkswagen emission scandal. Volkswagen — and later Fiat Chrysler — installed devices in diesel passenger vehicles that made it seem like the cars met emissions requirements during tests, while in actuality they were polluting many times the legal limit.

Don Thompson / Associated Press

Strippers at a dive bar in North Hollywood voted to join the Actors’ Equity union, seeking a stronger voice in negotiating wages and protections against on-the-job harassment from patrons. But the club’s management is challenging the validity of the vote, claiming that some dancers aren’t direct employees.

Kevin Smith / San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The Orange County Board of Eduction is facing backlash over a proposed curriculum ban. The policy, proposed by Trustee Ken Williams, would forbid teaching curriculum that advocates for abolishing the police or claims that systemic racial oppression exists in America. Opponents decried the ban as “racist and backwards.”

Hosam Elattar / Voice of OC

Nation / world

In closing pitches, Republicans predicted big wins in races across the country while Democrats scrambled to attack opponents and appeal to moderates. (The Washington Post)
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley blasted Western countries for forcing the developing world to pay the price of the climate crisis at the United Nations’ Cop27 talks. (The Guardian)
In Michigan, the divisive debate over abortion rights has become an issue that isn’t necessarily falling along party lines. (Los Angeles Times)
Reports on China’s COVID-19 strategy indicated that the government may begin to gradually loosen its “zero-COVID” restrictions. (The Wall Street Journal)
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted to interfering in U.S. elections on Russia’s Facebook equivalent — and said he won’t stop. (Reuters)

Other things we’re reading

Tomo’s picks:

“Dear Artists: Do Not Fear AI Image Generators” (WIRED)
“The 2022 Midterm Election Endangers Democrats, Not Democracy” (The Wall Street Journal)
“CNN’s John King Wants to Avoid Being Election Night SportsCenter” (New York Magazine)

Anna’s picks:

“For These New York Farmers, Harvest Time Means High Times” (The New York Times)
“A photographer aimed his camera at a surfer. A shark photobombed.” (The Washington Post)
“Taiwan’s Bomb Shelters: ‘A Space for Life. And a Space for Death.’” (The New York Times)

In case you missed it

1,300 acres of oceanfront mountain land just northwest of Malibu will soon become a nature preserve. A nonprofit conservation group purchased the property known as Deer Creek Beach for about $25 million with the intention of transferring it to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Louis Sahagún / Los Angeles Times

Did a meteor strike burn down a Northern California home? A Nevada County homeowner said he heard a loud bang and found his porch on fire the same night the Taurid meteor shower was underway; other residents said they saw a bright light shoot across the sky and land in the area near the home immediately before the fire began.

Catherine Ho / San Francisco Chronicle

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Morning, Trojan is an Annenberg Media product. Tomoki Chien is the founding editor, Anna Hsu curates weekday reporting and Chris Bibona writes the Monday sports section. Questions, concerns or feedback? Just reply to this email.

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