Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m watching this breakdown of movie scenes filmed at USC. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Charlie Kirk, once described as the “youth whisperer” of the right, held a grip on the psyche of U.S. college students in a way that few commentators or politicians do. Case in point: When news of his assassination broke, students said their group chats lit up in a way they never do about the news. At the link below, see unfiltered screenshots of those texts.

Tomo Chien / The San Francisco Standard

2.

Students say they’re having trouble opting out of USC’s new $292 digital textbook bundle — an auto-opt-in program meant to be a money-saver. A spokesperson for Follett, the company behind the program, acknowledged “technical and procedural issues” and pointed students to a phone line for help. Calls went unanswered.

Staff / Annenberg Media

3.

USC will continue to guarantee housing for sophomores after all. The university previously considered sunsetting the longstanding policy as part of what it called a routine review.

Zachary Whalen / Daily Trojan

4.

A popular perk that let California electric car owners drive in the carpool lane will end on Oct. 1. State officials said the program, meant to incentivize EV ownership, is ending because it wasn’t extended by the federal government.

Melody Gutierrez / Los Angeles Times

5.

In 1950, LIFE magazine sent the photographer Loomis Dean to document the “beach bums” of San Onofre. “The bums spend every minute they can surfboarding, sunning, guzzling beer, making friends with people who come down to be weekend beach bums,” the magazine wrote. See a collection of those photos at the link below.

Forgotten Los Angeles