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By Tomoki Chien & Claire Qiu

Good morning. Here are the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Nearly 200,000 people in LA County collectively owe a whopping half a billion dollars in unpaid rent. The figure reflects a dire state for many renters as pandemic-era eviction protections begin to expire, most notably LA County’s, which is one of the last remaining local protections and expires on March 31.

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde / CalMatters

2.

California lawmakers approved a bill that will allow regulators to punish oil companies who gouge prices at the pump. The bill, the first of its kind in the nation, has long been a top priority for Gov. Gavin Newsom and should in theory stop companies from profiting from gas prices spikes like those of last summer.

Adam Beam / Associated Press

3.

USC’s acceptance rate for the 2022-2023 admissions season was 11.5%, a 0.5% decrease from the previous year. First-generation college students make up 23% of the admitted applicants, and the school set a record for the highest volume of applicants ever — 80,790, which is 10,000 higher than the previous record.

Jennifer Nehrer / Daily Trojan

4.

LA city workers took down the controversial fence that surrounded Echo Park, two years after officials closed the park for renovations — which, as some advocates have alleged, may have been a thinly veiled effort to clear the park’s 200-person homeless encampment at the height of the pandemic.

Staff / City News Service

5.

Scientists named a rare beetle species in honor of Jerry Brown, former governor of California. Bembidion brownorum is a brown beetle about 1/5 inch in length that, until recently, hadn’t been seen since 1966. Brown (the human) left office in 2019.

Staff / Associated Press

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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