Thousands under flood evacuation orders in Central Valley

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

Authorities warned thousands of Central Valley residents to leave their homes ahead of another heavy storm expected Wednesday. The new weather system is forecasted to drop an additional 4 inches of rain on a community that has suffered flooding and infrastructure damage from more than a dozen back-to-back deluges.

Ian James and Paige St. John / Los Angeles Times

The White House is set to approve new California restrictions that would phase out diesel-burning trucks. The rules — significantly more ambitious than anything at the federal level — mandate emissions cuts for heavy-duty vehicles starting in the 2024 model year and aim to reach zero emissions by 2045.

Anna Philips / The Washington Post

The LA Unified School District failed to avert a three-day strike scheduled for Tuesday in a Hail Mary legal effort, but a state labor board could still in theory halt the strike on Monday. In the Hail Mary effort, the school district argued that the strike was illegal because the stated justification isn’t the real reason for the walkout; a labor board tossed that argument.

Howard Blume / Los Angeles Times

California high schools are embroiled in a divisive debate over the state’s ethnic studies requirement, in part because the state has left it up to individual school districts to decide their own curricula. One camp argues that classes should focus on the root causes of white supremacy, racism and patriarchy; the other argues that doing so will only teach pupils to hate each other.

Jill Tucker / San Francisco Chronicle

California will partner with a generic drug maker to produce affordable, state-branded insulin in an effort to force other manufacturers to lower the cost of the medication. Questions remain: The partners still need to find a manufacturing facility. They also need to secure regulatory approvals. And competitors could still undercut the state product — though perhaps that’s the point.

Michael R. Blood / 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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