Good morning. It’s Friday, and I’m reading about the skinniest house in California. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

I’m starting a new segment called the “social calendar” that’ll run every Thursday morning. It’ll list parties, fundragers and social events for that weekend. Want to submit a listing? Use this form.

1.

The Trader Joe’s in the Village will close an hour earlier starting Monday, and USC students are up in arms. “Sometimes people only have time to get groceries late at night,” one student said. “Customers are hungry, we all depend on you, I say put in the work,” said another, referring to Trader Joe’s employees. “This pisses me tf off. Do they not understand college students’ schedules??” read a popular social media post. God forbid students have to buy their quirky off-brand snacks by 9 p.m. rather than 10 p.m. Or walk to the Target next door, which still closes at 10 p.m. Or shop while the sun is still out.

Anthony Bottino / Annenberg Media

2.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called reports that he pushed for an exemption in a fast food wage law that would benefit one of his long-time donors “absurd.” The law exempts businesses who bake and sell bread a la carte from a new $20 minimum wage, which would in theory benefit Newsom donor and billionaire Greg Flynn, who owns two dozen Panera Bread restaurants throughout the state. A spokesperson said the governor never met with Flynn and claimed the exemption actually doesn’t cover Panera because it mixes its dough off site. Experts say the law’s language is up for interpretation.

Ashley Zavala / KCRA

3.

Chevy Camaro thefts are soaring in LA this year, and police might finally know why: Investigators said they caught a 16-year-old using an electronic device capable of cloning ignition keys to steal the muscle cars, who then resold them for a few thousand dollars on social media. It’s unclear how many thefts that particular teen is responsible for, but it’s likely that similar key fob-cloning devices are responsible for the surge in thefts. Such technology is commercially available, and thieves with some technical know-how can generate replacement keys for cars in less than three minutes.

Richard Winton / Los Angeles Times

4.

Officials warned of “life-threatening blizzard conditions” in the Sierra Nevada starting this morning in an alert that’s reserved for only the worst of snow storms. Parts of the region including Lake Tahoe could see up to 3 feet of snow, which, combined with high winds, can make it difficult to see things just a few feet away. Park officials urged people to leave Yosemite “as soon as possible,” and some ski resorts said they’d close for the weekend. Beyond its dangerous conditions, the storm could help recharge the Sierra snowpack, which is currently at 80% of its normal level. The snowpack accounts for about a third of the state’s annual water supply. 

Judson Jones / The New York Times

5.

There’s a mystery in San Francisco. Earlier this year, word spread on social media that a prominent community activist named Richard Parina died. Local politicians eulogized the leader, calling him a “true hero” as condolences poured in for the man who said he was a retired brigadier general with multiple Purple Hearts and a Silver Star. But it turns out the military has no record of Parina ever serving. Also, the high school he said he went to has no record of him graduating. Nor did he live where he said he did, and he may not have been married to the wife he claimed he was. The best part: There’s no record of Parina’s death, either in San Francisco or in Napa County, where an email address claiming to belong to Parina’s widow said he died. “One last thing....die a slow death...please!” the person emailed journalists investigating the story. 

Annie Gaus and Josh Koehn / The San Francisco Standard

A correction on a story the other day: In this year’s Undergraduate Student Government elections, only the presidential election used ranked-choice voting — not both that and the senate elections, as we originally wrote. Also, 4,099 students cast ballots in the presidential race, but a total of 4,306 students voted in all races.