Democrat meltdown derails USC debate
Tomo Chien
March 24, 2026
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
USC canceled a gubernatorial debate it was set to host today after Democrats fumed in several breathless open letters that no candidates of color qualified for the event. It’s worth reading this emphatic defense of USC’s selection criteria penned by dozens of political scholars, who called the criticism “baseless” and “reckless.”
2.
S&P Global, a major credit rating agency, said it expects USC’s operating margins to improve this fiscal year but warned its rating could be downgraded if it accumulates more debt. The agency first put USC on notice a year ago in a stern analysis that preceded a roughly 1,000-person round of layoffs.
3.
In November 2024, a USC sophomore drunk and high on cocaine crashed a Tesla Cybertruck in the Bay Area town of Piedmont, killing himself and two passengers. Now, the sole survivor of the crash is suing Tesla, alleging the truck’s flawed design prevented passengers from escaping. It is the second lawsuit related to the crash.
4.
Two years ago, restaurant executives warned that a proposed $20 fast-food minimum wage in California would hurt workers. Labor groups laughed them off. But a new UC Santa Cruz study found that since the law took effect, workers have seen reduced hours and vanishing benefits — the very unintended consequences that execs warned of.
5.
Nestled in California’s high desert near the town of Bishop is a tiny, 15-person college where students can’t drink and the internet is effectively banned. To hear one student tell it in a recent essay: Deep Springs College’s internet ban fosters a “contemplative space” free of the “chronically online.” Of course, she has a Substack.
