Good morning. It’s Thursday. Which member of the Houthi PC Small Group are you? Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

The newsletter will be off tomorrow while I recover from a cold.

1.

Multiple USC doctoral programs are rescinding Ph.D. admission offers because of “uncertainty” in federal funding and the school’s ongoing financial woes, according to memos obtained by Morning, Trojan and university sources familiar with the matter.

Tomo Chien / Morning, Trojan

2.

USC is “overwhelmingly likely” to lose hundreds of millions in federal funding thanks to Donald Trump’s executive actions, Provost Andrew Guzman warned the Faculty Senate. Given the school’s “lack of reserves,” he argued, it is prudent to comply with the White House’s whims.

Sean Campbell / Daily Trojan

3.

Cops are searching for a man who allegedly groped a woman then punched an elderly person in the chest at Ralph’s on Vermont Avenue near USC in August. It is unclear why investigators are searching for the man months later.

Helen Jeong / NBC Los Angeles

4.

In August, the LA County Sheriff's Department learned it bought faulty DNA test kits. But because of a stunning oversight, it continued using those kits in criminal cases until last month. Now, officials must retest roughly 4,000 DNA samples, some of which may be too small to reprocess.

Keri Blakinger / Los Angeles Times

5.

For anybody who plans to be here in the summer of 2028: A revised Olympic venue list placed flag football and lacrosse at BMO Stadium, just down the street from USC. The Coliseum will host track and field and the Galen Center will host badminton, as previously announced.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times