Scooter thefts spiked at USC
Tomo Chien
September 26, 2025
Good morning. It’s Friday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
Campus motor vehicle thefts jumped 13% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to a Department of Public Safety report. Electric scooters are included in the tally. When asked about the discrepancy between the thefts and DPS’s claim that the campus gates stymied crime, an official said: “I was somewhat surprised.”
2.
U.S. employers were rocked this week by a White House mandate that companies must pay $100,000 per worker when hiring foreign talent using the popular H-1B visa program. Compared to other schools, USC may have little to worry about. Data shows the university employs 108 H-1B workers, which ranks it 47th among U.S. colleges.
3.
Great news: California’s cannabis tax received a temporary 4 percentage-point reduction under a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law is meant to juice business at legal dispensaries, whose owners say high taxes are driving customers to the thriving illicit market.
4.
An LA County report found that flawed policies and outdated equipment hampered the response to the Eaton and Palisades fires. The 133-page document, which is the first official review of the fires, found, among other things, that lengthy approval processes delayed digital warnings to residents.
5.
Sometime in the 1940s, LIFE Magazine sent photographer Peter Stackpole to document UCLA and UC Berkeley for a story that never made it to print. At the link below, see a nostalgic 20-photo excerpt of that album, which includes shots of the then-UCLA-run Scripps Research Pier in La Jolla.