Winter storm to continue pummeling California

Good morning, we hope your week’s going well. Here are the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

Brace yourselves: This latest winter storm will continue to pummel California on Wednesday. Officials issued flood advisories for LA County through Tuesday night while 50 mph gusts were detected near the coast. At least one person died in Northern California after wind toppled a tree that fell onto a vehicle.

Diana Leonard and Jason Samenow / The Washington Post

USC will scrap its coronavirus vaccine mandate next academic year for students, faculty and staff. Current campus vaccination rates sit near 100% for the primary series and 85% for the booster. University officials said they’d like to distribute Paxlovid — which was endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for the virus — to high-risk people with mild symptoms.

Claire Qiu / Daily Trojan

LA Unified School District campuses will remain closed for a second day as workers continue striking for better pay. District workers began picketing as early as 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and gathered in the thousands for an afternoon rally downtown, but have yet to schedule new talks with district leadership.

Staff / Los Angeles Times

Mexican cartels have long been a source of American drug woes. Now, there’s a new kid on the block: Chinese investors, owners and workers are becoming increasingly involved in illegal marijuana production in states like California. It’s still unclear how involved organized crime syndicates are and whether the Communist Party is involved at all, though.

Natalie Fertig / Politico

A bill floated in the state legislature could ban Skittles, Hot Tamales and Dubble Bubble Twist Gum — because all the treats contain potentially harmful chemicals. The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), would ban all foods that contain Red Dye No. 3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil or propyl paraben.

Iman Palm / KTLA

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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