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Newsletter: Meet the ‘Dreamers’

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Meet the ‘Dreamers’

Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn graduated from UC Berkeley with honors, earned a master’s degree from Harvard in public health and a doctor of medicine from UC San Francisco. Gurkaran Singh is still in college but already runs a real estate business. Karla Estrada is a paralegal for immigration cases.

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They are among the so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children, unaware that they had entered illegally or on visas that later expired.

Now their future hangs in the balance as the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments today to decide whether to unravel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily protects some 700,000 of these immigrant young people. Here are some of their stories — and a timeline of key developments that led to the Supreme Court case.

More Politics

— The view among national security officials was unanimous: Military aid to Ukraine should not be stopped by the White House. That was the testimony of Laura Cooper, a Defense Department official, whose deposition was released Monday in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

— On Veterans Day, several Democratic candidates rolled out proposals to meet the needs of America’s 20 million former service members, whille Trump, speaking in New York City’s Veterans Day Parade, praised the strength of the U.S. military and the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi.

— Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is considering a late run for the Democratic presidential nomination, underscoring how unclear it still is just who the party’s top contenders might be.

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— Trump said he’s planning to meet with vaping-industry representatives and medical professionals as the White House considers new limits on the sale of e-cigarettes.

Tory vs. Labour? Or Leave vs. Remain?

The upcoming British general election is being cast as a far-reaching referendum on Britain’s status as a pillar of a postwar order that has kept peace in Europe for seven decades and perhaps, ultimately, whether the United Kingdom will remain united.

One month out, polls give Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Tories a commanding lead. But with plans to leave the European Union still at an impasse, old party loyalties may break down. “Brexit identity is more powerful than party identity, and people will try to vote to get the best outcome in line with that,” said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University.

A Question of Safety on the Water

The Conception dive boat accident that killed 34 people on Labor Day was one of the worst maritime disasters in California history, but the safety lapses that led to it were hardly unprecedented. For years, small passenger vessels have gone up in flames for a variety of reasons, prompting repeated calls by the National Transportation Safety Board to improve fire-safety measures.

But a Times review of federal documents spanning nearly 20 years shows that the U.S. Coast Guard, which has the sole authority to mandate safety measures, has often rejected the board’s recommendations. A growing belief throughout the boat industry is that the Conception fire could finally lead to safety rules that the NTSB has been proposing for years.

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How Will Disney+ Change the TV Equation?

After two years of planning, the Walt Disney Co. is launching Disney+, its much anticipated streaming service, today. It’s one of the Burbank company’s biggest gambles: Disney has spent more than $3 billion on technology and content in an attempt to take on Netflix, and Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Iger’s legacy will be judged, in large part, on the success of Disney+. So what’s worth checking out on the service? TV critic Robert Lloyd offers this guide.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

Today we are remembering Alan Hagman, The Times’ deputy director of photography, who has died.

In January 1998, Hagman was assigned to take pictures at storm-battered Faria Beach, but a wave hit his car on Pacific Coast Highway and knocked it into a pile of rocks. He hiked to a house at Solimar Beach, where he waited for a tow truck.

“My first thought was, ‘I just trashed my company car and I’m in trouble,’ ” Hagman said. “Then just out of nowhere a wave — a big wave — came over the breakwall and into the house.”

Hagman’s photo ran on the front page of The Times the next day and in publications around the world. It would win the Associated Press Managing Editor Photo of the Year award, one of many honors Hagman collected over his more than 22 years at The Times.

Jan. 30, 1998: Marilyn Lane tries to shut a door as a wave rushes into her Solimar Beach home during a storm.
Jan. 30, 1998: Marilyn Lane tries to shut a door as a wave rushes into her Solimar Beach home during a storm.
(Alan Hagman / Los Angeles Times)
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CALIFORNIA

— When the Woolsey fire broke out a year ago at Boeing’s shuttered nuclear and rocket engine testing site near Simi Valley, a private crew working for the aerospace giant was the closest to the flames. A firetruck headed to the scene. But it didn’t get far.

Amazon plans to open a new grocery store in an L.A. neighborhood next year, and it won’t be another Whole Foods.

— California might not require solar panels on new homes after all.

— The stakes are high in the legal battle over whether San Diego County can use carbon offsets to approve thousands of new housing units in wildfire-prone areas, a plan the state says would imperil its climate strategy.

— The chief of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system has apologized to a man who was handcuffed for eating a sandwich on a platform in a video that went viral.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

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Neil Young says his pot-smoking has stalled his U.S. citizenship application.

Marvel’s chief creative officer, Kevin Feige, has broken his silence and addressed Martin Scorsese’s critique of Marvel movies.

— Fans at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival were bound to be disappointed by any special guest who wasn’t Frank Ocean, critic Mikael Wood writes. But founder Tyler the Creator’s choice of Drake also felt like a failure to understand what his flagship event has become.

NATION-WORLD

— Former President Carter was admitted to a hospital on Monday evening for a procedure this morning to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding due to his recent falls, his spokeswoman said.

Bolivia is in crisis as former President Evo Morales leaves for Mexico and his would-be successors resign.

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— Among China‘s big plans for the Tibetan plateau: building its own Yellowstone.

— Amid unrest in Lebanon, the country’s currency, long a symbol of its stability after civil war, is faltering.

— Americans’ cholesterol levels are down, and their use of statin drugs is up, according to a new report — suggesting a controversial change to treatment recommendations is paying off.

BUSINESS

PG&E is reportedly offering $13.5 billion in compensation to the victims of wildfires sparked by its power lines in its rush to come up with a viable restructuring plan to get out of bankruptcy — the same amount its creditors said they’d pay with a rival proposal.

— Apple is under fire for what critics call the sexism of its new Apple Card, with even co-founder Steve Wozniak complaining the branded card’s credit limits seem to discriminate against women. Even worse for the company, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik, the blowup shows the credit card isn’t really an Apple card at all.

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— The staff of Hearst Magazines — including those at Elle, Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health — have voted to unionize.

SPORTS

Mike Scioscia wants to manage again. But does anybody want him? None of the eight teams hiring this offseason interviewed him.

UCLA football’s biggest game, for now, is a showdown with Utah on Saturday. A victory would catapult UCLA into a tie with Utah in the Pac-12 Conference standings while securing the tiebreaker between the teams.

OPINION

— Trump’s latest anti-immigrant move: Making it far more costly to apply for citizenship.

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— California’s new labor law will make life even harder for writers, T.J. Stiles says.

— This year, U.S. states have executed 19 people despite lingering questions over the guilt of several of them, The Times’ editorial board writes. Why do we cling to the death penalty?

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

Google is secretly gathering millions of Americans’ personal health records — including names, diagnoses and lab results — through an initiative with America’s second-largest health system, Ascension, and using the data to write software that suggests changes to individual patients’ care. (Wall Street Journal)

Don Cherry, a bombastic longtime hockey commentator, has been fired after alleging on the air that Canada’s immigrants (“you people”) don’t properly honor fallen soldiers. (ESPN)

ONLY IN L.A.

When Metro’s Crenshaw/LAX Line opens next year, its eight stations will come to life with dozens of public art pieces, created by 14 artists selected from more than 1,200, that aim to capture the spirit of the historically rich neighborhoods that surround them. Rebeca Méndez’s 92-foot-long mosaic in the sky’s hues offers a metaphor for the city’s diversity. Kenturah Davis hopes her black-and-white drawings of people inspire curiosity in commuters and make them think about language. And Mickalene Thomas hopes her collage artwork, which centers on black female empowerment and nods to iconic elements of Leimert Park’s landscape, brings people inspiration, joy and “a sense of themselves and their community.” Read more from them and other artists.

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Mickalene Thomas with artwork that will be at one of the stations on Metro’s Crenshaw/LAX line set to open next year.
(Béatrice de Géa / For The Times)

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