Today’s Headlines: L.A. Airbnb hosts are charging higher rates amid city crackdown

Hello, it’s Tuesday, Sept. 5, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Los Angeles Airbnb hosts are charging higher rates and raking in big payouts amid a city crackdown. Running an Airbnb in L.A. has never been more profitable.

As the city tries to crack down on illegal listings, and advocacy groups complain about the company’s effect on L.A.’s housing crisis, hosts are charging higher rates than ever while raking in bigger and bigger payouts. But don’t expect them to talk about it.

Hilary ‘reshaped the landscape’ of Death Valley National Park. As Tropical Storm Hilary bore down, torrents of water rushed through Death Valley National Park, forging new gullies, displacing heavy rocks and undercutting roadways, including State Route 190, one of the park’s main thoroughfares.

Chunks of the highway, including entire lanes, now lay in crumbles, and officials say it could be months before the park reopens.

More climate coverage

• Climate change boosts the risk of explosive wildfire growth in California by 25%, a study says.
• Heat-related deaths are up, and not just because it’s getting hotter.
• In Koreatown, a lack of bus shelters makes a hot summer even hotter.

Birth can be dismal for Black women. What this hospital is doing to stop that. Black women have been at much higher risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth than women of other races in the U.S. — a country where birth is already far more dangerous than in many other wealthy nations.

Since it opened its doors eight years ago, MLK Community Hospital has relied on certified nurse midwives — nurses with graduate-level training in pregnancy and childbirth — working together with obstetricians to manage labors.

How does a restaurant get an ‘A’ grade? L.A. health inspectors are represented by the Teamsters Local 991. Nearly every day, the specialists posted at 29 offices — north from Lancaster, south to Long Beach and east to Claremont — fan out across Los Angeles County. And nearly every day, the inspectors shut down a few food-serving establishments, from restaurants and bars to fast-food joints and convenience stores.

Most places pass inspection and simply receive a letter grade. How inspectors arrive at the letter grades can be a bit complex.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Fans pose for a portrait before entering Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour on Friday in Inglewood.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Beyoncé fans arrive in style for the first of three shows at SoFi Stadium. Check out our photo gallery from Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour stop at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Beyoncé asked the beyhive to don their “most fabulous silver fashions” to celebrate “Virgo season together in the house of chrome,” and her fans delivered.

CALIFORNIA

A busload of migrants, the 12th sent by Texas, arrives in Los Angeles. Migrants from as far away as Russia and Venezuela were on a bus sent from Texas that arrived in L.A. on Labor Day.

Healthcare workers rally for a new contract with Kaiser Permanente. Workers march at Kaiser Permanente’s main medical facility in Los Angeles to call for an increase in hiring as well as a new minimum wage for front-line employees.

NASA technology can spot wine grape disease from the sky. The world’s food supply could benefit. While the breakthrough is good news for the wine and grape industry, which loses billions of dollars a year to the crop-ruining disease, it could eventually help global agriculture as a whole.

Californians can now carry driver’s licenses on their phone as part of a pilot program. The pilot is limited to 1.5 million people. Several airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, accept mobile licenses as a form of ID.

NATION-WORLD

Bananas and cocaine: Two global industries collide in Ecuador, and bloodshed ensues. Ecuador’s location is increasingly putting it at the confluence of two global industries, bananas and cocaine, leading to a drastic drop in security.

Putin says there will be no new Ukraine grain deal until the West meets his demands. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain despite the war won’t be restored until Moscow’s demands are met.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

You can see the stars at Mt. Wilson Observatory — and a celestial sci-fi opera. Described as an “interstellar chamber opera,” L.A.’s acclaimed experimental opera company the Industry will present “Star Choir” at Mt. Wilson Observatory.

What Austin Butler had to tell us about the Telluride festival opener ‘The Bikeriders.’ Director Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” an ensemble period film starring Butler, Tom Hardy and Jodi Comer, opened the Telluride Film Festival.

‘Gum-gum’ limbs and flying feet: How Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ re-created four essential fight scenes. The stunts and visual effects team behind the live-action series explain how they re-created fight scenes from the manga and anime using items like fake katanas and limbs on sticks.

Steve Harwell, ‘All Star’ singer for Smash Mouth, dies at 56. On Sunday, TMZ reported that Harwell was in the final stage of liver failure and had entered hospice care. Harwell retired from Smash Mouth in 2021, citing his health.

BUSINESS

On Labor Day, Hollywood guild leaders tout union solidarity. In an email sent out Sunday, Jodi Long — president of the SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles local — stressed solidarity with other unions pushing for improved pay and working conditions.

Workers ‘can still win really big.’ How labor can demand more. Prominent labor organizer and author Jane McAlevey has advice for workers about demanding transparency from their union leaders.

SPORTS

Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The Dodgers released a statement that read, “We are aware of an incident involving Julio Urías. While we attempt to learn all the facts, he will not be traveling with the team. The organization has no further comment at this time.”

Three-year-olds could dominate the Breeders’ Cup Classic this year, but not for the first time. Arabian Knight’s win for trainer Bob Baffert in the Pacific Classic could be an indicator of who might win the richest horse race in the U.S.

Column: Did L.A. fans overpay to see Lionel Messi? They can always say they watched the greatest. Lionel Messi isn’t playing quite as fast as he once did, but he has an exceptional soccer mind and looks effortless while elevating all of MLS.

OPINION

Your body, your work? Hollywood is scanning actors’ moves. What that could mean for the rest of us. Some actors are subjected to full body scans. Screenwriters worry about their work being digitally repurposed. Those striking against the studios rightly demand stricter controls over artificial intelligence.

The ‘fuss’ over Burning Man proves we care about the wrong people stuck in the mud. Resources are being marshaled to help those who made the expensive pilgrimage to the playa. It’s another reminder of who really matters and who doesn’t.

Column: How a racist housing policy caused the biggest, bitterest brawl in California’s Capitol. The Rumford Fair Housing Act, the 1960s legislation to end racial discrimination on housing, produced arguably the biggest, bitterest brawl ever in California’s Capitol.

ONLY IN L.A.

Clockwise from top left: Erica Mahinay, “Forthcoming,” 2023; Bobbi Jene Smith + Or Schraiber, “The Missing Mountain,” 2023; Teresa Tolliver, “Wild Thing,” 2003-2005; 2022; Alexandre Arrechea, “Fish Bite / Mordida de Pescado.”

(Photo collage by Jess Hutchison / Los Angeles Times; photos courtesy of the Hammer Museum; Courtesy of MOLAA; Josh S. Rose / L.A. Dance Project;)

30 must-see arts events in Southern California this fall. Whether visiting a gallery, or viewing a theater, dance or music performance, the city’s coming lineup of must-see arts events arrive with a dose of community and camaraderie.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

President Ford on a podium with running back Ricky Bell during a campaign stop at USC in 1976. A year earlier, Ford had survived two assassination attempts in California.

(Boris Yaro / Los Angeles Times)

Forty-eight years ago, former President Ford survived an assassination attempt in Sacramento. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, pulled a loaded gun, a .45-caliber Colt semiautomatic pistol, and misfired.

That was not the only attempt against Ford’s life that month. Seventeen days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, also attempted to assassinate Ford in San Francisco. Moore, an accountant and a divorced mother of four, fired at Ford on Sept. 22, 1975, as the president was leaving a speaking engagement at the St. Francis Hotel.

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