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Newsletter: Essential California: A ‘wildlife corridor’ for mountain lions

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Good morning. It is Saturday, April 23. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend:

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Preserving nature: Los Angeles city officials want to create a “wildlife corridor” in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains to protect the natural habitats of mountain lions and bobcats. The proposed legislation would prohibit the issue of building or grading permits for the mountains unless developers could show that wild animals would still be able to access their habitats. “We want to be certain that P-22 can get around, meet P-23 and have P-24,” City Councilman Paul Koretz said in reference to the Griffith Park mountain lion. Los Angeles Times

Reporting authority: UC Berkeley administrators have hired an outside firm to look into allegations that the coach of the men’s crew team failed to report a sexual assault. A former female member of the team says Mike Teti knew she had been attacked at a crew party but instead of reporting the crime to authorities, he asked her about her sexual relationships and told her, “You’re no angel anyway.” Teti denies the allegations. San Jose Mercury News

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Art scene: He arrived in Los Angeles from New York to shake up the local art scene. Now a celebrity art dealer is accused of wrongdoing involving two of Los Angeles’ most powerful art collectors, Eli Broad and Michael Ovitz. Los Angeles Times

Drug tunnels: Otay Mesa is the sweet spot if you want to dig a tunnel from San Diego to Tijuana. “It’s really the ideal place for a tunnel. It’s quite easy to dig through. You could do it with a pickax,” said Pat Abbott, a geology professor at San Diego State University. Los Angeles Times

Attorneys out: Two prosecutors left the San Diego city attorney’s office after it was discovered they had bungled 98 cases. In some instances, former Deputy City Atty. Miriam Milstein and her superior, Marlea Dell’Anno, missed deadlines, which meant individuals accused of domestic violence were not prosecuted. “It’s inexcusable to let a statute of limitations expire in any case, let alone a domestic violence case. There is absolutely no excuse, absolutely none,” said City Atty. Jan Goldsmith. Los Angeles Times

Hollywood money: DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg doubled his salary last year after the company’s stock jumped 15%. Hollywood Reporter

Purple rain: The Rain Room at LACMA turned purple Friday in honor of Prince. Curbed LA

THIS WEEK’S MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA

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1. Topanga State Park is a great place to go if you want to get away from the hubbub of the city. So imagine one hiker’s surprise when he saw someone ride a Segway up the rustic trails. LAist

2. The cost of protecting San Francisco’s Embarcadero in a major earthquake is $3 billion. That estimate came on the 110th’s anniversary of that city’s devastating earthquake. Los Angeles Times

3. A list of things that could only be true at Stanford. BuzzFeed

4. Here are four things to know about the mountain lion that showed up for class at a Granada Hills high school. Curbed LA

5. Stoners celebrated the 4/20 holiday this week. To keep the peace, police released a set of rules for partying in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. SFist

ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEK’S GREAT READS

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Art celebration: Wizard of Art celebrates its 20th anniversary in Los Feliz this week. The art studio was the brainchild of struggling artists Paul Eventoff and Donna Zweig, writes columnist Steve Lopez. “Los Angeles is full of little miracles like this — neighborhood institutions where someone scraped and saved and hustled and crafted something original. The city’s spirit and soul aren’t in its corporations, but in the imaginations of its storefront entrepreneurs,” he writes. Los Angeles Times

Oranges, oranges everywhere: The history of Orange County through the prism of its namesake fruit. LA Review of Books

Party confusion: Many California voters thought they were registering as independents when they signed up with the American Independent Party. They were wrong. “When they use the word ‘independent,’ I want to clarify it,” said Cathy Darling Allen, Shasta County’s registrar of voters. Los Angeles Times

Collaborative partnerships: Prince was more than a prolific musician. He helped other musicians get into the scene, from Vanity 6 to Apollonia and Carmen Electra. Los Angeles Times

Same old, same old: Is the secret to legendary Hollywood eatery Musso & Frank’s success that it never changes anything? Los Angeles Magazine

Shield laws: The inside story on shielding police from public scrutiny. LA Weekly

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LOOKING AHEAD

Monday: Candidates for U.S. Senate in California square off in a debate; the Newport Beach Film Festival will continue in Orange County; the United Way of Greater Los Angeles will hold its inaugural Women’s Summit in Beverly Hills.

Friday: The Stagecoach Festival will kick off in Indio.

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.

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