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Headlines: Half-Ton Of Fentanyl Seized In Culiacán; COVID Case Increase Driving L.A. Towards New Mask Mandate

9:56 AM PDT on July 8, 2022

photo: Militares_marinos_federales_/Instagram

Welcome to L.A. TACO’s daily news briefs, where we bring our loyal members, readers, and supporters the latest headlines about Los Angeles politics and culture. Stay informed and look closely.

—A police chase following a nearby street takeover ended when a fleeing vehicle crashed on the UCLA campus, injuring its four occupants. [CBS]

—Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California will start making its own insulin to lower the price of this life-saving hormone. [Gavin Newsom/Twitter]

—The Mexican government claims to have seized more than a half-ton of fentanyl, along with other drugs, in a warehouse in Culiacán, Sinaloa. [Gob.Mx]

—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is pursuing a way to obtain the power to oust the sheriff from elected office, which would require voter approval. [LAT]

—Mike Brito, the Dodgers scout who signed Fernando Valenzuela, Yasiel Puig, and Julio Urias, among others, and often seen behind the plate with his signaure Panama hat and radar gun, is dead at the age of 87. [ESPN]

—A police officer shot and killed a man said to be holding a knife last night in West L.A.'s Sawtelle neighborhood. [LAT]

—A judge has reversed a decision to require the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to conduct an environmental review before "making annual decisions about deliveries of water on pastureland it owns east of Yosemite," following a lawsuit by Mono County and environmental protection group The Sierra Club. [LAT]

—Gun seizures by police rose 32.5% last year, with a reported 8,661 firearms taken in 2021, including 1,921 unregistered, untraceable ghost guns. [Crosstown]

—U.S. marshals conducted a nationwide task force targeting violent criminals, gang members, and sex offenders, arresting nearly 200 people in L.A. among the more than 1,500 nabbed in total across the country. [ABC]

—Mayor Eric Garcetti has signed the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance into law, in an effort to ensure safety, fair compensation, and workplace improvements for hotel workers. [L.A. Mayor]

—Rapper Saweetie threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers game last night, in conjunction with Filipino Heritage Night. And we've certainly seen worse celebrity attempts to cross the plate. [Hip Hop Vibe]

—Los Angeles County "is on course to be labeled a 'High' COVID level community in the next seven days," with the mask mandate returning once the region's COVID-related hospitalization rate, currently at 8.4 per 100,000 residents, hits above 10 per 100,000. [Deadline]

—Jupiters Claim, an original film set from Jordan Peele's forthcoming new horror film, Nope, will become a permanent new attraction on Universal Studios studio tour starting July 22. The set is described as a "family-fun theme park... predicated on the white-washed history and aesthetics of the California Gold Rush" set in the Santa Clarita Valley. [PopSugar]

—Former Dodgers great Orel Hershiser needs help finding his family's missing dog in Highland Park. [OrelHershiser55/Instagram]

—James Caan, R.I.P. [Variety]

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