Essential: Would this pay for the wall?

[Essential California] Essential California [Send to friend] | [Open in browser] Good morning. It is Saturday, Jan. 28. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend: TOP STORIES And who’s going to pay for it? President Trump’s desire to fund the cost of a wall across the southern border with Mexico has suddenly brought out of obscurity a border-tax idea that has been around for many years and is embedded in the GOP blueprint for tax reform. The plan would subject importers to higher taxes than exporters or those that produce at home for domestic consumption. But it’s fraught with legal and economic landmines. [Los Angeles Times] Plus: How strong a case do “sanctuary cities” have as they plan a legal battle against Trump plans? [Los Angeles Times] River runs through it: Los Angeles will spend $59.3 million to buy a piece of land billed as a “crown jewel” in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s push to restore an 11-mile stretch of the Los Angeles River. [Los Angeles Times] Sad story: Tragedy has once again visited a pack of mountain lions struggling to survive in the Santa Monica Mountains. Wildlife officials said Friday that a female mountain lion kitten known as P-51 was struck and killed by a car while crossing the 118 Freeway — the same freeway that claimed the lives of her mother and a sibling late last year. [Los Angeles Times] Safer environment: Can more street lights and tree trimming curb prostitution in L.A.? [Los Angeles Times] Flora and fauna: Some unexpected effects of all that snow and rain in California: Bears seeking shelter, lost sea pups and dying plant life. [SFGate] Plan B: The “Calexit” movement is now collecting signatures, but it still doesn’t have much money on hand for its push to have California break off from the U.S. [Sacramento Bee] In their wheelhouse: Why Big 5 is succeeding where so many other sporting goods chains have failed. [Orange County Register] Rents getting cheaper: The Bay Area’s once-unstoppable rental market is continuing to cool down, with rent falling for the last four months. “Landlords are starting to accept people who have less than perfect credit if they have good explanations for what happened.” [Mercury News] A double slaying shakes Chinatown: Tiles clacked at the mah-jongg tables in the main hall of the Hop Sing Tong, the slow cadence of a typical afternoon at one of Los Angeles’ oldest institutions. The quiet broke when an intruder entered the Chinatown building and started to argue with a man in his 60s playing the game at a felt-covered table. He pulled a knife and attacked the man and another who tried to defend him, slashing both fatally in the neck. [Los Angeles Times] Golden Age: Some gorgeous photos of restored movie palaces in downtown L.A. [LAist] On to the next: Could California field a Democratic presidential candidate (or two) in 2020? There are some early contenders. [Los Angeles Times] ADVERTISEMENT THIS WEEK’S MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA 1. Trump won this little chunk of Los Angeles, where half of the voters are linked to Scientology. [Los Angeles Times] 2. President Obama’s last flight from the White House to California. [Washington Post] 3. A mesmerizing video of the San Gabriel Mountains. [Curbed Los Angeles] 4. In an era of political uncertainty, Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address sees California as a model for the nation. [Los Angeles Times] 5. Three decades after a Vacaville girl was bludgeoned to death, police announce an arrest in the case. [Los Angeles Times] ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEK’S GREAT READS On the waterfront: Inside the battle to get the best blue-collar job in L.A. For the first time in more than a decade, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will raffle off thousands of part-time gigs working at Los Angeles-area ports. The slots don’t come with benefits or steady hours. But eventually, after putting in years at the docks, some of those part-timers may earn the chance to become unionized longshoremen, who can make as much as $200,000 a year. [Los Angeles Times] Hasn’t changed: Amid a boom of gentrification all around it, the MacArthur Park/Westlake area remains relatively unchanged. The dense mix of apartments, immigrant businesses, street vendors and more is proving harder to flip than other neighborhoods. “Gentrification keeps me up at night when I think about Echo Park and Boyle Heights but less so in Westlake because the level of investment needed is so deep, and the deeper the deferred maintenance is, the more it will take to get it back to a place of recovery.” [Curbed Los Angeles] You choose: The future of film might well be finally arriving, and it’s going to have a lot of alternative endings. This is the tale of how a new breed of filmmakers is trying to create a new genre of “interactive” movies for Hollywood and beyond. [The New Yorker] Inland sea: For a few weeks at least, downtown Sacramento will be waterfront property — thanks to a feat of engineering known as the Yolo Bypass. It’s one of California’s most daring and critical pieces of water infrastructure, collecting runoff from various streams and rivers from the Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges to prevent Sacramento and surrounding suburbs from being flooded. [Los Angeles Times] Turn on the spigot: Downtown L.A.’s great man-made waterfall might flow again soon. Inside the effort to restore forgotten Ft. Moore Hill to its earlier glory. [Los Angeles Times] ADVERTISEMENT LOOKING AHEAD Sunday: The Screen Actors Guild Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium. Monday: A centennial celebration honoring former Mayor Tom Bradley at LAX. Tuesday: CSU trustees meet in Long Beach. Wednesday: A public hearing on plans to begin operations at the Aliso Canyon gas facility. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. 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