September 26, 2023   View in browser

Picket signs sit in front of Paramount Studios this year. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

By Ryan Fonseca Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Sept. 26. Here’s what you need to know to start your day. What to know about the deal to end the writers’ strike Hotel workers strike at five Santa Monica properties Community colleges are exploring new territory And here’s today’s e-newspaper There’s a (tentative) deal to end the writers’ strike. Here’s what’s next After nearly five months with their pens down and their picket signs up, Hollywood’s striking writers could decide this week whether to get back to work. The Writers Guild of America and major Hollywood studios agreed to a tentative deal late Sunday. Details of the deal were not publicly available as of Monday afternoon, but the WGA negotiating committee described it to members Sunday as “exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.” The writers’ union had been demanding increased pay rates and residual payments for streaming shows, along with new rules governing how artificial intelligence can be used. “The writers’ strike was, in many ways, a response to the tectonic changes wrought by streaming,” Times writers Wendy Lee and Meg James reported. “Shorter seasons for streaming shows and fewer writers being hired have cut into guild members’ pay and job stability, making it harder to earn a sustainable living in the expensive media hubs of Los Angeles and New York, guild members have said.” Writers could actually get back to work before voting on the new contract if WGA authorizes a return to work. WGA’s negotiating committee will vote on whether to accept the new three-year film and TV contract, then pass it along to regional boards for approval. The guild’s 11,500 film and television writers will vote to seal the deal. WGA picketing has been suspended, though thousands of SAG-AFTRA members are still on strike, so picket lines will continue to show up on Southern California sidewalks. “It’s a big exhale,” writer Dan Ewen told Times contributor Pamela Chelin on Sunday as he and his peers celebrated the news at a Los Angeles bar. Chris Stephens expressed that same sentiment when I asked him about the new proposal Monday. While he and fellow writers had not seen any specifics of the tentative deal Monday, he said they’re “confident the negotiating committee wouldn’t have settled for anything subpar.” “The overall feeling is a mix of celebration and relief right now,” he said. “We also won’t consider this to be truly over until SAG is also given a fair deal, and we’ll stand in solidarity with them until that happens.” Writer Chris Stephens with his wife and fellow writer, Alisha Ketry, and their dog, Monty, at a WGA picket line outside Universal Studios. (Chris Stephens) I first spoke with Stephens over the summer after his photos of trimmed trees went viral. NBC Universal violated city rules by trimming the trees without necessary permits, which also took away shade from striking writers during a heat wave. Stephens is technically a pre-WGA member, having been hired for his first TV writing job just before the strike started. His wife, Alisha Ketry, is also a writer and has been a WGA member for six years. Stephens told me both he and Ketry are “pretty certain that we’ll be working at our respective shows as soon as the deal closes.” Their next challenge: finding a dog sitter once they get back to writing. ADVERTISEMENT Today’s top stories Hotel workers have walked off the job at five Santa Monica properties after negotiations stalled. (Suhauna Hussain / Los Angeles Times) More on workers’ rights Hotel workers strike at five Santa Monica properties after negotiations stall again. Federal firefighters will quit in droves if Congress doesn’t take action, their union warns. Housing in California Alameda County declared a homelessness state of emergency amid rising numbers of unhoused people in the region — an issue exacerbated by high housing costs. This L.A. freeway is the butt of many jokes. Can it have new life as parks and housing? More big stories What could reparations look like in California? Cash payments get the spotlight — and opposition. L.A. County gas station signs banned Romani women. The community lashes back over racism. Malibu mayor says a Kardashian party violated its permit — a trend city leaders say is growing. West Marin residents seek Northern California’s first dark-sky designation. The race is on for more EV charging stations at stores, offices and apartments. Hospital medication errors left SoCal patients at risk. One suffered a brain bleed. Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here. ADVERTISEMENT Commentary and opinions Brian Merchant: The writers’ strike was the first workplace battle between humans and AI. The humans won. Opinion: Federal funding for child care is about to fall off a cliff. Why that’s a disaster. Opinion: I thought I had it made. Then I accidentally discovered my brain tumor. Editorial: Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and other bail reform critics are wrong. Cash bail should not be a form of punishment. Today’s great reads (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) Where to get a low-cost bachelor’s degree close to home and a job lead: Community college. More and more of California’s 116 community colleges — struggling to remake themselves under pressure from declining enrollment — are venturing into higher education territory traditionally reserved for four-year institutions, offering bachelor’s degrees that lead to careers in high-demand fields. Other great reads My Valley girl accent follows me wherever I go. Long live the ‘likes’ and ‘totallys.’ As Muslims’ status as political punching bag fades, some are fighting against LGBTQ+ acceptance. ‘Staying, for us, is impossible.’ Thousands flee Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. For your downtime Participants dance at sunset during the Natural High alcohol-free party at Elysian Park in Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Going out 🥳 It’s a sober event that doesn’t feel like one: Inside L.A.’s booze-free dance party movement. 🎞️ James Cameron, Roger Corman and icons of genre film to dazzle at L.A.’s Beyond Fest, which starts today and runs through Oct. 10. 🅿️ You can now park at LAX for less than $20 a day in this new parking lot. 🎭 A Pasadena theater grapples with sexual harassment and power dynamics in a remixed Shakespeare play. Staying in 🎧 Shakira is back with more new music and a video! 📖 In Kerry Washington’s new memoir, “Thicker Than Water,” she embraces the many truths about herself. 🪖‘Band of Brothers’ is back. And this time it’s on Netflix. 🎥 The documentary ‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’ tells a real-life tale of spies, nukes and Howard Hughes. 🍇 Here’s a recipe for Thomcord grape and corn cake. ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games. And finally ... a great photo A family desperately burrows through razor wire in an effort to cross the U.S./Mexico border along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas. They were turned away by a member of the National Guard. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Today’s great photo is from The Times’ Robert Gauthier. More than 9,000 asylum seekers and counting have crossed the border from Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor declared a state of emergency and Border Patrol agents have become overwhelmed. Have a great day, from the Essential California team Ryan Fonseca, reporter Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Laura Blasey, assistant editor