A violent start to the new year
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- Authorities are investigating possible links between a Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas and the attack in New Orleans.
- From cannabis cafes to A.I., here’s how new California laws could affect you in 2025.
- These five expert guides can help you find fresh opportunities in the new year.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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The new year began with a Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas and an attack in New Orleans
Like many readers, I woke up on New Year’s Day to the horrifying news about the attack in New Orleans that killed at least 14 people. And then, just hours later, my husband told me about the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
Christopher Raia of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division said Thursday that there was “no definitive link” between the attack in New Orleans and the explosion in Las Vegas, but added that officials have not ruled out the possibility, my colleagues Hannah Fry, Richard Winton and Summer Lin report.
The surface-level similarities between the two incidents has drawn suspicion: The explosion and the New Orleans attack took place within hours of each other on New Year’s Day, the vehicles involved were rented through the app Turo and the suspects have backgrounds in the U.S. military.
Both served at the Army’s Ft. Bragg, now known as Ft. Liberty, but it is unclear whether they served at the same time or in the same unit.
Here’s what we currently know about the Cybertruck explosion and the attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans.
The Cybertruck explosion
The Wednesday morning explosion injured at least seven people outside President-elect Donald Trump’s property near the Las Vegas Strip.
The driver sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before the car exploded, police said on Thursday.
Firework mortars and fuel canisters were packed into the bed of the truck, but investigators haven’t determined how they were ignited, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday evening.
The truck had been rented in Colorado, and an electronic license plate reader picked up the Cybertruck arriving in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, McMahill said.
Officials identified the driver as Matthew Livelsberger and believe he acted alone. Livelsberger was a member of the Army’s elite Green Berets, a special forces unit and guerrilla warfare experts, according to an Army statement.
The attack in New Orleans
Investigators on Thursday said they believe the U.S. Army veteran who plowed down New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street had attacked alone.
Law enforcement sources told The Times that what appeared to be two homemade explosives were planted in blue water coolers near two eateries on the famed strip. This information led authorities to believe someone other than the driver put them there, the sources said.
Authorities said Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, drove a rented pickup truck bearing a flag of the Islamic State group onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic.
Jabbar then sped through a crowd around 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more.
Police killed Jabbar after he got out of the truck and opened fire on officers, authorities said.
Law enforcement officials told The Times that Jabbar was wearing body armor. Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle after the shootout, a law enforcement official said.
Today’s top stories
Cannabis cafes, A.I. and parking: How new California laws could affect you in 2025
- Cannabis cafes are legal, the minimum wage is going up and overdraft fees are a thing of the past at state-chartered banks and credit unions. Here’s a primer on some of the hundreds of new laws that are now in effect.
- California lawmakers passed roughly 1,200 bills last year, including some that resulted in unforeseeable wins by Republicans.
LAPD stats showed an uptick in robberies. Was it really just shoplifting?
- LAPD statistics showed an uptick in robberies in some areas this year, partly caused by shoplifting incidents that led to felony charges.
- Police officials say the increase is the result of some retailers encouraging security guards to aggressively confront thieves.
College-bound students fear “outing” their undocumented parents on FAFSA financial aid forms
- FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, asks for parents’ Social Security numbers. Some students fear a missing number could be a red flag about their parents’ immigration status as President-elect Donald Trump vows mass deportations.
- The news comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has drafted a conceptual plan to help undocumented immigrants under threat of deportation.
“Worrisome” mutations were found in a bird flu virus that infected a Canadian teenager
- A genetic analysis of the virus that infected a 13-year-old girl showed ominous mutations that researchers suggest potentially allowed it to target human cells more easily and cause severe disease.
- When, where and how the bird flu virus may evolve and its capacity to spark a pandemic is hard to predict — in part, some researchers say, because of federal restrictions on gain-of-function research.
What else is going on
- President Biden will create two new California national monuments protecting tribal lands.
- A near-complete ban on agricultural burning finally takes effect in San Joaquin Valley.
- Two people are dead and 19 others injured after a small plane slammed into a Fullerton warehouse filled with workers.
- A man was taken into custody after trying to drive off in a Waymo in downtown Los Angeles, police said.
- California Highway Patrol officers pulled over a Rolls-Royce Ghost and found a spider monkey in a onesie and weed.
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Commentary and opinions
- Trump’s plan to deport millions will fall far short of what it promises, writes Saúl Ramírez, a fellow at Harvard Law School and a doctoral candidate in sociology at Harvard.
- The IRS faces more cuts under Trump. Here are three ways that could hurt the economy, writes Ben Harris, the vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
- Recent strikes at Starbucks and Amazon show the crisis in Americans’ working lives, writes Adam Chandler, author of the forthcoming “99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life,” from which this article is adapted.
- Think twice before breaking up the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, The Times Editorial Board argues.
This morning’s must reads
Drug overdose deaths fell sharply in San Francisco in 2024. Experts credit better access to overdose-reversal medication and medications that ease opioid addiction, as well as the waning effects of the COVID pandemic.
Other must reads:
- Her mother’s killer was freed because of cancer. She wants to change California’s laws.
- The Doors ushered the Morrison Hotel into rock history. Can that save it?
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- ☀️ Looking for joy in 2025? These five expert guides can help you find fresh opportunities in the new year.
- 🍴 If you’re going out to eat, these are the best places to eat and drink in L.A. this month, according to our food writers.
- 🍜 These 11 must-try spots in L.A. serve up a comforting bowl of pho.
- 🍿 From “Superman” to “Freakier Friday,” here are 25 movies that Times staffers are looking forward to watching in 2025.
Staying in
- 🧑💼 Philomena Cunk returns in a new mockumentary, “Cunk on Life,” which is available on Netflix.
- 📺 The second season of “Severance” and a two-part documentary on Paul Reubens are among the most anticipated TV shows of 2025.
- 🧑🍳 Here’s a recipe for gluten-free buckwheat brownies with tahini whipped cream.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What piece of advice changed your life?
We’d like to know what tips or advice you have for people hoping to make a fresh start in 2025.
Jean Waller writes: “Your job is not who you are, only what you do. So don’t let it define you.”
George Meyer writes: “If you do not ask, they can not say ‘yes.’”
And J. Farkas writes: “In a yoga class the instructor said, ‘Remember, how you do anything is how you do everything,’ It is such a profound guideline for recognizing your own patterns of both thought and action. I have received much good advice over the years, but this is probably the most useful of all.”
Thank you so much for all the responses this week. It was nice hearing from you!
And finally ... your photo of the day
Today’s great photo is from staff photographer Allen J. Schaben, who recently covered the 136th Rose Parade. (You can find more photos of the parade in this link.) The San Diego Zoo’s float won the parade’s top award.
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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