The Brief

Charles Manson was a troubled youth who, after spending more than half of his life in prison, finagled his way into becoming a guru in the California hippie scene. Those who joined his commune demonstrated utter devotion, ultimately agreeing to participate in what Manson called Helter Skelter, named after the Beatles track of the same name. Helter Skelter had very little to do with the song, however.

According to testimony from ex-followers, Manson intended to incite a race war by framing the Black Panthers for the murders of various wealthy, white people. He believed that once the race war began, he and his followers would hide until it had ended. He was certain Black people would win but wouldn't know how to govern themselves. That's when he would emerge and take over. His followers bought into it and agreed to commit acts of unparalleled barbarity on their leader's behalf. The group became known as the Manson Family.

Various members participated in two brutal and shocking murder scenes in the summer of 1969.

Sharon Tate, left, and at right, her body being taken from her rented house in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles on Aug. 9, 1969.

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Just after midnight on Aug. 9, they broke into the home of actress Sharon Tate and filmmaker Roman Polanski at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon. (That property, now with the address 10066 Cielo Dr. and completely rebuilt, is currently on the market for $85 million.) Polanski was out of town. Tate, eight months pregnant, was enjoying the company of several friends, including hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and Folger's boyfriend, Wojciech Frykowski.

Every one of them was killed, as well as 18-year-old Stephen Parent, a friend of the home's caretaker. The Manson Family showed no mercy as Tate begged them to spare the life of her unborn child. The following night, a group of Manson followers broke into the Los Feliz home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, killing them both.

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, left, in an undated photo outside the home where the were murdered. At right, the home the day after the couple's bodies were discovered.

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The Manson Family was also responsible for the death of musician Gary Hinman, which occurred in July 1969, and the death of stuntman Donald Shea in late August. Shea was a ranch hand at Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth, where the transient Manson Family had been known to crash.

Coroner Thomas Noguchi, facing camera center, directs the removal of the body of Abigail Folger, on Aug. 9, 1969. In foreground is the covered body of Voityckyk Frokowski.

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Although Manson himself was not a proven participant in any of the murders, he was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder for his role in orchestrating the Tate and LaBianca murders.

Manson's followers were in their late teens or early 20s when they encountered him, altering the course of their lives as well as those of their victims.

Charles Manson

Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case, 1969, Los Angeles.

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Charles Manson was born in 1934 to a teenage mother in Ohio who, by all accounts, never wanted him. He was prone to stealing and had spent most of his life in jail by the time he met Mary Brunner, essentially the first member of his "family," in Berkeley in 1967. He successfully recruited many people into his commune, although several of them were never directly involved in any of the murders and most would eventually move on or renounce him.

Jeff Guinn, who interviewed several of Manson's relatives about for his book, Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson, wrote that Manson was deceitful even as a child.

Little Charlie was a disagreeable child. Beyond his doting grandmother, who still recognized his many faults, few who knew him then or in his ensuing teenage years found much to admire about him beyond his looks. Charlie's dimpled smile could light up rooms, and his eyes were dark and expressive. But even at such a young age, he lied about everything and, when he got in trouble for telling fibs about breaking things or any of the other innumerable misdeeds he committed on a daily basis, Charlie always blamed somebody else. As a child, he was obsessed with being the center of attention. If he couldn't get noticed for doing something right, he was happy to misbehave. You couldn't relax when Charlie was around. It was only a matter of time before he got into some sort of trouble.

Manson was found guilty of seven counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1971. That sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972, as was the case with all inmates who had been sentenced to death in the state of California at that time, after the state's Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional. Prior to his death on Nov. 19, 2017, Manson had been serving his life sentence at Corcoran State Prison in Central California, where he'd been incarcerated since 1989. He was denied parole repeatedly over the years.

Not long before Manson's death, his grandson, Jason Freeman, told the L.A. Times: "Old age is setting in. Nature is taking its course. There will be a day where [Manson] doesn't wake up again," Freeman said.

Freeman is the son of Jay White, who was born Charles Manson, Jr. His mother was Manson's wife, Rosalie Willis, who Manson married in 1955, years before his cult leader days. White killed himself in 1993.

Manson was not a model prisoner, and was cited numerous times for contraband and other violations. In 1984, one of his fellow inmates lit him on fire after Manson allegedly threatened the man.

Not long before his death, Manson was engaged to a decades younger woman named Afton Burton, although the betrothal was, at one point, threatened by allegations that Burton only wanted him so that she could set up his corpse as a tourist attraction. Burton's mother called these allegations "tabloid crap" and asserted that the engagement was still on in an interview with Rolling Stone in February of 2015.

Patricia Krenwinkel

Patricia Krenwinkel, left, at a 2011 parole hearing and, right, being led to Superior Court in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 1970,

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Patricia Krenwinkel grew up in Los Angeles as the quiet daughter of an insurance salesman and a stay-at-home mom. While living with her sister in Manhattan Beach in 1967, she met Manson and became enamored with him. She joined his commune and traveled with him for several months. In 1969, at age 21, she was a devoted follower who agreed to participate in Manson's plans for Helter Skelter.

Krenwinkel was present for the murders on Cielo Drive. In particular, she testified that she was the one to murder Abigail Folger. She first stabbed her in the living room of the house, then chased her outside and stabbed her several more times. According to Women Criminals: An Encyclopedia of People and Issues, Krenwinkel said she felt nothing when she killed her. "Nothing, I mean, what is there to describe? It was just there, and it was right." She also participated in the LaBianca murders the following night, assisting Van Houten and Watson in the murder of Rosemary. Krenwinkel has admitted to stabbing Leno with a fork and writing "DEATH TO PIGS" on the wall of their home with the LaBiancas' blood.

In 1971, she was sentenced to death but in 1972, her sentence was commuted to life in prison. She is currently held at the California Institution for Women in Chino, where she apparently goes by "Krenny." She has earned a bachelor's degree in human services and is involved with various prison programs. She, too, has renounced Manson.

Krenwinkel has been denied parole at least 10 times and had withdrawn from consideration or stipulated unsuitability two other times, according to prison records. In 2016, her parole attempt was delayed by her lawyers' assertion that she was suffering from "intimate partner battery" at the time of her crimes, a legal defense that has been used to free individuals who suffered abuse at the hands of romantic partners or family members. In 2017, parole board commissioners once again denied Krenwinkel parole.

On May 26, 2022, Krenwinkel was approved for parole. Five months later on Oct. 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed that decision.

On May 30, 2025, she was again approved for parole. Krenwinkel, 77, is now the longest-serving woman in California prison.

Bruce Davis

Bruce Davis, left, appearing during is parole hearing in Nov. 16, 2011, and Davis in a courtroom, right, at an extradition hearing in 1970.

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Bruce Davis grew up in the South, eventually moving to the West Coast in 1962. Prior to his involvement with the Manson Family, he worked for the Church of Scientology.

Bruce Davis was not involved in the Tate or LaBianca murders, but was convicted for his role in the murders of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea.

He is currently in prison at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo where he acts as a minister in the prison chapel. He has also gotten married and fathered one child.

Like many other convicted Manson Family members, Davis has been recommended for parole multiple times only to have those recommendations reversed. In early 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown elected to block his release, saying, "As I've discussed twice before, Davis' own actions demonstrate that he had fully bought into the depraved Manson Family beliefs. He not only watched as Manson cut Mr. Hinman's face open with a sword, but held him at gunpoint while Manson was doing so."

The state parole board recommended Davis for release in June 2019 but Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed that decision. Davis was again recommended for parole in 2021 but Newsom also denied that request, saying Davis "currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time."

Davis is now 82. After previously recommending seven times that he be paroled, a parole board on July 8, 2022 denied Davis parole, according state records. He is not scheduled for another hearing until 2027.

Leslie Van Houten

Leslie Van Houten, 19, is in foreground after leaving an arraignment in L.A. in December 1969. To her left in the photo is Susan Denise Atkins, 21, and to her right Linda Kasabian, 20.

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Leslie Van Houten grew up in a middle-class family in Altadena. Following the divorce of her parents when she was 14, Van Houten began using drugs. According to her testimony in her 2004 parole hearing, her mother forced her to have an abortion at 17, which deeply affected her relationship with her family. Still, she was a popular prom queen in high school, and she briefly attended classes to become a secretary. However, Van Houten favored the hippie lifestyle over school and dropped out. In 1968, she met Manson at a commune in Northern California and, at 19, joined his followers and began taking LSD.

On Aug. 9, 1969, Van Houten accompanied several other Manson members to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Van Houten held Rosemary down as Charles "Tex" Watson stabbed her, then Van Houten took her turn. She has maintained that of the 47 stab wounds found on Rosemary's body, she only inflicted ones that occurred after Rosemary's death.

She was convicted of murder in 1971 and was sentenced to death but in 1972 her sentence was commuted to life in prison. Van Houten currently resides in the California Institution for Women in Corona, where she is considered a model prisoner. She has earned a bachelor's and a master's degree while incarcerated and leads self-help groups for other women in the prison. She has long since renounced Manson.

Van Houten has been up for parole more than 20 times. She was most recently recommended for parole on Nov. 9, 2021, which Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected in March 2022. Four previous recommendations also were rejected by California governors.

Then, in July 11, 2023, Van Houten was released from prison on parole.

A timeline of her path to parole:

In April 2016, the state parole board recommended Van Houten for parole. Sharon Tate's sister, Debra Tate, as well as L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey advocated for Van Houten to remain in prison. Then Gov. Jerry Brown blocked her release, saying, "Both [Van Houten's] role in these extraordinarily brutal crimes and her inability to explain her willing participation in such horrific violence cannot be overlooked and lead me to believe she remains an unreasonable risk to society if released." On Sept. 20, 2019, a court of appeals refused to overturn former Brown's decision.

By then, Van Houten had been recommended for release again, in January 2019, only to stay behind bars when Newsom overruled a new parole recommendation in June 2019. A court declined to reverse Newsom's decision.

On July 23, 2020, the Associated Press reported a panel had once again recommended Van Houten for parole, the fourth time in four years. In November 2020, Newsom denied the recommendation for parole. In February 2022, the California Supreme Court declined to hear Van Houten's appeal of a previous Newsom decision.

On November 9, 2021, a California parole panel recommended for the fifth time that Van Houten be freed from prison. Governor Newsom rejected that recommendation later that month. On March 29, 2022, Newsom rejected the most recent parole recommendation. In November 2022, Van Houten waived her right to a hearing for a year. Her next hearing is now set for May 2024.

On May 30, 2023 a state appeals court ruled 2-1 to overturn Newsom's move to block parole for Van Houten, saying she is eligible for release.

In a 67-page ruling, the court disagreed with Newsom's rationale for denying the parole board's decision to release Van Houten, saying in part:

On July 7, 2023, Newsom's office said the governor will not try again to block recommended parole for Van Houten, who is now 75.

A statement released by Erin Mellon, Newsom's communications director, said:

The statement also attached the ruling.

She had been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Corona, since August 1978, according to state prison records. A search for her name on the prison inmate database on the afternoon of her release returned the following message: "No records found matching that criteria."

Van Houten left the prison in the morning and is now in a halfway house.

Charles "Tex" Watson

Charles "Tex" Watson (left) appears at a parole hearing in Nov. 16, 2011. Watson in a courtroom (right) at an extradition hearing in 1970.

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Charles "Tex" Watson was arguably the most vicious member of the Manson Family. Manson may have orchestrated the killings, but Watson was, more often than not, the hand that carried them out. He participated in the Cielo Drive murders, personally shooting Steven Parent and Jay Sebring, and assisted in the other slayings. He was also active in the LaBianca murders.

Watson grew up in Texas, hence his nickname. In the 1960s, he worked for Braniff Airlines as a baggage handler. This gave him access to free airline tickets, which he used to visit an old college friend in Los Angeles. He eventually decided to move to the L.A. area in 1967. According to his 2011 parole hearing, Watson was renting a house in Malibu with a friend. He one day picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be Beach Boys' drummer Dennis Wilson. Wilson invited Watson to his home, where he met Charles Manson and ultimately joined Manson's followers.

Watson was sentenced to death in 1971, which was commuted to life in prison the following year. He is currently an inmate of Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, near Sacramento.

Since his incarceration, he has converted to Christianity and became an ordained minister in 1981. He also released an autobiography titled Will You Die For Me? (1978) and earned a B.S. in business management in 2009. In 1979, he married Kristin Joan Svege, with whom he fathered four children via conjugal visits. The state of California got rid of those visits for prisoners serving life sentences in the late 1990s. At the time, Sharon Tate's mother, Doris Tate, was one of the biggest advocates for eliminating such visits for violent felons. She was enraged that Watson murdered her daughter and grandchild, yet was allowed to father children of his own. Svege amicably divorced Watson in 2003.

Watson apparently reads his Wikipedia page and seems to have submitted requests to have it edited. In those requests, he named Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's book Helter Skelter as his preferred source for Manson-related research. He was most recently eligible for parole in October 2016. He was denied for the 17th time in 47 years.

"These were some of the most horrific crimes in California history, and we believe [Watson] continues to exhibit a lack of remorse and remains a public safety risk," L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement. Sharon Tate's sister Debra Tate also spoke out, calling him a sociopath who is "incapable of having insight or empathy for anything."

Watson is currently 79. He was denied parole at a hearing on Oct. 15, 2021 and isn't eligible again until October 2026.

Susan Atkins

Susan Atkins, left, during a 1989 parole hearing and at right leaving the Los Angeles County Mens' Central Jail after meeting with co-defendant Charles Manson on March 6, 1970.

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Susan Atkins was born in San Gabriel and grew up in San Jose. Her mother died of cancer when Atkins was 15, and her father fell into alcoholism following his wife's death. By 1967, Atkins had been abandoned by her father and was living in Los Banos, working as a waitress and attending high school while attempting to care for her little brother. She dropped out during her junior year of high school and relocated to San Francisco. There, she encountered Manson while he was playing guitar and soon accepted his invitation to join his commune. Within the Manson family, she went by the name Sadie Mae Glutz. Manson prosecutor and Helter Skelter author Vincent Bugliosi once said that excluding Manson himself, it was Atkins who had the "most unfortunate background."

On July 25, 1969, Atkins went with several followers, including Bobby Beausoleil and Mary Brunner, to the home of musician Gary Hinman, who Manson believed had money he could give them. They attacked Hinman and Manson sliced Hinman's ear with a sword. When the others left, Atkins and Brunner remained with Hinman and treated his wounds. Two days later, Beausoleil returned and murdered Hinman while Atkins and Brunner were present. They wrote "political piggy" on Hinman's living room wall in his blood.

Atkins was also present on the night of the Cielo Drive murders and used Tate's blood to write "PIG" on the front door of the home. She was present the night of the LaBianca murders as well, but stayed in the car.

While in jail on unrelated charges in October 1969, she boasted to two other inmates about how she had murdered actress Sharon Tate. These inmates informed authorities of her story, which helped the detectives working the case. Atkins later agreed to testify against the others, admitting in court that she held Tate down as Watson stabbed her. She said that she told Tate that she had no mercy for her, as Tate begged for her and her baby's lives.

Atkins was sentenced to death in 1971, which was, like the others' sentences, commuted to life in 1972. She renounced Manson and became a born-again Christian. She also married twice while incarcerated. In 1981, she married Donald Lee Laisure, who had been married at least two dozen times before. The marriage lasted less than a year. She remarried attorney James W. Whitehouse in 1987, who represented her at her 2000 and 2005 parole hearings. They remained married to her until she died.

In 2008, Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer. As she was dying, she requested compassionate release but she was denied by the California Board of Parole. Atkins died in September 2009 at age 61, after spending 38 years at the California Institution for Women in Chino. At the time of her death, she was the longest-serving female inmate in the state of California. After she died, that dubious honor went to Krenwinkel.

Atkins was survived by one son, who had been born prior to the 1969 murders. She named the boy Zezozose Zadfrack Glutz. Her parental rights were terminated after she was imprisoned. Her family members declined to care for him so he was adopted and renamed. Atkins never saw him again. His whereabouts are currently unknown. It is believed that a Manson commune member named Bruce White was the boy's father.

Bobby Beausoleil

Robert Kenneth Beausoleil.

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Bobby Beausoleil grew up in Santa Barbara. He was involved with several bands and appeared in various films, including Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising and Mondo Hollywood. He also appeared in a soft porn/Western film with Manson follower Catherine Share that was shot at the Spahn Ranch and titled Ramrodder. Beausoleil once lived with musician Gary Hinman, who the Manson Family would murder in July 1969.

Beausoleil was convicted of Hinman's murder and sentenced to death in 1970, a sentence that was commuted, just like the rest, in 1972. He is currently being held at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville and was most recently denied parole in April 2019. He had another parole hearing on Jan. 28, 2022 where he was denied release for another three years. He is 77.

Beausoleil has continued to make music in jail, providing the soundtrack to Lucifer Rising, as well as releasing two instrumental albums. Beausoleil was not Anger's first choice for composer. The score was to be composed by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page but Anger and Page had a falling out. (Another Manson follower, Lynette Fromme, would also have an encounter with Page, sort of. She once tried desperately to contact him about a premonition she had regarding some future disaster she foresaw for him.)

Anger writes about how he made the occult film here.

Steve "Clem" Grogan

Steve Grogan, right, leaves an L.A. court hearing in December 1970 with Bruce Davis.

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Steve Grogan grew up in Chatsworth and dropped out of Simi Valley High School during his junior year. He eventually found himself doing various odd jobs at Spahn Ranch where he befriended ranch hand and movie stuntman Donald Shea. Grogan, 17, was already at Spahn Ranch by the time Manson and company arrived in 1968. They referred to Grogan as "Scramblehead," because they thought he wasn't very intelligent. According to some reports, Grogan was the one who allegedly crashed Beach Boy Dennis Wilson's Ferrari.

Grogan did not participate in either the Tate or the LaBianca murders. On the night of the LaBianca murders, Grogan set out with several Family members, but was sent by Manson to kill an actor fellow Family member Linda Kasabian had recently met. Kasabian intentionally led the group to the wrong house and they did not kill anyone that night.

Grogan did, however, participate along with Bruce Davis and Charles Manson in the murder of Shea in late August 1969. In 1971, Grogan was convicted of first degree murder for the crime. Grogan was initially sentenced to death but his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

In the mid-1970s, while doing time at Vacaville State Prison, Grogan got married and fathered two sons. He eventually helped authorities recover Shea's remains and in 1985, he was paroled — making him one of the few Manson followers to be released from prison.

Grogan has reportedly had no run-ins with the law since his release and lives in the Northern California Bay Area where he plays music with various bands.

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, left, being led away after she pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, Calif., on Sep. 5, 1975, and, right, five years earlier at a pretrial hearing in 1970 for Charles Manson in Los Angeles.

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Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was born in Santa Monica. Her dad was an aeronautical engineer and her mom was a housewife. As a child, she was a member of a popular dance troupe. When Fromme was in high school, her family moved to Redondo Beach, where Fromme began experimenting with drugs. She graduated high school and briefly enrolled in college. She dropped out after approximately two months. After a falling out with her family, she became homeless. In 1967, a directionless Fromme met Manson in Venice, soon joining him, Brunner and Atkins at Spahn Ranch. The ranch's owner, George Spahn, began calling her "Squeaky" due to the noises she supposedly made when touched.

Fromme did not participate in any of the Manson murders but she remained devoted to the Family after their arrest. She lingered outside the courthouse and carved an "X" in her forehead, just as her accused companions did.

After the trials, Fromme moved to Sacramento, where she avoided yet another murder conviction. She and four others were arrested for the murders of James and Lauren Willett. The other four, including Aryan Brotherhood members Michael Monfort and James Craig, confessed and Fromme was the only one of them to avoid charges.

Fromme finally found herself behind bars in the mid-'70s. On Sept. 5, 1975, when she was 26, she pulled a gun and aimed it at President Gerald R. Ford. She was quickly disarmed by Secret Service agent Larry Buendorf and arrested. Although the gun did not have a round in the chamber and her lawyers argued that she had no intention of killing Ford, she was convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and sentenced to life in prison.

Unlike her more murderous family members, she was not a model prisoner. She attacked another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California with a hammer, and briefly escaped Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia in an attempt to reunite with Manson. She also remained devoted to him, even after his other followers had renounced him.

In 2009, at 60, Fromme was paroled and relocated to a small town in Oneida County, New York.

Linda Kasabian

Linda Kasabian walks to court with chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in Los Angeles in February 1971.

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Linda Kasabian grew up in New England, dropped out of high school and drifted around the country. She married twice and had a baby girl, Tanya, with her second husband, Robert Kasabian. It was Robert who would lead Linda to Los Angeles, inviting her to come live with him following a brief split during which she had gone to live with her mother in New Hampshire. Together, she and Robert lived in the hippie communes of Topanga Canyon. After Robert left Linda behind to go on a trip to South America, she became friends with Catherine Share, who invited her to join the commune on Spahn Ranch.

Kasabian quickly became a part of the group and often accompanied the Manson family members on what Manson called "creepy crawls," in which they would break into homes and loot them while their owners slept.

Because Kasabian was the only family member with a driver's license, that became her role in the killings. She overheard the slaughter going on in the house on Cielo Drive and said she got out of the car and began running toward the house, hoping she could stop them. She testified she saw Wojciech Frykowski exit the house.

Linda Kasabian in 1970 at a news conference following her 18 days of testimony against fellow members of the Manson Family.

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"There was a man just coming out of the door and he had blood all over his face and he was standing by a post, and we looked into each other's eyes for a minute, and I said, 'Oh, God, I am so sorry. Please make it stop.' And then he just fell to the ground into the bushes. And then [Atkins] came running out of the house, and I said, 'Sadie, please make it stop.' And then I said, 'I hear people coming.' And she said, 'It is too late.' And then she told me that she left her knife and she couldn't find it, and I believe she started to run back into the house. While this was going on, the man had gotten up, and I saw Tex on top of him, hitting him on the head and stabbing him, and the man was struggling, and then I saw [Krenwinkel] in the background with [Abigail Folger], chasing after her with an upraised knife, and I just turned and ran to the car down at the bottom of the hill," Kasabian said. (Note: Sadie was Susan Atkins' nickname in the Manson family.)

The next night, Kasabian accompanied group members to the LaBianca home but did not go inside. Manson then asked Kasabian to take the rest of them to the home of Saladin Nader, an actor Kasabian and Manson member Sandra Good had recently met. Kasabian was supposed to knock on the door of Nader's house and, when he answered, Atkins and Grogan were to kill him. However, Kasabian instead went to the wrong apartment. They did not kill the occupant of that apartment.

Two days later, Kasabian and her daughter left the Manson family and returned to New Hampshire. Kasabian later turned herself in and agreed to testify against the others in exchange for immunity, becoming the prosecution's key witness.

Bugliosi believed that Kasabian would have testified even without immunity.

"She never asked for immunity from prosecution, but we gave it," he said. "She stood in the witness box for 17 or 18 days and never broke down, despite the incredible pressure she was under. I doubt we would have convicted Manson without her."

Post murders, Kasabian tried to live a quiet life with her children. When she appeared in her rare interviews, she used a disguise.

She has reportedly died in Washington state at the age of 73, according to accounts in TMZ, Washington Post and L.A. Times, citing reviews of her death certificate. The news sites said she was listed in the death notices in The News Tribune of Tacoma under the name Linda Chiochios. That listing gives the date of her death as Jan. 21, 2023.

Mary Brunner

Mary Brunner, center, in Los Angeles court, June 1970.

Mary Brunner was an early Manson devotee, and the mother of one of his sons. She grew up in Wisconsin, but met Manson in Berkeley, where she worked as a library assistant at the University of California. It was a chance encounter that occurred while taking her dog for a walk. The pair hit if off and Manson moved into her apartment. He would later convince her to allow other women to move in, a portent for the "family" he intended to build. The couple had a son, Valentine Michael, in 1968. Brunner ended up settling with Manson and the rest of his followers at Spahn Ranch.

Brunner accompanied Beausoleil and Atkins to the home of Hinman but was not convicted of his murder. Instead, she received immunity for testifying against the others. On Aug. 8, hours before the Cielo Drive murders, Brunner and follower Sandra Good were arrested for using stolen credit cards.

Brunner was arrested in 1971 after participating in the heist of a Hawthorne surplus store with several other followers, including Catherine Share. She was released in 1977, changed her name and has since gone on to live a quiet, reclusive life, reportedly in the Midwest. Brunner and Manson's son was raised by his maternal grandparents. According to Bugliosi's Helter Skelter:

Valentine Michael ("Pooh Bear"), the son of Manson and Mary Brunner, was raised by Mary's parents in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Until the third grade, he did not know who his father was and believed his mother to be his older sister. In 1993, Michael told a reporter who tracked him down that he had never visited Manson "nor do I have any desire to see him. He's just some evil person I have nothing to do with."

Sandra Good

Sandra Good, left, and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme arrive at the federal court in Sacramento, March 13, 1976.

San Diego native Sandra Good linked up with Manson in 1968 and lived with the family on Spahn Ranch. She did not participate in the Tate/LaBianca murders, as she and Brunner had been arrested on Aug. 8 for using stolen credit cards.

She remained loyal to Manson for many years. In 1975, she and follower Susan Murphy were arrested for sending nearly 200 hostile letters to various corporate executives. According to Helter Skelter, the letters "threatened named corporate executives and U.S. government officials with death if they did not forthwith stop polluting the air and water and destroying the environment." Good represented herself in court and was sentenced to 15 years although she would only serve 10.

After she was released in 1985, she continued her infatuation with Manson. Because she was not allowed to return to California as a condition of her parole, she instead moved to Vermont where she took an assumed name. When her parole ended, she uprooted her life and move to Hanford, California to be closer to Manson, despite being denied visiting privileges.

At least until 2006, Good was still a loyal supporter, calling into talk shows to claim Manson's innocence. It is not clear where Good lives now. She is 81.

Paul Watkins

Paul Watkins is front center in this Feb. 1970 photo of Manson Family members taken in Feb. 1970 in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice. Identifiable are, Lynette Fromme, far left, Sandra Good, obscured, Mark Ross, tall with dark beard and Catherine "Gypsy" Share, holding Sandra Good's son Ivan.

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Paul Watkins was a drifter who met Charles Manson at a house in Topanga Canyon in the spring of 1968. Watkins would testify that on New Year's Eve of that year, Manson gathered the family together to tell them about Helter Skelter. Watkins did not maintain his devotion to Manson as much as the others and did not participate in any of the murders. He was in Death Valley when the Tate/LaBianca murders were committed. Watkins was, however, key in testifying to the impetus for the Manson Family's crimes, and told investigators about Helter Skelter. (You can read his testimony here.)

Watkins continued to renounce Manson after the trial. He settled in Tecopa, near Death Valley. He founded the Death Valley Chamber of Commerce, married twice and had two children. One of his daughters, author Claire Vaye Watkins, has written about the impact her father's legacy had on her life. Watkins died in 1990 of leukemia, when Claire was a child.

As Los Angeles revels in the World Cup, advocates who operate an ICE rapid-response hotline say they've seen an uptick in calls for help.

In June, Immigrant Defenders Law Center reported that its emergency phone line offering legal resources received nearly 900 calls — the second-highest number of calls in a single month this year. Sarah Houston, the attorney who oversees responses to that hotline, said July was on track to potentially be even higher.

The increase comes after months of concern over how ICE might interfere with the tournament. Despite fears, so far there have not been reports of immigration activity at the stadium or fan events. Immigration agents have been spotted outside SoFi Stadium during the matches hosted in L.A., but their presence has not appeared to include enforcement.

Instead, Houston said the daily drumbeat of arrests has continued across Los Angeles.

"I'm so happy that ICE hasn't ruined the World Cup by doing these mass raids, but they are still doing them piecemeal and one by one," she said. " In the background, the administration is still there, and these things are still happening. They're just not happening at SoFi Stadium."

Houston said recent reports that her office has received included a father who was arrested at a routine immigration check in in downtown Los Angeles in front of his wife and child and a man who was injured and later hospitalized after ICE arrested him in Burbank.

Meanwhile, immigrant arrests are up nationwide. The New York Times reported last week that immigration agents had detained more than 10,000 people in the span of five days, a sharp increase from earlier this year.

Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives for Human Rights Watch, said the spike taints the celebrations of the World Cup around the country, where communities have welcomed fans and teams from around the globe.

"We have to look at the full context of these events. The soccer could be great. Your favorite team could be winning. The Mexico jerseys were just the best. … But what's happening behind the scenes?" she said. "Is the beautiful game covering up an ugly escalation of ICE arrests?"

Human Rights Watch had called for an "ICE Truce" after reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would play a key role in tournament security, but FIFA and the federal government made no guarantees.

In a statement provided by the Department of Homeland Security, acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis confirmed that the department was involved in policing the World Cup.

“The safety and security of the American people and the millions of visitors attending these events remain our highest priority," Bis said in a statement. “International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop."

SoFi Stadium's food and beverage workers had threatened to strike over ICE's presence at the World Cup and made a deal with their employer averting the labor action just before the tournament started. Their new contract includes the right to walk off the job over safety concerns, including the presence of immigration agents at the workplace.

So far, workers have felt safe on the job, despite spotting ICE and Homeland Security agents on the stadium's perimeter, according to Kurt Petersen, co-president of their union, Unite Here Local 11.

But outside of the stadium, he said many of them have been affected by immigration enforcement in Los Angeles since the immigration raids that started last summer. Petersen said one union member was recently released from a detention center after being arrested on the street in front of his family.

" Raids are continuing, right? People are being kidnapped off the streets," Petersen said. " This is by no means something that has ended."

The final World Cup match in Los Angeles is this Friday.

For many public colleges and universities in California, keeping their campuses safe includes owning military-grade weaponry — AR-15s, stun grenades designed to cause temporary blindness and sonic weapons that resonate so loudly they are known in the armed forces as the voice of God.

According to state law, campus police can only own military equipment if the college believes there is no other way to uphold civilian safety.

That law, which passed in 2021, also requires police to make all their equipment dealings exceedingly clear to the public. However, not every college follows every part of the law, according to an investigation by CalMatters into all 148 public campuses in the California Community Colleges, University of California, and California State University systems.

Each campus’s state or district governing board — which gives permission for police to procure such items — has to annually re-approve a use policy, a chronicle of when the equipment has been used and an inventory. Once the report is approved and published online, campus police have 30 days to hold a conveniently located and “well-publicized” forum for the public to learn about and give feedback on the equipment, according to state law.

CalMatters attempted to compile the 2025 annual reports and use policies from every public higher education police department in the state that owns military equipment. Here is what we found.

Questions prompt campuses to act

Several campus police departments created reports after CalMatters’ inquiries, though the law requires the documents to be posted online as long as the equipment is usable. Not all reports or policies contained the details mandated by the 2021 law; in many cases campuses left out information, including manufacturers’ product descriptions, up-to-date inventories and equipment quantities. The University of California Board of Regents approved UC Berkeley’s annual report last September, but university police only published their equipment list on April 7, after four CalMatters inquiries.

According to their own reports, San Jose State University and San Francisco State University own AR-15s even though Cal State’s policy does not authorize it. Cal State spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said these AR-15s are standard issue, which would exempt them from the reporting requirement, even though San Jose’s report classifies them as specialized firearms and university police departments determine what equipment is standard issue. San Francisco’s semi automatic rifles are standard issue and won’t be listed in the annual report going forward, university spokesperson Robert King said.

Campus police also must submit their yearly report to their district or state governing boards. Chico State and Cal State Northridge police said their reports are sent to the Cal State chancellor’s office, which the systemwide policy requires. But Klarissa Garcia, executive assistant to the chief of police at Cal State Dominguez Hills, said her department does not submit its report to any governing body.

University of California campus police officers talk amongst each other while a San Diego Sheriff’s officer holds a weapon behind them during a pro-Palestinian protest at UC San Diego in San Diego on May 6, 2024.

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Adriana Heldiz

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CalMatters

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Multiple police departments said they did not hold a campus forum in 2025, including Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal State Sonoma, nor did they respond to inquiries about when the required public meeting was held. Many departments said they held meetings, but did not answer questions about how they publicized them, or said they posted announcements on social media without any record of it on their accounts.

The Cal State Board of Trustees has not reviewed the systemwide equipment policy at a public meeting since 2022, though the policy is supposed to be renewed at least annually. Under the policy the board adopted, the trustees only need to check the policy again if the university system wants to authorize new types of equipment, Bentley-Smith told CalMatters. She added that Cal State will re-examine the policy to ensure it follows the law.

Bentley-Smith also said that the AR-15s at Cal State’s San Jose and San Francisco campuses are standard issue, which would exempt them from the reporting requirement, even though San Jose’s report classifies them as specialized firearms.

Several community colleges were missing military equipment policies and reports when questioned by CalMatters. The college system’s chancellor’s office does not track whether colleges follow the transparency law, according to its communications specialist Melissa Villarin.

CalMatters used annual reports to create a mass inventory of the equipment found at California higher education institutions, which includes hundreds of semi-automatic rifles, thousands of munitions containing the same chemical as chili peppers, and hundreds of thousands of rifle munitions. Some reports did not list quantities despite the legal requirement, so CalMatters sourced other documents posted to campus websites or directly asked for those figures.

The military equipment law, written by former Democratic Assemblymember David Chiu, now the city attorney of San Francisco, only applies to campus police departments with sworn police officers. Campus safety or security departments with unsworn personnel do not have to report their equipment. Over 40 community colleges told CalMatters they did not file a report.

It’s not just police using military-grade tools. The Cal State Monterey Bay 2025 report states its Emergency Management team owns three camera drones, which, being remotely piloted aircrafts, are classified as military equipment under state law. The Emergency Management team reports to the campus chief of police but is not itself made up of sworn officers, according to interim police chief Yvonne Gordon.

Following CalMatters’ inquiries, several campuses — as well as the Cal State system — said they are hereafter committed to following the military equipment transparency law in its entirety. In addition, some are downsizing their inventory.

Defense-style weaponry in schools

Military equipment forums held at universities are often sparsely attended, according to several police departments. But some students are impassioned about the issue. At a rally outside a UC Board of Regents meeting in January, UCLA’s chapter of the UC Divest Coalition, an anti-imperialism and anti-militarism student group, criticized the regents for spending tuition money on military equipment while the board convened yards away in a school ballroom.

UCLA police use long-range acoustic devices — which emit focused beams of high-volume sound — as giant loudspeakers to broadcast announcements to large crowds. In the 2024-25 school year, the department deployed these “voice of God” tools 71 times, all during crowd management situations, defined by the university as assemblies, protests and demonstrations. Police at UC Santa Cruz used a similar acoustic device to give dispersal orders during the 2024 pro-Palestine student encampments.

UCLA does not use the acoustic devices to produce high-pitched tones, which they are also capable of emitting, said Richard Mejia, the director of emergency communications and information for the university’s campus safety office. But pitch differs from loudness, which is measured in decibels: a long-range acoustic device can produce 160 decibels, and sounds over 120 can cause permanent hearing damage even during a short exposure. The university said it doesn’t prescribe a fixed decibel output, adding that it follows federal and scientific exposure regulations, including those from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which permits sudden noises up to 140 decibels. For reference, a bulldozer emits about 95.

A helicopter flies over a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on May 1, 2024. Groups of student protesters gathered at the encampment.

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Ted Soqui

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CalMatters

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Not all inventoried equipment is approved for use by district or state governing boards. An October 2025 memo from San Jose State University states its police department owns 33 tear gas grenades, which burst into clouds of choking chemicals when released and, for some brands, cause “psychological and physiological effects.” The Cal State military equipment policy does not authorize using grenades to deploy tear gas or oleoresin capsicum, the chili pepper irritant.

These grenades have “always been in our armory,” Captain Jermaine Thomas said. “We will never use them.” He added that the department plans to destroy them, along with the university’s submachine gun, which is also not authorized under Cal State policy.

Bentley-Smith told CalMatters that the submachine gun was never added to the systemwide policy manual because the university never used or requested permission to use it.

Campus forums vary in scope

A promotional website for San Jose State’s 2025 community forum says the event covers current police initiatives without specifically mentioning military equipment, but Thomas said that subject was indeed discussed.

About 21,500 students attend El Camino College in Los Angeles County, which announced its 2025 meeting, held in a gymnasium, during four other meetings held on campus: the College Public Safety and Security Committee, the Academic Senate, the College Council and the President’s Meeting. Police Chief Matthew Vander Horck said about 30 people attended. Meanwhile, Captain Jeffrey Chobanian of the UCLA Police Department, which serves about 49,000 students, said the department used social media to promote its 2025 forum, held on Zoom, but nobody attended.

Some of the forums become question and answer sessions, like the ones held by San Bernardino Community College District police, according to their chief Blake Bonnet. Students and faculty come prepared, read the policy — which includes when and where the equipment can be used — to the officers and press them directly on how it will be enforced, Bonnet said.

Bonnet said he publicizes the annual meeting through the police department’s online newsletter, Just the Facts, which contains crime logs and topical safety tips and is sent to students and staff every month.

“People ask questions and seek clarification,” Bonnet said. “If you don’t understand the police world — which some people do, some people don’t — if you have a question, I would rather you ask so that we can understand your concern.”

At UC Davis’ annual forum, meeting participants have asked about when and why officers can deploy weapons, which necessitates at least annual trainings, and how the equipment is shared with others — since the school has lent drones to other UC campuses for use in crowd control and can borrow equipment from other campuses in preparation for “major” protests and demonstrations. Last year, an attendee asked if other police forces can bring unauthorized military equipment to campus, according to meeting minutes. Captain Mark Brunet responded that they can.

Rage against assault rifles 

In February 2025, a Mt. San Antonio College police advisory committee composed of college and police personnel and two students met to discuss adding AR-15s to the department’s arsenal. Before long, other students caught wind of the plans. Student César Tlatoāni Alvarado said fellow students, especially veterans and students of color, were not comfortable with their campus becoming militarized.

“The entire campus was talking about it,” said Tlatoāni Alvarado, who studies political science and world languages and global studies. They also served as the campus’s student trustee for two terms, from 2023 to 2025.

By CalMatters’ count, over 25 public colleges own semi-automatic rifles, which shoot with more precision, accuracy and distance than handguns, according to several school policies.

Tlatoāni Alvarado said they were fearful of the impact of a militarized police force on the campus protesting scene, which they said is active but peaceful.

“I knew for a fact that this was being done to silence dissent on our campus,” Tlatoāni Alvarado said.

University of Sourthern California Public Safety officers tape off an area of Alumni Park during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus in Los Angeles on April 24, 2024.

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Jules Hotz

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CalMatters

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The student led a coalition of campus clubs to demonstrate against the proposed purchases and vehemently protest at multiple police town halls. That April, nearly 20 students, faculty and alumni condemned the plan to buy AR-15s at the college district’s board of trustees’ monthly meeting. The protestors included the student trustee, who said several hundred students were involved in the overall effort.

“There were so many students that were yelling,” Tlatoāni Alvarado said. “They were screaming at the administration. They were upset, they were frustrated. They felt betrayed.”

As of June 2026, the college does not own semi-automatic rifles. “The discussion is still ongoing” on whether the college will seek them in the future, according to campus police chief Kelli Florman.

Still, Tlatoāni Alvarado considers the students’ work a success.

“It was a lot of work,” they said. “I was one of the students that had led the way in that campaign. But I couldn’t have done it alone. There were so many of us.”

Fast track to compliance

Compton College President Keith Curry said a February inquiry from CalMatters put the military equipment law on his radar for the first time. Campus police had issued semi-automatic rifles to patrol officers for over seven years, arguing that standard-issue pistols did not effectively protect civilians and officers during the 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery and shootout. The campus police department also owns incapacitating tasers and a submachine gun, the latter of which the college reports is for potentially lethal situations and to shoot through barriers. However, after some research, Curry realized his college never adopted an equipment use policy.

“Once I understood that it was not implemented correctly, I went into action mode,” Curry said. “I was calling around, I was calling a police chief that I know, I looked on different websites. I had to dissect the bill to understand it, myself, about what’s going on.”

Ultimately, Curry and Compton’s attorney wrote up a Corrective Action Plan that his district’s board of trustees unanimously approved on March 16. In accordance with the plan, the college approved an official policy in April, held a community engagement meeting in May, reviewed an annual use report in June and will update the police policy manual by September.

The compliance review served as a general reminder to build transparency between campus police and their constituents, Curry said. In April, he announced the establishment of three new forms of oversight for campus police: a student committee, a community advisory committee, and a task force reviewing police procedures and policies.

“As a leader, you have to understand what mistakes are made. You have to fix the mistakes,” Curry said.

After a CalMatters inquiry, Chaffey College officials also discovered they had no policy, which Chief Steven Griffin amended by writing a policy that his college board then passed in April. Cal State Monterey Bay updated its website with an equipment policy. Southwestern College modified its annual report with munition quantities. And San Joaquin Delta College, Cuesta College, and the Riverside Community College District all said they are unsure whether their past documentation follows the law, but are working to ensure future compliance.

Other college officials said adjusting their documentation to conform to state law made them reconsider the tools they have. After taking “immediate steps” to update MiraCosta College’s report, public and governmental relations director Kristen Gonzales said the campus police chief plans to “responsibly reduce (munition) inventory to a level that aligns with our actual operational needs and best practices.”

Tlatoāni Alvarado said that while campus militarization is deeply concerning, he’s witnessing a growing trend of students resisting it.

“College campuses are a focal point for where our activism can translate into real-world change,” they said. “Colleges are trying to quash that dissent. But what they need to know, and they need to be made aware of, is that there’s many more of us than there are of them.”

Phoebe Huss is a contributor with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller presented the nominees on Wednesday morning. Winners will be announced at the 78th Emmy Awards on September 14. Read analysis below or click here for the list of nominees.

The nominations look familiar — up to a point. There are plenty of expected names in the list of nominees for the 2026 Emmy Awards: The Pitt led all shows with 25 nominations, followed closely by the final season of Hacks with 24. But not far behind are the 19 nominations for the new, offbeat horror comedy Widow's Bay, including for outstanding comedy series and six actors, including lead actor Matthew Rhys. Just behind that, with 18 nominations, is the first season of Pluribus, creator Vince Gilligan's follow-up to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, led by nominated lead actress Rhea Seehorn.

The hottest competition isn't where it used to be. There was a time when the limited or anthology series categories were where the most closely-watched races were happening. But this year, the nominees for outstanding program in that category are not the shows of the year. The second season of Beef was fine, Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette was very similar to other work under Ryan Murphy's umbrella, and Sarah Snook was fabulous in All Her Fault. But are these limited series the really interesting shows out there, the way they were in 2021, when The Queen's Gambit beat out Mare of Easttown, I May Destroy You, The Underground Railroad and WandaVision? They are not.

As always, the first-timers are an interesting mix. Just from The Pitt, Gerran Howell (who plays Whittaker), Taylor Dearden (Mel), Patrick Ball, (Langdon), Fiona Dourif (McKay), Sepideh Moafi (Al-Hashimi), Jeff Kober (Duke), Tal Anderson (Becca) and Ernest Harden Jr. (Louie) got their first Emmy nominations. But so did Carey Mulligan, who's a three-time Oscar nominee, recognized here for Beef. Leslie Bibb, whose TV work goes all the way back to Popular on the WB in 1999, got her first Emmy nod for a guest spot on Hacks. Heated Rivalry wasn't eligible because it's Canadian, but Connor Storrie still got his first nomination for his guest appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Not all shows seeming to be awards magnets work out that way. Half Man, Richard Gadd's follow-up to the highly acclaimed series Baby Reindeer, received only a nomination for Gadd's acting. The second season of Apple's Your Friends & Neighbors, starring Mad Men's Jon Hamm (nominated eight times for Mad Men, where he won once) was nominated for outstanding drama series, but that's it. The Lowdown, the exceptional FX series starring Ethan Hawke as an Oklahoma journalist, was shut out entirely. Sometimes it's a relief and sometimes a disappointment, but things with plenty of energy behind them do miss out.

2026 Emmy nominees

Outstanding comedy series

Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Nobody Wants This
Hacks
Margo's Got Money Troubles
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking
Widow's Bay

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Elle Fanning, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

Yahya Abdul Mateen II, Wonder Man
Steve Carell, Rooster
Matthew Rhys, Widow's Bay
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Nick Offerman, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Stephen Root, Widow's Bay
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

Dale Dickey, Widow's Bay
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Megan Stalter, Hacks
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Outstanding drama series

The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
The Pitt
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends and Neighbors

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Rhea Seahorn, Pluribus
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

Patrick Ball, The Pitt
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
Gerran Howell, The Pitt
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
Tom Pelphrey, Task
Carlos Manuel-Vesga, Pluribus

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus

Outstanding limited or anthology series

All Her Fault
The Beast In Me
Beef
DTF St. Louis
Love Story

Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Claire Danes, The Beast In Me
Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
Carey Mulligan, Beef
Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault

Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

Riz Ahmed, Bait
Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Oscar Isaac, Beef
Matthew Rhys, The Beast In Me

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis
Dakota Fanning, All Her Fault
Laurie Metcalf, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Joy Sunday, DTF St. Louis
Youn Yuh-jung, Beef
Constance Zimmer, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

Jason Bateman, DTF St. Louis
Richard Gadd, Half Man
David Harbour, DTF St. Louis
Richard Jenkins, DTF St. Louis
Charles Melton, Beef
Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Outstanding reality competition program

Dancing With the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Top Chef
The Traitors

Outstanding variety series

The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live

See the full list of nominees. Winners will be announced at the 78th Emmy Awards ceremony, hosted by Mariska Hargitay on Monday, Sept. 14 in Los Angeles.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Santa Ana’s Measure X — a 1.5% sales tax — is scheduled to decrease starting in 2029, meaning the city could lose out on $30 million in revenue. Voters will decide in November whether to let that happen or make the tax permanent.

The City Council approved bringing a ballot measure to voters at Tuesday night’s meeting. Councilmembers Jessie Lopez and David Penaloza voted against the proposal.

The tax measure was approved by voters in 2018 with plans to reduce the rate to 1% by 2029, then eliminate it in 2039. Money from the tax has helped the city fund street maintenance, public safety, youth services and homelessness services.

Santa Ana, like most Southern California cities, is dealing with a tight budget. The tax provides more than $80 million annually, according to the city. Officials warned the council that the tax accounts for about 20% of the general fund. If it were to sunset, major cuts to services would be necessary, they said.

“By allowing voters to decide in 2026, we will have three years to pivot, if needed,” Kathryn Downs, assistant city manager, said. “If Measure X were to be made permanent, we should expect to have a fairly small structural gap to address each year, less than 2%.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Valerie Amezcua called the timeline placed on the tax measure in 2018 ridiculous. And if the measure doesn’t pass in November, she said, “Whoever's sitting up here in 2029 … Good luck, because I don't know how you'll keep the lights on.”

“Do you like the QOLT (Quality of Life) teams? Do you like your graffiti removed? Do you like your fire department responding? Do you like your potholes filled? Do you like the services that you're seeing? Do you like the new parks?” Amezcua added. “Because the conversation will be then, where do we cut and who do we cut?”

Lopez said that in 2018, Measure X was presented to voters as temporary.

“I strongly feel like I can’t break that deal with our constituents,” Lopez said.

Councilmember Phil Bacerra said he reluctantly supported leaving it to voters but that the city can’t continue to rely on Measure X.

“Measure X is not going to be enough for us to continue to provide even just the current level of services in the future,” Bacerra said. “To have to cut 20% services across the board. I don't want to have to do that … but we've got to do more. This is not going to be enough.”

The city has until early August to file official ballot language with the Registrar of Voters.