It’s Thursday, Feb. 6 And Here Are The Stories We’re Following Today

Mail-in ballots have been landing in voters' mailboxes, a sure sign that California's moved-up primary is fast approaching. We'll continue to keep you up to speed on how the way we vote is changing.

On this day in history: Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. The future president and California governor would have been 109 today.

The forecast for L.A.? High 60s and sunny.

What We’re Covering:

• The Orange County School of the Arts has been locked in a tense battle with the Santa Ana Unified School District. SAUSD approved OCSA’s charter, but only with conditions. OCSA appealed to the Board of Education to authorize the charter instead, and the board was scheduled to discuss the issue at its meeting last night. Reporter Carla Javier was there, and she'll be updating us on the situation.
• Whittier is considering whether to join a legal settlement to enforce anti-camping laws in exchange for building a homeless shelter. If it does, the city's mayor wants to make sure beds will go to people with ties to the city. Reporter Caroline Champlin will have the details.
• Santa Ana, meanwhile, is taking steps to oppose plans by Orange County to open a new homeless shelter there. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has been talking to city leaders there who say they've been shouldering the responsibility for long enough.
• Transportation reporter Ryan Fonseca is digging into California's 85th percentile rule, which effectively sets speed limits based on how fast the majority of drivers are going. A new report outlines why the rule is a bad idea and some ways to change it to make streets safer.
• And, of course, you can start planning your weekend, because contributor Christine Ziemba will have you covered with her usual roundup of cool, fun, and cheap stuff to do.

In Case You Missed It:

• Former LA Sheriff Lee Baca, who is now 77 and suffering from Alzheimer’s, reported to prison this week. You might recall, the former sheriff was convicted and sentenced in 2017 for obstruction of justice, conspiracy and lying for his part in covering up the systematic abuse of jail inmates.
• Actor Kirk Douglas died at the age of 103. He was a giant of his era but probably best known for the films “Spartacus” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
• Hollywood landmark Amoeba Music sold its current building to a developer back in 2015, but it continued operating while it looked for new digs. It’s finally found that new home, just a few blocks away.
• Five new measles cases were announced in L.A. County. If you’re immunized, you don’t have much to worry about. If not, or you don’t know, you might want to check this map.
• Former L.A. police rookie Henry Solis was convicted of second-degree murder. He had fled to Mexico after gunning down 23-year-old Salome Rodriguez Jr. in a Pomona bar while off duty in 2015, but authorities there captured him and sent him back. He claimed he'd been robbed and sexually assaulted by Rodriguez and another man and that he'd been trying to make an arrest, but the jury disagreed

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The news cycle moves fast. Some stories don't pan out. Others get added. Consider this today's first draft.