Hello, happy Thursday. There are 32 days left until Inauguration Day, and once we run out of tissues, this will be our last newsletter until January 7th.

That means you’ll have to get through Christmas and New Year’s without me. But as a year-end gift, there will be no politics today, at least no negative politics, which is pretty much the same thing. We’re closing out the year with three feel-good stories that remind us that 2024 hasn’t completely sucked.

First up is Paris Hilton.

paris in washington

Way back in April, I wrote about Paris Hilton and her efforts to pass legislation in California and across the country to prevent child abuse in treatment facilities, and the bills required transparency. In many cases, there is a lack of integrity, and in some cases, it seems that even ethics are not being followed.

As I wrote at the time, when Hilton was (successfully) advocating for passage of the Child Care Accountability Act in California, SB1043She told how, at the age of 17, she was confined in one such facility, where she experienced “abuse disguised as therapy.”

On Monday, she headed to the U.S. Capitol, where she appealed to House members to pass legislation at the federal level to regulate such treatment facilities. It’s unclear whether House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will take up the bill before recess, but the Senate has already passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. It took three years, with Hilton continuing to advocate for highly personal measures.

If you read this newsletter regularly, you know that I often write about victims of abuse. It’s never easy to make your pain public. So thank you Hilton for turning her fame into a platform to help young people.

“When the U.S. Senate showed unprecedented unity and unanimously passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act on December 11, it was one of the greatest moments of my life.” Hilton wrote in an open letter posted on Instagram.. “This was proof that if we listen to the voices of survivors and put politics aside, we can create real and meaningful change.”

As Hilton says, It’s alive.

Boris and Svetley

Yes, this has nothing to do with politics, but I love this story. So I’m including it.

Now, somewhere in the deserted wilderness of Russia’s Far East, two Amur tigers are raising their cubs. The story of how Boris and Svetley became a couple has been passed down through the ages. One of the things reported in new york times There are others, but I’ll go here anyway.

Boris and Svetley are endangered tigers rescued as orphaned cubs. They grew up together, so to speak, in special facilities where human contact was minimal and they were fed live animals (rabbits, deer, etc.) to teach them to be wild. The key was whether they could be reintroduced into the wild in hopes of restoring the population.

The two animals, aged about 18 months, were released in completely different parts of the country in an extremely desolate area near the border between Russia and China, where there had been no cats for more than 50 years.

But Boris did not like his point of descent. A year later, the giant walked 124 miles straight north until he found Svetley’s den. Six months later, a baby was born.

Love is not dead, even in the Siberian cold, good things happen in Russia.

women in the house

We’ll end with a bit of good news from the Golden State that you may have missed.

This year, the California Legislature achieved (almost) gender parity for the first time. As my colleague Mackenzie Mays recently reported, women will hold 59 of the 120 seats when lawmakers are sworn in on December 2nd.

Among them is Sadeh Elhawary, a Democrat from South Los Angeles who was newly elected to replace Rep. Reggie Jones-Sawyer, whose term has expired.

“Women in Congress will be on the very front lines to hold President Trump accountable and protect Californians from anything that could happen. I think we have to suit up,” Elhowary said. told. “We still really suffer from the evils of sexism.”

She couldn’t be more right about that. At a time when California needs to stand up for equality and diversity, more women means more representation. So, everyone go.

That’s it!

This year has been a typical Looney Tunes year, and we are grateful to everyone who stuck with us until the end. May your holidays be filled with joy and laughter, and with minimal stress. Check back in 2025. This crazy situation isn’t over yet.

What else to read:

Must read: Three girls died and one death row inmate. Did the lie lead him there?
Next up: Fissures emerge in Trump World over how to make America healthier
LA Times Feature: “A necessary evil”: Captive dogs whose blood saves lives

stay golden,
Anita Chhabria

PS: You may have noticed (or maybe not!) that I recently took a week off. I was finishing up this story with my colleague Jessica Garrison, and I hope you’ll read it (and please share it). If you like serious crime with a criminal justice policy aspect, this is for you.

The story is about a man on death row who murdered three young girls and the false testimony of the two teenage girls who put him on death row. The bigger question is how police interview and interrogate suspects and witnesses, and how false confessions and false testimony occur.

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