News

A.M. Brief: JPL’s Perseverance Rover to Land on Mars Today

February 18, 2021 by Brian Champlin
Image via NASA

For this morning’s brief: A momentous day for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the team at NASA, Mama Lu’s is in trouble over unpaid taxes, a UCLA student is arrested for participation in the Capitol insurrection, and a McDonald’s in Boyle Heights gets fined for firing workers who complained about COVID-19 conditions. Per usual, this is your news brief. Take it!

Morning News Rundown

After launching on July 30, JPL’s Perseverance Mars rover is scheduled to land on the red planet at approximately 12:55 p.m. PST. Its mission is to collect samples of Martian rock that could be retrieved and sent back to Earth on a future mission. A livestream of the landing will be broadcast on NASA’s website. [Pasadena Now]

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The state of California has been investigating Mama’s Lu Dumpling House for an alleged decade-long scheme to misreport more than $11 million in sales, thus evading $1 million in state sales tax. William and Yan Lu, the siblings at the center of the scheme, are accused of personally benefitting by avoiding more than $650,000 in state income tax. [LAist]

A 22-year-old UCLA student has been arrested for his part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Christian Secor allegedly broadcast a livestream at the Capitol on the day of the invasion and was later seen sitting in the spot where Mike Pence presided over the U.S. Senate. Secor was taken into custody by the FBI on Tuesday. [ABC 7]

The California Labor Commission has fined a Boyle Heights McDonald’s franchisee $125,900 for firing employees who protested over coronavirus safety concerns. The restaurant was also ordered to offer four employees their positions back. [KTLA]

West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously to test a pilot program that will close a portion of Robertson Blvd. to cars on weekends only. The three-month pilot, which hopes to increase foot traffic and business activity to adjacent shops and restaurants, is scheduled to begin in mid-April. [LAist]

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