The 2024 NBA offseason is officially underway. This summer will be the biggest to date for the Lakers, as they have a bunch of vital decisions to make in the coming weeks. While all the talk will be on the decision-making of Los Angeles brass regarding the roster and coaching staff, basketball will be played this summer, starting with the 2024 California Classic Summer League.

It will give us our first chance at getting a look at the rookies and undrafted players the Lakers targeted.

The Lakers will participate in three games, all held in San Francisco. The Lakes will play from July 6-10, starting with the Sacramento Kings at 1:30 p.m. P.T. The next game will be on July 7 against the Golden State Warriors at 3:30 p.m. P.T. The final game before the team heads to the Las Vegas Summer League, L.A., will play the Miami Heat on July 10 at 4:00 p.m. P.T.

The NBA will have the California Classic Summer League in Sacramento from July 6-7 and 9 and in San Francisco from July 6-7 and 10. The NBA will also hold the Salt Lake City Summer League from July 8-10. The NBA 2K25 Summer League in Las Vegas will be from July 12-22.

The Lakers will look to hit on all cylinders this summer, including Summer League.

More Lakers: Key Offseason Dates for Los Angeles

The 2024 California wildfire season has started, and if you live in an area where wildfires are a threat, now is the time to double-check how prepared you are if a fire is burning toward your neighborhood.

Don’t wait for an evacuation order or even a warning to start thinking about what you should take if you have to flee.

Here’s a checklist of important things to gather together and be ready to take. For more information, check out FireSafeMarin.org’s list and other tips on how to prepare for wildfires.

• Photographs of all family members.
• Food and water (for up to seven days, if possible).
• Pets (if advance warning, take to an approved shelter).
• Pet ID tags, medications, leashes and water bowls.
• Change of clothing for each person (for one to seven days).
• Cell phones and chargers. Laptop computer. External backup hard drives.
• Health and car insurance cards and related documents.
• Property deeds.
• Marriage license.
• Tax papers.
• Birth certificates.
• Drivers’ licenses.
• Checkbook, credit cards, cash, wallet, purse.
• Prescription and other medications.
• First-aid kit.
• Prescription eyewear, dentures, hearing aids.
• Jewelry.
• Irreplaceable keepsakes.
• Flashlights and a portable radio with extra batteries.

California’s plan to ban carbon-producing trains from operating in the state beginning in 2035 has come under fire from critics, with a major rail industry body claiming it would be “devastating” to “the critical efficient functioning of the national freight rail network.”

In April 2023, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted an In-Use Locomotive Regulation that would require all trains operating in the state to be zero emission by 2035, while diesel locomotives build more than 23 years ago would be banned starting in 2030, in a bid to combat climate change. In order to take effect, the new rules must also be approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has yet to take place.

The past few years have seen an explosion in the electric vehicle industry as governments and manufacturers across the world attempt to contain the impact of climate change. This has also turned attention to rail transport in the U.S., the vast majority of which is diesel-powered, though an all-electric high-speed railway connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco is under construction.

In its submission to the EPA the CARB claims the proposed Locomotive Regulation would “prevent approximately 3,200 premature deaths, 1,100 hospital admissions and 1,500 emergency room visits in California” if it takes effect. The CARB also claimed there are 21 areas in California that currently fail to meet federal air-quality standards, which it said the new rules would help to address and said this disproportionately impacts citizens who “live in low-income and disadvantaged communities.”

However, a number of rail industry bodies, companies and politicians have submitted evidence to the EPA urging it to reject the CARB’s plan.

The American Association of Railroads, a trade association for the North American freight industry, said: “The railroad industry is invested in reducing emissions from locomotives as quickly as realistically possible, while protecting the critical efficient functioning of the national freight rail network.

“CARB’s In-Use Locomotive regulation…will be devastating to the latter and will in fact set back progress toward the former.”

The Rail Customer Coalition, which represents a range of companies involved in the rail industry, warned the plan would “impose significant financial burdens on railroads” which it said “may be untenable for some short line railways.”

Consequently, the proposal “could create additional supply chain disruptions and negatively impact large segments of the economy, including manufacturers, farmers, and energy producers.”

The CARB’s plan was also condemned in a joint letter from a range of farming groups that operate in the Golden State, including the Agricultural Council of California and the California League of Food Producers.

They said: “As agricultural stakeholders especially reliant on efficient and affordable rail transportation, we believe the regulation is unworkable and will negatively affect our ability to bring vital California goods to market.”

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, one of the largest train manufacturers in the world, noted locomotives usually have a lifespan of at least 30 years, meaning the CARB proposal would force operating companies to retire perfectly serviceable trains.

In an article titled California May Break the Freight-Rail Network, the Bloomberg editorial board was also critical of the plan, noting that “the mandatory new technology doesn’t exist” with no zero emission locomotives currently past “the prototype phase.”

They also said that “even if an operative one appeared tomorrow, getting such trains on the rails would require huge new investment — not least in electrical-distribution infrastructure, across every type of topography — that is largely outside the railroads’ control.”

Newsweek contacted the California Air Resources Board for comment by email on Wednesday outside of normal business hours.