I’m not much of a fair guy — I never win at carnival games, I get dizzy as a passenger in a car, and fair food is as overrated as In-N-Out. But last week, I attended the Los Angeles County Fair for the first time ever because why not?

Besides, if Miguel Santana can be a Fairhead, so can I.

He’s one of the most influential people in Southern California: longtime confidante of the late Gloria Molina, former chief administrative officer for Los Angeles and current president of the California Community Foundation. But I think he had the most fun as head of the L.A. County Fair from 2017 to 2020, a stint immortalized by his appearance on the cover of the 2022 book “100 Years of the Los Angeles County Fair” riding a gondola lift alongside the book’s author, legendary Inland Valley Daily Bulletin columnist David Allen.

“Who’s there says a lot about us as Southern California,” Santana said of the L.A. County Fair’s audience as I exited the 10 Freeway toward the Fairplex. “It’s a sense of Americana and proof we can be diverse and American at the same time.”

I asked if this fair was as big as the Orange County Fair. He laughed the way all Angelenos do when presented with a comparison to Orange County.

“It’s enormous. You’re gonna get your 10,000 steps.”

Behold, then, this newbie’s L.A. County Fair tips:

Have a Pomona homie drop you off

Fair parking is an ungodly $22.50, and don’t you dare try to leave your jalopy at nearby Ganesha Park unless you want to spend a couple hundred dollars fishing it out of some random tow truck yard. My Pomona parking hookup was faithful reader Fernando Iniguez — gracias, Fern Iggy! I owe you a Jerez sweatshirt.

Buy your tickets online

$21.50 on the internet. At the gate? $32. Um, yeah. But one big complaint, Fair lords: It took me three attempts to buy my tickets online. Ever heard of Zelle?

Feel the music

“There’s going to be so much music,” Santana told me, and he was right. Between live bands, Spotify playlists, DJs and radio stations, it was like walking through a wholesome Coachella. Bachata smoothly transitioned to Go Country went to KCRW became Taylor Swift switched over to a super-chirpy cover of the O’Jays’ “Love Train” at the Disco Chicken stand. And though Pharell Williams’ “Happy” played at least five times while I visited, the atmosphere was so cheerful that I didn’t have to scream to drown out his ode to optimism.

Hang out at the petting zoo for the best people watching

There’s nothing like seeing suburbanites who probably think meat comes from Erewhon fairies stand with terror in their eyes as bleating sheep and goats swarm them asking for pellets.

Lose yourself in the fair

How much did fairgoers live in the moment? I saw next to no one use their smartphone other than for photos. And I also noticed a middle-age white guy in a MAGA cap standing a few feet away from a Muslim family with nary a negative look at each other. They were too busy staring ahead like the rest of us at an octet of magnificent Clydesdale horses ready to pull a Budweiser wagon.

Head to the coolest section of the fair

I loved all the vegetables and livestock at the Farm & Gardens, enjoyed the trippy art at the Flower & Garden Pavilion and appreciated the juxtaposition of a lowrider show next to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum near the Millard Sheets Art Center. But the best part of the fair was the area labeled “America’s Great Outdoors” — and I say this as someone who thinks camping and hiking are for the (literal) birds! Volunteers sawed logs with kids, taught them how to pan for gold, showed off desert reptiles and even hosted an environmental magic show. Throw in a replica of a Tongva hut and a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout tower and the nearby sound of the RailGiants Train Museum, and this is what Knott’s Berry Farm used to be before it became whatever the hell it is now.

Block off at least three hours to fully enjoy

I had to rush back to Orange County for a columna the day I visited, so I only spent an hour and a half at the fair. I had to skip the tablescape competition, didn’t go through the exhibit halls and was only able to eat at Hot Dog on a Stick because they make the best lemonade on Earth. But it was wonderful to leave the problems of the world mostly at bay for a few hours to enjoy the living, breathing Wikipedia that is a county fair at its finest — and the L.A. County Fair is definitely that.

Huge Snorlax plush toy: Next year, you’re mine.

Today’s top stories

Wildlife biologist Carl Lackey, with the aid of a dog, chases off a California black bear that was captured and relocated to the Carson Range.

(John Axtell / Nevada Department of Wildlife)

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A woman’s grisly death inflames debate over how California manages problem black bears

• An autopsy determined that 71-year-old Patrice Miller had probably been killed by a black bear after it broke into her home, marking the first known instance in California history of a fatal bear attack on a human.
• The story of Miller’s grisly end have come roaring into the state Capitol this spring.
• Wildlife officials estimate there are now 60,000 black bears in California, roughly triple the figure from 1998.

An epic guide to the best motels in California

UC and CSU get some relief in Newsom’s budget plan

• Proposed funding cuts for UC and CSU are not as bad as they were in January, under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised state budget.
• The proposed cut to UC dropped from $397 million in January to $130 million four months later, representing a 3% year-to-year budget cut.
• For CSU, Newsom’s budget cut went from $375 million in January to $144 million, also a 3% budget reduction.

Riverside wants to become ‘the new Detroit’

What else is going on

Commentary and opinions

This morning’s must reads

Other must reads

For your downtime

(Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

Going out

Staying in

A question for you: What is your go-to karaoke song?

Alan says: “Your Man by Josh Turner.”
C Price says: “The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell.”

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally … your photo of the day

Kaj Betts, son of Dodgers infielder Mookie Betts, runs away with the ceremonial first pitch ball as they celebrate Mookie Betts’ Bobble Head night at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier at Dodger Stadium where the 2-year-old son of Dodgers infielder Mookie Betts runs away with the ceremonial first pitch ball.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.

Officials are touting a young Tennessee gamer as a hero after the boy thwarted a mass shooting allegedly being planned and discussed on a gamer chat site by two Tehama County teenagers.

The two boys, ages 14 and 15, had planned a shooting at Evergreen Institute of Excellence, in the Northern California town of Cottonwood, where they expected to kill up to 100 people, said Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain during a news conference Tuesday. Before the deadly attack, the two close friends allegedly planned to kill one set of their parents.

“This was serious,” Kain said. “It would have changed our community as a whole.

The two friends allegedly wrote a manifesto for the deadly attack, took photos of themselves in the same clothes and posed as the teenage killers in the 1999 Columbine mass shooting, and spoke in an online game’s chat about the planned shooting.

It was in that game’s chat that a Tennessee boy became aware of the possible attack, and decided to call the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office on the evening of May 9 about the disturbing chat.

Kain said the gamer’s decision to call authorities about the possible attack could have saved lives.

“This young man had the courage and heroic instincts to call our agency and notify us in order to mitigate any possible threat to our citizens and, possibly, our young people,” Kain said.

The gamer provided investigators with the suspect’s gamer tag, contents of the chat, as well as a shared photo one of the suspects posted of them posing like the Columbine school shooters.

Kain said the shared image helped investigators contact school administrators, identify the two students, and take both of them into custody.

“Our investigators took that tip seriously since the beginning,” Kain said.

Investigators served search warrants at the homes of the two suspects, where they found improvised explosive devices they believe were made to use in the school attack. Firearms were also seized, Kain said.

The two friends had planned to go forward with the attack on May 9, but didn’t because one of them backed out, he said. It’s unclear what the motivation for the school shooting was, but Kain said one of the teen suspects talked about being bullied when interviewed by investigators.

The two suspects were booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, possession of a destructive device, manufacturing a destructive device, and conspiracy to commit a felony, Kain said. Investigators are also working with prosecutors and looking at the possibility of a charge of conspiracy to commit mass murder.

The two teens appeared in court Thursday, and were ordered to remain in custody, per a request from the Tehama County District Attorney’s Office, according to a statement from the office.

Kain said sheriff officials have spoken with school administrators to provide additional security at the school, but said the threat was isolated to the two suspects already in custody.

As a sign of confidence, the sheriff said his son returned to classes at the same middle school on Monday.

Kain declined to offer any details on the underage gamer who reported the threat, but said he and his parents were told they were invited to visit Tehama County to be recognized.

A former delivery driver has pleaded guilty to conspiring with several others to steal over $2.5 million from DoorDash, a San Francisco-based food delivery company, federal prosecutors said.

Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty on May 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. Prosecutors said Devagiri admitted to working with three others and a former employee of DoorDash in a fraud scheme that targeted the company between 2020 and 2021.

In the scheme, the group caused DoorDash to pay for deliveries that never occurred, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in more than $2.5 million in fraudulent payments.

Devagiri was arrested and indicted alongside Manaswi Mandadapu, 29; Matheus Duarte, 29; and Hari Vamsi Anne, 30, in October 2024, according to prosecutors. All four were charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Mandadapu pleaded guilty to the charge on May 6, prosecutors said. Duarte and Anne previously pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court on July 22, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The former DoorDash employee involved in the scheme, Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn, was charged in a separate indictment in September 2022 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, according to prosecutors.

Devagiri is expected to appear in court for a status hearing on September 16, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

‘Fundamentally unfair’: DoorDash to pay millions to dashers after company pocketed tips

Fraudulent accounts, manipulated DoorDash software

DoorDash provides food delivery services to customers who place orders on the platform. Drivers who work for the company fulfill those orders by picking up ordered items from restaurants and other merchants and delivering them to customers.

According to an indictment unsealed in October 2024, the group worked together between November 2020 to February 2021. During that period, Devagiri, along with Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, created multiple fraudulent customer and driver accounts with DoorDash, the indictment states.

The group used the fraudulent customer accounts to place “high value” orders from restaurants across Northern California, including Santa Clara County, according to the indictment. They then utilized an employee’s credentials to access DoorDash’s computer systems and software.

The indictment further alleged that the group used the computer systems to manually reassign DoorDash orders placed by their fraudulent customer accounts to their driver accounts. Prosecutors said Devagiri then would report the orders had been delivered on the driver accounts when they had not and manipulated the software to prompt DoorDash to pay the driver accounts for the deliveries that never occurred.

‘Senseless act of violence’: DoorDash driver shot after arriving at wrong house; NY highway official arrested

Devagiri also used the DoorDash software to change the orders from “complete” statuses to “in process” statuses and reassigned the orders to driver accounts that the group controlled, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Devagiri repeated this process, which took less than five minutes, hundreds of times for many orders.

In total, the group stole over $2.5 million and received payments through bank accounts controlled by Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, the indictment states.

According to the indictment, the group gained access to the software by using credentials that belonged to Bottenhorn, who was a resident of Solano County, California. He briefly worked for DoorDash in 2020. After pleading guilty in 2023, prosecutors said Bottenhorn admitted to being involved in the scheme to defraud the company.

Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne were all arrested on Oct. 4, 2024, prosecutors said. Devagiri and Mandadapu were taken into custody in Newport Beach and later released on bond. Duarte was arrested in Mountain House, California, and was also released on bond.

Anne was arrested in Cypress, Texas, and was detained in Houston pending further proceedings, according to prosecutors.