The Brief

Longtime KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin has died at age 64. The station announced his sudden death Friday during KTLA's "Morning News" program.

A cause of death could not immediately be confirmed, but it was characterized as sudden. A representative for the KTLA could not be reached, but in a statement on the social media platform X, the station called Rubin a giant in the local news industry and a fixture of Los Angeles morning television for decades.

"His laugh, charm and caring personality touched all who knew him. Sam was a loving husband and father: the roles he cherished the most. Our thoughts are with Sam’s family during this difficult time," the station wrote.

Rubin had been with KTLA since 1991. Before his time on Channel 5, Rubin worked at KTTV, where he also covered Hollywood.

His colleagues were visibly shaken as they mourned his death on air Friday afternoon.

"Lived life to the fullest. We don’t know what exactly happened. But we know it was sudden, because we were just with him yesterday,” morning news anchor Frank Buckley said.

“He was born to be a broadcaster,” KTLA reporter Eric Spillman added. “There’s just nobody who compares with him.”

Rubin is survived by his wife and four children.

Tributes pour in

As news of his death spread, fans remembered Rubin as an L.A. institution.

@joerussotweets shared Rubin's cameo in Wes Craven's 1994 film New Nightmare, adding that he's devastated by the loss.

@lizzard011 shared a classic photo of the KTLA Morning News Team, featuring a younger, sepia-toned Rubin.

Greg Grunberg, an actor best known for his roles in Heroes and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was shocked by the news. His Star Wars co-star Mark Hamill replied "awful news."

Less than an hour after his death was announced, "Rest In Peace" and "KTLA" were trending on X.

Actor Ben Stiller remembered Rubin as a "consummate pro," writing that he did his first interview with him in the 1990s.

"He made everyone feel comfortable and it was always fun and easy," Stiller wrote on X. "He was an institution. We have lost him way too soon."

Actor Octavia Spencer wrote on social media that it was always a pleasure to see Rubin and be in his presence.

And Jaime Chambers, a FOX 5 San Diego reporter whose career started at KTLA, wrote that getting to work and learn from Rubin was a pure gift.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California scored a legal victory Monday that for now, undermines the Trump administration’s efforts to drastically cut funding for homeless housing.

Changes that would have diverted huge chunks of federal funds away from permanent housing and funneled them instead into temporary shelters and sober living programs will remain suspended after the Trump administration dropped its appeal of an earlier court loss. While the broader case is still being litigated, the new development could provide some reassurance to California counties waiting for the federal funds.

“We continue to fight for Californians and the rule of law, and we continue to win,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness need the federal government’s continued support — not a rollback of assistance.”

In November, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development attempted to change the way it doles out money for homeless services via its Continuum of Care program. It decreed that jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a move that would result in a significant cut to the type of long-term housing that can resolve someone’s homelessness.

Last year, California communities spent about 90% of their federal Continuum of Care funds on permanent housing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration quickly joined 19 other states and the District of Columbia in suing to stop the Trump administration’s changes. In December, a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily blocked the changes and ordered HUD to process funding applications under the original rules. The Trump administration appealed that ruling, leaving local governments and homeless service providers unsure of what they would be awarded funding for, and when.

The federal government on Monday dropped its appeal. While the rest of the lawsuit will move forward, and could take months to resolve, counties should be able to access permanent housing funds in the meantime.

Instead of prioritizing permanent housing, as has been the rule in the past, the Trump administration wants to focus more on shelters that get people off the streets quickly and temporarily, and on programs that require residents to be sober. HUD also attempted to ban the use of federal homelessness funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely.

A HUD spokesperson said the agency stood by its funding reforms.

“HUD remains committed to reforming the failed ‘Housing First’ approach and restoring the Continuum of Care program to its core objectives; reducing homelessness and promoting self-sufficiency for all vulnerable Americans, ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed towards those goals,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

HUD experienced another legal setback last month when a federal judge in Rhode Island shot down the agency’s attempt to upend another, smaller, source of federal homelessness funding. At issue in that case was a program called the Continuum of Care Builds grant, which funds the construction of new homeless housing. HUD last year made grantees reapply under a very different set of criteria, which seemed to disqualify organizations that support trans clients, use “harm reduction” to prevent drug overdose deaths or operate in a “sanctuary city.”

About $75 million in federal funds had been frozen as that case moved forward.

In March, the court found HUD violated the law through its “slapdash imposition of political whims.”

“This ruling is a victory for people across this nation who have overcome homelessness and stabilized in HUD’s permanent housing programs,” Ann Oliva, chief executive of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which filed the lawsuit, wrote in a statement. “Today’s news reinforces a fundamental truth: that the work to end homelessness is not partisan, and never should be interfered with for political means.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

The Los Angeles Unified School Board is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on moving toward limiting screen time for students at school.

The resolution requires the school district to create a policy that includes maximum daily and weekly screen time limits based on grade level and “encourage the use of paper and pen assignments.”

“We had not recalibrated or reset our relationship with technology post-COVID,” said school board member Nick Melvoin, who brought forth the measure. “Six years ago, we sent every kid in L.A. home with a device, which was a lifeline. … But when they came back, I'm still seeing kids as young as preschool on devices all day.”

If adopted, the district would create a policy that the school board would approve by June and that would be implemented next school year.

Why is the board considering this?

Research has shown excessive usage of screens can hurt children’s mental and physical health.

“Addiction-like use of short-form video content — including YouTube and social media platforms — are correlated with higher levels of social anxiety among adolescents,” the resolution reads.

Sandra Martinez Roe, a parent in northeast L.A., said she had tried to limit screen time at home for her now fourth-grade son, but in second grade, he started bringing home a laptop from school for his homework.

“ I just feel very strongly about children being able to experience childhood and really delaying the tech as long as possible. And when my son came home with a Chromebook and started talking about the Minecraft games and this game and that game, I about lost it,” Martinez Roe said.

Martinez Roe is a member of the parent advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens, which has been pushing for the resolution.

“ He didn't understand why the keyboard wasn't in alphabetical order. And this was a real big concern for me because I thought, he's in second grade, he's learning how to read, how to write, and you're expecting him to do this all on a Chromebook without a typing class first?” Martinez Roe said.

How is this different from the cellphone ban? 

While the school district currently has a ban on cell phones throughout the school day that went into effect last year, this resolution is about laptops and tablets that are given to students in the district. The district moved to equip each student with their own digital devices during the pandemic that they could take home.

“There’s still access to YouTube, some games like Roblox, Minecraft. … I've seen some clever kids who know that they can't be on their phones during lunch, will be on their computers during lunch,” Melvoin said.

What does this resolution mean for early grades?

The measure would ban the student use of digital devices from preschool through first grade, except when needed for district-mandated assessments.

What does it mean for kids second grade through 12th?

The district will set maximum daily and weekly screen time limits for students by grade level. It would also block student-led use of YouTube or other video streaming platforms on district devices.

For students from second to fifth grade, the policy would “encourage schools to utilize laptop carts and/or computer labs.”

The measure would also ban the use of student devices during lunch and recess through middle school — except for teacher-approved work.

For middle and high school students, Melvoin said it’s about creating guardrails on screens versus a strict ban.

“So the high school student who is in class and sitting on their device and needs to Google it will almost certainly still be allowed to,” he said.

What does this mean for teachers?

The resolution is aimed at student-led use of digital devices. Teachers can still use YouTube and devices for instruction.

“Teachers, even in kindergarten and preschool, who want to put up a video of singing the alphabet song in different languages or some of those morning routines that I see when I'm in preschools [are] unfettered by this resolution,” Melvoin said. “It was really about the students and the ads that come up on YouTube, the algorithm that will send kids from a video about dinosaurs to something that we don’t want them to see.”

Could this mean students use screens more at home?

Melvoin told LAist that’s a fair concern but has heard about students pointing out their parents’ own excessive usage of their cell phones.

“ It's about creating good habits that we hope will trickle up both to their parents and also outside of the school day,” he said.

Martinez Roe agrees.

“I think that now when you see what's happening to us as adults, where we can barely put our phones down, it's like, it’s going to be three times as hard for our kids, and I don't wanna set my kid up for that — and definitely not do it through the school,” she said.

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

A stretch of residential streets between Koreatown and Pico Union is slated for changes to slow down traffic aimed at making it safer to walk and bike, as Los Angeles moves forward with street redesigns ahead of the Summer Olympic Games.

The project — currently referred to as Koreatown Pico Union Neighborhood Connect — would create a nearly two-mile, pedestrian-friendly route along New Hampshire Avenue, Berendo Street, and Washington Boulevard, connecting residential blocks with schools and Metro’s Wilshire/Vermont Station.

It’s designed as a lower-stress alternative to Vermont Avenue, a major corridor that carries heavy traffic through the area.

On a recent weekday afternoon near Berendo Middle School — one of the schools along the route — pedestrians were out and about, including students walking home, residents on a leisurely stroll with their dogs, and people biking through the streets. 

Sol Mendoza, who walks down the street from the school with her 5-year-old son every day, said she generally feels safe in the neighborhood but has concerns about how some drivers behave at crossings. 

“Sometimes the cars passing don’t stop or forget to stop,” she said, gesturing to the curb where her son was playing with his mini kick scooter. “They fail to see people walking and go really fast.”

The plan aims to slow vehicle traffic and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists through measures including traffic circles, speed humps, crosswalk signals, traffic diverters, bike boxes and wayfinding signage, though final decisions will depend on community feedback, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

The City of Los Angeles is seeking to calm traffic and provide bicyclists and pedestrians an alternative to the high-traffic Vermont Avenue corridor.

(

Hanna Kang

/

The LA Local

)

Construction is expected to be completed by spring 2028, according to city documents, with final designs anticipated this fall. The project has been awarded about $5.4 million in funding from Metro through its Active Transportation grant program, according to city documents.

According to LADOT, the corridor would make it easier and safer to get to schools, including Berendo Middle School, Loyola High School, and Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. The proposal is part of the city’s Mobility Plan 2035, which identifies streets for improvements aimed at walking and biking.

A LADOT survey of 729 respondents last fall found that 68% want safer, quieter streets and 43% would consider biking along the route if safety improved. Top concerns included speeding traffic, dangerous intersections and limited visibility at crossings.

Mary Lee, who lives near the route, supports creating an alternative and safer path to Vermont Avenue for pedestrians. 

“I feel pretty safe here but when I’m walking along Vermont to go to the bank or a restaurant with my friends, I’m on edge because people on scooters whiz past me sometimes and they’re really fast. It’s also very loud,” she said.

Lee, who does not drive, said residential streets can also feel unsafe depending on how certain drivers behave.

“There are people who go really fast and don’t slow down when they turn,” she said. “You don’t know if they’ve actually seen you or not, and it doesn’t always feel safe.” 

She’s skeptical about how well the pedestrian-focused changes will work.

“It sounds promising, but who knows, it’s L.A., and a lot of people just ignore signs and break the rules,” she said.

Scooter riders in the area also see room for improvement.

Alfredo Hernandez, a delivery driver who frequents Koreatown, feels generally comfortable navigating the area on a scooter as an experienced rider but sees gaps in infrastructure. 

“I’d like to see more dedicated paths for people who are on scooters or walking,” he said. “I don’t think there’s enough of that.”