Labor unions are renewing their push to place rules on self-checkout lanes in California stores. The latest proposal is a scaled-back version of a failed bill from last year, but business groups still caution it could drive up costs and frustrate shoppers.
New rules for self-checkout?: Senate Bill 442 would mandate one employee dedicated to monitoring self-checkout, a staffed lane at all times, and signs limiting customers to 15 items, though stores wouldn’t be penalized for exceeding that limit.
Grocers push back: Supporters of the bill say the move protects workers and improves service. Industry groups argue the proposed rules will increase labor costs and contribute to California’s already high grocery prices, without clear evidence the measures are necessary.
It’s been a long day at work, and you still need to stop by the store on your way home.
To spare yourself more social interaction, you make a beeline for the self-checkout station, praying for a quick and painless transaction.
“Please wait, help is on the way,” the machine’s feminine voice coos, taunting you as you try desperately to flag down a clerk.
Following a failed, union-backed effort last year to regulate self-checkout machines, California Democrats are trying again to set guidelines they say will improve the efficiency of self-service stations across the state’s grocery, drug and big box stores.
Senate Bill 442, from Los Angeles Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, who chairs the Senate committee on labor and public employment, would require stores to have at least one dedicated worker there to help self-service customers. Stores also would be required to operate at least one traditional staffed checkout lane at all times and restrict the type and number of items a customer can bring through self-checkout.
“This is about supporting our workforce, to make sure that they're safe but mostly to also make sure that they're providing the level of service that customers expect and deserve,” Smallwood-Cuevas said on the Senate floor earlier this summer before the bill passed that chamber 26-10.
But the state’s business community, especially its grocers, still opposes the effort. Instead, without pointing to concrete studies or evidence, businesses say more regulations will drive up prices due to added labor costs companies will pass along to consumers.
“This seems like a clear example of why Californians pay the highest prices for groceries, regardless of what checkout line they go through,” said Daniel Conway, a lobbyist for the California Grocers Association, at an Assembly Labor and Employment Committee hearing in June.
It’s not surprising that Smallwood-Cuevas, a former labor organizer herself, is carrying such a bill, given her close alignment with the two union heavyweights cosponsoring the legislation: the California Labor Federation and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. She votes their way more than 95 percent of the time, according to the Digital Democracy database, and has received nearly $30,000 in total campaign contributions from the groups since 2021.
Under the measure, stores would have to display signs that limit customers to 15 items or fewer in the self-checkout lanes and also designate one employee whose only assigned duties are to monitor the stands. Notably, the bill explicitly states stores would not be penalized for failing to enforce the item limit, a condition business groups say is nonsensical. Proponents of the provision argue signs will increase peer pressure and self-policing without strict enforcement.
More items banned from self-checkout
Building on a 2011 law that banned the sale of alcohol at self-checkout stations, another union-backed effort, Smallwood-Cuevas’ new bill would expand the ban to any items that require identification to buy, such as tobacco products, and anything with anti-theft security devices that must be removed by an employee.
Stores that want to add new self-service checkout stations must notify employees and their unions in writing at least 60 days in advance or face a $1,000 penalty per violation per day.
Democrats largely have voiced support for Smallwood-Cuevas’ bill, calling it a much needed remedy for the headache that is self-checkout.
Democratic Assemblyman Ash Kalra, of San Jose, scoffed at Conway’s assertion that self-checkout is an efficient and preferable choice for customers and said customers often are forced to use them since stores have reduced the number of cashiers.
“I don't know if I can disagree with more points that were just made from our friends with the grocers,” Kalra told Conway during the late June hearing. “You must not be going to the stores if you think there's an improved shopping experience from these self-checkouts.”
Opponents have expressed concern that a newly added provision in the bill would invite local municipalities to pass their own more stringent standards, as the city of Long Beach recently did, requiring stores to assign at least one clerk for every three self-checkout machines.
Companies warn that such a patchwork of laws would make it difficult to run stores with multiple locations, creating a burden for both owners and customers.
“Only a uniform, statewide approach can provide the consistency that both employers and employees need to thrive,” wrote Ryan Allain, a lobbyist for the California Retailers Association, which currently opposes to the bill.
Even though Republicans admitted they, too, despise the self-checkout process, lawmakers slammed the bill for overstepping businesses’ authority to regulate themselves and raise operating costs that ultimately would be passed along to the consumer.
“It's a labor thing. I get it,” said Republican Sen. Kelly Seyarto, of Murrieta, on the Senate floor in June. “I'd like as many people to work as possible, but I'd also like to afford the groceries.”
Democratic Sen. Ben Allen, of El Segundo, was among a few Democrats to express slight hesitation about the state preemption of local rules but voted for the bill anyway.
“I understand you're going to be working with the grocers on that challenge,” he said in June.
The bill must clear the Assembly Appropriations Committee after lawmakers return from their summer recess Aug. 18 before it goes to the floor for a vote.
Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, wouldn’t state a position on SB 442, saying the governor’s office “doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation.”
How the disaster exposed divisions in the Eastside
By Laura Anaya-Morga and Andrew Lopez | The LA Local
Published July 2, 2026 11:00 AM
Firefighters assess the remains of the Lineage warehouse that burned for a week and sent smoke into nearby communities.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
In the days following a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, residents in surrounding communities struggled to navigate resources and were turned away at air purifier distributions based on where they lived — then the messaging shifted.
Resident experiences: Althana Ávalos, a 33-year-old Los Angeles Unified School District teacher, closed the windows and doors of her East L.A. home, and her family wore KN95 masks. But it wasn’t enough. They soon began feeling the effects of the smoke: sore throat, eye and skin irritation, nausea and headaches. When she called the office of Councilmember Ysabel Jurado to have an air purifier delivered to her home, she was told she didn’t qualify.
Response: As the fire continued burning, city and county leaders began appearing side by side at press conferences, stressing that government agencies were working collaboratively. Later in the response, public messaging also appeared to shift.
Read on... for more experiences and the response to the fire.
In the days after the Lineage warehouse fire blanketed the Eastside in thick smoke, Althana Ávalos desperately searched for an air purifier for her 9-year-old son with asthma.
The 33-year-old Los Angeles Unified School District teacher closed the windows and doors of her East L.A. home, and her family wore KN95 masks. But it wasn’t enough. They soon began feeling the effects of the smoke: sore throat, eye and skin irritation, nausea and headaches.
When she called the office of Councilmember Ysabel Jurado to have an air purifier delivered to her home, she was told she didn’t qualify.
“I’m sorry,” the person on the phone told her, according to Ávalos. “Due to the address that you’re providing, you are on the other side so you don’t qualify … You belong to the county.”
“Really? This is a disaster,” Ávalos remembers thinking. “My son has asthma. What am I going to do?”
The moment captured what many residents say they experienced for days following the fire: For some seeking help, access to emergency resources often depended less on how close they lived to the fire and more on which side of an invisible border they called home.
A crisis felt across invisible borders
Ávalos lives on the east side of Indiana Street, in unincorporated East Los Angeles, not the city of L.A. Just across the street, on the west side of Indiana, is Boyle Heights, where the Lineage warehouse is located.
Although the warehouse is in Boyle Heights, it sits near the borders of East L.A. and Commerce, separated by short stretches of roads and industrial blocks. Walking a few feet places residents in a different jurisdiction entirely.
Those geographic boundaries shaped who distributed supplies, where residents went for help, and, in some cases, who qualified for resources such as air purifiers.
While Boyle Heights residents are represented by Los Angeles city officials, including Jurado, and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, residents in unincorporated East L.A. fall under Los Angeles County and are primarily represented by Supervisor Hilda Solis.
Where do you live?
Boyle Heights, highlighted in blue, is within the city of East L.A. and is represented by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and Mayor Karen Bass.
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Map created within ArcGIS by Andrew Lopez
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The LA Local
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East Los Angeles, highlighted in orange, is an unincorporated community within LA County. It is represented by Supervisor Hilda Solis.
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Map created within ArcGIS by Andrew Lopez
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The LA Local
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Boyle Heights: Highlighted in blue, Boyle Heights is a neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles. Residents are represented by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and Mayor Karen Bass.
East Los Angeles: Highlighted in orange, East Los Angeles is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County. Residents are represented by Supervisor Hilda Solis.
Residents search for relief
When the fire broke out on June 17, elected officials responded and posted updates on social media as firefighters battled the blaze.
And when the flames reignited within the building two days later, officials declared local and statewide emergencies while agencies worked to acquire and distribute air purifiers, pass out masks and open up smoke relief shelters across the Eastside.
Antonio Chapa, left, director of field operations for Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, distributes air purifiers on Indiana Street in Boyle Heights on June 22, 2026.
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Isaac Ceja
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Boyle Heights Beat
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But residents say accessing those resources wasn’t always straightforward.
Some distribution events required proof of residency. On social media, residents asked whether they qualified for assistance if they lived near the fire. Others were clearing up confusion from commenters about whether their addresses were actually within Los Angeles city limits.
For Ávalos, it was confusing that strict government rules still applied for the neighboring jurisdictions even during a crisis.
“I knew I belonged to the East L.A. area. It didn’t hit me that in, you know, in this case of emergency, or in this situation, they were going to be asking,” said Ávalos.
Community groups filled the gaps
Henry Perez, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, said his organization repeatedly heard about people running into the same issue of being turned away at distribution sites.
“It’s extremely frustrating and infuriating,” Perez said. “To be told that they couldn’t get the air purifier because of where they lived on the dividing line, that is just heartbreaking.”
Henry Perez, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, speaks at a press conference on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
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Steve Saldivar
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The LA Local
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As demand for clean air grew, groups including InnerCity Struggle, Proyecto Pastoral, the East L.A. Walking Club and The Maravilla Community Advisory Committee, as well as individual volunteers, organized their own distributions, regardless of jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, Ávalos’ family continued searching for relief as their conditions worsened.
On Saturday, June 20, they went to the smoke relief shelter at City Terrace Park. During a visit to the shelter, Sen. Durazo stepped inside to talk to families.
After explaining how she was turned away from receiving an air purifier, Durazo, upset by the situation, called on one of her team members to help get one, Ávalos said. A few hours later, the air purifier had been personally delivered to her at the shelter.
State and local elected officials, including Durazo, Assemblymembers Mark Gonzalez and Jessica Caloza, and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, also spent time in the affected neighborhoods sharing updates and connecting residents with resources.
Ávalos wasn’t the only resident who described frustration over jurisdictional divides.
Martin Ramirez, who owns N&M Auto Repair on the corner of Union Pacific Avenue and Indiana Street, said he tried to get an air purifier for his business from Our Lady of Victory Church in East L.A. but was turned away because his business address put him in Commerce.
Officials emphasize unity as the response evolves
As the fire continued burning, city and county leaders began appearing side by side at press conferences, stressing that government agencies were working collaboratively.
First District Supervisor Hilda Solis speaks at a press conference at the City Terrace Park Smoke Respite Center and is joined by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Council District 14 Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.
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Photo courtesy of First District Supervisor Hilda Solis
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Later in the response, public messaging also appeared to shift.
At a press event on Thursday, June 25, Bass pushed back when asked by a local reporter about the miscommunication between county and city departments.
“First of all, I know the two of us here, the three of us here, we’re not going to put up with jurisdictional divide,” Bass said. “People can go to the county for help and if the resources…happen to be on the city side, the bottom line is that if the people of this community need help, we’re going to do everything we can to get it there.”
Around the same time, in a social media post promoting purifier distribution on Friday, June 26, Hilda Solis wrote that aid was “open to adjacent communities.”
A community resource center that opened up in Boyle Heights over the weekend presented a similar shift, stating services were open to “residents and businesses of Boyle Heights and nearby communities.”
Still, some residents said the changing guidance added to the confusion.
In written statements to Boyle Heights Beat, both Jurado and Solis acknowledged the challenges residents faced along the Boyle Heights and East L.A. border.
“Emergency doesn’t recognize jurisdictional boundaries, but government often does,” Jurado said.
A plume of smoke billows out of a Boyle Heights warehouse on Saturday, June 20.
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Isaiah Murtaugh
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The LA Local
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Jurado said city departments and county agencies are now coordinating around air quality monitoring, debris and food waste removal, traffic and hauling plans, water runoff protections, public health resources, and community outreach.
Solis shared a similar sentiment, stating that although the county stayed in close communication with the city on emergency response from day one, it had become streamlined by day seven.
“By the end of the first week, that included broader resource distributions, expanded health services, planning for the Community Resilience Center, and connecting residents, workers, and small businesses with recovery resources,” Solis said.
What residents want to see change
Perez of InnerCity Struggle said officials should use the Lineage fire as a lesson before the next disaster.
“This isn’t going to be the last environmental crisis or, just, emergency crisis and they need to recognize that there are certain parts of the city and the county that border one another,” Perez said. “What we want our elected leaders to really learn from this experience is that preparedness is critical.”
One of the biggest lessons Councilmember Jurado said she learned through the process was that environmental emergencies “require neighborhood-level preparedness” before disaster strikes.
“In future emergencies, residents should not have to chase government for information. Government needs to show up where people already are: at their doors, at trusted community organizations, at schools, churches, clinics, recreation centers, and neighborhood gathering places,” Jurado said.
For residents like Ávalos who live along the city-county lines, the fire reinforced how a divide in resources — from health care and law enforcement to services like trash and public works — can shape access to help.
“If something like this were to happen again … I don’t think that [where you live] should matter,” Ávalos said.
A man surveys the charred remains of his home, destroyed in the Eaton Fire, on Jan. 8.
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David Pashee
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AFP via Getty
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Topline:
Altadena may get a reprieve from two of California’s marquee housing laws after a bill to temporarily exempt the fire-torn community sailed through back-to-back Assembly hearings on Wednesday.
Higher density: The two laws being put on hold — Senate Bill 9 from 2021 and Senate Bill 1123 from 2024 — legalize the construction of up to 10 small houses on plots otherwise reserved for single-family homes and make it easier to split land into smaller parcels which can be sold off individually. Senate Bill 1090 by Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a Democrat whose district includes Altadena, would exempt the unincorporated town’s single zip code from the two laws through 2030. Exempting Altadena is meant to give Eaton Fire survivors “the time they need to rebuild their community without the overpowering influence of predatory developers looking to take advantage of the devastation and suffering,” Pérez said.
Concerns over the exemption bill: Some pro-housing advocates and even some Altadena residents worry that the new bill, which supporters frame as a curb on out-of-town investors, could inadvertently make it harder for some fire survivors to rebuild and remain. The debate over the legislation pits California’s longstanding efforts to turbocharge housing construction against the interests of many Altadenans who want to rebuild the community as it was. It also raises questions about who and what gets prioritized when a community is rebuilt after a natural disaster in California.
Altadena may get a reprieve from two of California’s marquee housing laws after a bill to temporarily exempt the fire-torn community sailed through back-to-back Assembly hearings on Wednesday.
The two laws being put on hold — Senate Bill 9 from 2021 and Senate Bill 1123 from 2024 — legalize the construction of up to 10 small houses on plots otherwise reserved for single-family homes and make it easier to split land into smaller parcels which can be sold off individually.
Senate Bill 1090 by Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a Democrat whose district includes Altadena, would exempt the unincorporated town’s single zip code from the two laws through 2030.
That’s meant to give Eaton Fire survivors “the time they need to rebuild their community without the overpowering influence of predatory developers looking to take advantage of the devastation and suffering,” Pérez said at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Altadena “shouldn't be a playground for people who want a return on investment,” added the town’s Assemblymember John Harabedian, a fellow Democrat. The bill is “about protecting Altadena and keeping Altadena Altadena.”
With the rebuilding effort in Altadena progressing slowly, mired by sluggish insurance payouts, pending litigation and escalating construction costs, only a few dozen permits have been filed that make use of these state laws, either by professional property developers or individual homeowners.
Some pro-housing advocates and even some Altadena residents worry that the new bill, which supporters frame as a curb on out-of-town investors, could inadvertently make it harder for some fire survivors to rebuild and remain.
The stated purpose of the legislation is “to stop greedy developers from taking advantage of Altadenans, which, of course, we all agree with,” said Caroline Paules, a town resident and founder of a small home construction company, speaking before the Assembly’s housing committee. “I believe what it actually does is prevent Altadenans from housing themselves — and also Altadenans from helping to house each other.”
Preventing speculators from profiting from the Los Angeles rebuild without also harming homeowners is a tough balance to strike. Lawmakers are also considering a bill to give the California Coastal Commission more authority over reconstruction projects pursued by anyone who purchased a property after a future disaster. That’s meant to check investor-led redevelopment. It could also make it more difficult for survivors to sell their properties should they decide or be forced by necessity not to rebuild.
SB 1090 received unanimous support from both the Assembly housing and local government committees, even if some “Yes In My Backyard”-aligned members expressed some apparent discomfort.
The debate over the legislation pits California’s longstanding efforts to turbocharge housing construction against the interests of many Altadenans who want to rebuild the community as it was. It also raises questions about who and what gets prioritized when a community is rebuilt after a natural disaster in California.
“I don’t think it’s NIMBYism and I don't think it's unreasonable for us to say, ‘We’re still in a state of emergency. Let us recover,’” said Nic Arnzen, chair of Altadena’s Town Council and a supporter of Pérez’s bill.
Arguments like these are a fixture of California housing debates. Locals often object to new, denser development, or to the policies promoting it, on the grounds that while more homes may be needed statewide, the conditions specific to a particular town or neighborhood — whether it’s heightened wildfire risk, historic significance, the physical scale or demographic make-up— argue that it shouldn’t be built here. But Arnzen and other supporters of SB 1090 say that the temporary nature of the bill and Altadena’s extraordinarily unusual circumstances make this a legitimately special case.
The two housing laws at issue were intended to gradually add density to urban areas as existing homes are periodically sold and as rare vacant parcels are developed, he said. They were “never meant to apply to towns that were two-thirds destroyed.”
Before the fire, 95% of all the houses in parts of Altadena touched by fire were single-family homes, according to a UCLA analysis.
Forcing the state laws upon the burn area would “completely reshape the character of the neighborhood,” said Arnzen.
A lot split as a lifeline
Though Pérez’s bill is written to help Altadenans rebuild on their terms, Andrew Post worries it might prevent his parents from rebuilding at all.
Post’s parents, retired physicists Jonathan and Christine, lost their house on North Marengo Avenue. They were determined to rebuild from the start, over their son’s initial objections. But an as-yet uncertain insurance payout, the couple’s modest fixed incomes and uncertain construction costs make for a tight reconstruction budget.
Unexpected construction delays or a denied insurance claim and “they could be dead broke and have an unfinished house,” said Post. Even if construction goes as planned, the couple will have little left to live off of.
In early June the family filed paperwork with the county to see if they could split the parcel, as allowed under the law.
The typical Altadena homeowner hoping to rebuild is short $550,000 after accounting for past and expected insurance payouts, according to a survey by the nonprofit Department of Angels. Splitting up a lot and selling a chunk to a developer, as SB 9 allows, could help many homeowners close that gap, said Azeen Khanmalek, director of the pro-housing advocacy group Abundant Housing LA.
These density-boosting state laws should be seen as “potential tools and pathways to help some homeowners come back and rebuild, rather than as threats,” he said.
Post, who grew up in Altadena, said he’s sympathetic to concerns about density, historic preservation, parking and traffic — to a point.
Altadena prides itself as a historic refuge of relative affordability, diversity and tolerance in Los Angeles County. The best way to preserve that legacy is to enable more multiplexes and small starter homes, said Post.
“The character of the neighborhood is, I think, better preserved by keeping it affordable rather than by keeping the white picket fence architecture,” he said.
“I am very focused on the question of whether my parents ever live in Altadena again,” he added. “It’s hard for me to prioritize a preference for the neighborhood character over an ability to be part of that character.”
SB 9 in Altadena
Of the 5,645 parcels with damaged or destroyed homes in Altadena, 52 have active permits that invoke SB 9, according to a data dashboard commissioned by the town council. Of those, 14 are under construction and two are complete.
That relatively low number may partly reflect the typical geometry of Altadena parcels, said Devang Shah, a principal with Genesis Builders, which is building single-family homes for fire survivors.
“They’re narrow and deep,” he said, which makes it hard to pack in additional units or dice them up for sale.
Even so, the handful of submitted plans — and renderings depicting a type of multifamily dwellings largely alien to pre-fire Altadena — have provided ample fodder for some locals eager to protest denser development and the perceived threat posed by investors and developers capitalizing off the community’s tragedy.
John Chan, a Los Angeles architect who has pushed for redeveloping Altadena to be more pedestrian-oriented and who supports the use of density-boosting state laws, said a handful of poorly designed SB 9 projects — “sardine cans for rent extraction,” he said — have soured many locals on the possible upsides of density.
“It’s creating a backlash to SB 9 that I think is really going to hurt Altadena,” he said.
“Altadena not for sale”
In both Altadena and the Palisades that backlash began brewing almost as soon as the flames were extinguished.
In the summer of 2025, long before hinting at any aspirations for higher office, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt began posting on social media assailing SB 9 and “opportunistic developers” hoping to make use of the law to rebuild in the Palisades. Responding to that pressure, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued dueling executive orders to nullify the law in areas that fall within state-designated “very high” wildfire hazard severity zones inside Los Angeles county.
Newsom’s order only covered a small portion of Altadena. Even after the state expanded its fire severity maps, much of the Eaton Fire burn area did not fall into the “very high” category. The order therefore did little to quell anxieties among the residents who saw denser redevelopment not as an opportunity for struggling homeowners, but as a boon to out-of-town developers and speculators.
Pérez was hoping to address those concerns when she introduced an earlier version of SB 1090 this spring which would have banned large residential investors from making unsolicited offers to purchase parcels in the burn area. That hyperlocal focus also tapped into a growing national interest in preventing investors from purchasing single-family homes, a remarkably bipartisan cause championed by both Newsom and President Donald Trump.
The bill sailed through the California Senate on partisan lines.
In mid-June, Perez rewrote the bill to focus on the state density laws. Her office said the bill’s new focus reflects the more pressing concerns of many Altadenans.
“What I am not going to allow is for my community to be treated differently than the Palisades or than Malibu,” Pérez said on Wednesday.
Arnzen, for one, said he’s less concerned about existing homeowners selling to land speculators.
“I don't fault people for selling to the highest bidder,” he said. “If I was selling my property, would I have the wherewithal to make sure it goes into the right hands? I don’t know.”
Instead, he wants to see temporary limits on what those new buyers can do with the property once they have it.
Arnzen said he moved to Altadena two decades ago because he wanted his young kids to grow up “in a small town, not in a cookie cutter subdivision, not in a city.”
After losing their home to the fire, he and his husband are now in the process of relocating to an accessory dwelling unit on their property, which they’ll live in while they rebuild. When construction wraps up, the two plan to move into the new house and rent out the smaller one “to push back on the housing crisis in the state,” he said. “Because I think we should all do our part.”
Jeremia Kimelman contributed the data visualization to this story.
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U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately on Wednesday with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, with "positive progress made," and they agreed to continue discussions, host Qatar said.
More details: The next meeting will be scheduled "at the earliest possible time" after the funeral of Iran's previous supreme leader, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said on X. The funeral is set to start Saturday in Tehran.
Why it matters: Negotiators aim to nail down specifics to pave the way for top leaders to seal an agreement, though differences over the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon loom large.
Read on... for more on the separate meetings.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately on Wednesday with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, with "positive progress made," and they agreed to continue discussions, host Qatar said.
The next meeting will be scheduled "at the earliest possible time" after the funeral of Iran's previous supreme leader, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said on X. The funeral is set to start Saturday in Tehran.
U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, were in Qatar for talks seeking a permanent end to the war, along with Iran's top negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi.
Negotiators aim to nail down specifics to pave the way for top leaders to seal an agreement, though differences over the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon loom large.
A ship ran aground in the strait while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details.
The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran's claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. A fifth of all oil and natural gas passed through it in peacetime.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, Iran has used its ability to choke off the waterway as a key source of leverage, disrupting global markets for energy and other critical goods.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key sticking point in talks
Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.
The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they won't agree to the charges. An effort by Oman and a U.N. agency to launch a new route near Oman's shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions.
Iranian state TV on Wednesday said the ship "ran aground with its cargo because of shallow waters along the route it had chosen and was unable to continue sailing." It said shippers needed to follow the instructions of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the strait.
The Guard's navy has repeatedly warned that "any entry or exit through routes other than the 'Route of Authority' in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable incidents."
The report did not mention the two ships Iran attacked in recent days for daring to head out through the strait without Tehran's permission, including one carrying crude oil from Qatar.
Qatar meets with both sides
Witkoff and Kushner met Wednesday with Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and its foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to a statement by the Qatari government.
Discussions included details related to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters in the United States.
"Obviously, we're worried about the nuclear issue," Vance said. "We're going to start talking about that."
Sheikh Mohammed also met with Gharibabadi and other Iranian officials, with Pakistani mediators also on hand. Gharibabadi said the Iranian delegation had no direct talks with the American side, and its talks with mediators dealt with Lebanon and plans to return some of Iran's frozen assets, Iranian state media reported.
Lebanon remains a thorny issue in the negotiations. Iran has insisted that all fighting end between the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah and Israeli military forces there.
Iran also has called for Israel to give up the land it now occupies in southern Lebanon. Israel insists it must hold the territory and have a free hand to attack Hezbollah, which has been launching attacks into northern Israel.
More ships get out of Strait of Hormuz
While ship traffic in the strait dropped after the weekend attacks, more countries say their vessels have gotten out.
The Thai Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that 10 out of 11 Thai-flagged vessels or vessels chartered by Thai operators have departed the strait safely. South Korean officials say all but two of the country's 26 vessels that were stranded have left safely.
U.S. Navy searches for helicopter crew member in the Arabian Sea
In other developments Wednesday, a U.S. Navy helicopter made an emergency water landing into the Arabian Sea, leaving one crew member missing, the Navy's 5th fleet said in a statement.
The Navy said there was "no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action." It said the MH-60S Sea Hawk went into the water at 3:30 a.m.
Three of the helicopter's four crew members were rescued, the statement said. The Navy was searching for the missing crew member.
The Navy statement did not say whether the aircraft sank or was recovered. The helicopter was assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush, one of two aircraft carriers deployed in the waters off Iran.
Independence Day celebrations will take place all across the L.A. area this weekend.
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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In this edition:
Fireworks and drone shows, rubber duckies, a food fest and more of the best things to do over the July 4 weekend.
Highlights:
A trip to the annual Rubber Ducky Race in the Venice Canals is a must. Pick and decorate your duck and watch as it floats through the canals. Truly the weirdest and most wonderful of the July 4 traditions.
The biggest July 4 party on the West Coast will shut down six blocks of downtown and will feature music, food, a drone show, and more at the Gloria Molina Grand Park celebration.
Stalls from dozens of local favorites will put your regular burger and dogs to shame over the holiday weekend – but of course you can find those, too, at the Rose Bowl's Foodieland Food Festival.
Happy 250th, America! If you’re looking for all the fireworks and drone shows you could want, look no further than our local roundup. And read on for more fun July 4 festivities.
To celebrate with more than the 1812 Overture, Licorice Pizza has your music lineup for the long weekend, including the big Hollywood Bowl fireworks night with the Beach Boys, Friday dance parties with GorillaT and friends at Academy L.A. and Kayzo at Exchange L.A. You can also check out Primus with Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade and Lennon Delirium at Long Beach’s F&M Bank Amphitheater.
The celebration continues Saturday with the L.A. Memorial Coliseum’s big America250 show with Chris Stapleton, the Smashing Pumpkins and Queen Latifah. Finally, on Sunday, what better way to wind down than with Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass at the Hollywood Bowl?
Friday, July 3, 7 p.m. BMO Stadium 3939 S. Figueroa St., Expo Park COST: $23.90; MORE INFO
Sarah Gorden of Angel City FC prepares to kick the ball during a game between Portland Thorns and Angel City.
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ISI Photos/Getty Images
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Can’t score a World Cup ticket? Head to BMO and see the hardest-working women in soccer, Angel City FC, take on the Orlando Pride. It’s L.A. Sports Night theme at the game, so get in the football spirit with our local faves.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Sunday, July 5, 1 p.m. Fine Arts Theatre 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills COST: $10; MORE INFO
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Spencer Tracy and company go on a wild goose chase in Stanley Kramer’s classic comedy from 1963. See it in 70mm Ultra Panavision at this special screening, where Kat Kramer, Karen Sharpe-Kramer, Jeff Garlin and Barrie Chase will be on hand for a Q&A.
Asian America the Beautiful
Through Sunday, July 5, sunset to sunrise JANM 100 North Central Ave., Little Tokyo COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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While you’re cruising around town this weekend, make sure to swing by the JANM wall, where a powerful slideshow featuring Asian American life and history will be live each night through the holiday weekend.
We the People
Through Sunday, July 19 LADC Studios 5955 S. Western Ave., South L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
A new multimedia exhibit from Community Coalition and Sankofa.org brings together 35 artists celebrating America through the stories of Black, brown, Indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQ+ and other historically marginalized communities. We the People asks, “Who gets to define America?” 250 years in.
Foodieland Food Festival
Friday to Sunday, July 3 to 5 Rose Bowl 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena COST: $12; MORE INFO
From dirty soda to a potted ice cream plant, try all the latest in food trends at the weekend-long Foodieland Food Festival at the Rose Bowl. Stalls from dozens of local favorites will put your regular burger and dogs to shame over the holiday weekend — but of course you can find those, too.
Anime Expo
Through Sunday, July 5 L.A. Convention Center 1201 S. Figueroa St., Downtown L.A. COST: FROM $97; MORE INFO
If you’d rather be in Tokyo than in America watching fireworks, all you have to do is head to the Convention Center for the massive Anime Expo. Celebrating all things Japanese anime, the fest features fan meet-and-greets, cosplay events, autograph sessions, conversations with creators and much more.
There are countless events around L.A. to celebrate America's 250th birthday, so be sure to check out our full guide to the holiday. Here are a few other highlights to explore:
Torrance is celebrating Independence Day at the L.A. Galaxy Sports Complex with live music by the Satin Dollz, food trucks, family-friendly activities and a fireworks show. And decorate your wagon or stroller for the inaugural Stroller and Wagon Parade.
I refuse to leave the beach on July 4, so a trip to the annual Rubber Ducky Race in the Venice Canals is a must. Pick and decorate your duck, then watch as it floats through the canals. Truly the weirdest and most wonderful of the July 4 traditions.
Possibly the most eclectic concert lineup you can find, featuring Smashing Pumpkins, Chris Stapleton and Chaka Khan, hosted by Queen Latifah. Sure, why not? Tickets are only $17.76.
