The Brief

For more than two years, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s constituents have been complaining to her about the stench and fumes they’ve been breathing since trash buried at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Southern California ignited and never stopped burning.

Schiavo, a Democrat representing the Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles, decided to spend the night as a guest of one of the 639-acre landfill’s closest neighbors. She wanted to experience for herself what life is like for the hundreds of people who’ve complained about the noxious fumes since the underground chemical reaction started below the Castaic landfill in May 2022.

It’s not known what caused the chemical reaction, but a state official said this week the burn zone had grown underground to an estimated 90 acres. As the landfill belches a stench like rotten milk, residents allege chemical emissions are making them sick. And it could keep burning for years.

When she arrived in Val Verde, it didn’t take long before Schiavo got a pounding headache. Her skin felt itchy. When she woke up the following day, she was disturbed to get her first bloody nose in years, she said.

“People are getting sick,” Schiavo said in a video diary taken on her phone during her stay last fall. “People are being barricaded in their homes, and not opening windows and doors and not letting kids come out and play on trampolines because they’re afraid of breathing the air. … We have to get people out of here and keep them safe.”

This week, the state Assembly held its first committee hearing for her legislation, Assembly Bill 27, a measure co-authored by six Southern California Democrats that would spare residents from paying taxes on the compensation they have received from the landfill’s owner. The relief fund set up by Texas-based Waste Connections can be used to pay for additional costs such as higher electricity from running air filters and air conditioners and for temporary housing.

Faced with lawsuits from residents and Los Angeles County, Waste Connections opened the fund from March 2024 to February to the residents of Val Verde, Live Oak, Hasley Hills, Hillcrest Parkway, Hasley Canyon and Stevenson Ranch. The company didn’t respond to an interview request, but it says on its website that the payments were expected to exceed $25 million. In December the company said in response to a lawsuit that 1,829 households had received funding.

“In addition, Chiquita has distributed nearly 3,000 air purifiers to local residents at a cost of over $1 million, and has paid to ensure every school near the landfill has carbon filtration in every classroom and multipurpose space,” the company said.

The company maintains that it has taken steps to try to contain the reaction, but just this week state officials told community members in Castaic that the underground heat zone had expanded beyond a plastic cover over the landfill’s surface to try to contain emissions.

Chiquita Canyon residents seek state relief

Steven Howse, 50, is one of the residents who’s accepted the company’s funds. He told the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee that the money helped make life somewhat more bearable for his family, whose home is just 1,600 feet from the 53-year-old landfill that stopped trucking in more trash late last year.

Howse’s family, like many of its neighbors, claims the landfill’s emissions have made them sick. He said his wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and one of their four children was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. He said he’s constantly battling respiratory illnesses.

He didn’t tell the committee how much he received, but said he used the cash for upgrades for his home to “harden” it to prepare for wildfires. He also had to upgrade the home’s air conditioning system and buy new air filters and windows to try to keep the stench out.

“A lot of times we had to leave the area due to the toxins … because it would be so bad at our house,” he said. “We also used the funds to take our RV trailer out of the area or visit family when we just couldn’t take it any longer.”

Richard Humanic, second from left, wears a gas mask while joining fellow residents of Val Verde and Castaic in a protest calling for the closure of Chiquita Canyon Landfill at Hasley Canyon Park in Castaic on Feb. 22, 2024.

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Howse has a job in the film industry, but Schiavo said other low-income residents who qualify for state assistance programs have been bumped up to a higher tax bracket after taking the payments.

“The concern has been that if you take those funds, then do you no longer qualify for CalFresh or Medi-Cal? Does it count against you because of that?” she told the committee. “Are you paying taxes now on this when that money comes in and it goes right out to pay for the costs that are associated with living with this disaster?”

Landfill blaze comes amid wildfire budget challenges

It’s no sure bet that the bill will advance to become law. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed two similar bills that would have exempted victims of three wildfires from paying state income taxes on settlement payments from the companies alleged to have started those fires.

Now the state’s budget priorities are uncertain as officials and lawmakers continue to hash out how to pay for Los Angeles wildfire relief, hostility from the Trump administration and a home insurance and affordability crisis.

The Revenue and Taxation committee didn’t vote for the measure on Monday, instead moving it to the committee’s “suspense file” for further fiscal analysis.

In the meantime, residents aren’t likely to get tax relief from the federal government.

Late last year, then-President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that exempted wildfire settlement payments from federal income taxes, but the landfill’s relief funds don’t count since the Chiquita Canyon Landfill site has never been declared an official state or federal disaster.

Meanwhile, residents have filed more than 25,000 complaints to local air quality officials since 2023. The South Coast Air Quality Management District and other state regulators have issued dozens of violation notices. In November, the air district ordered the company to create a webpage that includes real-time air monitoring of smelly or potentially harmful pollutants, including hydrogen sulfide, methane, dimethyl sulfide and volatile organic compounds.

As an example of how residents might be breathing potentially toxic fumes, air quality officials noted early last year that local air monitoring data showed that more than one-third of all readings exceeded state standards for hydrogen sulfide, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says can cause eye irritation, headaches and fatigue, as well as potentially causing cancer or be lethal in highly concentrated doses.

Owner Waste Connections faces citations

In June, the U.S. EPA also cited the landfill company for violating various regulations intended to safeguard human health. The company is facing potential civil penalties of up to $59,114 for each day of violation.

“EPA cannot comment on ongoing investigations, including assessment of penalties,” EPA spokesperson Joshua Alexander said in an email.

Schiavo said that her night’s stay next to the landfill made it clear to her that residents need to get out of there until the trash stops burning.

She has also authored Assembly Bill 28, which would secure state help for the residents around the landfill to find new or temporary housing until it stops smoldering. The details of that bill are still being hashed out.

“People are in this terrible situation where they can’t afford to leave because housing is so expensive. Now (after the LA fires), it’s almost impossible,” she told CalMatters.

“And if you sell, who’s going to want to buy it? Then if you’re leaving, you know, you have this moral dilemma. People are like, ‘I don’t want to sell to someone else and then (what if) they start getting sick or their kids start getting sick?’ It’s this horrible situation. We just have to relocate people out of there right now, until it’s safe for folks to go back.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a more recent acreage estimate for the landfill’s burn zone.

For the first time in more than 50 years, astronauts are heading to the moon. The Artemis II crew launched Wednesday atop NASA's SLS rocket, which left thick trails of vapor across a clear-blue Florida sky. The four astronauts and their team on the ground are now busy preparing for the challenges that lie ahead.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ensconced in an Orion capsule attached to an SLS rocket. The historic mission — the first time in more than half a century that humans have visited the moon — will take them on a 230,000-mile journey around the lunar body and back that will serve as a critical test flight of the Orion spacecraft.

The nearly 10-day mission will not only test the spacecraft's life-support systems and maneuverability, but conduct critical science ahead of future deep space missions to the lunar surface.

The trajectory

The mission is on a flight path that keeps the spacecraft in Earth's gravitational influence past the moon, then falls back to the planet for splashdown. This path, called a free return trajectory, uses less fuel and is less risky than entering a lunar orbit.

This graphic shows key milestones along the Artemis II astronauts' journey around the moon and back.

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About a day after launch, the spacecraft is set to perform a translunar injection, firing its engine and sending the Artemis II crew members on their lunar journey.

The path will take the crew to within about 5,000 miles above the lunar surface. Apollo missions typically orbited the moon under 100 miles (or touched down on the surface).

"When they pass by the far side of the moon, it'll look like a basketball held at arm's length," said Artemis II mission scientist Barbara Cohen. "It'll be that kind of view."

Testing, testing

After separating from the rocket that got them into space, but before heading to the moon, the crew tested the Orion spacecraft closer to home.

Just hours after entering high-Earth orbit, the crew performed what's known as a proximity operations test — taking manual control of the vehicle to see how it handles in space.

"We are essentially going to make sure that the vehicle flies the way that we think it does, that we designed it to do," Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said ahead of the launch.

Controlling the spacecraft will be important for future missions, which will need to dock with a lunar lander in orbit. And while this process is likely going to be automated, NASA wants to know how it handles should astronauts have to take manual control.

"We also want to give qualitative and quantitative feedback to the ground team, so letting them know what it feels like now that we can hear and feel the thrusters, and to just understand the human experience," said Glover.

Near the end of the maneuver, the pilot appeared to give the vehicle high marks.

"Overall guys, this flies very nicely," he told team members on the ground.

Time for science

The astronauts themselves will be the subject of science experiments: Because the crew is going farther into deep space than any human has gone before, researchers are taking this opportunity to study the impact it will have on the human body.

Medical researchers will be collecting data on physiological changes in response to space travel and increased radiation exposure. The astronauts' cells have been placed on tiny chips and distributed throughout the capsule in an effort to understand these effects in greater detail.

Crew members will also lend their eyes for geological research, since they are flying around the far side of the moon, at at altitude offering views that no human has seen before.

"They'll be able to see places on the moon that, actually, no human eyes have ever seen before," said Cohen.

Geologists on Earth trained the crew to spot unique features on the lunar surface, and snap photos of them for further study. (This follows in a time-honored tradition: Apollo astronauts who visited the moon more than a half-century ago were also trained by geologists.) These observations will help them better understand that side of the moon and possibly help plan for a human landing.

And the mission's high-altitude flyby of the moon gives them a unique perspective.

"The benefit of that to science, is that kind of like when you're traveling cross country on an airplane, what you can see is a strip of land below you. You don't see the whole globe of the Earth. That's what the Apollo astronauts did," said Cohen. "The Artemis II astronauts will be able to see it from much farther away."

The mission is also carrying stowaways in the form of CubeSats — tiny satellites bound for high-Earth orbit. The payloads are from Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Argentina and will study various impacts of space radiation on space hardware, monitor space weather, and how the environment affects electrical hardware bound for the moon.

Heading home

As the crew returns home, its capsule will be traveling close to 25,000 miles per hour as it reenters the atmosphere. The friction generated by hitting the atmosphere at that speed will cause the Orion capsule to experience temperatures of close to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The capsule is equipped with a heat shield to protect the astronauts from the intense heat of reentry. During an uncrewed test flight in 2022, NASA discovered unexpected damage to the heat shield. To further protect the crew, the capsule will hit the atmosphere at a much steeper angle than Artemis I, which will limit the time it will experience those harsh conditions.

Once the spacecraft is past that danger zone, eight parachutes will slow the spacecraft down even more before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. A series of airbags will deploy to make sure the capsule is right side up. A crew at sea will scoop up the astronauts, bringing their mission to a close.

What's learned on this flight is critical to future Artemis missions. Last week, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced plans to increase the frequency of launches to the moon and a plan to establish a permanent base on the lunar surface. That effort begins with Artemis II.

"It is our strong hope," said Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch, "that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth, can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination."
Copyright 2026 NPR

A majority of the Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration's argument on birthright citizenship Wednesday and appeared ready to rule in favor of upholding automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.

That included multiple conservative justices, who had tough questions for Trump's solicitor general, D. John Sauer. Sauer argued the government's case against birthright citizenship, the practice enshrined in the 14th Amendment in the Constitution, which became law in 1868.

It states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Sauer, however, asserted that contrary to the law as understood for 160 years, the 14th Amendment does not confer automatic citizenship on every baby born in the U.S. He told the court that the true meaning of the amendment was to grant citizenship to former slaves and their children, no more. And, therefore, President Trump was well within his rights when he signed an executive order barring citizenship for children born in this country to parents who are illegally here, or who are here legally, but on long-term visas.

But Chief Justice John Roberts was doubtful about that executive order.

"The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky," Roberts told Sauer. "And then you expand it to a whole class of illegal aliens," he continued. "I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and, sort of, idiosyncratic examples."

"We're in a new world now," Sauer contended. "A billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen."

"It's a new world," Roberts replied, but "it's the same Constitution."

Not seeing a play button? Click here.

Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the Trump executive order focuses on parents, but the 14th Amendment focuses on birthright for the child. He asked: how would you know who the father is, or the mother? What if they're unmarried? Whose house do they live in?

Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the practicality of the Trump proposal.

"How would it work?" she asked. "How would you adjudicate these cases? You're not going to know at the time of birth whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens by the way."

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wondered, "So [are] we bringing pregnant women in for depositions? What are we doing to figure this out?"

The justices also grilled Sauer about the landmark 1898 case of Wong Kim Ark, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wong had birthright citizenship, because he was born in the United States. Sauer, however, maintained that Wong was only given birthright citizenship because his parents were legally domiciled in the United States.

"I think even your brief concedes that the position you're taking now is a revisionist one with respect to a substantial part of our history," Justice Elena Kagan said. "That's, in part, because of Wong Kim Ark and the way people have read that case ever since then."

Challenging the Trump birthright plan, the American Civil Liberties Union's Cecillia Wang told the Supreme Court that the 14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War in order to have a universal rule of citizenship, subject to a closed set of exceptions, and that the birthright applies to all children born on U.S. soil.

"We can't take the current administration's policy considerations into account to try to re-engineer and radically re-interpret the original meaning of the 14th Amendment," Wang argued.

However, in reference to current perceived immigration problems versus those that existed at the time the 14th Amendment was enacted, Kagan posited: "What do we do if we think we have a new problem that didn't exist at the time of the 14th Amendment?"

Justice Brett Kavanaugh followed up, asking whether the provisions of the 14th Amendment are frozen in place.

Yes, replied Wang, because the framers of it were intent on putting the citizenship question out of the reach of Congress.

The decision, expected by this summer, will almost certainly result in a historic ruling, and Trump himself made his mark at the court Wednesday morning.

He became the first sitting president known to attend oral arguments, signaling the importance of this issue to him personally.

After leaving the courtroom before the arguments were over, he wrote on Truth Social, "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!" In fact, roughly three dozen countries offer it.

Trump arrived about 10 minutes before the arguments began, listened to Sauer field the justices' questions for a little over an hour and then left a few minutes after Wang began to make her case.

Outside the court, dozens of people rallied in support of birthright citizenship

Volunteers with the ACLU, joined by immigrant rights organizations like CASA and the League of United Latin American Citizens, handed out fliers that read "protect birthright citizenship" and "14th Amendment."

"We're all out here to protect the fundamental right of birthright citizenship. It's written in the 14th Amendment," said Anu Joshi, a staff member of the ACLU. "It's what makes us America."

Among the crowd were several people who were citizens by birthright themselves.

"I am a birthright citizen so this hits really, really close to home because without birthright citizenship I wouldn't even have my citizenship in the United States," said Stephanie Sanchez, a first-generation Mexican-American who came to the rally. "Here I am representing my community and fighting back."

After the arguments, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told the crowd he felt confident in the way the arguments played out inside.

"We are fighting for the heart and soul of this country. The fight to protect birthright citizenship is about our neighbors, our families, our kids. It's not about the past, it's about the future," he said. "We will only accept what is just and what is right."

Largely absent from the crowd were proponents of the president's position.

Domenico Montanaro, Ximena Bustillo and Anusha Mathur contributed to this story.
Copyright 2026 NPR

I hope you had luck in securing the first round of LA28 Olympics tickets — and that you’re not still waiting for page refreshes this morning! We’ve got all the info on how to get your tickets and why you shouldn’t fret if it doesn’t work out on this first try.

LAist’s Mariana Dale went to Hollywood High School this week to see how students and teachers felt about Mitski bringing a concert to the historic space. Seems like no one was missing class since perfect attendance meant a shot at tickets.

No matter your music taste, there’s a show for you this weekend. It may not be the height of summer yet, but things will be heating up at the Hollywood Bowl as Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler reunite for their concert performance of Broadway hit The Last Five Years. Plus, Licorice Pizza recommends Mercury Prize-winning London rapper Dave at the Palladium, St. Paul & the Broken Bones are at the Belasco, Calum Scott plays the Wiltern, and there’s a really cool First Fridays night at the Natural History Museum with dub legend Adrian Sherwood. Saturday has pop trio LANY at the Intuit Dome, Lamb of God slaughtering the YouTube Theater, SoundCloud rapper Rich Amiri at the Fonda, post-hardcore band Hail the Sun at the Wiltern, pop sensation Nessa Barrett at the Masonic Lodge, and another rising pop star, Alexander Stewart, at Chinatown’s cool new venue, Pacific Electric.

Explore more from LAist: Check out the latest L.A. chefs who are nominated for a James Beard award, or follow the space trail if you were inspired by the new Ryan Gosling film, Project Hail Mary.

Events

O.C. Japan Fair

April 3-5
O.C. Fair & Event Center
88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
COST: FROM $16.78; MORE INFO

Experience sakura season without leaving the area at the O.C. Japan Fair, featuring 250 vendors, craftspeople, food booths, art activities and more, all celebrating Japanese culture. From sake tastings to sushi-making workshops to musical performances and kimono try-ons, the annual event is one of the largest Japanese cultural fairs in California.

Play L.A. New Works Festival 

April 3-4
Greenway Court Theatre
544 North Fairfax Ave., Mid-City
COST: FREE, MORE INFO

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PLAY LA Festival

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Check out readings of five new plays — all for free! — at the Play L.A. New Works Festival, put on by Stage Raw and the Greenway Arts Alliance, along with a number of L.A. indie theater powerhouses. This year’s plays are Stonewall’s Bouncer by Louisa Hill, produced by The Victory Theatre; At Olduvai Gorge by India Kotis, produced by The Odyssey Theatre Company; Ghost Play by Mathew Scott Montgomery, produced by InHouse Theatre; The Incident by Rachel Borders, produced by The Road Theatre Ensemble; and Three Dates by Erica Wachs, produced by IAMA Theatre Company. Go see one, or go see them all!

SoCal Corgi Beach Day 

Saturday, April 4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
21351 California 1, Huntington Beach 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Head to Huntington Beach for the cutest event of the year, the annual SoCal Corgi Beach Day. This year’s theme is "Tiki Beach Pawty," because of course it is. Honor Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite pets and spend the day at the beach with these short, stout, snuggly friends while they frolic and compete in events like — I am not making this up – Corgi Limbo.

Plaza Mexico Celebrates Easter 

Sunday, April 5, 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.
3100 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Plaza México

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You have your pick of Easter Bunny photo ops and egg hunts around town, and Plaza Mexico would be a great one with the family. Meet and take a picture with the Easter bunny, enjoy kids' arts & crafts, family activities, vendors and sweet treats.

Writers Bloc: Cory Booker

Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
John Adams Middle School (JAMS) Performing Arts Center
2425 16th St., Santa Monica
COST: $33; MORE INFO

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Senator Cory Booker attends PBS' "Black & Jewish America: An Interwoven History" Screening With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. And Conversation With Sen. Cory Booker at 92NY on February 05, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

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Getty Images North America

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Spend Friday night with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whose new book, Stand, tells stories from his political life that aim to share "actionable insights" to help preserve democracy in these challenging times. The conversation with Writers Bloc will be hosted by Sean Bailey, the former head of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production for 14 years and the current CEO of the new multi-platform production company B5 Studios. The event is sold out, but there is a waitlist available.

Behind the Canvas — An Exclusive Art Talk with the Jurors of A Woman's Place: Framing the Future

Saturday, April 4, 11 a.m. 
Ebell of Los Angeles 
741 S. Lucerne Blvd., Mid-Wilshire
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Have coffee and doughnuts with the curators of the Ebell’s Women’s History Month exhibit, "A Woman’s Place: Framing the Future." You can catch the show before it closes and see work from women artists exploring new interpretations of womanhood, feminism and art.

Grunion Run 

Saturday, April 4, starting at 10:30 p.m.
Venice Breakwater
Ocean Front Walk, Venice
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

Thousands of grunions on the shore.

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I have lived in Venice for more than 20 years and never actually seen a grunion, despite efforts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to see all your neighbors scouring the beach by moonlight on a Saturday night. The Venice Oceanarium folks always organize an educational tent with lessons on how these unique fish show up on our shores to reproduce, and maybe you’ll luck out and time it right this year.

She’s Auspicious

Saturday, April 4, 7 p.m.
Broad Stage
1310 11th St., Santa Monica
COST: FROM $40; MORE INFO 

L.A. native Mythili Prakash takes the Tamil dance form Bharatanatyam to new heights as a choreographer and performer. Her short dance film Mollika, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage in London, was nominated for a 2025 National Dance Award for Best Short Dance Film. She’s Auspicious, her latest production, "blurs the line between goddess and woman, exploring the dichotomy between celebration of the goddess versus the treatment of women in society." It was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category Best New Dance Performance in the U.K., and lucky for us, is on for one performance only at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.