The Brief

As pollution from burning fossil fuels drives higher average temperatures and longer and more extreme heat waves, communities and officials are grappling with ways to adapt. One essential need? A cool space to go when it’s too hot to be outside.

But increasingly, that space is not one’s own home. And given our historically mild southern California climate, many Southlanders have no air conditioning — some 20% of homes in Los Angeles have no AC, for example.

But even if you do have AC, renters and people with lower incomes are more likely to live in older, poorly insulated housing and spend a disproportionate amount of their income on energy bills, forcing many people to have to choose between paying for cool air or other necessities such as food and medical supplies.

And then, there are the rising numbers of people being pushed into homelessness and insecure housing, such as RVs and other vehicles.

As the climate crisis collides with the twin crises of housing and affordability, cities like L.A. promote places like libraries, senior centers and parks as cooling centers. The trouble is, not many people use them. And when the power grid goes down, these places go dark too.

Enter the concept of a “resilience hub.”

These are buildings that are already well-used and trusted in a community, that can provide helpful resources outside of air conditioning, water and some board games to play. They’re retrofitted with solar panels and battery power so they can ride out a disaster. They’re chosen by the community and aren’t necessarily run by a government entity.

From Boyle Heights to Wilmington, grassroots groups across L.A. are establishing some of California’s first “resilience hubs.” At the same time, the city of L.A. is working to retrofit certain existing cooling centers in strategic areas to serve as “resilience hubs” as well.

Where to put resilience hubs

In Wilmington, the grassroots group Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) did extensive surveying and engagement work to establish the Tzu Chi Clinic as a resilience hub that will be retrofitted with solar panels and backup power. The clinic is right near a high school and is already highly used. And the Wilmington Senior Center is another resilience hub they established — it’s already been outfitted with solar panels and battery storage. Boyle Heights is also getting a resilience hub (but we’ll go back to this one later).

“Resilience hubs are different from cooling centers because they have more resources and more space for people to just come together,” said Romeo Clay, a 17-year-old organizer with CBE. He goes to high school right near the Tzu Chi Clinic and regularly spends time there.

“A resilience hub is a place for a community to come together and really build resiliency,” Clay said. “If they need housing, if they need help paying their bills, or they just need someone to listen.”

The city of L.A. is close to completing a retrofit of the Green Meadows Recreation Center in South Los Angeles. The building will have solar panels and battery storage, as well as be turned into a microgrid, to help power the city in times of need.

“That's really the ideal resilience center for the city,” said Chief Heat Officer Marta Segura. She said the city is using climate and socioeconomic data and CalEnviroScreen, a statewide tool that identifies communities with the highest pollution burdens, to identify which existing buildings can be retrofitted in the areas of highest need.

Los Angeles appointed its first chief heat officer on June 3, 2022. Marta Segura will help coordinate the city’s emergency response to extreme heat.

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Heidi de Marco

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KHN

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Segura said the city is already struggling to staff and fund cooling centers when hours are extended during extreme heat waves. Retrofitting buildings is a far bigger financial lift.

“When we have money available, we are attempting to prioritize these areas because this is where we can make the biggest improvements in the shortest amount of time,” Segura said.

“We’ll not just get the best results from a public health perspective and reduce the risk of heat injury or hospitalization, but we will also begin to lower emissions because we're going to bring climate adaptation to those areas — more tree canopy, more shade," Segura said.

She added that increasing coordination with non-profits already working on establishing resilience hubs is needed, as well as identifying resources for the most vulnerable residents who may not have viable ways to actually get to these hubs. For example, Segura said the Department on Disability, as well as the Department of Aging, have transportation vouchers and can help provide equipment like ACs for people with disabilities.

Building community and climate resilience

For Joey Rodriguez, the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory on East César Chávez Avenue is already a resilience hub. He’s been coming here since he was 15. Now 20, he’s gone from intern to program coordinator for the non-profit, which offers free classes and paid opportunities in film, art, music and digital production for young people in the area.

“I was originally supposed to, according to my parents, be a doctor or a nurse,” Rodriguez said. So he was sent to Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School. But it didn’t feel right.

“I had always been the kid that went straight to school and straight back home,” Rodriguez said. “Prior to becoming a part of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, I had never really connected with my community. So once I found out that this place existed, I started coming and I never left.”

Now, it’s a second home.

Joey Rodriguez, 20, is program coordinator with the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory. Here he sits in one of the building's multiple studios.

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Erin Stone

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“It was a home to me immediately and I recognized that the other community members that I was around also recognized it as a home,” Rodriguez said. “So when it was officially named a resilience hub, it only helped elevate the work that we were already doing.”

To become an official climate resilience hub, the Conservatory partnered with local non-profit Climate Resolve to get funding to retrofit the space so it can have solar panels and battery storage to provide a safe place during power outages and disasters. Those additions are expected to be completed by mid-2024.

In the meantime, they’re operating as a cooling center and working with staff to implement climate education into their work in the long-run. They've hosted events on disaster preparedness training, the impacts of the climate crisis, and practical resources for community members to access things like rooftop solar panels installation, help paying utility bills, or access to AC rebates and other resources that can help community members navigate the climate crisis.

Andres Rodriguez, who also grew up in Boyle Heights, is resilience coordinator with Climate Resolve, the non-profit partnering with the Conservatory on the resilience hub retrofit.

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Erin Stone

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“Resilience, you're being proactive,” said Andres Rodriguez, resilience coordinator with Climate Resolve. “When you're adapting, you're reacting. Having those deep ties within the community, gives [the Conservatory] the ability to be there when a climate emergency happens.”

And the benefits go far beyond a safe place to huddle during an emergency. One example of the space’s intersectionality at work —they hired local artists to paint a mural with a non-toxic paint that can help absorb air pollution. That also launched their Mural Workforce Academy to train artists in mural painting.

It’s a far cry from a typical “cooling center,” which is generally made up of temporary seating, a cooler of bottled water, and some board games in a designated room away from other activities.

The Mid Valley Senior Center on July 14, 2023. It's a city-run cooling center in the San Fernando Valley.

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Ashley Balderrama

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While a building retrofitted with solar panels and battery storage provides physical resilience, the space’s community building of the space is at the core of its ability to be a resilience hub, said Joey Rodriguez.

“What's the difference between a nice, fresh gym where you just huddle around and cool off versus this space? This space is made for us. It’s made by us,” said Rodriguez. “It's a cooling space, but it's also a healing space. It’s a healing space because we've made it that way."

Inside the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, the walls are lined with posters and artwork.

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Erin Stone

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LAist

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A historic space long rooted in community

Josof Sanchez, better known as Mr. OG, walks into the entrance hall of the Conservatory. It’s lined with photos of iconic musicians and artists. He points to a portrait of a young Ray Jimenez.

“Little Ray was one of the first producers here in East L.A.,” Sanchez said. “He was known as the brown James Brown.”

There are portraits of many who performed here, including the best East L.A. bands, such as El Chicano and Willie G. and Thee Midniters, as well as artists such as Stevie Wonder and Sonny and Cher — the former pair lived in the building when they first started making music.

Artists including Stevie Wonder, left, and Little Ray Jimenez, first portrait in top row, spent time in the historic building now known as the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory.

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For generations, this building has been a beloved and safe space for Eastside communities, particularly those experiencing marginalization. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was a resource center run by Jewish socialists. In 1949, it became The Paramount Ballroom, hosting local and internationally-renowned artists alike, then The Vex in 1980, where the east L.A. punk, rock and local music scene thrived. It was a place that challenged the racial segregation of the times, and served in opposition to the Hollywood scene, which largely excluded people of color.

Today, as a nonprofit that provides free and affordable arts programming for young people in the community, the place serves hundreds of families every year, many of whom have been impacted by gang violence and the criminal justice system, said Sanchez.

"We produce hope here," he said. "We're dream builders."

Josof Sanchez, or Mr. OG, left, and Julie Matsumoto, right, host a radio program out of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory and run a non-profit for local young people called Operation Street Kidz.

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Sanchez, a Vietnam veteran and former probation officer who grew up in Boyle Heights, is a motivational speaker who runs his own radio show — The Mr. OG Show, but OG stands for “opportunity giving” instead of “original gangster." Through his organization Operation Street Kidz, he works with young people impacted by gangs and the justice system.

When I visited on a recent afternoon, young people were mixing music on laptops during a class, others were recording or live on air in one of the building’s many studios.

“My mission is to speak into the lives of young people and their parents and let them know that they're somebody, they're unique, they're rare," Sanchez said. "That’s what this place has done."

Lack of funding

In 2021, the state launched the Community Resilience Centers program to support and speed up resilience hub efforts. This year it’s set to fund a first round of projects.

The idea is to fund a wide array of resilience hubs that are centered in communities hardest hit by climate impacts, said Coral Abbott, the program's manager at the Strategic Growth Council, the state agency that's in charge of facilitating the effort.

“We wanted to think about how to make this program help communities get themselves set up to respond to whatever emergencies they're most at risk for,” Abbott said. ”Rather than say like, we want to see ‘X’ number of applications from local government or a community-based organization, we are really trying to have the underlying criteria be understanding what communities priorities are, understand how they were involved in selecting these sites because we want them to be places that they trust and are willing to go.”

But the program, originally allocated $160 million, has already seen significant cuts — the first round makes $98 million available and there’s no guarantee the program will continue, said Amar Azucena Cid, a deputy director with the Strategic Growth Council.

“Funding definitely impacts how we plan, especially if we're thinking about setting up this program as a long-term program with real solutions that I think communities are really looking forward to,” she said.

Cid said the state’s climate bond, which may be on California voters' ballots in 2024, could ensure the funding stays for at least a second round.

“I think the hard part with standing up a new program of this magnitude is folks want to test it out and I think that's what we were hearing from the Department of Finance,” Cid said. “I firmly believe that this is something that can be stood up long-term, but I think on the budget perspective it is like, let's get that proof of concept going and then we can move in towards what that looks like for long-term funding.”

Abbott said the department already expects funding to run out this first round.

“The amount of funding we have is not going to meet the demand,” she said.

Happy Friday folks! A warmer weekend is on the horizon, with Saturday slated to be the warmest day.

Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast for today once those low clouds clear up. At the beaches, we're looking at warmer conditions with highs from 75 to 80 degrees, and up to the mid-80s for the inland coast.

For the valleys and inland areas, temperatures will hover around upper 80s to 92 degrees. Meanwhile Coachella Valley will break the 100 degree threshold today, with a high of 102 expected in some areas.

The L.A. County District Attorney alleges a former Los Angeles Unified information technology employee illegally helped a tech company win more than $22 million in district contracts. Prosecutors say the case is “one of the largest money laundering schemes” in the district’s history.

According to the complaint, between 2018 and 2022 Hong “Grace” Peng worked in LAUSD’s IT department and participated in the approval and recommendation of over $22 million in payments to Innive Inc. for services primarily related to the district’s student data system. In the same time period, prosecutors allege Innive CEO Gautham Sampath paid Peng over $3 million.

“This is the type of evidence that you just shake your head, like you can’t believe it,” said District Attorney Nathan Hochman in a recorded statement about the case.

Hochman presented multiple text messages where Peng and Sampath discussed Innive’s contracts with the district. In one, Peng said Sampath was “lucky” she was on a selection committee. When he asked why, she responded "Because you have me...lol...I broke all law for you already lol."

Peng declined to comment when reached by LAist.

Michael Kraut, an attorney for Sampath, said his client had no knowledge of how the contract was awarded.

 "There's been no wrongdoing in terms of not producing, or theft of this money, or embezzling this money," Kraut said. "This is a case in which my client and his company produced exactly what they were contracted to do in the high tech field for LAUSD and the software."

Kraut said the $3 million was related to other "long-term contractual issues" with Peng and had "nothing to do" with the LAUSD contract.

"The DA's office is going to realize that they have made a mistake in this matter and jumped the gun and in fact, there is no criminal intent or actions by my client or his company," he said.

How did the alleged conduct come to light?

According to the complaint, the district first became aware of the alleged scheme in 2022, when an LAUSD IT employee attended a conference and learned from a former colleague of a possible connection between Peng and Sampath. The district employee alerted a supervisor, who alerted the district's inspector general.

A district spokesperson sent LAist a statement Thursday saying staff will continue to participate in the investigation “as appropriate.”

“We will not comment further on the specifics of the case while legal proceedings are ongoing,” the statement read.

What happens now?

Prosecutors charged Sampath with felony counts related to money laundering, “having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity” and “aiding and abetting a government official to have a financial interest in a contract or purchase” made in an official capacity. Peng faces two felony counts — one related to money laundering and the other with “having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity.”

The court issued warrants for Peng and Sampath’s arrests and bail was set at $500,000 for each.

The Los Angeles Metro Board approved on Thursday the agency staff-recommended route of the K Line Northern extension with an amendment.

The amendment calls for additional study of tunneling under Mid-City to inform what that section of the train ends up looking like.

The amendment was billed as a compromise in a political push-and-pull that continued into early Thursday morning between unabashed supporters of the route, including the city of West Hollywood, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has tried to appease persistent concerns over the project's impact on residents of the Lafayette Square neighborhood.

“ I am very optimistic, and I'm very pleased that we got to an agreement so that we can all move together jointly,” West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman said to LAist in an interview before the vote.

Metro staff, Horvath and Bass assured the public Thursday that the approved amendment won’t delay the project, including the city of West Hollywood and L.A. County’s joint plan to potentially front billions of dollars to kickstart the project without raising taxes.

“[The amendment] explicitly ensures that continued study, engagement and refinement in the Mid-City segment will proceed without scheduling, cost or job impacts,” Bass said about the amendment during the meeting.

The amendment was unanimously approved in an 11-0 vote. Metro Board Directors Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Holly Mitchell recused themselves since they own property in proximity to the proposed extension.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has championed the K Line Northern Extension.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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The low-down on the extension

The K Line currently runs from Redondo Beach to Crenshaw and stops at the LAX/Metro Transit Center. Earlier in March, Metro officials recommended a nearly 10-mile route for the train to continue north through Mid City and West Hollywood and terminate at the Hollywood Bowl.

The route would connect to the D Line in Wilshire and the B Line in Hollywood, closing a north-south gap that currently exists in Metro’s rail network. The extension would link to cultural hubs, including the Museum District and Hollywood Bowl, major employers such as Cedars Sinai Medical Center and queer nightlife along Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards.

According to Metro staff estimates, the route that was mostly approved today would serve the highest number of riders and reach the most residents and jobs compared to other alternatives studied.

You can read more about the specifics and the lead up to Thursday’s vote in our earlier coverage.

Didn’t Metro already study tunneling in Mid-City?

Lafayette Square residents have for years expressed fears over the effects of tunneling on property values, noise and vibration.

Based on the concerns, the Metro Board directed agency staff in October 2024 to do further analysis and community outreach. That work, which cost an additional $2.3 million, involved studying 12 different route options through Mid-City and concluded that tunneling will be deep enough to zero out any surface-level disruptions.

It’s unclear what the study prescribed by the amendment approved Thursday will materialize that hasn’t already been addressed.

Once fully built out, the K Line will run from the South Bay to Hollywood.

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L.A. Metro

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What happens now?

Thursday’s affirmative vote was necessary before the city of West Hollywood and L.A. County pursue a plan to capture a certain proportion of future property tax growth in a defined area near the project and funnel it towards construction. Critically, this plan wouldn’t involve raising taxes.

“Every time a property is redeveloped or sold, it adds to that increment, which adds to the amount of money that you can raise,” Eli Lipmen, head of transit advocacy group Move LA and supporter of the Metro-recommended route for the extension, said to LAist last week.

Now that the board green-lit the route, West Hollywood City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will pursue creating the district within which property tax growth could be captured.

The completion of that legislative work will trigger a 12- month clock to conduct the additional Mid-City tunneling study and finalize the route there.

It’s all about compromise

A draft version of the amendment that circulated earlier this week did not include the 12-month time cap on the additional analysis, which raised a red flag for the city of West Hollywood.

“If additional outreach and technical work must be done … it should be capped at a reasonable maximum duration to prevent further delays,” Heilman and City Councilmember Chelsea Byers wrote in a Wednesday letter to the Board.

Heilman said he worked through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning with Horvath and Metro and Bass’ staff toward the amendment that the Board approved.

Today’s vote isn’t final project approval, and it will return back to the Metro Board several more times before shovels hit the ground.

The projected cost of the train is fluid until the Mid-City section is finalized. However, earlier estimates had the staff-recommended route for the train extension coming in at around $15 billion. Measure M, the half-cent sales tax county voters approved a decade ago, includes more than $2 billion for the project.

Those funds won’t be available until the 2040s, but the financing plan that West Hollywood and the county are pursuing could expedite the release of that money and construction.

The current Metro K Line train opened to the public on October 7, 2022.

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Raquel Natalicchio

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K Line Northern Extension elicited historic feedback from community

Public officials said the K Line Northern extension was an extraordinary display of community passion and pressure.

Inglewood Mayor James Butts, who sits on the Metro Board and was listed as a co-author on the draft amendment, said he received “767 emails from West Hollywood.”

“I applaud you,” Butts said during the meeting. “You guys are the strongest advocacy group I’ve seen in 54 years of municipal service.”

The days are getting longer and there's way more pastel out there — yes, it's Easter Sunday on April 5. You may be thinking about getting together with friends and family, so here's a list of the best Easter brunches under $100 per person that your whole fluffle will love.

(In case you didn’t know, a fluffle is an adorable way to say a group of bunnies, so rabbits just got even cuter.)

The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills (West Hollywood)

Celebrate Spring with a lively Easter brunch.

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Courtesy The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills

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The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills is hosting a Rooftop Easter Brunch & Egg Hunt when you visit the hotel on Easter weekend.

The menu for Easter Sunday is à la carte and includes crab toast green papaya ($24), lemon ricotta hotcakes ($26), and wood charred spring lamb ($48), among others. Guests with brunch reservations can also enjoy a visit from the Easter Bunny, cookie decorating on the rooftop, plus an egg hunt at 9:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. for the kids. Meanwhile, adults can take a ride on the London rooftop Bloody Mary trolley ($26).

Make your reservations on OpenTable

• Location: 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood
  Hours: Brunch is from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

LouLou Santa Monica (Santa Monica)

The Easter-themed champagne flight at LouLou.

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Courtesy LouLou

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Perched atop the Santa Monica Place mall is Lou Lou, a French-inspired rooftop spot known for live DJs, drag shows, and more.

For Easter, they're offering an unlimited brunch buffet ($75), including “Le Gigot D’agneau,” a seven-hour roasted leg of lamb, along with dauphine potatoes, flageolet beans, and deviled eggs. Easter-themed cocktails will also be available. Entertainment includes Live DJ Music and a visit from the Lapin himself.

Make your reservations on OpenTable. Parking is FREE for 90 minutes in the surrounding structures.

• Location: 395 Santa Monica Place #300, Santa Monica
  Hours: Brunch is available from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
  

Rooftop of the Wayfarer Hotel (DTLA)

The view from the Wayfarer hotel rooftop.

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Courtesy Wayfarer Hotel

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Get lost in the skyline of downtown Los Angeles as you nibble Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon and plunge into buttermilk pancakes. This unlimited brunch includes glazed honey ham, roasted Pacifico sea bass, and a roasted leg of lamb with pomegranate chimichurri. Dessert includes a seasonal fruit display, mini cheesecakes, and cookies. The cost is $70 for adults and $35 for children ages 3 to 12.

Make your reservations on OpenTable.

• Location: 813 Flower St., Los Angeles
  Hours: Brunch is available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The Raymond 1886 (Pasadena)

The Raymond 1886 Hotel's exterior

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Courtesy The Raymond 1886

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There's nothing quite like stepping back in time while dining in the craftsman-style dining room at The Raymond 1886. Whether you're outside on the patio or tucked inside a dark booth, it's hard not to feel right at home. Easter specials include a pastry and fruit board for the table, featuring everything from apple coffee cake to spinach quiche, plus seasonal fruit and berries ($40). You also can't go wrong with Grand Marnier-infused French toast ($24) or a garden omelette ($24). Brunch cocktails include familiar mimosas ($15) alongside more inventive beverages like a charred sunset cocktail with mezcal strawberry foam ($18).

Reservations can be made on their website.

The Portofino Hotel & Marina (Redondo Beach)

The view from the Portofino hotel and marina.

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Courtesy The Portofino Hotel and Marina

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For a truly family-friendly experience, visit The Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, where the Bayside Ballroom is home to your brunch. The hotel will offer two seatings for an endless dining experience, complete with pancakes and waffles, a smoked salmon station, a full charcuterie and cheese board, made-to-order omelettes, prime rib and a sweet station.

Even more important than the food is the fun, which includes an egg hunt and face painting for the kids following the brunch. Adults also have a chance to win prizes, like an overnight stay in a junior suite. The price is $95 for adults and $45 for children under $12.

Reservations can be made on their website.

Gelson's (Various)

Focus on family instead of fixing things up, thanks to an Easter brunch at home, catered by Gelson's.

Try a spiral-glazed ham that feeds eight ($60) or a vegetable lasagna for 12 ($75) Finish the fiesta with touches like fresh flowers ($8.99+) and smoked salmon deviled eggs with caviar ($45 for 24 pieces).

Online ordering is already open with store pickup from April 3 to April 5. The last day to order is April 3.

The Culver Hotel (Culver City)

Tea for two, or however many you'd like, at the Culver Hotel.

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Courtesy Culver Hotel

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The Culver Hotel will host their afternoon tea in the Grand Lobby and Crystal Room, where Easter bonnets are encouraged. Take in the sounds of a live harpist while you relish in housemade scones, chicken curry tea sandwiches, petit fours, and loose-leaf teas.

The cost is $75 per person before adding on garden-fresh cocktails or bubbly. The hotel will also be hosting a full buffet brunch for $95 per person and $45 for children if you'd prefer a little more feasting. Face painting will be offered in the garden for children of all ages.

Make your reservations on OpenTable for both the tea and the brunch.

Bunny Bungalows (The Grove and The Americana at Brand)

Too many brunch cocktails and you'll start thinking this guy is real.

Although not a brunch, it’s easy to curate an afternoon adventure around this family photo opportunity. The Easter Bunny is currently burrowing at the Bunny Bungalows at The Grove and The Americana at Brand. Make your reservations from now until Sunday, April 5, for VIB (very important bunny) photo packages. Caruso Members can get extra perks like petting zoo access on select days, and keep your eyes open for golden egg days, which come with $15 vouchers to select restaurants. Pricing begins at $55.