The Brief

The YouTube livestream of Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest is popular with parents and educators alike, becoming a fixture in classrooms across the U.S.

But when one of Jackie and Shadow’s chicks died a few weeks ago, many adult fans were suddenly confronted with the question — what do I tell the kids?

It may feel like a difficult conversation or one that you’d like to avoid entirely. But the loss of the chick can be an opportunity to talk about death with children when the stakes are lower than  some of the other ways it comes up in schools or communities, according to David Schonfeld,  a developmental behavioral pediatrician who directs the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

“Talking about death with young children, you know, in contexts that are not that personally threatening is actually helpful,” he said. “It can help prepare them for conversations about other losses that have a more direct impact on them.”

Why now and not later

Marcy Billdt was a little hesitant to tell her fourth-grade class in Bakersfield’s Standard School District that one of the three chicks was missing.

After watching the livestream with students for several seasons, she knew the nest didn’t always have a happy ending, but this class had developed a notably strong bond with all three eaglets.

“And honestly, I've attached a bond to [them], too,” Billdt told LAist. “It was something that has become a part of our classroom culture.”

In Marcy Billdt's fourth-grade class, students used their handprints to make Jackie and Shadow art.

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Fourth-grade Standard School District students

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Courtesy of Marcy Billdt

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The artwork was part of a writing prompt for the fourth-graders.

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Fourth-grade Standard School District students

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Courtesy of Marcy Billdt

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It’s normal to want to try to protect children from loss, Schonfeld said, but avoid the urge to clam up completely. Death is a natural part of life that many will confront in childhood — and silence can say more than adults realize.

Avoiding talking about something like death can quickly communicate to children that it’s not appropriate or is off-limits to discuss. And while they may not hear about it from you, that doesn’t mean they won’t learn about it online, on the playground or in public.

“In the United States, we've actually tried to insulate children from death,” Schonfeld said. “But we don't really insulate them from death, we just insulate them from discussions and understanding and coping.”

Talking about loss with children, on the other hand, shows that you are there for them and they can come to you when they’re dealing with important and serious topics.

When Billdt’s students initiated the conversation about the missing chick later that day, she gave them space to express their grief and shed a tear or two. Once they got past the initial shock, she said the students quickly focused on the other two healthy babies and how well Jackie and Shadow were caring for them.

“Kids are extremely resilient if you provide them the support that they need in order to navigate those feelings,” she said.

But what do I say

The livestream had become a steady feature in Allison Meyer’s fourth-grade classroom in the Garden Grove Unified School District by the time the chick died, and she didn’t want to upset her students when they all returned from spring break the following week.

“ I had seen that Jackie had taken the chick in her beak and flew off with it,” Meyer told LAist. “I did not want to come back ... and show that to the kids.”

An elementary school student drawing of a bald eagle.

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Third-grade Denton Elementary School students

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Courtesy of Amy Bauman

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She did share that Jackie removed the body from the nest, and while they were sad about the loss, the class was able to turn its attention to celebrating how much the other eaglets had grown.

Meyer, on the other hand, seemed to take it harder than the students.

“You're just so invested; it's like they're your babies too,” she said. “It was heartbreaking to me ... took a couple days for me to kind of get over it.  So I didn't wanna bum the class out.”

When talking to children about the death of the chick, or other losses in life, Schonfeld said there are a few critical concepts that can help them understand and cope.

An elementary school student drawing of Jackie and Shadow.

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Third-grade Denton Elementary School students

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Courtesy of Amy Bauman

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First, explain that when somebody or something dies, they cannot come back. This may be contrary to what they see on TV or in cartoon characters, but it’s important for children to understand they’re gone and not just on a long trip far away.

Schonfeld said they should also understand that all living things eventually die. If they don’t realize death is inevitable, children may think they’re being punished in some way, which can lead to feelings of guilt and shame.

Schonfeld also recommended explaining that all life functions stop working in death so children aren’t concerned about them being cold, hungry or lonely.

A drawing of one of Jackie and Shadow's chicks.

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Third-grade Denton Elementary School students

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Courtesy of Amy Bauman

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Overall, be direct and honest, he added. Don’t be afraid to talk about what happened to the chick, but you can also follow-up with how us humans are different. For example, Schonfeld said that while it’s sad the eaglet didn’t survive the snowstorm, fortunately, as people, we do provide resources and support to those who need it.

“It's so much easier to talk about the chicks than it is to talk about, you know, a close family member,” he said. “ I think we should start with the things that naturally present themselves, and that will help put us in a good position to talk about the more difficult topics the kids will have to face during their childhood.”

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

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