Topline:
An announcement from the National Park Service today — that beaches from San Pedro to Santa Monica are being studied to someday become a national park — is making the rounds and raising lots of questions.
The background: The proposal appears to come from Biden-era appropriations legislation.
What's next: The Park Service is holding two virtual meetings, the first of which is next week.
Read on ... for meeting details and to learn what the criteria for new national parks are.
Yosemite. Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon.
RAT Beach in Torrance?
Maybe. An announcement from the National Park Service on Thursday — that beaches from San Pedro to Santa Monica are being studied to someday become a national park — is making the rounds and raising lots of questions.
Chief among them: Huh?
The proposal appears to come from Biden-era appropriations legislation.
Public Law 117-328, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 Section 634 directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the coastline of Los Angeles. Based on this legislated directive, the National Park Service has initiated the process of analyzing select sites for potential as a new unit of the national park system.
The Park Service website sets out four criteria for studying whether an area should be recommended to become a national park. It must:
We’ll let you decide whether the Venice Boardwalk, say, meets the brief.
The Park Service is holding two virtual meetings, the first of which is next week:
Feb. 11, 1 p.m to 2:30 p.m. PT
March 11, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT
Join by phone: 1-202-640-1187, Conference ID: 362420885#
LAist will dig deeper into this idea in the coming weeks. Until then, just imagine park rangers … playing volleyball in Manhattan Beach.
Topline:
California now has it's first fully accredited tribal college in almost 30 years.
California Indian Nations College in Palm Desert recently received an eight-year accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
Why it matters: The accreditation grants the college access to state and federal funding for higher education. Assemblymember James C. Ramos of San Bernardino calls the milestone historic, saying California has the highest number of Native Americans in the U.S.
How we got here: There aren't any fully accredited tribal colleges in California. But a Palm Desert school might change that.
Topline:
In six months, the FIFA World Cup arrives at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and winners of the latest phase of the FIFA World Cup ticket draw were notified today. But if you missed it, there is another opportunity to snag tickets.
Why now? The third phase of ticketing began today, according to tournament officials.
How it works: Ticketing for all games — including those at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — happens in phases through a lottery draw system. You must register a profile through FIFA’s site in order to enter. Today, those registered will find out if they were picked via email.
If I get picked, what’s next? Successful applicants will receive a notice in their emails and be automatically charged for the tickets they picked in the draw. A partially successful applicant means that you will receive the number of tickets requested, but not for all the requested matches.
Do I have another chance? The next opportunity is called the Last-Minute Sales phase, which FIFA has said will open in early April. FIFA is also running its own Resale/Exchange Marketplace, which will close Feb. 22 and reopen April 2.
The complete L.A. schedule:
On the secondary market: Prices for a single ticket to watch USA vs. Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium are slightly higher than what’s listed on FIFA’s ticketing portal. As of Wednesday, the lowest price for a single ticket to that game on StubHub is around $1,490, including fees, and $45,000 on the high end.
Read on… for your essential LAist guide on the 2026 World Cup in Los Angeles here.
Topline:
In early January, the Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA unveiled new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, along with a new food pyramid. The USDA sets school nutrition standards based on those dietary guidelines. Here's what to know about how the new food pyramid could impact schools.
More meals from scratch: The new pyramid places an emphasis on protein and encourage Americans to consume full-fat dairy products and limit highly processed foods. Bringing sugar and salt levels down further would likely require that food companies adapt their recipes and that schools prepare more meals from scratch. A recent survey of school nutrition directors by the School Nutrition Association found that most programs would need better equipment and infrastructure as well as more trained staff — and nearly all respondents said they would also need more money.
Higher costs: At the top of the new food pyramid are animal products such as meat and cheese. The new guidelines prioritize consuming protein as a part of every meal and incorporating healthy fats. A typical school breakfast today might include fruit, milk and a cereal cup or muffin; some schools may serve breakfast burritos or sandwiches. Current standards allow for schools to serve either grains or meats/meat alternates for breakfast. Protein options are costlier than grain options.
Putting together a school meal isn't easy.
"It is a puzzle essentially," said Lori Nelson of the Chef Ann Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes scratch cooking in schools.
"When you think about the guidelines, there's so many different pieces that you have to meet. You have to meet calorie minimums and maximums for the day and for the week. You have to meet vegetable subgroup categories."
Districts that receive federal funding for school meals — through, for example, the National School Lunch Program — must follow rules set by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
And those rules may be changing soon.
In early January, the Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA unveiled new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, along with a new food pyramid.
The USDA sets school nutrition standards based on those dietary guidelines, which now place an emphasis on protein and encourage Americans to consume full-fat dairy products and limit highly processed foods.
Here's what to know about how the new food pyramid could impact schools:
Highly processed and ready-to-eat foods often contain added sugars and salt. Think mac and cheese, pizza, french fries and individually packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
These foods are also a big part of many school meals, said Nelson. That's because schools often lack adequate kitchen infrastructure to prepare meals from scratch.
"Many schools were built 40-plus years ago, and they were built to reheat food. So they weren't built as commercial cooking kitchens," said Nelson.
Even so, schools have been able to bring sodium and sugar levels down in recent years.
"They've been working with food companies to find a middle ground, to find recipes that meet [the current] standards and appeal to students and that schools can serve given the equipment that they have," said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association.
Bringing sugar and salt levels down further would likely require that food companies adapt their recipes and that schools prepare more meals from scratch, Pratt-Heavner said.
But leaning into scratch cooking won't be easy. A recent survey of school nutrition directors by the School Nutrition Association found that most programs would need better equipment and infrastructure as well as more trained staff — and nearly all respondents said they would also need more money. "You cannot go from serving heavily processed, heat-and-serve items to scratch cooking immediately," said Nelson. "It is a transition."
At the top of the new food pyramid are animal products such as meat and cheese. The new guidelines prioritize consuming protein as a part of every meal and incorporating healthy fats.
"That could cause a change in school breakfast standards," said Pratt-Heavner. "Right now, there's no mandate that breakfasts include a protein."
A typical school breakfast today might include fruit, milk and a cereal cup or muffin; some schools may serve breakfast burritos or sandwiches.
She said schools would "absolutely need more funding," should they be required to provide protein under the USDA's School Breakfast Program.
Current standards allow for schools to serve either grains or meats/meat alternates for breakfast, and Pratt-Heavner said, "Protein options … are more expensive than grain options."
She said it's unclear whether the USDA would require protein under its own category or whether the agency would consider milk to be sufficient to meet any new protein requirements.
Schools that participate in federal school meal programs are required to offer milk with every meal, though students don't have to take it. Up until recently, an Obama-era rule allowed for only low-fat and nonfat milk in schools.
But the new food pyramid emphasizes whole fat dairy, like whole milk. At the same time, recent federal legislation reversed that Obama-era rule and now allows schools to serve reduced-fat and full-fat milk.
One more thing to know about milk: Federal law also limits saturated fats in school meals — and whole milk has more of those than low-fat and nonfat varieties. But the recent federal legislation now exempts milk fat from those limits.
What does all this mean for schools? They're now able to start serving whole milk, and they won't have to worry about whole milk pushing them past the limits on saturated fats.
While the USDA sets regulations for schools based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it takes time to draft and implement new rules after new guidelines are released.
"The current school nutrition standards that we're operating under were proposed in February 2023, finalized in April 2024," said Pratt-Heavner. "The first menu changes in school cafeterias were not required until July 2025." Other changes are still rolling out.
Which is to say: The new dietary guidelines won't bring immediate changes to school cafeterias. They're only the first step in a regulatory process that will take time.
"We're going to have to see what USDA proposes," said Pratt-Heavner.
Then, she said, "the public will comment on those regulations, and then final rules will be drafted and issued."
The USDA then gives schools and school food companies time to update recipes and implement the new nutrition standards.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
For Angelenos who love animals but can’t commit to adopting a dog, Pasadena Humane is opening a pair of short-term fostering programs to the public.
Why it matters: Officials said time away from the shelter can reduce stress in animals, while providing important insight into their personalities that can help the dogs get adopted.
Why now: You can now sign-up to “check-out” a dog from the shelter for a hike in the forest, a visit to your favorite neighborhood coffee shop or a cozy weekend sleepover at home.
The details: “This is a fun thing for the dog,” Kevin McManus, spokesperson for the organization, told LAist. “But it's also an opportunity for people who may not see the dog in the shelter to get an opportunity to see that dog out in the world doing what they do best.”
Go deeper: One year later, Pasadena Humane is still caring for animals displaced by the Eaton Fire
For Angelenos who love animals but can’t commit to adopting a dog, Pasadena Humane is opening a pair of short-term fostering programs to the public.
You can now sign-up to “check-out” a dog from the shelter for a hike in the forest, a visit to your favorite neighborhood coffee shop or a cozy weekend sleepover at home.
Officials said time away from the shelter can reduce stress in animals, while providing important insight into their personalities that can help the dogs get adopted.
Kevin McManus, a spokesperson for the organization, told LAist that Pasadena Humane provides all the supplies for anything from a 15-minute Foster Field Trip to a three-day Doggy Sleepover.
“This is a fun thing for the dog,” McManus said. “But it's also an opportunity for people who may not see the dog in the shelter to get an opportunity to see that dog out in the world doing what they do best.”
You can sign up for Pasadena Humane’s Doggy Field Trip and Doggy Sleepover programs here.
You’ll be asked to choose a date and time for the trip, as well as the activities you have planned for the dog and your experience handling animals.
You can ask to take a specific dog from the shelter, but it’s ultimately up to the organization’s foster team to match you based on need, availability and comfort level.
Previously, the programs were available only for trained volunteers, including Kayla James, who’s been hosting field trips and sleepovers for more than a year.
James, who has done about 30 short-term trips through Pasadena Humane, told LAist that some people may be sad to bring the dog back to the shelter at the end of the day, but that short-term feeling is worth the long-term benefits.
“Having them in a different setting helps them so much,” she said. “Because sometimes they shine way better outside the kennels.”
For example, you may learn the dog hates dry treats but loves hot dogs, that they do great on stairs or can be calm hanging out at home, she said.
Taking a dog for its first pup patty from In-N-Out has been “priceless,” James said. She especially enjoys taking shy dogs to her house for a quiet day away from the scents and sounds of the shelter.
“One thing that I loved being able to do, too, is finding out that a dog that was actually really reactive in a shelter, wasn't so reactive outside and was able to calm down,” she said. “That was really gratifying.”
McManus said the short-term fostering opportunities are perfect for people who love dogs but may not be able to adopt, possibly because of housing restrictions or long hours at work.
Any details you learn about the dog and cute photos you snap can be shared with Pasadena Humane and may be added to the pup’s adoption profile.
James has posted social media videos of the dogs she takes on trips, which she said can help Pasadena Humane boost the animals' visibility for potential adopters.
Some factors about an animal may be revealed during their time away, like can the dog sleep through the night? Is it crate trained? How about house trained?
“Having that real knowledge [is] really helpful in finding the forever home,” McManus said.
On Tuesday, I was matched with a dog named Lady Trixie, a 2-year-old female Plott Hound mix. We were equipped with a backpack full of treats, water, bowls, toys, poop bags, emergency information and a map of nearby places we could check out.
The foster team told me upon pick-up that Lady Trixie has been sweet with staff and volunteers, but Pasadena Humane didn’t have much other information for potential adopters.
So we hopped in my car and headed to Lacy Park in San Marino with the hope of gathering some important info for Lady's Trixie's adoption profile.
She walked politely on the leash next to me and didn’t pull us through the park. She seemed a little shy at first, but kept calm and didn’t react around young children and the small dogs that ran by us.
We sprinted through the park a few times to get her wiggles out. Lady Trixie also snacked on some grass and stopped to sniff anything and everything she wanted.
Lady Trixie seemed to be more interested in sitting on me than playing with toys or tennis balls. She even rested her head on my shoulder for a minute when we stopped for a water break.
It was hard to bring her back to Pasadena Humane Tuesday afternoon. But I'm the kind of person the programs are designed for — I’d love to add another dog to our family, but it isn’t the right time.
I was sad to say goodbye, but I was grateful to spend a calming few hours with her.
