The Brief

Dozens of sea lions have shown up sick on L.A. County shores in the last week.

The mammals have signs of domoic acid toxicosis — that’s when algal blooms put out a harmful neurotoxin that can hurt sea life. Most of the sick mammals have come from Malibu, though they’ve been seen as far south as Redondo Beach.

At least five adult sea lions have died.

What we know

Though harmful to sea life, algal blooms are natural events that usually last four to eight weeks.

When some algal blooms grow out of control, they can emit a neurotoxin that accumulates in small fish, like sardines and anchovies. When sea lions eat those fish, the toxin binds to their brain and heart. They can have seizures, tremors, vision issues and even cardiac problems.

This is Southern California’s fourth year in a row seeing domoic acid blooms. Our largest event on record was in 2023 when more than 1,000 sea lions died. It can happen at any point in the year, but most blooms happen in  spring or fall.

It’s still unclear how large this event could be. Dr. Michelle Rivard, Marine Mammal Care Center’s director of animal health in San Pedro, said what the center is seeing in sea lions indicates they were exposed recently.

“ They’re stranding in really good body conditions — the females are 180 to 200 lbs,” she said. “We’re seeing them either basically comatose, not responding appropriately to people, with seizures, tremors, things like that.”

Most of the sea lions in the center’s care are adults and pregnant. Infections can pass on to pups that are then born with neurological issues.

Marine Mammal Care Center is working alongside Malibu’s California Wildlife Center to gather reports and capture the mammals for treatment. However, some haven’t been caught yet because they’re in inaccessible areas.

Water temperature and other factors can influence harmful algae growth, though the process isn’t fully understood.

Did wildfires play a role?

Since most of the sick sea lions are showing up in Malibu, it’s not unreasonable to ask if runoff from the January fires is part of the equation.

“ While runoff is a small piece of the puzzle that can feed these blooms, we really don’t know enough at this point with this specific bloom to say that there’s any relation to the fires at all,” Rivard said.

John Warner, chief executive of the Marine Mammal Care Center, said runoff is a concern because it could contain things like building materials and batteries. But he said that those effects could show up in years — not weeks.

The center hasn’t yet confirmed it’s domoic acid, but Rivas said the sea lions are showing signs consistent with exposure to it. They’re awaiting sample tests to verify it as well as toxicology reports to check for other issues.

What you should do

Sick sea lions may look skyward, what experts call "stargazing."

(

Marine Mammal Care Center

)

Sick sea lions could show up anywhere on the coast. A few have been seen in Santa Monica, Playa del Rey and Ventura County.

Experts warn they can be unpredictable. They may move their head around in a motion known as “stargazing,” be aggressive to people, or appear lethargic or comatose.

If you see any stranded on the beach in distress, you should stay at least 50 feet away.

“ If they can respond to you, then you’re too close,” said Dave Bader, Marine Mammal Care Center’s chief operations and education officer.

To report sightings, call the Marine Mammal Care Center at (800) 39-WHALE. You can also contact the California Wildlife Center, which serves the Malibu area, through its marine mammal rescue hotline at (310) 924-7256.

Two L.A. Unified school unions voted to approve their new contracts Friday night.

Members of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represent 37,00 teachers and other personnel, will get a nearly 14%, plus paid parental leave for the first time ever.

According to the union, 92% of eligible members voted yes.

The final 2-year deal includes:

• Updated salary scales
• Average salary increase of 13.86%, with a minimum increase of 8% 
• More than 450 new PSAs, PSWs, School Psychologists, and Counselors positions 
• Special Education agreement with first-ever 20:1 ratio for RST and planning time at schools, with 80% of students in general ed setting for 80% of the day  
• Protections and right to bargain over subcontracting and AI 
• Healthcare for substitutes after 93 days of work 

Separately, members of AALA/TEAMSTER also ratified their new 2-year contract Friday night, which includes a 12% wage increase. The union represents 3,000 L.A. Unified principals and administrators.

The final deal includes:

• A 12.15% wage increase
• A defined eight-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek
• Flex time with notice and no pre-approval

What's next

Next step is a vote by the LAUSD board.

One more to go

Meanwhile, members of SEIU Local 99 will start voting today through early May. That union represents bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom aides and other school support staff.

The tentative deal promises to bring their 30,000 members a 24% pay increase and expanded healthcare access. 

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Inglewood police officers could soon be outfitted with body-worn cameras.

The Inglewood City Council will vote Tuesday on a $6.3 million purchase from police tech company Axon to kit out the city’s police department with body cameras as well as drones, Tasers and 98 stationary Automated License Plate Recognition devices, known commonly as ALPRs. 

Activists have been calling for Inglewood police to wear body cameras since Bryan Bostic’s unexplained death in police custody March 10. Video of the incident captured by a bystander shows police pinning Bostic to the ground. Investigations by the offices of the L.A. County District Attorney into the police use of force and L.A. County Medical Examiner into Bostic’s cause of death are ongoing. 

The city says it has been researching the tech additions, including the body cameras, since last August, and the police department began chasing grants for body-worn cameras and drones in January. 

The L.A. Police Department began widely using body cameras in 2015, followed by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department in 2020. 

Activist Najee Ali, who has helped coordinate recent demonstrations calling for Inglewood officers to wear body cameras, said the devices would be a game-changer.

“We are optimistic this is going to happen,” Ali said. “Certainly this is long overdue.” 

Ali said activists had been planning to put forward a city ballot initiative to mandate police body cameras. He remains concerned about how the city will set police body camera policy. 

City staff wrote in meeting documents that the new tech would enhance the department’s capacity ahead of a string of mega-events — including this summer’s FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics. 

The city has not yet finalized contract terms with Axon. Councilmembers could vote Tuesday to authorize city staff to wrap up negotiations and execute a final agreement. 

The city estimated Inglewood could pay an average of $1.3 million annually over the life of a five-year agreement with Axon, which would provide software platforms along with the new equipment. 

Here’s the tech that comes in the package

The package would include body cameras as well as new Tasers, meeting documents indicate. The Inglewood Police Department has 186 sworn officers, according to the city website. 

Twenty-five vehicles would be outfitted with Fleet 3 video cameras that can automatically read and look up vehicle license plates. The ALPR tech will also be rolled out via 98 stationary cameras affixed to light posts and mounted in other locations.

Stationary ALPRs scan license plates and log a vehicle’s location at a given time. Police tout their ability to rapidly locate stolen vehicles or fleeing suspects. Critics say they lack oversight and that their data can be too broadly shared, including with federal immigration agents.

The devices Inglewood is purchasing also have livestream video capability, according to Axon’s website. 

The city will also get a total of seven camera drones, including the Skydio 10 and its indoor-focused cousin, the Skydio R10. 

How to make your voice heard

The Inglewood City Council meets at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Inglewood City Hall, 1 W. Manchester Blvd. Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed purchase ahead of the city council’s vote.  

Limited seating is available in council chambers. Members of the public have been directed to watch proceedings and deliver public comment from an overflow room during some recent meetings.

If people can’t make the meeting, they may submit written comments to the city clerk at athompson@cityofinglewood.org, or to the deputy city clerk at dwesley@cityofinglewood.org.

Comments must be submitted by 8 a.m. Tuesday in order to be distributed to councilmembers ahead of the meeting. 

Full meeting documents are available at cityofinglewood.org.

Staff with The Plant Chica were busy the day before the event receiving, labeling and preparing indoor plants at the open-air shop in Leimert Park. The company’s co-founder, Sandra Mejia, said everyone should have a plant in their home.

“Plants aren't necessarily something that people are going out of their way to buy,” she said.

And many people who’ve come to her adopt-a-plant events have never had plants in their homes and, therefore, have not experienced what it’s like to take care of a plant and see it grow.

“If we're giving them out for free, then people come and they take them, and then now they're plant people,” which means, she said, that some become advocates for more plants indoors and outdoors as well as public green space.

The giveaways have grown

Mejia’s first plant giveaway started in her home, she said, in 2018. It was an effort to clear out the less popular plants. It didn’t go so well, but after she moved it to her shop, which has been in several locations around South L.A., near where she was raised by Salvadoran parents, the plant giveaway has grown.

Her family first instilled a love of plants, and she keeps them involved.

“My dad is at home right now, printing the information sheet for the plant so people know how to take care of the plants, and he's cutting them for me,” Mejia said.

Some of the plants are donated by local greenhouses and the rest are paid for, about $2,500 she said, out of her business’ marketing budget.

Staff at The Plant Chica, Philip Bucknor and Odessey Osteen-Diluca

(

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

/

LAist

)

What kind of plants are we talking about

The giveaway includes philodendrons, like pink princess, which are good starter plants because they’re low maintenance, tradescantia plants, which have green and purple leaves, as well as prayer plants, whose scientific name is maranta leuconeura. These get their nickname from the opening of their leaves during the day and closing at night, like hands in prayer.

“Everybody deserves a plant that's cleaning the oxygen around them. Everybody should have some sort of thumb in the green somewhere,” said Philip Bucknor, who started out as DJ at events for The Plant Chica and began working for the shop last year with the unofficial title of “vibe curator.”

That includes helping people through a feeling he hears a lot — “I don’t want to kill the plant.”

“My thing is helping people understand the right plant for them and not overthinking these tasks of taking care of a plant,” he said.

That means, he said, don’t overdo watering, be chill and feel your plant’s vibe.

He’s set to do that with people who come to the plant giveaway Saturday.

As the story goes, it started with eight women in India.

A small group of runners in bright flowing saris darted through the streets of Bangalore to show that fitness doesn’t have to be about running gear and race culture but can look like anything you want it to.

Ten years and thousands of participants later, the Saree Run is crossing the ocean.

The U.S. edition of the Saree Run debuts Sunday in Huntington Beach Central Park East, where 5K runners and walkers are encouraged to drape themselves in saris in a celebration of health and culture.

The U.S. edition is the brainchild of L.A.-based Indian American event organizer Aanal Patel. She discovered the Saree Run through an Instagram video, one of many online, sent by a friend urging her to bring it to the U.S.

“I thought it was really, really cool,” Patel, 35, said. “But I was like, I don't know if people in the States would be interested in this because mainly here we wear saris for special occasions like weddings and receptions."

In contrast to India where the sari is part of everyday wear for many women, the sari is worn in the U.S. more for special occasions like weddings.

(

Courtesy of Aanal Patel

)

By contrast, saris are part of everyday dress for many women in India. But the idea stuck with Patel, who’d run plenty of races herself. She’s also spent years organizing events for the South Asian diaspora like Bollywood trivia games and singles mixers.

The Saree Run, she reasoned, could be another place for the diaspora to connect and spotlight urgent issues. Like how South Asians face higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions. And how many women, she said, don't prioritize their health.

“We are consistently putting other people in front of our own health – our husbands, our children, our community, our households,” Patel said.

Another driving force for Patel — and a point of departure from the event’s origins in India — is the lack of South Asian visibility in fitness and wellness branding in the U.S.

“India is the birthplace of yoga. We're also the birthplace of Ayurveda, and you still don't see us represented in those spaces,” Patel said. “I wanted to bring representation into that space.”

Where it began

Before Patel moved forward with putting on a Saree Run, she sought the blessing of the event’s founder Pramod Deshpande.

A Bangalore-based tech consultant specializing in A.I., Deshpande is also a former competitive runner and long-time running coach focused on getting Indians to move more.

The 63-year-old “Coach Pramod,” as his runners call him, came up with the Saree Run after noticing how in India women rise to top roles in government and boardrooms but are noticeably missing from the fitness world.

When he and his trainees ran through neighborhoods, women would stare at them “like we are somebody from another world.”

“Then we realized that these ladies are really interested in doing this, but are held back because of other social pressures and family responsibilities,” Deshpande said.

Safety concerns about running alone as a woman is also a big issue. The Saree Run offers strength in numbers as well as a sense of ease. Running in saris – about six yards of fabric which can be draped to fit every body type – takes the pressure off the women to feel that they have to look like models in fitness ads, Deshpande said.

The Saree Run has held nine editions in six cities across India since 2016.

(

Courtesy of the Saree Run

)

Saree Run participants who kept at it typically shed their saris for lighter running gear like Deshpande’s own mother-in-law. She started running at 78 and now at 82 recently completed a half-marathon in pants and a T-shirt.

Stories like hers have helped fuel the Saree Run’s growth. Since 2016, the Saree Run has held nine editions across six cities with tens of thousands joining so far.

At the most recent event in Pune, more than 5,000 women turned out, Deshpande said.

A call from abroad

When Patel reached out to Deshpande about bringing the concept to the U.S., he was surprised – and impressed.

“I thought, this girl has some guts,” he said, noting it took years for the Saree Run to gain traction in India.

Patel, who moved to L.A. a year and a half ago from Denver, has gamely taken on challenges of organizing a run for the first time with a small team of volunteers.

She scouted a dozen parks across L.A. and Orange counties before settling on Huntington Beach's Central Park East because it could accommodate both the run and a full day of free programming.

Aside from the 5K, there will be yoga sessions, dance classes, wellness workshops and a speaker series.

Tickets to participate in the run will be $50 a person and includes a swag bag. After expenses, proceeds will go to the Artesia-based nonprofit South Asian Helpline And Referral Agency for abuse survivors.

Run participants are strongly encouraged – but not required – to wear South Asian cultural attire which could also include a dupatta, a traditional scarf, or a kurti, a long tunic.

“Because our goal is to break the stigma,” Patel said. “Our goal is fitness without inhibitions.”

Most, though, will come in saris. Given that there are over 300 draping styles, what will Patel choose?

She’s opting for the dhoti style, which "does allow a separation between the legs for movement."

Interest has already come from other cities like Austin, Denver and Chicago with people online asking when the event might come their way.

Deshpande is also looking ahead. From India, he’s hoping to assist Patel with growing the U.S. version by tapping into diaspora networks.

“I'm here to help Aanal make it big,” Deshpande said.