The Brief

It's been nearly a month since the city of Rancho Palos Verdes started drilling bore holes as part of a long-term effort to slow the Portuguese Bend landslide, which has accelerated in recent years and is threatening a number of neighborhoods in the area.

So far, four out of the 20 exploratory boreholes have been completed at both the top of the slide and along Palos Verdes Drive South, offering insight into what's going on beneath the surface. Experts are analyzing soil conditions and trying to locate the pockets of water they believe are making the slide worse.

The idea is that water's been getting trapped by layers of thick and sticky clay, adding weight to the hillsides. Once they locate the water, they'll start to pump it out with hydraugers — the hope being that as the weight is relieved, the slide will slow.

An illustration of how the operation is going to be carried out with both bore holes and hydraugers.

(

Megan Barnes

/

Rancho Palos Verdes

)

The groundwater level is a bit shallower than anticipated, and the slide zones are a bit deeper, according to David Copp, deputy director of public works for the city.

"It speaks to the need to drill these vertical boreholes to validate our models," he said.

Drilling's has been slower than projected, as crews hit hard to penetrate material and had to accommodate extensive data gathering. As such, the timeline for information from their third and fourth boreholes will take two weeks longer to finish analyzing.

They're hoping to complete the 20 boreholes by early September, and may bring in an additional drilling rig to speed up the process.

A big week ahead

Next week, drilling is likely to start on the fifth well at the bottom of the slide in an effort to find what they believe is an artesian well — or water under pressure — pushing up on the land and exacerbating movement.

If they do hit an artesian well, there's a chance that water will burst out and start draining.

"Seeing a geyser rush out on the first borehole that we drill at the beach club means that we're headed in the right direction," said Copp.

If the draining is effective, it could take anywhere from two to six months to potentially see land movement slow down.

As of now, the land is still moving as much as one foot per week in some locations. Meanwhile, many residents could lose their homes at any time.

During President Donald Trump's first term, the economy was a relative strength of his. During the 2024 presidential campaign, his promises to lower prices in a country grappling with post-COVID inflation propelled him back into office.

But toward the end of his first year in office this term, just 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. It's his worst mark in the six years that Marist has been asking the question.

The only time in that span that Americans had a similarly negative view of a president's handling of the economy in the poll was in February 2022, when Joe Biden was president. Now Democrats are slightly more trusted to handle the economy than Republicans — 37% to 33%. That's not a wide margin, but it's a sharp turnaround from the 16-point advantage Republicans had on the question in 2022.

There are a number of other stark findings in this wide-ranging survey that focused on the economic pressures Americans are facing. The poll found that many Americans are having difficulty making ends meet, they worry about the economic outlook for themselves and the country, and most believe the country is already in a recession — with notable divides by race, age and gender on many questions.

The White House recognizes the challenge the current economy poses and is trying to make it a focus of events going forward. But the president has his work cut out for him to convince Americans his administration will make it better. He has struggled to do so, often returning to culture war arguments, particularly immigration, instead.

Trump's political standing is at the nadir of his presidency

Trump's handling of the economy has him under water with several key groups, including some that are important to his coalition. For example, 49% of people who live in rural areas disapprove of the job he's doing on the economy, while just 43% approve; 48% of white women without college degrees disapprove vs. 41% who approve. In the suburbs, which are often critical in swing districts, more disapprove by a 60%-33% margin.

In addition to Trump's low approval for his handling of the economy, his overall job approval rating stands at a meager 38%. That's the lowest of his second term and the lowest number he's seen in Marist's surveys since April 2018.

That year, his approval rating did not go much higher. It sat at 41% in the last Marist poll before the 2018 midterm elections. Republicans lost 40 seats in the House that year.

The intensity of disapproval of the president is particularly high — 50% of registered voters said they strongly disapprove.

Just 30% of independents and 8% of Democrats approve of the job Trump's doing. But, as has been the case for the entirety of Trump's time on the political stage, he retains robust support from Republicans. In this survey, 84% of Republicans approve of the job he's doing. That's down 5 points from last month, but within the margin of error.

Prices leap out as the top economic concern

By far, the biggest financial factor straining Americans is prices.

Asked for their top economic concern, 45% of respondents said prices. Nothing else came close — housing was second at 18%, followed by tariffs at 15% and job security at 10%.

Tariffs are certainly closely tied to higher prices in this administration. Two-thirds in this survey said they're very concerned or somewhat concerned about tariffs' impact on their personal finances.

That's down from 81% in June, but still a significant majority. The decline is driven by Republicans. In June, 70% of Republicans said they were concerned about tariffs' potential impact. Now, it's just 38%, while overwhelming majorities of independents and Democrats continue to say they're concerned about them.

Most say the country is already in a recession

When a country is in a recession is not always clear, but it is marked by a significant downturn in economic activity. The technical definition is two consecutive quarters of negative growth as measured by the country's gross domestic product, or GDP.

That's not where the country is right now, though there are signs of a slowing labor market. Just 64,000 jobs were added in November, as of the delayed jobs report released Tuesday, for example, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6%.

For many, especially those who are Black, Latino and under 45 years old, times feel particularly tough. Latinos, for example, were 22 points more likely than those who are white to say the country is in a recession.

Respondents under 45 were 17 points more likely than those over 45 years old to say the country was in a recession. Women were also 15 points more likely to say so than men.

Prices in many sectors remain high and, overall, people say affordability is a major issue. In fact, 70% in this survey said the area where they live is not very affordable or not affordable at all for the average family. That's up from 45% when Marist asked the same question in June, a whopping increase and a sign of how much people are feeling the economic pinch.

Republicans and independents were sharply more negative now than they were in June on affordability of the area they live in. In June, by a 64%-36% margin, Republicans said the cost of living was affordable or very affordable. But in this survey, they were split, 51%-49%.

Independents in June were more positive, with 54% saying the area they live in was affordable. But that has cratered, down 30 points.

A strong majority also say the economy simply isn't working for them

Roughly 6 in 10 said the economy is not working well for them personally, and more said their financial situation has gotten worse in the past year than better (35% vs. 21%).

There was a sharp partisan divide; it's become common over the past decade or so for the strength of the economy to be viewed through a political lens, like so many other things.

In this survey, most Democrats and independents said the economy isn't working well for them personally, while two-thirds of Republicans said it is.

Here, again, there were also significant divides by race, age, income, education and gender. For example, three-quarters of those who are Black and two-thirds of Latinos said the economy isn't working for them, compared to 56% of white people who said so.

Notably, there was also a sharp divide between men and women without college degrees — 69% of white women without degrees said the economy wasn't working for them, compared to 51% of white non-degreed men. This split was evident on several questions among this group, which is core to Trump's coalition.

Many are barely getting by, and they're worried about health care costs

Seven in 10 people surveyed said their expenses either match or exceed their income every month, and it's far worse for non-whites and younger people. While 68% of people who are white fall into this category, a far higher percentage of those who are Black (77%) and Latino (78%) said so.

It was a similar story for those who are younger, lower income or don't hold a college degree.

A quarter of people said their expenses consistently exceed their income, which translates to roughly 64 million adults who are accruing debt month to month. That was highest among people who make less than $50,000 a year, white women without college degrees, Millennials, those who are Black, Latino and those who have children under 18 years old.

This socioeconomic divide shows up throughout the survey, including on the question of whether people are satisfied with their savings. Fifty-four percent of those who are white are at least somewhat satisfied with the amount of money they currently have saved, versus just 41% of those who are Black and 40% of Latinos.

Similar gaps are clear by age and education, with a particularly wide chasm between those who have college degrees (60% satisfied with their savings) and those who do not have college degrees (41%).

The cost of health care is a major concern. In fact, a majority (54%) said they're concerned that their household will be unable to pay for needed health care services in the next year. Again, this was highest for those who are Black (69%), Latino (65%), make less than $50,000 a year (67%), are under 45 (61%), especially those 18-29 (63%) and women (61%).

People are pessimistic about the future and the state of the country

As the new year approaches, almost 6 in 10 said they are more pessimistic about what's ahead for the world in 2026.

Among those most pessimistic were Democrats, white women with college degrees, independents and Latinos. Those most optimistic included Republicans, white evangelical Christians, people who live in rural areas and whites without degrees (particularly white men) — all generally solid pro-Trump groups.

A significant share of respondents said the country is headed in the wrong direction — 63% — though there were similar demographic splits.

The survey was conducted from Dec. 8-11, reaching 1,440 adults through live interviewers, text and online. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. The survey includes 1,261 registered voters. Where voters are mentioned, there is a +/- 3.4 percentage point margin of error.
Copyright 2025 NPR

A coalition of teachers and students is suing to block the implementation of a new California law that aims to address antisemitism concerns in K-12 public schools, amid ongoing debate over how classrooms can approach the latest conflict in the Middle East.

A judge is expected to hear arguments on Wednesday at the Northern District of California’s San José division. The lawsuit, filed by Jenin Younes, national legal director of the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, claims that AB 715, which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2026, is unconstitutionally vague.

“The real purpose of the bill is to chill the speech of teachers and students so that they’re afraid to talk about anything that could be deemed critical of Israel,” Younes said.

AB 715 adds to existing anti-discrimination state law through the creation of a governor-appointed Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator under a new California Office of Civil Rights. Proponents of AB 715 have said the coordinator will track antisemitic incidents at schools, help respond to cases and make policy recommendations to the state Legislature. 

The coordinator will also be tasked with training schools to identify antisemitism. The state law directs districts to rely on the Biden administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. This federal guide, in turn, refers to the working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Children play outside at the Jewish Family Services shelter for migrants in San Diego, Sept. 19, 2024. (Zoë Meyers for KQED)The Alliance’s definition includes 11 bullet-pointed descriptors of anti-Jewish bias. More than half of the list cites Israel, such as “claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” “applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” and “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel.”

Earlier iterations of AB 715 echoed — and expanded — on the IHRA’s definition. According to those versions — later stricken — an antisemitic learning environment could mean classrooms where instruction or materials assert “dual loyalty directed at Jewish individuals or communities,” “inaccurate historical narratives such as labeling Israel a settler colonial state” or discriminating against a “nationality,” including “a social organization where a collective identity has emerged from a combination of shared features.”

“The earlier iterations were pretty crazy,“ said Younes, who has argued that the final version of AB 715 has the same effect “surreptitiously.”

“It’s been an incredibly frustrating process,” said David Bocarsly, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California and one of the main backers of the law.

Bocarsly said the committee started off its efforts as California mandated new ethnic studies courses to ensure they didn’t include antisemitic content. After pushback from educators, he said proponents decided to set their sights instead on protecting Jewish students more generally — in what eventually became AB 715. (A companion law, SB 48, creates four similar coordinator positions for religion, race, gender and LGBTQ+ discrimination prevention.)

“So, even this one bill that we asked to be focused just on the Jewish community because there was a particular acute need for our community, where there were opportunities to expand and support other vulnerable communities, we ultimately leapt at those opportunities,” Bocarsly said.

Teachers still weren’t on board with revisions to AB 715. In a statement, David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, the union that represents teachers in the state, said the law “raises serious free speech concerns” and “at a time when too many are seeking to attack academic freedom and weaponize public education, AB 715 would unfortunately arm ill-intentioned people with the ability to do so.”

The new law allows the public to anonymously file complaints not just about teacher materials they believe are discriminatory, but also instruction.

“Anytime that I meet with more than two teachers who are ethnic studies teachers in a group, this is one of the things that comes up. It’s like, ‘Hey, no one knows all the things that’re happening to us, and no one is really helping us,’” said Jason Muñiz, who supports around 500 Bay Area teachers in ethnic studies each year as part of his work with the University of California at Berkeley’s History-Social Science Project.

Muñiz said dozens of teachers have described becoming the subject of legal inquiries, including public records, related to lessons that touch on Judaism, Islam or the Middle East.

Bocarsly acknowledged the pressure that academic institutions face, noting that JPAC has spoken out against the Trump administration’s attempts to use antisemitism legislation as an excuse to cut school funding or diversity programs.

“We have gone through three different iterations of bills, have taken so many of [the educators’] recommendations, and they continue to move the goalposts and oppose everything that we do,” said Bocarsly, who considers the alleged lack of willingness to focus on Jewish student safety itself discrimination. “I think that there’s some implicit bias happening here.”

In the state’s official response to the motion for an injunction, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has argued that AB 715 does not create a new, undefined type of civil rights violation. He has said that fears of unfounded discrimination claims could happen under existing law and are not enough reason to block AB 715.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health says cases of norovirus — or the stomach flu — are on the rise.

Officials say over a three-week period ending Dec. 11, wastewater detection of norovirus increased by more than 250% countywide and 154% within the city of L.A.

The virus is very contagious, and is spread through direct contact with someone who has it, by eating contaminated food or by touching a contaminated surface, then touching your mouth.

Symptoms include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting and usually show up 12-48 hours after exposure. Children under 5 and older adults are more likely to experience more severe effects from the virus.

How to protect yourself

Public health officials say people should:

• Wash their hands frequently, especially before eating or preparing food or going to the bathroom
• Wash fruits and vegetables and thoroughly cook shellfish
• Clean infected surfaces with a bleach-based cleaner (alcohol won’t kill norovirus)