Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published November 14, 2025 5:00 AM
Steve Costley, Parks and Recreation director for South Gate, celebrates the opening of Urban Orchard Park.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Topline:
Urban Orchard Park officially opened this summer — a brand new green space for the city of South Gate and Southeast L.A. as a whole. Two other newly renovated parks also opened this year in South Gate.
How did they do it? The Urban Orchard project cost more than $31 million and took more than 10 years to complete. The funding all came through state, county and federal grants, as well as private donors. The project came to fruition via multiple partnerships between the city and the private and nonprofit sectors.
Parks are difficult to build: Limited space, expensive land, historic pollution, lack of funding, permitting, other red tape — there are many obstacles to building a new park in Southern California. “ South Gate is not a rich community. We don't generate that much revenue on our own, so we're very reliant on partnerships,” said Vice Mayor Joshua Barron.
Read on ... to meet people who are already using the new park.
Maria Mendez walks her little white dog, named Peluche, on a wide dirt path in the city of South Gate’s newest park.
“Me gusta mucho el parque porque tenemos este sembradío de aguacates, limones y venimos a hacer ejercicio en las mañanas,” she said. She loves it for the avocado and citrus trees, and because she can exercise in the mornings, she said.
The park has sycamores and oaks too, a small wetland, a playground and throughout, winding walking paths. Mendez said she and Peluche come here most days. It’s convenient because the park is right next door to the mobile home park for seniors where she lives.
South Gate resident Maria Mendez and her dog, Peluche, walk the paths of the Urban Orchard every day.
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Erin Stone
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This park, though, is in a bit of an odd location.
“If you look around, you'll see you are in between the 710 Freeway and the L.A. River,” said Steve Costley, the city of South Gate’s director of Parks and Recreation. “Not a natural space to think, ‘Hey, let's go plant a park.’”
The park is called the Urban Orchard — 7 acres of renovated city-owned land sandwiched between the freeway and the river. To get there, you have to wind through industrial businesses. The din of the freeway is constant.
But under the new trees and next to the engineered creek and wetland, there’s the sound of birds and water.
Urban Orchard Park officially opened this summer — a brand new green space for the city and Southeast L.A. as a whole. Two other newly renovated parks also opened this year in South Gate.
So how did the small city do it?
A need for more green
South Gate is home to about 100,000 people, 95% of whom identify as Latino, according to census data. The average household income is less than $75,000 a year. And city residents have some of the least access to nearby nature — just 3% of the city’s land is made up of parks, one-fifth the national average, according to data analyzed by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.
“We're one of the very high-needs cities in all of L.A. County that doesn't have enough park space,” Costley said.
Lower income communities of color across the region and the country have disproportionately less access to green space than wealthier, whiter communities.
The constructed wetland at Urban Orchard Park is fed by stormwater from the L.A. River and helps filtrate and clean that water to irrigate the park.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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The new Urban Orchard Park in South Gate is sandwiched between the 710 Freeway and L.A. River.
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Erin Stone
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“Parks are what we love. Parks are what I think people need. I think parks make a city into a community,” Costley said.
Though the city is still working out the details, a grove of 200 citrus trees, along with vegetable beds and an avocado orchard, will be a source of fresh produce for seniors living in the mobile home park next door.
Dayana Molina, community organizer with the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which helped fund and design the new Urban Orchard Park.
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“We were really trying to address and bring the vision of the community through this process,” said Dayana Molina, a community organizer with the Trust for Public Land, which helped design and fund the new park. “So we heard about food insecurity. We heard about not enough shade.”
Not only is the Urban Orchard adding green space where it’s badly needed, but it will also recycle stormwater. The 1-acre constructed wetland cleans runoff from the L.A. River and stores water in a large reservoir the city built under the citrus orchard, providing 70% of the park’s irrigation.
Any overflow will return to the river channel, cleaner than before. Eventually, the hope is that native fish can be introduced to the park’s wetland and streams.
“This is not just a South Gate park, it's really a regional project that is bringing benefits to the whole region,” Molina said.
Residents — and wildlife — are already benefiting.
Dale De Julio, a retired truck driver who lives next door to the Urban Orchard, now walks there every day and loves to observe the birds.
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Retired truck driver Dale De Julio lives in the mobile home park next door to the new Urban Orchard. He remembers when the land was an empty dirt lot. He never used to go for walks near his home. Now, De Julio walks the park every day.
“ This has given me an incentive to get out and walk around,” De Julio said. “I need that now that I'm retired.”
He said after years of driving trucks all over the country, seeing countless sights but never having the time to stop and appreciate them, the park is a place he can finally do that.
Just the other day, he said, he even saw a blue heron, a bird he’d never seen in the area before.
How to build a new park
Limited space, expensive land, historic pollution, lack of funding, permitting, other red tape — there are many obstacles to building a new park in Southern California.
The Urban Orchard was no exception, and the process was not cheap or quick. The park ultimately cost more than $31 million and took more than 10 years to complete.
The funding all came through state, county and federal grants, as well as private donors. The project came to fruition via multiple partnerships between the city and the private and nonprofit sectors.
“ South Gate is not a rich community. We don't generate that much revenue on our own, so we're very reliant on partnerships,” said Vice Mayor Joshua Barron.
UCLA research has found that public-private partnerships are essential to the success of greening projects such as the Urban Orchard.
“This really requires, as the proverbial saying goes, a village,” said UCLA professor Jon Christensen, who led that research and studies equitable access to green space.
The Urban Orchard, he added, “is a real testament to the dedication and persistence and creativity that is required to build new parks in Los Angeles.”
That creativity included cobbling together funding from a variety of sources, including $3 million from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, nearly $8 million from the State Water Resources Control Board, more than $4 million from the state’s Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, nearly $7 million from local Measure W funds, $5 million from Caltrans, Proposition 68 funds, more than $700,000 from the Conservation Corps of Long Beach, and private donations.
Joy Chancellor, 19, of South L.A. plants lettuce in one of the vegetable gardens at the Urban Orchard in South Gate. She's a corpsmember with the Long Beach Conservation Corps, which will maintain the park for its first three years while training young people in environmental jobs.
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The first three years of maintenance will be carried out by the Long Beach Conservation Corps, training young people from the area in environmental jobs. The city will have to find a way to pick up the maintenance tab after that.
“It was not a smooth process. It never is when we have complicated pieces of land adjacent to the L.A. River,” said Nola Eaglin Talmage, the Trust for Public Land’s Parks for People program director. “We've got all kinds of different public funding streams, all with different timelines, all with different requirements.”
Eaglin Talmage said a new county motion brought by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath could help streamline the process. And state efforts such as Proposition 4 are also essential to making these types of efforts possible, especially as federal funds for environmental projects dry up under the Trump administration.
“The passing of Prop. 4 is one of the reasons why we'll be able to continue to build green space in Los Angeles,” Eaglin Talmage said.
A bigger reform idea
Places to sit and enjoy nature in the new Urban Orchard Park in South Gate.
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South Gate Vice Mayor Barron said there’s another way for small cities to have an easier time building projects that benefit the public — updating outdated tax revenue laws.
“Last year, our residents and businesses paid over $80 million in property taxes, but yet the city of South Gate was only allocated about $5 million of that,” Barron said.
Currently, South Gate receives just 6.14% of property tax revenue collected within the city — a percentage set in 1978 through Proposition 13. After Proposition 13, the state created a formula to divide that tax among counties, cities, schools and special districts, with each city’s share based on its pre-1978 property tax base – a formula that still governs allocations today and mostly benefits wealthier cities with higher property values. That hurts cities like his, Barron said.
Only the state legislature can update that formula, something Barron is pushing for.
“One of the things that I really wish that we could look at is helping cities like South Gate, like Bell, like Cudahy, Maywood — the Southeast L.A. region — be a little bit more self-sustainable,” Barron said.
“All we're asking,” he added, “is to be able to be self-sustainable and not have to always rely on grant money to be able to get projects off the ground.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district’s new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids.
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Alison Yin
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EdSource
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Topline:
A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district’s new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students.
The backstory: Passed in June, LAUSD’s policy generally prohibits use of district-issued devices for students in early education through first grade. It places caps on every other grade level — the higher the grade, the more screen time is allowed. And by the time students reach high school, they are allowed up to 90 minutes per week in each subject area.
Why it matters: The new policy followed months of organizing by parents who argued that students — and teachers — had become too dependent on digital devices in classrooms. They argued that schools should prioritize teacher-led instruction, hands-on activities and interaction with peers. Some also said their children’s struggles to regulate their emotions were a direct result of using screens in the classroom.
Read on... for more on how LAUSD teachers are adapting to the district's new policy.
A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district’s new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students.
One first grade teacher has switched to jigsaw puzzles instead of having her students complete activities on a learning app. A middle school science teacher is considering how to teach Newton’s Third Law of physics with toy cars instead of a video simulation. Some teachers say they are struggling to adjust after years of technology woven into their curriculum.
“Our goals haven’t changed whether we’re on screens or not,” said Armaghan Khan, an eighth grade teacher at Johnnie Cochran Jr. Middle School. “The idea is still to provide quality standards of mind instruction. And so, what does that look like when you’re not on a screen? And for a lot of the newer teachers, myself included, we’ve never really taught that way.”
Passed in June, LAUSD’s policy generally prohibits use of district-issued devices for students in early education through first grade. It places caps on every other grade level — the higher the grade, the more screen time is allowed. And by the time students reach high school, they are allowed up to 90 minutes per week in each subject area.
The new policy followed months of organizing by parents who argued that students — and teachers — had become too dependent on digital devices in classrooms. They argued that schools should prioritize teacher-led instruction, hands-on activities and interaction with peers. Some also said their children’s struggles to regulate their emotions were a direct result of using screens in the classroom.
But the new restrictions on screen time have also meant that teachers have to rethink lessons built around laptops, tablets and digital instructional programs. Many are concerned about students with disabilities and English language learners who may disproportionately rely on technology, even though accommodations are possible.
Corinne Hyde, a professor of education at USC, said she worries that the policy could unnecessarily restrict teachers’ ability to use technology when they believe it would benefit students.
“We should trust teachers to make good instructional decisions, and that as long as we equip them with appropriate professional development and support, that they are fully capable of making the appropriate decisions about how to use technology in their classrooms, or if they should use technology in their classrooms,” said Hyde.
LAUSD’s Screen time Policy
Early education, kindergarten and first grade: Students are banned from screen time
Second and third grades: Zero to 20 minutes daily, or 100 minutes weekly, starting in November
Fourth and fifth grade: Zero to 30 minutes, or 150 minutes weekly, starting in November
Sixth through eighth grade: Zero to 60 minutes per subject, with a cap of 360 minutes weekly, as of January
Ninth through 12th grade: Zero to 90 minutes per subject per week for students, with a cap of 600 minutes weekly, as of January
No screen time for LAUSD’s youngest learners
Last year, the youngest daughter of Julie Edwards, a parent and member of the group Schools Beyond Screens, would come home obsessed with JiJi, a penguin cartoon that appears on a gamified learning platform. Now, Edwards’ first grader comes home eager to talk about her friends and her school’s ticket-based rewards system, she says.
“There’s still more work to do,” said Edwards. “But I think everything is like moving in such a great direction, and I’m just really hoping that because this is happening on an institutional level, it really starts to filter down into families’ personal lives.”
Edwards’ daughter’s teacher has made a number of changes to go screenless. So has Martha Medina, a first grade teacher at Logan Academy of Global Ecology, who also lost other classroom support. This year, she no longer has instructional coaches, who help with targeted learning interventions, or teachers’ aides.
Medina had planned to have students rotate among three 15-minute stations so she could provide individualized attention. One station would be with her, another in the library and a third would use a learning app on an iPad.
Under the new policy, Medina can no longer use the app as planned. Instead, students at the third station work on jigsaw puzzles or art-related activities designed to reinforce uppercase and lowercase letters.
She said the changes have made it much more difficult to run the three groups, limit constant disruptions and keep children on task.
“Parents are worried that the kids are going to be on the iPad all day,” she said. “That’s just not the case in primary. There’s no way we can have the kids on iPads all day. There’s too much to teach.”
Teachers prepare for changes ahead
Khan is among the upper-grade teachers who are adjusting their lesson plans to comply with limits that will go into effect in January.
Under the policy, middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time each week in each subject area.
“I feel a lot of times the district leadership comes up with these ideas, and however well intentioned they are, they leave it to the rest of us to kind of figure out how to implement them, or just what the best case looks like,” Khan said.
He added that he has spent the past eight years building his curriculum around electronic devices. Like many schools nationwide, his school had been a “one-to-one,” meaning each student has access to a device. Those devices had largely replaced textbooks, and, to some extent, paper and pencil.
“We were using a lot of digital resources, and some of them have been really amazing,” he said.
One of Khan’s favorite tools is Gizmos, a program that allows him to show students simulations to explore science concepts that can be difficult to demonstrate in a classroom. For example, students visualize the heart pumping blood through veins and arteries throughout the body. Or, they can explore Newton’s Third Law — the concept that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — through a simulated car crash.
“I can always get two toy cars and have them crash together so they can see the law and effect,” Khan said. “But with the simulation, it lets me just get much more granular and just deeper into just how it applies to their everyday lives.”
He also said technology has been particularly important for students with disabilities and English language learners, who may rely on digital tools for accommodations and language support.
The district told EdSource that it has made professional learning opportunities available to school administrators and teachers, both in-person and virtually, to help with the transition.
“Our goal is to ensure that all school sites are well-prepared with the tools, understanding, and support needed to effectively implement these guidelines in a way that supports student learning and well-being,” LAUSD said in a statement.
Khan said he has not had access to that support yet. Still, despite what he described as “growing pains,” he remains optimistic about the changes.
“I do think there is merit in the idea. I don’t just want to be doom and gloom about having to switch,” Khan said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
EdSource is an independent nonprofit organization that provides analysis on key education issues facing California and the nation. LAist republishes articles from EdSource with permission.
Brian Woodward gets the wires connected to a speed camera as crews install and mount the new cameras on Artesia Boulevard in North Long Beach on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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Topline:
Automated speed cameras have arrived in Long Beach, and they’re scheduled to begin issuing tickets soon.
Why now: The cameras are part of a state-authorized pilot program to see if writing automated speeding tickets can make roads safer.
Crews began installing the speed cameras this week. Nearby signs will warn drivers, said Joshua Hickman, director of Public Works. The cameras will start issuing warnings for 60 days before citations start.
The warning period is expected to start in October; then citations would start going out in December, Hickman said.
How they work
The cameras capture only the rear license plates of drivers speeding 11 mph or more over the posted speed limit. Based on that license plate information, a citation will be issued to the address where the car is registered.
Half of the cameras are on streets where deadly or severe crashes have occurred most often. The other half are going in school zones or in areas where street racing is a problem.
You can find an interactive map of the speed camera locations here.
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How much is a citation
Citations range from $50 to 500 based on speed.
Speed Over Limit
Fine Amount
11-15 mph
$50
16-25 mph
$100
26+ mph
$200
100+ mph
$500
If a driver does not receive any warnings during the 60-day warning period, then the first speeding offense will result in a warning. After that, they will get a citation with a fine.
Payment is due within 30 days, but payment plans and diversion programs are available.
The other half will be spent on traffic-calming measures in neighborhoods where traffic engineers determine they’re needed most. The state law authorizing the pilot program says the money can’t be spent on anything else.
Scott Musquiz mounts new speed cameras onto a light pole on Artesia Boulevard in North Long Beach on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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Earlier this year, Long Beach City Council directed the Public Works Department to hire third-party contractors to speed up their ability to install quick-build safety measures.
But traffic deaths this year have kept up the pace. At this time last year, the city had tallied 35 traffic deaths. As of Friday, this year’s total is at 33.
State pilot
Long Beach is able to install speed cameras thanks to a 2023 state bill that approved a five-year pilot for Long Beach as well as six other cities.
The city was allowed to install speed cameras immediately after the bill passed and had until Jan. 1, 2027, to begin the pilot.
San Francisco installed 33 speed cameras last October and reported a 72% reduction in speeding after six months of citations.
Brian Woodward, left, gets assistance as he prepares a speed camera to be mounted as crews install new cameras on Artesia Boulevard in North Long Beach on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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In Oakland, 18 speed camera locations saw a 70% drop in speeding drivers, on average.
Los Angeles and Glendale have yet to deploy their speed cameras.
Potential expansion to PCH
A state bill currently on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would allow Long Beach to install two more speed cameras on Pacific Coast Highway.
If signed, the cameras could be installed as soon as Jan. 1 and would follow the same rules as the other cameras.
The aftermath of a fatal high-speed crash at Anaheim Street and Pacific Coast Highway on March 23, 2020.
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PCH is a state route, meaning it was not included in the state pilot program because it’s not controlled by the city of Long Beach.
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, who authored the bill, said PCH accounts for about one-fifth of the city’s traffic deaths despite covering less than 1% of the city’s roadways.
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The 78th Emmy Awards air Monday night, hosted by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay. Monday's ceremony will include 19 awards, including those for top comedy series, top drama series and best actor and actress in each.
Who's nominated: Familiar titles like Hacks, Abbott Elementary and The Bear are all nominated for top comedy series alongside newcomers Widow's Bay and Margo's Got Money Troubles. On the drama side, last year's winner The Pitt is facing off against Pluribus, Slow Horses, The Diplomat and more. A whole swath of actors on The Pitt got their first nominations this year, as did Dale Dickey and Kate O'Flynn for Widow's Bay.
What else you can expect: The Television Academy has announced that Noah Kahan will perform "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as part of the In Memoriam segment. Presenters will include Alan Cumming, Sally Field, Jon Hamm, Marcello Hernández, Niecy Nash-Betts, Keke Palmer, Amy Poehler, Florence Pugh, Rachel Sennott and Zendaya.
Read on . . . for information on how to watch Monday's Emmy Awards ceremony.
The 78th Emmy Awards air Monday night, hosted by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay.
The Television Academy already kicked things off earlier this month: what was once the Creative Arts Emmys was expanded and rebranded into a two-night ceremony highlighting casting, guest actors, game shows, documentaries, behind-the-scenes craftspeople and more. Rob Reiner was posthumously awarded his third Emmy for a guest appearance on The Bear. Hargitay, Monday night's host, won two awards for her documentaryMy Mom Jayne.
Monday's ceremony will include 19 awards, including those for top comedy series, top drama series and best actor and actress in each.
Here's what to know to watch the ceremony.
When are the Emmy Awards this year?
The show will be live Monday night on NBC and Peacock starting at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT. A pre-show and live coverage will air on E! starting at 5 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. PT.
Who is nominated this year?
Familiar titles like Hacks, Abbott Elementary and The Bear are all nominated for top comedy series alongside newcomers Widow's Bay and Margo's Got Money Troubles. On the drama side, last year's winner The Pitt is facing off against Pluribus, Slow Horses, The Diplomat and more.
A whole swath of actors on The Pitt got their first nominations this year, as did Dale Dickey and Kate O'Flynn for Widow's Bay. You can find the nominees here, along with hopes from NPR critics here.
What else can I expect?
The Television Academy has announced that Noah Kahan will perform "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as part of the In Memoriam segment. Presenters will include Alan Cumming, Sally Field, Jon Hamm, Marcello Hernández, Niecy Nash-Betts, Keke Palmer, Amy Poehler, Florence Pugh, Rachel Sennott and Zendaya.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published September 14, 2026 5:00 AM
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg perform at the LA28 Olympic Games Handover Celebration.
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Emma McIntyre
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
In less than two years, the Olympics and Paralympics will take over Los Angeles for the summer of 2028, temporarily transforming the city and the region around it. To answer what that will mean for everyday Angelenos, LAist is launching our Olympics Monday to spotlight our ongoing coverage of the Games.
In less than two years, the Olympics and Paralympics will take over Los Angeles for the summer of 2028, temporarily transforming the city and the region around it.
What will everyday Angelenos get out of all this? That depends. And it’s the question LAist is dedicated to answering every Monday as we spotlight our ongoing reporting on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
L.A. has hosted the Olympics before — first in 1932 and again in 1984. Both times the Games turned a profit — a rarity for a global event that has gained a reputation over the decades for leaving cities with debt and empty stadiums.
Local officials say they’re confident L.A. can pull off a third Olympic Games (and its first-ever Paralympics), pointing out that hosting will not require building any new sports venues.
We’ll be following all this and more. Every Monday, you can listen to the latest on how Los Angeles is preparing for the 2028 Olympics on The L.A. Report and on our homepage.
