The Brief

For a century now, the United States has prioritized the automobile over the pedestrian. Major cities slice up their neighborhoods with thick highways and some suburbs don’t even bother installing sidewalks. Even in deep-blue San Francisco, a battle broke out this year over whether to close a coastal highway to cars permanently.

It might seem obvious that making a neighborhood more friendly to pedestrians encourages people to walk more, improving public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from driving. But it’s surprisingly tricky to demonstrate that with data, since other factors influence how much a person walks, like their socioeconomic status. Cities need such data to prioritize which neighborhoods to make more walkable, and then public health officials need still more research to confirm the benefits of any interventions.

To that end, a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology used 11,000 twins to show that whenever a neighborhood becomes 1% more walkable — by, for instance, adding sidewalks to make it easier for people to get from parks to restaurants and other businesses on foot — residents walk 0.42% more minutes a week.

So if a city boosts an area’s walkability by about 50%, an average resident might theoretically walk about 20 more minutes a week, according to the study. That’s important, the researchers write, “because even small increases in physical activity at the population level can contribute to improvements in public health.” (You can find the walkability score of your neighborhood here. The service is separate from the study.)

Experts have long encouraged people to walk for their health. But by targeting walkability overall, cities can bake that encouragement into the landscape itself.

“Individual behavior change just isn’t doing it. We’ve kind of done that to death, in my opinion,” said Glen E. Duncan, the lead author of the paper and a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at Washington State University. “We just tell people to eat your fruits and vegetables and get more exercise, without really thinking about the larger structural problems that hinder people from eating better and getting more activity.”

A key component of the study was a database of twins, which allowed the researchers to look at pairs of similar people living in different neighborhoods. The researchers could investigate the objective measurements of walkability in the twins’ neighborhoods — such as plenty of destinations readily accessible by sidewalks — to determine if the built environment influenced their activity.

They found that the twins who lived in more walkable neighborhoods reported walking more weekly minutes than their siblings. Now policymakers can use this information to make their cities more walkable, Duncan said. “That could be a really good thing for public health.”

The study could help city governments looking to take climate action, too. Cities are prime candidates for “multisolving” techniques, interventions that solve multiple problems at once. New sidewalks or zoning laws to get more businesses within walking distance for residents don’t just make it easier to get around on foot.

“Every trip taken on foot instead of by a fossil fuel-powered car reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” said Elizabeth Sawin, the director of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Multisolving Institute, who wasn’t involved in the new research. “Walkability also helps connect people with the neighbors and local businesses, and increases a sense of connection and economic vitality.”

With more people opting to walk instead of drive, fewer cars on the road would improve local air quality and put fewer pedestrians and cyclists in danger of getting run over by cars: Every day in the U.S., an average of 20 people are killed by motor vehicles. But it’s not necessary to close off roads to cars to make a place more walkable; a city government simply needs to improve the existing infrastructure to make people feel safer walking and cycling. That might be particularly welcome in underserved neighborhoods.

“I think it is going to make a world of a difference for many people — marginalized groups in particular,” said Bunmi Akinnusotu, director of city innovation at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Aspen Institute, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Cities can change more readily than you might think. San Francisco voters ended up closing that coastal highway in the November election, clearing the way for it to become a two-mile-long park for pedestrians and bicyclists. And ever since the lifting of COVID restrictions, cities across the U.S. have been experimenting with slow streets and other ways to improve pedestrian safety and human health.

“If we really want to move the needle on public health,” Duncan said, “we need to be thinking about things that we can change that impact a large percentage of the population.”

When you’re drinking a glass of water, you might not think about the potential for microplastics floating around inside the cup.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new standards for monitoring our drinking water, a move that lays the groundwork for future safety regulation.

But microplastics aren't included on the list — and many advocacy groups are concerned.

More than 250 health professionals added their names to a May letter to the EPA that called microplastics "a public health crisis that can no longer be ignored."

“It is estimated that the average person consumes 4,000 or more microplastic particles annually from drinking water alone,” the letter continued.

The EPA released a statement to LAist Wednesday saying the agency "acknowledges the interest in and concern for microplastics in drinking water" and is in the process of taking steps to prioritize the needed research.

Why it matters

The proposed new testing program would require public water facilities to test for a list of up to 30 chemicals and contaminants such as pesticides and PFAS — dubbed "forever chemicals" — which are found in products like nonstick cookware.

Water safety advocates say it’s important to test for those chemicals because they can seep into water systems by runoff, factory leaching and landfill leakages. Experts say testing the substances helps identify what contaminants pose a health risk, and how much is present in water systems.

Safety advocates say they want microplastics added to the list because research has shown that ingesting them is potentially harmful to humans.

Over the past few years, governors, attorneys general and almost 200 organizations sent letters to the EPA urging the agency to include microplastics on the test list.

Among them is California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is part of a 14-state coalition petitioning to add microplastics to the proposed new screening list, known formally as the UCMR 6.

“Microplastics clearly warrant further monitoring and regulation due to their prevalence throughout the environment and the rapidly growing evidence of their negative impact on the environment and public health,” Bonta and others stated in a joint letter to the EPA last month.

So what’s the challenge?

It takes time to develop, test and approve methods for testing certain contaminants in water so that public systems can uniformly and consistently measure them. With microplastics, the research just isn’t there yet, according to EPA officials.

“There is no validated EPA or consensus drinking water analytical method with the proper quality control data, accuracy, and precision that could be used for UCMR 6,” agency officials said in a filing published early this month in the Federal Register.

What this means locally

The good news for Southern California residents concerned about microplastics is that the state has pulled ahead of the federal government in microplastic screenings. A law passed in 2018, Senate Bill 1422, called on regulators to implement a testing plan for microplastics in large community water systems.

Implementation of the law is still in its early stages, so only certain providers are required to test for microplastics. The state chose departments based on water supply, size of agency and forms of treatment.

Once more analysis is done with these agencies, the law is designed to expand its reach to all water departments.

The Irvine Ranch Water District is one of the agencies selected by the state to perform testing.

Although validated methods have not yet emerged, Jim Colston, the district's director of water quality and regulatory compliance, said he is confident that the area’s water is safe.

“There are many pervasive sources of microplastics in the environment, but the public water supply has not been shown to be a significant source,” Colston said.

LAist spoke to authorities at several Southern California water departments, and all said that consumers should not worry about their drinking water.

“Our drinking water is safe,” said Pat Versluis, director of water quality for the Orange County Water District, which serves 2.5 million people in the central and North Orange County area.

“I'd say the state of California's process, it's been methodical for several years," Versluis said. "They seem to be getting closer to a more refined sample collection, sample analysis, and kind of process for monitoring water sources.

"And we're following that closely.”

Where you come in

• The UCMR 6 program still needs to be finalized by the end of the year.
• Once it goes into effect in January 2028, the list of substances will be tested in a three-year sample period. The process of examining the research can then take two or more years after that.
• The EPA is accepting public comments on this issue until Aug. 31.
• If you want to weigh in on microplastics testing, you can contact local government representatives or the EPA. (Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit advocacy group, provides templates for people who don’t know where to begin.)

For a city that has more than its fair share of movie shoots — from Barbie’s high-speed chase along Chestnut Place to serving as Hollywood’s budget-friendly stand-in for Miami and San Diego — it’s high time that Long Beach sets aside time to celebrate it.

The inaugural Long Beach Film Festival will run Aug. 29–30, mooring its first-year slate at the historic Art Theatre on Retro Row with four feature films, multiple short film blocks and industry panel discussions.

The idea, according to organizers, came together exactly where one assumes — a kids’ birthday party at a Signal Hill playground. Festival board president Teodor Todorov struck up a conversation with local filmmaker Hunter Stiebel after spotting him with a Sundance T-shirt.

At first, Stiebel refused; it’s difficult to put together, he said, and hardly worth the headache. “It’s so much work,” he continued. But he quickly reconsidered, thinking how he’s always wanted a stronger local cinephile presence since moving to the city. “How best to find it rather than make it yourself?” said Stiebel, who now serves as the festival’s director of programming.

The festival’s four main narrative features span genres from psychological horror to romantic science fiction. Leading the slate is “Downbeat,” a 91-minute South by Southwest entry directed by Danny Madden (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) that follows a musician caught between personal relationships and artistic ambition. The lineup also includes “Ugly Cry,” a 94-minute psychological horror film directed by Emily Robinson that explores an actor’s dangerous obsession with perfection following a devastating audition.

Rounding out the feature selections are “Again Again,” a time-loop romantic sci-fi feature written by and starring Mia Moore and executive produced by Lilly Wachowski (“The Matrix”) about a woman facing the terrifying uncertainty of a new day after escaping a decade-long loop, and “Rescued,” written, directed by, and starring local filmmaker DJ Hale alongside Lindsay Shaw (“Pretty Little Liars”). There will also be four 90-minute segments of short films.

Filmed on location in Long Beach, “Rescued” explores homelessness and redemption through the story of a man whose life transforms after adopting a stray dog.

Hale, who based the movie on experiences faced by himself, his friend and producer Dominique Smith, and his mother, says it’s “a tremendous honor” to show the film here. “It feels perfect, it feels like it was supposed to happen,” he said.

Moving to Long Beach in 2020, he started working on the film in late 2022 and finished in January after an eight-month hiatus to get money for production. “(Smith) just randomly got this huge settlement check from a work injury that happened years ago, and he selflessly just put a big chunk of that to restoring the project,” Hale said.

He hopes the film can dispel myths and misconceptions about being homeless, and remind people that anyone can fall into homelessness.

“A lot of times, it’s just people who are literally living paycheck to paycheck, and then something happens that is unforeseen that causes them to get behind,” Hale said. “Hours can get cut, they could lose a job, get sick for an extended period of time, so on and so forth. … It’s just a snowball effect.”

The timing of the festival — in the dead of summer and amid a boon in indie theater attendance — almost couldn’t be better. Kerstin Kansteiner, vice president of the nonprofit Art Theatre, said the venue has a lot more flexibility with its schedule in the summer as opposed to the fall and winter, when major films are shown on studio-mandated terms leading up to the awards season.

And there’s a strong appetite for independent film, she added, saying the theater has had a strong increase in ticket sales she says is tied to event programming over the past couple of years.

“This new generation is embracing film, but it’s more than just film. … I think what they’re looking for is community and an event-based experience,” Kansteiner said, adding that summer programming allows the theater to run unique screenings, Q&A sessions, and local festivals like the Cambodia Town Film Festival and QFilmFest. “It’s been very, very successful.”

Where other festivals, including new ones in Glendale and Santa Monica, have relied on grants for funding, the Long Beach festival is seeded mainly by small monetary gifts and in-kind donations, with an almost entirely volunteer-based workforce.

Organizers say they want the festival, in years ahead, to become a happy medium between a benefit for local talent and a must-stop in the region to see films that dominate the festival circuit.

“A festival that feels both world-class and deeply rooted in Long Beach,” Stiebel said. “So, at this time when film and TV production has been fleeing California, Los Angeles, even the United States … we feel that it’s time that we are able to plant a flag here locally.”

Ahead of the August weekend, festival organizers will host a fundraiser Wednesday at Wine on Second in Naples. The event features a preview of “Rescued,” along with wine and hors d’oeuvres. Proceeds will support LBFF StoryLab, a local youth filmmaking initiative.

Individual screening tickets start at $10, while $150 VIP passes offer access to an opening night party at the Queen Mary, filmmaker mixers, panel sessions, and the festival’s VIP lounge. Tickets and schedule details are available on the festival website.

University of California officials announced Wednesday they have offered admission to a record number of California students. Around 102,000 residents were offered seats, about 1,400 more than last year. UC also admitted about 29,400 California community college transfers, another record high, officials said.

In Southern California, UCLA offered seats to 57% of California residents who applied, UC Irvine 52% and UC Riverside 87%. Around 2,500 of the admitted California students at UCLA are first-generation college students.

“For generations, a University of California education has been one of the state’s most powerful engines of social mobility, opening doors for talented students from every background and region of the state,” said UC President James B. Milliken. “The record number of California students we’re welcoming this year reflects UC's enduring commitment to expanding opportunity while preparing the next generation of leaders, innovators, educators and public servants."

UC has also increased its offer of admissions to out-of-state students and international students.

Why it matters

UCs increasing California student admissions is tied to a deal the university system struck with lawmakers after facing increased complaints from parents and students that the top UC schools — UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego — were so hard to get into.

The deal, UC’s Multi-Year Compact, requires UCs to increase in-state students by 1% every year and make it easier for community college students to transfer. In turn, the state would increase its funding to UCs to make up for the loss of revenue from non-state students — about a 5% increase every year.

The University of California has said it's on track to meet that goal.

Race and ethnicity in admissions

Earlier this year, the Justice Department accused UCLA of “intentionally” selecting students based on their race, favoring Black and Latino students. This is part of a larger trend of the Department of Justice pursuing legal action against the University of California in President Donald Trump’s second term, including suing UCLA over allegations that the university allowed antisemitism on campus. The Justice Department also unsuccessfully demanded a range of concessions to bring UCLA more in line with its ideology, in addition to more than $1 billion in fines. The administration also tried to freeze the university’s research funding, prompting an effort to have the state of California be a backstop.

But admission trends in race stayed mostly the same as in previous years.

Around 6% of California students offered admissions at UC identify as Black, proportional to the state’s Black population, while around 38% of the in-state admitted students are Latino. Around 40% of the state’s population is Latino.

Around 18% of the in-state students offered admissions identified as white and 33% Asian.

We’ve all had a problem neighbor at one time or another, but what if they howled at the moon?

That’s what West Hollywood is dealing with right now at a so-called “coyote condo,” where a pack has taken over a construction site, leading to complaints from residents.

Now, officials are making the property owner take action.

How we got here

Coyotes often show up in Southern California’s urban areas looking for food, but these ones are sticking around.

The pack is squatting in an unfinished site near the corner of North Spaulding Avenue and Romaine Street.

The area was supposed to become a 22-unit condominium building, according to the city. However, construction stopped in 2024 and permits have since expired.

The roughly 19,500-square-foot lot is fenced off. Neighbors have reported coyotes traversing the bare wood frames. So far, they've only been a nuisance.

"At this time, the city is not aware of any reports of injuries to people or pets associated with the coyotes at this property," city spokesperson Sheri Lunn told LAist. Officials also don't know yet how many coyotes are using the space.

What’s next

West Hollywood's Neighborhood and Business Safety Division is in touch with the owner’s representative.

“As with any privately owned property, the owner is responsible for maintaining the site,” the city said in a statement.

Officials are requiring the owner to “promptly” retain a wildlife control operator that specializes in humane wildlife management. That expert is tasked with assessing and recommending next steps, so it’s still unclear how the coyote problem will be dealt with.

The city of West Hollywood follows a coyote coexistence plan, which only recommends lethal action for unprovoked human attacks. Lunn said the plan is not a regulatory requirement imposed directly on private property owners.

Wild animal relocation is also generally illegal under state regulations because moving them can disrupt local ecosystems and spread disease.

However, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife can give written permission to relocate coyotes under certain circumstances. The city says it will update residents on its website as new information becomes available.

In the meantime, don’t feed the coyotes and take caution when you’re in the area. Keep pets on a leash and indoors, if you live close. Coyotes are known to attack small animals. Young children can also get targeted, but it’s less common.

You can learn more about how these urban canines live in our coyote guide.