The Brief

Spotting a Mojave Desert tortoise is increasingly difficult in the American Southwest. The tortoises, with their unmistakable domed patterned shells, live in California, parts of Nevada, Arizona and northwestern Mexico. But they have lost habitat over the decades to encroaching development. They're also at risk from disease and climate change, all of which threaten their existence.

In four out of the five primary regions where Mojave Desert tortoises can be found, some estimates show that around 90% of tortoises have disappeared since 1984.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife classified the Mojave Desert tortoise as threatened in 1989. A year later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the tortoise as threatened. But California has taken measures a step further this year by declaring the tortoise as endangered under the state's Endangered Species Act. That designation means the tortoises are likely to go extinct if they are not managed properly.

The state agency's spokesperson, Krysten Kellum, said in an email that the status change could increase the likelihood that state, federal and resource management agencies will prioritize and distribute more funds toward protection and recovery actions.

"The uplisting highlights the urgency of tortoise conservation needs," Kellum wrote.

A six-month-old Mojave Desert Tortoise is examined by wildlife biologist.

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Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, fired 420 USFW probationary staff. Nearly another 300 took the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer. The administration has also proposed cutting the budgets of the USFWS, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service. Those agencies are all tasked with managing endangered and threatened species on federal lands, including the desert tortoise.

Garrett Peterson, a spokesperson for the USFWS, said in an emailed statement that the agency remains committed to fulfilling the mission of conserving fish, wildlife, and natural resources for the American people. But the agency could "not comment on personnel matters or on Congressional deliberations regarding appropriations."

Kristina Drake used to lead the Desert Tortoise Recovery Office for the USFWS. She signed the administration's deferred resignation letter in the spring. Drake says she doesn't anticipate any additional federal funding to support the tortoise — a species that's survived in the desert for at least 15 million years.

Nonetheless, nonprofits like the Mojave Desert Land Trust, located in the town of Joshua Tree, and others remain steadfast in wanting to protect and preserve the desert tortoise and its habitat.

And on a warm early morning summer day, Patrick Emblidge and Clay Noss with the Mojave Desert Land Trust, are hopeful they can catch a glimpse of a desert tortoise. To do that, they're searching for holes that tortoises make, often called burrows, in a canyon near Joshua Tree, where the town's namesake tree flourishes near desert flora and grasses.

It's difficult to find a desert tortoise because they spend the majority of their time underground. And they are rare, explains Emblidge. "They're at serious risk of going extinct  and it's terribly unjust."

A desert tortoise crosses a road while cars drive in the opposite lane. There's no single thing that has contributed to the tortoise downturn. Vehicle collisions, habitat encroachment and climate change are among the many factors.

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'Death from a thousand cuts'

Since being listed as a threatened species more than 35 years ago, tortoise numbers have continued to dwindle. Ed LaRue, who's on the board of directors for the Desert Tortoise Council, a group that focuses on the species' survival, says it took five years for California to review data to move the tortoise from threatened to endangered earlier this year.

"The state's determination was in California, the tortoise is worse off now than it was when it was formally listed back in 1989," LaRue says. "So, even though there are a few places where you can go and see them, at a population level, they're still declining across the board."

That's despite the existence of five recovery areas for the Mojave Desert tortoise in the Southwest. They include the Upper Virgin River, Northeastern Mojave, Eastern Mojave, Western Mojave and Eastern Colorado.

There's no single issue that has contributed to the tortoise downturn, says Cameron Barrows, who studies deserts at the University of California, Riverside. He and many scientists describe the tortoises' decline as "death from a thousand cuts." That's because they face multiple threats, including off-road vehicles, predators, drought, and even military bases.

Then there's climate change.

" Climate change is one of those things, and it's not minor at all," Barrows says. "It's a very important aspect of what's going on with tortoises."

Human-caused climate change makes temperatures hotter and droughts last longer. Jeff Lovich, a retired scientist who researched tortoises at the U.S. Geological Survey for over 30 years, says higher temperatures contribute to the sex determination of tortoise hatchlings.

During California's long drought that lasted from 2012 to 2016, Lovich conducted a study that showed a big decline in female tortoises. That's because when female tortoises lay eggs, they lose water and protein. Drought exacerbates this, ultimately affecting the population's survival.

" The eggs are about the size of a ping pong ball," Lovich says. "If females are doing that during a drought, it's gonna put them in life-threatening situations, and we think we documented that with their high mortality during that epic drought."

Tortoises build between seven to 17 burrows underground per year. When they get tired of their burrow, they move to another area and dig a new spot.

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A keystone species

Some conservationists call tortoises "ecosystem engineers" because they build between seven to 17 burrows underground per year.

When tortoises tire of their burrow, they abandon them and relocate. Lovich says that's when other critters like snakes, birds and small mammals move in.

"If you took the tortoise away, you would take away that service that they provide for other species," he explains.

In the Mojave Desert, Emblidge and Noss study a burrow that's too big to be a tortoise's home. It's shaped like a half-moon – flat on the bottom and domed on the top – and sandwiched under a large boulder. They come to the same conclusion.

"Yeah, it's a tortoise burrow, it's just so big," Emblidge says. "It looks like it could have been modified by a fox or a coyote."

But losing the tortoise from the Mojave Desert would mean losing more than recycled burrows. The species' extinction could drastically change the landscape, says Emblidge.

"It would remove a keystone animal that is an indicator of ecosystem health," says Emblidge, who spent eight years studying tortoises at the USGS in the Southwest. "If tortoises are going extinct, we're doing something wrong and everything else is suffering as well."

Climate change makes temperatures hotter and droughts last longer. According to Jeff Lovich, a retired scientist, higher temperatures contribute to determining the sex of tortoise hatchlings.

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A 'tortoisey area'

In the Mojave Desert, Emblidge and Noss point out desert dandelion, devil's lettuce and other forage tortoises like to munch on. They hope that maybe the elusive desert tortoise will appear on this hot summer morning. After a short hike, Emblidge and Noss drop to their knees to look underneath a boulder. There, burrowed back into the dirt and camouflaged by the rock, is a tortoise with its big domed shell and stubby feet.

Emblidge and Noss climb higher up the rocks and spot another tortoise.

"This is a really tortoisey area," Noss says.

This one has a burrow in between two boulders where she's — yes, the tortoise is a female — buried deep, providing ample shade and protection from predators. Only her back shell and one leg are visible. "She's not very photogenic today," laughs Emblidge.

Emblidge and Noss say seeing two tortoises in one day is special because they're in serious danger of going extinct. "They are amazing animals when you get to know 'em," Noss says, "and they're doing what they can to survive out here. We're just not really giving them a chance."

But with additional federal funding for tortoise conservation unlikely, groups like the Mojave Desert Land Trust and the Desert Tortoise Council become more important, according to Drake, formerly with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She says those groups will have to continue to "hold the line for a few years," for the sake of all endangered species and ecosystems.
Copyright 2025 NPR

With a new grade called transitional kindergarten, there are younger kids in elementary school this year than ever before in California — and with that comes its own set of challenges for schools who are trying to implement it.

In 2021, California passed a law that gave districts four years to make TK universal for 4-year-olds. TK has been around since 2012, but only for a small subset of older 4-year-olds who just missed the kindergarten age cutoff by a few months.

“It was a big undertaking,” said Laura Hill, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. “There are plenty of folks who might say that was not enough time, not enough resources,  but it is the case that the state did try to be thoughtful about how to make it happen.”

The state doesn’t yet have data on total enrollment this school year — the first year that TK is universal — though district data, such as from Los Angeles Unified School District, shows enrollment has grown to the highest total yet.

Expanding access statewide has required new infrastructure — with money that some districts don’t have. It's required a new group of teachers with the right credentials. And while a year might not seem like much, 4-year-olds have different developmental needs than kindergartners.

“Many of them are still in need of naps,” said Hill, who co-authored a report on the rollout of TK last year.

And for some, it might be their first time in a big group setting.

In one school district, Hill and her colleagues interviewed educators who described the first week of school with younger 4-year-olds as “shark week” — because of the high number of biting incidents.

“Biting is just one of those things that a child who is frustrated and doesn't have the words and isn't feeling like they can cope right now might resort to,” Hill said. “What they were seeing was both the children not quite ready making this transition and the adults having less experience working with children this young and helping them kind of sort this all out.”

Mary Edge-Guerra, who oversees TK at Downey Unified School District, points out there are children who are only 3 years old at the start of the school year since they just have to be 4 by September.

“As TK evolved in bringing younger students, it’s looking more preschoolish than it once did than when it first started,” she said. “They need that developmental time to grow, and as their gross motor and just developmental milestones are being met, then the instruction needs to adjust.”

From lunch to naps, 4-year-olds need more care

During lunchtime at Smith Elementary in Lawndale, TK teacher Lauren Bush’s instruction goes beyond the classroom. As her students lined up in the cafeteria, she guided them through the menu options from the salad bar to the entree choice of a burrito or tamale.

Teachers help children eat their lunches at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra.

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“ Wow, Jasmine! That's healthy,” Bush said to one student after she asked for carrots and cucumbers.

When the kids sat down at their tables, she also helped them open up their food packages, or instructed them to blow on their burritos to cool them down.

To help accommodate younger kids at lunchtime, Principal Cristal Moore said the school shifted their lunch schedules this year so that TK students are only with kindergartners in the cafeteria.

“We knew they were gonna need more help with, ‘Can you put a straw in my milk?’ — just really trying to make sure that we were there to support them,” Moore said.

Teachers must also decide whether to set aside time for a nap during the school day — TK does not require one.

When Bush started teaching TK a few years ago, she didn’t include a nap in the six-hour schedule and realized her students were more likely to whine, fight and cry at the end of the day without a break.

Nap time at Marguerita Elementary.

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“The resting is good for them, even if they don't sleep,” Bush said. “It's just a total reset. It's a lot of stimulation for a lot of hours for their little bodies.”

Bathroom support

Four-year-olds may also still need help going to the bathroom, or have accidents at school. The state Department of Education requires districts to admit all eligible students, regardless if they’re potty-trained. And for many teachers, helping children with the bathroom or changing diapers isn’t part of their union-bargained duties.

Some districts have aides and health assistants who can help. Others call a students’ parents if they have an accident at school.

At Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra, TK aide Veronica Gonzalez is trained to assist. She said while most students can go to the bathroom on their own, others still need help.

“Last year we dealt with one [student] and she was only afraid of going to the bathroom because she was afraid of flushing the toilet… and then for like two weeks, we’d flush the toilet together.”

Facility requirements 

Instruction for TK is supposed to be based around play, versus academic.

In Claudia Ralston’s TK classroom in Alhambra, the room is set up so students can learn how to interact with their peers. There are play stations, including a pretend role-play area with a grocery checkout counter.

“Obviously they're only 4 years old, they need to move around while they're learning. So that, that in itself –the environment is different,” Ralston said. “We are setting up an environment so that they are learning as well at the same time.”

The state has different requirements for new TK classrooms than for upper grades. They have to be larger, so kids have room to play. They need to have bathrooms inside the classroom or close by, and they have to be close to parent drop-off areas. But not all schools have built out these spaces.

“We need to make sure that families have access to [TK] and that it's as good as it can be,” Hill said.

Has Los Angeles reached peak pastry?

It feels like brand new sweets shops are opening every week across the city. At the end of last year, Filipino ice cream shop Eat Perlas began scooping flavors like calamansi creamsicle in Montrose, Altadena Cookie Co. debuted a storefront on the west side of the neighborhood, and French bakery The Little Cake started slinging croissants, eclairs and tarts in Commerce.

L.A.'s deep appreciation for bakeries and confectioneries isn’t novel. But with the widespread influence of TikTok and the continued rise in little treat culture, the number of places to satisfy one’s sweet tooth has reached a fever pitch.

The dense concentration of internet-famous bakeries across Pasadena and Highland Park even inspired Koreatown resident and TikToker Irene Chang to coordinate a 13.1-mile walking route that crisscrossed town to sample half a dozen spots.

With over 1,000 sign-ups and only 50 entrants due to limited capacity, many sweets lovers were left disappointed. “Someone said, ‘I'm more nervous about getting a spot than getting into college,'" Chang said. "I was doing the math, and that's true.”

Eight bakeries in eight miles

As an avid walker and runner, I'd put together something similar in 2009, a 5-mile dumpling race across the San Gabriel Valley. After reading about Chang's venture, I felt compelled to curate my own pedestrian-friendly, pastry-centric crawl for the LAist reader.

This 8-mile route visits eight Northeast Los Angeles bakeries that have gained viral popularity in recent years.

Starting in Pasadena and winding its way west toward Highland Park, the itinerary includes Los Angeles’s ultimate chocolate croissant, the plushest matcha cinnamon rolls around, and the internet’s most photogenic churros. These are the spots that everyone is talking about online and in real life.

So, lace up your sneakers, grab a water bottle and slather on sunscreen — you’re in for a treat.

Artisanal Goods by CAR

The luscious chocolate croissant by Artisanal Goods by CAR

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In a city blessed with world-class pastries, the chocolate croissants at Artisanal Goods by CAR stand out for owner Haris Car’s meticulous attention to detail. While it is standard for many bakeries to laminate dough on site, Car goes the extra mile by making chocolate batons from scratch using ethically sourced cacao beans. The result is supremely flaky croissants laced with Normandy butter and oozing with chocolaty satisfaction.

BadAshBakes

Bad Ash's cookie display

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Pastry chef Ashley Cunningham took her nearly 600,000 TikTok followers on the winding journey of opening a bakery in Pasadena months before the business officially launched. By the time doors opened in May 2025, crowds were queuing up and clamoring for a taste of the charismatic baker’s slate of cakes and cookies. While it’s hard to go wrong with any of Cunningham’s well-balanced sweets, the matcha cinnamon rolls are as fetching to behold as they are to taste, while the banana pudding comforts with layers of fruit, custard and vanilla wafer cookies.

Delight Pastry

Delight Pastry's take on spiral croissants, with a Persian bent

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Taking a cue from the viral success of The Suprême pastry from Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery in New York, Pasadena’s Delight Pastry introduced its take on spiral croissants in 2023. Inside the brightly lit cafe tucked into a quieter pocket of Old Pasadena, the tightly coiled laminated pastries — usually filled with cream, dipped in white or dark chocolate, and adorned with garnishes — take on a Persian bent as a nod to the shop’s owner and pastry chef Lily Azar’s heritage. The creation filled with pistachio cream is the one to get.

Sweet Red Peach's cinnamon bun

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Sweet Red Peach

Sweet Red Peach opened in Inglewood in 2011 and has expanded to Pasadena, Carson and even Atlanta in recent years. While Karolyn Plummer’s Southern bakery has always attracted a steady crowd for its expertly constructed layer cakes, especially the red velvet, her cinnamon rolls are bringing in additional foot traffic after being declared L.A.’s very best by a popular food-rating website. Served in individual-sized aluminum tins, the cinnamon rolls are incredibly supple, saturated with cinnamon, and finished with a tangy cream cheese icing.

Salted Butter Company

Salted Butter Company has been packed since it opened in August 2025

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Wife and husband team Haruna and Johnny Romo weren’t sure what to expect when they opened Salted Butter Company in August 2025. Seemingly from the start, crowds descended on the Nancy Meyers-coded bakery and bought out the whole lot of well-crafted sweet and savory pastries within its first hours of business. These days, dedicated folks are lining up before the shop’s posted 7 a.m. opening time for the choicest selection of classic croissants, laminated cinnamon rolls, and Earl Grey morning buns.

Modu Cafe

Modu Cafe owner and pastry chef Jiyoon Jang knows the power of social media for small businesses. Before opening her bakery in Highland Park in 2024, the self-taught baker sold her Korean-inflected cookies, doughnuts and milk breads on Instagram, selling out with every drop. Now that Jang has settled into a smartly appointed home base, sweets seekers can dependably swing by for picture-perfect milk cream buns, perilla lime tarts, and black sesame mochi cake bars.

Santa Canela

L.A. shaped churros are served fresh out of the fryer at Santa Canela

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At Highland Park’s warm and welcoming panaderia Santa Canela, pastry chef Ellen Ramos is serving new-school takes on classic Mexican pan dulces. Find the bakery’s daily selection casually arranged and neatly labeled on butcher paper at the front counter. The conchas are memorable, served simply or piped with seasonal cream, as are the frosted long johns. Still, it's the L.A.-shaped churros served fresh out of the fryer and dusted in cinnamon and sugar that have captured the hearts and stomachs of Angelenos online and off.

Fondry

The opening of Fondry — a bakery founded by the owners of Kumquat and Loquat coffee shops, as well as the all-new Quat campus in Glassell Park — attracted eager crowds from day one, and it continues to be a pastry destination for many. The daily selection of flaky and rich viennoiserie flexes with the seasons and is overwhelming in the best way possible, offering a dozen different sweet and savory croissants, kouign amanns, Danishes and “croiffins” (a mash-up of croissant and muffin).

Topline:

Why now: Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends author McCabe joined LAist’s AirTalk with Larry Mantle to share her friend-making advice with listeners, and we heard from listeners on how they make friends.

The local angle: With geography, jobs and traffic all making the act of “hanging out” a challenge, listeners shared their friend-catching tips.

Matt in Eagle Rock said, “It takes two people to make that friendship work; you have to put the effort into it. That is the harder part as you get older. I started in an adult dodgeball league, which I had never done in my life. Now I’ve been doing comedy, it's really about getting to know the people.”

Priyanka in Orange chimed in, "As I have grown older and moved from college in training for so-called adult life, it’s become harder to find friends that you find relatable and who are as invested in the friendship as you yourself are. The new thing I have discovered is Bumble for friends… and so far it's been a good experience.”

Sydney in Koreatown said, “Transitioning from a gay male to a transwoman, I have lost some friends from transitioning, but I have also gained some deeper friendships. It has been a profound and absolutely amazing experience finding common ground, and finding other gay males that support my transition, and finding other trans women that I have a deepening relationship with too.”

Raul in Long Beach also weighed in, saying, “You don't need social media. No matter what anyone says, it really is not necessary to meet new people. When you’re not on it, it motivates you to talk to people in person, it commits your attention to them face to face.”

Listen to the full segment to hear McCabe’s advice on finding and maintaining friends.