The Brief

A Caltrans project along Pacific Coast Highway will help the endangered Southern California steelhead trout return to their historic habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Southern California steelhead trout

These giant fish in the salmon family used to be found all over the rivers and streams throughout Southern California, but their population has dropped off dramatically over the past few decades.

Kyle Evans is a senior environmental scientist supervisor with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for the South Coast Region. He told LAist local residents in the 1940s and 50s used to be able to catch big, beautiful 2-foot-long silver steelhead trout right in Malibu Creek.

And a little further up north in Santa Barbara County, Evans said the city of Lompoc had an entire culture around steelhead and recreational fishing.

“It's a very important species historically,” he said. “Just from a recreational standpoint, from an ecosystem standpoint, from a cultural standpoint.”

Now, L.A.’s local steelhead population is in danger of going extinct within the next 25 to 50 years, according to California Trout. It’s been a federally endangered species since 1997.

What happened to their habitat?

Like other types of salmon species, these fish are born in freshwater. They spend their first couple years in the rivers and streams before choosing one of two general life paths, Evans said.

They can spend their entire life in the freshwater and reproduce there. These fish are called colloquially rainbow trout.

Or, they can choose to migrate out into the ocean. The young fish become smolts as they make their way through the saltwater, growing much larger and changing colors to a more silver shine. Those fish can eventually migrate back upstream, and those are known as steelhead trout.

Evans said one of the main reasons there’s been such a decline in the steelhead population is the land development and water use in Southern California.

In the Santa Monica Mountains particularly, the trout that move downstream out into the ocean aren’t able to go back into the freshwater because of manmade barriers like culverts, dams, or walls.

The 2018 Woolsey Fire also dumped a lot of ash and debris into the freshwater, which killed many of the fish living in the mountains. Evans said that area has largely recovered from the fire, but it still can’t be recolonized because the steelhead can’t make it back upstream.

“We've really limited the steelhead's natural habitat, the areas that they can access, the areas that they can get back to,” Evans said.

How will the Caltrans project help?

The more than $62 million project will upgrade stormwater drainage infrastructure along a 25-mile stretch of PCH, from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood all the way up to the Ventura County line.

Crews will be doing preventive work on 13 culverts in the area, but one specific location is getting a full makeover.

A map of where the new Caltrans bridge will be along PCH.

The culvert at PCH and Corral Canyon Road currently keeps the trout from spawning upstream in Solstice Creek, so Caltrans is going to convert that barrier into a bridge.

“The reason that we're doing this is this will allow the Southern California steelhead trout to be able to swim upstream during the rainy seasons when they can access that point,” Allison Colburn, a public information officer for Caltrans District 7, told LAist.

Colburn said Caltrans’ environmental group, in coordination with multiple government agencies, has recognized the need for a bridge for more than a decade. Now that the culvert needs some work anyway, Colburn said it’s a great opportunity to help restore the steelhead species locally.

Will the project impact drivers?

Caltrans is focusing their efforts on the actual bridge location at Solstice Creek first, so people can expect to start seeing construction crews out there next week, Colburn said.

Drivers should also expect some traffic switches along PCH.

Caltrans will be putting out a rail to shift the lanes for several months. That will allow crews to start working on the part of the bridge closest to the mountains.

There will be two lanes of traffic in each direction throughout the project, Colburn noted, with the exception of some overnight closures that will limit traffic to one lane in each direction at this specific spot.

The bridge is expected to be completed by late next year, and the rest of the restoration project will be done by 2025, Colburn added.

“It may be a little bit of a headache to drive through for some time, but it'll be over before you know it,” she said.

You can check quickmap.dot.ca.gov for the most up-to-date traffic information during this project.

Future of the fish

Evans said he appreciates Caltrans’ hard work, but there’s more to be done.

He hopes to work with landowners, cities, and other groups to see if there are other barriers that could be removed to open up the rest of the steelhead trout habitat.

Evans said that could be done on a small scale by removing a couple road crossings on Zuma Creek that cause barriers for fish to go up and downstream.

But it could also be on a big scale, he said, like removing the 100-foot tall Rindge Dam in Malibu Creek, which would open up a huge amount of habitat.

“This isn't something that just exists in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington,” he said. “We should have these big, beautiful salmon in our backyard that we can go experience, and look at, and enjoy, and fish. That's kind of the dream and the goal that we're working for.”

Raul Malo, the leader of the country band The Mavericks and one of the most recognizable voices in roots music, died Monday night, according to a representative of the band. The guitarist and singer had been battling cancer.

He was hospitalized last week, forcing him to miss tribute shows staged in his honor at the Ryman Auditorium over the weekend. He was 60 years old.

"No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music and adventure the way our beloved Raul did," read a statement released by his family.

Malo's group, The Mavericks, mourned the loss of their leader in a social post.

"Anyone with the pleasure of being in Raul's orbit knew that he was a force of human nature, with an infectious energy," the statement read. "Over a career of more than three decades entertaining millions around the globe, his towering creative contributions and unrivaled, generational talent created the kind of multicultural American music reaching far beyond America itself."

Over a career that lasted four decades, The Mavericks lived up to the band's name, challenging expectations and following a roadmap crafted by Malo's expansive musical upbringing as the son of Cuban immigrants in Miami.

"I grew up in a very musical household. There was all kinds of music around always," he told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1995. "We listened to everything from Hank Williams to Celia Cruz to Sam Cooke to Bobby Darin. It didn't matter."

In 1992, Malo told NPR that his widespread influences weren't always understood or appreciated in his South Florida hometown, but he said that his struggle to fit in taught him to trust his instincts. Malo had become the guitarist and lead singer for The Mavericks in 1989, alongside co-founders Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin, and his roaring, sentimental voice defined the band's sound and remained its constant as the group's catalog moved from slow, tender ballads to full-throttle rock songs. In 1995, the band released its biggest hit with "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," a swinging country song featuring an assist from Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez.

As the band grew in members and devoted listeners, The Mavericks continued to push the boundaries of American music, weaving a richly layered tapestry of textures and stories. With more than a dozen studio albums, The Mavericks collected praise and recognition from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association and the Recording Academy. Although they took a hiatus for several years, Malo never stopped making music — and returned to his bandmates with renewed inspiration.

Following its 30th anniversary, the group released its first full-length Spanish album in 2020, aptly titled En Español. The record reimagined Latin standards and folklore-tinged popular tunes; it also made an implicit political statement about Latin music's contributions to American culture.

"In our own little way, if we could get somebody that perhaps is on the fence on issues and hears us singing in Spanish and perhaps reminds them of the beautiful cultures that make up what this country is trying to be and what it should be, so be it," Malo told NPR at the time. "Yeah, I'm OK with that."

The following year, the Americana Music Association recognized The Mavericks with the Trailblazer Award. In 2024, the band released its last studio album, Moon & Stars. The release coincided with news of Malo's cancer diagnosis, which he discussed openly with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.

Before being hospitalized last week, Malo had been scheduled to perform with The Mavericks at a pair of tribute concerts held this past weekend at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Over 30 artists, including Patty Griffin, Jim Lauderdale and Steve Earle, still gathered to pay tribute to Malo, with some of the proceeds of the night going to the cancer prevention organization Stand Up To Cancer.

According to his spokesperson, though Malo was too ill to attend, the concert was streamed to his hospital room Friday night.

Copyright 2025 NPR

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has mostly blocked efforts to investigate misconduct within its ranks, according to the county inspector general, who announced his retirement Tuesday after 12 years on the job.

In an open letter, Max Huntsman cited examples of how the county has thwarted his efforts to watchdog the department, which in the past has been plagued with accusations that deputies use excessive force and lie on the job.

Huntsman said one example is former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s misuse of criminal enforcement powers to discredit critics, such as opening an investigation into former County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

Villanueva was sheriff from 2018 to 2022.

“My requests for investigation were rejected,” Huntsman’s letter reads. “Even after receiving an official subpoena, the Sheriff’s Department has failed to turn over records regarding the improper surveillance.”

He added: “Sometimes members of the public wonder if frightening new surveillance techniques will be used for improper purposes under the guise of criminal investigation. Sadly, the answer is yes.”

Before becoming inspector general in 2013, Huntsman, 60, was a deputy district attorney who specialized in public corruption. He told LAist on Tuesday that the inspector general job wasn’t something he wanted initially.

“I didn’t want to go work for politicians,” he said. “But the need to provide some kind of independent reporting and analysis was significant.”

The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement saying it valued the Office of the Inspector General and all county oversight bodies and that it wished Huntsman and his family well in his retirement.

The department said it “continues to make great strides in advancing the department in a transparent manner.”

LAist also reached out to the county CEO and county counsel for comment, but they declined.

After George Floyd

In the letter, Huntsman says the state of California has come a long way in strengthening the power of local law enforcement oversight bodies, in part because of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

After widespread protests — and lobbying by Huntsman — the state provided authority to inspectors general to enforce subpoenas requiring law enforcement agencies to hand over documents and authorized external investigation of police misconduct, including deputy gang conduct.

The Sheriff’s Department — backed by county lawyers — has resisted.

“Los Angeles County may not follow those laws, but it will not be able to avoid them forever,” Huntsman wrote. “The county refuses to require the photographing of suspected gang tattoos in secretive groups that the undersheriff has identified as violating state law.”

“Just a few weeks ago, we requested some information regarding an investigation, and a pair of commanders refused to give it to us,” Huntsman said in an interview with LAist.

Origin of the office 

The Inspector General’s Office was created by the county Board of Supervisors in 2013 in response to a scandal that included former Sheriff Lee Baca covering up the abuses of jail inmates.

Baca went to federal prison.

Since then, the office has issued dozens of reports with recommendations for improving living conditions inside jails that some have described as “filthy,” stopping abuses of juveniles inside juvenile halls and providing shower privacy for inmates as part of the requirements under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“All of these abuses were reported by the Office of Inspector General and recommendations were ignored,” Huntsman wrote. Often, it took court orders to enact change.

“When we first blew the whistle on the torturous chaining of mentally ill prisoners to benches for 36 hours at a time, it was only a court order that ended the practice,” he wrote. “Time and time again, this pattern repeated itself.”

Huntsman wrote the county has permitted the Sheriff’s Department to block oversight and defunded the Office of Inspector General by removing a third of its staff.

“It's not surprising the county has driven out two successive chairs of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission,” he wrote.

“Government always claims to value transparency and accountability, but shooting the messenger is still the most common response to criticism,” Huntsman wrote.

Despite setbacks, Huntsman values work 

Huntsman told LAist on Tuesday that he was proud of his career as a public servant.

“I’ve really enjoyed the work and I’m sad to have it end,” he said.

It’s a sentiment he echoed in his letter, adding that despite the setbacks and roadblocks, he was proud of the people with whom he shared the office.

“It has been my honor to work with a talented, brave and tireless group of public servants to ensure that the public knows what its government is doing,” he wrote.

He noted the inspector general’s reports are fact-checked by the office and public.

“When government abuses occur, they are sometimes kept secret, but that is no longer the case for much of what is happening in Los Angeles County,” Huntsman wrote. “What you do about it is up to you.,”

Huntsman’s last day is Friday.

Topline:

The backstory: Last month, the council's Transportation Committee voted to bring a proposal forward to implement a policy change that allows the city to impound and immediately destroy abandoned or inoperable RVs worth less than $4,000. The change is inspired by new state law AB 630, which was created to prevent previously impounded RVs from ending back up on the street.

The motion, authored by Councilmember Traci Park, reports that abandoned RVs pose as public and safety hazards.

What's next: Councilmember Nithya Raman requested that an implementation plan be presented to the council's public safety and housing and homelessness committees.

Go deeper: L.A. pushes policy to make it easier to remove RVs from city streets.