Topline:
As we all prep for this heat wave, here are some things you can do to prepare ahead of time.
Why now: The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning effective from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Why it matters: Temperatures are expected to reach 110 degrees across much of inland L.A. County through Thursday, with the hottest conditions forecast Wednesday, according to the weather service.
Read on... for tips on how to stay cool.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning effective from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Temperatures are expected to reach 110 degrees across much of inland L.A. County through Thursday, with the hottest conditions forecast Wednesday, according to the weather service.
Here are some things you can do to prepare ahead of time:
As we all prep for this heat wave, here are ways and places to cool down:
Here are cooling centers in Inglewood:
Here are cooling centers in South LA:
Note: Most of these locations welcome pets, but it is always best to call ahead if you are bringing an animal.
Visit your power company’s website or contact them by phone to determine if you are scheduled for a rolling power outage.
For example, Southern California Edison may turn off power in high fire risk areas to reduce the threat of wildfires, what’s known as public safety power shutoff (PSPS). Sign up or update your contact information on the SCE website to receive emails, texts or phone calls about public safety power shut off events and other outages in your area.
If you do not have an SCE account, you can sign up for ZIP Code Alert, these alerts are helpful when you want to stay informed about a location where you are not a customer.
Here’s how to sign up for ZIP code alerts:
SCE also offers its Medical Baseline Program for those whose households require the regular use of electrically powered medical equipment.
The program provides an additional 16.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day and helps offset the cost of operating the medical equipment. Those interested can dial 2-1-1 to learn more.
Topline:
Los Angeles County is asking residents whether streets, parks, buildings and other public property named after former labor leader César E. Chávez should be renamed.
Why now: The county launched a six-question, anonymous survey seeking public input on a potential renaming process after sexual abuse allegations against Chávez published earlier this year prompted officials to reconsider how the leader is commemorated.
The backstory: In March, a New York Times investigation alleged that Chávez sexually assaulted women and underage girls within the United Farm Workers movement, including fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta. The allegations sparked reevaluation over Chávez’s legacy across the nation. In Los Angeles County, including Boyle Heights and East LA, Chávez’s name appears on streets, schools, parks and murals.
Read on... for more on the survey.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
Los Angeles County is asking residents whether streets, parks, buildings and other public property named after former labor leader César E. Chávez should be renamed.
The county launched a six-question, anonymous survey seeking public input on a potential renaming process after sexual abuse allegations against Chávez published earlier this year prompted officials to reconsider how the leader is commemorated.
In March, a New York Times investigation alleged that Chávez sexually assaulted women and underage girls within the United Farm Workers movement, including fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta. The allegations sparked reevaluation over Chávez’s legacy across the nation. In Los Angeles County, including Boyle Heights and East L.A., Chávez’s name appears on streets, schools, parks and murals.
Following the investigation, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsey Horvath directing the county Chief Executive Office and County Counsel to develop a “community-driven process for the renaming parks, streets, County facilities, real property, monuments, and other County programs that bear the name of César Chávez.”
The survey asks residents what concerns they have about renaming streets or properties across L.A. County and what matters most to them in a renaming process.
“We want to ensure our process continues to reflect our community’s vibrant history, diverse cultures, and shared values,” the survey reads.
The survey also suggests that local residents, historians, indigenous groups, labor organizations and other community stakeholders could help guide the renaming process.
Take the survey here. (You can toggle between English and Spanish on the top right corner)
Deadline: Residents have until July 25 to complete the survey.
Topline:
Hundreds of people in the city of Carpinteria joined a miles-long march Saturday against the Trump administration's mass deportation effort and to mark one year since scores of community members were detained during large-scale raids there and in Ventura County
Why it matters: In one day, agents detained more than 300 people. This includes George Retes — a father, U.S. citizen and veteran who worked as a security guard at one of the facilities. He was held incommunicado for days, before getting released without charges. Jaime Alanís García, a father and farmworker, died from injuries he sustained after falling from a greenhouse roof.
The backstory: On July 10, 2025, federal immigration agents descended on two licensed cannabis facilities in California’s Central Coast.
What's next: Community leaders encouraged the marchers to join a grassroots organization of their choice and help their immigrant neighbors any way they can — whether it’s by giving them a ride to a court appointment or by helping those who’ve lost their breadwinners pay rent.
Go deeper: California cannabis companies hoped Trump would be an ally. Then the raids happened
Hundreds of people in the city of Carpinteria joined a miles-long march Saturday against the Trump administration's mass deportation effort and to mark one year since scores of community members were detained during large-scale raids there and in Ventura County.
Last year, federal immigration agents descended on two licensed cannabis facilities in California’s Central Coast.
In one day, agents detained more than 300 people.
This included a lecturer at CSU Channel Islands, who subsequently faced nearly 20 years in prison for allegedly throwing a tear gas canister back at a Border Patrol agent.
George Retes — a father, U.S. citizen and veteran who worked as a security guard at one of the facilities — was also detained and held incommunicado for days, before getting released without charges.
Jaime Alanís García, a father and farmworker, died from injuries he sustained after falling from a greenhouse roof. On Saturday, marchers carried posters with the deceased man’s image that read “REST IN POWER.” Several others carried signs that read “ABOLISH ICE.”
Multiple marchers told LAist they went to the facility in Carpinteria in solidarity with family members who raced to the area when they heard about the raids last summer.
Mitch Lillie, a member of grassroots organization VC Defensa, said the day is seared into his memory. More than anything, he recalls the sound of community members frantically trying to reach their loved ones on the phone. “They were just bawling,” he said.
The marchers first gathered at Carpinteria State Beach, just steps away from the Pacific Ocean. Then, under the scorching summer sun, they headed toward Glass House Farms, one of the cannabis facilities targeted by the federal government.
One man shouted “Viva Trump!” from inside his car as the marchers crossed a residential street. Elsewhere, dozens of drivers jovially honked at the marchers in support.
Along the way, the marchers made brief stops at shopping plazas. At each site, Bianca Perez used a staple gun to affix signs on trees and utility poles. She’d decorated each sign with faux monarch butterflies – a symbol honoring multi-generational migration across North America. At each of those sites, she explained, federal immigration agents have detained other community members, including on this year’s Father’s Day.
Perez is part of grassroots organization Carpinteria Sin Fronteras. Like VC Defensa, the group sends out alerts about the presence of federal immigration agents in the area. Perez and other volunteers also help community members locate loved ones when they fail to come home.
“We hold their stories super close to our hearts, with a lot of respect and love,” she said. “It is hard not to take all that in . . . A lot of the time, we are the first call when one of their family members has been taken.”
Outside of Glass House Farms, local leaders and U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal made short speeches before a sun-worn crowd. Many recalled where they were when they first heard about the raids on July 10, 2025.
Teresa Alvarez, executive director of the Carpinteria Children's Project, was giving a tour of the nonprofit’s facilities when the news came down. Without vacillating, she and her team ran out the door, she said. But when they got to the field and saw rows of armed federal immigration agents, fear almost overtook her.
“I knew I needed to be here. But as a mom and an immigrant myself, I was terrified — especially when I realized I had no cell service and wasn't sure what would happen if things happened to escalate,” she added.
Alvarez and the other speakers underscored that although the federal government has not carried out large-scale raids in recent months, community members should not dial down on their advocacy.
“People are dying at detention centers and on the street on their way to work,” she added, reminding marchers about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a builder who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Houston, Texas earlier this month.
“That could have been my dad,” she said. “That could have been your dad.”
VC Defensa’s Lillie said that, although July 10 is now a “day of mourning,” it’s also a day of resistance. He recalled tear gas and pepper bullets raining down on him and fellow protesters. He also remembered perfect strangers helping each other.
On Saturday, he encouraged the marchers to join a grassroots organization of their choice and help their immigrant neighbors any way they can — whether it’s by giving them a ride to a court appointment or by helping those who’ve lost their breadwinners pay rent.
“That is how we transform a tragedy,” he said.
Topline:
The 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles are officially two years away, and applications are now open to volunteer at the Games.
The details: Organizers are seeking 60,000 people for roles like providing translation or guiding guests and athletes. They want volunteers for job categories including communications, driving, ceremonies and technology.
Requirements: Volunteers need to be available for 10 eight-hour shifts during either the Olympics or Paralympics if they want to participate. Applicants also need to be at least 18 years old and be proficient in English. Volunteers don't need to be local to Los Angeles or live in the U.S.
How to apply: You can apply online through LA28 at this website.
Read on ... for more about volunteering.
The 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles are officially two years away, and applications are now open to volunteer at the Games.
Organizers are seeking 60,000 people for roles like providing translation or guiding guests and athletes. They want volunteers for job categories including communications, driving, ceremonies and technology.
The bulk of volunteer positions will be in Los Angeles, with some opportunities in Oklahoma City, which will host a handful of competitions, and the Olympic soccer tournament sites, too.
Volunteering presents a potential way for some locals who balked at high ticket prices to participate in the summer Games, but they're a substantial commitment. Volunteers need to be available for 10 eight-hour shifts during either the Olympics or Paralympics if they want to participate.
A large volunteer program is a regular facet of the Olympics. In 1984, the last time L.A. hosted, nearly 29,000 people volunteered during the event.
To volunteer this time around, applicants need to be at least 18 years old and be proficient in English. Volunteers don't need to be local to Los Angeles or live in the U.S.
The first step is applying through LA28. Selected applicants will then have a chance to be interviewed in person in Los Angeles or online.
Topline:
This summer's World Cup has been a bonanza for corporate sponsors. Some of them have provoked outrage in Los Angeles.
What happened: At a demonstration in downtown L.A. last week, advocates rallied against a number of high-profile sponsors of the tournament, including Home Depot and Hyundai-Kia over human rights concerns.
The context: Protesters pointed out that in the L.A. area, Home Depot parking lots have been the sites of high profile immigration raids. The group also railed against FIFA partners Hyundai and Kia, citing a 2022 report that suppliers of Hyundai and Kia had used child labor in its Alabama factories.
What FIFA and the companies are saying: LAist has reached out to FIFA, Home Depot and the Hyundai Motor Group, which also owns Kia, for comment.
Read on... for more on advocate concerns as L.A. looks ahead to the Super Bowl and Olympics.
This summer's World Cup has been a bonanza for corporate sponsors.
Hydration breaks are "powered by Powerade." Each game crowns a Michelob Ultra "superior player of the match." Even the signs announcing player substitutions have a label slapped on: Rexona deodorant, which is owned by Unilever. They're the "official personal care sponsor" of this World Cup.
This relentless branding is nothing new for major sporting events, but it has provoked outrage in Los Angeles, where protests during the tournament took aim at FIFA's corporate partners, saying they betrayed the city's values.
At a demonstration in downtown L.A. last week, advocates rallied against a number of high-profile sponsors of the tournament, including Home Depot, the official "home improvement retailer" for the 2026 World Cup.
Its signature orange branding has been splashed across tournament activations this summer, but in the L.A. area its parking lots have been the sites of high profile immigration raids. Last summer in Monrovia, a man was killed fleeing ICE activity in a Home Depot parking lot after he ran onto a freeway and was hit by a car. In another incident, federal agents jumped out of a Penske moving van at the Westlake Home Depot and detained 16 people.
" Their parking lots have been turned into hunting grounds," said Miriam Arghandiwal, an organizer with the Boycott Home Depot Coalition.
" FIFA has been intentional in allowing the people's game to become the billionaire's game, and there's no better example of this than its choice in sponsors," she said at the protest.
Home Depot spokesperson Caitlin Reedy told LAist in an email that the company does not coordinate with ICE or Border Patrol.
"We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots," Reedy said in a statement.
The group also railed against FIFA partners Hyundai and Kia, citing a 2022 report that suppliers of Hyundai and Kia had used child labor in its Alabama factories. LAist has reached out to the Hyundai Motor Group, which also owns Kia, for comment.
Demonstrators said they wanted FIFA to make corporate accountability a metric of accepting a sponsor.
" We know mega-events like the World Cup can only happen with the support of host communities, local infrastructure and resources, with the workers throughout various supply chains that make these events possible," said Valerie Lizárraga with the nonprofit Jobs to Move America.
The group was also gathered to demand action from the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission, which runs the L.A. World Cup Host Committee. Demonstrators said they were dissatisfied with the committee's guidance on human rights for the World Cup.
A spokesperson for that commission deferred to FIFA for comment on corporate sponsorships. FIFA did not respond to LAist's request.
Last week, a small group of climate activists also demonstrated outside SoFi Stadium against Saudi energy company Aramco, another major FIFA partner. They were calling on FIFA to drop the fossil fuel giant as a sponsor.
The World Cup is wrapped up in Los Angeles after Friday's quarterfinal match between Spain and Belgium. But advocates rallying in L.A. say they are looking toward the future.
" Things like the World Cup [and] the Olympics are events that are fueled by people," said Father Thomas Carey, a member of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. "The question is, do we hold them to account to take care of and protect the people who work for them and the people who attend their games?"
Next year, Los Angeles will host the 2027 Super Bowl. And the year after that will be the Olympics.
