Signage of California State University Los Angeles on one of the student parking structures.
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Topline:
Several California State University campuses are the best universities in the state when it comes to driving upward economic mobility for low- and middle-income students after graduation, according to a new rankings system published Thursday.
About the rankings: TheCollege Futures Foundation released the California Mobility Index, rankings that consider the share of Pell Grant recipients that an institution enrolls, the average earnings of low- and middle-income students within 10 years after graduation and the average out-of-pocket costs those students paid for their degree at each institution. Pell Grants are federal financial aid awards available to low-and middle-income students.
Local schools top the list: Cal State L.A. and Dominguez Hills took the top two spots out of 82 schools. Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona were also in the top 10.
Several California State University (CSU) campuses are the best universities in the state when it comes to driving upward economic mobility for low- and middle-income students after graduation, according to a new rankings system published Thursday.
CSU’s Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills, Stanislaus, Bakersfield and Fresno campuses took the top five spots in the rankings. CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona were also in the top 10, along with the University of California Merced.
Dubbed the California Mobility Index, the rankings consider the share of Pell Grant recipients that an institution enrolls, the average earnings of low- and middle-income students within 10 years after graduation and the average out-of-pocket costs those students paid for their degree at each institution.
Pell Grants are federal financial aid awards available to low-and middle-income students. Researchers used U.S. Department of Education data to track the earnings of low- and middle-income students after graduating.
Traditional ranking models “focus on those institutions that serve the wealthiest of Californians and reject the large majority of Californians,” said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president of the College Futures Foundation, an Oakland-based nonprofit. The College Futures Foundation developed the index along with the HEA Group, a research and consulting firm.
“We wanted to turn that upside down and really show what true value is being created by California institutions and the kind of impact that they’re having in terms of the economic impact as well as the impact on individuals, particularly those individuals in California that need the economic lift the greatest,” Oakley added.
Researchers found that some private universities, such as Stanford University, do provide a “tremendous return on investment,” said Michael Itzkowitz, president and founder of the HEA Group. On average, graduates of Stanford need the least amount of time of any California university to recoup what they spent on their degree, the analysis found.
However, Stanford scored lower than many CSU campuses in the rankings because they enroll fewer Pell Grant recipients. At Stanford, Pell Grant recipients account for 19% of undergraduates, while they make up more than half of the enrollees at each of the Cal State campuses in the top five of the rankings.
“If you’re one of the few and fortunate to get into schools that we generally think are prestigious and provide a good ROI (return on investment), you should definitely consider it,” Itzkowtiz said. “But what this shows is that there are also a number of good options across the state of California that aren’t readily recognized through your traditional publications.”
EdSource receives funding from several foundations, including the College Futures Foundation. EdSource maintains sole editorial control over the content of its coverage.
Candidates Xavier Becerra, left, Katie Porter, Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa debate at Pomona College in Claremont last month.
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Jules Hotz
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CalMatters
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Topline:
Recent polling suggests it’s unlikely that two Republicans would lock Democrats out of the November gubernatorial election. But some liberal activists are still panicking about the possibility of a MAGA governor. Their solution could delay California’s already slow ballot-counting.
How we got here: To avoid a dreaded scenario in which Democrats are locked out of the November general election, many Democrats coalesced around former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who ultimately flamed out after multiple women accused him of sexual assault. That fear has morphed into wariness, leading some party activists and influencers to encourage people to hold off on voting early, watch the polls, then vote for the candidate with the most support just before Election Day.
Is this idea even legal? The push to vote late flies in the face of recent pleas from election officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom for voters to get their ballots in early in the hopes of speeding up California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a fellow Democrat, told reporters last week that the social media posts urging late voting could be misinformation, disinformation and “potentially unlawful,” and Secretary of State Shirley Weber said her office would “look into” those social posts.
Read on ... for more about this idea.
Some California Democrats have a plan to avoid disaster in the governor's race: Wait until the last minute to vote.
With no one candidate emerging as a clear favorite and an open primary where the top two advance regardless of party affiliation, panic has set in for some who plan to vote Democratic.
That fear has morphed into wariness, leading some party activists and influencers to encourage people to hold off on voting early, watch the polls, then vote for the candidate with the most support just before Election Day.
In a “normal year,” Katie Evans-Reber of San Francisco said she would probably back former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter even though the Democrat is not likely to advance to November given her current polling. But this year the stakes are higher, she said, and as a lesbian woman, any of the Democrats would be more aligned with her core values than a Republican.
She fears supporters of President Donald Trump who have soured on him could back Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, giving him enough of a boost to match the power of Trump’s endorsement for Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host who is leading all other candidates in the polls. That would send both Republicans to the runoff.
“The thing that flipped for me was going from, ‘I don't really know what to do,’ to, ‘I strategically am not making a decision,” Evans-Reber said.
In pole position is Xavier Becerra, the former Health and Human Services secretary who surged from single digits to the top of the polls after Swalwell’s downfall. As his popularity soared, so has the scrutiny of his record at HHS and as California’s attorney general.
Behind Becerra are progressive Democratic challengers Tom Steyer, a former businessman turned billionaire activist, and Porter. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has also positioned himself as a tech-friendly moderate and ally of Silicon Valley.
Evans-Reber and other impassioned Democrats have been urging others to follow the wait-and-see strategy by sharing videos and posts on social media.
One post even falsely attributed the strategy to Heather Cox Richardson, a political historian and popular Democratic influencer who writes the Substack newsletter Letters from an American. That erroneous post was the first one Evans-Reber saw and forwarded. She later had to follow up with a disclaimer that Cox Richardson was not the author.
“It's not like, bad advice, but it's 100% not coming from me,” Cox Richardson told CalMatters in an interview.
Democratic political consultant Paul Mitchell disagrees.
“It's just a bad message,” he said. “I think they should always have a message of, ‘As soon as you get your ballot, fill it out, turn it in, mail it in and get it done.”
Mitchell said although activists might talk about and push for a strategic voting plan, trying to organize a movement like that at scale would likely not produce significant results.
“I think people vote for whoever they were going to vote for anyway,” said Mitchell, whose company tracks how many ballots are turned in each day statewide.
An empty stage after the gubernatorial debate on the campus of Pomona College in Claremont on April 28, 2026.
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Jules Hotz
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CalMatters
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The push to vote late flies in the face of recent pleas from election officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom for voters to get their ballots in early in the hopes of speeding up California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a fellow Democrat, told reporters last week that the social media posts urging late voting could be misinformation, disinformation and “potentially unlawful,” and Secretary of State Shirley Weber said her office would “look into” those social posts.
“Time is of the essence in preventing election lies from taking hold,” Newsom wrote in a recent letter addressed to all 58 county registrars urging them to “tabulate and release results quickly and accurately.”
Turning in a mail-in ballot on Election Day, as some activists propose, is the worst possible scenario for election administration officials.
It creates what Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, calls the “pig in the python effect.” County election offices are inundated with in-person ballots on Election Day, as well as mail-in ballots that require a meticulous process of signature matching, envelope opening and extracting the ballot before it can be counted.
Mark DiCamillo, who runs polling for the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, said pollsters are doing their best to produce accurate results, but in an election with so many variables, even the best surveys could be off-base.
The past trend of low voter turnout in gubernatorial primaries, plus a potentially confusing array of 61 candidates for governor alone, make it difficult to determine who the likely voters will be and account for that in their surveys.
“This election's got all the elements you have to deal with,” DiCamillo said. “It’s a challenge for the polling profession.”
Despite the concerns about a slow vote count and imprecise polling, Evans-Reber says she still plans to stick to her last-minute voting strategy. She doesn’t trust that mailing her ballot will reach the county elections office in time. She plans to bring her completed ballot to the office or one of the county’s vote centers and hand it directly to an election official.
“I am going to cast the ballot at the very last possible moment,” Evans-Reber said. “I’m going to wait until polling day.”
Brenda Lopez-Ardon holds a mattress to show a staffer from state Sen. Sasha Pérez’s office mold growing on it in a children’s bedroom during a tour of the property. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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The LA Local
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Topline:
Tenants of a close-knit Altadena complex say Regency Management ignored toxic contamination and basic repairs long before the Altadena fire.
More details: Although Regency Management replaced the windows, residents said they were forced to camp out in their apartments without electricity or hot water for months in the fire’s aftermath because most could not afford to move as the fire strained the area’s housing market.
Why now: Brenda Lopez-Ardon, a community organizer and tenant, spoke at a press conference last month in front of the building where she has lived her whole life and is raising her young daughter. Lopez-Ardon and several tenants ushered state Sen. Sasha Pérez through the property, pointing out damages from the fire and water, along with buckling floors and discolored tap water.
Read on... for more on the press conference from this Altadena apartment.
More than 15 months after the Eaton Fire, residents of an Altadena apartment complex say they are still fighting a “notorious” landlord to repair a fire-damaged building that remains unlivable and contaminated with toxic ash and soot.
Longtime tenants of 403 Figueroa Dr., who describe the complex as a close-knit village, say their property manager, Regency Management Inc., has ignored years of repair requests and pleas to clean up the property after the fire razed most of the block.
Although Regency Management replaced the windows, residents said they were forced to camp out in their apartments without electricity or hot water for months in the fire’s aftermath because most could not afford to move as the fire strained the area’s housing market.
“Homes in this community are being rebuilt up to code, but our building remains frozen in time since Jan. 7,” said Brenda Lopez-Ardon, a community organizer and tenant, at a press conference last month.
Brenda Lopez-Ardon (second from right) speaks at a community rally and press conference with members of tenants’ union Comité 403 in front of their building. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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She spoke in front of the building where she has lived her whole life and is raising her young daughter.
Later that evening, as kids raced on scooters through the courtyard of the rundown two-story building, Lopez-Ardon and several tenants ushered state Sen. Sasha Pérez through the property, pointing out damages from the fire and water, along with buckling floors and discolored tap water.
In one apartment, mold bloomed through paint on a wall in a children’s bedroom, and also grew on a mattress and plush toys. Residents complained of rat and cockroach infestations.
Brenda Lopez-Ardon (center) shows state Sen. Sasha Pérez (right) water damage from a leak inside an apartment at her Figueroa Drive building during a tour of the property. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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“We are not animals, to be living this way,” said Yoselin Ayala, one of the tenants sharing her experience with Pérez.
“I’m very upset and frustrated to see what’s happened here,” said Pérez, who represents California’s 25th Senate District.
“Things like broken bricks and falling walls and, you know, other fire damage, melted parts of the building, those are things that should have been taken care of a long time ago,” she told The LA Local.
Regency Management and its owner Swaranjit “Mike” Nijjar, have not responded to requests for comment.
Brenda Lopez-Ardon (second from right) speaks at a community rally and press conference with members of tenants’ union Comité 403 in front of their building. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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The LA Local
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Going on offense
The Eaton Fire blew out nearly all of the building’s windows, destroyed large sections of the property’s perimeter wall, burned down carport shade structures in the parking lot and left the building without power or hot water for months.
The fire also left the units coated in toxic ash and soot containing dangerously elevated levels of lead, according to a report by the LA County Department of Public Health.
Lopez-Ardon said many of the apartments were cleaned by local volunteers, and when Regency Management finally sent cleaners, they were maintenance workers, not a professional remediation company with special equipment and training on dealing with disasters.
Children take part in a community rally in front of their apartment building in Altadena. Parents say they’re concerned about toxins left behind from the Eaton Fire affecting kids’ health. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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The LA Local
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In response, the residents formed a tenants’ union to demand their rights as renters and move “from the defense to the offense,” Lopez-Ardon said.
Their efforts have met with limited success, and the group is now exploring options including forming a co-op to buy the property from Nijjar, a man California’s attorney general has called “notorious” for exploiting tenants.
California sues landlord
Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Nijjar, his companies and several of his relatives last summer. The suit alleges “inhumane living conditions” across properties owned by the real estate developer, his sister and children. It also alleges the company had several breaches of lease agreements and violations of the state’s Tenant Protection Act.
“The Nijjar Companies rent out unsafe and uninhabitable units, disregard tenants’ requests for repairs, and fail to eradicate pests, inflicting harm and anguish on tenants,” according to the complaint filed in June in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The family’s empire encompasses 22,000 rental units throughout California, owned through a byzantine collection of more than 150 limited partnerships and corporations and administered by 11 management companies, including Regency Management.
The lawsuit is ongoing.
Brenda Lopez-Ardon (left) stands with neighbors at a community rally and press conference with members of tenants’ union Comité 403 in front of their building. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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The LA Local
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For the tenants on Figueroa Drive, the fire damage was simply the last straw on top of longstanding neglect and repair requests they say Regency has ignored for years.
Lopez-Ardon, 26, said the pedestrian entrance gate has been broken off and wide open for at least 10 years. Lax security has also made some residents fearful of another major threat in the area: ICE.
Blanca, who only gave her first name because of privacy concerns, has lived in the building for more than 20 years. She said that immigration enforcement agents have entered the building twice in the last year looking for a specific person. They left empty-handed both times.
Spots of mold on a plush toy in a children’s bedroom where it also grows on a wall and a mattress in an apartment at 403 Figueroa Dr. in Altadena, owned by the Nijjar family. March 26, 2026.
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Rachel Parsons
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The LA Local
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Published May 12, 2026 11:24 AM
A newly formed committee will ensure the health department implements its civil law enforcement policy, which instructs public health workers on how to protect patients brought in by law enforcement, including immigration agents.
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J.W. Hendricks
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The L.A. Board of Supervisors today approved creating a committee to ensure the health department implements its civil law enforcement policy, which instructs public health workers on how to protect patients brought in by law enforcement, including immigration agents.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstained from the item.
What we know:The committee — made up of hospital officials, county counsel and the office of immigration affairs — will require training for health workers on the civil law enforcement interaction policy. The group will also collect feedback from staff on how to improve the policy and report back to the board in a month.
Background: The L.A. County policy, which went into effect in March, reiterates that all patients have the right to communicate with loved ones and connect to legal support. Health workers and advocates have shared concerns that not enough people know about the policy.
Why now? Supervisor Hilda Solis, who introduced Tuesday’s motion, said since ICE raids ramped up last summer, public health workers have had more interactions with federal agents. And in trying to protect patients, Solis added, some workers risk being accused of obstructing justice.
“Despite the county’s sensitive location policy … immigration enforcement officials have pushed boundaries or blatantly ignored laws,” Solis said. “This has put many of our county employees in a difficult position of trying to enforce the law and protect patients’ rights.”
The U.S. war with Iran has pushed inflation to its highest level in almost three years.
Why it matters: Consumer prices in April were up 3.8% from a year ago, according to a report Tuesday from the Labor Department. That was the biggest annual increase since May 2023.
Gas prices are a big driver: Gasoline prices have jumped sharply since the war began, snarling tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for energy shipments. The average price of regular gas is $4.50 a gallon, according to AAA.
Read on ... for a helpful chart and three areas that exemplify the rising cost of living.
The U.S. war with Iran has pushed inflation to its highest level in almost three years.
Consumer prices in April were up 3.8% from a year ago, according to a report Tuesday from the Labor Department. That was the biggest annual increase since May 2023.
Prices rose 0.6% between March and April.
From gas prices to housing, here are three things to know about the rising cost of living.
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Gas prices are a big driver
Gasoline prices have jumped sharply since the war began, snarling tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for energy shipments. The average price of regular gas is $4.50 a gallon, according to AAA. That's up 38 cents from a month ago. The jump in energy prices accounted for 40% of the monthly increase in the consumer price index in April.
Rising fuel costs are affecting other prices as well
When energy costs jump sharply, it can have spillover effects. Air fares, for example, jumped 2.8% last month and are more than 20% higher than they were a year ago, as airlines struggle with a spike in jet fuel prices.
The cost of diesel fuel has risen by $1.88 a gallon since the war began. If that lasts, it could put upward pressure on the price of everything that's delivered by truck or train.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, "core" inflation was 2.8% in April.
Housing prices also contributed to higher inflation in April
Housing costs were also a driver of inflation, jumping 0.6% between March and April, but some of that is a statistical fluke resulting from the six-week government shutdown last fall. Government number-crunchers were temporarily idled in October, so were unable to collect housing prices that month. That's had the effect of artificially lowering the measure of housing inflation. Tuesday's report provides a kind of catch-up.
