The Brief

School curriculum is usually the purview of education experts, but this fall it could be decided by California voters, who will vote on adding a new requirement for high school students: a one-semester class in managing personal finances.

California’s Secretary of State is poised to certify that the California Personal Finance Act is eligible for the November ballot, which would add financial literacy to the list of high school graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2030.

Students would learn about paying for college, online banking, taxes, budgeting, credit, retirement accounts, loans, how the stock market works and other topics. The issue is critical, organizers said, as students face a shifting economy and difficult decisions about college, careers and their futures.

“No one comes out of the womb knowing how to manage their credit score. It has to be taught,” said Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of a personal finance education nonprofit and a chief backer of the initiative. “And right now there’s a dramatic gap between what students know and what they need to know. We have to change that.”

Voters seem to agree with him. A 2022 survey of adults nationwide showed that nearly 90% support a financial literacy requirement in high school, and nearly as many wished they had taken such a course when they were students.

That’s not surprising, considering the financial woes many people incur. The average credit card debt in California is $8,366, the sixth-highest rate in the country, and 1 in 6 borrowers nationwide are in default on their student loans.

Financial literacy already in classrooms

But some education experts have pushed back, not because they’re opposed to financial literacy for students but because they question whether voters are best equipped to dictate what’s taught in classrooms.

Currently, the state’s History-Social Studies framework includes a one-semester course in economics, required for graduation, that covers much of the same material proposed by the financial literacy ballot initiative proponents. Financial literacy is also included in first, second and ninth grade curriculum. First graders, for example, learn that money can be exchanged for goods and services, and people make decisions about how to spend their money.

But Ranzetta said the curriculum, which was last updated in 2017, doesn’t focus enough on financial literacy. Personal finance is covered for only a few weeks in the economics course; the rest covers more abstract economic concepts like international trade, resource allocation and the benefits and drawbacks of capitalism. Individual teachers can choose how much they want to focus on certain topics.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond wouldn’t answer questions about the ballot initiative, although he endorsed it. Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the State Board of Education, also wouldn’t answer questions.

Leaving curriculum decisions to voters is ‘a bad idea’

The proposed ballot initiative so far has almost zero opposition, but some are questioning the idea of letting voters — and not education experts — decide what students learn in the classroom. Ordinarily, curriculum in California is developed by a group of teachers and subject-matter professionals who serve on the Instructional Quality Commission, which meets publicly six times a year. New curriculum is subject to multiple reviews, edits and public vetting, ultimately going before the State Board of Education for adoption. Local school boards can adjust curriculum according to the needs of their students.

“Most voters don’t know much about education policy, and having them decide what can be taught in schools is a bad idea,” said Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at the University of Southern California. “We already have a process in place for adopting curriculum, and if people are unhappy with it there are plenty of avenues to have their voices heard — they can go to meetings, they can vote people out of office, they can talk to their representatives.”

Polikoff worries that adopting curriculum through ballot initiatives could set a dangerous precedent. Religious or anti-LGBTQ curriculum, for example, could be approved by voters, setting up costly and lengthy legal showdowns with the state Department of Education.

Curriculum can be complicated, as well. When writing new curricula, the Instructional Quality Commission looks at the broader context, making sure students get new material every year that builds on what they learned previously, subjects don’t overlap and topics are flexible enough for teachers to adapt lessons to the individual needs of their students. Textbooks and tests are also taken into consideration.

Legislature weighs in

Most curriculum updates and changes originate with the commission, but sometimes the Legislature weighs in. The state’s new ethnic studies and media literacy requirements, for example, stemmed from Assembly bills. Another bill, AB 2097, would add computer science as a graduation requirement.

AB 2927, a financial literacy bill proposed by Democrat Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, would actually do almost the same thing as the ballot initiative. The bill would require financial literacy as a graduation requirement, although it would go into effect until 2031, a year later than the ballot measure.

Bruce Fuller, education professor at UC Berkeley, said he worries about the increasing politicization of curriculum — either from the Legislature or those pushing for ballot initiatives.

“We have these political interests unabashedly trying to control what’s taught in the classroom, instead of leaving it up to teachers and locally elected school boards,” Fuller said. “We should trust those folks to devise thoughtful curriculum that’s appropriate for their students.”

He also questioned the ever-growing list of graduation requirements. High schools only offer six or seven class periods a day, and with more required classes there’s less room for art and other electives. Some districts have started adding an extra period so students can fit in all the classes they need to take to graduate, finish a career pathway and qualify for California’s public universities.

“I’m not sure how adding more required classes is going to motivate restless teenagers,” Fuller said. “With more requirements, we’re giving them almost no chance to study things they’re actually interested in.”

McCarty’s bill is not the Legislature’s first attempt to wade into financial literacy. A dozen bills requiring financial literacy have died or been vetoed in recent years, in most cases because financial literacy curriculum already exists and the state already has a system for adopting curriculum.

As Gov. Jerry Brown wrote in 2018 when he vetoed a bill that would have made financial literacy materials available to teachers: “This bill is unnecessary. The History-Social Science Framework already contains financial literacy content for pupils in kindergarten through grade 12, as well as a financial literacy elective.”

Ranzetta said the Legislature’s inability to pass a financial literacy curriculum is what spurred him to take the matter directly to voters.

“I recognize the value of the process, but it’s slow and so far it hasn’t worked in California,” he said. “The issue is too urgent and too popular to wait any longer.”

Ranzetta grew up in New Jersey, where his father was a banker and his mother was a community volunteer who raised six children. He learned financial literacy from his parents, and assumed other young people did, too. It wasn’t until he started volunteering at an East Palo Alto high school that he realized many students are clueless about money, and that ignorance can hamper them throughout their lives. But they were eager to learn, he said, and share the information with their parents.

That experience inspired him to start NextGen Personal Finance, which offers free financial literacy curriculum and training for teachers. At least 7,000 teachers in California and more than 100,000 nationwide have participated, he said.

A class that demystifies money

The main entrance of Berkeley High School in Berkeley on May 1, 2024.

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Laure Andrillon

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CalMatters

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At Berkeley High, Crystal Rigley Janis teaches two economics classes and three personal finance classes, covering topics she wishes she knew as a young person: how to negotiate a salary, not relying on gut instinct when investing, and avoiding individual stocks in favor of index funds.

“It took me 15 years to understand those things, and it probably cost me millions of dollars,” said Rigley, who worked for several years at a wealth management firm before going into teaching. “I don’t want other people to make the mistakes I did.”

Eliza Maier, a senior, was so inspired by Rigley’s class that she opened a Roth IRA when she turned 18 and transferred money from her low-interest savings account. The class, she said, helped demystify money and the role it can play in major life choices.

“We learned that money isn’t good or bad – it’s a tool,” Maier said. “It can help you realize your goals. It can help you be prepared for whatever happens in your life. I didn’t know anything about money when I started taking this class, but I think it’s so important, especially for high school students.”

The California Privacy Protection Agency kicked off 2026 by launching a tool that state residents can use to make data brokers delete and stop selling their personal information.

The system, known as the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, or DROP, has been in the works for years, mandated by a 2023 law known as the Delete Act. Under it and previous laws, data brokers must register with the state and enable consumers to tell brokers to stop tracking them and selling their information.

Until now, those instructions had to be delivered to each data broker individually — not an easy feat, given that more than 500 brokers were registered in the state as of the end of last year. Making things even more difficult, some brokers obscured their opt-out forms from search results, as the Markup and CalMatters revealed in August.

The new system delivers privacy instructions to every registered broker at once. Launched on Jan. 1, it is open to all California residents. By law, the hundreds of data brokers registered with the state must begin processing those requests in August.

Here’s how to take advantage of it.

Finding your advertising IDs

DROP asks you to provide some basic information — your name, email address, phone number, and ZIP code — so data brokers can find you in their systems. You can submit the form with just this information, but if you’d like a more thorough deletion, you can also provide your mobile advertising IDs from your phones, smart TVs, and vehicles. Including these IDs can help brokers match more of your data, but you have to take the time to collect them.

Click here to jump ahead if you want to provide basic information only, or continue reading for instructions on providing mobile advertising IDs for:

• Android phones and tablets
• Apple iPhones and iPads
• Vehicle ID numbers and smart TVs
• Personal computers

Android phones and tablets

The steps below may vary slightly depending on your device and operating system version, but the general process is the same:

Open Settings.

• At the top of the Settings screen, select the menu option with your name, followed by “Google services and preferences.”
• Select the All services tab.
• Scroll to the Privacy & Security section, and select Ads. Scroll to the bottom of that screen to get your advertising ID, which will look like a string of random numbers and letters separated by four hyphens. Save that ID for the DROP form.
• On the same screen, you can find options to reset or delete your advertising ID. The CCPA suggests resetting your ID “because it breaks the persistent tracking link that advertisers, data brokers, and apps use to build long-term behavioral profiles of your device.” Alternatively, deleting the ID should prevent ID-based data tracking from happening at all.

Apple iPhones and iPads

Apple doesn’t provide a way for iOS users to see their mobile advertising ID, which it calls the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA. But it does provide a way for users to prevent trackers from accessing these IDs.

To turn off tracking, first, adjust your Screen Time settings:

• Open Settings. 
• Scroll down and select Screen Time. 
• Scroll down and select Content & Privacy Restrictions. 
• Scroll down and select Allow Apps to Request to Track.
• Select Don’t Allow Changes. 

Then, adjust your Tracking settings:

• Open Settings. 
• Scroll down and select Privacy & Security. 
• Select Tracking.
• Toggle OFF the option to Allow Apps to Request to Track.

Apple has its own ads system that doesn’t use an IDFA. To disable that:

• Open Settings. 
• Scroll down and select Privacy & Security. 
• Scroll down and select Apple Advertising.
• Toggle OFF the Personalized Ads option.

A quick note for our technically savvy readers: If you’ve already turned tracking off, you might be tempted to turn it back on to look up your advertising ID using a third-party app, but it’s unnecessary. Re-enabling tracking will reset the ID, limiting its usefulness to data brokers — they can’t continue tracking data or delivering personalized ads using a device ID that no longer exists.

Vehicle ID numbers and smart TVs

Vehicles can track their owners in surprisingly invasive ways, and you can provide a vehicle’s identification number, or VIN, in case data brokers have that information. Where your VIN is will depend on the vehicle, but common places include on the dash on the driver’s side, or on a sticker in the jamb of the front passenger door. Your vehicle registration documents should also have your VIN listed.

Smart TVs also use advertising IDs. Here’s a guide that provides some settings for common brands. If the guide doesn’t cover your smart TV, try checking under its privacy or advertising settings. But be aware that this is different from numbers like the model code and serial number.

Personal computers

Laptop and desktop computers use unique identifiers to share data, but these are harder to find than mobile advertising IDs. Instead, you can turn off tracking, which will delete those IDs. (Turning tracking on again will generally reset the IDs.)

• On computers running Windows, you can turn off your advertising ID by going to Settings. Depending on your OS version, select Privacy or Privacy & security. Then select General, and adjust your settings there.
• On Mac computers, navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising. Then, toggle off Personalized Ads.

The California Privacy Protection Agency also provides some of its own guidance on finding advertising IDs.

Verify your identity

Go to the DROP website. You’ll be asked to accept the terms of use and be directed to a page that asks you to prove you’re a California resident. There are two ways to do so, and you can’t change methods once you’ve selected one of them.

1. The system allows you to verify your identity using personal information through a system called the California Identity Gateway. 

   If you select this option, you’ll be asked to provide some basic personal information, like a phone number, email address, California address, or your Social Security number. The gateway will use this information to attempt to verify your residency directly with the state. This option should be quick if you have an email address and phone number.
   

2. Alternatively, you can verify your identity to DROP using login.gov, a system that some federal and state agencies in the United States have adopted to allow residents to interact with government services. 

   To sign up for a login.gov account, you’ll be asked to provide an email address, create a password, and provide photos of government-issued identification. After signing up and verifying your identity, you should be able to move on to the next step. This option might take a little more effort than the first option, since ID is required, but might be faster if you’ve already signed up for an account for other purposes.

Fill out and submit the DROP form

After verifying your identity, you’ll get to a form where you can submit multiple versions of your name, up to three ZIP codes, up to three email addresses, up to three phone numbers, advertising IDs from your mobile devices and smart TVs, and VINs for your vehicles. You’ll be asked to verify your email addresses and phone numbers with single-use codes before submitting. (The agency notes there may be delays with some verification codes due to high volume.)

Topline:

The local angle: Here in L.A. (and at LAist), treating pets like your own kids is par for the course. We recently heard from AirTalk with Larry Mantle listeners about their own relationships with pets and children, revealing multiple and nuanced perspectives on whether they feel pets are replacing children.

Megan in Sierra Madre and her husband experienced infertility and couldn’t have kids. She reads to her pets, and even has wrapped a Christmas present for her dog this year. “I feel like our dog makes us a little family,” she said.

Marty in Fullerton is an estate planning attorney. He shared that planning for pets after their owners’ death comes up in his practice. “It’s a much more elaborate plan for the pet for somebody who doesn’t have children,” he said.

Lisa in Agoura Hills has both children and a dog wrote in, “Though the cost of having a pet is comparable, the experience is very different. I can't imagine life without my dog Marlo but he can't express or emote like my girls. He's actually much easier to manage!”

Samson in Echo Park said that pets are good practice for child rearing, saying, “If you can keep a pet happy, healthy and alive, you’re okay to have a kid.”

Listen to the full segment to hear AirTalk host Larry Mantle's thoughts on how his own take on if pups prepare you for preteens.

Democratic leaders criticized the shooting and the Trump administration's response to it.

"The killing of Renee Nicole Good was an abomination – a disgrace," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a Thursday press conference.

"And blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who've been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement connected to removing violent felons from this country."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he saw the video of the fatal shooting: "You felt like your stomach was being punched. Looking at the video, there seemed no justification for what these agents did. There needs to be a full investigation at the federal level, though I have little faith in the FBI in doing a fair investigation."

Speaking to NPR on Thursday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison described the ICE agents' actions as an "escalation" and said Good was trying to get away from the situation without being aggressive.

"I think the use of force I saw raises such serious questions that there needs to be an intense investigation and perhaps this officer should face charges," Ellison said. "But that needs to be determined through an investigation."

Ellison said his concern was that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had already attempted to spin the shooting as a clear-cut act of self-defense on the agent's behalf and was trying to downplay the need for a thorough investigation.

"You would think that the Homeland Security secretary would be the first to say, 'let's suspend judgment and look into it.' That's not what we saw," he said.

Ellison said Good was "anything but" a domestic terrorist, as Noem had described her.

Good, Ellison said, "was a compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer on behalf of her immigrant neighbors."

Details of the shooting are disputed, despite video footage

Federal and local officials dispute the circumstances that led an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to fatally shoot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

President Trump and other members of his administration characterized the ICE agent's actions as an act of self-defense. State and local leaders, however, cast doubt on that account and called for a full and fair investigation.

The shooting occurred on a residential street in south Minneapolis — less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. ICE agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations at the time, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

(Warning: The video at the following link includes violent actions and profanity.)

NPR and MPR have reviewed multiple videos of the shooting taken from different vantage points and posted to social media. The footage shows multiple officers near an SUV stopped in the middle of the road. One officer demands the driver exit the vehicle and grabs the car handle. The SUV reverses, then begins to drive forward, which is when a different officer near the front of the car pulls his weapon and fires into the vehicle. Three gunshots are heard, as the firing officer backs away from the SUV. Moments later, the vehicle crashes.

A bullet hole is visible in the windshield of a crashed vehicle on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot and killed an observer on Wednesday.

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Ben Hovland/MPR

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The Minneapolis City Council identified the woman as Renee Nicole Good.

"Renee was a resident of our city who was out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government," the city council said in a statement. NPR member station MPR News has reached out to a family member of the woman.

On Wednesday night, large crowds of people filled the street at a vigil in south Minneapolis to mourn Good's death. Many held up posters criticizing ICE's presence in the city, while others carried signs that read "remember."

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, was one of many speakers who paid tribute to Good at the vigil, MPR News reported.

"She did not deserve to be gunned down in cold blood for standing up for her neighbor," Armstrong said.

At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Noem defended the use of force by an ICE agent, while calling the motorist's actions "an act of domestic terrorism."

According to Noem, ICE officials that morning were helping push one of their vehicles out of the snow when protesters appeared. Noem said the woman who was fatally shot blocked federal officers with her vehicle and refused to exit her car when officers ordered her to do so.

She added that the ICE officer who fired his gun had been struck by the car and was taken to a hospital, where he was later released.

"It's clearly established law that a vehicle driven by a person and used to harm someone is a deadly weapon," she said. "Deadly force is perfectly lawful when a threat is faced by a weapon, so I do believe that this officer used his training in this situation."

Members of law enforcement photograph a vehicle suspected to be involved in a shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

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Stephen Maturen

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Getty Images

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Noem said she also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and acknowledged that they hold "very different viewpoints" on the shooting.

The incident has worsened tensions between the Trump administration and Minneapolis, which has been the target of a large-scale immigration crackdown. Local officials said they expect protests to follow and urged residents to remain peaceful.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Walz said he was prepared to mobilize the state National Guard if necessary.

"They want a show. We can't give it to them," he said. "We can't give them what they want."

Federal and local officials clash over the shooting

In a statement, DHS spokesperson McLaughlin asserted that the motorist "weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them." She added that the ICE officer who pulled the trigger was "fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public."

Upon reviewing a video of the incident, President Trump said he also believes the shooting was an act of self-defense.

"The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara speaks with officers at the scene where a federal agent shot and killed an observer in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.

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Ben Hovland

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MPR

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People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

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Tom Baker

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AP

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But local leaders have raised concerns about the Trump administration's account of the shooting.

At a fiery press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accused ICE of "trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody that is bull****. "

"This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed," he added.

The mayor called on ICE agents to leave the city, asserting that federal immigration authorities were ripping families apart and sowing chaos on Minneapolis streets.

Gov. Walz wrote on X that he has seen video of the shooting and told the public: "Don't believe this propaganda machine."

"The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice," he added.

Minneapolis police chief says he's 'very concerned' about use of deadly force

At a press conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said local police arrived at the scene to find a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. They performed life-saving measures at the scene, including CPR. The woman was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, he added.

Preliminary information, according to O'Hara, indicated that the woman was in her vehicle and blocking the road on Portland Avenue between 33rd and 34th St.

"At some point, a federal law enforcement approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off. At least two shots were fired," he said, adding that the car then crashed on the side of the roadway.

O'Hara said he was "very concerned" with the tactics used by federal immigration agents. He noted that the use of deadly force is justified at times, but that most law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are trained to minimize the risks and the need for deadly force.

"In any professional law enforcement agency in the country, I think they would tell you it's obviously very concerning whenever there's a shooting into a vehicle of someone who's not armed," he said.

The shooting is being investigated by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They will investigate the use of deadly force.
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Jan. 8, 2025.

Big changes are expected on the Eastside in 2026.

From long-awaited infrastructure upgrades to improve pedestrian safety, to fresh renovations that will beautify existing landmarks — and even a brand-new park — several projects across Boyle Heights and East LA are set to be completed this year.

Here’s a look at some of the projects you can expect to see in 2026.

A park under the 6th Street Bridge

Rendering of Leonard Hill Arts Plaza at the Sixth Street PARC.

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Courtesy of City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Engineering

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Twelve acres of open and recreational space under the 6th Street Bridge are coming to Boyle Heights and parts of the Arts District by the end of this year.

The Sixth Street PARC (Park, Arts, River & Connectivity) will feature an arts plaza, complete with a performance amphitheater, garden and terrace seating. Other amenities include a café, dog park, fitness equipment and sports courts.

Community members have raised concerns about whether copper wire theft will impact the safety of the park but a representative of the Bureau of Engineering said security cameras and fortifications will be installed to protect park infrastructure.

The representative said substantial completion is anticipated to be in late 2026, with an opening date shortly after.

Long-awaited renovations are transforming Self Help Graphics & Art

A rendering of Self Help Graphics & Art’s central gathering space.

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Courtesy of Self Help Graphics

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Self Help Graphics & Art, an Eastside printmaking and art institution more than 50 years old, is set to complete its nearly $15 million renovation this summer, with a public reopening planned for the fall. Since 2011, the art organization has been housed in a former seafood packing plant on 1st Street in Boyle Heights, after leaving its longtime East LA location.

The 12,000-square-foot building is being transformed into a cultural center that meets museum standards, featuring seismic retrofitting, an expanded printmaking studio, upgraded gallery lighting and a larger multipurpose room for community gatherings.

While renovations continue, exhibitions featuring printmaking, mixed media and photography are on view at satellite locations in Los Angeles County.

You can once again set foot inside the historic Breed Street Shul

Restoration of the Breed Street Shul.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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After years of restoration, plans to transform the historic Breed Street Shul into a vibrant community and cultural hub are nearing reality. Built in 1923, the structure held its last service in 1998 and has long represented a cultural and religious anchor for the Jewish community on the Eastside.

For years, the shul sat in disrepair. The renovation of the shul’s smaller building was completed in 2011, allowing for limited events and tours until the pandemic. Work on the property’s main building began in 2024 and is more than halfway completed.

Planned upgrades include improved accessibility with ramps and an elevator. According to Steve Sass, president of the Breed Street Shul Project, the space will host film screenings, meetings and exhibitions, with reopening expected by the end of 2026.

Repairs to sidewalks along Cesar Chavez Avenue will make walking safer

The repairs will take place on a stretch of Cesar Chavez Ave.

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Courtesy of the Bureau of Engineering – City of Los Angeles

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Boyle Heights residents should expect improvements to sidewalks and streets between Evergreen Cemetery and Brittania Street along Cesar Chavez Avenue this year. The project is part of the Great Streets Initiative launched by former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

According to a project update published by the Bureau of Engineering and LADOT in October 2025, the repairs and restoration of walkways along Cesar Chavez Avenue will increase safety, mobility and visibility for pedestrians, bicyclists, particularly at high-volume intersection crossings. Pedestrian lighting and upgraded traffic signals will enhance safety along the corridor.

Bienvenidos, East LA and City Terrace!

Restoration work on four monuments that mark the boundaries of unincorporated East LA is ongoing and will be finished in March.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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If you’ve ever driven to and from East LA on surface streets, you might’ve noticed decorative monuments welcoming drivers to the community on streets like City Terrace Drive or Beverly Boulevard. Those signs have gotten major facelifts since restoration work began in July of 2025.

According to the LA County Department of Public Works, all four monuments that mark the boundaries of unincorporated East LA are slated for completion by March 2026.

The project’s scope includes adding colorful tile mosaics, energy-efficient lighting, as well as landscaping and decking around some of the signs.

The office of LA County District 1 Supervisor Hilda Solis wrote in an email to Boyle Heights Beat that the $2.6 million investment from her office “will preserve cultural identity while creating more engaging public spaces.”

Reopening on the horizon for Benjamin Franklin Library … if all goes to plan

A rendering of a renovated Benjamin Franklin Branch Library.

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Courtesy of the Bureau of Engineering Architectural Division

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The long-awaited renovation of the Benjamin Franklin Branch Library broke ground in November, launching a project delayed for years by funding and scheduling setbacks.

The $5.5 million renovation is now on track, with city officials projecting completion in early 2027, though Bureau of Engineering documents show construction could finish in late December of 2026. 

Interior upgrades include new carpets, self-lighting bookshelves, study rooms, furniture and self-checkout counters, along with ADA-compliant restrooms and energy-efficient LED lighting. The exterior will see parking resurfacing, bike and EV charging stations, new landscaping and a demonstration garden.