The Brief

A nearly $400 million proposed cut to California State University is beginning to have a ripple effect on campuses, including some in Southern California.

An email sent Friday by California State University, Dominguez Hills, President Thomas Parham announced layoffs at his campus.

“While these layoffs will be disruptive to our operations, the vast majority of our staff will remain employed at CSUDH,” Parham wrote, “continuing to provide the high level of support to our community that we are known for.”

The email did not say how many people were laid off.

The California State University Employees Union confirmed to LAist that 32 of its members were laid off. A union spokesperson said they are mostly probationary or temporary employees and that the notices are effective within the next 45 to 60 days.

Trustees get an earful at Tuesday meeting

CSU trustees heard complaints from employees and supporters of campuses where layoffs have taken place for more than an hour during their scheduled meeting on Tuesday in Long Beach.

Students walk on campus at Cal State Long Beach.

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“I was just laid off from my position as a technical business analyst at CSU Dominguez Hills,” Ayumi Nakamoto told trustees via Zoom.

Her campus said the proposed cuts for next fiscal year translate to $12 million in reductions at Dominguez Hills.

“This decrease in funding will come on top of the $18.8 million that CSUDH has already reduced from its operating expenses over the past several years,” spokesperson Lilly McKibbin said via email.

Dropping enrollment, among other factors, led administrators to make the cuts, she said.

What about other local CSU campuses?

The Northridge and Long Beach Cal State campuses said they are not contemplating layoffs.

“While CSUN’s exact share of this reduction has not yet been determined, we roughly estimate this to be approximately $27 [million],” CSU Northridge spokesperson Carmen Chandler said in a statement.

Welcome sign for California State University Northridge.

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“At the current time, we do not anticipate any layoffs for the 2025-26 fiscal year,” she said.

Cal State L.A. and Cal State Fullerton are also facing cuts. They did not make statements ruling out layoffs.

“Cal State Fullerton is aware of the financial situation across the Cal State University system. CSUF is planning and prepared for the fiscal year 2025-26,” said spokesperson Cerise Valenzuela Metzger.

Cal State L.A. President Berenecea Johnson Eanes said last November that the campus is facing a nearly $20 million deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Sonoma State was hit hard. Administrators there announced layoffs last week in an unsigned all-campus email. They said their projected deficit is nearly $24 million, about $3 million more than expected.

The email said 46 tenured and adjunct university professors, along with four management and a dozen staff positions would also be cut. The university also said several academic departments and programs will be combined, downsized or eliminated. (See the full list here.)

The deficit, the email said, was due to employee salaries, price increases for supplies and utilities and inflation — but the main reason is declining enrollment.

What is CSU saying?

Trustees are expecting an update on the proposed cuts Wednesday.

Carrying out cuts “undercuts CSU financial sustainability,” and that’s “unacceptable,” according to a staff document prepared for the session.

“Our leaders must know that the CSU is not an expense,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García told trustees on Tuesday.

“It is an investment not only to the students and their families, it is an investment to the vitality of California,” she said.

According to the report, 823 positions were cut between fall 2023 and fall 2024, but layoffs were higher on some campuses than others. While 17 universities reduced their workforce by 1,208 positions, the document said, six universities added 384 positions.

Next steps

The next stage of the budget process is the calculation of the state’s income tax revenue. That’ll be part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's revised version of his budget proposal in May. CSU is calling on its advocates to persuade lawmakers to reduce the cut to the university system before state legislators are required to approve a balanced budget on June 15.

García urged the public to listen to the Cal State board of trustees meeting on Wednesday for more information about the system's finances. You can watch the meeting here.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jude Bellingham scored two goals 98 seconds apart, Harry Kane converted a penalty when England was down to 10 men, and the Three Lions handed Mexico its first World Cup loss at Estadio Azteca, a wild 3-2 victory on Sunday night to reach the quarterfinals.

England moves on to face Norway on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida, for a spot in the semifinals.

Bellingham stunned the crowd of more than 80,000 at a venue where Mexico was unbeaten in 10 World Cup matches, including three this year, when he scored on a header in the 36th minute and again in the 38th on a pass from Kane.

Julián Quiñones scored for El Tri in the 42nd minute, and the game appeared to turn in Mexico’s favor when England’s Jarell Quansah was sent off in the 54th for a dangerous foul on Jesús Gallardo.

But England was awarded a penalty for a challenge by Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, and Kane converted for his sixth goal of this tournament and 14th of his World Cup career, matching Gerd Müller of West Germany for fifth on the scoring list. Kane has six goals in this tournament, one behind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.

Kane then committed a foul that made him the first player since at least 1966 to score and concede a penalty in a World Cup game. Raúl Jiménez converted the kick with a stutter-step approach to move El Tri within 3-2.

Mexico attacked relentlessly over the final 21 minutes, plus 11 minutes of stoppage time, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and England's defenders held steady.

Mexico has not reached the quarterfinals since hosting in 1986. Since then, it has lost in the round of 16 eight times, failed to advance past the group stage in 2022 and was disqualified from the 1990 tournament.

Billy Gene Mills, one of the first Black politicians elected to the L.A. City Council, died on June 27 in his Leimert Park home. He was 96.

In a social media post, his son James Edward Mills wrote that his father had been struggling with failing health for years.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Mills "helped shape the arc of justice and opportunity in our city."

Mills was the first Black American to graduate from UCLA Law School in 1954 and went on to work as a civil rights attorney.

Los Angeles City Council members Gilbert Lindsay (left), Billy Mills (second from left) and Tom Bradley (second from right), pose for a photo with two unidentified men in City Hall council chambers around 1965.

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He was elected to the city council in 1963, representing District 8, and served until 1974. Mills was one of the first three Black men, along with Tom Bradley and Gilbert Lindsay, to join the city council.

While on the council, Mills “led the city to renewed unity and cooperation after the tumultuous Watts Riots,” UCLA wrote in a statement that accompanied a Public Service Award given to him in 2003. His tenure, UCLA noted, saw the installation of paved alleys and streetlights throughout South Los Angeles for the first time.

In 1974, Mills was appointed as a judge to the Los Angeles Superior Court by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Mills is survived by five children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

SEATTLE — Folarin Balogun, the star striker of the U.S. men's national soccer team, is eligible to play in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 game against Belgium on Monday.

In an unusual move, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced Sunday that it would suspend Balogun's one-game red card ban for a probationary period of one year, allowing him to play in any remaining World Cup games.

In a brief statement, the committee did not give a reason for delaying the suspension. Balogun's probationary period will be revoked and the one-game suspension enforced if he commits "another infringement of a similar nature and gravity," FIFA said.

Balogun received the red card last Wednesday during the 2-0 U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 match. He had stepped on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović as the two tangled while going after the ball.

The main referee initially declined to call any foul on the play, but after a replay review of slow-motion video and stills, a video referee recommended a red card. Afterward, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino criticized the decision to grant a red, calling the contact "a normal action in football that happened by accident."

U.S. Soccer had not filed a formal appeal. But a spokesperson told reporters Sunday that the organization had been "engaged" with FIFA during the deliberations.

In a statement, U.S. Soccer said it would accept the decision and is pleased Balogun will be eligible to play. "Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans," the statement read.

"Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!" President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The team learned of the decision on Sunday morning while riding a bus to a training session in Seattle.

"I'm mostly just happy for him, seeing that smile on his face. He deserves to be playing in this game," said U.S. winger Christian Pulisic, who called the referee's decision to give Balogun a red card "extremely harsh."

The decision to delay a one-game red card suspension is highly unusual, although there had been precedent already at this World Cup. Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo received a three-game suspension last November for elbowing an opponent in a World Cup qualifying match. That suspension would have caused him to miss the first two games of the World Cup, but FIFA's Disciplinary Committee put the suspension on hold and allowed him to play.

It is unclear what factors may have led FIFA to allow Balogun to play.

Rules governing the use of VAR, or video assistant referee, say that slow-motion replay should only be used for "facts," such as the point of contact for physical fouls or handball calls, while normal-speed video should be used to judge the "intensity" of an offense.

However, on Wednesday, the video referee reviewed slow-motion footage and still images before recommending a red card.

Balogun's demeanor was notably calm and respectful after the controversial call. He shook hands with the referee after the game, and speaking to reporters on Friday, he said the contact had been unintentional but that he accepted the referee's decision.

"I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion," Balogun said. "There's still lots of people we're inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching. We have to show the correct way to handle things even when you think it's unjust."

On Sunday, Pulisic told reporters he was impressed by how his teammate had handled himself. "Good things happen to people like that. And he was so positive and all for the team, and it just feels right," Pulisic said.

Monday's Round of 16 match against Belgium is one of the biggest in the history of the U.S. men's national team. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, matching the deepest run by the American men in the modern era of the World Cup.

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The La Brea Tar Pits are heading into a multimillion-dollar renovation — that means the museum will have to close to the public for two years.

The history

Built in 1977, the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits has a special place in the hearts of Angelenos who’ve ever taken a field trip to see its massive mastodon skeletons or dire wolf skulls. Don’t worry — all that stuff is staying, said museum educator Kay Lai.

Why now?

“This museum, as beloved as it is, definitely needs that refresh. And I’m really excited for the next generation of kids that get to grow up and make new memories here with this new space,” Lai told LAist.

What’s going to be new?

Lai said the museum refresh will include a new focus on Zed, an 80% complete Columbian mammoth found at the site. With new outdoor classrooms and a 1-kilometer pedestrian pathway that will take visitors past excavation sites, the idea is to make research more visible to the public.