Students Donovan Starks (left) and Jamel White speak to a Morehouse College representative at L.A. Valley College.
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Bonnie Ho
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LAist
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Topline:
In September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1400, which redefined the College Access Tax Credit to provide up to a $5,000 one-time award for California community college students to transfer to HBCUs. It's one part of a broader strategy to improve transfer rates for Black students in California.
Will students use it? “I want to get out of the state. I've been a California native all my life, so really to explore and to also network with other people — especially like my people, Black people," said West L.A. College student Jamel White.
Round-trip ticket: There are no federally designated HBCUs in California. (Charles R. Drew University has a history of serving Black students, but does not have a federal designation). Tied to the grant funding is the expectation that students return to the state.
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California Makes Strides Toward Improving HBCU Transfer Pathway For Community College Students
Jamel White stopped at booth after booth at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities caravan, part of the Welcome B(l)ack event at Los Angeles Valley College. Studying criminal justice at West L.A., White said he’s primarily interested in going to an HBCU in the fall of 2024.
“I want to get out of the state. I've been a California native all my life, so really to explore and to also network with other people — especially like my people, Black people,” White said. He added that at an HBCU he’ll “feel more at home.”
When asked what he means by “home,” White said, “seeing more people that look like me walk around campus. I don't feel like an outsider. I walk into a class, it's people that look like me, not just I'm the only Black student, or it's only two Black students in this class of 30. So you feel more comfortable.”
He has fortunate timing. In September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1400, which redefined the College Access Tax Credit to provide up to a $5,000 one-time award for California community college students to transfer to HBCUs.
A one-time award
An HBCU is a college or university established prior to 1964, whose main mission was and is to educate Black Americans, though they serve students of any race.
There are no federally designated HBCUs in California. (Charles R. Drew University has a history of serving Black students, but does not have a federal designation).
Tied to the funding provided by AB 1400 is the expectation that students return to the state after they graduate.
Providing students with some funding to attend HBCUs makes it easier for students to use an existing transfer agreement between California community colleges and nearly 40 HBCU campuses. Since 2015, upon meeting certain academic requirements, California community college students are guaranteed transfer admission to participating HBCUs.
In the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, there were just over 50 such transfer students at the nearly 40 HBCU campuses under this agreement.
That number may be higher due to challenges tracking transfers to private schools and HBCUs, according to Arynn Auzout Settle, project director for the California Community College transfer agreement.
Iris Tabb, director of admissions at Harris-Stowe State University in Missouri, attended the HBCU caravan at Los Angeles Valley College. She said the news of AB 1400 was very exciting, “that the state recognizes the opportunity for students to experience an HBCU education and then ultimately bringing that experience back to the state of California, ultimately adding to the rich, diverse, nature of the state as it is already.”
Tuition at Harris-Stowe can cost over $10,000 per year (in-state tuition is about $5,800 annually), and that's not including other fees. Tabb says the grant can make a substantial difference, along with other possible merit scholarships.
The importance of community
Darla Cooper, the executive director of The RP Group, a nonprofit that examined factors influencing transfer success among Black students, said that AB 1400 provides students with another option.
The new benefit could also help deal with an obstacle to Black student success. RP data shows nearly two-thirds of Black students who attend college in California start at a community college, but only 3% successfully transfer to a university in two years.
In their most recent report, The RP Group surveyed 7,000 current and former California Community college students who identified as African American or Black on their transfer experiences. The report found that students who regularly experienced microaggressions on campus were far less likely to pass gateway math on the first try relative to those who experienced microaggressions less frequently or not at all.
“The experience of Black students on campuses is they experience bias, discrimination, racism, and microaggressions quite regularly. Going to an HBCU erases a lot of that, not 100%, and not just for California, but across the nation,” Cooper said.
Nichelle Henderson, vice president of the LACCD board of trustees, spoke to a full auditorium at Los Angeles Valley College’s Welcome B(l)ack event. Henderson said that she went to a predominantly white institution and she did not get the support she needed as a Black student. At the college she attended, she felt like the only one in the room.
“Although I was very prepared to go to college, very prepared, when I got there and that lack of support caused me to doubt myself,” Henderson said. Subsequently, she said it took her several decades to complete her undergraduate degree.
Raising awareness of HBCU pathway
The RP Group also found that students who participate in Umoja were more likely to find a community where they belong and to personally connect with someone at their college who supports their academic success.
Umoja is a community dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of Black students and other students. At L.A. Valley College, for example, the Umoja Black Scholars program is a mentorship-based community for students of color.
“HBCUs are Umoja put through the whole college — having relations with other students, faculty, staff. Imagine if in every class it’s like being in Umoja,” Cooper said.
Elliott Coney, counselor and coordinator of Umoja Black Scholars at Los Angeles Valley College.
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Bonnie Ho
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LAist
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Elliott Coney, counselor and coordinator of Umoja Black Scholars at Los Angeles Valley College, spearheaded the Welcome B(l)ack event in October, which included the HBCU caravan. Coney said the Welcome B(l)ack event originated during the pandemic to connect students to one another.
“As an HBCU alum, I just want to expose students to opportunities that they're not familiar with. HBCUs were a vital part of my life and it's the reason why I'm here and doing this work,” he said. “So I just want to make sure that, you know, students have opportunities to come see African American success, Black success, as well as schools that are going to help them to obtain that.”
Yisak Mulugeta, a West L.A. College student majoring in computer science, attended the event to get to know more people. He hadn’t been thinking much about what he’ll do in a year.
“Now I’m here it just seems like a really good opportunity just to learn about what comes after community college,” Mulugeta said.
Fostering connections
Donovan Starks, a student in computer engineering at West L.A., approached HBCU representatives in the caravan. He talked to as many as he could to see if they were a match — he met their needs and they had what he wanted, a golf program.
Golf is a predominantly white sport, Starks said, and he wants to change that; most people see him and assume he plays football. He said they’re shocked when he tells them he plays golf.
It was also appealing to him that colleges and universities in the HBCU Caravan offered on-site admissions.
“I like the outcome of people that graduate from HBCUs. They have a very good camaraderie with other alumni,” Starks said. He also said this type of connection fostered at HBCUs will help when college gets rough.
“I like the enthusiasm that most HBCUs have,” Starks said. “It's not just come here and get your education. It's come here and make a connection and get your education.”
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published September 10, 2026 5:00 AM
A fruit vendor sells on Whittier Boulevard in East L.A.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
A recent AirTalk segment highlights the decades-long debate over street vending in Los Angeles. Despite efforts by the City Council and statewide law, enforcement remains murky at best, even though it's a fixture of Los Angeles culture.
Why now? During a recent debate, Mayor Karen Bass made a series of comments that cast street vending in an unsavory light, prompting an almost immediate backlash from her opponent, Nithya Raman, who has devised her own nine-point plan to address street vending if elected.
Why is it important? Street vendors are as much a part of L.A.'s identity as its restaurants — but the system meant to support them is so broken that only a fraction operate with full legal standing. As this becomes a defining issue in the mayor's race, it's worth knowing the difference between political rhetoric and how the rules actually work on the ground.
Last month, street vending became a flashpoint during one of the recent debates for L.A. mayor when incumbent Karen Bass said, "I do not think that you should have a food vendor in front of a restaurant. Period," drawing a comparison to unhoused encampments.
The remarks set off an almost immediate backlash. Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, who has her own 9-point plan to support street vendors, said Bass "took a shot" at the street vending community and reiterated her commitment to work toward regulations and legalizing their operations.
Bass's office later eased its stance, saying it had directed the LAPD to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors — and to dismiss any that had been issued in error.
Street vending remains part of the Los Angeles landscape, and the backlash from the debate brought to light just how confusing its legality can be. To understand how we got here, it helps to start with the basics.
Is street vending legal?
Yes. Since SB 946 in 2018, state law has decriminalized it. That means cities and counties can't criminally cite vendors or ban them from specific zones. They can, however, still enforce health and safety rules — things like sidewalk clearance and ADA access.
So why does it feel unregulated?
On a recent segment forAirTalk, Memo Torres ofL.A. Taco pointed to a stark gap between L.A.'s vending population and its permitted vendors. According to an email from the California Restaurant Association reported byFOX 11, an estimated 50,000 street vendors operate across Los Angeles — yet only 53 hold permits specifically for food sales.
Why so few permits?
Vending requirements largely mirror restaurant-grade standards — large refrigeration units, multi-basin sinks — that don't fit the reality of most vendor setups: flat-top griddles, folding tables, pop-up tents.
That isn't to say there haven't been efforts by the city to address the permitting gap. In 2024, the City Council, with Raman's backing, voted to drop the annual permit fee from $541 to $27.51.
Raman's mayoral campaign has since proposed another potential fix: extending a state permit category — currently used by vendors at farmers markets who share equipment like a communal three-compartment sink — to street vendors, so operators wouldn't need their own restaurant-grade setup to qualify.
What about health and safety?
County health inspectors technically oversee street food vendors, but both industry and vendor advocates agree enforcement is inconsistent — leaving reliable data on violations hard to come by.
Are vendors and restaurants actually enemies?
A 2015 Economic Roundtable study found that businesses located near street vendors were more likely to see job growth than those without nearby vendors.
What’s next
Proposals like Raman's permitting reforms aim to close the gap — but for now, most of L.A.'s vendors remain outside the formal system.
Outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground ahead of the NFL game between the Rams and 49ers. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
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Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
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Associated Press
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Topline:
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
Why it matters: The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The backstory: The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment. The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
What's next: The Rams and 49ers kick off at 5:35 p.m. Thursday night on Netflix.
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks in the traditional manner and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment.
The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
Both teams agree this contrast in preparation is not a referendum on the best way to handle a pair of 16-hour flights with a football game in between — even if the rest of the world might see it that way after the final whistle.
Instead, this game is primarily a difficult early test for both the Super Bowl favorite Rams and the talent-laden 49ers, who also intend to be a title challenger. The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.
“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who will make his Rams debut in Australia. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing. I think we’re both riding our methodologies.”
Garrett will be joined by star cornerback Trent McDuffie and cornerback Jaylen Watson in their debuts with Los Angeles’ revamped defense.
“I’ve never been more excited to be wrong about something,” Shanahan said.
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Frank Stoltze
is a veteran reporter who covers local politics and examines how democracy is and, at times, is not working.
Published September 9, 2026 6:36 PM
The Jail complex in downtown Los Angeles
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Robert Garrova / LAist
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Topline:
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, specifically looking into whether L.A. County has failed to provide environmentally safe, humane and habitable conditions for people held there.
The details: The jail has long been plagued by allegations of poor conditions. Monitors from the American Civil Liberties Union have documented problems including overcrowding, severe mold and mildew, and rodent infestations.
The context: The federal investigation is expected to focus on conditions within the facility and not the actions of the county sheriff’s deputies who staff it, according to the Justice Department. The new investigation is separate from a 2015 settlement between the county and federal government, which stemmed from allegations of inadequate mental health care provided at county jails.
What happens next: Investigators will determine whether the county has violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, and 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
Reaction: L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger welcomed the investigation, and said she had said for year that the jail was “antiquated, inhumane, and unfit for our workforce and those incarcerated there.”
Jason Wells
manages the daily news product that you hear and read every day.
Published September 9, 2026 5:13 PM
Smoke rises from a brush fire near the Getty Center on Sept. 9, 2026.
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CBS LA
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Topline:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
What we know so far: As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This story is no longer being actively updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above. Forward progress of the fire was reported stopped shortly after 6 p.m. at a little over 20 acres.
