The Brief

Parents have consistently told LAist's education team that they feel confused and overwhelmed by L.A.'s school system — especially when selecting the type of school and navigating the application process.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, there are more than 400 elementary schools to choose from, including magnets, multilingual, multicultural or gifted and talented programs.

To help, K-12 reporter Mariana Dale and Senior Education Editor Ross Brenneman created the School Game Plan, a series of guides designed to help families navigate their child's educational journey.

From this series, the team produced a printed workbook based on the online guide "How to choose a school in Los Angeles," meant to help caregivers determine the best option for their child within LAUSD.

But producing the guide was only the first step — we needed to figure out how to get it into families' hands.

School Game Plan is available in print from your local library!

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Ross Brenneman

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LAist has distributed print materials such as zines and guides before. However, this was the first time we tailored outreach specifically around a printed guide aimed at families raising children five and under.

Our efforts coincided with California's rollout of transitional kindergarten, a new grade level for 4-year-olds. That made it a timely opportunity to connect with parents of young children who may want more information about public schools in L.A.

That meant we had to think creatively and test new ways to reach families. Here's what we learned.

The goal

The goal was to distribute our printed workbook, "How to choose a school in Los Angeles," to parents and caregivers across L.A. from September to early November. With help from a grant, we printed 7,200 copies to give out.

How we did it

The guides were distributed in a variety of ways:

• Tabling at early childhood events 
• Partnering with groups to distribute on our behalf  
• Presenting at education-related meetings 
• Offering copies to organizations through a web and social callout 

Here's how we went about this outreach.

Events

We tabled at several events new to our team, from the L.A. Kids Book Festival — with an estimated attendance of thousands of families — to storytimes at local libraries drawing in about 20-30 caregivers at a time.

Ross Brenneman, LAist's Senior Editor of Education, is speaking with a mother about the team's workbook, "How to Choose a School in L.A.," at the L.A. Kids Book Festival.

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Sabrina T. Sanchez / LAist

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At the festival, we spoke to hundreds of parents. A large crowd hovered over our table for hours. The reason? Our glorious prize wheel. Who doesn't love free swag? Prizes included crayons, bubbles, and slime — and everyone got a guide. That day alone, we passed out over 300 of them.

The storytimes offered a more intimate setting. We attended three events at L.A. Public Library branches to reach families from varying geographical locations – Los Feliz, Reseda and the Westchester area.

LAPL recommended these particular branches since they had high attendance.

This was the format for each session:

• Introduction. The children's librarian introduced us to the group. 
• Explain. We briefly shared who we are and what the School Game Plan offers. 
• Engage. After storytime, while the kids played, caregivers would come over and talk to us.  

We handed out over 200 guides. Parents were overwhelmingly grateful for the workbook.

LAist's education attended the Los Feliz Branch Library's story time event and passed out workbooks.

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Sabrina T. Sanchez / LAist

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Presentations and meetings

The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) invited our team to present at a couple of meetings with early childhood educators and parents.

One focal meeting was LACOE's Head Start Policy Council, made up of parent representatives from all 16 of their delegate agencies serving about 7,000 children across L.A. County. Dale and I presented the School Game Plan, including the printed workbooks.

After the meeting, people stopped by our table where we gave out 600 guides. With LACOE's help, we also provided additional guides to schools and organizations within their network. This meeting led to the highest number of guides passed out in person.

In other cases, our presence at larger events opened up opportunities to have gatherings with smaller groups later on. The team met a preschool administrator at the L.A. Kids Book Festival who invited us to share our print workbook with parents of 4-year-olds. What started as a simple presentation turned into an intimate conversation where parents, a preschool administrator and I reviewed the workbook together. While that gathering was small, the conversation was incredibly invaluable.

Fountain Day Preschool invited parents of four-year-olds to explore LAist's workbook, "What Is a 'Good School' and How Do You Find One in Los Angeles?"

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Taking the time to sit with parents surfaced so many questions — like how to apply, how long the application actually takes and more. Many of their questions were addressed in the workbook, while others weren't. It offered better insight into how the workbook can help caregivers, highlighting parents' needs, and showed where there's still work to do on our part based on questions that weren't addressed in our resource.

Partnerships

We also partnered directly with several early childhood organizations such as Partners for Children of South L.A., Children's Institute, and The Whole Child, which collectively distributed 900 guides throughout their programs.

Our largest partnership was with the Los Angeles Public Library, which dispersed 3,650 guides to 72 library branches across the city.

Digital

During distribution, Dale and Brenneman penned a story about the print workbook, including instructions on how organizations can request copies. (Once distribution ended, the instructions were removed from the article.)

We paired the story with a social post to promote the print workbook.

A variety of groups and individuals reached out to us for copies, which they picked up from our office. This included:

• The LA Kindergarten Class 
• Parent board of Cal-Tot 
• Sherman Oaks Presbyterian Nursery School 
• Eagle Rock Montessori 
• Board of the Friends of Hancock Park Elementary 

Through this approach, we passed out nearly 450 workbooks.

Impact

Reach

In total, we distributed the guides to:

• 72 libraries 
• 12 organizations and schools (that we know of) 
• 9 events across Los Angeles 

In the community

LACOE's Head Start and Early Learning Division (HSEL) passed out the guides on our behalf at the Taste of Soul Family Festival, one of the largest free food festivals in the state.

A family attending the Taste of Soul Family Festival.

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Sherrell Jackson

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Distributing workbooks across LAPL branches helped spread the work in parent communities. A parent shared in "The Atwater Village Moms' Group" on Facebook about how "awesome" the guide was after discovering it at a local library. This showed our engagement was spreading through word of mouth, which is a major way parents find support. The post provided organic reach to a parent group that has over 6,000 members.

Metrics

A member of Atwater Village Mom's Group on Facebook posted about LAist's workbook.

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Sabrina T. Sanchez / LAist

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Within the print workbook are QR codes directing readers to resources by LAist and elsewhere. During distribution, we tracked scans to LAist-linked QR codes to gauge whether outreach drove traffic.

In September, the QR codes in the workbook were scanned by 148 different people. The most scans occurred in early and late September and corresponded with our community events at library branches.

The numbers show that community events drove engagement with the print workbook's online resources.

What did we learn?

You can't do this work alone. Look for events or groups who see the value in the work and go there.

The education spaces we visited accounted for the largest in-person distribution. Educators and parents were highly engaged and interested in the guides. We learned that people want to print out the online guide, "How to choose a school in Los Angeles," but the reprints had issues. To troubleshoot the problem, we created a printable version of the workbook in both English and Spanish, which we added at the beginning of the article.

There's no one way to go about distribution. Conducting a multi-pronged outreach approach worked best – this included tabling events, presenting the workbook at educator meetings, sharing the guide online and through social media, and having organizations and groups distributing the workbook on our behalf. Each of these strategies played an essential role in our outreach efforts.

Here are some other takeaways:

• Parents really like to hear from other parents. That's part of why we included a ton of parent voices in the guide itself. We also saw this in practice at one event, where parents asked each other many questions about their school preferences. 
• Strategic partnerships amplify reach faster and more effectively than through direct outreach alone. 
• When outreach occurs in trusted, familiar spaces, families are more likely to engage. 
• Establishing partnerships and distributing guides takes real time and effort. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work — forming relationships, building trust, organizing the guides, driving across L.A. to drop off guides and hauling heavy boxes. 
• Social and web callouts fueled pick-ups! 
• Going forward, be clear on your purpose for showing up in person. Is it for connection, distribution, awareness, or all the above? 

What could we do better next time?

The education team created the workbook to help level the playing field for every child. We distributed the workbook across various communities in the Los Angeles Unified School District. However, next time we aim to expand our presence in more diverse communities by participating in additional cultural and community events.

That means we may need to offer more resources in multiple languages, depending on the need.

As we learned, it's helpful to identify and work in spaces where families are already showing up. Next time, we'll connect with more daycare and childcare providers — especially those who didn't engage during this cycle.

Several groups, including preschool and early childhood organizations, invited us to present the workbook directly to the parents they serve. Although we could only do this once, it went very well, and we're interested in participating in more gatherings like this, as well as possibly hosting larger events, such as "cram sessions," to help parents navigate the school process in L.A.

How can you help make sure there's a next time?

• Does your organization want to financially support work like the School Game Plan, which helps parents choose the right school for their child? Email: grants@scpr.org. 
• Community-focused reporting is made possible by generous supporters like you! Become an LAist member today at LAist.com/give.  

If your organization or group is doing similar work, I love chatting about all things engagement! Or, if you want to invite us to your next community event, here’s how to get in touch. Email: ssanchez@laist.com.

The Los Angeles County fires last year drove up insurance costs for many Californians. Now, a proposed settlement means some State Farm policyholders whose premiums rose won’t see additional increases, and others should even get refunds.

State Farm, the largest insurer in the state with about 20% market share, received approval for unprecedented emergency insurance rate increases in California last May. The company told the state that the billions of dollars it expected to pay out after the deadly fires placed it in financial peril.

The proposed deal among the state Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and State Farm, disclosed late last week, comes after months of public hearings convened by the insurance department and settlement talks.

Consumer Watchdog, which questioned the rate increases State Farm asked for, says the settlement saves the company’s California policyholders a total of $530 million. From the proposed settlement:

• Homeowners’ rate hikes will stay at the previously approved interim rate of 17% instead of the 30% the company sought.
• Condo owners who saw interim rate hikes of 15% will see their rates drop to an increase of 5.8%, and get refunds with interest dating back to June 1, 2025.
• Rental unit owners with interim rate hikes of 38% will see those increases drop to 32.8%, and receive refunds with interest. 
• Renter policyholders will see an increase of 15.65% vs. the interim rate hike of 15%.

In addition, State Farm has agreed not to cancel any new policies this year, and it won’t be canceling some policies it had planned not to renew in wildfire-affected areas. The insurance department characterized those provisions as important to the continued stability of the state’s insurance market, which has been beset with availability and affordability issues.

“When consumer advocates are able to challenge the data and present their own analysis, excessive requests are reduced and consumers are protected,” said Harvey Rosenfield in a statement. Rosenfield founded Consumer Watchdog and wrote Proposition 103, the voter-approved law that governs insurance in California.

State Farm has paid out more than $5 billion in claims from the L.A.-area fires so far, said spokesperson Tom Hartmann.

After consumer complaints and lawsuits, the insurance department is investigating the company’s handling of claims from the fires and expects results from that examination later this spring.

The agreement, which must be approved by an administrative law judge, also requires State Farm to undergo additional review of its rates in 2027. The company will be required to make a one time 2.5% premium discount available to renewing policyholders if its ratio of premiums to available cash reaches a certain level; Consumer Watchdog litigation director Will Pletcher said the deal will give the group more timely access to the company’s annual financial statements to help keep it accountable.

The insurance department expects the judge to decide on the settlement by April 7. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will then review the judge’s decision and have the final say.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Iran's state media issued what it said was a statement by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and keep up attacks on U.S. bases in the region, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran entered its 13th day.

It was purported to be the new leader's first statement since he succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war.

The statement said Iran will avenge the blood of its "martyrs," including the victims of a March 1 attack on a girls school in the city of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 165 people, many of them children. NPR has confirmed the U.S. military is investigating how it could have targeted the school.

The Iranian statement said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for a fifth of the world's oil supply, should remain closed. It said Iran continues to believe in friendship with its neighbors but will continue targeting U.S. bases in the region.

"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must undoubtedly continue to be used.," the statement said, according to an English version published by Tasnim News Agency, run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

It's unclear if the statement was from Mojtaba Khamenei himself. Another person was heard reading out the remarks on Iranian state media, with a photo of Khamenei posted on the TV screen, as it was broadcast around the world.

There's been speculation about the leader's current condition and whereabouts. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Khamenei was lightly injured early in the war.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Here are other major updates about the conflict.

To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:

Attacks on vessels | Oil stockpiles | Strikes across the Gulf | Israel-Hezbollah escalation | Iranian school attack

Two oil tankers hit in Iraqi waters

Two oil tankers were hit in Iraqi territorial waters near the southern port area of Basra, Iraqi officials said Thursday. It is the first oil-related strike reported in Iraq's waters during more than a week of war, in another sign of the conflict's escalation.

Iran, a critical ally of Iraq, took responsibility for attacking one of the tankers, which it said was owned by the U.S.

A port official said the attack targeted vessels near Basra's port approaches, and Iraq's security spokesman described it as sabotage.

Iraqi officials said one person was killed, and 38 crew members were rescued, with search operations continuing.

Iran has stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial shipping in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, warning that the world should brace for oil prices to double.

— Jane Arraf

U.S. and allies to release record oil stockpiles  

The U.S. confirmed it will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a coordinated International Energy Agency (IEA) release of 400 million barrels from emergency stockpiles.

The U.S. contribution amounts to roughly 40% of the total, to be released gradually over about four months.

The IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, said the goal is to keep the supply of oil flowing as the conflict disrupts shipping routes and energy infrastructure. But analysts warn stockpile releases can only partially offset prolonged disruption in the Gulf, where roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, President Trump said the price spike is temporary and said the reserve release would push prices down.

According to the popular app Gas Buddy, the current average cost of regular unleaded is now up to $3.61 a gallon.

- Camila Domonoske

Iran continues attacks on Gulf States

Countries in the Gulf reported new incoming threats and interceptions Thursday, as Iran continued firing drones and missiles across the region – including at U.S. military bases.

The UAE's defense ministry said air defenses were responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks, and that sounds heard in parts of the country were from intercepts.

Kuwait's defense ministry said its air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles and drones that penetrated the northern and southern parts of the country's airspace.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed drones headed toward the Shaybah oil field.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Iran for recent attacks across the Persian Gulf region, calling them a "breach of international law" and "a serious threat to international peace and security."

- Rebecca Rosman

Israel launches large strikes on Hezbollah sites in Beirut after rocket fire into Israel

People inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, on Thursday.

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Baz Ratner

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The militant group Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket attack against Israel since the start of the war with Iran. The Israeli military said the Iranian-backed group fired heavy volleys toward northern Israel overnight into Thursday, triggering interceptions and sending residents repeatedly into shelters.

The Israeli military responded by launching more attacks against what it said were Hezbollah launch sites and command infrastructure.

Huge booms were heard across the capital and large black smoke billowed from the Dahieh neighborhood in south Beirut, while an attack in central Beirut – where thousands of people are displaced – killed 8 people and injured 31, according to Lebanese officials.

Wide evacuation orders for south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced at least 800,000 people so far, according to the Lebanese government.

Lebanon, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has unusually called for direct talks with Israel to end the escalating fighting with Hezbollah. Israel has not officially responded.

Israeli strikes on Iran have continued, with Iran firing missiles at Israel intermittently, including overnight.

Israeli military officials say about half of the missiles Iran has launched at Israel have carried cluster warheads, which spread out into smaller bombs over a wider area – increasing the risk to civilians.

- Daniel Estrin, Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rebecca Rosman

Pentagon: Preliminary assessment suggests U.S. likely responsible for strike on Iranian school

The Pentagon has opened a formal investigation into the missile strike on an Iranian girls school that killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children, after a preliminary assessment suggested the U.S. was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The investigation is expected to take months and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike.

If a U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year.

"This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

NPR previously reported — based on commercial satellite imagery and independent expert analysis — that the strike was more extensive than initially reported and appeared consistent with a precision strike on a nearby military complex, raising questions about whether outdated targeting information contributed to the tragedy.

- Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf, Geoff Brumfiel

Rebecca Rosman contributed to this report from Paris, Jane Arraf from Erbil, Iraq, Hadeel Al-Shalchi from Beirut, Daniel Estrin from Tel Aviv and Camila Domonoske, Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf and Geoff Brumfiel from Washington.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

If you’re a soccer fan — or just a fan of South Korean phenom Son Heung-min — you may have heard that the Los Angeles Football Club planned to put up a larger-than-life mural of the footballer in Koreatown last month. But the mural has yet to appear. 

LAFC planned to reveal the mural during the launch of their 2026/2027 jersey at The LINE Hotel. Now the reveal has been pushed back to sometime in June. 

The delay stems from issues with the city’s mural approval process, at least according to city officials. 

Gabriel Cifarelli, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, said they received a mural registration application for the site. But the department said it could not issue a notice to proceed because the application was “ineligible and incomplete” under the city’s mural ordinance and administrative rules.

“DCA staff offered the applicant advice and further guidance, and remains available for questions,” Cifarelli said. 

If a mural includes a team logo it is considered an advertisement and not original artwork, according to the city department. In that case, the permit must be issued through the city’s Building and Safety Department.

A new application has not been submitted through the mural program, Cifarelli said, and it was not immediately clear whether LAFC applied for a permit through the Building and Safety Department. 

LAFC spokesperson Danny Sanchez didn’t confirm if a new permit has been submitted.

“The mural unveil was rescheduled to June to better align with World Cup festivities,” Sanchez said. 

Dave Young Kim was commissioned to paint the mural and previously painted a Son mural on the side of the Crosby building in Koreatown in October, but that was only up for a few weeks.

He still plans to paint the mural on The LINE Hotel in June.

“I’m assuming at this point, LAFC is likely trying to line it up for a more opportune time,” said Kim. “The mural was originally supposed to line up with the launch of the new jersey so something similar.”

Leo Hernandez, 35, said he hopes the mural goes up before the World Cup.

“I didn’t know it was pushed back all the way to June,” he said. “I’ll be in Mexico for the World Cup.”

Hernandez, who goes by “El Soccer Guy” on Instagram and has nearly 50,000 followers, has been attending LAFC games since 2018. He said Son’s arrival to L.A. has brought a new wave of fans to the club.

“I’ve never seen so many Koreans,” he said. “He’s bringing a whole new community to LAFC. I don’t know if they love soccer or they love Son or both, but it’s amazing to see.”

“Son is starting to be my favorite on the team,” he added. “He’s so good. He wants the team to shine. And I love his positivity and energy.” 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about people with superpowers living in a world very much like our own.

And there’s a lot of real Los Angeles mixed into the recent MCU series “Wonder Man,” now on Disney+, which makes for a version of the MCU that feels a little more grounded in reality, especially for Angelenos.

It's an action-comedy about two struggling actors also dealing with superhuman forces and secret government agencies. Think The Studio meets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sir Ben Kingsley reprises his Iron Man 3 character Trevor Slattery, the messy British actor hired to play a bad guy called The Mandarin. And Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.

Through their adventures trying to book the gig-of-a-lifetime while surviving the perils of the MCU, L.A. landmarks and cultural references abound, and ground the series in a relatability for many Angelenos, including lots of inside jokes for those working in the entertainment industry.

3 cultural references that make Wonder Man feel like real Los Angeles

Historic places, some we’ve had to part with

There’s a series of roughly 100-year-old small, independent movie houses used as locations in Wonder Man — the Eagle Theatre now home to Vidiots, Westwood's Village Theater now operated by American Cinematheque (with views of The Bruin Theater across the street), and the Highland Theatre which closed in 2024.

A scene from 'Wonder Man' on Disney +.

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Speaking of iconic L.A. spots breaking local hearts, the vintage bar within Echo Park’s Taix French Restaurant was used as an interior location for the series. Taix is closing at the end of the month to make way for new development.

“Taix, the Highland Park Theatre — these places that it was only three years ago were there,” Wonder Man showrunner Andrew Guest told LAist, “a lot of these establishments sadly, are not surviving. And this town is in a rough, rough place.”

(Though actor/director Kristen Stewart recently said in an interview with Architectural Digest that she bought The Highland Theatre and is restoring the building.)

L.A. traffic (especially around the Hollywood Bowl on a performance night)

Traffic is part of life in Los Angeles and with so many scenes shot in Hollywood, even the main characters of Wonder Man must experience that bumper-to-bumper frustration.

Though, because it is a TV show, they were able to indulge in the fantasy of beating that traffic in a way that in reality would be highly dangerous (and illegal).

“We got to shut down Sunset Boulevard for a little while to shoot a car going onto the sidewalk in front of the Palladium,” said Guest. And surprisingly, he explained, they didn’t have to shoot in the middle of the night to make the shot happen: “That was Friday night…. We didn't close all lanes of traffic. The street was open. We were shooting while Los Angeles was still going strong.”

The scene also references the frequent traffic back up during big shows at the Hollywood Bowl, even earning the show a social media repost of the scene from Chaka Khan.

Having family and friends 45 minutes away, who you rarely visit

Wonder Man includes an episode titled Pacoima where the main character visits his family and childhood home.

“My wife grew up in Chatsworth, and one of the things I found fascinating about her experience growing up there was that many of her friends and their families never went to Los Angeles,” said Guest.

“The idea that Simon grew up close to, but far enough away that Hollywood and Los Angeles did not feel like they were part of his life…so when he moved to the city, Pacoima is not a place he goes to a lot. And I feel like that's a part of L.A. that is true to this city. That doesn't get explored a lot and felt like it was another detail that we got to sort of throw into the show.”

There’s lots of other Southern California. references to enjoy from the Talmadge Apartments, an historic renaissance revival building on Wilshire Blvd., a mural of Danny Trejo, and even a cameo from Gisellle Fernandes, real-life L.A. broadcaster for Spectrum 1 News.

Should you get lost in the multi-verse, at least this L.A will be pretty familiar.

BONUS: Could there be a Season 2 of Wonder Man? And would it still be set in L.A.?

Guest couldn’t confirm anything about a possible Season 2, but told LAist, “It’s still on the table as an option, potentially."

As for whether a potential Season 2 would also film in Los Angeles and continue to highlight the city in new ways, Guest said it’s occurred to him that one of the best ways to write about Hollywood could be “ to send our show somewhere else because everybody in this town who's working has to move — whether it be Budapest or London or Ireland or Vancouver — very little is actually happening in this town. And that’s a story that I don’t think is being told right now about L.A.”

Season 1 of ‘Wonder Man’ is now streaming on Disney+.

Watch Julia Paskin's interview with actor/comedian X Mayo, who plays Simon Williams' agent in 'Wonder Man':