The Brief

At a warehouse in an industrial corridor of downtown Los Angeles, a handful of technicians are hunched over their brightly lit workstations, tinkering with saxophones, violins, and pianos.

This facility is one of the only remaining publicly funded repair shops for musical instruments in the country. Thousands of cases lay neatly stacked across tall shelves, ready to be shipped to schools across the nation's second largest school district, Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD). These district-owned instruments and the repairs are a free service to students here.

"The shop is a jewel for the school district," says Steve Bagmanyan, who started here in 2003 as a piano technician and now supervises the shop.

In a school district where about 80% of students come from low-income backgrounds, the repair shop helps create equitable access to quality instruments, he says, which can be expensive to own and maintain.

And it's a huge help for educators, too. "For teachers not to think about what to do with a broken instrument, to think 'where am I going to find repairs?'... That is all extra stress on a teacher."

Steve Bagmanyan began working at the repair shop in 2003 as a piano technician. Now, he supervises the shop, which was founded in 1959.

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Bagmanyan and the technicians work quietly in the background, ensuring that about 120,000 instruments in circulation throughout the district are in working order. "That's the magic of this place," he says.

The repair shop was, for many years, largely invisible to students and families. That changed when it was featured in the documentary The Last Repair Shop, which won an Oscar last year. Since then, letters have been pouring in from students sharing their gratitude. "That's our Oscar," says Bagmanyan, pointing to a wall decorated with the notes. He says he's seen the shop struggle and shrink in the past, during times of financial strain for the school district.

Now, the facility is getting a $1 million donation from legendary musician, producer and philanthropist Herb Alpert, who got his start playing trumpet in this very school district.

A potential game-changer in a child's life

Technician Paty Moreno puts finishing touches on a baritone horn that came into the shop with sticky valves. She pulled it apart, cleaned it with specialized machines and reassembled it.

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Technician Paty Moreno has sat at the same workstation for over 21 years, where she primarily repairs brass instruments.

"People think, 'I can play an instrument, so I can fix it too.'" But repairing delicate and sophisticated implements, she explains, requires special skills and tools. She considers it a dying craft.

As she puts finishing touches on a baritone horn that came into the shop with sticky valves, she says, "It's a strange connection between us and the students."

A few feet away, Duane Michaels is soldering a dented saxophone: "It's going to be somebody's grandkid, somebody's kid, right? And so you kind of think of it that way, and you want it to play easily and in-tune to give the kid the best opportunity to succeed on it."

Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen is a professor of music education at UCLA and says, "When students have an instrument that's not working for them, it can be incredibly frustrating. It causes them to think music's not for them." So, she says, for a student to have access to free repairs "takes away that burden on families and lets [students] put their energy into just creating music."

Music can play a role in children's development, she adds, and helps with various aspects of their education. "Students learn to work with each other, learn to problem solve," she explains. "When you learn music, you're really activating all parts of you as a person. Your physical, kinesthetic awareness, your artistic and creative side and your analytical side."

"You never know where a genius is"

Repair facilities like LAUSD's once existed in several major public school districts, according to Craig Anderson, a retired technician who belongs to The National Association of Professional Band and Instrument Repair Technicians. He says that over the years, financial constraints and technicians retiring led many around the country to downsize or close down completely.

That is partly why Alpert, an eight-time Grammy winner who was once an LAUSD student himself, is investing in the repair shop. He considers it to be an essential part of the district's music program.

"You never know what's going to come out of a student who's coming from a [low-income area] and picks up an instrument," he says. "You never know where a genius is."

Steve Bagmanyan (left) and technician Duane Michaels (right) with musician and philanthropist Herb Alpert (middle), who is donating $1 million to the repair shop.

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If he hadn't come across a trumpet at Melrose Elementary School back in the 1940s, Alpert says, he wonders whether he would have found his path to music.

"Lucky me, I was 8 years old in my grammar school and there was a music class and there's a table filled with various instruments … and I happened to pick up the trumpet."

Alpert says he couldn't make a sound at first, but eventually the instrument became his voice.

"I'm a card-carrying introvert, and this trumpet was saying the things I couldn't get out of my mouth. And I liked that, it was a good feeling … and I thought, 'Man, I had this magical opportunity for myself when I was 8 years old. I'd like to pass that on.'"

"Everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves"

At San Fernando High School in L.A., 11th grader Maximiliano Segura says he, too, had his first run-in with a trumpet at school when he was around 8.

"It was cool and shiny," he says with a laugh. "It really appealed to me when I first saw it. Like I knew it was a part of many genres like jazz or mariachi."

Maximilano Segura, a high school junior, started playing the trumpet in the third grade.

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Segura has been playing ever since, including in his school's mariachi band.

He has always used a free, district instrument, but says that until he watched The Last Repair Shop, he hadn't even considered that his instrument was also getting repairs for free all these years.

"To know that people from my background [have access to] instruments and music itself, it's amazing."

He often practices before, during and after school. And he's already started saving to buy his own trumpet after graduation.

"I love music. I express myself through it, I think it's just one of my best therapies that I could ever have. And I feel like everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves."

Sergio Alonso instructs the San Fernando High School mariachi band.

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Herb Alpert agrees: "Music should not be a privilege, it should be a part of the public education system." He hopes more visibility around the repair shop will encourage other school districts to re-invest in such facilities, too.

While Alpert's donation is part of a long career filled with philanthropy, he says the current political climate makes the investment feel more urgent. "I say, 'why are public funds not being spent on this?' This is a crucial part of a child's development."

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Local ice cream chain Wanderlust Creamery offers a sweet relief from this week’s sweltering temperatures. From ube to mango sticky rice, its unique signature and seasonal flavors can be found across Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Founder and chef Adrienne Borlongan sat down with Austin Cross, who hosts AirTalk every Friday, to discuss Wanderlust’s travel-inspired flavors.

About the owner

Borlongan initially thought that she would be a nurse. But after spending two years completing nursing prerequisites, she pivoted to a degree in food science and worked as a bartender for almost a decade.

Adrienne Borlongan, founder and chef of Wanderlust Creamery, is also a food scientist.

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One day, her roommate brought home an ice cream maker.

“And that kind of just snowballed into this crazy ice cream obsession,” Borlongan recalled.

She founded Wanderlust with her partner Jon-Patrick Lopez in 2015.

What sets the store apart?

Wanderlust’s flavors come from places Borlongan has either traveled to or has on her travel bucket list.

Many of the flavors are inspired by Borlongan’s Filipino-American heritage, including a best-selling ube malted crunch. It also features flavors like Ashta, a clotted cream from the Middle East.

The ultimate Wanderlust experience, according to the chef

Wanderlust Creamery is known for flavors from all over the world.

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You're encouraged to try as many samples as your heart desires. Wanderlust’s staff are trained to guide anyone through the flavors and talk you through options before you make a decision.

What’s next for Wanderlust? 

Borlongan is working on innovating new flavors for the summer, including an ice cream based on Swedish candies. She’s trying to whip up a mixture that’s able to keep the gummies chewy while frozen in ice cream.

Wanderlust is also opening a new location in San Diego.

Shop details

• Wanderlust’s ice cream has less air compared to traditional ice cream, making it rich and creamy. 
• Its seasonal menu items include Buontalenti, honey butter corn, Kaya toast, white peach verbena, Icelandic milk chocolate and Ashta. 
• The local ice cream shop has locations in Atwater Village, Fairfax, Pasadena, Sawtelle, Venice, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Torrance. 

Menu items we tried

• Ube malted crunch (malted milk, malted milkballs, and ube) 
• Stick rice and mango (rice milk, coconut cream, salt, Alphonso mangoes)
• White peach verbena (peach, lemon verbena)

What should we try next?

An Orange County Superior Court judge this week found that Orange County Board of Education member Marilyn “Mari” Barke failed to report millions of dollars in assets and income in her annual economic disclosure filings over multiple years.

Barke will have to pay nearly $82,000 in penalties, as well as attorneys’ fees, according to a proposed decision statement. The fees could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What’s next? 

State court rules allow parties 15 days to file objections to the proposed decision. After that, the court will be able to enter a final judgment.

About the case

Barke was elected to the OC Board of Education in 2018, and she currently serves as a board trustee. She is also the director of coalitions at the California Policy Center, an educational non-profit.

Under the California Political Reform Act, local elected officials are required to disclose their income, investments and other assets.

Barke filed amended financial statements for 2018 through 2021, following a complaint by private citizen made in February 2023. The Fair Political Practices Commission in 2024 found Barke liable on 16 counts for failing to report that income. Barke agreed to a settlement and paid a $3,200 penalty.

The judge later found that the FPPC’s settlement did not fully address the “willfulness/recklessness” or “adequacy of corrective efforts,” according to the proposed decision statement from Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover.

According to the court records, Barke argued that the mistakes in her filings were because she was following the advice of her now ex-husband, Dr. Jeff Barke, who she says advised her that the filings only needed to list economic interests if they conflicted with her role on the board.

Colover's response was that Barke’s reliance on that alleged advice was objectively unreasonable and wrong.

The response

Lynne Riddle, a retired judge who filed the complaint, said in a statement that financial interest disclosures are critical to the public.

“When elected officials flout their disclosure obligations like this, it undermines the public's right to honest and ethical government,” stated Riddle, who has published op-eds about charter schools and the OC Board of Education. “The Court’s decision vindicates the public’s right to know what their elected officials are doing.”

Riddle said the ruling and penalties should send a clear message that elected officials cannot shirk their responsibilities to disclose their economic interests.

Barke’s lawyer, Mark Rosen, in a statement to LAist, said: "From the start, this case was a vendetta against Mrs. Barke because she supports charter schools."

“As a first-time candidate, she made some technical mistakes in her forms with the Fair Political Practices Commission, and she freely admitted and corrected those mistakes and paid a fine,” Rosen said. “The anti-charter schools gang then piled on with this frivolous lawsuit.”

There are mistakes in the court’s decision, and “we are exploring a further course of action,” Rosen added.

Thinking about buying or leasing an electric car in the near future? California will soon be making that cheaper.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that sets aside millions of dollars in state funds to fund rebates for residents who buy or lease a zero-emission vehicle — a category that includes battery-electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles.

First-time EV buyers can qualify for a $3,500 discount when buying or leasing a new electric vehicle, as long as the retail price is under $50,000. If you’re looking for a used electric car, there’s still a price reduction available — a smaller one, however: $1,750 off for vehicles retailing for under $25,000.

The state’s program — called “MyFirstEV” — comes a year after President Donald Trump’s massive spending and tax plan known as the One Big Beautiful Bill ended federal tax credits for EVs nationwide. Previously, American consumers could claim a $7,500 tax credit after buying a new EV or $4,000 for used EVs.

Newsom said on Monday that as the federal government pulls back from supporting EVs, California would instead be “putting its foot on the accelerator” — and that the instant rebate program would “[make] it easier for families to drive clean, breathe clean, and keep more money in their pockets.”

The program has secured $270 million in funding — half of that from the state budget and the other from participating EV automakers.

One big thing to know: Despite the fanfare, the MyFirstEV program has not yet started — and we don’t have an official start date either. State officials will reveal next month which car brands are actually included, so don’t expect to receive this discount if you purchase an EV today.

Who qualifies for this program?

Only California residents who are buying or leasing an EV for the first time are eligible for this rebate.

And consumers will have to confirm that this is the first time they are buying or leasing an EV before taking their car home, said Lindsay Buckley, communications director of the California Air Resources Board, the agency tasked with managing the program.

“Participants will be required to sign a legal document declaring that this is in fact their first purchase or lease of an electric vehicle,” she said.

“So if you’ve already bought or leased an electric vehicle in the past, then you wouldn’t be eligible for this program.”

Limiting the program to first-time buyers could actually help boost the popularity of EVs among people who have never bought them, said Scott Moura, a UC Berkeley professor of civil engineering.

“Providing incentive to people who have bought EVs before isn’t really adding to the number of people who purchase EVs,” he said. “The funds can be used most effectively if they’re targeted towards first-time EV buyers.”

Do I need to apply ahead of time?

No — there’s no application to fill out ahead of time. Once state officials announce that the MyFirstEV program has officially begun, all you need to do is go to a dealership of a participating automaker.

This is different from other past state rebate programs — like the now-terminated Electric Bicycle Incentive Program — which have required participants to fill out an application before making a purchase.

If you move forward with making a purchase or lease, confirm two things with the salesperson and the financing team:

• That you qualify for the MyFirstEV discount
• That there are still state funds available for this specific car brand.

When federal EV rebates were available, buyers had to initially wait until they filed their taxes the year after buying their car to request this money back. But state officials say that folks interested in the FirstEV discount won’t have to wait so long.

“Once launched, Californians will be able to go down to participating automakers’ dealerships and access the rebates at the point of sale,” Buckley said. “They won’t have any delay in getting this discount.”

Can the program help me pay for any EV I want?

No — MyFirstEV discounts will only cover battery-electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles from automakers participating in the program. State officials will confirm next month which car companies are included.

But this means that if an EV brand you really want to purchase is not on the list, you won’t get the discount when buying or leasing the car.

Hybrid vehicles are also not included in MyFirstEV, state officials confirmed with KQED.

There’s also a price limit: The EV you choose must cost under $50,000 if it’s a new car, and $25,000 if it’s used. There is, however, a small exception to this price rule if the automaker is headquartered in California — in which case the discounts will apply regardless of the manufacturer’s retail price. More than a dozen electric car brands are based in the Golden State, with several selling models priced beyond the $50,000 limit.

I’m really interested in this program. What should I do while I wait for it to open?

While consumers wait for the program to begin, Buckley said they learn as much as they can about different EVs available on the market.

“Maybe head to a dealership and take a test drive of an electric vehicle that you’re eyeing,” she said. “We do expect this to be a popular program and for [funds] to get gobbled up pretty quickly” — so the more prepared you are when the program officially begins, the better.

A Polestar electric car prepares to park at an EV charging station on July 28, 2023, in Corte Madera. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Potential buyers can also learn about what it takes to care for an EV, like how to find charging stations and battery maintenance.

Buckley said the site ElectricForAll — created by the nonprofit Veloz — is a good source of information.

Will some carmakers have more rebates available than others?

No — funds will be divided equally among the participating automakers.

However, there may be greater demand for some brands, which could mean that rebates may run out faster at some dealerships.

This article includes reporting from KQED’s Laura Klivans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration advise consumers to avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

Health officials analyzed 190 cases of cyclospora in Michigan where a person who fell ill reported eating at Taco Bell. Officials found that 90% of those people said they ate iceberg lettuce.

More than 1,644 sick people in this multi-state cyclospora outbreak reported eating at Taco Bell in those states starting May 13, according to the agencies. There have been 94 hospitalizations and no deaths reported.

The FDA traced this subset of cases identified nationwide to a single supplier of contaminated iceberg lettuce from Mexico, but did not name the supplier.

FDA says it's working with the supplier to identify other locations where the contaminated lettuce has been distributed. The agency notes this is one large cluster that is epidemiologically related. There are other clusters across the country that may or may not be associated. Cases have been identified in 34 states.

Taco Bell issued a statement July 16 that it took "immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states." The statement also said the lettuce would be removed from the supply chain nationwide and replaced within 24 hours.

A wide reach for salad suppliers

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed federal official, has reported that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the lettuce. NPR has not independently confirmed that, and Taylor Farms has not responded to a request for comment.

A handful of big players with integrated supply chains and advanced processing infrastructure, including Taylor Farms, dominate the bagged lettuce and salad industry in the U.S.

With such a big reach, a single supplier can provide lettuce products to a number of retailers, so it's possible that additional clusters of cyclospora around the country could be linked to lettuce from the same supplier. It's also possible that there are multiple sources and suppliers linked to other cases around the country.

The FDA and CDC say the investigation is continuing.

How to protect yourself

The symptoms of the illness include watery diarrhea, loss of appetite and fatigue, and people contract it by eating or drinking contaminated food or water.

To protect yourself from the parasite, the CDC advises people to follow standard food safety handling protocols. "Wash your hands and any fresh produce thoroughly under running water before eating, cutting or cooking. This will reduce the risk of infection. Cooking kills the parasite, so heating food to 158 F or 70 C or higher is effective," said Dr. Gwen Biggerstaff with the CDC's Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases.

If people do develop symptoms, health officials advise people to contact their healthcare providers to be tested specifically for cyclospora. Routine stool tests often don't include that test.

"People with symptoms should stay well-hydrated and avoid preparing food for others while acutely ill, out of general caution, even though person-to-person spread is very unlikely," Biggerstaff said.

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