The Brief

This October at Santa Ana College, about a dozen people gathered in a newsroom that’s not much bigger than a studio apartment.

For hours, they pored over layouts and stories, analyzing every word and punctuation mark on their computer screens. Some printed out drafts and took to editing with a pen.

The photo adviser floated around, helping students edit images, making sure they had the proper color and exposure. As the evening progressed, two alumni, now students at Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Long Beach, also showed up to help.

The reporters, editors, advisers, and alumni were hard at work on the print edition of el Don, the college’s storied newsmagazine. Soon after, they would submit that edition to compete for the National Pacemaker Awards, largely considered to be the highest of honors.

For decades, el Don has been a routine recipient of these awards. And so, on that night, everything had to be perfect. Santa Ana College had a record to keep.

Covers of recent el Don issues, on display at Santa Ana College.

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Beyond that newsroom’s four walls, the journalism world is less bright. Across the country, journalists are grappling with everything from mass layoffs to the threat of AI, all this on top of an erosion in public trust. One media executive told New York Magazine: “I think you’d have to be crazy to begin a career in journalism right now.”

When Talan Garcia, el Don’s views editor, heard this, she let out a laugh.

“It’s true,” they said. “It is a dying medium.”

“But,” she added, “I also feel like we need it now more than ever.”

This December, el Don is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Ahead of the newsmagazine’s centennial, LAist spoke with those who’ve brought it to life in recent decades. They reflected on how they got their start and the importance of student journalism. They also shared what this newsroom means to them; what inspires them; what scares them; and how to prepare for whatever comes next.

Ash Mojica

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Chris Treble

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How did you end up in journalism?

“I just got out of working for the last 10 plus years and decided to take a semester of, like, personal reflection, personal development time. So, I'm taking this journalism class because it's completely different than what I have been doing — I used to work in aviation manufacturing. And I'm also taking American Sign Language and guitar.”

— Chris Treble, el Don staff writer, returning student

“I was 30 when I first joined, and I had just come back to college for, I think, the third or fourth time. I've got ADHD and have a really hard time focusing on things that are not interesting to me ... My dad was in an art class with one of the [el Don] editors ... And she mentioned to him that the el Don was looking for photographers. So, I was, like, ‘Hey, photojournalism! Sounds great!’ ... And then I saw a small blurb pop up on a local news app about a sexual assault that had taken place on our campus. I came in [the newsroom] and was, like, ‘Hey, so is this a thing you cover, or is this, like, too heavy?’ And they were, like, ‘Oh, we absolutely cover that. Write it up.’ And I'm, like, ‘No, no. I'm a photographer.’ And they were like, ‘Write it.’ So that was the first byline.”

— Carrie Graham, former el Don EIC, freelance reporter in Orange County

“I did a story on a professor that had just passed . . . And it was, honestly, it was an honor to get to write about someone that had affected my life and to get to share that news and get to talk to people who were also affected by her. I feel like that was a perfect story for me to, you know, really like cement that, like, I think I found what I want to do.”

— Ash Mojica, el Don staff writer, earned a B.A. in English at Cal State Fullerton

Inside the el Don newsroom.

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What makes the newsroom special? 

“It's being confined in a small space, working together, and just wanting to do better.”

— Geovanni Esparza, el Don news editor

“I just want to get one percent better every single day. And with the advisors that are in the newsroom, I feel like they have created a great place for us to do so, because they help us through every step of the way without being very controlling. Like, it's still very much our work, with their guidance.”

— Ryla Manalang, el Don lifestyle editor

Ryla Manalang

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Carrie Graham

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“Being in that newsroom is probably the first time in my life that I felt like I fit in somewhere. I've always kind of been the outsider in groups, where, like, everyone got along with me, but I wasn't really part of things or it was easy to forget about me when people were planning stuff . . . That was the first time that I felt like I could be me, in all of my dorky quirkiness, and nobody was looking down on me for it.”

— Carrie Graham 

“[The newsroom] is full of people who want to see you succeed and know the challenges that you're facing. So I just feel like I'll be a part of el Don forever, you know? I don't see any of those people ever leaving my life.”

— Kate Bustamante, former el Don EIC, Cal State Dominguez Hills undergrad majoring in psychology

What it means to be the 'first rough draft of history'

“We have students that are reporting on things that they're living, and maybe major news outlets might not think of them as being able to be ‘objective’ about that. But we're working with the community members, and I'm training community members to cover and inform their own community . . . So what we really emphasize more is fairness: Did you get enough reporting? Are you talking to all these different types of sources? ”

— Sarah Bennett, el Don adviser and journalism department chair at Santa Ana College, former el Don editor, co-founder of community print studio PLACE Long Beach

“Our publication does a lot for Santa Ana, especially because we're in a community that doesn't get a lot of representation. And, also, we're a community that is poorer than the rest of Orange County.”

— Talan Garcia, el Don views editor

“There's so many beautiful cultural traditions that are taking place here and just people taking care of each other, loving each other, and living their lives together. And this space and time in Santa Ana won't exist again. So, I have been really proud of seeing the way the students have preserved all of this information and their experiences and these people.”

— Jacqueline Schlossman, el Don adviser, associate professor of photography at Santa Ana College and co-chair of the art/photography department

What it takes to be an award-winning publication

“I would say 99% of the students that I got, over my 36 years there, almost all of them had zero journalism experience.”

— Charles Little, taught journalism at Santa Ana College for more than three decades

“The legacy is not guaranteed. There's a lot that goes into keeping [el Don] afloat and keeping it funded and recruiting students and training them. It's, you know, it's just constant . . . I think, because the publication has won for so many years, people sort of expect it . . . And I keep on having to say, like, this is an entirely different group of students that did this. You have no idea what these students went through.”

— Sarah Bennett 

“We have people at all different levels. We have news junkies who have been working here for three semesters, we also have people that are like, ‘Hey, I just want to make content for TikTok’ and kind of learn about journalism in the process.’”

— Ajay Orona, el Don adviser, assistant journalism professor, associate editor of Alta Journal

“We feel like we need to meet that standard and uphold it.”

— Geovanni Esparza 

Geo Esparaza

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Talan Garcia

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“I'm constantly trying to balance between working with people on their stories for print, working with people on their stories for web, and working with people on their stories for social media. Even with a whole day's work, going in at 10 a.m. and leaving around six or seven for el Don, there's still so much that has to be done before the end of the night, before I go to bed. Which is a lot, right? Because there's three different moving cycles all the time. But I'm addicted to it.”

— Talan Garcia 

Is it ethical to encourage people to pursue journalism?

“We are trying to remain positive, but without, you know, blinders on to the reality. I'm thinking a lot about how we approach this. Every semester it's, like, how do we start the conversation? What is happening in the media industry, and how do we frame the work that we're doing here at our school?”

— Sarah Bennett 

“If you can do storytelling — whether it's through writing or photography or making videos or doing social media — then there's going to be a career choice for you. The amount of work, though, that you will have to put in if you want to pursue journalism or photography or photojournalism, it's abundant.”

— Jacqueline Schlossman

“We need entrepreneurship in our field, because we have so many people who are being trained to go expect a job somewhere. And, as we know, those jobs are not waiting for journalism students to graduate. But that doesn't mean that your community doesn't need news and information . . .We're always talking about innovation and community impact, and I'm totally willing to rip up what we've done before and do something different.”

— Sarah Bennett 

“We want our students to be prepared to talk about money, to really clarify what the goals are, what the scope of the job is, what the expectations are, and, also, what the pay is, so they can make a living . . . I also teach them that, sometimes, we educate the industry by turning down work.”

— Jacqueline Schlossman

“There's a definite and desperate need for us to maintain media and make it important and valuable to society. Because, without that, what are we?”

— Charles Little 

Back issues of el Don, piled up on the newsroom floor. Staff members distribute the publication themselves.

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OK, but what’s the point of print? 

“My students, especially the ones who went through high school during the pandemic, they're at a point where being online isn’t necessarily fun, it's just a part of work, just a part of getting things done . . . And I think print is something that's novel and fun and exciting to them.”

— Ajay Orona

“My students love zines. They're kind of, like, TikToks in your hand.”

— Sarah Bennett

“I feel like Gen Z is kind of a new opportunity to see whether or not print will really flourish in the future . . . I think that we will see a comeback. I mean, even just with zines in Orange County, I have noticed a lot of young people gravitating towards that . . . Sure, statistically, in the last 15, 20 years, there’s been a major decline in people subscribing to the New York Times's print edition and things like that. But, also, post-COVID, we want to experience things and hold it in our hands.”

— Talan Garcia 

How journalism transformed me . . . 

“One piece that I'm really proud of is an interview with a man by the name of Barry Asher. I was scrolling through the Wikipedia of notable alumni from Santa Ana College and one just caught my eye. He was a [professional bowler] . . . And then I learned he's a hall of famer . . . . When we finally finished the print, we went to his bowling alley. I handed him the paper, and what really stood out to me is, as he was reading it, he was getting kind of choked up. And, like, by the end, he was on the verge of tears. And that really just hit me emotionally, that as a journalist, I can have this impact on people.”

— Brandon Rowley, el Don sports editor

“People are gonna hate me for this, but when I had to write [my college papers], I would always just send the first draft. And I would still get A's. It kind of made me a little bit cocky. And that just does not fly in journalism. The first draft is not it. You're gonna have editors ripping apart your pages, ripping up your babies. And you know what? I love it. I love having my work dissected. It's stepping on your pride a bit, but that needs to happen. You need that in order to grow.”

— Ash Mojica 

“I didn't think this was possible, like, journalism was never an option for me . . . My first day in the newsroom last fall, I told [my professors], ‘Hey, I've never taken a journalism class before in my life. I don't know what I'm doing.’ And they helped me get where I needed to be. And then, by the end of that semester, they were like, ‘He's gonna be the next lifestyle editor.’”

— Geovanni Esparza

“[Being editor in chief during the pandemic] was definitely chaotic . . . My youngest [kid] was about three or four, and all three of my kids have special needs. So there was a lot of trying to balance out being at school meetings versus being able to cover what I needed to cover and get edits done. And a lot of it was honestly doing edits at eleven o'clock at night after the kids had gone to bed . . . But it really gave me a chance to have some sense of self again, because I had been a stay-at-home mom for, like, 10 years . . . And I had gotten to a point where I didn't really know anything about myself anymore. I didn't exist outside of my role as mom. Like, if someone asked me what my favorite band was, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. My favorite food: chicken dinos, whatever my kids left behind. It wasn't healthy . . . So, even though it was a lot of work, it was really rewarding, because it was something that I was doing entirely for myself, so that I had some sense of me again.”

— Carrie Graham 

“It was kind of love at first assignment . . . Seeing my name in print made me feel like it was a stepping stone to what my future could be.”

— Ryla Manalang 

Jakki Padilla

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Jarely Olmos

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Is journalism in your future? What is the future of journalism?

“I like writing, and I love to read articles. I think some are very engaging and they inspire me and make me want to pursue this kind of work. But becoming a journalist? I need to see if I do want to do this later on.”

— Paola Cabrera, el Don staff writer

“[It’s] not that I don't love to write, I do. I just get a little insecure about my writing, and — I don't know if this is good or not — but, like, when it comes to video editing, I trust myself more.”

— Lizett Gallo, el Don staff writer

“I think a community college foundation in journalism is great because we can teach [students] how to be good reporters and be responsible and learn AP style and all the rest. But in terms of having a skill set, I think it's very important that they have a skill set outside of journalism, so they can make themselves more valuable and more useful. So, major in economics or business or science or anything that'll give you a step ahead.”

— Charles Little 

The newsmagazine's advisers: Ajay Orona, Sarah Bennett, and Jacqueline Schlossman.

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“No matter what, I'm always going to be a writer . . . I'm always going to be in this field that is tough, this field that is constantly shifting and underappreciated and undervalued, especially with the rise in AI. And it's scary, it's so scary. But I am such a firm believer in doing what you love, doing what's important. And I think, at the end of the day, I'm gonna be out there, fighting . . . I'd rather live struggling with what I love, than to, you know, not be able to even touch it or attempt it. I'm never gonna know unless I try, and I think I was always scared to try before. And now — maybe because I'm getting older — I just don't want to wait anymore.”

— Ash Mojica

“I'm dipping my toes everywhere, but I still feel like my heart is in journalism . . . I'm doing public relations so I can buy a house for my family. Like, I want to be able to survive, and my parents came from Mexico for a reason . . . It's hard for me to be selfish and just want to do journalism.”

— Jakki Padilla, former el Don editor, Cal State Long Beach undergrad

“Misinformation is a plague that is sweeping not only America, but the world . . . I'm studying it because, to some extent, I feel like an activist, and I want to see change in this world. And if that's only through a small part of the media, then that's enough for me. I want to learn how to master it so that I can effect change in media and create things that lead people to trusting their own local news organizations once again . . . I don't know how far I'll be able to take that, but I think it's a risk worth taking. And I think it's worth getting my degree in it because, you know, I'm sure I'm gonna get laid off. I'm sure I'm gonna take a lot of jobs that don't pay. But also, this is a humongous passion for me, not only to write, but to deliver things that are important and that affect local people.”

— Talan Garcia 

“Now we’re starting to worry about AI taking over jobs like mine. And I think that in order to survive, instead of complaining and lamenting about it, you have to accept the reality and figure out how you will fit into that new puzzle.”

— Vera Jimenez, KTLA meteorologist, former el Don editor, winner of two Emmys, three Golden Mikes, and three Golden Pylons

“We need to be transparent about where our values stand.”

— Jakki Padilla 

"It's up in the air. But I feel like we need to take advantage of now and really focus on what we still have left."

— Jarely Olmos, el Don staff writer

“Is it scary? Sure it is but, you know, we can do hard things, and we can overcome these challenges . . . The only way that we become the best versions of ourselves is by confronting things that are challenging and scary.”

— Vera Jimenez

Top image: Row 1 (left to right): Kate Bustamante, Brandon Rowley, Paola Cabrera; Row 2: Ajay Orona, Sarah Bennett,  Jacqueline Schlossman. Photos by Brian Feinzimer/LAist. Composite photo by Samanta Helou Hernandez/LAist.

The most striking view off one of San Luis Obispo County’s winding coastal roads is not the lashing ocean waves of the Pacific Ocean or cows plodding out from the shade of a California live oak tree.

It is two enormous concrete domes that come into focus along a final climb that began 7 miles back at Avila Beach. The land sinks away, and what looks like a small town emerges, showcased in a palette of grays, whites and terracotta.

This is Diablo Canyon, California’s last operating nuclear power plant.

Just years ago, the plant was slated to close, and employees worked to decommission it, until a 2022 about-face by Gov. Gavin Newsom led the state to extend its operations to 2030. Now lawmakers in Sacramento are talking about allowing it to operate even longer, potentially to 2045.

But local groups, some of whom have protested the plant since its construction, are banging the drum ever louder about their concerns for safety or a catastrophic meltdown, as well as the danger posed by spent nuclear waste at a site near several seismic fault lines.

Meanwhile, academics are furiously analyzing how much keeping Diablo Canyon open would cost and if it would support or hinder the state’s clean energy transition. And business groups are lining up in support.

So when PG&E offered press tours earlier this year, KQED accepted. The nuclear power plant has not garnered this much attention in years, but now, once again, all eyes are on Diablo Canyon. What does it look like inside?

Out on the water

PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant tour started on a boat in a protected marina just south of the reactors. This, and another cove just outside the breakwaters, are the site of a key piece of the plant’s cooling system — and a major concern for environmentalists, who argue it hoovers up and kills marine life and have called it “the most destructive facility” along California’s coast.

Dipping a hand in Diablo Cove, the water is lukewarm, not the frosty standard for the ocean in these parts.

That’s because Diablo Canyon draws 2 billion3-2.5 billion gallons of ocean water daily — enough to fill more than 3,000 Olympic-size swimming pools — into the plant to cool equipment, and discharges the water back into the ocean typically 16 to 17 degrees hotter.

The warmer water makes it feel as if a chunk of Southern California’s coast has been lobbed off and transferred north.

Out on the water, there was a hotbed of animal activity: a floating sea otter and chubby seals sunning themselves on rocks.

There were other species too — sea bass, stingrays, and California’s state fish, the garibaldi, which typically live farther south along California’s coast, but have moved here.

Diablo Canyon staff said the warm water leads to essentially no change to the environment. Because fishing and other activities are not allowed within 2,000 yards of the plant, it’s a “de facto marine sanctuary,” said Tom Jones, a senior director in charge of future planning for Diablo Canyon.

But the California Coastal Commission, the state agency tasked with protecting the coastline and its natural resources, reported in 2025 that the plant’s cooling system kills almost two billion larval fish annually, plus other organisms that aren’t measured.

While adult populations may be abundant in Diablo Cove, the commission wrote that adults often appear far from where they spawn, and their presence here may be the result of productive marine habitats nearby.

The commission also warned that removing eggs and larvae near Diablo Canyon leads to “a significant reduction” of species dozens of miles from the plant.

“These planktonic organisms,” wrote the commission, “constitute the base of the food web in California’s coastal waters.”

To the turbine deck

We donned hard hats and safety equipment and passed through heavy security to enter the “protected area,” which consists of spaces closer to the nuclear reactors.

We entered the turbine deck, an industrial building the size of two-and-a-half football fields. It was hot and loud on the deck, with a slight vibration underfoot.

The steam-driven turbine inside is an enormous semi-cylinder that looks like a horizontal steel pipe cut in half, and spins a generator to produce electricity.

The PG&E guide pointed out the window at a containment dome, where uranium atoms are split apart, releasing huge amounts of heat.

A cascade of effects follows: the heat warms water and creates steam, the steam travels through pipes to turn the turbine, the turbine connects to a generator, which makes electricity that’s then sent across the grid and delivered to about three million Californians.

Nuclear generates nearly 9% of the state’s energy supply, part of an energy mix that includes gas, hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal and even small amounts of coal.

While California’s demand for electricity has been flat for years, it’s now growing with the adoption of electric vehicles, people swapping gas appliances for electric ones, and data centers.

The debate to keep Diablo Canyon open is spurred, in part, by this uptick in demand. Maureen Zawalick, senior vice president and chief risk officer at PG&E, said stepping into the turbine deck reminds her of the end uses of all this power: “safety in hospitals, kidney dialysis, stop lights and everything else.”

California is walking its economy across a tightrope.

The state’s growth in the 20th century was built on a foundation of fossil fuels, but leaders see its future as being powered by the buildout of renewables like solar and wind, along with batteries to store excess power.

When heat waves strained California’s power grid and caused rolling blackouts in 2020, state lawmakers and Newsom voted to extend Diablo Canyon’s operation.

Now, as electricity bills continue to rise and demand is forecast to grow, proponents argue that keeping the plant open even longer can help California wobble across the precarious middle of the tightrope.

The simulator

We shed our safety gear and headed to the training building, with classrooms and an exact replica of the control room, called the simulator.

It was cool and quiet again as employees completed a training exercise, manipulating switches, lights and screens on a semicircle of vertical boards. Zawalick said the simulator’s seafoam green walls are meant to inspire calm, but its very existence is due to nuclear disasters that have occurred elsewhere in the U.S.

Simulators became a requirement for all nuclear power plants in 1979 after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania. The partial meltdown was the most serious nuclear accident in U.S. history and was caused by both human and equipment failure.

Practicing in a replica of Diablo Canyon’s actual control room is meant to train workers with the muscle memory to handle a variety of emergencies.

Employees spend 20% of their time in the Diablo Canyon simulator training for everything from planned refueling to routine maintenance to major emergencies.

Spent nuclear fuel

To finish the tour, we drove uphill and farther from the ocean to find dozens of hulking concrete cylinders that contain spent fuel, called “dry casks.”

The nuclear material is the concern of resident groups who fear an earthquake or terrorist attack could destabilize the storage and spew radioactive waste into the ocean or nearby communities. People living nearby are mailed annual emergency preparedness documents and have access to a free dose of potassium iodide, which protects the thyroid gland against radiation.

Linda Seeley has rallied against Diablo Canyon for decades as a member of the anti-nuclear nonprofit Mothers for Peace.

“As much as I would love it if nuclear waste were not toxic and lethal to a thousand generations in the future, that’s not the fact. The fact is that it is toxic,” she said.

Once fuel has been used inside the plant, radiation levels are dangerously high and have the potential to kill an exposed person in minutes.

The spent fuel spends 7 to 10 years next to the reactors in “wet storage,” a large pool of water treated with chemicals. The liquid absorbs heat and decays of the uranium, which has high levels of radiation.

The nuclear material is then packed into the double-lined, stainless steel and reinforced dry casks, roughly 20 feet tall. Each is bolted to a 7.5-foot-thick, steel-reinforced concrete pad designed to withstand earthquakes. The fuel requires special handling for tens of thousands of years.

Diablo Canyon is located roughly 3.5 miles from the Hosgri fault, which presents the main seismic risk to the plant. Another fault, the Shoreline, is closer to the plant, but smaller. Some seismologists are concerned that a quake along the faults could cause a meltdown.

The U.S. government is legally obligated to take ownership of all commercially spent nuclear fuel, but because the government has not yet built a permanent place to put it, the fuel is stored at the power plant.

Current solutions like Diablo Canyon’s dry storage casks, while they may be thorough, are only licensed until 2064 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Zawalick said PG&E is confident in the storage of Diablo Canyon’s spent fuel, though. She pointed out that nuclear power is “the only energy source that knows exactly where every ounce of our waste is.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and PG&E monitor the spent fuel on a daily and annual basis. “It’s secured, it’s inspected, it’s audited, it’s sampled. I’m a fan of all energy sources, but I don’t know where solar panels are sent when they’re done, and batteries, and all of that.”

Zawalick pointed to the powerful transmission lines carrying energy created here out to millions of Californians: to illuminate rooms for special and mundane occasions, preserve food in refrigerators, run air conditioners, and warm their shower water.

Order and safety come up frequently on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant tour: background checks, armed guards, seismic protective measures, reminders to hold on to handrails when on steps. The result is a calm and kempt environment, situated on a hillside overlooking the Pacific.

But underneath the serenity lie the inherent risks of nuclear power, especially when sited near seismic fault lines. Diablo Canyon has been the source of passionate debate as long as the idea of it has existed. And any effort to keep it operating longer will be no different.

And with that, the tour was over, and the guides returned to their work. A cow made its way slowly across the access road, with no idea of its contentious neighbor.

We all need a good story to start the week, and this one is the best. Pasadena Humane has rehomed its last dog rescued from the Eaton Fire. Artemis, a German shepherd, is happily in his forever home, and now we can all sleep a little easier. What a good boy!

Music this week includes the last of the free spring lunchtime concerts at the Colburn on Tuesday, May 5. Licorice Pizza has more picks, including Meshell Ndegeocello at Blue Note on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, Sports are at the Roxy, Saults are at the Teragram, Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman play Disney Hall, and over at the Grammy Museum, there’s a screening of the Ann Wilson documentary In My Voice, followed by a conversation with the Heart legend herself. Thursday, The Dear Hunter will be at the Glass House.

And, happy Cinco de Mayo! Food and drink specials and community celebrations abound on Tuesday.

Elsewhere on LAist.com, you can catch up on Larry Mantle’s recent interview with Mayor Karen Bass, create a route to see the best street murals around L.A., and grab a ticket to see a live taping of NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin and Tracee Ellis Ross at the Crawford on Thursday, May 7.

Events

Spaceballs

Tuesday, May 4, 6 to 10 p.m.
Griffith Observatory 
2800 E. Observatory Road, Griffith Park
COST: MEMBER ADMISSION, $45, MEMBER ADMISSION, $50 WAITLIST; MORE INFO

I don’t even really have to say it, do I? Griffith Observatory is hosting a very special screening of the best spoof of all time ever (don’t @ me), Spaceballs. In celebration of the upcoming sequel, Spaceballs: The New One (tbd if that was necessary), star Josh Gad will be on hand and the evening includes parking, drinks and snacks, and photo ops. It’s currently waitlist-only … may the Schwartz be with you.

Cinemasianamerica

Through Thursday, May 7
Laemmle Royal
11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A.
COST: FROM $11.50; MORE INFO

Just in time to kick off Asian American Pacific Islander Month, director Quentin Lee has put together an exciting screening series at the Laemmle Royal, featuring 30 years of Lee’s work. The Cinemasianamerica series runs through May 7 and includes screenings of Ethan Mao, The People I’ve Slept With, The Unbidden, Rez Comedy, and Last Summer of Nathan Lee. The series will wrap with Comedy InvAsian III, a sneak preview of Lee’s stand-up showcase. Most screenings include a Q&A with Lee and fellow cast members.

Core Samples

Through Tuesday, June 30, by appointment
UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
1317 Portola Plaza, Perloff Hall 1118, Westwood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

L.A. has a wealth of architectural and modern building feats, many of which we have more access to than any other city, given our (relative!) youth. UCLA’s School of Architecture has some of this history on display, including posters from talks by Frank Gehry and John Julius Norwich and archival materials, including VHS tapes, faculty portraits, 35mm slides of student work, travel photographs, office drawings, and posters. It uses a classroom space to allow visitors to explore, so since the exhibit is also a working teaching archive, you do have to make an appointment.

Netflix Is a Joke Festival

Through Sunday, May 10
Netflix Is a Joke Festival 
Multiple locations 
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

WANTAGH, NY - SEPTEMBER 10: Comedian Pete Davidson performs onstage during Oddball Comedy Festival at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on September 10, 2016 in Wantagh, New York.

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Where to even begin with all the incredible comedy listings for this year’s Netflix Is a Joke Festival? Whether you’re a theater person (see: Rachel Bloom guesting with Theater Adult on May 7), a fan of roasts (head to the Forum for the Roast of Kevin Hart on May 10), an SNL superfan (Pete Davidson at the Wiltern on May 9) or a podcast junkie (Girls Gotta Eat at the Palace Theatre on May 7), there’s a show for you. I didn’t even mention the 40th Anniversary of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse with the B-52s and Danny Elfman (May 4) or the Lizzo show at the Greek (May 7)! Pretty much every venue in L.A. has a comedy show this week – it might be harder not to see comedy. So find your favorite (or someone you’ve never heard of!) and get a taste of the L.A. and international comedy scene right here.

Anissa Helou x Now Serving: For Lebanon

Monday, May 4, 7 to 8 p.m.
727 N. Broadway #133, Chinatown 
COST: FROM $11.49; MORE INFO

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L.A. Times restaurant critic Bill Addison hosts this conversation with James Beard-winning cookbook author Anissa Helou at cookbook store Now Serving in Chinatown. Helou’s latest is Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland, celebrating the diversity of dishes from the Mediterranean country.

TROLLS: A Field Study 

Through Sunday, October 4
South Coast Botanic Garden
26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula 
COST: FREE WITH GENERAL ADMISSION ($18); MORE INFO

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South Coast Botanic Garden

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South Coast Botanic Garden

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Thomas Dambo’s oversized trolls are as cute as they are creepy. Twelve of those giants made entirely of reclaimed wood have made their way across the pond to guard the South Coast Botanic Garden until October. Walk through this fairytale land with admission to the gardens or plan a special guided weekend Troll Trek.

A bill moving through the state legislature would require independent evaluations of any new education initiative that costs at least $500 million a year or $1 billion in one-time spending.

The proposed requirement is part of a larger bill that would restructure the role of the state superintendent, an elected position that currently oversees the California Department of Education.

“That means that as we make massive investments, as have occurred in the last several years, like universal transitional kindergarten, that there is a built-in independent check to tell us what is actually working,” Assemblymember David Alvarez, the bill’s author and chair of the assembly subcommittee on education, said at a hearing a few weeks ago.

While research shows a child’s early years are critical for learning, in February, reporting by LAist found the state had no formal plans to evaluate transitional kindergarten — a new grade for 4-year-olds in the public school system that was fully implemented this year.

 ”For TK, as you've covered well, you know, it's nonexistent,” Alvarez told LAist.

The state has spent billions on the program, including $3.9 billion to administer it this fiscal year.

The amendments to the bill also follow reports from the research group Policy Analysis for California Education, as well as the Legislative Analyst’s Office, that recommend reshaping the role of an elected state superintendent to include evaluation duties. But Alvarez said he thought it was crucial to take the legislation a step further and include a fiscal trigger to make evaluations mandatory, and envisions the requirement to apply to new state spending.

How would reviews work?

The bill as currently written only applies to new initiatives, but the superintendent would have authority to order reviews of existing programs like transitional kindergarten.

"I'm hopeful that as we engage more with the administration on this issue, that there's an interest in evaluating a program like this one of this magnitude and others,” Alvarez said. Other existing programs include the Community Schools Partnership Program, a wrap-around services initiative, and the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program.

The bill would allow for the independent evaluations to be done by outside research organizations.

“I really see this as the opportunity to really cement what I think is a good governance practice, long-term,” he said. “ Resources are limited, and we don't have an infinite number of dollars to do all the work we want to do, so we’ve got to make sure that dollars are being used in the best way that serves the most number of students.”

Have thoughts?

A subcontractor on the LAX Automated People Mover project owes a group of workers unpaid wages and benefits, according to a grievance filed by the union representing the workers.

An arbitrator held a hearing on the matter last December and formally sided with the union in his decision, which was released in March.

The International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 18, had argued in a grievance filed in May 2025 that subcontractor Alstom Transport USA has been paying people who have been preparing train vehicles for passenger service and testing parts at a lower rate than what’s outlined in a labor agreement governing the project.

The union said in a statement to LAist that it is “satisfied” its claims were backed by the arbitrator and that the decision reflects the power of collective action.

The union added that this isn’t the end of the fight since Alstom has “already shown that they don’t intend to comply with the arbitrator’s award.”

The arbitrator noted in his decision there is some uncertainty as to how many workers would be affected since some of them were hired directly by Alstom and others through third-party firms. The union says there are 28 total workers who, regardless of how they were hired, should be compensated for their work and estimates Alstom owes them millions in wages and benefits.

A spokesperson for Alstom said it is “reviewing the arbitrator’s recommendations.”

“Alstom remains committed to reaching a fair and competitive wage and benefit package that recognizes the valuable contributions of our employees,” the spokesperson said.

LINXS did not respond to a request for comment.

Disputes in large-scale capital projects are not uncommon. This is one of many surrounding the Automated People Mover and not the only one to involve subcontractors working on the project. Earlier this year, LAist reported about how the main contractor, a group of companies called LINXS, is engaged in legal battles with two of its other subcontractors.

Another dispute between the city and LINXS has recently intensified and could also lead to litigation.

The project labor agreement

At the heart of this dispute is the collective bargaining agreement that sets wages for on-site construction work, establishes dispute procedures and ensures there won’t be work stoppages over labor issues on capital projects owned by Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that oversees LAX. The project labor agreement was first forged in 1999 and, in 2020, the airport’s board renewed it for an additional decade.

LINXS agreed that it would be bound to the agreement and “shall require all of its subcontractors … to be similarly bound,” according to a copy of the arbitrator’s decision the union shared with LAist.

The union has claimed that the Alstom employees were doing work that is covered by the agreement and that they should be paid accordingly.

Alstom, according to communications cited in the arbitrator’s decision, said it never signed a document called a Letter of Assent, which formalizes a company’s obligation to follow the project labor agreement, and that, even if it did, its employees’ work isn’t covered.

The arbitrator’s decision

David Weinberg, the arbitrator, said the testing and commissioning work Alstom employees did is covered by the project labor agreement. Weinberg added that Alstom consented to abide by the agreement when it signed a contract to work with LINXS.

“Not signing the Letter of Assent does not absolve Alstom of its contractual obligations to LINXS or to the Union under the [Project Labor Agreement] due to the pass-through provision,” Weinberg wrote in his decision.

Weinberg said that the Alstom employees should get paid the national wage and benefits rate for the International Union of Elevator Constructors for any hours of work completed starting 60 days before the union filed its grievance. Weinberg also ordered Alstom to provide the hours of work completed on-site.

Weinberg said in his decision that if Alstom does not comply, LINXS would be on the hook, though for a smaller amount. LINXS would be liable to pay for any hours of work starting 60 days before Nov. 4, when it became a formal party to the grievance.