Topline:
Filipino communities have had an enormous impact on Southern California history, from Little Manila in downtown Los Angeles to Historic Filipinotown and suburbs like Northridge and Cerritos.
Why now: October is Filipino American History Month.
The backstory: Filipino sailors first landed in California in 1587 in Morro Bay as part of a scouting mission.
Filipino communities have a deep and rich history in Southern California — dating back centuries.
To learn more about that story during Filipino American History Month this October, we talked to historians on our daily news show AirTalk with Larry Mantle. And we learned some key takeaways:
“The first recorded landing of Filipinos in what we now know in the United States was in Morro Bay, California, in 1587,” said Joy Sales, assistant professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.
According to Sales, they were part of a crew that came to scout the land and make contact with the indigenous people of California. At the time, the Philippines was a colony of Spain.
“There's actually a longer history of Filipinos coming to Spanish colonial America, to California, to what we now know as Louisiana, to colonial Mexico…It goes far back, even before the founding of the United States,” Sales said.
Spain sold the Philippines to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, a decision that was made without input of Filipinos.
Americans saw their new colony as a source for cheap labor.
“There was still a need for farm labor here, especially in California, because California is the breadbasket of America," Sales said. “There's records and sources of labor recruiters…going to the Philippines and specifically recruiting those with a farm working background or peasant background. And they would flash American dollars."
Filipino workers would go on to become crucial to the farm labor movement, with prominent organizers like Larry Itlong, who led strikes and formed the United Farm Workers with César Chávez.
While about two-thirds of Filipinos who emigrated to California worked in the agriculture industry, the other third ended up in cities.
In downtown Los Angeles, “Filipinos actually developed and created a kind of small Little Manila around First and Main Street,” said Joseph Bernardo, adjunct professor in the Asian and Asian Pacific American Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University.
According to Bernardo, Little Manila developed as “a result of really racial and class segregation. [Filipinos] were subject to much overt discrimination at that time. A lot of harassment, particularly from the LAPD.”
Eventually, Little Manila gave way to what is now Historic Filipinotown.
When whites were fleeing the suburbs as part of white flight, Filipinos were able to start raising families, and they were able to purchase homes in what is now present-day Historic Filipinotown.
“After World War II, when whites were fleeing the suburbs as part of white flight, Filipinos were able to start raising families, and they were able to purchase homes in what is now present-day Historic Filipinotown,” Bernardo continued.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 brought a new wave of Filipinos to the U.S. Often skilled professionals who already spoke English due to America’s colonization, these immigrants didn’t create ethnic neighborhoods in the same ways as many Asian American immigrant groups. That's because they weren't dependent on an ethnic economy to survive.
In the 1960s, suburbs were booming across the U.S., including the Sunbelt cities like Los Angeles. And immigrants wanted in on it.
“Suburbs like Northridge and West Covina and Walnut, Cerritos, Carson, and all the other communities, even into the Inland Empire, like Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, and Chino Hills…offered that piece of the American dream,” said James Zarsadiaz, associate professor of history and director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.
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A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.
Why it matters: Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a La Habra business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.
The chemical: They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, Katon said.
What's next: The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.
They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, he said. The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The company, Shepard Bros., could not immediately be reached for comment.
Three company employees reported minor respiratory irritation and declined further treatment, Katon said.
The leak occurred in the city of La Habra near a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial warehouses about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Anaheim.
Keary Godinez, who works in a nearby restaurant, said she saw what appeared to be a dark yellow cloud spread across the sky. The 20-year-old said she watched students across the street board buses to evacuate, but police told her the eatery could remain open.
“It looked like pollen dust,” Godinez said, adding she didn’t detect a smell from the cloud. “It just kind of smeared in the sky and started going away.”
La Habra Mayor Jose Medrano had urged residents to shelter in place and said some streets were being evacuated.
Luis Gomez, who manages a nearby pickleball program, said earlier Tuesday he saw the cloud, called police and was told anyone within a mile radius of the location was under an evacuation order.
Topline:
The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year. The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.
The backstory: After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise. His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.
What's next: The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.
The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year.
The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.
The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.
After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise.
His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.
Jackson set the Lakers franchise record for coaches with 610 victories while leading his teams to the playoffs in every year of his tenure, which ended in 2011.
“Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad’s invitation to join the Lakers, Phil’s unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves.”
Jackson will be the ninth person associated with the Lakers to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside their arena. He joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bryant, O’Neal, broadcaster Chick Hearn and former coach Pat Riley, whose statue was unveiled earlier this year.
Jackson’s 11 championships as a head coach are the most in NBA history. The North Dakota native and former New York Knicks forward is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Topline:
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for much of Southern California from Wednesday morning through Thursday.
The details: This week’s combination of heat and humidity could be worse than it has been all summer. Forecasters say temperatures will peak on Wednesday. Highs could get up to the triple digits. Overnight lows will also stay elevated. They may only get down to the 70s in places, offering little relief from the heat.
The humidity: Climate experts say the humidity this week could be some of the highest on record in Southern California, even after a summer marked by repeated humid heatwaves. The moisture in the air, combined with the extreme heat, makes it increasingly difficult for the human body to cool down, especially when outdoors. It’s also driving scattered rain and thunderstorms that will continue for the next few days.
The backstory: The tropical moisture is due in large part to the leftovers of Hurricane Marie hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. On top of that, record high ocean temperatures off the Southern California coast are adding to the humidity.
Topline:
An O.C. Superior Court judge increased the economic penalties for Orange County Board of Education member Marilyn “Mari” Barke for failing to report millions of dollars in economic disclosure filings. She will now have to pay more than $100,000 in penalties, according to court documents.
Why it matters: Barke was elected in 2018 to the Orange County Board of Education, which oversees and approves the county’s education budget that serves around 450,000 students.
Background: In 2024, the Fair Political Practices Commission found Barke liable for failing to correctly report income, resulting in a $3,200 penalty. But a judge in July said the FPPC’s settlement didn’t fully address Barke’s actions.
What are the penalties? Barke will have to pay $101,800 in penalties, as well as attorney fees, for incorrectly filling out economic disclosure statements and for failure to correct amended statements. She will be credited the $3,200 paid to the FPPC. Barke’s lawyer did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.
What changed? Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover handed the decision on Sept. 3. Colover said in a final statement on the decision that “substantial civil damages are warranted” to enforce the Political Reform Act and prevent future violations.
Officials say: The complaint was filed by Lynne Riddle, a retired judge. Riddle’s lawyers said in a statement to LAist that the court’s ruling is a “landmark” outcome for public trust and that the high penalty fees show how serious the offenses were. “We hope this result reminds every public official in California that transparency is not optional, and that the public has both the right to know and the tools to hold them accountable when transparency is ignored,” Riddle’s legal team said.
