Topline:
Sixty years ago today, NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft took the first up-close images of Mars, changing humanity's understanding of the Red Planet. The spacecraft was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
July 14, 1965: That’s when the spacecraft flew within about 6,000 miles of Mars, capturing and sending back more than 20 images.
Read on … to see a gallery of Mariner 4’s images.
Sixty years ago today, NASA’s Mariner 4 flew within about 6,000 miles of Mars, capturing the first close-up images of another planet’s surface.
The much awaited images were in black and white, converted from analog radio signals, and showed the Martian landscape pockmarked with craters.
“You had the idea that there may have been a civilization on Mars, but Mars was a dying planet. And before Mariner 4 people didn’t really know if there were canals on Mars or not,” said Hoppy Price, chief engineer for NASA's robotic Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a video posted by the organization.
Other equipment on the space probe measured the daytime surface temperature, estimated the surface pressure to be about 200 times less than on Earth, and helped us figure out that Mars’ atmosphere is made up of significant amounts of carbon dioxide.
“The Mariner 4 experiment has been a brilliant success, tantalizing us with the possibilities for Martian exploration that are now within our grasp,” wrote astronomer Carl Sagan in the July 1966 edition of Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
“The scientific exploration of Mars — whether or not we uncover life on that planet — remains one of the greatest opportunities in the history of science,” Sagan wrote.
The spacecraft was developed and built by JPL in Pasadena over the course of two years, and became the U.S. space program’s second successful mission to another planet. The first was Mariner 2, which flew to Venus in December 1962.
Mariner 4 weighed just 575 pounds, launching from Earth in late 1964 and arriving at Mars in about eight months.
Mariner 4’s mission ended in December 1967 when it ran out of propellant.
The exploration of Mars has continued. The latest mission is the Perseverance rover, which is collecting rock samples that could carry evidence of prehistoric, microscopic life.
The idea is to test the samples, but they first need to be brought back to Earth as part of the complex Mars Sample Return mission.
“That would be the next mission that we would hope to do,” Price said in an interview. Funding for that part of the mission is currently uncertain.
Topline:
Low-income renters in Los Angeles tend to struggle to find apartments that charge no more than 30% of their income. On Monday, a rare opportunity opened up as L.A. County began accepting renters onto its public housing waitlist for the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years.
Why it matters: County officials said they’re expecting an influx of applications due to the region’s rising cost of living. Tenant advocates said securing public housing can turn people’s lives around, giving them stability and helping them save for the future.
Why now: Public housing officials said about 300 units become vacant every year, and they now need to add fresh names to the waitlist.
The backstory: LACDA oversees public housing in 68 properties for more than 6,600 residents. The agency is opening up wait list registration at only 16 of those sites.
What's next: To qualify, families must be earning significantly less than the median income in L.A. County. There are different tiers, LACDA’s chief of programs said, with applicants typically needing to earn less than 50% of the area’s median income. Here’s more information about how to apply.
Read on… to learn how you can reach out for help with your application.
Most Southern California renters continue to struggle to find housing they can afford. An important — and for some, possibly life-changing — option opened up on Monday for low-income residents.
The Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) began accepting applicants for its waitlist for public housing for a limited time.
Tracie Mann, the chief of programs for LACDA, said the waitlist was last open in April 2024.
“We need to refresh the list, get new families who are interested in applying, not only to our family sites, but also to our senior sites,” she said.
Mann said she expects more people to apply now because of the sharp rise in the cost of living.
“We know that housing is a serious need here within the region of Los Angeles County, and having LACDA in a position to be able to offer public housing units to those most in need is just so… critical,” she said.
The rent in these county-owned and managed units is generally capped at 30% of a household’s gross income. That limit helps families build savings, said Justin Fitzsimmons, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
“It is a really valuable resource and can be a great opportunity for people to be able to build wealth in this economy and set up their generations in the future,” he said.
It’s common, Fitzsimmons said, to see clients come to his office for legal help after a life event, such as an accident or major illness that has depleted their savings.
"Public housing is a really wonderful opportunity for a person to help to weather those events that life throws your way," he said.
The waitlist application window opened at 8 a.m. Monday and is set to close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.
To qualify, families must be earning significantly less than the median income in L.A. County. There are different tiers, Mann said, including 30% and 50% of that median income.
People in L.A. County will fall below the 50% threshold if they earn up to $58,300 per year. Families of four will meet the cutoff if they earn no more than $83,300 per year.
Follow this link for more information about how to apply. If you’ve already registered with LACDA, you can apply at this link.
You can seek help with your application by calling LACDA at (626) 586-1522 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
LACDA staff also helps people complete their online applications in person at their offices in Alhambra. Their address is 700 W. Main St., Alhambra.
LACDA oversees public housing on 68 properties for more than 6,600 residents. The agency is opening up wait list registration at only 16 of those sites. Thinking about which location to apply to is important because if you apply to a location and you don’t accept the unit that you’re offered, you will be removed from the waiting list until it opens back up.
People leave public housing units for various reasons, Mann said, such as moving outside the county, finding another apartment or facing eviction. She said LACDA’s public housing program averages 300 vacancies per year. Wait times can be months or longer, depending on vacancies at each property.
Applications for the smaller properties will be capped at 1,000 applications, and their waitlists will close early if that threshold is reached before Sept. 16.
You can find more information about the 16 sites opening their waitlists at this link.
Topline:
Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% minority ownership stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to a letter obtained Monday by the Associated Press.
Why it matters: ESPN and The Athletic first reported that the siblings had voted to sell the family trust’s remaining interest in the 17-time NBA champion team purchased by their father, Jerry Buss, in 1979. The decision would end Jeanie Buss’ tenure as the Lakers’ governor because that job requires at least 15% ownership of the team.
The backstory: The siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father's death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers' head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later with a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust Jeanie from her role as the Lakers' controlling owner.
What's next: The sale agreement with Kushner and Iger still must be approved by the NBA’s board of governors, and the process could take months.
Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% minority ownership stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to a letter obtained Monday by the Associated Press.
ESPN and The Athletic first reported that the siblings had voted to sell the family trust’s remaining interest in the 17-time NBA champion team purchased by their father, Jerry Buss, in 1979. The decision would end Jeanie Buss’ tenure as the Lakers’ governor because that job requires at least 15% ownership of the team.
Jeannie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote to representatives for her five siblings to state that any decision to sell the family trust’s ownership stake could not be “effectuated without approval of the current co-trustees, Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.”
The letter further states that the co-trustees “are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner. Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”
Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since Jerry Buss’ death in 2013, and she led the family’s decision to sell a controlling stake in the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year at a valuation of $10 billion. Walter, who is under federal investigation for tax issues, abruptly reached a deal earlier this month to flip the Lakers to Kushner and Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion, another record for a pro sports team.
Venture capitalist Kushner and former Disney CEO Iger are reportedly buying about 65% of the team from Walter. They would own about 83% if they reach a deal with the Buss siblings — and Jeanie Buss would lose the governor role that she had been slated to keep at least through 2030 under the deal with Walter.
The siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father’s death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers’ head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later with a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust Jeanie from her role as the Lakers’ controlling owner.
Not all of the six Buss siblings — Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — were in favor of the deal despite retaining their family trust’s minority ownership stake, and Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.
The siblings say they voted this month to sell their family’s remaining interest in the Lakers, but Jeanie Buss claims any vote is void. ESPN reported that Jeanie Buss was the only sibling who didn’t support the final sale.
“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss family said in a statement. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles, but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”
In his letter, Streisand said Joey and Jesse Buss have leaked information to ESPN for many years “for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes.”
Jerry Buss was a chemist and real estate investor who bought the Lakers, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Forum arena from Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million. The Lakers quickly entered a renaissance in which they became known for their flashy “Showtime” style of play while winning five NBA titles between 1980 and 1988 behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
While the NBA and professional sports became increasingly more corporate, the Lakers remained essentially a family business despite their massive profile and steady success. Jerry Buss and the Lakers have employed many of the basketball world’s greatest players and coaches of the past five decades, and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to five additional championships between 2000 and 2010 before LeBron James added the 17th in 2020.
The sale agreement with Kushner and Iger still must be approved by the NBA’s board of governors, and the process could take months.
Topline:
Recent polling from the Latino Working Class Project found that Republican support among California Latinos has dropped, with issues like cost-of-living moving more favorably toward Democrats. Two of the researchers involved in the poll joined host Larry Mantle on AirTalk, LAist’s daily news show, to discuss the results.
Listen:
Cost-of-living: Latinos favored Democrats by 34% when it came to the question about who's better handling cost-of-living. “ It is the economy, cost of living and affordability that is, by a far measure, the issue driving Latino voters and Latino sentiments,” said Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant and founder of the Latino Working Class Project.
More support for Dems? No. This does not mean Latino voters are completely satisfied with how Democrats are running things in California. "They are just as unhappy with Democrats,” said David Binder, founder of David Binder Research, which helped conduct the poll.
What this means for the gubernatorial race: An overwhelming amount of Latino voters are supporting Xavier Becerra over Steve Hilton, 72% to 24%. ”If Xavier Becerra wins the election in November, it'll be incumbent upon him to prove that he is also working on behalf of Latino voters and all working class voters to help bring down costs and make things more affordable,” Binder said.
Topline:
Recent polling from the Latino Working Class Project found that Republican support among California Latinos has dropped, with issues like cost-of-living moving more favorably toward Democrats. Two of the researchers involved in the poll joined host Larry Mantle on AirTalk, LAist’s daily news show, to discuss the results.
Cost-of-living: Latinos favored Democrats by 34% when it came to the question about who's better handling cost-of-living. “ It is the economy, cost of living and affordability that is, by a far measure, the issue driving Latino voters and Latino sentiments,” said Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant and founder of the Latino Working Class Project.
More support for Dems? No. This does not mean Latino voters are completely satisfied with how Democrats are running things in California. "They are just as unhappy with Democrats,” said David Binder, founder of David Binder Research, which helped conduct the poll.
What this means for the gubernatorial race: An overwhelming amount of Latino voters are supporting Xavier Becerra over Steve Hilton, 72% to 24%. ”If Xavier Becerra wins the election in November, it'll be incumbent upon him to prove that he is also working on behalf of Latino voters and all working class voters to help bring down costs and make things more affordable,” Binder said.
Topline:
CalOptima Health’s street medicine program is doubling its reach by expanding to four more cities — Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Westminster, officials announced Monday.
How it works: CalOptima is a public health insurance plan for low income residents in Orange County. The “doctor’s office on wheels” will bring primary health care, behavioral health services and case management to unhoused people, meeting them wherever they are. The four cities join Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Santa Ana.
What’s the cost of the program? CalOptima allocated $4.3 million to get the program started. Health officials will have two years to sign up 200 patients for the program to be self-sustained through the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, or CalAIM. The expansion comes on the heels of the agency’s Care Traffic Control Center, a collaborative hub for street medicine teams.
Officials say: “Our goal at the end of the day, really, is to help our members on their journey to permanent housing.” Yunkyung Kim, chief operating officer at CalOptima, told LAist. “It is difficult, if not impossible, to be truly healthy on the streets.”
What’s next? The street medicine services are expected to launch next year.
