The Brief

Tortillas sold in California are going to have a new ingredient, one that’s intended to help nurture healthy infants.

Starting Jan. 1, a new law will take effect requiring most tortillas and corn masa products sold in the state to contain folic acid, a vitamin that’s important to infant health.

Latinas in California are far less likely than other women to get enough folic acid early in pregnancy — a gap that can lead to life-altering birth defects.

State data show that, between 2017 and 2019 – the latest years for which state data is available – about 28% of Latinas reported taking folic acid the month before becoming pregnant. White women took the vitamin at a higher rate, with 46% of them reporting consuming folic acid, according to the California Department of Public Health.

This puts Latinas at higher risk of having a baby born with neural tube defects — defects of the brain and spinal cord. Some examples of that are conditions like spina bifida and anencephaly.

Research has shown that folic acid can reduce birth defects by up to 70%. That’s why it’s found in prenatal vitamins. But because women may not find out they are pregnant until weeks or months after, public health has long recommended that folic acid also be added to staple foods.

In 1998, the U.S. required manufacturers to fortify certain grain products with folic acid, such as pasta, rice, and cereals, to help women of reproductive age get the necessary amounts. Since that rule took effect, the rate of babies born with neural tube defects dropped by about a third, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But even with the addition to these foods, birth defect rates among babies born to Latinas have been consistently higher. In search of a more culturally appropriate addition, in 2016, the federal government allowed makers of corn masa to add folic acid to their foods – but didn’t require it.

Joaquin Arambula, a Democrat from Fresno, who authored the law said leaving folic acid out of corn masa products, used in many Latino staple foods, was a “real oversight.”

Now, with the implementation of Assembly Bill 1830, California is the first state to require folic acid in corn masa products. The law requires manufacturers that do business in the state to add 0.7 milligrams of folic acid to every pound of flour and to list the addition in their nutrition labels. The law makes exemptions for small batch producers like restaurants and markets that might make their own tortillas from scratch.

Months after California’s law was signed, Alabama passed its own version. Its law goes into effect in June 2026.

Some large manufacturers have already been adding folic acid to their products for years. Gruma, the parent company of Mission Foods, said it started fortifying its foods back in 2016, when the federal government first allowed it. A company spokesperson said Gruma “has a longstanding commitment to supporting legislative fortification initiatives” and supports the new laws in California and Alabama.

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

In the first week of Black History Month, President Donald Trump posted a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on social media — a video clip showing the Obamas' faces on apes. The post was later deleted, and the White House blamed a staffer for "erroneously" posting it. On Friday evening, Trump refused to apologize for the post: "I didn't make a mistake," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The post was one of dozens Trump shared in the middle of the night on his platform Truth Social and came at the end of a minute-long video promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the clip before it was deleted, saying, "Please stop the fake outrage."

Leavitt said it was from an "internet meme" that depicted Trump as king of the jungle while Democrats were shown as characters from The Lion King. Trump's clip did not include any of the longer video Leavitt referred to, which also includes other Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, depicted as animals.

The racist trope depicting Black people as apes or animals has historically been used to dehumanize Black people and to justify slavery.

Criticism of Trump and his post came swiftly, including from some otherwise allied with Trump.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican, said he was "praying it was fake."

"It's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The president should remove it," said Scott, who is Black.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday evening that he had spoken to Scott, adding, "He's a great guy. He understood that 100 percent."

Asked if the post had hurt Republican support amongst Black voters Trump said no.

"We did criminal justice reform. I did the historically Black colleges and universities — I get them funded. Nobody has been — and that's why I got a tremendous, the highest vote with male Black voters that they've seen in many, many decades.

Trump went on to insist that he was the "least racist president you've had in a long time."

Trump has a history of making racist remarks toward Black people and other people of color.

For years, he pushed the false narrative that Obama was not born in the U.S., and he has previously used derogatory language to describe African countries.

He also falsely claimed former Vice President Kamala Harris "turned Black" during the presidential campaign. Harris identifies as Black and Indian American.

Copyright 2026 NPR

The noon deadline to file papers to run for L.A. mayor is just hours away, and the field of challengers to Mayor Karen Bass is becoming clear.

L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman has just announced she is running, reports the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

The news comes as the field of high-profile candidates has thinned in recent days and weeks. Last night, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced she will not run for mayor, ending months of speculation.

Horvath said she was skipping the race to focus on her reelection bid.

" I am choosing not to run for mayor and instead to focus on my reelection for Los Angeles County supervisor, not because I'm stepping away from a challenge. I'm stepping even more into the one we've already started," Horvath said.

Days ago, former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner dropped out after the death of his daughter.

Developer Rick Caruso said last month he would not make another bid after running in 2022.

Other challengers to Bass include reality TV star Spencer Pratt and community organizer Rae Huang.

Voters will head to the polls June 2 for the primary.

Singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam has lived in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. But coming up during the 1980s in the clubs of L.A. and the San Fernando Valley, you might say his style is more California Country than anything.

Yoakam recently sold out The Roxy for a concert benefitting Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles. The 69-year-old musician and actor had a lot of backup from a younger generation of country acts.

He was joined on stage by Grammy-nominated people like Lukas Nelson — as in Willie’s son — guitar prodigy Marcus King and others.

Dwight Yoakam and Lukas Nelson (center) take the stage at The Roxy.

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Brian Bowen Smith

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“It’s flattering on a personal level that five artists of that generation would come and collaborate with me to do this. But more importantly it was gratifying to hear their response to the charitable cause of Children’s Hospital,” Yoakam said.

Yoakam and wife, Emily Joyce, had a very personal inspiration for organizing the benefit concert. In 2020, during the peak of COVID, their own infant son was seen at Children’s Hospital. They were relieved it was nothing, but an experience Emily relayed to Yoakam changed him.

“She heard the little boy behind in another recovery bed come to. Five or six. And his eyes opened — I guess his father was there with him at his bedside. And he said ‘Was I brave daddy?’ And I said: ‘Wow, it puts everything in life in quick perspective.’"

Yoakam said the experience stuck with Joyce so much that she was determined to put a benefit show together. And it was heartening having so many of his friends back him up for the "Rockin’ for the Kids" concert, Yoakam said. The night even had a surprise on-stage FaceTime call from actor Billy Bob Thornton. The actor and director — who cast Yoakam in his 1996 film Sling Blade — was originally scheduled to help emcee the event, but was stuck at an iced out movie shoot in New Jersey.

Los Angeles calling

Yoakam came out to the warm California sun in the late 70s, and it wasn’t long before he was gigging hard at long gone honky-tonks like The Palomino and The Corral in the San Fernando Valley.

“[I] spent a year of my life on the off nights [at The Corral] — let me tell you — that’s the real world,” Yoakam recalled. “The time I was out there doing, you know, five sets a night. You’d start at nine and end at two in the morning... And you know I really made my bones there.”

It wasn’t long before Yoakam’s California Country music was mixing and merging with a new scene in L.A. One that blended the punk rock ethos with the twang of country.

“The crossroads of time and place happened again in the early 80s with the quote ‘Cowpunk’ movement. A lot of them were punk rock bands. Like The Dills became Rank and File. The Plugz — with a Z — became Los Cruzados,” Yoakam said.

He would go on to share the bill with bands like X and The Blasters. And Yoakam was embraced by crowds of punk rockers too.

“I said, ‘You know what? We don’t have to play The Roundup out in the Valley, we don’t have to play just The Palomino. I said ‘We can go over the hill,’” he said.

Yoakam remembered it was Bill Bentley, a former music editor for the LA Weekly, who saw him performing at The Palomino and then invited him to play Club Lingerie on Sunset Blvd.

“That introduced me to a different audience. And then we started playing... the rock n’ roll side of the hill,” Yoakam said.

By 1986, Yoakam was playing at The Roxy for the record release party for “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc.” The live performance was recorded and included on later releases of the album.

“We did the record release party, 40 years ago in March, at The Roxy. It was kind of a full-circle moment. Interesting book-end, if you will, from 1986 to now,” Yoakam said.

Yoakam will play Ontario’s ONT Field on March 21, right before heading out on tour with ZZ Top.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.