The Brief

Back in college, I worked in a bar restaurant in Whittier called the 6740 . It specializes in craft and imported beers. Craft beer opened my eyes to a spectrum of different ingredients and flavors.

Like many people my age (Hello, my fellow elder millennials), microbrewery tasting rooms and craft beer bars served as our "third place" for hanging out with one another as young adults. When I moved to Northeast Los Angeles, I regularly frequented craft beer establishments such as The Hermosillo at their original location on York Boulevard in Highland Park, Eagle Rock Brewery , and Golden Road Brewing ’s first location in Atwater Village, off San Fernando Road, across the street from the train tracks.

Craft beer love 

My wife and I moved away from our beloved Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park after getting married in 2015 (we'd served two kegs of Highland Park Brewing at our wedding). In late 2017, we discovered we were pregnant with our daughter and decided to move to Long Beach to be closer to family and take advantage of the smaller school system and lower cost of living.

Luisa Beatrix Chabrán was born on June 13, 2018, and we were immediately smitten with her striking blue eyes and infectious smile.

In early 2020, the pandemic hit, and around that time, right before her second birthday, we noticed that Luisa was showing signs of a speech delay. Our pediatrician recommended that we get her screened for autism. The specialist confirmed that Luisa met the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder. We learned that 25-35% of children who are diagnosed with autism are non-speaking or minimally verbal.

At that point, the world took on a whole new level of emotional weight during this period for our family — the processing what an autism diagnosis meant and trying to make sense of what the future might look like.

I often longed for those carefree days back in Highland Park, where friends and I would just hang out.

But those days were gone. It was the height of the pandemic. Everything had shut down. Reality itself took on a different form. Our days were now filled with various doctor appointments, Zoom assessments, and in-home therapies. I was different, too.

Since this new reality has set in, I’ve made many strides towards acceptance.

Luisa is now 5 ½ years old, continues to have limited speech, and attends a Special Education class at a local public school in Long Beach. One of the highlights of my day is when she curls up in my lap and asks to listen to the Peppa Pig stories on Spotify for the 900th time that I know all the words to by now. I always find myself singing along.

So, when I received an email about a new Hazy IPA called Get On Board, it caught my eye for two reasons.

One, it was a new release from Golden Road Brewery, one of my old stomping grounds.

Two, the beer was made by and in support of adults with non-speaking autism, individuals who are not all that different from my daughter.

Nonspeaking autism 

I reached out to Meg Gill, the CEO and co-founder of Golden Road Brewery and learned that her daughter, too, has autism. We shared similar stories about raising our girls during the pandemic and grappling with the notion of what the future might hold.

“I was so scared and hopeless in those early days, thinking maybe she couldn't ever communicate,” Gill told me of her daughter.

CEO and Founder Meg Gill (center) with the Spellers team who helped make Get On Board Hazy IPA.

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Courtesy of Golden Road Brewing

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Gill’s search for a solution had led her to the book Underestimated: An Autism Miracle by father and son J.B. and Jamie Handley. The book explores how Jamie, who was diagnosed with autism, learned to communicate when he was 17 years old using the Spellers Method for individuals using a hand-held letter board, pointing to letters and spelling words to communicate.

H-O-P-E

After reading the Handleys' book, Gill immediately felt inspired: "I was on a mission." She eventually connected with Dawnmarie Gaivin, who runs Spellers Center in Oceanside, a resource for parents and children using the method.

That’s when Gil and her team at Golden Road set out to build a work program for about a dozen autistic adults, focused on beer making and marketing. Both sides learned valuable communication and work skills from each other during the process.

The letter board used by the Spellers who helped with making Get On Board Hazy IPA with Golden Road.

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Courtesy of Golden Road Brewing

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The result: Get On Board, the name chosen as a reference to the letter board, which is also seen on the label.

The beer is a Hazy IPA brewed with citrus, featuring orange, peach, and eureka lemon. The beer is 6.5%, so for the casual beer drinker, one might do you. The beer contains equal notes of sweetness from the citrus to a hint of bitterness at the end, resembling an orange natural wine, providing a medium-bodied finish and easy drinkability that is perfect for the upcoming warmer weather.

Documenting the process

The entire process of making Get On Board was documented for an online docuseries titled Underestimated: the Heroic Rise of Nonspeaking Spellers and will be available on Underestimated.tv. (The series begins streaming May 26. Golden Road and the Get On Board Hazy IPA are featured in Episode 3.)

Creating change one letter at a time

For Gill, Get On Board underscores the message of inclusion for everyone, including nonspeaking individuals. She says the experience has empowered her to think about other ways to match these individuals for jobs that suit their abilities and serve their communities.

"I love learning more about the adult space, how we can help those with superpowers get to the right jobs, and how CEOs of businesses are looking at diversity and inclusion because I know I thought it was a different thing than what I think it is now," says Gill.

Gill’s story and words struck a particular chord with me.

I, too, have sleepless nights worrying about Luisa's future and whether or not she’ll ever be able to communicate effectively and advocate for herself.

Same when it comes to designing fair and equitable spaces for autistic individuals. Many businesses pay a lot of lip service to words like "diversity." As someone who spends a lot of time in restaurants, I’m constantly thinking about how a space is conducive for Luisa, from the food offered to the noise level to how the tables are situated. Are we creating diverse and inclusive spaces for them?

LAist food editor Gab Chabrán, introducing his daughter Luisa, to Skee Ball.

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Katie Chabrán

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I was reminded of a sign that used to hang above one of the main entrances of Golden Road in Atwater Village, which I always found to be an incredibly welcoming place.

It was a quote from author George Orwell, describing his ideal pub setting and lamenting that children were not allowed in: "... excluding children — and therefore, to some extent, women — from pubs… have turned these places into mere boozing-shops instead of the family gathering-places that they ought to be."

That quote has stuck with me all these years. Drinking establishments should keep everyone in mind, especially families.

Gill’s mission for creating Get On Board is an excellent starting point for how we can better support autistic individuals in leading well-rounded and fruitful lives.

After all, there’s nothing more joyous than people getting together to support one another while enjoying good food and drink.

This  story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Tuesday.

Residents of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles are invited to join Metro’s community working group to provide input on a series of projects aimed at decreasing pollution and improving streets for pedestrians and cyclists.

The effort is part of the Long Beach-East Los Angeles Corridor Mobility Investment Plan, a $4 billion initiative that includes more than 200 projects and 15 programs that prioritize transit, walking, biking, safety and cleaner air.

It spans 18 cities and three unincorporated communities from Long Beach to East LA along the I-710 corridor. The plan includes an initial $743 million from the previously canceled I-710 freeway expansion project.

Who can join

The working group will be made up of 30 people who will represent their community by serving a two-year term. Working group members may be eligible for compensation at a rate of $150 per meeting, earning up to $4,300 per Metro fiscal year, according to Metro .

“We want residents, community members, family members, students, mothers, fathers, grandmas that can come and represent their community … to help us set the priorities,” said Patrick Chandler, a Metro spokesperson.

Chandler said the hope is working group members then can inform their neighbors, “so they are aware of what their concerns are.”

“We know that especially for Boyle Heights, with the East LA interchange … we want to go in a direction that is equitable, that is community driven,” he added.

How to apply

Applications are due Nov. 14 and can be completed online in Spanish or English . To request a paper application, you can email 710corridor@metro.net. Selected members will be notified in December.

Frequently asked questions about the project are available in English and Spanish . To learn more, visit: metro.net/lb-ela-cp-hub.

Long Beach leaders broke ground Monday on a $6 million project to give new life to an undeveloped acre in North Long Beach.

The 51st Street Greenbelt Project will turn a stretch of land on De Forest Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets into a park featuring pedestrian and cycling paths, fitness equipment, play structures, native plants and green infrastructure.

The greenbelt, which is part of Long Beach’s infrastructure investment plan , is scheduled to be completed by fall 2026, the project manager said. In recent years, the city has expanded recreational space in the lower Los Angeles River region by dozens of acres. This project represents the latest effort to create more green space in the area.

During Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, whose Congressional district includes North Long Beach, stepped up to the mic next to a large pile of dirt. “When I was a kid, I didn’t have a park nearby,” she said. “I had to get on a bus to go play Little League and baseball.”

Barragán’s commitment to broadening access to outdoor recreational space, especially for park-deficient neighborhoods in Long Beach, helped secure millions in federal funding for the project.

The city will combine those dollars with grants and city funds to build a park that addresses the community’s needs, identified through surveys and meetings, said Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, who represents the 8th City Council District.

Three men walk along the 51st Street Greenbelt project with blueprints in hand after the groundbreaking of the park in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Thrash-Ntuk said the park is intended to serve neighbors of all ages — especially children, as the lot sits near several schools. “Today, I’m pleased to say that one of the district residents that I brought with me is an avid user of local parks, and that’s my son,” she said.

The greenbelt aims to improve community physical, mental and environmental health, said Stephen Scott, acting director of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine. The census tract where the park will be built is among the 5% most environmentally burdened and vulnerable areas in the state, according to CalEnviroScreen , a tool developed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

The Long Beach Climate Action Plan acknowledges that due to “long-standing discriminatory practices,” low-income communities and communities of color in Long Beach are more likely to live in heavily polluted, climate-vulnerable areas without access to parks.

Congresswoman Nanette Barragán speaks at the groundbreaking for the 51st Street Greenbelt project in Long Beach, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Project manager Tina Cheng said the greenbelt will mitigate some of these issues with new and existing vegetation. The site already has mature, native trees — oaks and sycamores. “We’re lucky to have them, because they’re huge,” said Mina Roades, a landscape architect with design studio City Fabrick. “Otherwise, this would be a park with a bunch of little sticks.”

The site currently captures its own stormwater, Roades said; “We’re enhancing it with a bioswale,” a vegetated channel that treats and controls stormwater, she added.

Though ground officially broke Monday, “This work has been underway for a couple of years,” said Joshua Hickman, acting director of Public Works. His team has already completed work on the hardscape — the curb, gutter and sidewalk — to improve accessibility to the eventual park. Once the project is complete, the Public Works team will restore the pavement — and parking — adjacent to the greenbelt, an effort to create a space that “integrates seamlessly with all of the neighborhood,” Hickman said.

Mayor Rex Richardson speaks at a groundbreaking pf the 51st Street Greenbelt project in Long Beach, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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“I can’t say how proud I am as a North Long Beach resident to see this project move forward,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. He joined a line of city officials, who donned hard hats and tossed shovelfuls of dirt into the air.

The memorial to Vietnam veterans in Mile Square Park was supposed to be a smaller version of the revered Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., with an Orange County addition: the memorial would pay special homage to the South Vietnamese army and allies — tens of thousands of whom settled in O.C. as refugees after communist forces took over South Vietnam 50 years ago.

Former Supervisor Andrew Do awarded $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the memorial in 2023 to a nonprofit where his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer. Now, Andrew Do is in prison on a federal bribery charge; the head of the nonprofit is a fugitive; and the memorial stands unfinished, surrounded by caked dirt and dry grass. The county is suing for damages, alleging that most of the money allocated for the memorial was diverted for personal gain.

A hairline crack runs down the surface of one of the black granite-looking slabs that make up the memorial (neither the county nor the monument maker has confirmed the type of material used). The eternal flame sculpture at the center of the memorial is covered in bird poop. The names of soldiers were never etched onto its surface.

“I’m very sad, very, very sad,” said Doàn Trọng upon seeing the unfinished memorial this week. Trong is an Orange County resident and local television host who worked with U.S. troops in Vietnam during the war.

“Who’s going to take responsibility for this?” he said.

Trong and other reporters, including from LAist, saw the memorial up close for the first time on a media tour organized by Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who won Do’s former seat in an election last year. It’s in an area of Mile Square Park currently closed to the public for renovations.

The granite surface of the monument is starting to crack, only about a year after the walls were erected. The etching of soldiers' names was never completed.

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Jill Replogle

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LAist

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LAist was the first to report on the unfinished memorial and raise questions about its $1 million price tag in August 2024. One architect who visited the site with LAist at the time estimated the work cost around $185,000 or less.

Pham returned $150,000 of the initial $1 million to the county last year, saying the project came in under budget. (Pham’s lawyer at the time said the memorial was on track to be unveiled in October 2024.) But that still raises questions about the rest of the funds — and why the project remains unfinished.

On this week’s visit, the tarps and fence had been removed, leaving the memorial exposed to the elements. Vinyl stencils that had previously covered the blocks, printed with the names of Orange County-based Vietnam veterans, had also been removed.

Nguyen called the unfinished memorial a “disgrace.”

“This is not how we honor our veterans by any means,” she told LAist.

Nguyen said the memorial would likely be demolished, given the high cost of repairing or relocating it.

“Let’s restart and do it right,” she said.

How the memorial came to be

In September 2023, the county signed a $1 million agreement with the nonprofit Viet America Society, or VAS, for the "design, construction, and maintenance" of the memorial. Do later posted a video featuring himself and others reviewing plans for it .

Do did not publicly disclose that his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer of VAS at the time. The failure to do so would be at the heart of an unfolding scandal involving millions in taxpayer dollars that have yet to be fully accounted for.

A mockup of the planned Vietnam War memorial in Mile Square Regional Park, provided in 2024 by Pham's previous lawyer. The memorial was never completed.

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Courtesy Mark Rosen

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The former supervisor would ultimately direct at least an additional $12 million in taxpayer funds to VAS, according to an LAist investigation . Those funds were supposed to be used to pay for meals for needy seniors. But federal prosecutors and county attorneys say most of that money was diverted for personal gain by using VAS as a cover.

The money for the memorial came from federal pandemic relief funds, a portion of which was assigned to each supervisor to dole out in their respective districts to organizations supporting veterans and infrastructure projects, among other work.

Do is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Arizona on a federal bribery charge stemming from the misuse of millions of those funds, though not including the $1 million spent on the memorial. Meanwhile, the county is still seeking to recover the money allegedly misspent by Do, including the memorial funds, through a civil lawsuit.

LAist tried to contact Do’s lawyer, Eliot Krieger, by phone but has not heard back.

Pham’s lawyer responds

Peter Pham, the founder of VAS, was indicted earlier this year for allegedly bribing Do to keep the money flowing to VAS. Pham left the U.S. on a one-way ticket to Taiwan in December 2024 and is still a fugitive.

Pham, through his O.C.-based lawyer, Hoa Truong, has denied wrongdoing, alleging he was tricked by Do into creating VAS as a shell organization through which to funnel county funds back to Do. Truong also told LAist that Pham left the country on bad advice from his previous lawyer.

Earlier this year, Truong filed a cross-complaint on behalf of Pham in the county’s civil lawsuit against Do, Pham, VAS and others. In that complaint, Truong alleged that Do took advantage of his friendship with Pham to involve Pham in the scheme to steal taxpayer money.

Truong told LAist that even though Pham is credited on the Vietnam War Memorial as the designer and builder, Pham merely signed the contract, relegating the rest of the work to his longtime business partner, Le Dan Hua.

Hua, who also served as an officer of VAS, is also a defendant in the county’s civil lawsuit over the memorial and other allegedly misused taxpayer funds. LAist left a voicemail for Hua’s lawyer.

“His English is very limited,” Truong said of Pham. ”Do asked him to sign, he just signed because he saw so much money coming in.”

Hua and Pham also did renovations on the North Tustin home that Andrew Do shared with his wife, Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham , in 2021, according to records obtained by LAist.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen called the abandoned memorial a "disgrace" and vowed to replace it, perhaps at the future veterans cemetery planned for Gypsum Canyon.

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Jill Replogle

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LAist

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The memorial’s uncertain future

The new section of Mile Square Park where the memorial is located is scheduled to open by the end of 2026. It’s unclear whether the memorial will still be there by then. Nguyen, the county supervisor, estimated it would cost $25,000 to $30,000 to demolish, and much more to try to move it elsewhere.

If the memorial were to remain in place, the county would likely have to come up with even more money to repair it and put in pathways and other infrastructure to make it compliant with accessibility laws. Nguyen thinks a better option is to build a new memorial, perhaps at the new O.C. veterans cemetery planned for Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim.

Nguyen is among the some 130,000 Vietnamese refugees who settled in Orange County after the Fall of Saigon. She said she’s determined to come up with a new plan for a memorial, though she’s not yet sure where the funds would come from.

“The 58,000 American soldiers who sacrificed for the land I was born in, that’s why I’m here,” she said. “This is not how we honor them, by any means.”

How to watchdog your local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention. Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read  tips on how to get involved  .
• The Orange County Board of Supervisors typically meets on alternating Tuesdays mornings at 400 West Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana. You can check out the  O.C. Board of Supervisors full calendar here for exact dates.
• Learn  how to submit a public comment to the O.C. Board of Supervisors .