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.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.