The Brief

A Washington D.C.-based health care clinic that performs abortions has filed a lawsuit against Beverly Hills, accusing city officials of colluding with a landlord to prevent them from opening a location there.

Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold, City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey, Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling, City Attorney Laurence Wiener and Chief of Police Mark Stainbrook are all named in the lawsuit filed last week by DuPont Clinic.

The clinic was set to open on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and had signed a lease with Douglas Emmett Inc. But the lawsuit alleges the city and the landlord colluded to rescind the lease after caving to pressure from anti-abortion protesters, despite “the right to abortion enshrined in the California Constitution.”

In a statement, the city said the decision to rescind the lease agreement wasn't theirs.

"The City is already home to medical offices that offer reproductive health services and has been very clear on its position of strongly supporting a person’s right to choose," the statement added. "The decision to rescind DuPont Clinic’s lease was not made by the City of Beverly Hills."

In September 2022, the lawsuit states that DuPont entered into a lease agreement with Douglas Emmett, and a month later began discussions with the city about the clinic.

“The City expressly confirmed to DuPont that the City approved of DuPont's intended use of the Premises, and DuPont began planning the construction of its clinic,” the lawsuit states.

According to Jessica Corpuz, an attorney for DuPont Clinic, the city and landlord were aware of the services the clinic planned to provide.

However, Corpuz added, everything changed when a group of anti-abortion protesters got wind of the intended use of the clinic.

“That's really when the city got involved to an extent that they had not been prior,” she said.

First, the lawsuit alleges, the city held up permits.

Wiener, the city attorney, then asked the clinic to sign a letter stating that they will not violate any California laws, according to the lawsuit.

“That is not something that is required of any other medical practice, that would not have been a request if DuPont Clinic was opening a dentist practice,” Corpuz said. “He was doing this specifically because they're an abortion provider.”

Eventually, Corpuz said, the city “begrudgingly” issued the permits.

But Corpuz said police then sent a letter the landlord warning that the clinic would attract violence and vandalism and the safety, putting the security of other tenants at risk.

“Once the chief of police sent that letter, Douglas Emmett clearly felt that it had no option and that it bowed to the pressure of the city and it sent a letter to DuPont quote-unquote rescinding the lease,” she said.

A representative for Douglas Emmett said the company "has a well-established policy of refraining from discussing leasing matters with external entities. We will respond following the legal framework."

The lawsuit also outlines meetings city officials allegedly had with anti-abortion protesters.

The city, Corpuz added, told the protesters that the clinic would not open and that the landlord rescinded the lease — information she said was shared on the eve of a big protest.

DuPont Clinic also filed a lawsuit against the landlord in August, in part, citing a letter it received from Douglas Emmett attorneys who said part of the reason for rescinding the lease offer was due to the discovery that the clinic would be providing “late term abortions” and attract potentially unsafe conditions.

“DuPont Clinic provides an absolutely critical service,” Corpuz said. “These are people who often can't get treatment elsewhere. These are people who need critical life-saving care, and DuPont Clinic planned to open here in order to provide that.”

Following the Dobbs decision and the reversal of Roe v. Wade, California emerged as a haven for abortion rights. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws protecting pregnant people’s rights to an abortion, even requiring insurance companies to cover the procedure. Protections were also enshrined in the state constitution.

At the time of the Dobbs decision, Beverly Hills also lit up City Hall in pink and council members unanimously supported a resolution in favor of abortion rights.

“Beverly Hills really advertised itself as a place that was safe for abortion care. And Douglas Emmett, the landlord, was fully supportive of this mission,” Corpuz said. “Everyone says these things, but when it came down to actually supporting an abortion clinic, the city tripped over itself instead of supporting this clinic.”

The traditional way of voting in Huntington Beach could be upended after a judge’s ruling this week in a case accusing the city of diluting the electoral power of its Latino residents.

What happened?

The judge ordered Surf City to adopt ranked-choice voting for the November general election. Ranked-choice voting is where voters rank all candidates in order of preference, so if your first choice is eliminated, your vote transfers to your second-choice candidate.

It’s also the type of voting that helped Zohran Mamdani seize victory in the New York City mayoral race.

Why it matters

The ruling comes in a legal challenge to the city’s at-large elections, arguing Latino voters are unfairly disadvantaged and unable to elect a candidate of their choice. Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Griffin agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that “racially polarized voting has regularly occurred in Huntington Beach elections.”

The backstory

The case was brought to court more than two years ago by the nonprofit group Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Victor Valladares, a Huntington Beach resident and local Democratic activist.

They argued that the city’s predominantly Latino neighborhood of Oak View had suffered decades of neglect, in part because residents there lacked the voting power to get representation in city government.

The bigger picture

Dozens of cities across Orange County and elsewhere in California have faced similar challenges to at-large elections over the past decade. Most have settled out of court by adopting district elections, whereby voters elect a candidate to represent their area, rather than citywide.

The change has coincided with an increase in Latino city council members in some Orange County cities.

Why ranked-choice voting?

Judge Griffin wrote that ordering the city to adopt ranked-choice voting was a “less drastic remedy” to bolster Latinos’ voting power than district elections. Currently in Huntington Beach, all residents vote citywide for city council seats, and the top vote-getters win.

With district elections, only people within a particular district can vote for a particular seat, which advocates say helps ensure districts see themselves represented in their local government bodies.

Among the advantages of a ranked-choice system, advocates say, is that it gives voters more freedom to vote for their favorite candidate, even if they think that person won’t ultimately win.

What does the ruling say, exactly?

The ruling orders Huntington Beach to implement ranked-choice voting for the November 2026 general election, if the Orange County Registrar of Voters can support the quick switch. The ruling also calls for the city to elect all seven councilmembers at once, rather than staggering the elections, as it currently does per the city’s charter.

Judge Griffin had delayed his ruling earlier this year to consider the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which ruled that race cannot play a role in the drawing of voting districts. Griffin ultimately determined that “nothing in Callais alters this Court’s decision” in the Huntington Beach case.

What’s next?

Both sides have two weeks to raise objections to the tentative ruling. Kevin Shenkman, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he would not be surprised if the city appeals. City Attorney Mike Vigliotta told LAist in an email that his office is “reviewing the decision with outside counsel that litigated the case and determining next steps.”

We reached out to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for comment, and did not hear back before publication. If and when that changes, we will update this story.

How to attend Huntington Beach City Council meetings

• Huntington Beach holds City Council meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2000 Main St.
• You can also watch City Council meetings remotely on HBTV via Channel 3 or online, or via the city’s website. (You can also find videos of previous council meetings there.)
• The public comment period happens toward the beginning of meetings.
• The city generally posts agendas for City Council meetings on the previous Friday. You can find the agenda on the city’s calendar or sign up there to have agendas sent to your inbox.

LAist staff writer Sammy Marvin also contributed to this report.

A judge has ruled that a Metro bus project in a congested area of Los Angeles can go forward, for now, without incorporating bike lanes that street safety advocates argue are required by city law.

The $400 million project will add dedicated bus lanes along a more than 12-mile-long stretch of Vermont Avenue between 120th Street and Sunset Boulevard. The stretch of road has among the highest rates of pedestrian deaths and injuries in the city.

The ruling from June 15 is a preliminary decision on an injunction request that’s part of a lawsuit brought by Joe Linton, who argues that L.A.’s role in the design and permitting process of the project triggers Measure HLA street safety improvements. The L.A. City Attorney and Metro have rejected that interpretation of the law.

Linton filed the lawsuit in April 2025. He is the editor of the transportation publication Streetsblog LA. Linton is filing the suit as a resident of L.A., not in his capacity as an editor for Streetsblog.

What is Measure HLA?

In 2015, the L.A. City Council adopted Mobility Plan 2035, which identified networks of streets to improve with protected bike lanes, pedestrian signal improvements, bus lanes and other enhancements.

Seven years later, frustrated with a lack of progress on the plan, the local nonprofit Streets for All began campaigning for Measure HLA. The ballot measure, which was passed by voters in 2024, legally requires the city to implement Mobility Plan upgrades when it repaves at least one-eighth of a mile of a street located in one of the networks.

What are the key issues at stake in the lawsuit? 

There’s been a longstanding disagreement over whether Measure HLA applies to Metro’s work in city projects. Metro and the city of L.A. say the ordinance only applies to projects the city leads. Streets for All and Linton say the question of who leads a project is a technicality and that the city is obligated to follow Measure HLA because it’s responsible for approving certain elements of the project’s designs and permits.

The Mobility Plan calls for bike lanes along the same stretch of Vermont Avenue that Metro is working on.

Linton’s lawsuit says the city didn’t implement the bike lanes in accordance with Measure HLA when it resurfaced Vermont Avenue service roads in the past and that it should implement the improvements as part of the Vermont Transit Corridor project.

What are the details of the injunction? 

As the lawsuit plays out in court, Linton requested an injunction that sought to prevent the city from approving final design plans for the project without the bike lanes that Measure HLA calls for.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kristin Escalante denied the request on June 15. Escalante wrote in her decision that the city neither initiated the project nor selected Vermont Avenue for resurfacing and won’t be constructing the project itself.

“Metro’s coordination with the city does not transform the project into one made by or undertaken by the city,” Escalante wrote in her decision.

In April and June, Escalante denied Linton’s requests for pre-trial judgement on two other issues in his lawsuit, including deciding if resurfacing work on Vermont Avenue service roads triggered HLA-mandated upgrades and determining whether the city’s HLA ordinance represents an “impermissible amendment” of the ordinance.

What happens next?

The ruling is a preliminary decision. Linton said his legal team is preparing for the case to go to trial.

 “We didn’t lose at the end of the day,” Linton told LAist. “It’s a setback, but it’s a skirmish and not the outcome of the battle.”

Metro said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

LAist reached out to the L.A. City Attorney and did not hear back.

Are other legal battles taking place? 

Yes, there are two additional ongoing lawsuits that are related.

Linton filed a second lawsuit saying L.A. is using loopholes, like “large asphalt repairs,” to skirt Measure HLA requirements.

Separate from Measure HLA, Metro is working on another bus rapid transit project to connect North Hollywood and Pasadena with construction set to begin this summer. Metro filed a lawsuit in May saying Burbank is, without authority, refusing to grant the transit agency construction permits. On June 18, Metro filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to get the necessary permits so it can begin construction in July and ensure the bus project is ready for the 2028 Olympics.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

A series of Fourth of July events scheduled across Council District 14 have been postponed due to the ongoing impact of a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that blanketed surrounding neighborhoods in smoke for days. 

The fire at the 500,000-square-foot Lineage cold storage facility was knocked down Wednesday evening, but many residents say they are still feeling the effects of the smoke and have questions about the short- and long-term impacts of exposure, as well as what exactly they have been breathing. 

Jurado announced Thursday that out of an abundance of caution, the four Fourth of July events that were scheduled to take place from Friday to Sunday at various parks across her district have been postponed to allow the community and her office to focus on “recovery, connecting residents with resources and getting people the answers they deserve.” The free events were set to include live entertainment, community resources booths and a drone show. 

The postponed events include:

• Friday at Eagle Rock Recreation Center
• Saturday at El Sereno Recreation Center
• Sunday at Hollenbeck Recreation Center
• Sunday at Lincoln Park Recreation Center

“While air quality regulators have not ordered the cancelation of outdoor events, the fire response remains active, residents are still seeking clear information and support, and many families in the impacted area continue to have concerns about smoke, ash, odors, and possible exposure,” Jurado said. 

In the wake of the fire, Jurado has been asking agencies and the companies responsible for transparency. On Monday, the councilmember introduced a motion calling for the public release of air quality and environmental testing information in a way residents can actually understand.

While no independent testing has been commissioned by her office, Jurado told Boyle Heights Beat that the motion, “is intended to bring that information into the open so residents can get clear answers instead of rumors, speculation, or incomplete information.”

According to CD14, the rescheduled event dates will be shared as soon as they are available. 

INGLEWOOD — For the U.S. men's national soccer team, a loss in Thursday night's FIFA World Cup game against Turkey wouldn't change anything.

A win, though, would be history.

The squad's earlier wins over Paraguay and Australia, plus two losses by Turkey to the same teams, mean the Americans have already won their group and clinched a favorable path in the knockout round, no matter the outcome of Thursday's game.

But the American men have never won more than two games in a single World Cup. A third win would be new territory for this team, which has not been shy about its aspirations in this tournament and its confidence about living up to them.

"The group stage is not done yet. We want to end it the right way. We want to end it the way we came into it and continue to build off of the momentum that we've been creating," said defender Mark McKenzie, speaking to reporters Wednesday.

Because the outcome of the game does not affect knockout-round placement, the U.S. can rest key starters who will enter the match with a yellow card. For those players — defenders Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards, midfielder Tyler Adams and forward Folarin Balogun — picking up a second yellow card against Turkey would result in a suspension in the Round of 32. (Any single yellow cards will be cleared after the group stage concludes.)

The team could also choose to ease in forward Christian Pulisic, who is expected to be available for the game after sitting out the U.S.-Australia game with a minor calf injury.

Turkey had come into the World Cup with high expectations. With talented young stars like the 21-year-old attackers Arda Güler of Real Madrid and Kenan Yildiz of Juventus, the team was thought by many — from analysts to the players themselves — to be a dark horse capable of a deep run.

Instead, they were eliminated last week when their loss to Paraguay followed the U.S. win over Australia, prompting apologies from Turkey's despondent players to their fans after the game.

On Wednesday, Yildiz echoed that apology and promised to "give our best" in Thursday's game against the U.S. "We had high expectations. I know because all of our country was supporting us and thought we will come very far," Yildiz said. "Hopefully for the next game we can make a good result and go out with pride."

The U.S. and Turkey last faced each other in an international friendly in June 2025, which Turkey won 2-1. The U.S. roster for that game was missing several key players, including Pulisic, Robinson, Balogun and midfielder Weston McKennie.

"We had a really young team, but we went out there and put in a good performance. I don't think the result necessarily reflected how we played," Richards said. "Whoever's on the field, I know we're going to go out there and give 110 percent."
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