Cato Hernández
scours through tons of archives to understand how our region became the way it is today.
Published September 12, 2024 5:00 AM
A mix of rain and smoke from the nearby Line Fire creates a heavy stew of air pollution over San Bernardino
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David McNew
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Multiple wildfires are raging in Southern California, and it’s covering cities across the region in ash and smoke. If breathing is a struggle right now, wearing a mask can help.
How do fires affect the air? When you breathe in wildfire debris, very small particles and harmful gases get inside your body.
How do I know if I should wear one? There are air quality maps that can tell you how healthy or unhealthy the air quality is around you. But if you go outside and can smell smoke, or if the sky is kind of brownish, gray, or hazy, then you might consider wearing a mask.
What mask can help? Health experts say masking up with an N95 is the right option. These masks should be familiar — they’re what many people have used over the pandemic.
Heavy smoke from the Airport, Line and Bridge fires has been giving Southern California communities a hard time for multiple days now.
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How to protect your health during wildfires
When smoke and ash settle into your neighborhood, it irritates your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. That can cause long-term damage, which is why it could be time to start wearing a mask.
How wildfires affect your health
When you breathe in wildfire smoke, very small particles get inside your body. But what those particles are, exactly, depends on what’s burning.
Ed Avol is a professor emeritus of USC’s Keck School of Medicine and was chief of its environmental health division. He said the first thing most people think about with wildfires is the wood aspect.
“I think what people often forget, though, is we often are also exposed to a lot of other things,” Avol said. “For example, if buildings are involved, or if cars or vehicles or other materials are involved, you get into all other kinds of exposure.”
Smoke can be made up of things we can see and things we can’t, which is why masks can help. Avol said there’s a lot of dirt, debris, and dust in smoke — often referred to as particulate matter. But we also inhale gasses like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and more.
“Health studies show and tell us that persistent exposure to these sorts of things can affect our respiratory system and can affect our cardiovascular system,” Avol said.
Groups who are especially sensitive to smoke include:
People with asthma
People with cardiovascular diseases
People with respiratory diseases
People over 65
Young children
Pregnant women
Is there a difference between smoke and ash?
The view from Griffith Park as a plume rises from the Bridge Fire burning in Angeles National Forest on Monday
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Mario Tama
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Being around either of these can cause problems for you, but there is a difference. Avol said the larger ash particles — things we can visibly see — may be less of a problem for a couple of reasons.
“We can see them, so we know to avoid them,” Avol said. “Secondly, because they’re larger, if we’re breathing through our nose, they tend to be taken out by the filtration systems in our nose. The larger particles get trapped either in the upper airways or in our nose, and then we just sort of blow our nose and sneeze it out.”
The more difficult issues are the smaller particles that get into our respiratory system. Once they pass the air blood barrier in the lungs, they can get into the circulatory system and go anywhere in the body.
When should I start wearing a mask?
If you’re very close to the fires or in a smokey area, Avol has some tips for how to tell when it’s time to put one on.
“If you go outside and can smell smoke, if you go outside and see that the sky is kind of brownish, gray, hazy… then you might consider, depending on your respiratory health, consider wearing those masks,” Avol said.
You can also check air quality maps around you to see what pollutant levels are. If your neighborhood is in an orange, red or even purple area, then it’s time.
How to check your air quality
This South Coast Air Quality Management District map will show you the level of pollutants in your area.
You can also check AirNow’s fire and smoke map, which measures fine particulate matter and fire-related detections.
What mask works best against smoke and ash?
One of the best masks should already be familiar to you from the pandemic: an N95 mask. These are particulate respirators recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. Ones with a valve are fine to use.
“These are masks that are rated and tested to provide protection to at least 95% effectiveness for small particles, which are exactly the main problem, the main culprit, if you will, in wildfire smoke,” Avol said.
These masks are regulated by the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and will have “NIOSH” printed on them. N95 masks will almost always have two straps that go around your head — not ear loops — for a tighter fit that prevents outside air from getting in.
3M brand N95 particulate respirators are displayed on a table.
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Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
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KN95s are similar to N95s, but these Chinese-equivalents aren’t regulated by NIOSH and use ear loops. Still, these masks are 95% effective and have less air leakage than a surgical mask.
The mask market is also riddled with fakes, so consult the CDC’s guide to spotting them if you’re not sure about the authenticity of your N95. The CDC has a list of NIOSH-approved respirators. Approval numbers are also required to be printed on the product, which can be looked up on the CDC’s certified equipment list.
A P100 respirator mask could also protect you from smoke, but Avol said those go beyond what most people need.
What about kids?
If you’re looking to protect your children, hold on before strapping N95s to their faces. NIOSH hasn’t approved these masks for kids, which means there is a dearth of sizes.
“Trying to put an adult-sized face mask onto a child just doesn't work because it doesn’t seal well against their face,” Avol said. “It basically just leaks and so you mistakenly think you’re protecting your child and you’re not really doing that much.”
The mask does come in smaller adult sizes that could fit an older child’s face, or you could opt for a child’s KN95 mask.
“It may be a better day to do more reading,” Avol said. “Dare I say even watch TV or do something to minimize the increased ventilation on these particularly smoky days.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a last-minute request from the Department of Justice to wade into its unprecedented feud with California over the state's voter rolls.
What happened: The court denied taking up the Justice Department's appeal today, just hours after it was filed. Election Day is tomorrow.
Why now: The appeal was the department's latest foray into state election administration, which a federal judge referred to last week as "a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials."
About the claims: The DOJ says it has identified 20,000 "likely" noncitizens on California's voter roll whose ballots should not be counted until their citizenship can be verified. Over the weekend, data scientists at University of California Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project were granted access to the DOJ's list through a court order in another lawsuit and found that 42% of the names on the list do not appear on California's current voter roll. That analysis also found naturalized citizens on the DOJ's list.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a last-minute request from the Department of Justice to wade into its unprecedented feud with California over the state's voter rolls.
The court denied taking up the Justice Department's appeal on Monday evening, just hours after it was filed. Election Day is Tuesday.
The appeal was the department's latest foray into state election administration, which a federal judge referred to last week as "a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials."
After that judge, David Carter, a Clinton appointee, and a divided 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the DOJ's request to order California to set aside and stop processing the ballots of thousands of people, the DOJ sought injunctive relief from the high court.
The DOJ says it has identified 20,000 "likely" noncitizens on California's voter roll whose ballots should not be counted until their citizenship can be verified.
Courts so far have sided with California and Los Angeles County's arguments that the federal government's list is unreliable, and that creating a novel system to segregate ballots while voting is already underway is infeasible.
"[T]here is a material risk that granting the United States its requested relief would result in disenfranchisement and could jeopardize the County's entire election," 9th Circuit Judges Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, and Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, wrote in their Friday decision rejecting the Justice Department's emergency request.
The two judges cited longstanding legal precedent, known as the Purcell principle, that election rules should not be altered on the eve of an election, as well as the fact that the Constitution gives states authority to run elections. The opinion also cited the National Voter Registration Act, which bars states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election.
The panel's third judge, Patrick Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, dissented.
The actual number of ballots in dispute is likely much smaller than 20,000, since county election officials have found that many of the people on DOJ's list did not have active voter registrations and were not mailed ballots.
Over the weekend, data scientists at University of California Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project were granted access to the DOJ's list through a court order in another lawsuit and found that 42% of the names on the list do not appear on California's current voter roll. That analysis also found naturalized citizens on the DOJ's list.
The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene comes as the Justice Department has been escalating its feud with California election officials.
In recent weeks, the Department of Justice has sent subpoenas to election officials in California, and reminded officials that they could be criminally prosecuted for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots.
A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday barring the Trump administration from threatening, intimidating or coercing election officials to demand they stop processing the ballots of registered voters that the federal government alleges are ineligible to vote. The federal government has appealed the order.
Copyright 2026 NPR
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County on Aug. 21, 2026
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
If Rep. Mike Levin’s proposal moves forward, the spent nuclear fuel stashed on the beach at San Onofre will be stored and processed at one of several potential campuses in other states. Levin, a Democratic congress member representing parts of San Diego and Orange County, discussed his plan from a point above the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station last week.
Why it matters: Levin is pushing to create facilities called Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses in communities that want to recycle some of the spent fuel and store remaining waste, in exchange for economic development opportunities. The Department of Energy said the campuses could “attract significant investment, expand domestic manufacturing, and create thousands of new high-paying jobs in their respective regions.” Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Idaho have stepped up as potential hosts for the facilities. Finland and Canada have embarked on similar efforts to locate nuclear waste facilities, with the consent and collaboration of local communities, according to a report by Levin’s office. Finland expects to permanently dispose of nuclear waste as soon as next year.
The backstory: San Onofre ceased operating in 2013, after a newly installed steam generator failed, leaving the plant inoperable. Officials began decommissioning the plant in 2020. Since then, 700 million tons of building material have been hauled away from the site, and the spent fuel rods were moved from cooling pools to dry storage on the beach, Levin said. But there isn’t a permanent repository for the spent nuclear fuel, following backlash to an earlier proposal to store the waste.
If Rep. Mike Levin’s proposal moves forward, the spent nuclear fuel stashed on the beach at San Onofre will be stored and processed at one of several potential campuses in other states.
Levin, a Democratic congress member representing parts of San Diego and Orange County, discussed his plan from a point above the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station last week.
“Since I've been in Congress, getting this spent nuclear fuel off our coast has been one of my top priorities,” Levin said, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the steel and concrete canisters housing nuclear fuel rods. “I have been in this fight for eight years, fighting the status quo of inaction on spent nuclear fuel.”
He’s pushing to create facilities called Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses in communities that want to recycle some of the spent fuel and store remaining waste, in exchange for economic development opportunities.
The Department of Energy said the campuses could “attract significant investment, expand domestic manufacturing, and create thousands of new high-paying jobs in their respective regions.” Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Idaho have stepped up as potential hosts for the facilities.
Finland and Canada have embarked on similar efforts to locate nuclear waste facilities, with the consent and collaboration of local communities, according to a report by Levin’s office. Finland expects to permanently dispose of nuclear waste as soon as next year.
Levin said similar U.S. sites could begin operation by the late 2030s, and he’s pushing to make the San Onofre plant a priority for nuclear waste removal and storage.
San Onofre ceased operating in 2013, after a newly installed steam generator failed, leaving the plant inoperable. Officials began decommissioning the plant in 2020.
Since then, 700 million tons of building material have been hauled away from the site, and the spent fuel rods were moved from cooling pools to dry storage on the beach, Levin said.
But there isn’t a permanent repository for the spent nuclear fuel, following backlash to an earlier proposal to store the waste.
“The federal government still hasn't done what it pledged to do all the way back in 1998, and so communities like ours have been left holding the fuel,” Levin said.
The federal government previously designated the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada as the permanent storage site for nuclear waste. But former president Barack Obama cancelled that plan in 2010, following fierce opposition from environmentalists, local groups and tribes.
Without a permanent storage repository, spent nuclear fuel has remained on site at San Onofre, where its location on the coast, near earthquake faults and next to Camp Pendleton make the waste vulnerable to natural disaster or national security threats.
To address those risks, Levin introduced the Spent Fuel Prioritization Act with co-authors including Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego Republican, and Rep.Young Kim, an Orange County Republican. It would move nuclear sites with high seismic hazards, large populations and national security risk, such as San Onofre, up the list for fuel removal and storage. The bill is waiting for consideration in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to Levin’s 2026 report on San Onofre.
Another challenge concerns transport of spent nuclear fuel. Levin said next year a specially designed train called the Atlas Railcar System will complete testing and move the first spent fuel rods from Virginia to Idaho. The Atlas is a 12-axle railcar equipped with sensors and monitoring systems, which can transport nearly half a million pounds of spent nuclear fuel, according to the Department of Energy. It took ten years and cost $33 million dollars to build.
Levin has also introduced bills to create a nuclear waste administration, to require nuclear waste canisters to last 100 years instead of the current 40 years, and to increase public engagement and improve safety inspection at decommissioning power plants.
“I will not declare victory on this until the last canister has left San Onofre,” he said.
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Work is underway to tally votes for the midterm election at the Orange County Registrar of Voters Facility. Turnout is trending higher than the June primary across the state.
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Apu Gomes
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Voter turnout is tracking higher across the state than at this point in the June primary, which is typical for elections.
In L.A. County, the tallied votes as of Sunday add up to about 24% of registered voters.
In Orange County, the current tallies represent about 32% of registered voters.
About the results: No results will be released until after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The first tallies will be vote-by-mail ballots, followed by early in-person voting.'
Read on ... for more about the vote counting process.
Election officials in both Los Angeles and Orange counties report the early vote is trending higher than the last midterm election in 2022 — on trend with expectations across the U.S.
Nationally, Democrats have outpaced Republicans returning early ballots by more than 10 points, according to tracking by the University of Florida Election Lab.
Here's what you should know about the local vote totals currently released:
In Los Angeles County, about 24% of registered voters had cast ballot as of Monday.
In Orange County, the current tally represents about 35% of registered voters.
Keep in mind that Nov. 10 will be the final day for votes postmarked by Nov. 3 to arrive at county elections offices, so the total number of votes cast won't be known until then.
How vote counts will be released
L.A. County vote tallies
In L.A. County, updates on the counting are expected to continue through Nov. 26.
Election night: After polls close at 8 p.m., expect updates every 15 minutes or so through the early morning hours Wednesday.
Nov. 4, 5 and 6: Updates post at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Nov. 7 on: Updates post daily between 4 and 5 p.m.
The county must certify results by Dec. 3.
Orange County vote tallies
In Orange County, updates on the counting are expected to continue through Nov. 26.
Election night: After the polls close at 8 p.m., expect the release of vote-by-mail ballots at 8:05 p.m., followed by the first in-person tallies at 9:30 p.m. Additional updates through every 30 minutes or so through the evening.
Post election night: Expect updated counts around 5 p.m. daily.
The county must certify results by Dec. 3.
I thought it was election night?
That hasn't been true in quite some time. It takes a while to get results because after the initial tallies on election night, there are still many, many votes to count, and more mail-in ballots are usually arriving.
Here’s what we know so far.
L.A. County turnout
Los Angeles County has more than 5.9 million registered voters. As of Monday, Nov. 2:
More than 1.42 million ballots have been processed.
90% voted by mail.
10% voted in person.
What's next:
We'll know more on election night — and in the following days — about how many ballots remain to be counted.
Political Data Inc. is tracking ballot returns across California and in some high-profile races.
As of Monday, Nov. 2, statewide turnout is 25%. Note: That is already higher than this time in the primary. Democrats outnumber Republicans statewide by almost double, and have returned more ballots so far (3 million compared to 1.6 million — representing 29% and 28% of each party's registered voters.
Why Election Day has turned into ballot-counting month
Because of the increasing use of vote-by-mail ballots, the tally has gotten longer, according to the California Voter Foundation. In an analysis, the organization found:
In November 2004, more than 80% of votes were counted within two days of Election Day, with 32.6% voting by mail.
In June 2022, about 50% of ballots were counted within two days of Election Day, with more than 90% of people voting by mail.
In November 2024, 66% of votes were counted within the first two days of Election Day, with 81% of the vote by mail.
In June 2026, 61% of votes were counted within the first two days of Election Day, with 89% of the vote by mail.
A closer look at ballot counting times in California, where an increasing number of vote-by-mail ballots has slowed ballot counts.
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Election officials must physically open mail-in ballots and verify signatures.
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, recently wrote about the ripple effect of turning in mail-in ballots by hand or in drop boxes on Election Day. She wrote, for our partner newsroom CalMatters:
"We turn in ballots in envelopes on Election Day that take time and care to process and cannot be processed until after Election Day. Processing these ballots — which account for as much as a quarter of all ballots cast — creates a bottleneck I like to call 'the pig in the python effect.' It prevents counties from doing other tasks they need to do to certify the results."
That said, counting has been speeding up considerably. According to Alexander's organization, the overall share of ballots counted within seven days of the election jumped from 72% in 2022 to 93% in the June primary. L.A. County is moving to around-the-clock counting this cycle, in a move election officials say will help increase voter confidence in the results.
Student Jackie Cordero in front of McHenry Library at UC Santa Cruz on Oct. 27, 2026.
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Jessica Parga
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CalMatters
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Topline:
Colleges and universities will soon have to make it easier for students to request more financial aid, as well as be more transparent about how they estimate the cost of attendance.
Why it matters: A new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September requires colleges and universities to clearly display how students can request additional financial aid if they believe their awarded amount does not sufficiently cover their costs. Institutions must also publish how they calculate their costs of attendance, which is used to determine how much financial aid students receive.
The backstory: Existing law already requires campuses to publish cost estimates, which not only include tuition and fees, but also housing, transportation, food and other likely expenses. With the new requirements, advocates say that students will now have an easier time finding what to do when their costs exceed those estimates.
Read on... for more on the new law.
Colleges and universities will soon have to make it easier for students to request more financial aid, as well as be more transparent about how they estimate the cost of attendance.
A new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September requires colleges and universities to clearly display how students can request additional financial aid if they believe their awarded amount does not sufficiently cover their costs. Institutions must also publish how they calculate their costs of attendance, which is used to determine how much financial aid students receive.
Authored by Democratic Assemblymembers Celeste Rodriguez of the San Fernando Valley and Marc Berman of Menlo Park, Assembly Bill 2251 requires schools to implement the changes by the fall of 2027.
Existing law already requires campuses to publish cost estimates, which not only include tuition and fees, but also housing, transportation, food and other likely expenses. With the new requirements, advocates say that students will now have an easier time finding what to do when their costs exceed those estimates.
“California has a really strong record of looking at new ways to improve college affordability and AB 2251 is yet another example,” said Laura Szabo-Kubitz, senior policy advisor at The Institute of College Access and Success, an organization that advocates for college affordability. “It’s a step towards other advocacy efforts to bridge the affordability gap.”
Students can appeal their financial aid award
Junely Merwin, now a consultant for The Foster Youth Pre-College Collective, received a full-ride scholarship to attend Cal State Fullerton in 2015. But as a former foster youth and young mother, she needed additional aid to help cover childcare costs.
“My money really went down the drain to child care and just how expensive it was,” Merwin said. “Even with the full-ride scholarship, it was not enough.”
Seeking more financial support, Merwin came across her school’s process to revise her cost of attendance. However, the website was unclear and, when she reached out to the financial aid office with questions, she was passed along to multiple staff members.
After she was finally able to complete an appeal process, Merwin’s cost of attendance was adjusted to include her childcare expenses. This allowed her to accept more scholarship funds.
Over half of colleges and universities statewide use estimates that are lower than what students actually pay to attend college, with some underestimating it by over $10,000, according to 2024 research from John Burton Advocates for Youth, the lead sponsor of the law. The California organization advocates for unhoused and foster youth.
Students cannot receive more financial aid - including loans, grants and some scholarships - than the estimated cost of attendance calculated by the campus. This can lead them to work excessive hours and take fewer classes to make up the difference, according to research from The Institute for College Access and Success.
When students’ costs exceed those calculated by their college, they can apply for a cost of attendance adjustment. But students often don’t know that is an option.
The Financial Aid and Scholarship office at the Joyal Administration building at Fresno State in Fresno on Sept. 3, 2026.
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Larry Valenzuela
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CalMatters
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According to a March report from John Burton Advocates for Youth, almost half of colleges statewide fail to adequately inform students of the resources and options available to them when applying for aid adjustments.
Those adjustments can be especially helpful to low-income students and former foster youth, who often receive the maximum amount of aid but still need more, said the organization’s director of education, Jessica Petrass. Because of this, students often have to turn down additional aid they would otherwise be eligible for.
Representatives of campus programs that provide support for foster youth across the state’s three higher education systems do not find cost adjustment processes to be accessible, concluded a report by the John Burton youth advocacy organization. A majority of those surveyed said information on campus websites is insufficient and unclear.
“That is why I see AB 2251 as both a transparency and student access issue, because it is not enough to simply have a policy in place,” Merwin said. “Information needs to be communicated clearly, consistently, in a way that students can actually understand and use.”
Colleges must clearly explain adjustment process
Colleges vary greatly in how and where they explain how to request an adjustment to the cost of attendance and financial aid limit. While some schools plainly detail costs on their websites, others lead students through a maze of weblinks and documents.
Under the new law, campuses must publish clear details on how a student can submit an adjustment request, how long it might take and who they might need to speak to. This information will need to appear on the same page as the school’s cost of attendance details.
Student Jackie Cordero in front of the Educational Opportunity Programs office at UC Santa Cruz on Oct. 27, 2026.
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Jessica Parga
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CalMatters
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Jackie Cordero, a first-generation college student who attends UC Santa Cruz, is currently going through the process of requesting an adjustment to her cost of attendance. Cordero chose UC Santa Cruz because of the generous financial aid package she was offered. But after her father was injured and could no longer work, she was left to figure out how to pay for the expenses her financial aid didn’t cover.
Through her own research, and by contacting the financial aid office herself, she found that requesting more financial aid was an option. But it has not been easy. Cordero said that the documents her school asked for — detailing her father’s work termination and her mother’s income — didn’t exist in physical form. She's struggled to supplement that paperwork, and instead has had to write letters detailing her family's finances.
“There should probably be a little bit more help towards people who want to do a cost of attendance (adjustment),” she said. “I still am a little confused about the process and approaching (the financial aid office) can be a little difficult.”
Under federal law, students are not required to submit documentation for cost of attendance adjustments, but colleges almost always request them before granting additional awards.
Colleges vary on cost calculation sources
Across all three public higher education systems, staff at John Burton Advocates for Youth found that 83% of campuses do not reveal the breakdown of the total cost of each expense category – such as housing and transportation – on their websites. This information allows students to have a clearer understanding of whether their expenses exceed the calculated costs and if they might be eligible for a cost of attendance adjustment.
“At the end of the day, these budgets are an estimate … You're doing your best guess to get the best average to represent every student's unique circumstance,” Petrass said.
Most campuses do not cite the data sources behind their estimates. Only 17% of UCs, 26% of Cal States and 22% of community colleges explain how they come up with these estimates, according to the youth advocacy organization.
Each system calculates costs differently. UC schools use a survey conducted by its Office of the President. Cal State campuses and community colleges use a mix of data, including from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and survey estimates from the California Student Aid Commission.
What the new law doesn’t do
While the law guarantees a new standard of transparency for financial aid, it does not provide any new financial aid funding, nor does it guarantee that any student’s cost of attendance adjustments will be approved.
The California Student Aid Commission estimates the state may spend anywhere from $805,000 to $2.3 million more on Cal Grant awards due to adjustment applications that wouldn’t have otherwise been submitted. That assumes a 3% to 5% increase in the number of adjustments approved annually, according to the commission.
Even if a student’s appeal for a financial aid increase is accepted, many campus financial aid websites say additional aid typically comes in the form of loans. The law will also not change the often-complicated cost adjustment process, or the way colleges estimate their cost of attendance.
“I think there are still areas in which California could continue to change policy to better strengthen this process,” Petrass said. “I think there's opportunities to look at reducing documentation requirements for students as well to, again, just make it a more seamless process that aligns with the minimum federal requirements.”
Mariam Farag and Max Guerra are contributors with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.
