The Brief

When schools reopened in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, school officials warned parents to keep their kids home if they showed even the slightest sign of illness. Now, as we head into the third school year with COVID, the messaging has changed.

“My advice on keeping children home from school now is similar to what was in place pre-pandemic,” Dr. Smita Malhotra, chief medical officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District, wrote in an update to parents and caregivers.

Parents are now being told to send their children to school if they are unwell, but keep them home if they have more serious symptoms.

“It is not practical for working parents to keep children home from school for every runny nose, nor is it in the best interest of children to continue to miss school after pandemic school closures,” Malhotra wrote. “If your child has a mild runny nose or cold symptoms that are not bothering them, and they test negative for COVID-19, send them to school. Your child can wear a mask at school when they have these mild symptoms.”

This guidance is significantly different than in past years when parents were told that any illness meant keeping kids at home.

“I completely agree with LAUSD’s message,” said Dr. Anuradha Seshadri, internal medicine and pediatrician at UCLA Health Century City. “It has been shown to improve their psyche and emotional well-being by seeing their friends at school, interacting, coming back and being a part of extracurricular activities, getting that exercise that they need, and just social stimulation is very, very important for one's health.”

We’re in a quieter phase of the pandemic, she says, and between the availability of vaccinations, home testing and telehealth visits, Seshadri is comfortable with the district’s recommendations for most kids.

At-home COVID testing is a must

She does have some concerns about the policy and how it could hurt the health of an immunosuppressed child.

“If a child is at higher risk for possibly being hospitalized, whether (because) they are immunosuppressed, if they're on cancer medications, or they have sickle cell, or they're diabetic, or extremely obese, then they need to be a little bit more cautious.”

Seshadri said children shouldn’t be treated in isolation. Time and again, grandchildren with a mild COVID case infect grandparents or other immunosuppressed adults.

“When the kids get sick, it's not just the kids getting sick,” she said. “They come back and spread it to family members.”

At-home testing, she says, is key.

“Even with mild symptoms, I think it would benefit not only the child, but other people to just rule out COVID with the antigen test, Seshadri said. “Parents and families need to maintain good hygienic measures at school and preventative measures so that if there is a chance that you had COVID, I would say implement the testing measures that we have.”

What do multiple COVID infections do to kids?

Last August and September, TK-12 schools in L.A. County reported more than 1,100 COVID clusters — or groups of three or more potentially connected cases over an eight-week period, according to data from Public Health.

Children are the least vaccinated age group in L.A. County. Just 2.5% of children six months to 4-years-old are up to date on their COVID shots, followed by 7% of 5 to 11-year-olds and 11% of 12 to 17-year-olds.

Studies have shown that repeat COVID infections in adults can spell trouble. A 2022 study found multiple cases of COVID in adults can increase risk in many areas, including potential cardiac, pulmonary or neurological problems.

Dr. Seshadri said we don’t know how multiple COVID infections could affect children or their developing organ systems, including brain development.

“We’re still in the learning phase right now,” she said.

Can children get the newly formulated COVID shot this fall? 

The CDC expects the updated vaccine rollout to begin the third or fourth week of September, meaning pharmacies will likely start offering them in October, but who will be eligible for the shot is still up in the air.

The Food and Drug Administration is waiting on safety data from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna for their respective updated COVID shots. Once the FDA has approved the shot, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will likely call a special meeting to review the data and make recommendations on the dosage size and which age group will be able to get the shots.

There are COVID vaccines available right now. Children six months and older can get the bivalent vaccine, which Seshadri recommends.

“We saw a big uptick in child vaccinations in June, parents were interested in getting them vaccinated before traveling,” she said.

How much COVID is there? 

Getting accurate data on COVID cases is harder now. The weekly data from L.A. County Public Health measure the number of patients in the hospital with COVID, including emergency room visits and COVID-positive ICU patients.

It does indicate an upward trend since the start of July.

L.A. County also does wastewater detection, which is an indicator of how much COVID is circulating in the community, which is also rising.

Should we treat COVID the same way we treat the flu?

COVID isn’t seasonal in the same way as other viruses like the flu and RSV. Symptoms for flu and COVID are very similar, making it hard to differentiate as a physician without a lab test.

LAUSD recommends that children should not go to school if they have these symptoms:

• Fever (100.4 F and above)
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Severe pain
• Difficulty breathing 

Take them to their pediatrician, who can do one nasal swab that tests for the big three viruses — COVID, flu and RSV.

Health experts look to the Southern Hemisphere to help predict our coming flu season, and it’s been a busy one in Australia. They’ve had a lot of influenza A and B, which tend to target children, putting pressure on pediatric services. About 80% of hospital admissions have been in children, and Australian health authorities have been urging young people to get the flu vaccine after two deaths of school-aged children.

“We're already seeing some flu cases here itself, so we're prepping for the flu and RSV season,” Dr. Seshadri said.

L.A.’s status as a tourist destination as well as its dense population makes it important for children to get their immunizations and booster doses, she said.

“Los Angeles is special in the sense that it is a very big tourist area. Even if you're not traveling, or the schools don't recommend it, it’s still a good idea to get vaccinated. We get a lot of tourists here that bring in viruses and other communicable diseases. In daycares and schools, there's a lot of prolonged close contact and protecting your children is protecting your family,” she said.

Get comfortable with the heat because it's here to stay. The dry weather and windy conditions will continue to make conditions ripe for fire.

The National Weather Service says coastal areas will continue to see cooler weather today with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s, while temps along the inland coast are expected to reach mid 80s to low 90s. In Orange County inland areas will see temperatures from 81 to 90 degrees.

For the valley communities, temperatures there today will reach 89 to 98 degrees again, and up to 99 to 104 degrees more inland.

Coachella Valley will be scorching today with highs from 113 to 118 degrees. Meanwhile, in the Antelope Valley, expect highs from 101 to 110 degrees today, and around 93 to 98 degrees for the cooler hills.

Wind gusts today could reach up to 35 mph but otherwise expect southwest to northwest winds of 10 to 25 mph.

Make sure to stay hydrated and check in on any loved ones who might be vulnerable to the heat!

Need a place to get out of the heat?

You can find cooling centers via the following links:

• L.A. County
• Orange County
• San Bernardino County
• Riverside County

Sometimes 8-year-old London Cook can convince herself the temporary digs for her elementary school are her old campus, the place where she first discovered her love of math and P.E. — that “this is just Rosebud.”

It’s been a year and a half since the Eaton Fire tore through the Pasadena Rosebud Academy, destroying the TK-8 charter school founded in the Altadena foothills nearly 20 years ago to promote Black and brown student excellence.

London and the 175 students and staff moved to modular buildings on the campus of the Don Benito Fundamental elementary school, nearly seven miles away in Pasadena.

London, one of a third of Rosebud students displaced by the Eaton Fire, says: “I think it’s nice of them to let us share their campus.”

But administrators at Rosebud say it’s time for students to have their own campus again and have embarked on a capital campaign to rebuild in the Pasadena area. They’re holding their biggest fundraiser yet this Sunday with the “Stand Up For Students” comedy show at the Alex Theatre in Glendale hosted by writer-producer Chris Spencer.

“Our kids deserve the best, we want them to have the best, so we won't settle for just making it work,” said Shawn Brown, Rosebud’s founder and executive director.

It’s hoped the event — with a lineup of comedians like Jesus Trejo and Aida Rodriguez who have been showcased on Funny AF with Kevin Hart — will raise a significant sum toward the school’s eventual rebuild, projected to cost upward of $50 million. It also offers a check-in on where Rosebud stands now: still in recovery.

“We don’t want people to forget about us and think that because we’re somewhere, that we are where we need to be,” Brown said. “We still have a long journey.”

Brown, who also lost her own home in Altadena in the Eaton Fire, said the school has been trying to make the portable classrooms work as much as possible but faces challenges to hands-on learning.

With no sinks in the classrooms, for example, the students are limited to art and science projects that don’t require much handwashing.

The old Altadena campus of the Pasadena Rosebud Academy.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Rosebud Academy

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The campus of the Pasadena Rosebud Academy after the Eaton Fire.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Rosebud Academy

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Yet, despite these constraints, the school community is growing stronger and expects to hit its highest enrollment yet this coming school year, with 215 incoming students.

Meanwhile, displaced families are still driving in from places including downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

“The fire really kind of brought us together more,” Brown said. “It kind of reminded us of who we were, who we are.”

Brown founded Rosebud in 2007 after years teaching middle school. She said she kept seeing Black and brown students arrive well below grade level and believed a different kind of school environment could help them excel.

Brown said Rosebud curricula is built around five pillars: critical thinking, financial literacy, exposure and experience, cultural awareness and service.

There is the added benefit, she said, for students of being around other young Black and brown people with similar life experiences.

"Another big thing is you are working with teachers and staff who believe that you are capable of achieving at a high level, and knowing that they have a fair shot in the future to be successful," Brown said.

London Cook and is picked up from school by her grandfather Joseph Shambrey.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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For London’s grandfather, Joseph Shambrey, the school has been one of the few constants after the fire.

Shambrey, who with his wife are London’s legal guardians, are living in a Pasadena apartment post-fire as they work toward rebuilding their house in Altadena.

There was no question that they would keep London at Rosebud, even when they were temporarily staying in Gardena and the commute stretched to more than an hour.

Shambrey said London is a “very happy” child, which he credits in no small part to Rosebud.

Whether London will enjoy a new campus is unclear. Brown said the timeline of construction will be decided by the pace of fundraising.

But London is just looking to the year ahead when she enters fourth grade and hopes to make even more friends.

“She always loves coming to school,” Shambrey said. “She does not like staying home.”

The City Council in Culver City will consider a citywide ban on new drive-thrus after a group of neighbors raised concerns that a proposed In-N-Out could hurt air quality and create safety issues for pedestrians.

 "Density is inevitable, and development is inevitable,” said Vanessa Martin, a city resident organizing support for the drive-thru ban. “We want to be proactive and smart about it.”

Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish, who sits on the city’s mobility subcommittee that voted to recommend staff draft the ban in May, said drive-thrus are fundamentally incompatible with the vision the city set for itself in its general plan. The planning document was adopted by the city in 2024.

“We need to be creating more walkable, bikeable, safer streets for people of all modes, and drive-thrus are the antithesis of that,” Fish said.

Drive-thru bans aren’t unprecedented in California. Culver City already bans drive-thrus in its downtown corridor. Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo have had citywide bans for decades. Carlsbad’s citywide ban that began in the late 1990s was recently softened to allow for consideration of new drive-thrus on a case-by-case basis.

Critics of such bans have called drive-thrus an important option for consumers, including people with disabilities and families with children.

In-N-Out did not provide a comment to LAist, saying “as a private, family-owned company, we generally don’t comment publicly on business matters.”

What’s the status of the ban and the In-N-Out?

In early June, the city council passed a 45-day moratorium on approving permits that involve a new drive-thru. In the meantime, city staff is drafting an ordinance banning new drive-thrus. The ordinance will first appear in front of the city’s planning commission for guidance and recommendation before heading to the city council for a vote. Those dates have not yet been set.

If the council approves a citywide ban, the already-existing eight drive-thrus in the city would not be affected — only new businesses. In-N-Out would be the first new drive-thru in Culver City since 1997, according to a city staff report. 

In-N-Out hasn’t yet submitted the formal application for a permit it was preparing when Culver City City Council passed the moratorium, according to city spokesperson Dustin Klemann.

According to a copy of the proposed site plan, the In-N-Out in Culver City would include 61 parking spots and a drive-thru lane that could accommodate 26 vehicles.

Grassroots campaign against In-N-Out drive-thru

After In-N-Out held required community meetings earlier this year about its planned development, Culver City resident Paul Hewitt began distributing flyers calling the project a “terrible idea” to his neighbors.

“I had several people contact me as I was passing out these flyers saying, ‘Hey, I wanna join forces with you,’” Hewitt said. “I gathered up a little ragtag group of neighbors, all different ages, all different backgrounds.”

That group included Martin and her wife Cynthia, who created an online petition urging residents and the city council to oppose the In-N-Out “mega drive-thru” because it would create traffic congestion, worsen local air quality and present safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists.

The petition has gathered just under 950 signatures in five months.

'Auto-centric' design

Drive-thrus are an element of city planning that urban planners call auto-centric design since it’s a portion of land exclusively devoted to people in cars. Drive-thrus, for example, require breaks in the sidewalk for cars to enter the queue, according to David Morley,  research program manager at the American Planning Association.

Vehicle speed, which is the main factor determining the level of harm to pedestrians during collisions, is less of an issue with drive-thrus. Still, increasing the number of places where a car might interact with pedestrians creates more risk, UCLA’s Madeline Brozen said.

“In a city where we are trying to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities, we need to be very cautious about anything that is going to increase the likelihood for conflicts,” Brozen said.

Drive-thrus don’t necessarily have to come at the expense of walkability and safety, said Jill Bahm, a partner at land consulting firm Giffels Webster.

Bahm said communities could only allow drive-thrus in areas near highway access or where there isn’t a lot of bike or pedestrian traffic. Or they could set drive-thrus behind a building or landscaping to make the business itself more inviting to people not in cars.

Is a ban the right answer?

Jot Condie, the president of the California Restaurant Association, said he sees drive-thru bans as generally “shortsighted.”

“You’re essentially banning quick-service restaurants without specifically stating that,” Condie said.

According to the American Planning Association, 70% of all fast food sales come from customers placing orders at drive-thrus.

When San Diego considered a partial drive-thru ban in 2021, the California Restaurant Association sent a letter saying such a ban would block certain groups, including people with disabilities, access to products and services.

Councilmember Fish said he understands accessibility concerns but thinks there are other ways to make Culver City more accessible, from encouraging walk-up windows, increasing handicap parking and investing in other city services.

How to keep tabs on the city council

The city council meets on the second and fourth Monday of most months in Culver City. Meetings start at 7 p.m.

Here's how you can follow along:

• Attend in person: Mike Balkman Council Chambers, Culver City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd., Culver City
• Watch the live broadcast or view the archive
• Here's how to submit a comment or contact the council

Norway’s historic World Cup performance has brought together Southern California’s relatively small, but spirited Norwegian community.

They’ve been packing into a San Pedro Church, a Westside Irish bar and have taught people to row like a Viking at watch parties throughout the region, after Norway qualified this year for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Several Norway soccer watch parties, including the one at Joxer Daly's in Culver City, promise waffles.

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Courtesy Elise Maeland

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“This whole experience also just reminded me of why I'm proud of being Norwegian and all of these values that the society and my parents instilled upon me from a young age,” said Vilde Vevatne, who was born and raised in Oslo but now lives in L.A.

She’s proud of the team’s performance on the pitch but also its attitude outside of the matches.

“  How kind and humble the team are being. … They're not bragging unnecessarily,” Vevatne said. “They're genuinely just excited to be there. They're doing their best job and not thinking they're better than anyone else.”

Vevatne says it’s the embodiment of the Law of Jante.

“That's like an unwritten rule in Norwegian culture where we're taught from a young age — ‘Don't think you're special. Don't think you're better than everyone else,’” Vevatne said. “Just be part of the pack and just be a nice, genuine person."

Norway's Erling Haaland has scored seven goals in the World Cup as of July 8. “ I think he has just exploded as a superstar coming out of the game,” said Erik Steigen.

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And now SoCal’s Nordic community has an open invitation for anyone looking for a team to support during the quarterfinals.

Row with us. (The practice of imitating a Viking longboat of warriors rowing into battle started within the last year, but quickly became a viral phenomenon.)

“ We're a small country. We need every fan we can have,” said Petter Isaksen, who helped organize the watch parties at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church in San Pedro.

Waffles, rowing and Norwegian soccer

The Norwegian Seaman’s Church or Sjømannskirken was founded in 1941 to serve the community of Nordic sailors in San Pedro.

“Now there are almost no Norwegian sailors left, but there's still a lot of Norwegians in L.A. and in SoCal,” Isaksen, who works as a host at the church, said. “We're there for them as a church and as a cultural center,”

There are about 42,000 people who reported Norwegian ancestry in L.A. County according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey estimate.

The church hosts groups for toddlers, knitting and Norwegian language classes in addition to a Sunday Lutheran service that welcomes all faiths.

And five days a week, there are waffles for sale — always heart-shaped and with your choice of goat cheese, jam or sour cream.

“We can eat several,” Isaksen said.

The Seaman's Church in San Pedro has long been a gathering place for Southern California Norwegians and has hosted watch parties since the World Cup qualifying matches.

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Courtesy Petter Isaksen

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Isaksen has followed Norway’s football team “since I was born” and started organizing the watch parties at the church during the qualifying matches.

He said dozens of people, including several new to the church, have attended each watch party for communal singing, waffle eating and rowing.

“Everyone, whether they're, like, 12 weeks or 99 years old, they're in on it,” Isaksen said. “It's so much fun, and it brings so much togetherness.”

Cathrine Chiaro, left, and Petter Isaksen, right, both work at the Norwegian Seaman's Church in San Pedro.

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Courtesy Petter Isaksen

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‘Where are all the Norwegians at?’

A Culver City Irish sports bar has become another bastion of Norwegian pride during the World Cup thanks to Erik Steigen.

When he first moved to Los Angeles 30 years ago to work in the music industry, he didn’t prioritize seeking out his countrymen.

“I'm not moving to the US … to hang out with Norwegians and eat lutefisk,” Steigen said, referencing the divisive dried, lye-soaked fish. “I'm here to try to build a career and pursue my own dreams.”

But that changed about a decade ago.

Petter Wichman, right, and his son Erik, left. During the knockout game against Brazil, they lead the whole bar in a session of rowing, despite the fact that most people were cheering for their opponents.

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Courtesy of Petter Wichman

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“I started wondering, ‘Where are all the Norwegians at?’” Steigen said. He joined the board of the Seaman’s Church in San Pedro and today helps organize events through Peer Gynt LA, a cultural group that evolved from an early 20th century chapter of the Sons of Norway lodge.

“When you're from a different country — I've spent most of my life in the U.S. now — I think you become extra patriotic about your native country,” Steigen said.

So why organize a watch party at an Irish sports bar?

Steigen is a lifelong soccer fan, but when he first arrived in the U.S., the national team’s games didn’t broadcast in the states. So he adopted the Liverpool Football Club and often catches the games at Joxer Daly's in Culver City.

When people asked him where to watch Norway play, he defaulted to his home bar.

Steigen wasn’t sure if anyone would show up to watch Norway take on Iraq in their first match, but dozens did — and Norway won 4-1.

“ It's amazing how many Norwegians really exist in L.A. that you've never heard of,” Steigen said.

From left, Erik Steigen, Finn "The Viking" Orvin and Henning Gabrielsen are among the many Norway fans that have watched the matches at Joxer Daly's in Culver City.

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Courtesy Erik Steigen

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Elise Maeland, has attended several of the matches at Joxer Daly’s.

She’s made a handful of Norwegian friends since moving to Southern California more than a decade ago for grad school, but outside of May 17, Norway’s Constitution Day, she said there are few large Norwegian gatherings.

“I feel like that was what was really cool about the World Cup is that it really brought Norwegians together in L.A.,” Maeland said.

She hasn’t decided whether she’ll watch Saturday’s quarterfinal at Joxer Daly’s or join a larger watch party in Venice Beach.

“ I'll go where the most Norwegians go,” Maeland said.

Where to watch the game

Saturday’s quarterfinal game between Norway and England in Miami is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. local time.

The Seaman’s Church / Sjømannskirken

Joxer Daly's

Los Angeles World Cup 26 Fan Zone at Venice Beach