The Brief

A group of architecture students from Utah spent their recent spring break in not-so-sunny California trudging through ash and debris to help victims of the Eaton Fire jump-start the rebuilding process .

The students from Utah Valley University measured foundations and met with 32 homeowners to gather data that they’ll use to make digital models of the owners’ original homes. Gordon MacKay, the professor who led the group, said he hopes fire victims can take the models to a local architect who can then fill in missing measurements and details.  

“What I think it should do for an architect is allow them to give these homeowners a better price because the design portion is done,” he said.

MacKay, who has also worked in the restoration business for nearly two decades, said the work could also help fire victims still quarreling with insurance. “This will give them a really good, scaled drawing of what they had so that they can hopefully get what they deserve from their insurance companies,” he said.

How the project came about

MacKay said the students were moved by the destruction they saw on the news and wanted to know how they could help. One faculty member had an answer: “Maybe we could go to L.A. and draw plans for these folks.” MacKay recalled. “They're all gonna need an architect to draw something.”

Twenty-four students ended up donating their time; the school paid for travel and accommodations.

When they’re back on campus Monday, the students will work in teams to create what are known as CAD drawings of people’s pre-fire homes. They hope to send homeowners those 3D models within a few weeks.

A first step in rebuilding

MacKay said the group worked only with homeowners who want to essentially rebuild the same home they had before the fires. He said the digital models wouldn’t be enough to satisfy a building permit, but he hoped it would cut down the time spent going back and forth with an architect over details and help people start building sooner.

“Sometimes with homeowners — sometimes with all clients — there can be a lot of indecisiveness, right? ... And you can waste weeks and even months just kind of like looking at Pinterest boards,” he said.

Streamlining some of that decision-making could be a welcome relief to fire victims, who face seemingly endless decisions over interim housing , cleaning up their devastated lots and even whether to rebuild at all.

Other resources for rebuilding

The Utah architecture students ended up maxing out on the number of homeowners they could help. But other architecture groups are also offering free and low-cost services to fire victims:

• The L.A. chapter of the American Institute of Architects has a webpage with wildfire recovery resources , including virtual meetings on the rebuilding process, and a list of firms offering design and consultancy services .
• The Pasadena-based Foothill Catalog is working to develop pre-approved home designs that fire victims can choose from.
• HelpDrawTogether.org seeks to match volunteer architects and engineers with homeowners who need help rebuilding.
• Tall Architects, based in Mississippi, offers free plans for small homes or ADUs .

Know of another resource we should add? Tell us !

California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses given to immigrants after discovering the expiration dates went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S., state officials said Wednesday.

The announcement follows harsh criticism from the Trump administration about California and other states granting licenses to people in the country illegally. The issue was thrust into the public's consciousness in August, when a tractor-trailer driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that California's action to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly even though it previously defended its licensing standards. California launched its review of commercial driver's licenses it issued after Duffy raised concerns.

"After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we've exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked," Duffy said, referring to the state's governor. "This is just the tip of iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses."

Newsom's office said that every one of the drivers whose license is being revoked had valid work authorizations from the federal government. At first, his office declined to disclose the exact reason for revoking the licenses, saying only they violated state law. Later, his office revealed the state law it was referring to was one that requires the licenses expire on or before a person's legal status to be in the United State ends, as reported to the DMV.

Still, Newsom's spokesperson Brandon Richards shot back at Duffy in a statement.

"Once again, the Sean 'Road Rules' Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader," Richards said.

Fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year also highlight questions about these licenses. A fiery California crash that killed three people last month involved a truck driver in the country illegally, only adding to the concerns.

Duffy previously imposed new restrictions on which immigrants can qualify for commercial driver's licenses. He said earlier this fall that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver's licenses to noncitizens, but California is the only state Duffy has taken action against because it was the first one where an audit was completed. The reviews in the other states have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the Transportation Department is urging all of them to tighten their standards.

Duffy revoked $40 million in federal funding because he said California isn't enforcing English language requirements for truckers, and he reiterated Wednesday that he will take another $160 million from the state over these improperly issued licenses if they don't invalidate every illegal license and address all the concerns. But revoking these licenses is part of the state's effort to comply.

The new rules for commercial driver's licenses that Duffy announced in September make getting them extremely hard for immigrants because only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible. States will also have to verify an applicant's immigration status in a federal database. The licenses will be valid for up to one year unless the applicant's visa expires sooner.

Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who have commercial licenses would qualify for them, which would only be available to drivers who have an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa. H-2a is for temporary agricultural workers while H-2b is for temporary nonagricultural workers, and E-2 is for people who make substantial investments in a U.S. business. But the rules won't be enforced retroactively, so those 190,000 drivers will be allowed to keep their commercial licenses at least until they come up for renewal.

Those new requirements were not in place at the time the 17,000 California licenses were issued. But those drivers were given notices that their licenses will expire in 60 days.

Duffy said in September that investigators found that one quarter of the 145 licenses they reviewed in California shouldn't have been issued. He cited four California licenses that remained valid after the driver's work permit expired — sometimes years after.

Newsom's office said the state followed guidance it received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about issuing these licenses to noncitizens.
Copyright 2025 NPR

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is officially over after President Trump signed a bill passed by Congress on Wednesday night.

The federal government is reopening. But after 43 days on pause, things may not return to business as usual right away. For instance, federal workers are still awaiting backpay and air travel disruptions are expected to linger.

And some impacts could continue much longer than six weeks, whether that's national parks trying to make up for lost visitor revenue or taxpayers waiting longer for refunds from a backlogged Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

There's also the looming threat of another potential shutdown in the not-too-distant future, since this bill only funds the government through Jan. 30.

Here's a look at where things stand for now.

Keep scrolling for updates, and jump by category here:

Federal workers | SNAP | Smithsonian

Federal employees return to work, awaiting back pay 

Roughly 1.4 million federal workers have gone without pay for six weeks. Roughly half of them were required to keep working without paychecks, while hundreds of thousands of others were furloughed.

Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told agency heads to direct furloughed employees to return to work Thursday.

"Agencies should take all necessary steps to ensure that offices reopen in a prompt and orderly manner" on Thursday, Vought wrote in a Wednesday memo .

The timing of backpay is a different question.

After the government shutdown ending in January 2019 — then the longest in history — Congress passed a law ensuring back pay for federal workers "at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates."

But Trump appeared to suggest otherwise in public comments last month, leaving many feds worried.

The bill that Congress passed to end the shutdown guarantees back pay. It also reverses several agencies' attempted staffing reductions during the shutdown, which were paused by a federal judge , and prevents additional layoffs of federal employees through January.

Shaun Southworth, a federal employment attorney, said in an Instagram video that the timing of backpay will vary by agency based on their payroll providers, but most employees should start seeing deposits within days.

"Many employees historically saw deposits within the first business days after reopening," he says of the last shutdown. "A minority may roll to the next cycle if the system needs extra processing."

SNAP is back 

The bill Congress passed to reopen the government funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September 2026.

The program, which some 42 million Americans rely on for food assistance, has been the subject of much uncertainty — and an escalating legal battle — in recent weeks. The Trump administration said last month that it would suspend SNAP funding in November due to the shutdown, prompting a wide outcry and a series of legal challenges.

While the administration initially said it would comply with two rulings requiring it to provide at least partial funding for SNAP in November, it balked — and ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court — after one of those judges said it must fund the program fully for the month. The Supreme Court paused that order (and extended that pause again on Tuesday, with the end of the shutdown in sight).

At this point, beneficiaries in some states have gotten their full monthly allocations, while others have gotten partial payments or nothing at all. Reopening the government means restarting SNAP, but it's not clear how quickly full payments will resume, since that varies by state. And, as NPR has reported , many who rely on the program are worried that benefits could be cut again.

Smithsonian institutions will reopen on a rolling basis

The Smithsonian, which encompasses 21 museums and the National Zoo, says its reopening will be gradual.

Its website says the National Museum of American History, as well as the National Air and Space Museum and its Virginia annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, will open their doors on Friday.

All other museums and the zoo — including its beloved live animal cams — will reopen to the public "on a rolling basis" by Monday.

This is a live story that will be updated throughout the day as we learn more.

Copyright 2025 NPR

After living 42 years wrongfully incarcerated in the Angola State Penitentiary, Gary Tyler has spent the past decade living and working as an artist and advocate in Los Angeles.

A political awakening in Los Angeles

Growing up in Louisiana, Gary Tyler experienced some culture shock when he initially moved to South Central L.A. at 12 years old.

“It was like a new world I was venturing into,” Tyler said. “I learned things that I never thought was accessible 'cause it was totally different from the way the culture in the South was. It was more open and engaging.

“I learned about Negro History Week. […] I also walked around the community, knocked on doors and got petitions signed for Angela Davis.

“Coming to L.A. was like walking out of the dark into the light.”

A segregationist mob changes the course of Tyler’s life

After a couple of years, Tyler moved back to Louisiana, where he was part of a group of Black students bused to a formerly all-white high school under court-ordered desegregation.

On Oct. 16, 1974, their bus was attacked by a white mob and a white boy was killed. Tyler was wrongfully convicted of his murder by an all-white jury.

Detroit Newspaper circa 1976

(

Courtesy of Gary Tyler's archive

)

Multiple witnesses later recanted their testimonies, saying they were pressured by police. Nevertheless, at just 17, Tyler became the youngest person on death row in the country, and was sent to the Louisiana State Prison in Angola, La.

Rodeos, quilting and an unexpected community

Tyler said he was afraid of the people he would meet in prison, but to his surprise, he found a community of older men who came together to protect him.

“Little did I know, despite the appearance of these guys, these guys was caring. These guys were loving,” Tyler said. “And these guys didn't perceive me as a threat at all because I was this little kid in adult prison.”

Tyler paid that care forward in different ways within the community in Angola, spending decades leading the prison theater program and volunteering with the country’s first prison hospice program, which was established in 1988 during the heigh of the AIDS crisis.

It was the need to fund hospice care that led Tyler to learn quilting in order to have something to sell at the notorious Angola Prison Rodeo, an annual fundraiser where inmates risk life and limb facing off against agitated bulls before a crowd.

Tyler resisted the craft at first.

GARY TYLER QUILTS

'Fernanda's Touch,' 2025

(

Courtesy of the artist; Library Street Collective, Detroit; and Official Welcome, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Bedford

)

'Unforgiven,' 2025

(

Courtesy of the artist; Library Street Collective, Detroit; and Official Welcome, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Bedford

)

'Convict Poker,' 2025;

(

Courtesy of the artist; Library Street Collective, Detroit; and Official Welcome, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Bedford

)

“I felt that it was a feminine thing to do in prison,” Tyler said. “But I started thinking about my grandmother when I was this little kid. … I said, 'Wait a minute. I come from a family generation where my grandmother made quilts.' So I started having a different perspective … [that] we’re doing something noble. We doing something that supports dying men in prison.”

As Tyler’s quilts became big sellers at the rodeo and his leadership in the theater program attracted even more attention to his case, Tyler’s lawyers and national and international supporters rallied around his case. Still, it took 42 years for Tyler to be released — in 2016 at the age of 57.

A return to Los Angeles 

With the aid of some of his longtime supporters, Tyler settled in Pasadena, where he became an advocate, working with organizations like A Safe Place For Youth . He continues to make quilts, ranging from colorful butterflies — a symbol of freedom — to depictions of life in incarceration.

“I felt that doing something tangible through my artwork, through quilting … that would give an understanding of my life experience in prison.”

'Illuminations from a Captured Soul' is now on display at the Official Welcome Gallery in Los Angeles through December 20th, 2025.

(

Official Welcome Gallery

)

Tyler’s newest exhibition of narrative quilts includes portraits of people serving sentences in Angola, depicted not as inmates but as the characters they portrayed in his plays. Tyler says this gives the viewer an opportunity to see their humanity.

And preserving one’s humanity is at the heart of all of Tyler’s work.

“I wanted to maintain my own individuality, knowing that I was an innocent person,” he said. “And I want people to know … even if you’re guilty, there's a chance for change. Never miss out on that opportunity, no matter what.”

"Illuminations from a Captured Soul" is now on display at the Official Welcome Gallery in Los Angeles through Dec. 20.