The Brief

UCLA will get some of its access back to its baseball stadium and practice field on the Veterans Affairs campus in West L.A., a federal judge ordered Monday.

Judge David O. Carter accepted parts of UCLA’s proposal to allow the team to continue using the facilities, leased from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, after they were ordered to leave late last month.

The latest order grants the Bruin baseball team temporary access to the field until July 4, 2025, to give the university time to figure out an exit strategy, Carter said. UCLA will also have to nearly double its annual rent to $600,000, to be paid within the next two weeks, as outlined in its proposal.

But some veterans and advocates are disappointed with the decision.

“It’s just really unfortunate that they’re coming back on and they’re only giving $600,000,” Rob Reynolds, veterans advocate, told LAist after the hearing. “They pay their coach more money than what they’re offering for the use of that baseball stadium.”

John Savage, the Bruins’ head baseball coach, made $848,000 in gross pay last year, according to University of California employee pay data.

What happened in the hearing

The decision stems from a discrimination lawsuit filed by a group of veterans in November 2022 who argue that disabled veterans relying on VA medical services need more housing near the West L.A. campus.

Carter has ordered the construction of 750 temporary homes in the next 18 months and 1,800 permanent units at or near the West L.A. campus. On Monday, he repeatedly asked both parties where the baseball fields fit into those plans.

The attorneys for the plaintiffs expressed their opposition to letting UCLA back on the baseball fields, citing the increase in rent from $320,000 to $600,000, which they felt was not enough.

But Carter countered with his own concerns about letting the land sit empty while both sides nail down the details, and missing out on the money from UCLA in the meantime.

He encouraged UCLA and the plaintiffs to continue their conversations on possible longer-term agreements, such as veteran student housing. But if that doesn’t happen by next July, the Bruins will once again lose access to the fields, which may then be used for housing.

Carter added this gives the university enough time to figure out an exit strategy.

The response

Martin Jarmond, UCLA’s director of athletics, said in a statement to LAist that they’re excited to practice and play in Jackie Robinson Stadium this season.

“Our young men have been working hard and keeping a positive attitude throughout this period of uncertainty, and we are pleased that they will be able to resume their regular training at the stadium,” Jarmond said.

Robert Canas, a plaintiff and veteran who lives on the West L.A. campus, told LAist after the hearing that the order is “terrible.”

“$600,000 isn't a lot of money for the property and where they're at,” he said. “And I feel like where that field is could be veteran housing.”

But Canas said he is hopeful that this will be the Bruins last season on the VA campus and that they’ll have a back-up plan come next year.

Steve Soboroff, who testified as an expert witness for the plaintiffs, told LAist he doesn’t see the order as a great victory for anyone, and he hopes that UCLA will be able to reach an agreement that benefits all parties.

“This is basically start looking for land, because we're not going to use this year, but we'll start next year,” he said after the hearing. “And I hope that they can come up with something … that can help us complete enough [housing] for the veterans.”

Brad Rosenberg, the Department of Veterans Affairs attorney, declined to comment after the hearing, as did attorneys for the plaintiffs.

Topline:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

)

Gathering in a time of turmoil 

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

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

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

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

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

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

See it for yourself

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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