Topline:
Southern California's citrus industry left a lasting mark on the region, economically and culturally.
The backstory: SoCal's citrus boom lasted from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century and coincided with the rise of the railroad.
See it for yourself: For a taste of citrus history, check out California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside.
For many decades, visitors to Southern California spoke in awe of the miles and miles of citrus trees that dominated the horizon. The orange — particularly the Washington Navel Orange — was the region’s calling card from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, driving economic growth, and becoming a key symbol of Californian prosperity.
Host Larry Mantle dove into this rich history on LAist’s daily news program, AirTalk, on 89.3 F.M.
Discovered in Brazil, the Washington Navel orange made its way to California via the Department of Agriculture.
“Because of the climate, because of the soil, because of the water in the Riverside area, it became this winter ripening marvel, with a glorious orange rind,” said Vince Moses, CEO of VinCate and Associates, a museum and preservation consulting firm, and previous director of the Museum of Riverside. “By the mid 1880s, it had begun to supplant Mediterranean sweet oranges in California.”
“The railroad and the citrus groves sort of grew up together in the 1880s and 1890s as the railroads, in particular the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads — two transcontinental systems — started to lay tracks to places like Los Angeles, Pasadena, and especially Riverside,” said Benjamin Jenkins, associate professor of history and archivist at the University of La Verne and author of Octopus's Garden: How Railroads and Citrus Transformed Southern California.
The invention of refrigerated cars in the late 1800s meant that people in New York and Boston could purchase oranges that were grown in California, Jenkins added. Packing houses and orange groves sprang up along the train tracks in cities like Claremont, Anaheim and Riverside, incentivized by the profits earned from shipping oranges and lemons east.
The industry was so lucrative that Riverside became “the wealthiest city per capita in the entire United States because it had become the home of the Washington Naval Orange,” Moses said.
Growers then banded together in 1893 to form the Southern California Fruit Exchange. It was “a cooperative incorporated to represent those growers and negotiate with the railroads and to create an organized manner in which they could pick, pack, and ship their fruit,” Moses said.
As it grew, the group became the California Fruit Growers Exchange, representing upward of 15,000 orange and lemon growers. The cooperative started branding their oranges “Sunkist” in 1909, which became the organization’s name in 1951. “They, in essence, branded the sun of Southern California,” Moses added.
Before the 20th century, packing was done by Native American, Chinese, and other East Asian immigrant groups, “but over the course of the 20th century, as immigration into California accelerated, particularly in the wake of the Mexican Revolution, starting about 1911, Mexicans and Mexican Americans really became the dominant picking and packing forces in Southern California,” Jenkins said.
Workers would move depending on the season, picking Washington Navels in the winter and Valencias in the spring.
“We can really date a lot of the downfall of the citrus industry to the early 1940s,” Jenkins explained.
Because of its position on the coast, Southern California was “an ideal place to build battleships [and] airplanes that would be used in the war against Japan.”
According to Jenkins, this shift meant the region needed new housing developments to accommodate all the people moving into the Southland to take part in the new defense industries. Citrus growers suddenly realized they were sitting on valuable real estate.
“A lot of orange growers decided to pull up stakes," Jenkins said. "They would maybe remove their orange trees to the Central Valley where they are still active today, and they would sell their land to housing developers to create tract homes.”
Though citrus is no longer commercially viable in Southern California “it also has this strange grasp on the public imagination because we're not willing to let go of the vestiges of those communities, whether that's in the form of packing houses, or public murals that you'll see in many towns in the San Gabriel Valley or in the Inland Empire showing what orange groves used to look like,” Jenkins said.
Those hoping to dig further into the history of citrus in Southern California can visit California Citrus State Historic Park, which has 200 acres of commercial navel orange trees, as well as tours and a visitor center built as a replica of a packing house.
"The park is just a hallmark of Southern California and that industry that made this region's identity for so very long,” Moses said.
Topline:
The federal government has drastically scaled back the number of recommended childhood immunizations, sidelining six routine vaccines that have safeguarded millions from serious diseases, long-term disability, and death.
What does this mean? Vaccines against the three diseases, as well as those against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, and COVID, are now recommended only for children at high risk of serious illness or after "shared clinical decision-making," or consultation between doctors and parents.
What experts are saying: Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance. HHS said the changes followed "a scientific review of the underlying science" and were in line with vaccination programs in other developed nations.
Read on ... for details on the vaccines and what they prevent.
The federal government has drastically scaled back the number of recommended childhood immunizations, sidelining six routine vaccines that have safeguarded millions from serious diseases, long-term disability and death.
Just three of the six immunizations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will no longer routinely recommend — against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and rotavirus — have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths in the past 30 years, according to the CDC's own publications.
Vaccines against the three diseases, as well as those against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, and COVID, are now recommended only for children at high risk of serious illness or after "shared clinical decision-making," or consultation between doctors and parents.
The CDC maintained its recommendations for 11 childhood vaccines: measles, mumps, and rubella; whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria; the bacterial disease known as Hib; pneumonia; polio; chickenpox; and human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Federal and private insurance will still cover vaccines for the diseases the CDC no longer recommends universally, according to a Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet; parents who want to vaccinate their children against those diseases will not have to pay out-of-pocket.
Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance. HHS said the changes followed "a scientific review of the underlying science" and were in line with vaccination programs in other developed nations.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, pointed to Denmark as a model. But the schedules of most European countries are closer to the U.S. standard upended by the new guidance.
For example, Denmark, which does not vaccinate against rotavirus, registers around 1,200 infant and toddler rotavirus hospitalizations a year. That rate, in a country of 6 million, is about the same as it was in the United States before vaccination.
"They're OK with having 1,200 or 1,300 hospitalized kids, which is the tip of the iceberg in terms of childhood suffering," said Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a co-inventor of a licensed rotavirus vaccine. "We weren't. They should be trying to emulate us, not the other way around."
Public health officials say the new guidance puts the onus on parents to research and understand each childhood vaccine and why it is important.
Here's a rundown of the diseases the sidelined vaccines prevent:
RSV. Respiratory syncytial virus is the most common cause of hospitalization for infants in the U.S.
The respiratory virus usually spreads in fall and winter and produces cold-like symptoms, though it can be deadly for young children, causing tens of thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths a year. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, roughly 80% of children younger than 2 who are hospitalized with RSV have no identifiable risk factors. Long-awaited vaccines against the disease were introduced in 2023.
Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A vaccination, which was phased in beginning in the late 1990s and recommended for all toddlers starting in 2006, has led to a more than 90% drop in the disease since 1996. The foodborne virus, which causes a wretched illness, continues to plague adults, particularly people who are homeless or who abuse drugs or alcohol, with a total of 1,648 cases and 85 deaths reported in 2023.
Hepatitis B. The disease causes liver cancer, cirrhosis, and other serious illnesses and is particularly dangerous when contracted by babies and young children. The hepatitis B virus is transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids, even in microscopic amounts, and can survive on surfaces for a week. From 1990 to 2019, vaccination resulted in a 99% decline in reported cases of acute hepatitis B among children and teens. Liver cancer among American children has also plummeted as a result of universal childhood vaccination. But the hepatitis B virus is still around, with 2,000-3,000 acute cases reported annually among unvaccinated adults. More than 17,000 chronic hepatitis B diagnoses were reported in 2023. The CDC estimates about half of people infected don't know they have it.
Rotavirus. Before routine administration of the current rotavirus vaccines began in 2006, about 70,000 young children were hospitalized and 50 died every year from the virus. It was known as "winter vomiting syndrome," said Sean O'Leary, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado. "It was a miserable disease that we hardly see anymore."
The virus is still common on surfaces that babies touch, however, and "if you lower immunization rates it will once again hospitalize children," Offit said.
Meningococcal vaccines. These have been required mainly for teenagers and college students, who are notably vulnerable to critical illness caused by the bacteria. About 600 to 1,000 cases of meningococcal disease are reported in the U.S. each year, but it kills more than 10% of those it sickens, and 1 in 5 survivors have permanent disabilities.
Flu and covid. The two respiratory viruses have each killed hundreds of children in recent years — though both tend to be much more severe in older adults. Flu is currently on the upswing in the United States, and last flu season the virus killed 289 children.
Under the changes, decisions about vaccinating children against influenza, covid, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A and B will now rely on what officials call "shared clinical decision-making," meaning families will have to consult with a health care provider to determine whether a vaccine is appropriate.
"It means a provider should have a conversation with the patient to lay out the risks and the benefits and make a decision for that individual person," said Lori Handy, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
In the past, the CDC used that term only in reference to narrow circumstances, like whether a person in a monogamous relationship needed the HPV vaccine, which prevents a sexually transmitted infection and certain cancers.
The CDC's new approach doesn't line up with the science because of the proven protective benefit the vaccines have for the vast majority of the population, Handy said.
In their report justifying the changes, HHS officials Tracy Beth Høeg and Martin Kulldorff said the U.S. vaccination system requires more safety research and more parental choice. Eroding trust in public health caused in part by an overly large vaccine schedule had led more parents to shun vaccination against major threats like measles, they said.
The vaccines on the schedule that the CDC has altered were backed up by extensive safety research when they were evaluated and approved by the FDA.
"They're held to a safety standard higher than any other medical intervention that we have," Handy said. "The value of routine recommendations is that it really helps the public understand that this has been vetted upside down and backwards in every which way."
Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County, Calif., said the change in guidance will cause more confusion among parents who think it means a vaccine's safety is in question.
"It is critical for public health that recommendations for vaccines are very clear and concise," Ball said. "Anything to muddy the water is just going to lead to more children getting sick."
Ball said that instead of focusing on a child's individual health needs, he often has to spend limited clinic time reassuring parents that vaccines are safe. A "shared clinical decision-making" status for a vaccine has no relationship to safety concerns, but parents may think it does.
HHS' changes do not affect state vaccination laws and therefore should allow prudent medical practitioners to carry on as before, said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney and a George Washington University lecturer who is leading litigation against Kennedy over vaccine changes.
"You could expect that any pediatrician is going to follow sound evidence and recommend that their patients be vaccinated," he said. The law protects providers who follow professional care guidelines, he said, and "RSV, meningococcal, and hepatitis remain serious health threats for children in this country."
This story comes from NPR's health reporting partnership with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. KFF Health News is one of the core operating programs at KFF, the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Topline:
The National Park Service has updated its policy to discourage visitors from defacing a picture of President Donald Trump on this year's pass. The use of an image of Trump on the 2026 pass — rather than the usual picture of nature — has sparked a backlash, sticker protests, and a lawsuit from a conservation group.
What is the pass? The $80 annual America the Beautiful pass gives visitors access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Since 2004, the pass has typically showcased sweeping landscapes or iconic wildlife, selected through a public photo contest. Past winners have featured places like Arches National Park in Utah and images of bison roaming the plains.
What's with this year's pass? Instead, of a picture of nature, this year's design shows side-by-side portraits of Presidents George Washington and Trump. The new design has drawn criticism from parkgoers and ignited a wave of "do-it-yourself" resistance.
Read on ... for more on the backlash surrounding this year's pass.
The National Park Service has updated its policy to discourage visitors from defacing a picture of President Donald Trump on this year's pass.
The use of an image of Trump on the 2026 pass — rather than the usual picture of nature — has sparked a backlash, sticker protests, and a lawsuit from a conservation group.
The $80 annual America the Beautiful pass gives visitors access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Since 2004, the pass has typically showcased sweeping landscapes or iconic wildlife, selected through a public photo contest. Past winners have featured places like Arches National Park in Utah and images of bison roaming the plains.
Instead, of a picture of nature, this year's design shows side-by-side portraits of Presidents George Washington and Trump. The new design has drawn criticism from parkgoers and ignited a wave of "do-it-yourself" resistance.
Photos circulating online show that many national park cardholders have covered the image of Trump's face with stickers of wildlife, landscapes, and yellow smiley faces, while some have completely blocked out the whole card. The backlash has also inspired a growing sticker campaign.
Jenny McCarty, a longtime park volunteer and graphic designer, began selling custom stickers meant to fit directly over Trump's face — with 100% of proceeds going to conservation nonprofits.
"We made our first donation of $16,000 in December," McCarty said. "The power of community is incredible."
McCarty says the sticker movement is less about politics and more about preserving the neutrality of public lands. "The Interior's new guidance only shows they continue to disregard how strongly people feel about keeping politics out of national parks," she said.
The National Park Service card policy was updated this week to say that passes may no longer be valid if they've been "defaced or altered." The change, which was revealed in an internal email to National Park Service staff obtained by SFGATE, comes just as the sticker movement has gained traction across social media.
In a statement to NPR, the Interior Department said there was no new policy. Interagency passes have always been void if altered, as stated on the card itself. The agency said the recent update was meant to clarify that rule and help staff deal with confusion from visitors.
The Park Service has long said passes can be voided if the signature strip is altered, but the updated guidance now explicitly includes stickers or markings on the front of the card.
It will be left to the discretion of park service officials to determine whether a pass has been "defaced" or not. The update means park officials now have the leeway to reject a pass if a sticker leaves behind residue, even if the image underneath is intact.
In December, conservation group the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., opposing the new pass design.
The group argues that the image violates a federal requirement that the annual America the Beautiful pass display a winning photograph from a national parks photo contest. The 2026 winning image was a picture of Glacier National Park.
"This is part of a larger pattern of Trump branding government materials with his name and image," Kierán Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told NPR. "But this kind of cartoonish authoritarianism won't fly in the United States."
The lawsuit asks a federal court to pull the current pass design and replace it with the original contest winner — the Glacier National Park image. It also seeks to block the government from featuring a president's face on future passes.
Not everyone sees a problem with the new design. Vince Vanata, the GOP chairman of Park County, Wyoming, told the Cowboy State Daily that Trump detractors should "suck it up" and accept the park passes, saying they are a fitting tribute to America's 250th birthday this July 4.
"The 250th anniversary of our country only comes once. This pass is showing the first president of the United States and the current president of the United States," Vanata said.
But for many longtime visitors, the backlash goes beyond design.
Erin Quinn Gery, who buys an annual pass each year, compared the image to "a mug shot slapped onto natural beauty."
She also likened the decision to self-glorification.
"It's akin to throwing yourself a parade or putting yourself on currency," she said. "Let someone else tell you you're great — or worth celebrating and commemorating."
When asked if she plans to remove her protest sticker, Gery replied: "I'll take the sticker off my pass after Trump takes his name off the Kennedy Center."
Topline:
The 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards take over the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday evening.
That means... Road closures and parking restrictions.
Read on ... for all the details.
The 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards take place Sunday evening beginning at 5 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and that means parking restrictions and street closures in the city.
Here are places to avoid, as well as some alternative routes:
North Santa Monica Boulevard:
The city suggests using South Santa Monica Boulevard, which will remain open in both directions. There also are alternative east-west routes such as Olympic, Sunset and Pico boulevards.
Wilshire Boulevard:
Other streets:
Several other streets like Whittier Drive, Carmelita Avenue, Elevado Avenue and Lomitas Avenue, as well as Trenton Drive and adjacent alleys will have limited closures with local access available only to residents. Closures begin at 10 p.m. Saturday and last through 6 a.m. Monday.
Parking notices:
Residential streets surrounding the venue will be completely restricted, no exceptions made, from 6 a.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday on the following streets:
Residents without permit parking can obtain parking exemptions by contacting the city of Beverly Hills’ parking exemption line at (310) 285-2548 or online at beverlyhills.org/parkingexemptions.
Topline:
Demonstrations against this week’s deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis are planned this weekend across Los Angeles. The protests are being organized by the “ICE Out For Good Coalition” — a network of several groups including the ACLU and 50501.
The backstory: An ICE agent shot and killed the 37-year-old Good in her vehicle during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis this week, prompting nationwide protests.
Read on ... for a list of actions planned this weekend in L.A.
Demonstrations against this week’s deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis are planned this weekend across Los Angeles. The protests are being organized by the “ICE Out For Good Coalition” — a network of several groups including the ACLU and 50501.
Here are a some of the planned actions across the city:
