The Brief

More than 31,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers remained on strike Monday as the open-ended walkout entered its fourth week, disrupting patient appointments, surgeries and treatments across California and Hawaii.

Bargaining teams for Kaiser and workers resumed negotiations after weeks of stalemate, but no agreement appears imminent. This is the latest of a number of major strikes to have roiled Kaiser in recent years, including a 10-week strike by mental health workers in 2022 and a 2023 dispute mediated by the then-U.S. Secretary of Labor.

The strike, which started Jan. 26, is an effort by one of the organization’s largest unions to improve wages and staffing conditions. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals have never before walked off the job. The union, which is an umbrella organization for multiple local chapters, represents nurses, physical therapists, midwives and other health professionals.

The backstory

Workers accuse Kaiser of violating staffing agreements and worsening patient care — both of which the health care giant denies. They are demanding a 25% raise over four years, arguing the wage increase is needed to retain and recruit employees and account for the steep inflationary pressures of the past few years.

Kaiser contends its employees are on average the highest paid among other health care organizations. It has proposed a 21.5% increase over four years. In a statement, a Kaiser spokesperson said negotiations are happening while health care costs rise and millions of Americans are at risk of losing insurance.

“This underscores our responsibility to deliver fair, competitive pay for employees while protecting access and affordability for our members. We’re doing both,” the unsigned statement says.

According to the statement, Kaiser leadership believes it can afford the 21.5% wage increase without increasing member premiums, but it cannot make the same guarantee under the union’s proposal.

Union leaders have argued that Kaiser can afford across-the-board wage increases given its $66 billion in reserves. Kaiser posted a one-year loss of $4.5 billion in 2022. Since then, the health system has rebounded, posting net income of $12.9 billion in 2024 and $9.3 billion last year.

The company argues that it intends its reserves for long-term commitments and emergencies. In a statement the company said using reserves for payroll would be “financially irresponsible.” Kaiser’s wage proposal would cost about $2 billion, and the union’s would cost an additional $1 billion, according to the statement.

How we got here

Joe Guzynski, executive director for the union, said its members last signed a contract with Kaiser in 2021 before inflation peaked around 8% in 2022. At the same time, some of the organization’s local units declined to bargain during the COVID-19 pandemic, believing it would be too disruptive, and refrained from seeking additional raises. The group’s latest contract expired in September last year.

Other major unions at Kaiser that signed contracts after 2022 received inflation-adjusted wage increases.

“What we’re asking for is the same deal. Everybody else got to deal with inflation,” Guzynski said. “It’s really about restoring fairness.”

The union is also speaking up for three groups of Northern California employees who recently formed unions and are bargaining for their first contracts: certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists and physician assistants.

Kaiser has proposed cutting retirement and medical benefits for these groups, freezing wages for current employees and cutting wages for new hires, said Brian Mason, lead negotiator for the nurse midwives. There are 157 nurse midwives in Northern California.

“The reality is we’re a few hundreds of thousands of dollars apart and that’s like being $10 apart for the common person,” Mason said of the nurse midwife contract. “It’s not a lot but they’re acting like we’re asking for billions and billions of dollars.”

Nurse midwives deliver 80% of vaginal births across Kaiser’s Northern California hospitals, said Emily Hardy, a certified nurse midwife at the Redwood City Medical Center. Their work results in fewer cesarean sections and maternal complications and improved patient satisfaction, she added. It’s also cheaper to use nurse midwives for low-risk births than it is to pay for doctors, who focus on complications and high-risk mothers.

Hardy, who has been a nurse for 15 years, said she has never gone on strike before and neither have many of her colleagues. Walking off the job was a “last resort” after two years of negotiations for the nurse midwives.

“It has felt very painful because you operated for so long under the assumption that your employer really valued your services and cared about the impacts you made for members,” Hardy said. “To hear ‘we want to lower retirement and keep wages stagnant’ does not tell me that you value (us).”

What it means for patients

Patients on social media and in local news reports have described cancelled chemotherapy treatments, surgeries and other procedures. They’ve also posted images of pharmacy and laboratory lines snaking down hallways and out the door. Unionized nurses on strike, too, have reported getting recruitment texts from contractors seeking to backfill the staff positions.

Kaiser is the largest health provider in California, serving more than 9 million patients. It is also the largest private employer in the state. In a statement issued before the strike, the company said it had been “preparing contingency plans” for months to maintain access to care.

Cecilia Ochoa, 50, was unable to get a prescription filled at the Downey Medical Center last week. Ochoa, who had been recently hospitalized, said she was at home when she started to feel nauseous and weak several days ago. She went to the emergency room and received medication for nausea. Later, her lab results came back positive for a urinary tract infection.

Ochoa said she was vomiting and shaking when she tried to get antibiotics at the 24-hour pharmacy in Downey. The line was nearly 100 people long, she said, and almost reached the street. Ochoa tried another Kaiser pharmacy around the corner and waited an hour before a staff member came outside to tell everyone that the pharmacy would not fill any more prescriptions for the day. One man complained that he had been waiting in line for three hours just to check in.

“It was bad. It was so bad they were handing out snacks, water. People were there for so long,” Ochoa said.

She was born at Kaiser and has been a member her whole life, Ochoa said. Over the years it has gotten harder to see specialists and wait times for appointments are so long she has to schedule them months in advance. She’s supportive of the nurses and other workers striking, some of whom she has known for decades.

“I think somewhere they lost the whole thing. It’s not about the patient, it’s about the money,” Ochoa said. “I hope all of this ends as soon as possible for everybody.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

Over his long career, Robert Duvall brought a wide range of characters to life, from tough Marines to wistful, tender-hearted cowboys.

Duvall died on Sunday. His wife Luciana posted on Facebook on Monday, "Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort."

He was 95 years old.

In his first major movie role, in 1962, Robert Duvall appeared in only a handful of scenes. He didn't have a single word of dialogue. Yet the actor managed to make an indelible, star-making impression. The film was To Kill a Mockingbird. The role was Boo Radley.

Boo is the small town's recluse; he spends the movie as little more than a mysterious shape, cloaked in shadows. But in the film's final moments, he steps out nervously, into the light.

Duvall's features soften, he smiles slightly — and the menacing presence of Boo Radley transforms before our eyes into a figure radiating kindness and concern. The pure, elegantly nuanced physicality of that moment launched his career.

Robert Duvall came from a military family. He told NPR's All Things Considered in 2010 that he didn't so much discover acting as have it thrust upon him by his parents.

"I was at a small college in the Midwest," he said. "It was the end of the Korean war. I did go in the army eventually but [only] to get through college, to find something that would give me a sense of worth, where I got my first 'A'. It was my parents I had to thank for that."

As a young actor, he ended up in New York City, where he palled around with Gene Hackman, James Caan and his roommate Dustin Hoffman. It was over many coffees and conversations with them at Cromwell's Drug Store on 50th and 6th Avenue that he struck upon his personal philosophy of acting. His approach was direct and unpretentious, as he explained to the TV series Oprah's Masterclass in 2015: "Basically just talk and listen, and keep it simple. And however it goes, it goes."

After Mockingbird, his parts grew bigger: Films like Bullitt, True Grit, and M*A*S*H, in which he originated the role of the uptight Major Frank Burns.

But it was his role in 1972's The Godfather, as Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer, that changed everything. Amid the film's operatic swirl of emotion, Tom Hagen was an island of calmness and restraint, so it might seem odd that Duvall often said it was one of his favorite roles of his career.

But his strength as an actor was always how unforced he seemed, how true. Others around him emoted, showily and outwardly — he always directed his energy inward, to find a character's heart. This was true even when he played roles with a harder edge.

In two films that came out in 1979 — The Great Santini and Apocalypse Now, both of which earned him Oscar nominations — Duvall played military men. In Santini, he was a bluff, belligerent Marine who bullied his sensitive son in an attempt to harden him into a man.

In Francis Ford Coppola's epically trippy Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, Duvall was all charismatic swagger as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, who calls down an airstrike and delivers one of the most quotable lines in film history: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. ... It smells like ... victory."

As he told Terry Gross on Fresh Air in 1996, the words followed him for the rest of his life.

"Yeah, that was a wonderful line," he said. "People come up to me and quote it to me like it's this in thing between me and them. Like they're the only ones who ever thought of it, but it happens with everyone in the same way."

He finally won the Oscar for 1983's Tender Mercies. He played a recovering alcoholic country singer trying to start his life over. Duvall did his own singing in that film.

He directed 1997's The Apostle, which he also wrote, produced and starred in, as an evangelical preacher on the outs with God. It earned him his fifth Oscar nomination for acting.

Over the course of an acting career that spanned decades, Duvall appeared in over 90 films. He took traditional, old Hollywood archetypes of masculinity — soldiers, cops and cowboys — and imbued them with notes of melancholy, a vulnerability that made them come alive onscreen.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Give Tyra Banks credit where it's due: She's not going to pretend as if she hasn't seen the brutal social media dissection of her twisted brainchild, America's Next Top Model. The one-time reality TV juggernaut has found a new life on streaming, and in 2020 the supermodel-turned-media-mogul addressed blowback to the body shaming, black-, brown-, and yellowface, and unethical production choices with a smidgen of humility: "Looking back, those were some really off choices," she tweeted. "Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs. ❤️"

This is the age of the accountability documentary, wherein critiques of and grievances about people and past pop culture phenomena like Britney Spears and Abercrombie & Fitch are packaged into salacious tell-alls meant to correct the record. It was obvious Banks' empire would be placed under a director's microscope eventually. Enter Netflix's Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, a surprisingly candid three-part docuseries which allows her and other key players from the Top Model world to recount their experiences — good, humiliating, traumatic and everything in between.

True to formula, the behind-the-scenes transgressions described throughout Reality Check start small but grow increasingly more absurd and infuriating with each new voice. There's Shandi Sullivan from Cycle 2 — I guess "cycle" is the couture pronunciation of "season" — who attests to being traumatized by how producers handled an incident where she says she blacked out after a night of drinking and ended up in bed with a male model she barely knew. (She doesn't explicitly describe what happened to her as a sexual assault, but she does take issue with the fact that producers didn't intervene and in fact, kept filming through it all. The 2004 episode was framed and packaged rather crudely as "The Girl Who Cheated.")

Other depressing stories are rattled off — Keenyah Hill (Cycle 4, 2005) describes speaking up about a male model's inappropriate behavior with her in the middle of a photoshoot, and being dismissed by all the producers, including Banks; Giselle Samson (Cycle 1, 2003) recalls overhearing the judges say she's "got a wide ass"; Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans exasperatedly details how she was pressured by Banks in 2006 to close the distinctive gap in her teeth to stay in the running, only for Banks to encourage a white contestant to widen their own several cycles later. And that's just the models, the ones who had the least power and the greatest hunger for success. Panelist judges J. Alexander, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker, Top Model's breakout stars in their own right — and who made their share of insensitive and sometimes ethically dubious contributions to the show — offer blunt, damning insights about the manipulated and highly-controlled behind-the-scenes machinations.

Smack dab in the middle of it all is Banks herself, reinforcing the perception that, as ever, she embodies a staggering wealth of inherent contradictions. Anyone who's spent time watching Top Model or the equally wacky daytime talk show The Tyra Banks Show recognizes her bald attempts at molding herself in the image of her multimedia predecessor Oprah Winfrey — part shrewd businesswoman, part charismatic personality, part fairy godmother who can make dreams come true. Having faced racism and body discrimination in her early career in high fashion, "I wanted to show beauty is not one thing, and I wanted to fight against the fashion industry," she says of her motivation for creating Top Model and intentionally casting women who were something other than tall, stick-skinny and white.

But Banks also knew above all else what would make for "good TV." And revisiting the show only reiterates how often her proclaimed ethos was at odds with her practice; she presented herself as a rebel with industry sway when it was convenient to her mythmaking, only to hide behind the cover of "industry standards" when it wasn't. This was usually framed under the guise of tough love: "I would love to change the rules, but until that happens, I think it's all about choices, Keenyah," Banks tells Hill in archival show footage. "You can eat a burger, and take the bread off."

Even now, Banks' self-perception as a benevolent disruptor persists, and she resolutely clings to it like a life preserver pummeled by wave after wave of evidence presented to the contrary. "I just wanted to change this woman's life," she insists, reflecting on the notorious and frequently memed 2005 moment in which she lashed out at contestant Tiffany Richardson. "We were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you!" Banks yelled at Richardson when she was seemingly unfazed by her elimination.

It's crucial to note Banks isn't credited as a producer on Reality Check, which lends the series more bite and balance than might otherwise be expected in this forum. As such, she cedes most of her storytelling power to directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, who pointedly contrast her apologies and occasional abdications of responsibility with the adamant, hardened perspectives of the women and former coworkers who once looked up to her. (J. Alexander, Jay Manuel, and Nigel Barker, who each had a bitter falling out with Banks after being fired late in the show's run, are all credited as consultants, and come off as much more sympathetic. Make of that what you will.) Clearly, Banks views Reality Check as an opportunity to take some accountability for the damage the show left in its wake, and the extent to which the series manages to accomplish this, by giving considerable room for her critics, is remarkable. (On the other hand, near the end of the final episode of Reality Check, Banks reveals, unsurprisingly, that this "accountability" hinges on yet more self-promotion: "You have no idea what we have planned for Cycle 25" of Top Model, she says.)

Nigel Barker in "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model."

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Netflix

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It's tempting to view Top Model as a product of its time for better and worse, when the reality TV ecosystem was still very much the Wild West. I was an impressionable teen watching at home when Banks first threw a bunch of aspiring models into a bare-bones New York City apartment to compete for a professional contract, and I remember how lofty and notable the show's "inclusive" mantra seemed, because expectations lived in the gutter against a backdrop of normalized eating disorders and limited shades of makeup foundation.

The docuseries ultimately leaves us with a truth borne out time and again: Progress isn't linear. Of course it's foolish to think one woman alone has the power to undo decades of deeply ingrained gatekeeping through a hit TV show. Nor is progress easily achieved through individualized symbols. Whitney Lee Thompson Forrester, a plus-sized winner of Cycle 10 in 2008, credits the show with giving her an opportunity she probably never would have gotten otherwise; meanwhile, countless other contestants were shamed for weighing too much at, maybe, 124 pounds soaking wet.

Yet as much as attitudes have shifted and as much grief as Banks has gotten, the tale of Top Model might have foreshadowed the contradictions — and blowback — to body image inclusivity. The show revealed that representing different body types and looks came with limitations and a whole lot of caveats; in 2026 we observe the so-called body positive movement has receded with the proliferation of GLP-1 drugs. The message in both cases is clear: Whether implicit or explicit, thin and white has never not been in. Surely Banks could and should have done more to fight for Dani Evans' right to keep the gap in her teeth, and for all the others in her cohort. But the pendulum of progress always finds a way of swinging itself back before inching forward again.

Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by The LA Local on Feb. 12, 2026.

A lot of people don’t think downtown Los Angeles is worth visiting.

For some unfamiliar with the area, DTLA can feel overwhelming, expensive or just not worth the effort.

But if you’re a little cheap (like me), enjoy walking around the city and love art paired with a solid drink, downtown actually has a lot to offer — especially for a low-stress date night or a spontaneous adventure.

Held on the first Thursday of each month, DTLA ArtNight — traditionally referred to as the Art Walk — reimagines downtown LA’s Historic Core as a premier, pedestrian-oriented destination for art enthusiasts.

So the next time someone says Los Angeles isn’t walkable, here’s The LA Local Guide to an art-filled stroll through DTLA.

A woman holds a map to all the galleries at “DTLA Artnight.”

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Erick Galindo

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The LA Local

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First Stop

The Hive Gallery & Studios

The Hive Gallery & Studios instantly breaks the stereotype of what an art gallery is “supposed” to be. Located on Spring Street, it’s perfect for bringing along that one person in your life who says they’re “not really into museums.”

The art is quirky, creepy, colorful and fun — very Tim Burton-esque at times. It feels expressive and personal rather than polished and institutional. Another big plus is affordability. The gallery genuinely feels like a community of artists who want their work to be seen and sold without breaking the bank.

Second Stop

Beelman’s Pub

Just down the street is Beelman’s Pub, a true neighborhood bar. It’s not the kind of spot influencers travel across town to photograph — and that’s exactly why it works.

Drinks and food are reasonably priced, happy hour is solid and there’s a large outdoor patio along with plenty of indoor seating.

The staff is friendly, the vibe is relaxed and it feels like a place where you can actually have a conversation without shouting.

Sports fans will feel right at home. During the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series victory, the energy poured into the streets of downtown. With TVs throughout the bar and a crowd that genuinely cares about the game, it feels like watching from home.

An art piece on display at Art Walk LA in downtown Los Angeles.

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Louie Martinez

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The LA Local

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Third Stop

The Vault Art Gallery & Event Space

Continuing the walk, head toward Seventh Street and Spring Street to find The Vault Art Gallery & Event Space.

The gallery works especially well for people who may not consider themselves “art people” but appreciate street art and cultural commentary.

The Vault showcases work that feels distinctly Los Angeles — graffiti-inspired pieces, political undertones — and art that blends history, culture and rebellion.

Much of it carries a Banksy-like edge.

I’ve personally picked up Aztec Mega Man pieces and Blood-in Blood-out Dragon Ball–inspired art from The Vault, which reflects the range of work on display.

Arrive early during the DTLA Art Walk, and you may even find complimentary snacks and bubbly.

An art piece on display at Art Walk LA in downtown Los Angeles.

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Louie Martinez

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The LA Local

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Fourth Stop

Emerging Art Gallery

The Emerging Art Gallery may feel more traditional at first glance, but it’s far more dynamic than it appears. The gallery serves as a central hub for the DTLA Art Craw, making it a key stop on any art-focused night downtown.

Inside, visitors can find a rotating mix of photography, paintings and sculptures from both established artists and emerging creatives.

The DTLA Art Crawl takes place on the first Thursday of every month and offers a true choose-your-own-adventure experience.

More than 25 galleries are within walking distance of one another, but the energy extends well beyond the gallery walls.

Local artists line the streets with booths selling everything from original artwork and handmade prints to plants, clothing, vases and small knickknacks.

Many galleries also bring in DJs spinning music, creating a vibe that feels more like a block party than a traditional art show—putting Los Angeles artists front and center.

Night Cap

Rhythm Room

To end the evening, Rhythm Room is a go-to stop.

The cozy bar offers cheap eats, live music, pool tables and games.

You can grab a $6 cheeseburger, sip a drink under dim lighting and settle into candle-lit tables.

Play pool, ping pong, or even break out a board game with friends.

After a full night of walking and art, it’s the perfect place to wind down.

Bonus Stop

The Last Bookstore

The art gallery on the second floor of The Last Bookstore is always worth a stop.

The Trump administration formally rescinded the legal foundation of federal climate policy Thursday — setting up a new front in California’s long-running battle with Washington over emissions rules.

“Today, the Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said at a White House press conference. “Referred to by some as the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government may regulate greenhouse gases if they were found to endanger public health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a scientific determination that greenhouse gases indeed were a threat. By withdrawing its own so-called “endangerment finding,” the EPA is abandoning its justification for federal tailpipe standards, power plant rules and fuel economy regulations.

California opposed the withdrawal of the endangerment finding when it was proposed last year, and is expected to sue over the decision.

California Air Resources Board executive director Steven Cliff testified at the time that the move ignored settled science.

“Thousands of scientists from around the world are not wrong,” Cliff said in his testimony. “In this proposal, EPA is denying reality and telling every victim of climate-driven fires and floods not to believe what’s right before their eyes.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Thursday that California would take the Trump administration to court over the decision.

“Donald Trump may put corporate greed ahead of communities and families, but California will not stand by,” Newsom said. “We will continue to lead because the lives and livelihoods of our people depend on it.”

Other states and environmental groups have also indicated they could sue. They include Massachusetts, which was part of the coalition of states that sued to force the federal government to curb greenhouse gases nearly two decades ago.

Eliminating the federal basis for regulating planet-warming gases will not halt California’s climate policies, most of which – from California’s market-based approach to cutting carbon pollution to clean energy mandates for utilities — rest on state law.

In fact, the decision may open the door for California to set its own greenhouse gas standards for vehicles, a possibility that lawmakers and regulators are actively weighing.

The reversal in federal policy could also undercut arguments that federal law blocks state lawsuits against oil companies and boosts interest in expanding California’s authority over planet-warming pollution within its borders.

California prepares for a fight 

Ann Carlson, a UCLA law professor and former federal transportation official, has argued that aggressive federal action against climate policy “could, ironically, provide states with authority they’ve never had before.”

Writing in the law journal Environmental Forum, Carlson theorized that California could attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks directly under state law.

Campbell Power Plant in Sacramento on Aug. 31, 2022.

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Rahul Lal

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CalMatters

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Federal law has preempted most states from setting local vehicle emission standards; California has, through a series of waivers granted under federal clean air law, obtained permission to set stricter standards than the federal government does.

This could help California’s efforts “in the long run,” Carlson wrote in an email Wednesday, “but of course withdrawing the United States from all efforts to tackle climate change is a terrible move. We should be leading the global effort, not retreating.”

In California, where cars and trucks account for more than a third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, California regulators at the air board and lawmakers are weighing in. When asked last year by CalMatters whether the air board would consider writing its own rules, Chair Lauren Sanchez said, “All options are currently on the table.”

“This is definitely a conversation,” Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democrat from Irvine, said during a Wednesday press conference held by the California Environmental Voters. “So stay tuned.”

Ripple effects in court and Sacramento

If Washington formally exits the field of carbon regulation, states may argue they have broader room to pursue liability claims tied to wildfire costs and other climate impacts, experts said.

California has sued major oil companies as recently as 2023, in an attempt to hold them responsible for climate impacts. Oil companies have frequently cited federal oversight as a reason to dismiss climate-damage lawsuits against them.

“California is struggling with wildfire costs, for example, which are linked strongly to a warming climate,” said Ethan Elkind, a climate law expert at UC Berkeley. “I think that opens up a lot of legal avenues for states like California.”

The federal pullback has prompted lawmakers to consider expanding the Air Resources Board’s powers.

Assemblymember Robert Garcia, a Democrat from Rancho Cucamonga, this week introduced a bill aimed at affirming the state’s power to curb pollution from large facilities that generate heavy truck traffic, such as warehouses and ports, which concentrate diesel exhaust in nearby communities.

“It's no secret that the federal government and California are not seeing eye to eye — we're not on the same page,” Garcia said at Wednesday’s news conference. “This is an opportunity for our state, for California to step in.”

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