Topline:
Filipino communities have had an enormous impact on Southern California history, from Little Manila in downtown Los Angeles to Historic Filipinotown and suburbs like Northridge and Cerritos.
Why now: October is Filipino American History Month.
The backstory: Filipino sailors first landed in California in 1587 in Morro Bay as part of a scouting mission.
Filipino communities have a deep and rich history in Southern California — dating back centuries.
To learn more about that story during Filipino American History Month this October, we talked to historians on our daily news show AirTalk with Larry Mantle. And we learned some key takeaways:
“The first recorded landing of Filipinos in what we now know in the United States was in Morro Bay, California, in 1587,” said Joy Sales, assistant professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.
According to Sales, they were part of a crew that came to scout the land and make contact with the indigenous people of California. At the time, the Philippines was a colony of Spain.
“There's actually a longer history of Filipinos coming to Spanish colonial America, to California, to what we now know as Louisiana, to colonial Mexico…It goes far back, even before the founding of the United States,” Sales said.
Spain sold the Philippines to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, a decision that was made without input of Filipinos.
Americans saw their new colony as a source for cheap labor.
“There was still a need for farm labor here, especially in California, because California is the breadbasket of America," Sales said. “There's records and sources of labor recruiters…going to the Philippines and specifically recruiting those with a farm working background or peasant background. And they would flash American dollars."
Filipino workers would go on to become crucial to the farm labor movement, with prominent organizers like Larry Itlong, who led strikes and formed the United Farm Workers with César Chávez.
While about two-thirds of Filipinos who emigrated to California worked in the agriculture industry, the other third ended up in cities.
In downtown Los Angeles, “Filipinos actually developed and created a kind of small Little Manila around First and Main Street,” said Joseph Bernardo, adjunct professor in the Asian and Asian Pacific American Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University.
According to Bernardo, Little Manila developed as “a result of really racial and class segregation. [Filipinos] were subject to much overt discrimination at that time. A lot of harassment, particularly from the LAPD.”
Eventually, Little Manila gave way to what is now Historic Filipinotown.
When whites were fleeing the suburbs as part of white flight, Filipinos were able to start raising families, and they were able to purchase homes in what is now present-day Historic Filipinotown.
“After World War II, when whites were fleeing the suburbs as part of white flight, Filipinos were able to start raising families, and they were able to purchase homes in what is now present-day Historic Filipinotown,” Bernardo continued.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 brought a new wave of Filipinos to the U.S. Often skilled professionals who already spoke English due to America’s colonization, these immigrants didn’t create ethnic neighborhoods in the same ways as many Asian American immigrant groups. That's because they weren't dependent on an ethnic economy to survive.
In the 1960s, suburbs were booming across the U.S., including the Sunbelt cities like Los Angeles. And immigrants wanted in on it.
“Suburbs like Northridge and West Covina and Walnut, Cerritos, Carson, and all the other communities, even into the Inland Empire, like Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, and Chino Hills…offered that piece of the American dream,” said James Zarsadiaz, associate professor of history and director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.
Topline:
You can’t have your cake and eat it too, but you can for pie! This Saturday, March 14, is Pi Day — yes, 3.14 the math symbol (π) — and you’ll have the chance to taste tons of pies at The Autry Museum, and help judge a mouth-watering contest.
What’s going on? The event comes from our public media friends on the Westside. KCRW’s annual PieFest & Contest brings together more than 25 vendors in its “pie marketplace.” There will be baking demos, a beer garden and more. You’ll also get free entry to the museum. The event, which goes from noon to 5 p.m., is free and open to the public. You can RSVP here.
The contests: Bakers will go head-to-head in a massive pie-baking contest, judged by Will Ferrell, Roy Choi and L.A. food writers. You’ll also play a role by voting for your visual favorites in the Pie Pageant. (No pie-eating contest, womp womp.)
What is Pi Day? Pi Day is observed on March 14 because the month and day format we use has the first three digits for the value of Pi (π), 3.14. It was officially designated by Congress in 2009 (yes, really).
Topline:
LAX officials are considering a proposal Tuesday to increase the fees it charges rideshare companies to access the airport.
Current fees: Rideshare companies pass along to their customers a $4 or $5 airport fee. You might see this listed as a line item on your receipt as an “LAX Airport Surcharge.”
Proposed fees: The Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners could vote tomorrow to increase that fee by as much as $2 to $8 depending on where the rideshare picks you up or drops you off.
Read on…to learn more about the “why” behind the proposed fee changes.
LAX officials are considering a proposal Tuesday to increase the fees rideshare companies are charged to access the airport.
Currently, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft generally pass a $4 to $5 airport fee along to their customers. You might see this listed as a line item on your receipt as an “LAX Airport Surcharge.”
But the Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners could vote to increase that fee by as much as $2 to $8 depending on where the rideshare picks you up or drops you off.
The idea behind the proposal is to encourage the use of the long-awaited, much-delayed and over-budget Automated People Mover once it opens and decrease congestion in the central terminal area, the area of the airport that’s also known as the horseshoe.
David Reich, a deputy executive director for the city agency that manages the airport, told LAist that if the proposal is approved, LAX doesn’t plan on increasing the fee until after the Automated People Mover opens, which could be later this year.
When the Automated People Mover opens, there will be new curb space for drop-off and pick-up. Known as the “ground transport center,” this new curb space will be a 4-minute trip from the terminal area via the Automated People Mover, according to Reich.
LAX-it will shut down as a rideshare and taxi lot once the train opens, Reich said.
If the proposal is approved, getting an Uber or Lyft to and from the ground transport center will come with a $6 airport fee.
Even once the Automated People Mover opens, you will still be able to get rides directly to and from the curbs along the horseshoe, but they will come with a $12 fee.
The proposed increases would also apply to taxi and limousine services, which currently operate under a slightly different fee structure than rideshare companies.
The increased fees are expected to generate as much as $100 million in the first year the Automated People Mover is usable, according to a report to the board.
In a report to the board, Reich said the Automated People Mover represents a "significant investment” that aims to “fundamentally reshape how vehicles move through the airport.”
The idea behind having a higher fee for direct access to the curbs along the horseshoe is to encourage “use of new, high-capacity infrastructure” and preserve central terminal access for trips “that most require it.”
The Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners agenda for tomorrow’s 10 a.m. meeting can be found here. The proposal detailed in this article is item number 21. A related item, number 22, will also be heard tomorrow. While you can watch the meeting remotely via the link in the agenda, only in-person public comments will be heard.
The meeting will be held at the following address:
Samuel Greenberg Board Room 107/116
Clifton A. Moore Administration Building
Los Angeles International Airport
1 World Way, Los Angeles, California 90045
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Uber is trying to mobilize the public to fight the proposed fee increases.
“Raising the LAX rideshare fee from $5 to $12 at the curb would punish travelers, working families, and seniors who depend on affordable, reliable transportation,” Danielle Lam, the head of local California policy for Uber, said in a statement.
On Monday, Uber sent an email to passengers who recently used the rideshare service, urging them to write to city officials to “stop this massive fee hike.”
Lyft has not responded to a request for comment.
Ten state lawmakers who are members of the L.A. County delegation sent a letter on Monday to the board expressing their “strong opposition” to the proposed increases.
“Many Angelenos rely on a mix of options, including rideshare services and friends or family dropping off loved ones,” the legislators wrote in the letter. “Managing congestion cannot realistically rely on steep fee increases for certain transportation options.”
Eight of the 10 legislators who signed the letter have received campaign contributions from Uber or Lyft, according to an LAist analysis of state campaign contribution data.
Now is probably a good time to remind folks that there are other ways to get to the airport that don’t involve rideshares, taxis or even lifts from families and friends.
The FlyAway bus offers regularly scheduled rides from the airport to Union Station in downtown L.A. and Van Nuys. You can see the schedules here.
Last year, the countywide transportation agency unveiled the LAX/Metro Transit center, which is accessible from the C and K rail lines and several bus routes. For now, an LAX shuttle is bringing travelers from the station to the airport. It will be one of the stops on the Automated People Mover once it opens.
Topline:
The Newport Beach City Council is considering demolishing part of its quirky, beloved sculpture garden in Civic Center Park to make way for a new police station.
Why it matters: The sculpture garden is a “museum without walls” treasured by art and nature lovers alike. It houses the quirky and once-controversial “Bunnyhenge,” included on the popular Atlas Obscura travel guide. Opponents of putting a new police headquarters on park grounds say it would compromise the environment, and decimate the sculpture garden.
Why now: The city has been trying to figure out how to replace its aging police headquarters for years. It bought a property in 2022 with that intent. But an ad hoc City Council committee decided, controversially, it might be better to instead build a new station on the parkland next to city hall.
Read on... to learn more on the project and how weigh in.
The Newport Beach City Council is considering demolishing part of its quirky, beloved sculpture garden in Civic Center Park to make way for a new police station.
The city has been trying to figure out how to replace its aging police headquarters for years. It bought a property in 2022 with that intent. But an ad hoc City Council committee decided, controversially, it might be better to instead build a new station on the parkland next to city hall.
The sculpture garden is a “museum without walls” treasured by art and nature lovers alike. It houses the quirky and once-controversial “Bunnyhenge,” included on the popular Atlas Obscura travel guide. Opponents of putting a new police headquarters on park grounds say it would compromise the environment, and decimate the sculpture garden.
Supporters say the current police station, built in 1973, is long overdue for an upgrade, and that the police force needs more space for things like servers to store digital evidence. The council ad hoc committee that studied the issue says the Civic Center parkland makes the most sense for a new building because the city already owns the land, and it would consolidate the city’s main services in one place.
Far from it. The City Council is holding a study session Tuesday to present the plan publicly and gather input. If the council decides to go forward, the next step would be to hire a consultant to design the building and get started on an environmental impact report.
Here’s how to learn more and weigh in:
When: 4 p.m., Tuesday, March 10
Where: 100 Civic Center Dr., Newport Beach
Remote options: You can watch the meeting (during or afterward) on the city’s website, or live on Spectrum (Channel 3) or Cox Communications (Channel 852).
Topline:
A new exhibit in L.A. — Vehicles of Expression: The Craft of the Skateboard — highlights the cultural impact, history and artistry of handmade skateboards.
When does it open? The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles.
About the collection: Emily Zaiden, the director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center based in Los Angeles, told LAist’s AirTalk the exhibit was tricky to curate. “What we wanted to do was focus on both the history and then expand into how this has been an object that people have interpreted in so many different ways since the very beginning,” Zaiden said.
Read on … for more on the exhibit.
A new exhibit in L.A. — Vehicles of Expression: The Craft of the Skateboard — arrives this weekend, highlighting the cultural impact, history and artistry of handmade skateboards.
It’s the latest exhibit at Craft in America Center, a museum and library that highlights handcrafted artwork.
Todd Huber, skateboard historian and founder of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said before 1962, it wasn’t possible to buy a skateboard in a store.
“Skateboarding started as a craft,” Huber said on AirTalk, LAst 89.3’s daily news program. “Somewhere in the 50s until 1962, if you wanted to sidewalk surf, as they called it, you had to make your own out of roller skates.”
Emily Zaiden, the director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center based in Los Angeles, told LAist’s AirTalk the exhibit was tricky to curate.
“What we wanted to do was focus on both the history and then expand into how this has been an object that people have interpreted in so many different ways since the very beginning,” Zaiden said.
Artists who craft skateboards not only think of design, but also of the features that give riders the ability to do tricks, such as wheelies and kickflips.
“The ways that people have constructed boards, engineered boards, design boards … people are really renegade, which I think is really the spirit of skateboarding overall,” Zaiden said. “This very independent, out-of-the-box approach and making boards that allow them to do all kinds of wacky tricks and do all kinds of things that no one imagined possible physically with their body, but through the object of the board.”
The exhibit at Craft in America Center opens to the public on Saturday. Admission is free. The museum is open from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
