The Brief

Long Beach officials unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that would allow staff to enforce the library’s code of conduct.

Those who don’t follow the rules can be suspended from the property. If a banned person returns, they could face a misdemeanor charge, with a penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Cathy De Leon, director of Long Beach Public Library, says the new ordinance allows staff to suspend library privileges of disruptive patrons, as well as set up an appeals process for those who want to have their privileges reinstated. And for those that don’t comply after being banned, they could face the misdemeanor charge.

What opponents say

Opponents of the ordinance who spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting said it criminalizes the city’s unhoused population since some of the rules listed regulate body odors and personal hygiene.

The rules, said De Leon, are not meant to keep out the city’s unhoused population, but address “egregious” behavior that has happened in the past, such as patrons drinking alcohol inside the library and threatening the physical safety of staff.

The new changes come after the city’s Billie Jean King Main Library had to be shut down for almost a month in 2022 following incidents that threatened the safety of patrons as well as staff.

Social worker support at the library

To address the mental health crisis on library grounds, the library is collaborating with the city’s Department of Mental Health and is in the process of hiring a social worker.

After the pandemic, security staffing at the library was inconsistent. Because of that, De Leon said that library staff found themselves in a position of having to deal with “challenging behavioral issues.”

“There are a lot of people who walk into our doors that have experienced a significant amount of trauma that are sort of wrestling with mental health issues and sometimes that manifests (into) behaviors that are really challenging,” De Leon said.

Due to the success of a pilot program that tapped social work interns to help support library staff in the event of a patron experiencing a mental health crisis, the city included in its FY24 budget a full-time position. That person will support library staff de-escalate a mental health crisis should it arise.

The White House has released a series of documents that President Donald Trump said in a primetime address reveals "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure."

Yet Trump, who for years has baselessly claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him, did not detail allegations of widespread illegal votes in that election. Numerous reviews have debunked his claims about that election.

Instead, he focused on allegations that China had accessed voter data and that noncitizens are found on certain states' voter rolls, among his claims.

Yet Trump has often spoken of issues with elections that fall apart under scrutiny. His administration's system for identifying noncitizens on voter rolls has incorrectly flagged citizens, for example.

The remarks came as his war in Iran approaches the five-month mark, some Republican lawmakers want him to focus on the economy, and as his approval rating remains near second-term lows.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The state is often knocked by the rest of the country as being "slow" to count votes. But here's the deal: that's a feature, not a bug, of the election system.

The backstory

Things take a while here largely because California works so hard to expand the ways people can vote. For example:

• Californians in recent years overwhelmingly vote by mail — nearly 90% of votes cast in the 2024 presidential election were mail-in ballots. In that same year's primary the percentage was just as high. Those ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days (for the June primary, that was June 9).
• California offers same-day voter registration at any voting center. These new voters must cast a provisional ballot, which is counted once election officials confirm their eligibility (they are overwhelmingly accepted — for example, Los Angeles County reports that historically between 85% to 90% have been counted.
• Voters also have the right to cast provisional ballots if there's any problem on election day — like if poll workers aren't able to void an outstanding mail-in ballot, or if there’s any issue calling up voter information from e-pollbooks. Again (see above), provisionals take longer to process because eligibility has to be confirmed.
• Vote-by-mail ballots require signature matching. When the one received doesn't match the one on file, county registrars must contact that voter to let them know — and give them the chance to correct it.
• And, with more than 23 million registered voters, we're really, really big. In the 2024 general election more than 16 million Californians voted (down from nearly 18 million in the 2020 presidential election). Either way, that’s more people than the total populations of all but three other states.

Why things have sped up, some

But things have sped up considerably in the 30 counties that have adopted a 2016 law called the Voter's Choice Act, including L.A., Orange and Riverside counties. In recent elections, the changes associated with that law — like voters not being locked into a designated polling location — drastically cut down the number of provisional ballots cast, which helped move things along faster than they had before.

A closer look at ballot counting times in California where an increasing number of vote-by-mail ballots has slowed ballot counts.

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Courtesy California Voter Foundation

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Still, accuracy and a commitment to "expanding the franchise" — translation: allowing more people to vote — means the process is not designed to produce instantaneous results.

L.A. County Office of Education’s letter to Los Angeles Unified School District earlier this month, warning it was at risk of running out of money, has escalated tensions between county overseers and the state’s biggest school district.

LACOE has told the district it must revise its $21 billion budget by mid-August — or risk the appointment of an external advisor with the power to override the LAUSD board and superintendent’s decisions.

The district has already announced the elimination of hundreds of jobs, primarily in its administrative offices, and approved another plan to cut an estimated $3.6 billion over the next three years through furloughs, layoffs and school consolidations.

But LACOE says it wants a more specific plan with more details, and has assigned a fiscal expert to help.

What does it all mean — for teachers, staff and most importantly, the almost 400,000 students in LAUSD schools? We break it down.

What’s in the letter?

The letter outlines a list of why the County has determined the district will become insolvent.

These include:

• Running out of money: The district's own projection has shown that its operating cash will be $231 million in the red by November 2027. “A district that cannot maintain a positive cash balance is unable to meet payroll and other obligations as they come due,” wrote Debra Duardo, the L.A. County superintendent. 

• New labor agreements with teachers, principals, school support staff and other employees: Recently approved contracts, which the unions say are essential to helping employees weather the region’s increasingly high cost of living, will cost an additional $1 billion in the next school year. These increases outpace the state’s  cost of living increases. 
  
• Declining enrollment and attendance: About 40% fewer students attend LAUSD schools than two decades ago, in part because of lower birthrates and families leaving because of the region’s high cost of living. Over time, this can reduce revenue because state funding is calculated based on how many students show up for class each day. 
  
• Leadership stability: The LAUSD Board appointed Andrés Chait, a longtime district administrator, as superintendent in June, just days after his predecessor resigned amid an ongoing federal investigation. ”This transition occurs at the moment the district must execute substantial corrective actions,” Duardo wrote.

It also includes next steps. We’ll discuss those below.

Why did LACOE send the letter July 2?

The letter is part of a process outlined in California law meant to prevent districts from going bankrupt.

Specifically, LACOE is required to intervene anytime it determines the district may be unable to meet its financial obligations in the current or subsequent two years (California requires districts to budget in three-year blocks.)

Has this happened to LAUSD before?

The requirement to issue this letter is fairly new and tied to a 2021 change in state law.

However, LACOE has intervened in LAUSD’s finances in the past. The agency assigned a fiscal expert team to the district from January 2019 to December 2021 after determining the district was at risk of not meeting its financial obligations.

The team helped analyze staffing, enrollment and make adjustments to the budget, according to a statement provided by Elizabeth Graswich, executive director of LACOE’s public affairs and communications department.

How did LAUSD get to this point?

The shortest explanation is that LAUSD is spending more money than it brings in.

The last three budgets relied on billions of dollars in reserves to offset the deficit.

Some of those reserves were built up when the district was receiving federal pandemic relief money and that funding ended in 2024.

LAUSD, like other districts in the state, also faces increased costs on everything from employee salaries and benefits to providing services for students with disabilities and settlements for decades-old sexual assault claims.

The district’s unions, parents, and several board members have also called for increased scrutiny on how much money the district spends on third-party contracts, including with tech companies.

Is LAUSD making cuts? How will they affect students?

LAUSD has already eliminated hundreds of jobs, primarily in its administrative offices, earlier this year.

This summer the board approved another plan to cut an estimated $3.6 billion over the next three years.

That plan includes furlough days for all employees, the elimination of thousands more jobs and cuts to the trust that funds retiree health benefits.

Among the cuts is the elimination of $900 million that helps high-needs schools pay for counselors, tutors and other student supports.

Most of these cuts aren’t scheduled to go into effect until the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years.

The county said in its letter that the district plan needs to be more specific and include how each proposed change will be implemented, when the change will happen and how the outcomes will be measured.

Has there been any push back to the letter’s findings?

The district did not appeal the letter’s findings to the state, according to a district spokesperson.

However, when LAist asked if the district disputed any of the findings, a spokesperson wrote that the district is quote “continuing conversations” with the County, and that a revision to the budget may not be required.

“We will remain in conversation with LACOE to ensure our financial plan remains responsible, transparent, and aligned with our long-term commitments,” the spokesperson wrote.

The teachers union has said the letter unfairly targets the union’s new contracts.

“To me it feels as though the message is, ‘We warned you not to approve these contracts, and yet you did, and now we're going to overstep,’” said Gloria Martinez, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Martinez said the overall problem is that California doesn’t adequately fund public education.

We’re about a month away from the start of the next school year. What happens next?

The county has appointed a fiscal expert to help the district revise its budget by mid-August. Otherwise, the county says this advisor could be given the power to override decisions by the board and superintendent.

What happens if the district runs out of money?

Districts that become insolvent can lose the power to govern themselves in an arrangement called receivership. Instead of the elected school board and appointed superintendent making decisions about everything from curriculum to the budget, that power is transferred to an external administrator.

Receivership is a condition of accepting an emergency loan from the state. Only 10 school districts, out of nearly 1,000 statewide, have entered receivership since 1990, including Inglewood Unified.

The impact on students varies from district to district. The process was designed to protect students from sudden school shutdowns, but it comes at a cost. Districts must pay back the emergency loan and community-members lose the ability to elect or recall decision-makers during the receivership.

Contact your school board member

The LAUSD's Board's next meeting is a closed session scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug.11.

If you drive too quickly along West Adams Boulevard, west of 9th Avenue, you’ll likely miss the former home of the Mary Clay School, a two-story building that for decades provided innovative daycare and schooling to middle class Black children, starting in 1959.

L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted on Thursday to ask the L.A. City Council to give the building historical cultural monument status.

“[I] think it’s important to recognize this building… for the stories it tells… what it tells us about the history of Los Angeles,” said commission President Barry Milofsky, just before members unanimously voted to approve the request.

The Mary Clay School opened in L.A.'s West Adams neighborhood in 1959.

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Courtesy LA Office of Historic Resources/Clay family archives

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If approved by the City Council, the designation would protect the 102-year-old building from alterations, new construction, or demolition that would alter or erase elements that are of historic importance and irreplaceable.

The proposal for monument status comes as organizations work to preserve the under-recognized heritage of African Americans in L.A. after decades of demographic shifts in the city that have shrunk the city’s Black population.

Supporting Black families

Mrs. Mary Clay relaxing in her private residence which was upstairs above the Mary Clay School operations, 1961-62.

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Courtesy LA Office of Historic Resources/Clay family archives

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The building is an important site of Black education in L.A., where school founder Mary Elizabeth Smith Clay lived and worked. Clay was a trailblazing educator, civic-minded volunteer, and a nationally recognized expert on children’s education.

According to reports prepared by the cultural heritage commission staff, the school operated from 1959 to 1998 and used innovative methods to help kids with issues such as speech disabilities, while becoming also an important part of the social life of young people in middle-class Black families.

The school's origins

African Americans had moved to Los Angeles in the 40s to fill job openings created by the war effort, including Black women, who entered the workforce in large numbers. Publicly funded and integrated daycare was made widely available to help mothers from all income levels,

The Music Room of Mary Clay School. Children get situated on their cots at the beginning of nap time,1961-1962.

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Courtesy LA Office of Historic Resources/Clay family archives

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In the years after the war, public funding for daycare shifted to low-income families. Quality daycare for middle class Black families became difficult to access due to racism and high costs.

Clay opened a private school in her home to address that gap, and then moved into a bigger house to meet the growing demand. The school employed three teachers and introduced innovations like a psychologist, scientific methods to address speech issues, and foreign languages in kindergarten to third grade.

Mary Clay School annual photograph in 1989. Pre-school students are together with school owner/teacher Elenore “Sue” Clay (left) and teacher Miss Riggs (right).

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Courtesy LA Office of Historic Resources/Clay family archives

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It was also used for fundraisers hosted by Clay for Black-focused and child-oriented causes such as the L.A. chapter of the Links Incorporated, the Anchorettes, Jack and Jill of America, the Pitt-Los Club, and the 12 Big Sisters.

In 1965 Clay was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to direct the Title Five Project, a program that gave training to people interested in working in childcare. She died in Los Angeles in 1971.

The building's history

Mary Clay was not the building’s original owner. The building was built in 1924 for F. Irwin Herron, whose family rode the waves of wealth created by L.A.’s oil and real estate booms in the early 1900s. Herron helped found what became the Los Angeles Stock Exchange.

He hired Edwin C. Thorne to design the home. Thorne would go on to design public buildings later in the 1920s in Colton and La Puente, as well as private homes.

The owner of the property is listed in commission documents as Andre Gaines, associated with West Adams LLC. The document says the owner does not support the historical monument status. Rafael Fontes, planning associate in L.A.’s Office of Historic Resources said the owner had not permitted staff to see the interior of the building.

A contemporary photo of the former site of the Mary Clay School.

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Courtesy LA Office of Historic Resources

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The designation was begun earlier this year by L.A. Councilmember Heather Hutt, who represents the 10th council district.