Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published February 9, 2026 2:51 PM
A fan unboxes his 50/50 Ohtani bobblehead on May 15, 2025, at Dodger Stadium.
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Gina Ferazzi
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
The Dodgers announced their promotional giveaway schedule for 2026 on Monday, and it includes some special bobblehead games commemorating the team's 2025 World Series repeat that are sure to be popular.
Memorable playoff moments: There are two bobblehead series in particular that look like they could reach collectors item status. The first is a set of four bobbleheads depicting pivotal moments from the Dodgers' World Series Game 7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, including Miguel Rojas' game-tying 9th inning home run (Friday, May 8), Will Smith's go-ahead home run in the 11th (Saturday, March 28), Mookie Betts' game-ending double play (Friday, June 19) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto's reaction to the final out from the mound (Wednesday, May 27).
The Ohtani factor: The second is a pair of bobbleheads honoring Shohei Ohtani's "Greatest Game of All Time" on the mound and at the plate in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers when he struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs. The bobblehead giveaway honoring his hitting performance will be Friday, April 10, and the pitching one will be Wednesday, July 8.
Go deeper: You can see the full schedule of promotional giveaways planned for the 2026 season here.
Mariana Dale
reports on the financial challenges facing educators — and public school districts.
Published February 9, 2026 4:02 PM
Los Angeles Unified is the second-largest employer in L.A. County with more than 83,000 employees in the 2025-26 school year.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School District rescheduled a Tuesday meeting where the board was expected to vote on layoffs as part of a larger plan to cut spending. Educators and parents have urged district leaders to delay the vote.
Why delay? It’s not clear. LAist asked LAUSD for an explanation and when the public will receive more information about the proposed reduction in force (RIF). In a statement, a district spokesperson said board agendas are subject to change and that the proposed reduction in force would be presented at a future meeting. Tuesday’s meeting is currently re-scheduled for Feb. 17.
The backstory: For the last two years, the district has relied on reserves to backfill a multi-billion-dollar deficit. There are more than 40% fewer students compared to the early 2000s and the district has not closed schools or significantly reduced staff as costs have increased. LAUSD hired more staff to support students during the pandemic, but the federal relief dollars that initially funded those positions are gone.
What are the cuts? The district’s fiscal stabilization plan proposes layoffs in those “un-funded” positions, central office staff and at schools that support higher needs students.
Unions push back: In a Friday letter, the unions representing LAUSD teachers, support staff and principals asked the board to delay the RIF vote until there is more information available about state funding and the public has more time to understand the proposed cuts. “The notion that these are dark times for education requiring harmful cuts when there are record high state revenues is fearmongering,” the letter states.
Frank Stoltze
is a veteran reporter who covers local politics and examines how democracy is and, at times, is not working.
Published February 9, 2026 3:46 PM
A proposal from Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell is meant to make up for some federal funding cuts, most of which were to the county's healthcare system.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Topline:
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a proposal to place a plan on the ballot that, if passed, would raise the sales tax by half a cent to address federal funding cuts. The increase would bump the county’s sales tax to 10.25% — the highest allowed by state law.
The backstory: L.A. County faces projected losses of $2.4 billion over the next three years as a result of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” most of it to the county’s healthcare system. In just four months following the bill’s signing, the county lost an average of 1,000 people per day from Medi-Cal enrollment — over 120,000 people between July and November 2025, according to Supervisor Holly Mitchell.
Children hit hard: During the same four-month period, more than 27,000 children under age 18 lost their Medi-Cal coverage, equating to nearly 200 children per day, according to Mitchell. The county also lost more than 70,000 CalFresh enrollees receiving food assistance, including approximately 27,000 who were children under age 18.
Temporary tax: Under Mitchell’s proposal, which must be approved by voters, the sales tax would raise $1 billion a year and expire in five years. Mitchell is proposing to place the measure on the June ballot.
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Why it matters: Bald eagles generally have one clutch — the group of eggs laid in each nesting attempt — per season. But a replacement clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.
The backstory: In January, nest watchers were saddened to see that the eggs were breached by ravens.
What's next: But because the eggs were lost so early in the season, Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media manager, told LAist they’re hopeful there’s still time for another clutch.
Bald eagles generally have one clutch — the group of eggs laid in each nesting attempt — per season. But a replacement clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.
In January, nest watchers were saddened to see the eggs were breached by ravens. But because the eggs were lost so early in the season, Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media manager, told LAist they’re hopeful there’s still time for another clutch.
Jackie is typically fertile and able to lay eggs January through April each year, according to the organization. Several years ago, Jackie laid a second clutch after the eggs were broken or breached by ravens.
Voisard said that while there’s no guarantees in nature, people are hopeful this isn’t the end of Big Bear’s nesting season.
“Chicks are always welcome and we love them so much, but we love Jackie and Shadow,” she said. “We're going to remain optimistic.”
By Jan. 30, viewers noticed that Jackie and Shadow had left their nest unattended for hours at a time.
Friends of Big Bear Valley wondered if the eagles were practicing delayed incubation, and whether a third egg was on the way for the third season in a row, according to Voisard. The Big Bear bald eagles have practiced delayed incubation in previous seasons, which is when they don’t incubate full time until the last egg is laid, usually three days apart.
Jackie with the first and second egg of the season in January.
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Friends of Big Bear Valley
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YouTube
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But that wasn’t the case this time.
“When the raven was able to get so close, we had suspicions,” Voisard said. “Earlier in the day, we were examining and rewinding and looking at one of the eggs because it wasn't looking right to us.”
The organization zoomed in with the livestream camera and confirmed an egg was cracked. A raven came back to the nest again later that day and breached both eggs.
“The fact that the egg was broken could have signaled to the raven to come,” Voisard said.
More bald eagles have been seen in the Big Bear area, and the animals’ territorial activity could have also contributed to Jackie and Shadow’s time away from their nest, according to the organization.
“My heart hurts for Jackie and Shadow,” a Facebook user wrote in a comment. “Do Eagles have feelings? Are they sad? Are they grieving? Are the[y] angry at the ravens?”
Voisard stressed that the ravens didn’t do anything wrong, nor did Jackie and Shadow. It’s just part of nature, she said.
Another Facebook comment asked why Friends of Big Bear Valley didn’t move the livestream camera around to try and scare the raven off.
While the organization understands the instinct to want to help the eagles, Voisard said humans are not allowed to intervene during nesting season.
What about past seasons?
A second clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process.
In 2021, Jackie laid the first egg on Jan. 6. It was destroyed by a raven the next day, according to organization records. Jackie laid the second egg Jan. 9 that year, and the third on Jan. 13. Both were broken or eaten by ravens.
But about a month later, Jackie had a second clutch of eggs.
She laid the first egg on Feb. 8, 2021 and the second three days later. One chick didn’t survive the hatching process, while the other egg wasn’t viable after more than 50 days of incubation.
In 2023, Jackie laid two eggs in mid-January that were both breached by ravens on March 7, according to organization records.
Voisard said Friends of Big Bear Valley volunteers were curious as to whether the eagle couple would lay another clutch that year. They came to believe later that it was too late in the season.
Looking ahead
The eagles have withdrawn from incubation and have been spending more time away from the nest, according to the nonprofit.
Voisard said the withdrawal was a “really good thing” that may open the door to more eggs.
For Jackie’s hormones to reset, the bald eagle duo need to go back to bonding and working on their nest, which Friends of Big Bear Valley refers to as the birds' “nestorations.” It typically includes deliveries of sticks and fluff to furnish their long-time nest, which is toward the top of a Jeffrey pine tree overlooking Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear's resident bald eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow, in their nest overlooking Big Bear Lake on Saturday.
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Friends of Big Bear Valley
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YouTube
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The duo did some of that work Sunday, which the organization said is a hopeful sign bonding and nesting behaviors may be returning. Shadow, or the “Stickman,” as some fans call him, has brought at least three new sticks to the nest since the eggs were lost, according to organization records.
Jackie and Shadow have also been heard mating in the area, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.
When will it happen? The first of six East LA Community Forums will be held on Feb. 21 at Salazar Park in East LA. Residents can attend in person or virtually to weigh in on whether a Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) or similar advisory body could benefit the unincorporated community.
The backstory: Because East L.A. is not an incorporated city, it falls under direct oversight of LA County. That means decisions about services and developments are handled by county officials — in this case by Supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents the area and more than two million constituents. If established, a MAC would be led by citizens and directly advise the county Board of Supervisors on issues unique to East LA.
Read on... for more details on how residents can weigh in.
This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Feb. 9, 2026.
The first of six East L.A. Community Forums will be held on Feb. 21 at Salazar Park in East L.A. Residents can attend in person or virtually to weigh in on whether a Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) or similar advisory body could benefit the unincorporated community.
How East L.A. is governed and what could change
Because East L.A. is not an incorporated city, it falls under direct oversight of L.A. County. That means decisions about services and developments are handled by county officials – in this case by Supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents the area and more than 2 million constituents.
If established, a MAC would be led by citizens and directly advise the county Board of Supervisors on issues unique to East LA.
MACs don’t have the power to make laws, authorize budgets or direct county operations but can, however, provide a structure for public input and give stakeholders a direct line of communication to county leadership. Some residents argue that the current governance structure does not adequately serve the community of nearly 120,000 and that an alternative form of representation could help address local needs.
Although the 2025 report detailed the fiscal challenges for incorporation, several East L.A. residents and stakeholders agreed that the push for the study was less about cityhood and more about financial transparency for East L.A.
Who is leading the outreach?
The forums are being led by the Los Angeles Economic Equity Accelerator and Fellowship (LEEAF) program through California State University, Los Angeles, at the direction of the county CEO’s office. According to a spokesperson, the outreach is expected to conclude in the spring with a report submitted to the Board of Supervisors by the end of July 2026.
The forums are free and will focus on small, group conversations to allow all attendees to speak and share insight. Meetings will run for approximately 90 minutes and have a place for children ages 5-12 to play.
How to attend
Interested in making your voice heard at one of the forums? See a complete list of the meetings below. While RSVPs are suggested, they are not required.
Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. at Salazar Park, 3864 Whittier Boulevard. Register here
Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. at East LA Library, 4837 East 3rd Street. Register here
Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. at City Terrace Park, 1126 North Hazard Avenue. Register here
March 4 at 5:30 p.m. at East LA Service Center, 133 North Sunol Drive. Register here
March 5 at 5:30 (Virtual meeting on Zoom) Register here
March 7 at 2 p.m. at Saybrook Park, 6250 Northside Drive. Register here
