Topline: L.A. and Orange counties have something for everyone this Independence Day, whether it’s live music, food trucks or a dazzling display of fireworks. Get out and enjoy the activities for America’s 250th anniversary.
Read on… to learn more about how to spend your 4th of July this year.
Every year, SoCal counties go out with a bang for their 4th of July festivities.
This year, though, some July 4 events are canceled in Boyle Heights due to air quality concerns in the wake of the massive warehouse fire. And if you’re thinking about engaging in illegal fireworks, just don’t. Too dangerous. And drones may be watching.
Here’s a list of places in Los Angeles and Orange counties where you can watch fireworks for this upcoming holiday:
Kahani Malholtra first compiled this list in 2025, and we have updated it again this year. If we missed a spot, please let us know and we might add it to this list. Reach out at smarvin@scpr.org.
Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School District said it’s reviewing Google’s announcement this week that it will not allow schools from using its search engine unless they opt in to using artificial intelligence.
The backstory: Earlier this school year, LAUSD implemented a moratorium on students using generative AI on district-issued devices. Currently, students in LAUSD can still use Google to search for information, but the AI mode — in which students can chat with the company’s chatbot, Gemini — is turned off.
What’s new: A Google executive said, "search and AI are deeply integrated” and that search would not be available to schools that bar AI.
What’s next: “We are reviewing Google’s announcement and its potential implications for schools, educators, and students,” said a spokesperson for LAUSD. The district’s Ad Hoc Committee on Generative AI will have its next meeting on Nov. 13.
The Los Angeles Unified School District said it’s reviewing how to proceed after Google’s announcement last week that it will not allow schools to use its search engine unless they opt in to using artificial intelligence.
Google said that in the coming months, access to products like Gemini and Google Search would be turned off by default until schools turn them on, saying it believes “schools should have control over AI in their classroom.” But Google Search, by default, includes an AI chatbot and uses AI to summarize search results — meaning that schools that restrict AI would not have access to Google Search.
Earlier this school year, LAUSD implemented a moratorium on students using generative AI on district-issued devices.
“We are reviewing Google’s announcement and its potential implications for schools, educators and students,” said a spokesperson for LAUSD. “Los Angeles Unified believes emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, have the potential to enhance teaching and learning when introduced thoughtfully, responsibly and with clear safeguards.”
“Search and A.I. are deeply integrated,” Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, said to The New York Times. He told the outlet that if a school bans AI, students “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”
LAUSD's Generative AI Ad Hoc Committee will meet on Friday, Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The agenda is posted here.
The board meets in person in downtown Los Angeles at 333 S. Beaudry Ave, and also streams its meetings online, and offers American Sign Language and Spanish interpretation.
Community members can also request interpretation in other languages by contacting the Board Secretariat at secretariat@lausd.net or (213) 241-7002.
For more on how to be involved with LAUSD and its meetings (including where to park for board meetings!), read our handy guide.
Currently, students in LAUSD can still use Google to search for information, a district spokesperson said, but the AI mode — in which students can converse with the company’s chatbot, Gemini — is turned off. Some searches may still show an AI-generated summary or overview. The district has asked Google for a modification to allow the summaries to be turned off.
If a school does opt in to artificial intelligence, Google said it will offer a “guided learning” tool in its chatbot for student accounts “to help them work through problems without skipping straight to answers.”
The announcement has prompted outcry from advocates. "Google forced its AI products into classrooms, and parents fought back," said Lila Byock, founder of Schools Beyond Screens, the group that pushed for LAUSD’s AI moratorium, as well as the district’s screen time limit. "Now Google is refusing to take no for an answer. … Schools Beyond Screens calls on district leaders to reclaim their authority from corporate interests and divest from Google."
The district’s ad hoc committee on generative AI is scheduled to have its next meeting on Nov. 13.
Topline:
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky moved Monday to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, setting the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove one of the Trump administration’s most prominent figures following sweeping election losses.
Why now: The Pentagon chief is bearing the brunt of anger and calls for his ouster after the Iran war and its economic impact contributed to severe Republican losses in the midterm elections that cost the party control of Congress. The impeachment resolution was introduced by Massie, a Kentucky Republican, as soon as the House opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. It largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela. Massie said the secretary’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and his leadership at the Pentagon “thus warrants impeachment.”
What's next: A vote in the House could come by mid-week, putting pressure on Republicans — many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the Iran war — but next steps are highly uncertain. Most House Democrats are expected to support impeaching Hegseth, with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying over the weekend it’s time for the Defense secretary to go.
Rep. Thomas Massie moved Monday to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, setting the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove one of the Trump administration’s most prominent figures following sweeping election losses.
The impeachment resolution was introduced by Massie, a Kentucky Republican, as soon as the House opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. It largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela.
Massie said the secretary’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and his leadership at the Pentagon “thus warrants impeachment.”
A vote in the House could come by mid-week, putting pressure on Republicans — many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the Iran war — but next steps are highly uncertain.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent this outcome, and warned lawmakers against impeaching the Defense secretary while the U.S. is engaged in military actions in the Middle East.
“Impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that,” Johnson, a Republican, said as he opened the chamber.
“We don’t impeach Cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is and I think everybody knows it.”
Most House Democrats are expected to support impeaching Hegseth, with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying over the weekend it’s time for the Defense secretary to go.
If the House votes to impeach Hegseth, it would next go to the Senate for a potential trial. Republicans remain in the majority in both chambers, until the new Congress convenes in January with Democrats in control.
Hegseth maintains he’s eager to litigate the military actions that he and President Donald Trump have taken against Iran, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela’s previous leaders.
“If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolás Maduro, you’re taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic,” Hegseth told reporters Monday, using the military code names for the Iran war and campaign of strikes to halt the Houthis’ attacks on shipping in the Middle East.
Hegseth also announced that he would hold a rare news conference on Tuesday — his first in over 180 days — on the impeachment threat. His last briefing was in May, and he has not held one on the Iran war, strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats or other U.S. military actions since then.
The Pentagon chief is bearing the brunt of anger and calls for his ouster after the Iran war and its economic impact contributed to severe Republican losses in the midterm elections that cost the party control of Congress.
Hegseth, after giving a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, brushed aside the impeachment push.
“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success,” he told reporters. He added that “if we want to litigate” the military actions that the Trump administration has taken, “I’m happy to do it all day long.”
“My team, we’re not worried about the noise — it’s what I told the troops, too — ‘don’t worry about the noise,’” he said.
Asked about Vice President JD Vance blaming the Iran war for the massive GOP losses in the election, Hegseth noted that Trump said he would do it again, and “I agree.”
He largely repeated a line that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said to reporters a day earlier: “It doesn’t have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary.”
Hegseth argued that the war was necessary because “someone had to confront the Iranian regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon” and said “the choice was don’t act and wish it away or take a bold move.”
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Trump defended Hegseth to reporters on Sunday night.
“He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars,” Trump said. “I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel combined. And it’s awfully hard to say let’s impeach somebody who did that.”
Hegseth reiterated that “Iran is devastated,” even though the Islamic Republic has been able to keep striking military bases in the Middle East that are used by the United States, causing billions of dollars in damage, as well as commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to shipping in the waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war, have led to higher energy prices that hit voters’ pocketbooks.
He said the next steps on the war are up to Trump, including telling Iran: “Hey, we’re done, and we’re going to watch your nuclear material. You better not move it.”
Hegseth’s defense of the war comes after about 6 in 10 voters said the U.S. made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters in the United States.
With anger in Congress rising, Hegseth has been on a social media blitz, posting a video last week acknowledging the threat of impeachment. He said it would be “all about the politics of personal destruction” and insisted that “won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”
Since then, scores of political appointees within the Pentagon have posted images of Hegseth emblazoned with the words, “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.” The White House also posted a video to social media that featured praise from Trump.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
Topline:
It is the final hoorah for the 119th Congress. Republicans have just weeks left in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main thing on the agenda: keeping the federal government open. Funding is set to run out on December 11, when a stop-gap measure passed about a month ahead of the midterms expires.
Why to expect: Any funding extension is all but certain to be done through another short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution. The typical government funding process — 12 carefully negotiated appropriations bills — would take time and political will that lawmakers currently lack. Congress will also need to find a path forward on the National Defense Authorization Act, long considered a must-pass annual military funding package. This year, the bill is quagmired in the unforgiving politics of the Iran war. The conflict is opposed by a majority of Americans — something President Trump has acknowledged was a key force in driving his party out of power.
It is the final hoorah for the 119th Congress. Republicans have just weeks left in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main thing on the agenda: keeping the federal government open. Funding is set to run out on December 11, when a stop-gap measure passed about a month ahead of the midterms expires.
Any funding extension is all but certain to be done through another short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution. The typical government funding process — 12 carefully negotiated appropriations bills — would take time and political will that lawmakers currently lack.
Congress will also need to find a path forward on the National Defense Authorization Act, long considered a must-pass annual military funding package. This year, the bill is quagmired in the unforgiving politics of the Iran war. The conflict is opposed by a majority of Americans — something President Trump has acknowledged was a key force in driving his party out of power.
The House is also likely to vote on an impeachment effort targeting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Introduced by Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a key figure in forcing the administration's release of the Epstein files, the impeachment measure lists a number of charges, including that the administration failed to properly consult Congress on the military campaign.
Democrats are unlikely to be in a compromising mood on legislation, just weeks away from taking control of both chambers. That means continued work on big-ticket items like the Protect College Sports Act, meant to introduce new regulations around college athlete compensation, and a bipartisan energy permitting overhaul will likely wait until the new term.
With slim majorities in both chambers, they could also have to contend with some attendance problems after a demoralizing performance in last week's midterm elections. That further complicates passing legislation through chambers already governed by the thinnest of majorities.
Mike Ricci, a Republican strategist with the group Seven Letter and aide to former Speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan, told NPR that a number of forces could help draw reluctant lame duck legislators back to Washington, including winding down their offices, finding new work and attending the White House Christmas party.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Xavier Becerra's recent election as California governor highlights the state's unique blend of Catholicism and progressive politics.
Why it matters: As he campaigned for California governor, Xavier Becerra reflected on the way his Catholic upbringing informs his politics. “The sanctity of life is something that’s really ingrained in you,” the Democrat and former U.S. health and human services secretary said earlier this year. He then explained his rationale, confounding to some, for supporting abortion rights. Becerra exemplifies how Catholicism’s deep roots often go hand in hand with California’s progressive reputation. That complexity is a snapshot of a larger reality — that American Catholics are in many ways a politically mixed bag.
The backstory: Catholic voters — especially Latinos — helped elect Becerra, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of roughly 100,000 midterm voters. He became the state’s first elected Latino governor.
Read on... for more on California Catholics.
As he campaigned for California governor, Xavier Becerra reflected on the way his Catholic upbringing informs his politics. “The sanctity of life is something that’s really ingrained in you,” the Democrat and former U.S. health and human services secretary said earlier this year.
He then explained his rationale, confounding to some, for supporting abortion rights. Becerra exemplifies how Catholicism’s deep roots often go hand in hand with California’s progressive reputation. That complexity is a snapshot of a larger reality — that American Catholics are in many ways a politically mixed bag.
“There is no Catholic vote,” said David Gibson, the director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture. White evangelicals for Republicans or Black Protestants for Democrats are more politically reliable religious groups, he said.
With Becerra’s win this week, California has elected five consecutive Catholic governors — a remarkable streak indicative of Catholicism’s enduring influence. “Catholicism is part of the fabric of California culture the way Puritan Protestantism is part of the New England regions,” Gibson said.
Catholic voters — especially Latinos — helped elect Becerra, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of roughly 100,000 midterm voters. He became the state’s first elected Latino governor.
Beginning with Gray Davis, who took office in 1999, four of those five governors also have been Democrats. Some have been more vocal about their faith than others — notably Jerry Brown, who was a seminarian in the 1950s.
California is home to more Catholics than any other U.S. state. A Pew Research Center poll in 2024 found that 25% of adults in California identify as Catholic, accounting for almost half of the state’s Christians.
But numbers aside, Catholicism has been woven into the fabric of the state for centuries.
From economically progressive strains of Catholic social teaching and explicit rejections of the death penalty to official teachings against abortion and in vitro fertilization, Catholic theology rarely fits neatly into political categories, which helps explain the unpredictable voting habits.
Take Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose strong support of abortion rights is at odds with Catholic leadership. Yet his announcement this week that he planned to change more than 500 death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole was celebrated by the California Catholic Conference, the public policy organization representing the church in California.
“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,” Newsom said in a public letter.
Some leaders within the church have subverted Trump administration policies, like San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who last year formally excused parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on parish properties in the diocese.
Others have taken high-profile conservative stances, like San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who in 2022 barred U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, from receiving Communion over her support of abortion rights.
About 2 in 10 voters in the California governor’s race were Catholic, and they mostly voted for Becerra, according to The AP Voter Poll. About 6 in 10 Catholic voters supported Becerra, while about 4 in 10 voted for his Republican opponent Steve Hilton.
About 7 in 10 Latino Catholics voted for Becerra, while white Catholics were split between Becerra and Hilton.
Those complex political patterns are also reflected nationally. Catholics were split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
That’s a modest shift from 2024, when just over half of U.S. Catholics voted for Trump, according to AP VoteCast.
Catholics in California are also ethnically diverse. Many are immigrants from Latin America and the Philippines. Resident Tracy Creighton’s ancestry goes back to the missions founded more than two centuries ago by Spanish Franciscan priests.
As the mother of teenagers, Creighton has sought to pass on the importance of serving others and respecting nature — values she believes are both deeply Catholic and Californian.
“I feel in the last several years we have lost our way in terms of being of service to others,” she said, citing Saint Francis of Assisi as a model. “That is why I stay Catholic.”
Catholic faith, history and culture contribute to many Californians’ understanding of themselves, such as their relationship to the 21 missions founded between 1769 and 1823.
“Obviously, the legacy of the missions is a mixed one and has problematic implications,” said Cecilia González-Andrieu, a theology professor at Loyola Marymount University. “For Latina theologians like myself, there’s a need for us to be able to hold that in tension, the fact that within our very selves we have this mix of cultures and bloods.”
Leaders are increasingly reckoning with that tension and how it should be communicated to young people. The history of the missions is included in the statewide public fourth-grade curriculum, which is often accompanied by a field trip to one.
A law signed by Newsom went into effect last year that requires schools to teach in social studies class about how missionaries mistreated Native Americans, and to share Native perspectives.
But mistreatment isn’t the only fraught legacy of the missionaries who arrived in the late 18th century.
“The mission system spread disease and was ill-equipped to deal with the immunological effects of old-world people and their immunities,” said William Deverell, a historian at the University of Southern California. “It’s your major consequential institutional moment which brings with it a horrible demographic decline of the Indigenous population.”
Despite their complicated legacy, the missions are landmarks. Many still operate as Catholic parishes.
The missions also helped influence the Spanish Colonial Revival style of homes that became signatures of California architecture. “Why I love California so much is the architecture and the beauty of it. And I think Catholicism plays a lot into that,” Creighton said.
Creighton says it’s difficult to overstate the significance of Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, near San Diego, where she lives.
“Everyone does their homecoming pictures, their Christmas pictures. It’s just ingrained in us,” she said, adding that even non-Catholics will often take photos there. “It’s a landmark that’s important in who we are here.”
Beyond architecture, Catholic influence is all over many California homes.
Between the crucifixes and votive candles on display, Brian Murillo’s Fresno home is a testament to his Catholic upbringing. The state employee describes himself as a lapsed Catholic who stopped going to Mass because he felt the American church’s leadership was too aligned with Republican politics.
But Murillo, whose father is from Mexico, still says a Hail Mary or an Our Father prayer whenever he leaves the house.
“Sometimes I’ll be cleaning the house and I’ll be doing a prayer or in the car by myself,” he said. “It’s been such a part of my growing up, even to this day.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
