The Brief

Anjelika Perry is an artist and community strategist who lives in New Orleans but grew up in Altadena.

It’s been eight months since the devastating Eaton Fire swept through Altadena, burning more than 9,000 structures, including her family’s homes. Recalling the phone call she received from her brother during the fire as he was trying to salvage their family home still brings tears to her eyes.

Courtesy of Anjelika Perry

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The remains of the Perry family home in Altadena after the Eaton Fire.

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“We had cousins that lived a couple of streets over, cousins that lived down the street. We lost all of our homes,” Perry said.

So when she learned that CBS was developing a sitcom with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and stand-up comedian Mike Epps about brothers in post-fire Altadena, she felt compelled to post on Instagram.

In partnership with the community organization Altadena Rising, Perry posted about the show with the caption, "SOLD… to the highest bidder." As of Sept. 11, the post had more than 5,000 likes and 3,000 shares.

“Why are we sharing a story that is not real about our community when there's so many real stories to share?” Perry told LAist. “And then also the trigger thing for me was, why a comedy when no one that we know of in the community is a part of this project?”

Perry also created a change.org petition demanding the cancellation of the project.

Some are open to the idea of an Altadena sitcom

Nahshon Dion currently lives in the Bronx and she’s also an artist who grew up in Altadena, identifying as a fourth generation Altadenan. Her extended family lost all their homes in the fire.

Nahshon Dion and Courtney Davis in Altadena's Loma Alta Park in 1992.

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Courtesy of Nahshon Dion

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Dion is currently curating an anthology titled Our Beloved Altadena featuring the writing of community residents.

When Dion heard the news about the show, she had a very different reaction to Perry, especially as someone who loved sitcoms as a kid and grew up to work in the entertainment industry.

“ I presume that the production company will likely employ a consultant or consultants from our beloved Altadena,” Dion told LAist. “I presume and surely hope so because that would be the right thing to do.”

Dion added that she hopes some of the proceeds from a show about the community would go back to the community, which is still grappling with the aftermath of the fire.

“Altadena needs a lot of laughter. We're all grieving," Dion said. "And at the same time, this is community healing and Altadena needs a tremendous amount of laughter. And if Kenya Barris and Mike Epps are the two individuals to bring it, let's see it.”

The history of Altadena’s Black community — and Barris’ response

Before the Eaton Fire, Altadena was home to a tight-knit multi-generational Black community, created through a history of segregation and redlining that excluded Black households from other areas of L.A. Many in the community were able to establish generational wealth.

According to a study from UCLA, Black households were disproportionately affected by the Eaton Fire.

Kenya Barris, the creator of Black-ish, is known to not shy away from sensitive issues that affect the Black community. He talked about his approach to hot button issues in a 2016 interview with LAist.

After news of the sitcom first broke in Deadline, Barris posted the article to his Instagram. He responded to criticism in his comments with, "I understand your fear but know that I only plan to do the best I can to make sure the world sees you."

He has since taken the post down. Both Barris and CBS have not responded to our request for comment.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave itself more time to consider a national ban on telemedicine access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Justice Samuel Alito extended an earlier order he issued by three more days, so rules for prescribing mifepristone online or through the mail remain in effect through Thursday at a minimum.

The case at issue

The tumult over the future of telemedicine access to mifipristone started on May 1 with a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling re-instituted prescribing rules from before the pandemic that required patients to receive mifepristone in person in a doctor's office or clinic.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that the rule was medically unnecessary in 2021. The state of Louisiana sued last fall, arguing that telemedicine access undermines the state's abortion ban.

What is telemedicine abortion?

The telemedicine abortion process starts with a patient connecting with a healthcare provider on the phone or online. If the patient is eligible, that provider can prescribe two medications — mifepristone and another pill called misoprostol. Patients can pick up the medicine at a local pharmacy, or providers can mail the drugs to a patient's home.

That access is a big part of the reason why the number of abortions nationally has actually increased since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. Now, most abortions in the U.S. use this combination of medications, and one quarter happen via telemedicine.

After the 5th Circuit ruling, some providers said they would continue offering telemedicine access to abortion medication using a different protocol that involves higher doses of misoprostol and no mifepristone.

Researchers say that method is just as safe and effective, but tends to cause more pain for patients and more side effects, like nausea and diarrhea. Misoprostol has other medical uses, such as treating gastric ulcers and hemorrhage, and has been on the market longer than mifepristone. It is likely to remain fully accessible, even if mifepristone is restricted.

Since the FDA's prescribing rules for medications apply to the whole country, a change to the rules about how mifepristone can be accessed has national impact. That means it affects states with constitutionally-protected access to abortion, states with criminal bans, like Louisiana, and all states in between.

States' rights

Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states submitted an amicus brief in this case, writing that the appeals court decision put the policy choices of states with bans above the choices of states "that have made the different but equally sovereign determinations to promote access to abortion care."

There are also stakes related to the power of FDA and other expert agencies to set rules. While the Trump administration's FDA did not respond to the Supreme Court's request for briefs, a group of former leaders of the agency, who served under mainly Democratic and some Republican presidents, wrote about this in an amicus brief.

They defended the FDA's process in approving the medication and modifying the rules for prescribing it, and say the appeals court decision "would upend FDA's gold-standard, science-based drug approval system."

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A fire has broken out on an oil and gas platform about 6.6 miles offshore from Santa Barbara.

The fire was reported just after 7 a.m. on Monday. Onboard crew members were unable to contain it. The 26 workers were evacuated, and two minor injuries were reported.

Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara City and Ventura County firefighters, as well as the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard, are involved in efforts to contain the blaze.

There's no word on what started the fire.

This is a developing story.