The Brief

It's officially summer in Southern California, and the warm evenings ahead are perfect for taking in the night sky. Today is also the start of the seasonal, free Star Parties at Griffith Observatory that run from June through September.

If you go, you might meet local amateur astronomer, Spencer Soohoo. By day, he’s a research scientist at Cedar Sinai but in his off time, he’s an active member of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society.

We asked Soohoo for some advice on how to get into amateur astronomy in Southern California — if you’re already into stargazing — how to up your game.

Getting started

To kick us off, we asked Soohoo to recommend a few places where the stars may be easier to spot:

• Joshua Tree: He says the national park "is starting to get a little more light pollution now than before but it's still fairly decent."
• I-5 near Frasier Park: "There's a couple of turnouts you can go to."
• Saddleback Butte State Park: Soohoo has this caveat: "There's a lot of light now from the Lancaster-Palmdale area. But the last time I went, you could still see the Milky Way without too much trouble."
• For really dark skies: You have to drive a distance, probably about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours away.

Not up for that drive? Soohoo says "to be honest with you, if you're OK with looking at the planets and some of the brighter nebula, you can even do that from downtown L.A."

What can you see in SoCal this time of year?

Soohoo says right now the only night object "really prominent" is Venus.

"If you are up around maybe midnight or 1 a.m., you can see Saturn and Jupiter will rise a couple hours after that," he says.

How to spot planets

We asked Soohoo what he'd recommend folks use if they want to know where the constellations and planets are specifically in the sky.

Soohoo says his favorite smartphone app is Sky Safari ("I think it's about $9 to $10") but there are other free apps to check out.

"They're tied into the GPS in your phone and they'll show you what the sky looks like at that particular time," he says. "Some of them have what they call augmented reality. So they'll actually use the camera on the phone and superimpose the background of what you're seeing along with the sky chart."

Will the northern lights be back in Southern California?

Recently and unexpectedly, people were able to catch a glimpse of the northern lights exceptionally far south. So we asked Soohoo if that's going to be possible over the summer months.

He doubts it.

"It's rare that you'd be able to see them this far south," he says. "But I know that the last time you could see the northern lights from Mount Wilson — that one night that they were visible — the marine layer had moved in and blocked out all the light pollution from downtown L.A. and so you could see the northern lights there."

What to expect at Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory hosts monthly star parties during the summer that are free to the public. Volunteers from telescope groups and the L.A. Astronomical Society are there and Soohoo says participants can expect 25 to 40 telescopes to be set up on the grounds.

"We basically set up our telescopes on the lawn and point them at whatever target we want to and invite people to look through them," he explains. "And I personally focus on the moon because you'd be amazed at how many people have never seen the moon through a telescope in their lives. I can't tell you how many languages I've heard people say, 'Wow, it's just incredible.'"

Soohoo said he got his "greatest thrill" from helping an 82-year-old woman who had never looked through a telescope in her life.

"I showed her the moon and just to watch the expression on her face as it lit up — that's why we do it," Soohoo said.

How to attend

The Griffith Observatory lists the following dates for public star parties:

• Saturday, June 24: 2:00 pm - 9:45 p.m.
• Saturday, July 22: 2:00 pm - 9:45 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 26: 2:00 pm - 9:45 p.m.
• Saturday, Sep. 23: 2:00 pm - 9:45 p.m.

You can find more resources and events at the Los Angeles Astronomical Society website or on the Griffith Observatory website.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election.

The panel’s 2-1 ruling is the latest setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to assert control over state-run elections.

The administration has alleged California sent ballots to some 20,000 people who may not be U.S. citizens. It wants the state to set those ballots aside and not count them until citizenship can be verified. California officials say the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens.

A district court judge already forcefully denied that request and warned that the Justice Department’s demands could disenfranchise citizens.

“As the district court found — and we discern no clear error — there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system,” the appeals court wrote.

The ruling is the latest in an expansive legal battle between the federal government and the state before Election Day in the midterms Tuesday. Millions of people in California have already voted.

The majority opinion was authored by Judge Mark J. Bennett, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Elections officials have said that processed votes are completely anonymized and can’t be matched back to the voters who submitted them.

The ruling comes during broader federal scrutiny of local elections, with the Trump administration issuing a raft of subpoenas in Alaska in a spoiler-candidate controversy. The Justice Department has also provided a list of alleged noncitizen voters to officials in Washington state.

Outside groups sued for access to the disputed list

Earlier on Friday, a federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to share the disputed list of names with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. They want the list so they can examine who is on the list and assess its impact on eligible voters.

It will be the first time that a nongovernment organization will have the opportunity to evaluate the merits of the list of some 20,000 names.

Prosecutors with the Trump administration have argued that there is just as much to lose from noncitizens illegally voting, arguing that to tally those votes would dilute the voice of citizens.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

The two groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early October to prevent it from using federal immigration data to challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other states where the federal government’s data has been proven to mistakenly include thousands of citizens. It argued that the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally entitled to vote.

Another suit seeks to defend election workers

A coalition of unions on Friday also joined the growing list of groups challenging the federal government’s efforts.

The unions, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, are asking a federal judge to temporarily block the Justice Department from demanding that local officials stop counting ballots and to drop threats to criminally prosecute officials who do not comply with their demands.

The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”

On Thursday the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to election officials in Los Angeles County. The subpoenas request any documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials to state election officials outlining the allegations about noncitizen voters. They also seek any information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. At least three L.A. County election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on Nov. 4, the day after the election.

The lawsuit accuses the Justice Department of issuing threats against election officials that could interfere with their ability to process votes.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically subpoena people whom it regards as targets of a criminal investigation to appear before a grand jury.

The Boulevard, Pasadena’s last gay bar that has stood witness to the worst years of the AIDS crisis and so much more, is closing after 45 years on Saturday with a farewell bash of drag and karaoke.

“We’ve had weddings. We’ve had funerals. We’ve had college graduations,” said Steven Terradot, owner of The Boulevard, who’s retiring and has put the bar up for sale.

“You always feel welcome,” said David Imai, who first came to the bar in 2012. “This place has a reputation of being the gay Cheers for a reason.”

Come November, what Pasadena loses isn't just a cozy watering hole, but a keeper of its LGBTQ+ past.

“We were more than just a place that sold drinks — or more than a party,” Terradot, 69, said. “I like to think that we had a conscience here, you know?”

Fridays are drag nights at the bar.

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The Boulevard in Pasadena.

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How The Boulevard survived the AIDS crisis

The Boulevard, Terradot said, opened in 1981, when original owners Randy Biggs and partner Carl got a liquor license after buying its predecessor, The Office, a gay beer-and-wine bar.

At the time, Pasadena had a cluster of queer night spots, Terradot said. Among them: The Vermie’s on Foothill Boulevard; Nardi’s, which became Copa; and The Whistle Stop, near The Office when it was on Colorado Boulevard.

Terradot first set foot inside the newly opened Boulevard in his mid-20s. “I looked both ways to see if anybody saw me come in, because there was a shame and a guilt in those days about who you were,” he said.

The place was packed, filled with people seeking belonging, sex, friendship — even as the AIDS epidemic was becoming full blown. He became a regular, eventually moonlighting as a bartender.

The Boulevard bartender Jamal Glasglow (left) and owner Steven Terradot (right).

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The Boulevard on Foothill Boulevard.

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The Boulevard felt the devastation of HIV.

“I saw it as a young man here,” Terradot said.

The daytime crowd of mostly older gay men, Terradot said, “started dropping like flies and it was scary, it was sad, and you couldn't do anything.”

Funerals were commonplace at The Boulevard and bar regulars started a fund for those in need.

“All we could do was try to get money for medicine or food or rent because people would get fired, they'd lose their health insurance,” he said.

Why he bought a struggling bar in 1999 

In 1999, Terradot bought The Boulevard, three years after the introduction of the so-called “AIDS cocktail,” which turned HIV into a manageable chronic condition.

At the time, business was slow. The internet was making it easy for LGBTQ+ folks to find each other. And his regulars were going to West Hollywood and Silver Lake to meet new people.

“The first Friday night I owned this bar, we did $200 on the register,” Terradot said.

But he saw it as a calling of sorts.

“I lost 11 friends during the AIDS epidemic,” he said. “I wanted to do something.”

A new generation finds community 

Honey B. Hive hosts Tuesday trans nights at The Boulevard.

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To give the bar a jolt, Terradot started its now-signature karaoke nights. He then made drag a weekly night.

In recent years, The Boulevard has become a place for trans folks to build community, adding trans nights on Tuesdays.

“For a long time I would come to The Boulevard in drag, and I would just pick up a lot of the queens' tips, and that was my way of paying my dues,” said Honey B. Hive, a drag performer.

Before long, she was anchoring Tuesday trans nights.

“A lot of the San Gabriel Valley comes for Tuesdays,” she said. “People have been coming ever since it started. It feels very familial.”

One last rush, and hope for a buyer 

On its final Sunday, after the leather social and before karaoke, Terradot was pitching in behind the bar.

David Imai is a Boulevard regular.

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Business has more than tripled, he said, as old-timers and newcomers flood in after hearing about the closure.

“It does feel like we are losing a resource and a local hangout for those of us living in the San Gabriel Valley,” Imai, the longtime regular, said.

A buyer could still reopen The Boulevard. Terradot said he’s holding out until mid-November for an offer before packing it all up and walking into the sunset.

He hopes someone out there sees the importance of a neighborhood gay bar.

“You still have kids that are lost that come in here, OK? You need to stick a hand out to them,” Terradot said. “So that is the role of the gay bar.”

Isabella La Rocca has been waiting for her financial aid refund for more than a month.

Santa Rosa Junior College’s financial aid office told the 21-year-old she could expect her disbursement via the BankMobile app by Sept. 16 — a date that came and went, she said.

“When I logged into the account after updating and doing the new verification, there was nothing there waiting for me,” La Rocca said.

La Rocca is among the thousands of California college students who have been affected by a breach of the BankMobile app used by roughly 60 community college districts to issue school and federal financial aid and scholarships. Some universities also use the mobile banking system.

According to BankMobile communications with California community college officials, approximately 65,000 student accounts were impacted by data changes, roughly 1,000 accounts were accessed and about 400 accounts had financial aid funds stolen.

The financial aid disruption has set off a wave of desperation among community college students from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles who rely on the funds for school supplies and basic needs. Some students are rationing gas, forgoing textbook purchases or skipping meals as they wait for their disbursements, which may never come for the 400 accounts from which funds were taken.

BankMobile breach

Once school costs are taken care of, college students in California typically receive refund checks from their financial aid, scholarships or student loans during the first few weeks of a semester, depending on the type of assistance.

That’s around the time “unauthorized individuals” gained access to a “significant number of BankMobile student accounts,” according to a letter from Los Rios Community College obtained by EdSource.

BankMobile first changed its account verification process in July, leading to a vulnerability exploited to hijack and modify account information for student accounts, state community college officials said.

Some college districts, such as Los Rios, issued paper checks and directed students to file a claim with BankMobile.

In October, after being alerted of the security breach, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office advised its college districts, including the Riverside and Foothill De Anza districts, to halt electronic payments through BankMobile.

Butte College officials said they didn’t know if compromised accounts belonged to students, but issued paper checks for its Oct. 8 disbursements, Action News reported.

Long Beach Community College distributed paper checks in person and by mail as well, The Viking News student newspaper reported.

Riverside Community College District switched to paper checks on Oct. 8 to make financial aid payments to about 3,400 students who normally receive payments via direct deposit, said John Geraghty, the district’s controller.

The district has since reverted to its standard process of direct deposit. Geraghty said the district was comfortable returning to direct deposit after BankMobile officials “disclosed information to us about security protocols that they’ve enhanced.”

Riverside students received their latest disbursement Wednesday, but students at other campuses are still waiting for their financial aid.

Los Rios, however, announced Monday it will transition from BankMobile to Nelnet for student disbursements and refunds. The district said it may continue issuing paper checks until “Nelnet is fully operational, and the process is working effectively and securely.”

In the meantime, Los Rios Community College directed its students to the college’s Basic Needs Center for support with food, housing, transportation or other essentials if there’s a continued delay.

Widespread impact across different campuses: food, gas, or books?

La Rocca at Santa Rosa Junior College said her financial aid pays for her tuition, transportation costs and school materials, while her part-time job covers her car payment, insurance and rent.

The delay has impacted her ability to pay bills, and is especially difficult given rising gas prices.

“I do rely on that money for transportation and books that I need,” La Rocca said. “I’ve had to come out of pocket for everything so far this semester.”

Julia Ramirez, an American Sign Language major at Los Angeles Pierce College, is on campus nine hours from Monday to Thursday. Without her financial aid, she said she’s weighed whether to buy basic necessities throughout the day, such as water and food.

“Now, I’m thinking about, ‘Is it worth buying this meal versus a textbook?’ ” Ramirez, 27, said. “I have to figure out what I’m spending my money on.”

Since the beginning of the semester, Ramirez has avoided buying her textbooks, which start at $64.

If and when students get their funds

Some students say they’ve been left in the dark about when, and if, they will receive their financial aid.

At Los Angeles Pierce College, some students say they have not received communication from the college’s financial aid office about the delays beyond an undated announcement that disbursements had been temporarily paused “due to unforeseen technical difficulties.”

Ramirez said she reached out to the financial aid office three times regarding the issue and was instructed to check back in two weeks. When she inquired two weeks later, she was told to check back in another week.

“They just have you going in circles, and I guess they don’t have answers either,” Ramirez said.

Although La Rocca’s refund is more than a month late, she has also not heard from her campus financial office at Santa Rosa Junior College. She said she intends to ask for a physical check, but it’s difficult with her work and class schedule. She attends classes four times a week at the Petaluma campus, 30 minutes away from the main campus where the financial aid office is located.

She said that the first thing she’ll do when she gets her check is fill up her gas tank.

And when her aid finally arrives, Ramirez said she is going to use it to buy textbooks and food.

“It’s a little sad that I have to pick between food or a textbook,” Ramirez said. “I feel like going to school is already stressful enough for students, and having to worry about eating on top of that is really stressful.”

EdSource reporter Michael Burke contributed to this report.

Sathya Chaib, a journalism student at California State University, Fullerton, and Emily Garcia, a journalism student at California State University, Northridge, are members of the EdSource California Student Journalism Corps.

California voters considering Proposition 45 will decide the fate of a sweeping infrastructure measure that opponents warn could render the state’s brand-new data center laws virtually toothless.

That would make it far easier for developers to force unwanted facilities into local communities, potentially undermining a growing wave of bans, moratoriums, and anti-data-center resolutions at the city and county level.

Data center backers insist the ballot measure will do nothing for them — even as some data center beneficiaries are spending big backing Prop. 45.

Supporters have framed Prop. 45 as a tool to accelerate critical infrastructure projects, like housing and schools, and the measure does not directly name data centers among the sorts of projects it considers critical. But some legal scholars and environmental advocates say that the proposition’s technical language creates a loophole. By expediting environmental reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act for broad categories of projects — including broadband internet facilities and any additional infrastructure required to get them up and running — the measure could quietly allow data centers to bypass recent state safeguards and local scrutiny.

Julia Stein, a legal scholar and deputy director at UCLA School of Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, warns that the measure acts as a “blunt force instrument when it comes to streamlining” because of how wide its secondary umbrella extends.

“What Prop. 45 does is designate an entire class of projects that would be subject to streamlining, and then it also says that projects ancillary to those projects — so something that you might need to do in the course of the development of the project that’s exempted itself — would fall within that same streamlining bubble,” Stein said.

Telecommunications projects are explicitly streamlined under the proposition, “and there’s an argument that the development of data centers might be necessary for projects like that,” Stein added.

Other projects, like high-speed rail, are explicitly excluded from streamlining under the proposition — but data centers are not on that list, either. Stein and three other environmental law scholars told CalMatters that this opens the door for legal challenges.

“The fact that they excluded some projects but have not expressly excluded data centers, a court would probably actually interpret that not as an unintentional oversight, but rather as intent to include data centers in the initiative,” said Matt McKerley, an attorney with Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger.

Further, opponents argue that the proposition’s language, which includes a clause that it would supersede other related laws, would override measures like the recently-passed Senate Bill 887, which made it harder to fast-track environmental review for data centers.

Industry representatives say these objections to Prop. 45 are misplaced. The Data Center Coalition, an industry group supporting Prop. 45, insists their facilities fall outside the initiative’s scope, which focuses largely on housing development.