The Brief

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday called for a ban on rodeos that includes exceptions for certain historical and cultural events.

The move comes after city commissioners called for an all out ban, citing a history of animal injuries.

“These events can be harmful to the health and well-being of the animals that are used in the rodeo competitions and shows, at times resulting in injuries such as sprains and broken limbs,” according to a report by the city’s Board of Animal Service Commissioners.

The commissioners specifically called for a ban on activities such as “bull riding, bronc riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping.”

The council motion, put forward by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, states that rodeos use "inhumane implements" like electric prods, flank straps, and spurs "to encourage aggressive behavior in animals to produce an entertainment product."

But Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the council should also protect the rich cultural traditions of communities of color, including Mexican Charrería, American Indian, Native American, Black rodeo, Indigenous rodeo and Escaramuzas (women only Mexican rodeo).

Samuel Brown-Vazquez of the Avocado Heights Vaquer@s and the San Gabriel Valley chapter of Unión de Ranchos, said the outright ban discriminates against a practice that is “native to this area, that was invented in this region, it predates the state of California, it predates the country of Mexico.”

In present day events, trained professionals showcase livestock herding skills to audiences.

“Charreada (rodeo or equestrian events) was born out of a specific relationship to the land and a specific relationship to agriculture, and it was subsistence agriculture,” he said.

Unlike traditional rodeo, Charrería, Mexico’s national sport, is a team sport. It can be traced to when the Spanish arrived in America. In the 17th century, he said, they allowed the Native First Peoples to be able to ride horses and work as ranch hands “because there was so much cattle and they were unable to enclose the animals.” Because of the hacienda system at the time, the landlord would require the ranch hands to perform a series of different competitions “to prove that the horse was adeptly qualified and skilled in the way that they had wanted.”

“It was a big deal for the hacienda to win but it was also the rare opportunity that the ranch hand, that the laborer, the campesino could actually outperform the boss,” Brown-Vazquez said.

Deep roots in Southern California

The long standing tradition, he said, still has deep roots in places like Sylmar, the San Fernando Valley, Compton, Paramount, El Monte and South El Monte.

“A lot of the charros and escaramuzas, vaqueros and vaqueras from their region of California will actually go down into Mexico and they'll compete at the national final competition, basically the World Series,” he said.

Fifteen years ago, he added, there were twice as many horses in the San Gabriel Valley.

“There's not enough places for people to learn how to ride a horse, for people to learn how to compete in charreada. There's no public lienzo that we can use, a lienzo being the venue where you would practice charreada,” he said. “Ten, 15 years ago, there used to be four lienzos.”

Vaqueros and escaramuzas outside Los Angeles City Hall on Dec. 5, 2023.

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Courtesy Samuel Brown-Vasquez

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Avocado Heights, Brown-Vasquez said, has a reputation as having the best charros in Southern California. He said children in the neighborhood at the junction of the 605 and 60 freeways don’t want to play baseball. Instead, they want to be the best charro to compete in Mexico.

“If you eliminate the horses and you eliminate the spaces for the youth to be able to practice, then you're really eliminating the connection to our culture and the horses in a particular way really establishes a bilateral relationship with Mexico,” he said, especially for people that grew up here.

“People trying to pass the rodeo ban have actually made an error in essentially lumping us into the same category as the people that basically run the slaughterhouses,” he said.

By singling out the rodeos, and not banning sports like polo or hunter jumper, the ordinance will result, he said, in the “criminalization of a particular working class immigrant Latino population and Black population that is also involved in the rodeo because of the Bill Pickett Rodeo that comes around every year.”

Blumenfield said during Tuesday’s meeting that polo is not included in the ban because “those horses are not being tortured as part of the show."

"The reason for the entertainment is the pain that's being caused by these animals," he added.

Mandy Andrews, campaigns manager at Last Chance for Animals, a nonprofit that held a rally before the council meeting, said rodeos are events that "glorify animal abuse, adding that the organization is not looking at the ban as “an issue of culture,” but rather as “animal abuse and protecting animals.”

The Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment committee will now deliberate on the ordinance once it receives a draft from the city attorney’s office. Following the committee’s recommendations, the ordinance will be brought in front of the full council for vote.

Students within the Los Angeles Unified School District showed improvements on state reading, math and science standardized tests for a third consecutive year, district authorities announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Andrés Chait revealed the preliminary results at the annual opening-of-schools address at East L.A.’s Garfield High School— his first as the district’s leader since the board appointed him to the job in June.

“ These are not just numbers on a page,” Chait said to an audience that included about 1,000 principals, administrators and district supporters. “They are the result of your passion, your persistence, your belief in what students can achieve. These are collective accomplishments.

"They reflect the dedication, skill, and commitment of our entire community,” he said.

Jai Gant-Leau, principal of Eagle Tree Continuation High School, said the “back-to-basics” focus of Chait’s speech was a welcome departure from the tone of recent opening addresses.

“We will continue to rise for the outcomes and expectations for the success of our students. That's the message I got,” Gant-Leau said. “Very different than the others where it was a lot of… bells and whistles.”

Why it matters

Student achievement, as measured by test scores, plummeted during the pandemic. Los Angeles Unified’s growth in 2025 outpaced the state, as test scores exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

This year the percentage of students in all grades who met or exceeded the standard are 39.7% for math, 48.3% for English and 32.1% for science. It’s unclear how this compares to students statewide because those results have yet to be released.

Challenges ahead

Chait also acknowledged the challenges posed by declining enrollment, community fears of immigration enforcement actions and proposed budget cuts.

 “The decisions will be hard, but we cannot lose sight of what defines us,” Chait said. “We are the system that lifts students to opportunity, turns potential into achievement, creates spaces of belonging, healing, growth.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

We hope you’ve gotten used to the hot weather, because it’s going to be here for a while.

The National Weather Service has issued yet another heat advisory for much of Southern California, less than a week after other high-temperature warnings were lifted.

This week’s advisory will be in place from 10 a.m. Wednesday through Monday. Forecasters expect temperatures to climb steadily over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.

The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and other inland areas in L.A., as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will likely see highs ranging from the mid-90s to about 105 degrees. Areas closer to the coast, including downtown Los Angeles and much of Orange County, will hit the 90s. Beaches will hover mostly in the upper 70s.

Humidity will also add to the discomfort. Even though it’s decreasing slightly, it makes cooling down harder, especially at night.

People who work outdoors or do not have air conditioning are especially at risk from the heat and humidity, along with people over 65, young children and other sensitive populations.

Fire risk

Forecasters are warning that conditions are ripe for fires, driven by a combination of wind and dry vegetation.

Southern California hasn’t seen much rain recently, despite the humidity, leaving plants with little moisture and turning them into the perfect fuel.

“Even though the air feels kind of moist, we're in the time of season where it doesn't matter. The fuels are dry and they're ready to go,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell.

Kittel said people should take extra care with anything that could create a spark, and residents in fire-prone areas should remain aware of their surroundings in case a fire starts.

The fire risk is likely to be concentrated in a few specific areas that will experience higher winds than others, including parts of the 5 Freeway corridor in northern L.A. County, especially around the Grapevine, and in southern Santa Barbara County.

For most of the region, though, winds should stay fairly mild.

Dangerous beach conditions

Southern Californians also have to contend with some ocean-specific risks this week.

Forecasters expect dangerously large waves and strong rip currents to hit the coastline at a time when the heat may drive more people to the beach. The conditions are expected to persist through the weekend.

If you decide to head to the beach, it’s a good idea to ask a lifeguard for advice on the conditions before entering the water. It’s also recommended to swim only near occupied lifeguard stands, stay off of rock jetties and avoid turning your back to the waves.

South-facing stretches of coastline will bear the brunt of the swell, which is being driven by two tropical storms churning hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean.

“Those two systems generated the winds and the waves locally that are pushing towards us, and so that's creating elevated surf and some stronger currents than normal,” Kittel said.

The swell is not expected to cause significant coastal flooding as high tides remain relatively low.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Free transportation to the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area swim beach will be available this week as East LA families continue to seek relief from another heat wave and the aftermath of the Lineage warehouse fire.

Los Angeles County is offering complimentary transportation Wednesday through Saturday at select Eastside parks so residents can enjoy a day at the lake at no cost.

More than a month after the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire, many residents continue to report persistent odors from rotting food and cleanup efforts. Because of the ongoing air quality concerns and community complaints, Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation has canceled its local aquatic programming.

To ensure families still have access to summer recreational activities, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis directed resources toward providing the “beach bus” program to Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area Swim Beach in Irwindale.

Read below for more information on the free shuttle services, schedules and more. 

Pickup locations

Belvedere Aquatic Center

5035 1st St. East Los Angeles, CA 90022

Obregon Park Pool

4021 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90063

Salazar Park Pool 

3864 Whittier Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023

City Terrace Park Pool

1126 N. Hazard Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90063

Shuttle dates and times 

• Wednesday, July 22
• Thursday, July 23
• Friday, July 24
• Saturday, July 25

Morning trip: 

• Check in at 8:30 a.m. 
• The bus departs East LA at 9 a.m. 
• The bus leaves Santa Fe Dam to go back to East LA at 12 p.m.

Afternoon trip: 

• Check in at 12:30 p.m. 
• The bus departs East LA at 1 p.m. 
• The bus leaves Santa Fe Dam to go back to East LA at 4 p.m. 

What to know

No registration or proof of address is required, but children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Bring your own food and drinks. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.