The Brief

Republicans have elected Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to be speaker of the House, ending a three-week vacancy that brought legislative work to a halt and plunged the conference into disarray.

Johnson was the first of four Republican nominees who could secure enough support from within his party to win a majority of votes on the House floor.

Johnson will take office with just over three weeks before government funding expires on Nov. 17, and a week after President Biden requested a $106 billion aid package for Israel, Ukraine, border security funding and other foreign policy goals. He will face the same challenge that ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did ahead of an earlier funding deadline: how to govern a fractious conference that includes conservative hardliners and members in swing seats with a razor-thin majority. The Supreme Court ultimately said Texas had no legal standing to sue.

Who is Mike Johnson?

Johnson is currently the vice chair of the House Republican Conference. It is a lower-tier elected leadership position. Johnson is also known within the conference as the former chair of the Republican Study Committee, a large group of fiscal conservatives.

He also served on the team that defended Former President Donald Trump in his first impeachment inquiry. Johnson voted against certifying the 2020 election results, and was one of the members of Congress who filed an amicus brief in 2020 in support of a lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the election results in four key swing states that helped Joe Biden win. The lawsuit cited widespread fraud, which did not occur.

How did we get here?

Johnson was nominated by House Republicans late Tuesday after another chaotic day on Capitol Hill. Earlier Tuesday, Republicans had selected Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., to be their nominee, but Emmer withdrew from the race hours later after failing to win 217 votes within the conference. Emmer struggled to win the support of conservative hardliners, who favored Rep. Jim Jordan, the conference's previous pick. His bid was essentially doomed after former President Trump called him a "RINO" on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing that Emmer was "totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters," and supporting him would be a "tragic mistake." Trump ally Steve Bannon also attacked Emmer on his podcast Tuesday, calling him "essentially a Democrat."

The mood around Johnson's nomination was far lighter than previous ones. Republicans held a brief, celebratory press conference in the room where lawmakers had huddled for their closed-door, secret ballot nominations. Members chanted "Mike" as reporters tried to ask questions.

Johnson was able to thread a needle that previous speaker candidates could not: The initial nominee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., could not win support of conservative hardliners that preferred Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Then Jordan, the party's second nominee, could not win over a bloc of members opposed to his candidacy – a mix of veteran appropriators concerned about his record on government spending bills, members from districts Biden won in 2020, and allies of Scalise and McCarthy upset over how they were treated.

Johnson, a Christian conservative, had the bonafides to win over the hardliners, without the baggage that tanked Jordan's candidacy. Jordan is one of the most fervently far-right members of the House Republican conference, and was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. He gained a national profile as one of former President Trump's biggest defenders during his two impeachments. He has voted against government spending deals, bipartisan farm bills, and emergency aid packages, and was part of a group of Republicans pushing to defund Obamacare back in 2013 in a fight that led to a government shutdown.

Johnson shares Jordan's conservative views and allegiance to former President Trump, but has a less combative persona and more allies across the ideological spectrum.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who voted to oust McCarthy and opposed Jordan's candidacy, predicted ahead of the vote that Johnson would be able to succeed because he "has the least enemies in this conference."

"In addition to being abundantly qualified, he just is one of those nice people that builds coalitions and doesn't make people unnecessarily mad," Buck said.

An immediate test for the new speaker

Johnson will immediately face an intense test of his leadership. The federal government will run out of money on Nov. 17 — just over three weeks from now. Kevin McCarthy's decision to work with Democrats to pass a short-term spending bill and avert a shutdown is what triggered the push to oust him from the speakership in the first place.

Congress is also set to consider supplemental funding for national security concerns, including border security funding and assistance for Ukraine and Israel. In the past, Johnson has opposed money for Ukraine.

In a letter to his colleagues announcing his candidacy for speaker, Johnson cited the attacks on Israel and emboldened adversaries as two major challenges facing the congress, but did not provide specifics on what he would or would not bring to the floor. He also cited border security and the national debt as urgent issues to be addressed.

Inglewood officials are working on a full rewrite of the city map for the first time in nearly 40 years, laying out how they want the city to grow and change for the next two decades.

Along part of Manchester Boulevard, city planners are setting up an option for developers to rebuild rows of small storefronts with a mix of homes and commercial space. On La Brea Avenue, south of Centinela Avenue, they envision the possibility of dense housing and business blocks as high as six stories.

Jerome Johnson, an Inglewood local, said he’s lived through three decades of change in the city. He recalled watching a “raggedy market” at the corner of La Brea and Centinela make way for the two-story shopping center that’s there today. He said the potential developments around the intersection could be a catch-22.

“There’s a shortage of housing,” Johnson said. “But you don’t want it to turn into New York City.”

It’s all part of the ongoing process for Inglewood’s new general plan, the foundational guide that governs things like what kind of buildings can be built where in the city and how they need to look. A draft land-use plan will go before the Inglewood City Council on Tuesday, then go into the environmental impact review process.

“This is really a historic milestone for the city,” Bernard McCrumby, Inglewood development services director, told The LA Local. 

McCrumby said planners are aiming to open up room for new housing and to revitalize some of the city’s flagging business corridors, without changing the city’s existing residential blocks or sacrificing the grocery stores, barbershops and local restaurants that make neighborhoods tick.

“The stadiums and arenas are here, they’re not going anywhere,” McCrumby said. “Now we can plan around those.”

The last time the city did a full update of its general plan was 1987, when horses were still racing at Hollywood Park and the “Showtime” Lakers were winning championships at the Forum. Edward Vincent Jr., the city’s first Black mayor, had only been in office for four years. 

The city has made intermittent updates to its planning guidelines since then — notably remapping a band of Inglewood along the Metro K line before it opened — but city documents indicate planners spent the past couple years working on a comprehensive rewrite. 

The new update to the general plan could set the city’s direction until 2050.

Planners hope to change some of the city’s commercial corridors into mixed-use zones that allow for housing and businesses alongside each other or even stacked on top of each other.

Those zones could go in place along Century Boulevard and Arbor Vitae Street as well as Manchester, Centinela and La Brea.

The rest of the update, McCrumby said, is aimed at lining the city’s zoning regulations up with state law and the city’s current reality on the ground.

City staff held several community meetings over the last year as they put together the draft and still aren’t done gathering feedback. 

The next year will see at least one more community meeting and a 45-day public review period, according to city documents. McCrumby said that, with the anchor of the land-use map in place, planners will continue to work on the rest of the general plan, targeting final City Council approval of the plan and accompanying environmental impact report next spring.

You can get all the details on the general plan at nextlevelinglewood.com and attend the City Council meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday to give a public comment.

We also want to know what you think of the proposed changes. Email isaiah@thelalocal.org with your questions or thoughts.

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.