The Brief

The Southeast Gateway Metro Line, which would serve several majority-Latino cities where residents have long endured poor air quality due to nearby freeways and industry, could soon clear a key hurdle.

Metro’s planning and programming committee has recommended that the full board approve a final environmental impact report for the Southeast Gateway Line, which is set to stretch from the city of Artesia to the Slauson Avenue station of the A Line (the former Blue Line), then eventually north to downtown L.A.

The Metro board is set to vote next Thursday. A “yes” vote would clear the way for design and engineering work to begin on the project, according to the transportation agency.

The planned route for the Southeast Gateway Line.

(

Courtesy of Metro

)

The planned light rail line was initially green-lighted in early 2022. Until recently it was referred to as the West Santa Ana Branch, named for a one-time Pacific Electric rail corridor that stopped operating in the late 1950s, and whose right-of-way it would partly occupy.

In January it was renamed as the Southeast Gateway Line after the public was invited to suggest names. The new name refers to the so-called “Gateway Cities” of southeast L.A. County that the line will serve, among them Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy, and South Gate, Downey, Paramount, Bellflower, Cerritos and Artesia.

Most of these cities, with the exception of Artesia and Cerritos, are predominantly Latino. This is especially true in areas like Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy and South Gate, working-class communities that have long endured poor air quality due to nearby heavy industry, freeways, and truck traffic, and where many residents rely on public transit.

In a fact sheet, Metro described the 98-square-mile area to be served by the Southeast Gateway Line as a “high-travel demand corridor with 44% population below the poverty line and 18% of households that do not own a car; transit demand is significant.”

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who with other county supervisors sits on the board, praised the forward movement on the environmental impact report. In a statement, she said the light rail line would address transportation and mobility disparities in Southeast L.A. County.

“Once the Southeast Gateway Line comes to fruition, residents from the region, many of them essential workers, will finally have direct and quick access to Downtown Los Angeles,” Solis said.

But that still won’t be for a long time. According to Metro, the rail line is not expected to be completed until 2035. The initial stretch between Artesia and the A Line at Slauson Avenue is expected to cost between $7 billion and $9 billion, according to the agency, including funding from Measure M.

The Los Angeles Unified Board voted unanimously to appoint Andres Chait, a longtime district administrator, as superintendent days after his predecessor resigned.

 “This board's decision reflects the confidence in Mr. Chait's leadership, his decades of service to Los Angeles Unified, and his demonstrated ability to guide the district during this period of transition,” said board President Scott Schmerelson.

The board met privately to discuss the district’s top job three days after Alberto Carvalho resigned. Carvalho wrote in a letter that he was leaving “because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction.”

The board placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave following FBI searches of his home and district office in February and appointed Chait acting superintendent. Carvalho has not been charged with a crime and has maintained his innocence.

Who is Andres Chait?

Chait rose through the ranks from teacher to administrator at LAUSD over nearly three decades. The responsibilities of his most recent role, chief of school operations, included overseeing school safety, athletics and the district’s office of emergency management.

Chait thanked the board, the community and his family after the announcement Wednesday and reflected on his first day as a kindergarten teacher 30 years ago. “ I was probably more nervous than the kids were, but I knew then that this was a place where I could make a positive difference in the lives of students and families,” Chait said. “I've always known that there is no greater accelerator of change and opportunity than the schoolhouse, and that is still true today.”

What is the superintendent responsible for?

LAUSD is the country’s second-largest school district, employs 83,000 people and enrolls more than 400,000 students across more than 1,000 schools. Despite recent gains in student test scores, the majority of students are not proficient in reading and math skills for their grade level. The district also faces looming financial challenges from declining enrollment — which is tied to state funding — and federal investigations into programs designed to help underserved students succeed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A former state parks superintendent who oversaw Orange County beaches was charged Wednesday with secretly filming naked male lifeguards and other workers inside the locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The former superintendent, Kevin Pearsall, is also accused of sending some of the images to two other men.

What charges does he face?

Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months behind bars.

Scott C. Thomas, a defense attorney representing Pearsall, declined to comment in the wake of the charges being announced by the Orange County District Attorney's office. Pearsall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 6 and could enter a plea at that time.

Details of the investigation

In July 2025, a California State Parks officer discovered a USB stick with a hidden camera in the men's locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters. The officer contacted California Highway Patrol, which launched an investigation.

The investigation found Pearsall allegedly had recorded numerous secret videos in the locker room over an 11-month period beginning in August 2024, according to the DA's announcement. Pearsall retired from his job shortly after CHP served search warrants in the case. He turned himself in earlier this week.

State Parks reaction

Marty Greenstein, a spokesperson for California State Parks, told LAist the agency “takes these charges very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement through every step of the investigation.” Greenstein declined to comment further, citing the active criminal investigation.

Making your way through South Coast Plaza — the sleek consumer cathedral in Costa Mesa, a sort of mall of malls — past Uniqlo window displays and Pop Mart blind boxes, there's a good chance you'll eventually land at Tiny's, the new casual restaurant from Chef Sang Yoon.

The burger shack-meets-Asian convenience store is the latest from Yoon, best known for Father's Office, the Los Angeles institution where he's spent two decades running one of the city's most uncompromising kitchens — no substitutions, no exceptions.

Tiny’s marks Yoon’s first venture into Orange County — a deliberately accessible entry point for a chef who has spent decades at the top of L.A.'s gastropub scene.

The concept

Tiny's is the place Yoon wanted to exist as a kid.

Inside, you're greeted by shelves stocked in the style of a konbini, the beloved Japanese convenience corner store, with cilantro-flavored Doritos from China, elote-flavored Turtle Chips from Korea and, for the purists, the requisite Japanese Kit-Kats and Pocky too.

At the counter, a friendly employee greets you beneath a letterboard menu anchored by Yoon’s signature 30-day dry-aged beef burger. Starting at $9 for a plain burger, up to $12 for the Tokyo Dog dressed in bonito flakes and furikake, there's also salt and vinegar tots, french fries, miso mac 'n' cheese and soft serve that runs from Straus vanilla to Pineapple Dole Whip, available as a swirl, cup, cone or float. That's the menu, streamlined by design.

Chef Sang Yoon's cheeseburger and Tokyo Dog at Tiny's, his new fast-casual concept inside South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa

(

Grid Vongpiansuksa

/

Courtesy Tiny's Burger

)

For Yoon, the son of Korean immigrants who grew up between two worlds, the idea of opening a burger stand with a konbini was about tapping into the happy place of his memories: after school with friends, trying out the latest snacks to hit the market to Friday nights with the entire family celebrating after a long week of grinding it out with burgers and chili fries.

"The corner burger stand is where life happened. ... What if those two of my favorite things were under one roof?" said Yoon.

Tiny the dog

Inspiration for the name Tiny’s came from a somewhat unlikely place: Yoon’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Yoon describes her as appearing extremely cute and friendly, but in reality, she was actually sassy and judgmental. Illustrations bearing Tiny’s "don't mess with me" vibe can be seen throughout the restaurant.

“People would rather hear this from a sassy, cute dog than me. So I decided that we should channel Tiny. And let this belong to her," Yoon said.

The food

The cheeseburger itself is simple: a thin patty topped with melted American cheese and Tiny's signature sauce — a blend of Kewpie mayo, caramelized gochujang, ssamjang and tomato — finished with pickle chips and a bed of lettuce.

What sets it apart is what you can’t see, the same 30-day dry-aged chuck Yoon has used at Father’s Office for over 25 years.

“I still don’t think there’s any product superior to that for the purpose of a hamburger,” he said.

The spread at Tiny's includes the cheeseburger, miso mac 'n' cheese, chicken nuggets, tater tots, fries and a jammy egg sando — a konbini staple in Japan.

(

Grid Vongpiansuksa

/

Courtesy Tiny's Burger

)

The nuggets ($10) had a crispy, craggy exterior finished with visible seasoning crystals, a small but deliberate touch, and came with a fresh herbaceous dipping sauce. As for the chili fries ($8), the chili itself was sufficient as an L.A.-style chili (think Tommy's), but since Lao Gan Ma chili crisp was promised in the name, I was expecting that distinctive, crunchy, fermented kick — but left wanting more of it. It felt more like a whisper than a statement.

The miso mac 'n' cheese ($6) was a highlight of the meal, especially for someone who doesn't usually order mac 'n' cheese. Fresh ridged elbow pasta with a proper chew in each bite, and salty morsels of miso folded into a tight cheese sauce had me picking up forkfuls until it was mostly gone. Consider my position reconsidered.

Encouraged, I went back and ordered a Dole Whip ($7). The electric, tangy flavor, paired with the soft creaminess, served as a suitable exclamation point for my lunch that day.

With Tiny's, Yoon has built his most personal restaurant — accessible in price, but uncompromising in intention.

Could mall food now be on a new trajectory? Perhaps we've finally transcended corn dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick and cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon.

After dining at Tiny’s, all signs point to yes.

The Downey City Council voted 5-0 to allow local police to use drones to patrol neighborhoods for illegal firework activity over the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

The vote, which also greenlit new fines for party hosts and spectators watching illegal fireworks, took place at Downey City Hall on Tuesday night.

The move is part of a citywide crackdown on fireworks in Downey — the city currently only allows the use of “safe and sane” fireworks, which include sparklers and smoke bombs. As in many cities in Southern California, any firework that is projectile and explodes in the air is banned in Downey.

The details 

The new ordinance will treat property owners, tenants, party hosts and spectators of unlawful firework activity the same as people in possession of or discharging illegal fireworks within city limits.

Dorothy Pemberton, a Downey City Council member, spoke with LAist after the meeting and explained her support of the ordinance.

“It's a message to send to people to try and be respectful of the neighborhood and just abide by the rules,” Pemberton said.

She explained that often people don’t want to take accountability for illegal firework activity, despite encouraging it through hosting events where fireworks are shot off or watching them on their street.

“They don't want to abide by the rules,” she said.

In addition to the fines, the new ordinance also allows the city to recoup the costs of emergency services used in response to unlawful firework activity, including payment for first responders, city equipment and any needed medical treatment.

How the new drone enforcement and citations will work

The city will allow its police force to begin using drones they previously acquired, along with other military equipment, in order to “observe, record and document violations from the air.”

The drones are authorized to be used for the first time next month on July 4 and can be used going forward for high-profile events like New Year’s Eve and Dodgers wins.

The drones used by the police will be able to detect location and thermal signatures in order to identify suspects and allow law enforcement to send a citation to the property the firework was discharged from.

Scott Loughner, Downey’s chief of police, gave more details to LAist on what drone enforcement will look like this year.

“It's the first time we've done it, so it's kind of figuring out exactly what to do, but we have several different licensed drone pilots,” Loughner said. “There'll be two two-man teams, and they'll be overhead.”

Loughner added that the drones will not “be going into people's backyards, looking through windows, things like that. It’s more of you see it in the distance, you zoom in and try to target people that are causing disturbances.”

Loughner said the department may use the drone footage to coordinate with officers on the ground who are alerted to the illegal activity and then drive to residences to put a stop to it.

Downey staff cited six other California cities — Artesia, Brea, Stanton, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Sacramento — as setting precedents for using drones for firework enforcement.

Anaheim also recently started using drones to spot illegal fireworks.

There has been mixed public reaction on social media regarding drone usage in Downey. Some people have said they’re glad that action is being taken, given the adverse effect of fireworks on members of the community and their pets. Others have emphasized their concerns about excessive surveillance and the need to prioritize issues such speeding and car accidents that have long plagued the city.

Current firework rules in Downey

Currently, “safe and sane” fireworks can be legally discharged between 3 and 10 p.m. on July 4 in Downey.

Fines in the city start at $4,000 for the first offense of possession or discharge of a dangerous firework, $5,000 for second offense, $6,000 for third offense and go up from there during a three-year period.

This is the second time the Downey City Council has made changes to its fireworks rules in recent years. In 2024, the council voted to increase the fine for a first offense from $1,000 to $4,000.

How to keep tabs on the Downey City Council

The Downey City Council meets on scheduled Tuesdays. Meetings start at 6:30 p.m.

Here’s how you can follow along:

• Attend in person: The board meets at City Hall, Council Chambers, 11111 Brookshire Ave. in Downey.
• Watch the live broadcast.
• Here’s how to submit a comment or contact the council.