The Brief

About 4,000 California Department of Public Health employees have been told they must use a federal verification system to prove they’re U.S. citizens or otherwise legally eligible to work.

Leaders of the agency said in a memo obtained by CalMatters that the verification is necessary to receive federal funding, but employees and unions are resisting the directive.

In the memo, a department human resources deputy director asked employees to comply with a series of deadlines that culminate on April 10. A separate document distributed by the department said that failing to complete the verification may result in the state losing a contract with the Centers for Disease Control for the national death index, which collects death certificate data from authorities nationwide.

The department is also making the move to address incomplete employment eligibility records identified in a recent audit, according to the Service Employees Union International Local 1000, which represents roughly 3,000 department employees.

As at other U.S. employers, all new California health department employees complete a federal I-9 form to prove their eligibility to work. The department is now asking them to enroll in E-Verify, a program administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration. That system compares information provided by an employee on the I-9 to records in federal databases, including at Social Security and the Department of Homeland Security. In some cases it also prompts employers to compare each applicant’s identification document photo with the one they provided during the E-Verify process. The memo said employees will specifically use E-Verify+, which combines filling out an I-9 with verification. Employees hired before November can opt out of using that specific version of E-Verify.

SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls told CalMatters in an email that forcing all employees to use E-Verify “raised serious concerns for our members about privacy, data security, and the unnecessary re-verification of workers who are already legally employed.”

The union sent a petition to executives in charge of the state agency last month to express concern about the verification and underline that employees submitted documents to prove their work eligibility when they were hired. Walls told CalMatters the health agency is currently the only California state department the union is aware of that has asked their employees to recertify their legal status. The union represents about 100,000 state employees at 140 state agencies, boards, commissions and departments.

“When federal systems and funding conditions are used to justify expanded data collection from workers, it raises red flags — especially when those workers have already met employment eligibility requirements,” she wrote. “Our members are concerned about their personal data being sent to federal systems with known accuracy and security issues. And this is coming at a time when both U.S. citizens and immigrant workers are understandably concerned about how employment data could be accessed or used by federal agencies.”

The E-Verify+ requirement is creating fear and uncertainty among employees and may affect employee recruitment and retention in the future, said Jacqueline Tkac, president of the California Association of Professional Scientists-UAW Local 1115, a union that represents roughly 800 health department employees. Amid reports of ICE activity at workplaces and people being taken off the street, the timing could not be worse.

“E-Verify+ is not a neutral administrative tool. It’s deeply integrated with DHS databases, including systems used by ICE, and relies on biometrics and cross-agency data sharing,” she said in a statement shared with CalMatters. “Introducing this at a time when immigrant communities and public health scientists are being openly targeted by the current federal administration is extremely chilling.”

The California Department of Public Health did not respond to multiple requests to answer questions. State information officer Nicole Skow told CalMatters that the California Department of Human Resources does not monitor how state agencies verify employment eligibility and that use of E-Verify is determined at a department level.

Since it became available in the 1990s, E-Verify has been, by default, a voluntary program for employers, but it has become mandatory for more and more of them over time. The federal government has required E-Verify for certain contracts since 2009 and more than 20 states now require E-Verify for their own contracts or to issue business licenses. Earlier this month, Florida lawmakers passed a bill that requires employers of all sizes to use the federal program.

Critics of E-Verify say the program needs reforms to address instances in which it makes mistakes, including cases where people commit identity fraud to get jobs they shouldn’t have and false positives leading people to lose jobs that they were lawfully allowed to have. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data and the E-Verify error rate, if Congress passed an E-Verify mandate today, the work eligibility status of more than 120,000 people would get inaccurately labeled, allowing ineligible immigrants to work and labeling some authorized workers ineligible, which could lead to loss of wages or jobs, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, during a hearing last month where members of Congress debated a bill that would require E-Verify use for all federal contracts.

The health department’s push to prove eligibility comes at a time when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is ramping up I-9 audits that may precede raids. It also comes on the heels of ICE agents shooting and killing two people in Minnesota, the deaths of multiple people in ICE detention facilities, and multiple news reports that the Department of Homeland Security wants to bring similar tactics to California and New York.

It’s possible the department wants to prepare for or forestall an audit from ICE. I-9 audits increased in Minnesota in recent weeks, Minneapolis-based immigration attorney Matthew Webster told CalMatters. Webster said some appear indiscriminate, with audit notices “basically just being dropped off door to door,” and some seeming to be retaliatory, like a hospital where staff protested ICE’s treatment of a patient shortly before the hospital was audited, and a St. Paul toy store that gave away whistles that protesters use to alert their neighbors to ICE activity, also shortly before it was audited. Webster expects such audits to become more commonplace as tens of billions of dollars continue to pour into the law enforcement agency from the federal budget.

A set of “Frequently Asked Questions” drafted by the California Department of Public Health and distributed to employees describes E-Verify+ as intended to “reduce errors, streamline onboarding, and improve the overall employee experience.”

But one employee, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation, told CalMatters that in light of recent events, they’re concerned about the department providing employee photos to the Department of Homeland Security under E-Verify. They also said the health department should have made it clearer that employees could opt out of the “plus” version of E-Verify and should extend this option to people hired since November, who must always use E-Verify+, according to the questions document.

“Nowhere in the memo does it tell us we can opt out,” they said. “That information only came after employees raised concerns to the director.”

For the record: The original version of this story did not correctly describe what health department workers are being asked to verify. It is employment eligibility, whether through citizenship or other legal channels.

A new report from the L.A. County Fire Department and Cal Fire concludes that Southern California Edison equipment sparked the deadly and destructive Eaton Fire last year, but gives little insight into how.

That was the main point raised by Pedro Pizarro, the president and chief executive of the utility’s parent company, Edison International, on AirTalk with Larry Mantle on Wednesday.

“The reality is we don't fully understand what the mechanism was that led to that potential sparking,” Pizarro said. “Not sure we will ever understand.”

Pizarro was referring to the report’s finding that an idle tower and grounded lines attached to it had electricity in them at some points on the evening of Jan. 7, 2025. Sparks are seen falling from that tower into dry brush below, according to multiple witnesses and videos cited in the report.

Pizarro added that the report contains lengthy redactions and more than 20 unreleased attachments, which may provide additional background into the why.

“We would want to be able to analyze those when they become available because there may be more helpful information there,” Pizarro said.

The Fire Department declined to release the attachments after an inquiry from LAist, citing ongoing legal actions and personnel privacy. It also noted ongoing investigations by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office as a reason for redacting nearly an entire section of the report listing penal code and other possible violations.

Meanwhile, on AirTalk, Pizarro described the leading theories Edison has as to how an idle power line could have sparked the Eaton Fire, which killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and businesses.

Much of the theory comes down to “high school physics,” Pizarro said. Active power lines near the idle line could have created an electromagnetic force that caused induction, which in turn may have created an electrical current in the idle, grounded line.

Pizarro also pointed to other factors that made the fire go beyond a spark, including high winds and gas lines. In January, Southern California Edison sued Southern California Gas Co., alleging that the gas utility did not begin widespread shutoffs until days after the fire started, thus worsening the conflagration. SoCal Gas has said Edison is attempting “to deflect responsibility and accountability.”

Ultimately, Pizzarro said, preventing wildfires is not only the responsibility of the power companies.

“We have done a lot of work, as have other utilities in the state, to decrease the risk of heartbreaking catastrophes like this associated with utility equipment,” Pizarro said. “But we also know that, unfortunately, the risk will never be zero.”

Lawsuits and compensation

The company is also facing thousands of lawsuits from survivors of the Eaton Fire.

On AirTalk, Pizarro defended the company’s maintenance record of the vegetation beneath those lines.

“We continue to believe that SCE will be able to make a good faith argument that it was a reasonable operator of the system, that it was prudent, and that's the standard under which we're held under state law,” he said.

Pizarro also defended the company’s decision to keep the idle line itself, which could be used in the future as electricity demand rises. He said the company expects their demand load to double by 2045.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Every school day, Vilma Armas watches her 16-year old daughter walk to Miguel Contreras Learning Complex from their apartment near the corner of Lucas Avenue and West Third Street.

It’s the same intersection where The Silver Platter, a historic LGBTQ+ Latino bar, wants to relocate. 

The mother is opposed to the proposal and she’s not alone as many of her neighbors and the Los Angeles Unified School District have raised concerns about opening a bar near six school campuses in the Westlake neighborhood.

“It’s just not a good decision to open that there,” Armas said. “We’re against it for the safety of our children and ourselves, too.” 

Westlake residents Silvia Samayoa, left, and Esperanza Lopez speak with Vilma Armas about a proposal to relocate The Silver Platter on July 27, 2026.

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Isaac Vargas

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The LA Local

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At a July 14 hearing, city staff with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning heard the proposal to relocate The Silver Platter after their longtime location on 7th Street was slated for demolition for a new housing development. 

Multiple neighbors were unable to speak up during the virtual hearing due to their work schedules, language barriers, age and difficulty navigating the online meeting’s comment system. The bar’s owners have applied for a permit to sell alcoholic beverages and install a 15-foot neon sign at the new location on West 3rd Street.

No decision was made at the hearing. Instead, the zoning administrator left the public record open for 30 days to allow additional written comments before issuing a decision.

City staff are balancing the bar’s cultural and historical significance against concerns raised by the Los Angeles Unified School District and residents about parking, noise, traffic and public safety. 

Supporters argue the bar is an irreplaceable cultural institution and a safe place for Spanish-speaking gay Latinos, transgender Latinas and working-class immigrants.

“This is not a new bar coming to the neighborhood,” said Martha Vasquez, who runs the bar with her mother, Margarita Xatruch. “It is an institution asking to keep its doors open in a neighborhood that it has belonged to for 60 years.” 

Residents say they’re not opposed to the clientele or the bar’s legacy but rather the proximity to where people live, work and where children attend school.

The department will weigh in on the conditional use permit at a later date. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Planning Department did not respond to requests for comment on the application’s status.

Why is The Silver Platter proposing to move? 

The Silver Platter has operated since 1963, becoming one of Los Angeles’ oldest and most enduring gathering places for queer and transgender Latinos in Westlake. 

But after more than six decades at 7th Street and Rampart Boulevard, the family-owned bar was forced to find a new home when the property was slated for redevelopment as a mixed-use housing project during the pandemic. News of the proposed development was first reported in Kim Cooper and Richard Schave’s newsletter, Esotouric’s Secret Los Angeles in May 2024.

Rather than leave the Westlake neighborhood, the owners spent months fundraising and searching for another location before settling on 1403 W. 3rd St., about a half-mile from the original location. 

Supporters say remaining in the neighborhood is essential to preserving the community the bar has served for generations. 

Preservation advocates have identified it as a culturally significant site, and in 2025 it was named one of the nation’s Endangered Latinx Landmarks, according to the Latinos in Heritage Conservation.

“The next best thing for this historic institution to remain the important cultural landmark that it is is to stay within the Westlake-MacArthur Park neighborhood,” said Jesi Harris, the applicant’s representative, during the virtual hearing. 

Why neighbors oppose the proposal 

Weeks after the virtual hearing, Roni Lopez stood in the lobby of his apartment building, surrounded by neighbors who gathered to talk about the proposal.

Lopez has lived in the building for more than a decade and was one of the few residents who spoke during the July hearing to voice his opposition. 

Like many of his neighbors, Lopez, a pastor in South Los Angeles, said he is not opposed to The Silver Platter or the community it serves. His concern, he said, is the proposed location. 

Residents remember the previous bar that occupied the ground-floor commercial space was a bad neighbor.

There was the late-night noise, people drinking or lingering on the front steps of the residential building, and bar patrons blocked access to the apartment parking entrance and loitered around the nearby DASH bus stop.

Tenants gather in the lobby of their Westlake apartment building to discuss concerns about a proposal to relocate The Silver Platter next door on July 27, 2026.

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Isaac Vargas

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The LA Local

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Several residents said the block became noticeably quieter after the business closed and worry another bar would bring back the same problems. 

“The city will be responsible for the decision it makes,” Lopez said. “As you can see, there’s a large community here that does not want that place to open.”

Applicants for The Silver Platter dispute the characterization, describing the bar as a quiet gathering place whose patrons have long depended on its low profile. 

The applicants also said they agreed to several operating conditions, including opening after the school day, installing security cameras, coordinating with nearby schools and other measures.

The LAUSD nevertheless opposes the proposal.

Julissa Hernandez, legislative liaison for the district, said LAUSD recognizes The Silver Platter’s history but is still concerned about a late-night, alcohol-serving establishment adjacent to multiple schools. Hernandez said the proposed site is near six LAUSD campuses.

Esther, Vilma’s 16-year-old daughter, shares those very same concerns. She even wrote a letter to her City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, urging the city to reject the Silver Platter’s proposal.  

“I think it’s really inconsiderate to open a bar that close to not only one school, but an elementary school, and then you have middle schools and other high schools around here,” she said in her letter.

The Santa Ana City Council voted Tuesday to ask California leaders to include the city in the state’s speed camera pilot program in an effort to scale up enforcement.

A 2023 state law allows some cities, such as Los Angeles, to pilot programs using cameras that detect speeding drivers and issue citations. San Francisco and Oakland have already set up those cameras and have reported seeing more than a 70% reduction in speeding at the camera spots.

The item was introduced in April by Councilmember Phil Bacerra, who said Segerstrom Avenue in his district is especially unsafe due to speeding drivers.

“The city of Santa Ana experienced 3,487 total collisions in 2025, including 1,943 injured, and 26 fatalities, with unsafe speed determined to be the main factor in many of those collisions,” Bacerra said. “It is impossible to deploy police officers to all of the racing hotspots in our city every single night.”

What are some of the concerns? 

Because this is a pilot program, Hernandez said he doesn’t want Santa Ana to be a guinea pig.

“This is very much still a test, which means that the guardrails will be identified on all of us here,” Hernandez said. “I’m happy to see this item come back to us when there’s more data equipped for us to consider. I don’t want each of you … to be the data that we analyze on whether this policy fits for us.”

The data from the speed cameras would be overseen by the city’s public works department, not police. But Vazquez said he's worried about adding surveillance to the city no matter which department is in charge.

“The federal government has ways,” Vazquez said. “We’ve seen studies, not only in California, but across the country, of people being tracked down by camera use. I don’t believe right now is the right time.”

The resolution passed 4-2, with City Council members Johnathan Ryan Hernandez and Benjamin Vazquez dissenting. Councilmember Jessie Lopez was absent.

How much will this cost the city? 

Based on the program costs for other cities, officials estimated that a 12-camera program would have a start-up cost of $2 million and annual operating costs between $1.5 million and $2 million.

Mayor Valerie Amezcua said requesting funds from state and congressional representatives is an option.

“It’s not written in stone; it’s not forever, so if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,” Amezcua said.

Councilmember Thai Viet Phan said the city needs to balance what the budget can bear.

“I don’t want to make promises up here that we can’t keep,” Phan said. “And what we do know is that this pilot program … (is) incredibly expensive.”

The costs associated with the speed camera pilot program vary among participating California cities.

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Courtesy of the City of Santa Ana

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How would it work? 

If Santa Ana were included in the pilot program under the state law, the city would have to launch a public information campaign. For the first 60 days of the cameras being installed, speeding drivers would receive a warning. After that grace period, drivers would start receiving citations.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Destination Crenshaw was supposed to transform 1.3 miles of Crenshaw Boulevard along Metro’s K Line into an art-filled gathering space, but according to some neighbors, the project has become an inconvenience and an eyesore.

South L.A. locals held a meeting Thursday called “Keep the Promise. Destination Crenshaw” at Bethesda Temple Church to discuss the impact of the project on their community and local businesses. The event was hosted by KBLA Talk 1580 operator Tavis Smiley.    

Residents and business owners aired their grievances, which included the lack of parking, fencing along the sidewalks, dissatisfaction with the project’s fluid timeline and hazardous conditions. Locals said the project has caused cracks in buildings and emergency vehicles will have difficulty passing through the construction. 

“They took all the parking from the cars. The industrial trucks and the big buses … they zoom down the street at 50 to 65 miles an hour, and we’re just blessed that nobody’s gotten hit or anything,” Dr. Jeanette Parker, CEO of Today’s Fresh Start Charter School, said during the meeting.  

South LA locals say the Destination Crenshaw project has become disruptive and an eyesore. A photo of the construction, shown here, was taken on July 16, 2026.

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LaMonica Peters

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The LA Local

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Destination Crenshaw broke ground in February 2020 and was supposed to have a public opening in February 2024, according to a 2023 architectural fact sheet. The project includes commissioned art projects from local artists and stretches from Leimert Boulevard to 60th Street along Crenshaw Boulevard, according to Destination Crenshaw’s website. 

Representatives from Destination Crenshaw were not represented at the meeting. Terrii Young, the project’s chief of staff, wrote in an email to The LA Local that “construction is moving forward and crews are on site to complete the final phase of work at Sankofa Park,” adding that they’re also “working hard to get construction at the Crenshaw Wall started.” 

“We hear the community’s frustration and are grateful to our neighbors for their patience, partnership, and continued support, despite the impact of an extended construction timeline,”  Young wrote. “We remain committed to raising the funds needed to complete the remainder of the project and cement the history, identity, and achievements of Black L.A. for generations to come.”

L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents District 8, spearheaded the creation of Destination Crenshaw. The project was conceived in 2016, its nonprofit formed in 2018 and construction began in November 2021, according to Cerrina Tayag-Rivera, Harris-Dawson’s spokesperson.  

Crenshaw Boulevard is a main thoroughfare that runs through the Black cultural corridor in South LA, and Destination Crenshaw seeks to celebrate the legacy and contributions of L.A.’s Black community. The project was also supposed to provide career opportunities and inspiration for future generations, as mentioned on the project’s website. 

“Marqueece Harris-Dawson has an office in the back of Prince Hill Destination. I have not seen this brother one time in my life. On TV? Yes. Newspapers? Yes,” Beron Thompkins, owner of Miles Copy Center, said during the meeting. “But to come across the street and talk to people, or even next door to talk to people? I haven’t seen this brother ever.” 

Harris-Dawson, who did not attend the meeting, responded to the community’s frustrations Monday in an email to The LA Local. 

“The concerns of businesses and residents in the Crenshaw District are critical, and my office will work with Destination Crenshaw to address them,” Harris-Dawson said. “This project started with several community meetings and community input, and to be successful, we need our neighbors to know and feel that this project is for them and to build a prosperous future.”

Here’s what neighbors said during the ‘Keep the Promise’ meeting

Gregory Dulan, who opened his Dulan’s On Crenshaw restaurant in 1992, told the group the street needs more parking and mentioned seeing other businesses suffer as a result of the Destination Crenshaw project. 

“When I see my senior customers, struggling to walk down to my restaurant from Victoria Avenue with their canes and their walkers, that’s what impacts me,” Dulan said during the meeting, which is also posted on KBLA’s Facebook page. 

Smiley, who owns Smiley Audio Media and operates KBLA Talk 1580, echoed Dulan’s testimony and said the KBLA building has cracks in it due to the project. He also said his car has been hit three times because of the narrow street, and he has spent $20,000 in repairs.

Neighbors held a meeting on July 30, 2026 at Bethesda Temple Church about the Destination Crenshaw project and the lack of parking it has created. Photo taken August 3, 2026.

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LaMonica Peters

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The LA Local

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O’lita Schafer said she moved to Crenshaw Boulevard two years ago. She explained that her house is undergoing a major construction project because of an unstable foundation. She said her project is stalled because the trucks can’t pass through. 

“I really hope we never have a major emergency on this street because being able to get the fire department in and out would be very difficult,” Schafer said during the meeting.

KimMarie Johnson-Roussell, president of the Park Mesa Heights Community Council, said the council had meetings with developers prior to the project’s approval. She said the council represents 50,000 people, and she now feels it has no power to protest anything built on Crenshaw Boulevard. 

“Marquees (Harris-) Dawson took that power out of us and sent it to Destination Crenshaw,” Johnson-Roussell said. 

At the end of the meeting Smiley encouraged people to continue to push for the completion of the project and to post on social media with hashtags like #KeepThePromiseCrenshaw, #ProcrastinationCrenshaw and #DestinationCrenshaw. 

Harris-Dawson’s spokesperson did not provide details on a final completion date for Destination Crenshaw, but did say locals who want updates can sign up for the project’s newsletter or follow them on social media.