The Brief

Thousands of Southern California grocery store workers are gearing up for a possible strike, but some L.A. workers have mixed feelings about joining the picket line following recent immigration sweeps.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union 770 workers authorized a strike on Wednesday, paving the way for workers to walk off the job.

Angie Ayala, a Ralphs employee and bargaining unit member, said she’s urging workers to be unafraid but understands that the fear of ICE enforcement could affect their willingness to join a picket line.

“I feel like everybody's souls are heavy right now with what's going on in L.A., and now moving around the country. We have to show them that we’ll protect them,” said Ayala.

What are workers saying? 

Immigration enforcement actions across Los Angeles have affected workers whose contracts expired in March, according to Ayala.

“Some of our employees don't want to go to work. They're afraid that ICE might raid their store,” she said. “It is something I don't think that hinders … it makes us want to stand up even more for those employees that are being harassed, that can't help but be scared to go to work.”

A majority of members, especially in L.A., are immigrants, according to union leaders.

Maricruz Ceceña, the union’s organizing director, said turnout at Thursday’s picket sign-making event was higher than expected.

“We're hopeful that trend will continue because of the increased concern our members have for themselves, for their community, for their safety,” Ceceña said.

What else is being done to help workers? 

The union started holding informational sessions to make workers aware of their constitutional rights.

“Workers are coming together. They've always faced intimidation from companies, from anti-union forces, from the government,” Ceceña said. “This isn't new to our members. They faced similar situations during the pandemic, and history shows that when we're silent, it only enables abuse.”

Workers are not going to back down from defending their rights, Ceceña added, whether it's at the bargaining table or in the streets.

How are grocers responding? 

A spokesperson for Albertsons, parent company of Pavilions and Vons said in a statement: “We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers, and allows our company to remain competitive.”

A Ralphs spokesperson said the company is “committed to good faith” bargaining that is fair for employees and keeps groceries affordable.

Union members are scheduled to meet grocers back at the bargaining table on June 25.

Sophie Kinsella, who wrote the massively popular Shopaholic book series, has died. The writer, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was 55 years old. Last year, she announced she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.

Her death was announced on Instagram on Wednesday: "Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed — to have such wonderful family and friends and to have had the extraordinary success of her writing career. She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received."

Kinsella's novels were a sensation; they sold tens of millions of copies and were translated into dozens of languages. The first two books in the Shopaholic series were adapted into the 2009 movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.

In an NPR interview from 2019, she said her novels focused on young women and their travails, even though she was herself a mother with five children.

"I just think there's something exciting about the time of life where you're on the lookout for opportunities in all directions. You're looking at your career. You're looking at finding someone to love. Everything is ahead of you," she said. "And for me, the — kind of the wide, open horizon is so exciting. There is something exhilarating about meeting a stranger in a coffee shop and thinking, 'Where's this going to go?'"

Copyright 2025 NPR

After the January fires, thousands of Southern Californians suddenly faced having to apply for FEMA assistance and battle insurance companies to rebuild what was lost.

Faculty, students and volunteers at Pepperdine University were on the ground within days of the Eaton and Palisades fires offering free legal assistance and relaunching the Disaster Relief Clinic, which provided pro bono services after the Thomas and Woolsey fires in 2017 and 2018.

Since then, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law's Disaster Relief Clinic has assisted more than 300 fire survivors, according to the university. The clinic has helped recover at least $750,000 in FEMA assistance and millions more from insurance claims.

“We provide really good legal help for people that have been damaged by the fire[s],” David A. DeJute, the clinic’s director, told LAist. “It makes me feel like I'm providing something of value and worth back to the community.”

About the clinic

The clinic is designed to help fire survivors with a wide variety of legal issues they may face as they go through the recovery and rebuilding process, including having to find rental housing, working with remediation companies to clean up ash and navigating insurance policy limits.

Pepperdine University faculty, students and volunteers were on the ground within days of January's fires, offering free legal assistance to survivors.

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Courtesy Pepperdine University

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DeJute, who’s also an adjunct professor with Pepperdine’s law school, said the weeks after the fires were a “little like triage” as the clinic focused on helping people prioritize their next steps.

“When you have someone in your family die, you experience trauma and shock and remorse, and nobody is surprised that it affects your mood and your ability to process information,” he said. “Same thing happens when you've lost your home.”

DeJute said some of the most common legal issues that come up at the clinic have to do with FEMA applications, landlords and price gouging.

If a survivor needs more help than the clinic can handle, like with litigation, it will refer them to other lawyers who’ve agreed to take clients pro bono, according to Pepperdine.

The clinic also has trained around 600 lawyers to bring free legal services to their own communities after a disaster, according to the university. DeJute said that includes a student who stepped in to help after the deadly flash flooding in Texas this summer.

A survivor’s story

Pergrin Jung’s family home was “completely destroyed” in the Palisades Fire in what he described to LAist as “the worst days of our lives.”

Jung, like many other survivors, wasn’t sure how to start picking up the pieces.

“Not only were we in a state of shock,” he said. “But also, none of us really knew what the next steps would be.”

Jung reached out for help with an insurance claim for his homeowner’s policy and said the clinic was a “staple” every step of the way. He said students and staff helped explain the legal system, gave feedback on letters he sent to the insurance company and guided his strategy throughout the process.

“Having this resource made all the difference to us,” Jung said. “They were invaluable.”

Educational experience

The clinic is run by Pepperdine faculty, staff and law students who get hands-on experience operating as attorneys under DeJute’s supervision.

The students are tasked with communicating with clients, diving into details of their legal needs, pushing back against price gouging and managing issues with mortgage companies, to name a few.

Taylor Wedlock, a third-year law student, said the clinic was an opportunity to do her part for the community, especially after her father, an L.A. fire captain, spent about a week fighting the Palisades Fire.

“We weren't just doing FEMA appeals or applications,” she told LAist. “We're going to … help to get this survivor his instruments back so he can so he can start his, you know, his musical career again.”

Wedlock said the clinic helps students apply what they learn in law school textbooks and lectures while exploring the more personal aspect of being a lawyer.

Wedlock recalled the relief in her client’s voice when she got approved for FEMA rental assistance after more than six months of denials, for example. She said she considers that one of her major wins of the semester.

“It may seem impossible to come back from such devastation, but there are options,” Wedlock said. “There are a lot of people who are willing to help.”

How to get involved

People seeking disaster-related legal assistance from the clinic can fill out the request form here. (Please note: A staff attorney or law student will respond to each request, but filling out the form doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship, according to Pepperdine.)

The clinic also has online resources available, including advice on dealing with FEMA and insurance, as well as training for attorneys looking to provide pro bono legal services in their communities.

Long Beach was recently recognized as one of the country’s top digital cities for its digital equity work and programming, something officials say is an effort that won’t lose steam in 2026 despite federal funding cuts.

The survey was from the national research and advisory institute, the Center for Digital Government, which focuses on policies and practices in state and local governments. Long Beach was among five cities nationwide to grab high marks in the Digital Cities Survey, which looks at how local governments use technology to address social challenges.

Lea Erikson, Long Beach’s director of technology, credited the recognition to the city’s approach to digital equity.

“We're not relying on federal funds to advance our work. And so even though it does definitely minimize what we can do, I'm really proud of what we have been able to do despite that,” Erikson said.

Why was Long Beach named? 

Over the years, the coastal L.A. County city has grown into an epicenter for digital equity to grant more residents access to the internet.

According to the survey, the city advanced digital equity, among other things, through programs such as its “Pitch Long Beach!” — an initiative that allows the public to submit pitches on how to implement and explore technology as a way to improve city services.

Long Beach has also partnered with the California Emerging Technology Fund to launch a multilingual internet service enrollment hotline to help residents navigate telehealth, job searching and online learning.

“One of the things I think makes Long Beach a leader in this space is we have a dedicated staff to digital inclusion, and they're not dependent on federal funds, so they're actually funded by local government resources,” Erikson said.

Why are programs at risk? 

In May, the Trump administration canceled the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, which the president called “racist” and “illegal.”

The cancellation put a stop to programs all over the country, including digital courses for seniors and laptop distributions in rural areas.

The Federal Communications Commission voted in September to end E-Rate discounts to libraries and schools for hotspot lending and school bus Wi-Fi. Officials said the initiatives “exceeded” or were “inconsistent” with the commission's authority. This decision effectively shut off funding for digital loaning programs.

Locally, the repercussions were felt instantly. Los Angeles County Library announced it would sunset its laptop and Wi-Fi hotspot lending programs shortly after the decision.

What are officials saying for 2026 and beyond? 

Erikson said federal headwinds won’t stop the city’s digital equity work.

The city is working to create its own fiber-optic network by 2027 to offer free Wi-Fi in public places in an effort to save residents money and get them online.

“We're hoping to have that go out to bid … next year. We would hopefully have that done in about a two-year timeframe, so it might be a little delayed, but we have local funding for that as well,” Erikson said.