The Brief

Facing a nearly $1 billion shortfall driven by dwindling revenues and increasing costs, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday proposed laying off 1,647 workers and closing some city departments in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

It's the most austere budget since the city was wracked by the 2008 recession.

In her State of the City speech delivered shortly before the budget was released, Bass addressed city workers directly, saying "you are the city’s greatest asset... my proposed budget, unfortunately includes layoffs, which was a decision of absolute last resort."

The budget proposal must still go before the City Council for a vote.

City officials said the mayor was contemplating as many as 3,500 layoffs, but was able to cut that in half by, among other things, deferring capital projects.

There are currently about 38,000 city positions, not counting the departments of water and power, harbor and airport. In all, the city employs 32,405 people.

The layoffs would occur across a range of departments and affect city services. The proposal would also eliminate several vacant positions.

Some victories

In a wide-ranging speech, Bass also sought to highlight victories, saying there was a 10% reduction in street homelessness, a 14% drop in homicides and what she described as the "fast" pace of recovery from the Palisades Fire.

"The state of our city is this: homelessness is down, crime is down," said Bass. "These are tough, tough challenges and they show we can do so much more."

She went on to announce new action to expedite the permitting process for fire victims, establishing a self certification program and calling on the City Council to waive all plan check and permit fees.

The move drew praise from Larry Vein with community initiative Pali Strong.

“We are so delighted to see that the fees are being waived for permits. We’ve been asking for some relief in that area,” he said. “And we are super excited that it's what’s called self certification on the plans. That is going to be huge.”

The mayor also looked forward to the Olympics in 2028, saying current investments will make life better for Angelenos in the future.

Strong reactions

Labor leaders immediately denounced the proposed layoffs.

“We’re going to fight for every single one of these city jobs. One layoff is too many,” said David Green, president of the Service Employees International Union, Local 721, which represents 10,000 city workers.

He warned the ramifications of the layoffs would be broad.

“These are folks who are frontline workers serving the community every day,” said Green, whose union represents tree trimmers, sanitation workers and trash truck drivers, among others.

Ironically, the layoffs are being driven in part by increased labor costs resulting from union contracts signed just last year. Those contracts will cost the city an extra $250 million in the coming year, according to city officials.

A number of City Council members expressed resignation that the layoffs were inevitable.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield 85% to 90% of the city’s budget is labor costs.

“So if you have this kind of huge deficit, it is almost impossible to solve for that deficit without affecting labor costs,” he said.

Liability payments

Liability payments have also ballooned and are costing the city more. Legal payouts have averaged $100 million annually for the past 10 years, according to city officials.

The new proposed budget set aside $187 million for liability claims against the city — more than twice as much as had been budgeted in recent years — but this is still well below the anticipated $320 million in liability expenses to be paid this fiscal year.

Officials blamed costlier jury verdicts and legal settlements with people who sued the city over such things as police use of force and internal staff harassment.

The unexpected, significant costs of fighting the Palisades Fire, as well the aftermath, have also contributed to budget pressures.

Meanwhile, as costs increase, revenues are on the decline.

Business and sales taxes are both down, according to city officials, while hotel and property taxes, which make up 35% of revenues, are expected to be below projected growth.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs are also expected to hit L.A. hard, adding to the fiscal uncertainty.

General fund revenue is projected to be $8 billion — down from the forecasted $8.14 billion.

Homelessness, police and fire

Mayor Bass gives the State of the City address on April 21, 2025.

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Screenshot of LA Cityview 35 livestream

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Under the mayor’s plan, the budget for her signature Inside Safe homelessness program would remain the same, but spending on helping people on the streets would be slightly lower, according to city officials.

The plan also forecasts a smaller Police Department, which has been shrinking in part because evidence indicates fewer people want to become police officers than in previous years.

The LAPD is expected to finish this fiscal year with 8,733 officers. The mayor’s plan projects it will end the next fiscal year with 8,639 officers.

In the wake of the Palisades Fire, the Fire Department will see an increase of funding by 12.7%, according to city officials. The plan adds 277 new positions and calls for more paramedics, mechanics and fast response vehicles — pickup trucks with a small water tank, hose and medical supplies that can respond to an increasing number of calls for help from unhoused people.

Bass’ proposal also calls for consolidating four city departments — the departments of Aging, Economic, and Workforce Development, and Youth Development will be consolidated under the Community and Family Investment Department.

In addition, the plan calls for eliminating the Health Commission, which is an advisory body. It would also get rid of the Innovation and Performance Commission, as well as the Climate Emergency Mobilization Commission.

The mayor’s budget also maintains a 6% reserve fund, above the 5% required by city policy.

Bass said she will travel to Sacramento this week in hopes of getting some financial help from state officials, according to city officials.

LAist reporter Jordan Rynning contributed to this story.

It’s been four years since James Oreste started Ubefest, a festival meant to highlight the purple yam that’s become beloved not just in the Filipino diaspora but across the country. In that time, the food festival has grown in the number of vendors and become a broader appreciation of Filipino cuisine.

The restaurant:

This year's event is happening Saturday April 11 and Sunday April 12 in Cerritos. One of the festival’s vendors, Emerson Baja, owner of Long Beach Lumpia, has been involved with the event for years, and he came into the studio to talk to host Austin Cross.

The food:

Baja’s pop-up menu was inspired by a variety of things, with the traditional aspects of his menu coming from his family and other aspects by food he experimented with while attending Long Beach State. He became a probation officer after he graduated college, but his heart was always with food, specifically lumpia, which he served at a potluck.

“People were like ‘you’re in the wrong business,’” Baja said.

For the segment, Baja brought in a variety of lumpias: traditional Shanghai; pork chile verde; veggie pancit pizza; and ube cheesecake turon.

The verdict: 

When Emerson mentioned the Shanghai lumpia being a homemade recipe, Cross added, “Home is delicious! You have a home like this?”

“It’s finger-licking good over here,” Cross said after his first bite of the ube cheesecake turon lumpia. He added: “It’s really special because it has an aftertaste of a very heartwarming pastry…feels very homey.”

Listen to the full conversation here:

President Donald Trump has endorsed Steve Hilton for California governor, a move that could possibly consolidate Republican voters ahead of the still wide-open primary election in June.

Hilton, a former Fox News host based in the Bay Area who previously served as a political adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, has campaigned on the goal of improving California’s hostile relationship with the federal administration. He and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco are the only two Republicans among the 10 notable candidates in the primary field.

“I have known and respected Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California, for many years. He is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great State has gone to Hell,” Trump wrote early Monday on his social media site, Truth Social. “Steve Hilton has my COMPLETE & TOTAL ENDORSEMENT. He will be a GREAT Governor and, importantly, WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!”

With Democratic voters split, Hilton and Bianco have risen to the top of public polling in the race, threatening to leave the majority party in the state without a candidate in the top-two general election. Now, Trump’s endorsement could boost Hilton and allow a Democrat to overtake Bianco.

“It certainly increases the chances that a Democrat is going to make it into the top two,” said Tim Rosales, a Republican strategist. “The Bianco campaign has to reassess and reposition themselves in the wake of this, but the Democrats still don’t have a clear front-runner.”

In the most recent public polling, Hilton and Bianco have occupied a crowded top five alongside three Democrats: Rep. Eric Swalwell, investor Tom Steyer and former Rep. Katie Porter.

Hilton and Bianco often split the Republican Party’s support about evenly in polling, and a March primary election simulator created by Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., put the odds of a Republican-only general election at about 25%.

If that were the case, the state would have a Republican governor for the first time in more than two decades.

In an interview with KQED’s Political Breakdown, Hilton touted his relationship with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and vowed to work collaboratively with the Trump administration to boost California’s timber industry and manage forests.

“There’s a whole set of positive things we can do if we work more closely with the federal government on that issue,” he said.

While he told Politico that as of last week, he hadn’t spoken to Trump about the gubernatorial race, he’s repeatedly invoked the president’s own campaign slogan, saying that as governor, he would “Make California Great Again.”

Trump remains deeply unpopular in California, with just 30% of likely voters approving of the job he is doing as president, per a February poll from the Public Policy Institute of California. But that same survey found Trump’s support remains strong among California Republicans, with 76% approval.

“Republican voters still hold the president in pretty high regard,” Rosales said. “It certainly does make Hilton the front-runner amongst Republicans, and in a top-two primary like this, where you’ve got a crowded field, anything that a candidate can do that really solidifies a base of voters is critically important.”

The loyalty of the GOP base has allowed Trump to play kingmaker in past California primary elections. In 2018, he endorsed businessman John Cox, boosting Cox into the general election and dashing the prospects of an all-Democrat general election between Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Before Trump’s overnight endorsement, Bianco also seemed to have been courting the president’s support, launching a high-profile recount of ballots cast in last November’s special election, when California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50 to redraw congressional maps to favor Democrats. Last month, Bianco seized more than 650,000 ballots, calling the unprecedented investigation a “fact-finding mission” into potential voter fraud, which Trump has often called rampant despite a lack of evidence.

Many Republican strategists, however, believed that the party’s best chance to win both spots in the primary relied on Trump’s staying out of it. The state’s GOP also hasn’t weighed in, though it’s expected to decide whether to make an endorsement at its upcoming convention next weekend.

Now that celebrity bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have welcomed two new chicks, tens of thousands of fans are regularly tuning into the livestream of the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake for a peak at the fuzzy eaglets.

The chicks, which hatched Saturday night and Easter Sunday morning, will be referred to as Chick 1 and Chick 2 for now, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs the popular YouTube livestream.

The eaglets are still gaining strength in their first few days of life — learning to move neck muscles and pick up pieces of meat from mama Jackie and papa Shadow’s beaks. Those early feedings can be challenging or awkward, and the organization often refers to the chicks as “bobbleheads” at this stage.

Some fans worried about the second chick struggling to hold its head and getting enough food, but both eaglets are doing “great,” according to Jenny Voisard, Friends of Big Bear Valley’s media manager.

“Trust the process, trust the eagles, and settle in and enjoy these cute little fur balls because they change every day,” Voisard said. “And you don't want to miss this time, because they're just so precious.”

Sibling 'bonking'

The eaglets are tiny — each weighs about a few ounces — in a nest that’s estimated to be 6-feet deep. The nest sits near the top of a Jeffrey pine tree on the north side of Big Bear Lake.

Chicks multiply in size over the first weeks and months of life, establishing a pecking order along the way, according to the nonprofit.

Viewers may notice Chick 1 and Chick 2 headbutting each other, a sibling rivalry behavior that the organization calls “bonking.” Voisard said it’s “totally normal” in the nest, especially since the chicks can’t see very well at this stage.

“It won't last too long,” she said. “There is plenty of food for them to eat, and so they shouldn't be in competition with each other.”

Last season’s trio of chicks participated in bonking for a while.

Voisard said Sunny and Gizmo went on to be “best friends” before they flew away from the nest last June. One of last season’s chicks, which the nonprofit named “Misty,” didn’t survive a winter storm within weeks of hatching.

For Jackie and Shadow, everything now revolves around stocking up food and making sure the chicks are safe, warm and dry in the nest, Voisard said.

“They do a very good job, and we've been seeing fish deliveries and other prey the last couple of days and the chicks are hungrily gobbling it up,” she said.

Upcoming naming contest

Now that the chicks have hatched, many people are wondering what their names will be — and offering suggestions. The nonprofit said it’s seen hundreds of requests to name one of the chicks “Sandy” in honor of Sandy Steers.

Steers was an environmental advocate who helped launch the eagle livestream and the late executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley. She died in February, a few weeks before the pair of eggs were laid.

But the organization said that’s not what Steers would have wanted. Voisard said Steers loved having Big Bear third-grade students select the eaglets’ names, and Friends of Big Bear Valley plans to keep the tradition going.

“We are working on a way to honor, memorialize Sandy in something that’s more permanent,” Voisard said.

The naming privileges are usually given to the third-graders because they study bald eagles in school, but last year was a bit of an exception. The fourth- and fifth -grade classes were invited to help select names because Jackie and Shadow didn’t have chicks in 2023 and 2024, when the students would've been in third-grade.

"We want to make sure we're doing it the way that [Steers] wanted to do it, and those kids live for being able to do this,” Voisard said. “It's a right of passage.”

Friends of Big Bear Valley is expected to launch a naming contest where the public can submit ideas for this season’s eaglets, and the details will be announced online. A random list of names will be pulled from the submissions and shared with Big Bear third-grade students for the final vote.

Chick 1 and Chick 2 will then be officially named based on the results of the students’ ballots.