Jill Replogle
covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.
Published January 7, 2026 4:07 PM
Orange County's courthouse in Santa Ana
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Jill Replogle
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LAist
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Topline:
An Orange County judge is resigning, his lawyer says, as part of a plea deal for his role in defrauding California’s workers compensation fund.
Who’s the judge? Israel Claustro, a longtime prosecutor who won election to Orange County Superior Court in 2022.
What did he do? While working as an O.C. prosecutor, Claustro also owned a company that billed the state for medical evaluations of injured workers. That was illegal because, in California, you have to be licensed to practice medicine to own a medical corporation.
Anyone else involved? Claustro’s partner in the business was a doctor who had previously been suspended for health care fraud, and therefore was prohibited from being involved in workers’ comp claims. Claustro knew this, and paid him anyway, according to court filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
What’s in the plea deal? The deal requires Claustro to resign as a judge and plead guilty to one count of mail fraud. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office is recommending probation instead, as part of the deal.
In an email to LAist, Claustro’s lawyer, Paul Meyer, said his client “deeply regrets” his wrongful participation in the business venture, and was resigning as judge “in good faith, with sadness.”
What’s next: Claustro is expected to make his initial appearance Jan. 12 in United States District Court in Santa Ana.
Libby Rainey
has been reporting on L.A.'s preparations for World Cup games this year.
Published May 27, 2026 5:00 AM
Nader Adeli a group of Iranian-Americans from around Los Angeles who play soccer together on weekends in an adult league, under the team name Arya FC.
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Libby Rainey
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LAist
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Key takeaways
Iran's participation in the World Cup has been in question since the U.S. and Israel launched a war against the country in late February. Whether the Iran team shows up or not won't be settled until they arrive in the U.S.
L.A. County is home to about 166,000 Iranian-Americans — the largest population of Iranians outside of Iran.
The U.S. and Iran teams have only faced off twice in World Cup history.
FIFA is planning to ban Iran’s former Lion and Sun flag in the stadiums. That flag is associated with those that want to see a return to monarchist rule in the country.
If the teams both finish second in their groups, they'll face off in Dallas, Texas on July 3.
Los Angeles is preparing to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup next month in unprecedented circumstances.
As the U.S. war in Iran drags on, the United States is the first host nation in World Cup history to be at war with a participating country. And the Iran men’s team is scheduled to play two of its matches in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian population outside of Iran.
Iran's participation in the tournament has been in question since the U.S. and Israel launched a bombing campaign against the country in late February. Whether they show up or not won't be settled until the team arrives in the U.S. to play. They were scheduled to train in Tucson, Arizona ahead of the tournament, but they've now re-routed to a facility in Tijuana, Mexico. FIFA confirmed the move on Monday.
"Sports is supposed to displace war. It's not supposed to be war."
— Kevan Harris, associate professor and vice chair, UCLA
Iran's first match is June 15 at SoFi Stadium against New Zealand. In the meantime, Iranians in Los Angeles are anticipating the coming tournament with complicated feelings.
" Sports is supposed to displace war. It's not supposed to be war," said Kevan Harris, a sociologist at UCLA who studies the Iranian diaspora. "Teams fighting it out when a war is going on, it has a flavor that's very difficult to process. Do I want them to win? Do I want them to lose? I don't know. "
For some, those dynamics and their opinions about the Iranian government are inextricable from the coming World Cup. For others, it's just about the soccer.
Mixed feelings for soccer players in LA
In Woodland Hills, a group of Iranian-Americans from around Los Angeles play soccer together on Sundays in an adult league, under the team name Arya FC. On a recent weekend, many players said they were excited for the World Cup, and most said they'd root for Iran's team, known as Team Melli.
"It's a lot going on in Iran right now, and there are a lot of mixed emotions," said Bobby Riahi, an Arya FC player who said he was going to a World Cup match and would support Iran. "You can't be a soccer fan and not be excited about the World Cup. Am I excited about seeing my national team? I have mixed feelings this year."
In Woodland Hills, a group of Iranian-Americans from around Los Angeles play soccer together on Sundays in an adult league, under the team name Arya FC.
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Libby Rainey
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LAist
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Between stretches and warm-ups, others said they doubted Iran would advance beyond the first round of the tournament. Some named players in Iran that they followed or said that they watched Iranian football.
Most didn't want to talk politics. Those that did, including one person who said he wouldn't support Iran because he thought it was the regime's team, didn't want to share their full names.
" It's a tough moment for sure for a lot of Iranians. I think a lot of my compatriots are pretty much divided," said Mehran Janani, another player. "There is a split, I think, in the Iranian population, about the Iranian team being here. There are some folks that are excited. There are some folks who are not happy for the presence of the Iranian team. And that all comes down to politics, unfortunately."
Nader Adeli, who manages the team, said he hoped all that could be set aside for the World Cup.
"Soccer has always been the most-watched sport in the world. And I think that will bring everybody together, at least for a period of one month of June to July," he said. "Let's hope for the best – that Americans will see the other side of the Iranian people as well."
A history of controversy at the World Cup
Iran's participation in the World Cup has been marked by political controversy before, including just four years ago. In 2022, the Iranian national team headed to Qatar for the World Cup as mass protests took place in Iran, sparked by the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Christian Pulisic of USA battles for the ball with Ramin Rezaeian of Iran during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at Al Thumama Stadium on Nov, 29, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
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Dean Mouhtaropoulos
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Getty Images
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"There was all kinds of pressure around trying to say that the team was not a national team, but that it represented the Islamic Republic, and therefore it should be boycotted," said Niki Akhavan, associate professor of media and communication studies at Catholic University of America.
Iran did end up playing in the World Cup in 2022, where the team faced the U.S. for just the second time in tournament history. They lost 1-0.
Fans with the USA and Iran's flags attend the Qatar 2022 World Cup match between Iran and USA at the Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha on Nov. 29, 2022.
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Patrick T. Fallon
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Getty Images
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Prior to that, the two countries faced off in 1998 at the World Cup in France. The showdown came after nearly two decades of hostility between the U.S. and Iran following the Iranian Revolution and subsequent hostage crisis.
Score board showing the final score of the World Cup 1st round match at the Stade de Garland on June 21, 1998 in Lyon, France.
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Simon M. Bruty
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Getty Images
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Naim Sadav and Mehdi Pashazadeh of Iran and David Regis of USA in action during the World Cup match at the Stade de Garland on June 21, 1998 in Lyon, France.
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Simon M. Bruty
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Getty Images
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That match was dubbed "the mother of all games." The New York Times called it "the most visible head-to-head sporting event between the two countries since the Islamic revolution in 1979."
USA Team players exchange flowers with the Iranian Team before the World Cup 1st round match at the Stade de Garland on June 21, 1998 in Lyon, France.
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Simon M. Bruty
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Getty Images
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"There will be protests"
This time around, some members of the Iranian diaspora in Los Angeles think that protests around the World Cup are inevitable.
"There's no doubt that there will be protests. The question is where will they happen?" said Harris, of UCLA. "What will be the slogan? What will be the demand? That's hard to tell."
Sheila Rossi, who was born in Iran and is now the mayor of South Pasadena, said she expects there to be conflict over the flags people will bring to the Iran matches.
Many demonstrators in Los Angeles have carried the country’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag as a symbol of protest. That flag bears the same green, white and red stripes as Iran's national flag, but includes an image of a golden sun and lion instead of an Arabic inscription.
"If there's going to be a fight, it's going to be about this flag issue," Rossi said.
Still, others are hoping the tournament can usher in a time of celebration for Iranians who have spent much of the year worrying about the war and family inside Iran.
Shaheen Ferdowsi runs a Persian restaurant in West L.A. called Meymuni Cafe. Throughout the year, he's hosted events to bring together Iranians from around Los Angeles, and opened his doors to people after protests against the Iranian government and amid the war.
Shaheen Ferdowsi runs Meymuni Cafe in West L.A.
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Libby Rainey
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LAist
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Now, he's hoping the cafe can be a place of celebration during the World Cup. He's planning watch parties and special menu items like lamb nachos for the occasion. He's also hoping his restaurant can be a space for Iranians visiting from other parts of the world for the tournament to gather.
"The heartbeat of the Persian diaspora is in Los Angeles," he said. " I think that there's just going to be an electric vibe of Iranians all together here."
Back on the soccer field in Woodland Hills, Mehran Janani, one of the players, said he hoped the tournament could bring some levity to people inside Iran, who have endured months of war and a crackdown on protests before that.
" I think with the current political climate in Iran, I'm hoping that at least the soccer will bring some joy to the Iranian nation," Janani said. “I know as a country we love soccer.”
If both teams do advance through the first round, it's possible that the U.S. and Iran teams will face each other again, this time on American soil. If the countries each finish second in their groups, they'll play in Dallas, Texas on July 3.
Makenna Cramer
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published May 27, 2026 5:00 AM
Morning fog slowly burns off over Universal City on May 31, 2025.
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Myung J. Chun
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Southern California is in store for cooler temperatures, gusty winds and a chance of showers this week as a mixed bag of “May Gray” weather moves into the region.
Why now: The cooler forecast is expected to stick around through Thursday before warmer temperatures kick in Friday, lingering into next week.
Cooler conditions: Temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below normal “at the very least” in L.A. County for the next few days, according to the National Weather Service. That doesn’t mean L.A. County won’t see sunshine, particularly in the mornings.
It won’t be quite as chilly in Orange County, according to Lauren Villafane, a meteorologist with the San Diego office. But in the Inland Empire, she said, temperatures will be “well below” the seasonal average.
Rain: Showers and a brief thunderstorm or two are possible, mostly in the L.A. County mountains and higher terrain areas, but there is a small chance of wet weather drifting into the valleys and coastal areas.
The marine layer is back in Orange County, which Villafane said could bring some patchy drizzle in the mornings.
Winds: It’s going to be gusty on L.A. County beaches, mountains and desert areas through Thursday. A wind advisory was in effect Tuesday for the Antelope Valley, as well as parts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Some of Santa Barbara County, including El Capitan State Beach and San Marcos Pass, are under a wind advisory through Wednesday morning.
Orange County mountains will see winds between 40 to 50 mph with isolated gusts around 70 mph. Villafane encouraged people to be careful driving through the mountain areas, especially with taller vehicles “because they can get blown around a little bit.”
Surf: A high surf advisory is in effect for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county beaches until Wednesday evening. Dangerous rip currents and large breaking waves between 8 to 12 feet are expected, according to forecasters.
Rip currents could also kick up along Orange County beaches. “So definitely to be careful when they're swimming out there, pay attention to those flags and those lifeguards,” Villafane said.
What's next: By early next week, L.A. County temperatures will hang around 90 degrees in the valleys and mid-80s in downtown L.A. Temperatures on the coasts are expected to stay near normal, likely in the upper 60s to mid-70s.
Next Tuesday looks like it’ll be the warmest day in Orange County with temperatures up to several degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service.
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Elly Yu
reports on early childhood. From housing to health, she covers issues facing the youngest Angelenos and their families.
Published May 27, 2026 5:00 AM
Axel Pecero, who is now in Mexico, is hoping he can one day reunite with his 4-year-old son.
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Courtesy Axel Pecero
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Topline:
Axel Pecero was arrested by federal immigration officials last summer. After being detained for months at the Adelanto immigrant detention center, he chose to voluntarily leave the U.S. in hopes he can be reunited with his son in a few years.
One of many: About 200,000 children in the U.S. have been separated from their parents being detained under the Trump administration, according to a new estimate by the Brookings Institution. Like the majority of people detained by ICE, Pecero has not been convicted of a crime.
The backstory: Read more about how one father was arrested last year. He now is in Mexico, unsure of when he'll be able to return to his son.
Last August, Axel Pecero was in Burbank for a conference. He traveled frequently for his work as a foster youth advocate.
He was walking back to his hotel from a concert when Burbank Police stopped him and ran his ID.
A warrant he had for driving with a suspended license from several years ago popped up. It listed a $10 bail amount.
“They took me to the station because of that ten-dollar warrant,” Pecero said.
Burbank police released him hours later with a citation to appear in court later that month, a department spokesperson said. Pecero never made it — when he exited the jail, he said, immigration agents were waiting for him.
“As soon as I opened the door, Department of Homeland Security is literally right at the door. It was three of them. They were, like, blocking the entrance completely,” he said.
They arrested him, took him to the federal building in Los Angeles, and then to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County. Pecero began pursuing legal options to be released.
His case had urgency: Pecero has a 4-year-old — Ajay, short for Axel Junior.
“I could be deported. But I'm fighting my case,” he told LAist from Adelanto. “I have a son here that I'm fighting to stay with and be able to stay to help and support and raise.”
Pecero is one of tens of thousands of parents that have been detained under the current Trump administration. A new analysis by the Brookings Institution estimates that more than 200,000 children in the U.S. have been separated through detention under President Trump.
Pecero shares custody of Ajay with the boy’s mom. Ajay would frequently stay over with Pecero in his apartment near downtown L.A. — they’d go out to the park, or to eat, or play sports. They’d also hang out with Pecero’s younger brother, Isaac, who lived with Pecero.
Axel said Ajay would frequently hang out at his house near downtown L.A.
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Courtesy Axel Pecero
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Isaac Pecero said he was stunned when he had found out his brother had been detained.
“How would they try to deport him if he's been here way before he could, before he even remembered coming to this country? I found it unbelievable,” he said.
Isaac Pecero said after his brother was detained at Adelanto, he tried to make up for his older brother’s absence by taking Ajay on outings to the park and elsewhere.
“But we were missing something and that was my brother. It was sad when I had to tell [Ajay] like, ’Oh, I'm sorry, you can't see your dad.’ I didn't even know what to tell him when he was asking me where his dad was. I didn’t know what to say,” he said. “It was just heartbreaking because, you know, my nephew, me and my brother — we were the trio. Wherever we were at or whatever we were doing, as long as we were together, it was always fun, you know? We were the family.”
A former foster youth
Axel Pecero said he was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by his grandmother when he was three years old, and grew up around Los Angeles and the South Bay with various relatives. As a teen, he lived with his aunt. At 18, he left to live on his own.
“ It was rough. Six months later I had spent through all of my savings and then I was broke, and then couldn't pay for my apartment no more, so I ended up homeless,” he said.
He said he was arrested for trespassing; when it was time to renew his DACA status in 2019, he was denied, according to his immigration attorney.
Axel (right) with California state senator Caroline Menjivar. He said he wanted to work in policy.
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Courtesy Axel Pecero
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“I was young, I was dumb, I was just trying to survive out here by myself,” he said. “It was a journey trying to get all my life in order.”
A spokesperson for DHS said Pecero has pending charges including for drug possession, larceny and burglary. LAist could not locate court records in Los Angeles related to the burglary charge (court records show a drug possession charge was dismissed in 2020; misdemeanor charges related to a joyriding case were dismissed in January). When asked for more details, the DHS spokesperson said they didn’t have information about what jurisdiction the burglary charge was in.
Axel Pecero said his life changed after his son was born. He started attending Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, where a program for former foster youth connected him to resources and housing support. He joined a network of foster youth advocates, landing work with California Youth Connection and other organizations. Pecero traveled around the state and to Washington D.C. to testify on behalf of kids who’ve been in the foster care system.
He said at the time he was detained, he wanted to get his bachelor’s.
“I was doing policy work and I wanted to do policy work — that was the plan,” he said.
Axel, who was a delegate with the National Foster Youth Institute, would travel across the state and to D.C., to advocate for foster youth.
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Courtesy Axel Pecero
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Few legal options
In February, an immigration judge denied Axel Pecero’s bond to be released, citing him as a flight risk, according to his attorney. After seven months in detention, Pecero faced a choice: Leave the country and have a chance to come back to see his son in a few years. Or face deportation, and get barred from returning to the United States for 10 or 20 years, he said, even to visit.
By March, “ looking at at my circumstances, I opted for the voluntary departure,” Axel said. A judge granted it.
A week later, DHS put him on a bus to Tijuana, then he got a flight to Cancun, where his mother lives. He hadn’t seen her for 18 years.
A report by the Vera Institute found that voluntary departures among people who are detained have increased more than 10-fold under the Trump administration.
Before he left the U.S., Pecero saw his son Ajay one last time in an Adelanto visiting room.
“As soon as he saw me, he was crying. He ran into my arms. I picked him up, and he was crying, and I was crying too, you know? And he just said, ‘Dada,’ and he just came and he ran up to me, and I told him I missed him. He said he missed me, too. And I was like, "I love you, son’,” he said.
Starting over in Mexico
Pecero is still getting used to his new surroundings in Mexico.
“ It's not like anything that I'm used to in the United States. So that’s a big change for me that I have to kind of get used to,” he said. “I’m leaving everything, my life, everything I had went to school for. My son, my friends, my family that I had out there.”
He said he’s been able to talk with Ajay more frequently now on Facetime, but it’s hard to explain where he is or what will happen next.
”He was telling me, like, ‘Dada, come home.’ And I was like, I was like, ‘I can't, son. Like, I'm in Mexico.’ And he's like, ‘Why?’ And I'm like, ‘It's because, like, I'm too far. I'm really far away.’”
For now, Pecero is searching for a job in the tourism industry, and he’s not sure if he’ll apply to school. He said he feels like he’s torn on moving ahead.
“It’s complicated because I’m trying to be present in where I’m at, but at the same time it’s hard because I’m like, OK, I don’t really know how long I want to be here just because I’m thinking of Ajay,” he said.
He fears making roots too deep in his new home, because it might create more distance between him and his son.
“It’s frightening because these are the years that he needs me the most,” he said. “Not being able to be there stresses me out because I can’t raise him how I would want to raise him.”
Jill Replogle
covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.
Published May 26, 2026 5:26 PM
There are multiple ways for evacuees to cast a ballot.
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Tiffany Ujiiye
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LAist
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Topline:
The Orange County Registrar of Voters is sending teams to emergency shelters to make sure people can still can vote in the June 2 primary even if they are under evacuation orders because of the Garden Grove chemical spill threat.
The backstory: Some 40,000-50,000 people in and around Garden Grove were ordered to evacuate last Friday after a tank holding thousands of gallons of a toxic, highly flammable chemical threatened to explode. The evacuation area was sharply reduced Monday evening after public safety officials discovered that pressure in the tank had been relieved, but many are still under evacuation orders. Some fled their homes without even the bare essentials, much less their mail-in ballots for next week’s election.
So what's the fix? If you left your mail-in ballot at home, you can go to any of Orange County’s 38 vote centers and request a replacement ballot. (You can find the locations of those centers here.) The O.C. Registrar on Tuesday also sent two teams to the emergency shelters in neighboring Fountain Valley to help evacuees with replacement ballots. Those ballots can be mailed, dropped off at a vote center or placed in one of the county’s official ballot drop boxes. You can find the locations of those drop boxes here.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters is sending teams to emergency shelters to make sure people can still can vote in the June 2 primary even if they are under evacuation orders because of the Garden Grove chemical spill threat.
The backstory
Some 40,000-50,000 people in and around Garden Grove were ordered to evacuate last Friday after a tank holding thousands of gallons of a toxic, highly flammable chemical threatened to explode. The evacuation area was sharply reduced Monday evening after public safety officials discovered pressure in the tank had been relieved.
But many Garden Grove and Stanton residents in the immediate vicinity of the tank, owned by the aerospace company GKN, are still under evacuation orders. Some fled their homes without even the bare essentials, much less their mail-in ballots for next week’s election.
How evacuees can vote
If you left your mail-in ballot at home, you can go to any of Orange County’s 38 vote centers and request a replacement ballot. You can find the locations of those centers here.
The O.C. Registrar on Tuesday also sent two teams to the emergency shelters in nearby Fountain Valley — at Freedom Hall and Los Amigos High School — to print replacement ballots for evacuees who need them. Those ballots can be mailed, dropped off at a vote center or placed in one of the county’s official ballot drop boxes. You can find the locations of those drop boxes here.
The drop box at Chapman Sports Park, which is within the evacuation zone, is unavailable. Registrar Bob Page said ballots were collected from the box when evacuations were first ordered. Page said his office has resumed retrieving ballots from two other drop boxes that were within the initial evacuation zone.
