Yusra Farzan
covers Orange County and its 34 cities, watching those long meetings — boards, councils and more — so you don’t have to.
Published February 4, 2026 12:47 PM
A police drone in Huntington Beach. Santa Ana's city council voted to approve a purchase of the same drones.
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Jill Replogle
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LAist
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Topline:
Santa Ana became the latest city in Orange County to approve the use of drones as first responders after a heated debate.
What the police department says: Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told the council the drones will help the department improve response times.
Community concerns: But some on the City Council and in the audience expressed concerns with the vendor, Axon Enterprise Inc., which contracts with the Department of Homeland Security.
Why it matters: As Orange County’s only sanctuary city, Santa Ana has grappled with a deep mistrust in the police department as the federal government ramped up immigration raids and ICE detentions last summer.
After a heated debate, Santa Ana became the latest city in Orange County to approve the use of drones as first responders.
Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told the council the drones will help the department improve response times.
“It will reduce the air support costs associated with the Orange County Sheriff's Department helicopter contract. That contract currently right now sits about approximately half-a-million dollars a year,” he said. “It will provide responding officers with valuable information before they arrive on scene, which enhances community and officer safety.”
But some on the City Council and in the audience expressed concerns with the vendor, Axon Enterprise Inc., which contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. As Orange County’s only sanctuary city, Santa Ana has grappled with a deep mistrust in the police department as the federal government ramped up immigration raids and ICE detentions last summer. As immigrant families already contend with a fear of coming outside, the increased surveillance, they said, would make them even more afraid.
Ultimately, the council voted 4-3 to allow the city manager to enter into an agreement with Axon Enterprise for a three-year period, joining cities like Newport Beach, Irvine and Huntington Beach, which all have drone programs.
Details of the program
The drones will cost the city around $700,000, which will come from a state grant.
All data collected from the drones will be the property of the city and will only be released in accordance with state and city laws. The drones will also be the latest in surveillance technology purchased by the police department after it approved the purchase of 57 license plate readers last year.
How will the drones be deployed?
The three first-responder drones will be docked across the city at fire stations. When the police department receives an emergency call, the drones will be deployed within minutes, arriving before first responders. The live video stream, the police department says, will allow officers “to coordinate their actions more effectively and gather information in direct support of the department’s de-escalation strategy.”
In addition to the first-responder drones, the city will also purchase two patrol drones to use indoors and in tight spaces “to identify potential dangers.”
“ I'm not gonna make any promises here right now, but we are more than likely not going down the facial recognition route," he said. "For all intents and purposes, our drones will be a flying body, you know, use it deployed on actual calls for service where somebody's called the police. We're not randomly gonna be using it to surveil people or just fly around looking for crime.”
Community concerns
Carlos Perea, who sits on the Police Oversight Commission, and Tanya Navarro, organizing director with Chispa OC, both expressed concerns with the drone program.
“The vendor selected for this agreement, Axon Enterprise, profits from surveillance and policing infrastructure that is deeply entangled with systems of immigration enforcement and detention. Axon and its subsidiaries maintain contracts with ICE and other federal enforcement agencies at a time when immigrant communities across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance, raids, and violence,” Perea wrote in an email to the City Council.
Navarro called the drone program “reckless” for public safety and fiscally.
The language in the policy, she said, “gives police broad latitude to decide when and where drones fly, including over protest, public gathering,and community events. This is exactly how tools get justified for emergencies and then become normalized in everyday surveillance.”
Post-fire donations include items made 'with love'
Makenna Sievertson
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published February 4, 2026 2:17 PM
Cantor Ruth Berman Harris said she's planning on keeping the challah cover for communal celebrations and holidays.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center burned down in last year's Eaton Fire, taking with it nearly all of the special and ceremonial items housed inside. Since then, many supporters have donated items large and small, including prayer books, clothes and candlesticks.
Among the donations is a hand-woven challah cover that serves not only as a symbol of faith, but — in this case — evidence of recovery.
Why it matters: Cantor Ruth Berman Harris told LAist the challah cover, made and donated by Karen Fink of Van Nuys, will be used for communal celebrations and holidays to give it an extra layer of “kavod” — of holiness. Challah covers are a traditional sight on a table prepared for a Shabbat meal, where both the bread and a cup of wine are blessed before eating.
The gift: Fink said her weaving guild was already making items for survivors of the L.A.-area fires. When someone suggested she make a challah cover, she got to work.
“I just always like to think about who it's going towards, what it's going to be used for, that it should be used well and loved,” she said.
Despite best efforts, the campus and nearly everything in it was destroyed.
“I had a colleague calling me and asking me what I needed, and I wasn't able to say,” Berman Harris, one of the spiritual leaders of the synagogue, told LAist. “I don't think I was able to say what I needed for about a year.”
In the months that followed the fire, people from around the world stepped up to replace what was lost, including prayer books, clothes and candlesticks. Several donated challah covers, a decorative cloth that’s placed over the braided bread before being blessed and eaten on Shabbat.
A parking sign at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center after the Eaton Fire.
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Josh Edelson
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Getty Images
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And while much of the community’s focus is directed toward larger items that need to be replaced — the buildings included — smaller, ceremonial items can make a big difference, too.
Karen Fink, a Van Nuys resident, donated a hand-woven challah cover that she made for the temple. Her weaving guild was already making dish towels for L.A. fire survivors.
“You've got so many things that need to be done and replaced,” Fink said.
“I just always like to think about who it's going towards, what it's going to be used for, that it should be used well and loved,” she continued.
‘Love through the threads’
On Jan. 7, 2025, as the flames closed in on the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Berman Harris rushed through smoke and falling embers to rescue all 13 sacred Torah scrolls, pieces of parchment with Hebrew text used at services, including weekly on Shabbat.
Berman Harris now works out of an office building in Pasadena, a few miles away from where the center stood.
More than 400 families gathered to worship at the temple before the fire. About 30 families lost their homes, and 40 others were displaced, she said. The congregation has been gathering at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.
The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which burned during the Eaton Fire, in January 2025 (top) and in January 2026 (bottom).
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Josh Edelson
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Getty Images
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“The silver lining of when you go through a traumatic loss is that you don't realize A, how strong you are and B, how not alone you are,” said Berman Harris, who has been a part of the congregation for 14 years.
She said the temple has received many gifts to help them rebuild, but Fink’s challah cover will be used for communal celebrations and holidays to give it an extra layer of “kavod” — of holiness.
Challah covers, usually embroidered with Hebrew words and symbols, are a traditional sight on a table prepared for a Shabbat meal, where both the bread and a cup of wine are blessed before eating. The decorative cover is a symbolic way of honoring the bread, while the wine is being blessed first.
“Because you say the blessing over the bread last,” Fink told LAist. “It gets to have this lovely cover so it doesn't get embarrassed.”
Fink said she used one of her more intricate patterns, featuring white and blue threads in a repeating pattern of the Star of David.
The challah cover woven by Karen Fink when it was fresh off the loom.
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Courtesy Karen Fink
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She said it took a couple of hours to wind the thread, about a day to get the project set up on her small loom and another three days to get through the top six rows of stars.
Once the challah cover was complete, it took a few months to get it to Berman Harris, but Fink said she wanted to help in a way that felt more personal than mailing a check.
“They were able to get their Torah scrolls out,” Fink said. “But all the other things that maybe aren't required, but are helpful in enhancing the spirit of Shabbat, the spirit of a synagogue, you know, that was all lost.”
Starting to settle
Berman Harris said the donations have not only helped rebuild their ritual spaces, they were gifted “with love.”
“They're not things you buy on Amazon,” she said. “These are things that you cherish because you can feel the love through the threads.”
Cantor Ruth Berman Harris showing off the handmade challah cover Karen Fink weaved for the congregation.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The synagogue has received other challah covers that they’ve distributed to families in the congregation.
On the anniversary of the fire, Josh Ratner, senior rabbi at the temple, told LAist’s AirTalk program that Jewish people have overcome “so much” throughout history.
People embrace inside a tent on the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 6.
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Mario Tama
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Getty Images
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“I think that that gives us some firm foundation to know that we can recover from this as well,” he said. “And not just recover, but really our [history] … is one of rebuilding even stronger than before.
“Each time there's been a crisis, we've been able to reinvent different aspects of Judaism and to evolve."
Students carry lanterns they created as symbols of hope as they enter the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire.
Jacob Margolis
covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters.
Published February 4, 2026 1:23 PM
A mule deer fawn watches it's mother drink water at a feral cat feeding station behind the Descanso Beach Club in Avalon, Catalina Island.
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved a plan to kill and sterilize roughly 2,200 mule deer on Catalina Island as part of a large-scale restoration effort. The project — proposed by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy — also includes plans to monitor fauna, such as the Island fox and monarch butterflies, and increase biodiversity by removing invasive vegetation and seeding native plants.
Mule deer removal: Professionals will likely use drones, thermal technology and dogs to detect the deer before shooting them, primarily at night. Some deer will also be caught, sterilized and tracked in an effort to draw out any last deer. The efforts are estimated to be completed by 2032.
The history: Nearly a dozen mule deer were introduced to the island beginning in the 1920s. Attempts to relocate deer off the island in 1948 failed.
The opposition: In a letter to the CDFW, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she opposed the plan to "systematically slaughter the deer over the next five years,” given the “deep public connection to these animals.”
It has worked before: Roosevelt elk and mule deer — introduced to Santa Rosa Island for recreational hunting — were successfully eliminated in 2011, giving native flora an opportunity to recover. On Santa Cruz Island, the removal of cows, sheep and pigs by 2007 gave the native and formerly endangered Santa Cruz Island fox an opportunity to recover.
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Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published February 4, 2026 1:04 PM
The Santa Ana City Council approved a $75,000 agreement with the digital lending service Hoopla.
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Photo Courtesy of the City of Santa Ana
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Topline:
The Santa Ana City Council approved a $75,000 agreement with the digital service Hoopla to offer digital lending for movies, music, audiobooks and E-books through its library department.
Why it matters: The agreement comes as the federal government pulled back $2.75 billion in funding by slashing the Digital Equity Act. And last October, the Federal Communications Commission ended e-rate discounts to libraries and schools for digital lending programs, which included hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi.
Read on … for how the move could improve digital equity.
The Santa Ana City Council approved a $75,000 agreement with the digital service Hoopla to offer for digital lending for movies, music, audiobooks and E-books services through its library department.
The deal comes as digital equity programming becomes more at-risk of losing funding. The federal government pulled back $2.75 billion in funding by slashing the Digital Equity Act. Last October, the Federal Communications Commission also ended e-rate discounts to libraries and schools for digital lending programs, which included hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi.
The city first purchased Hoopla services in 2022. Brian Sternberg, Santa Ana’s library services director, told LAist the service has become increasingly popular with residents. Over the last year, Hoopla usage has been up 109%, with 4,435 people borrowing 24,340 items, according to Sternberg.
“The great people of Santa Ana deserve the same services, programs and collections that would be afforded anywhere else in the county,” Sternberg said. “That's my goal, to find ways to deliver that to our residents.”
What is Hoopla?
Hoopla offers a variety of popular content like movies, television shows, music, audiobooks and e-books.
“Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Max … the way those models are set up, there's not a good way for public libraries to purchase that content due to cost and just due to the way those content deliverers are structured,” Sternberg said.
Digital equity programming can extend beyond educational material, he added.
“There are kids, and they want to see Spider-Man,” Sternberg said. “And we want to be able to offer that, especially for our residents who might not have all the financial means to sign up for all these 10 different subscriptions. They're all like, $15, $20 a month.”
Hoopla provides content in English and Spanish, and there’s content for all age groups, Sternberg added.
The company uses a “pay-in-advance” model, which means the library is buying digital “credits” that are then used whenever a borrower checks out an audiobook, E-book or other content.
“They have different scales,” Sternberg said. “If you want the newest popular movies, it's this particular price point.”
How else is Santa Ana addressing digital inequities?
Sterberg said Santa Ana libraries are still lending out Wi-Fi hotspots for three weeks.
The library also carries its “Library of Things” where residents can borrow baking tools, video games, musical instruments, cameras and more.
The Main Library and Newhope Library are still closed for major renovations but are expected to reopen by the end of this year. Residents can still visit the library at the Delhi Center and the outdoor library at Jerome Park.
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is prepping for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published February 4, 2026 12:33 PM
LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman speaks during a news conference.
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Federic J. Brown
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Getty Images
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Topline:
A growing number of Los Angeles-area politicians are calling on Olympics chief Casey Wasserman to step down after recently released files included a series of flirty emails between him and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from 2003.
What do the emails say? The emails were released in the Justice Department's latest drop of the files related to the criminal investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They include an exchange in which Wasserman writes to Maxwell, "I think of you all the time…So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?"
Who wants Wasserman out? Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Imelda Padilla, Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez, as well as L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath, and City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
What has Wasserman said? LA28 did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But in a statement to other media outlets over the weekend, Wasserman said he was "terribly sorry" for his association with Epstein and Maxwell.
Read on… for comments from local politicians and more on the emails between Wasserman and Maxwell.
A growing number of Los Angeles-area politicians are calling on Olympics chief Casey Wasserman to step down after recently released files included a series of flirty emails between him and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from 2003.
The emails were released in the Justice Department's latest drop of the files related to the criminal investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"Casey Wasserman should step aside immediately," L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said in a statement. "Anything less is a distraction and undermines efforts to make sure the Games truly reflect the values of a city that is for everyone."
Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Imelda Padilla, Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez, along with L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath, and City Controller Kenneth Mejia also called on Wasserman to step aside.
"Los Angeles cannot trust our financial future to someone connected with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell," Mejia said on social media, citing the city of L.A.'s role as financial backer of the Olympic Games.
The emails include an exchange in which Wasserman writes to Maxwell, "I think of you all the time…So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?"
In another, Wasserman explains the concept of "June gloom" to Maxwell, who responds, "What foggy enough so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?"
LA28 did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But in a statement provided to other media outlets over the weekend, Wasserman said he was "terribly sorry" for his association with Epstein and Maxwell.
"I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,” Wasserman said in the statement, which was shared by The Athletic and other news outlets. “I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez also referenced LA28's "Human Rights Strategy," which was due at the end of last year but hasn't yet been made public.
"The failure to complete a robust Human Rights plan, coupled with the revelations from the newly released Epstein files, makes clear that no one associated with Epstein and his associates can provide credible leadership in the planning of these games, which now includes Casey Wasserman," Rodriguez said in a statement.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has not called on Wasserman to resign. In a statement to LAist, Bass said that it was critical to be "100% focused on making our city shine."
"Ultimately, any decision on the LA28 leadership must be made by the LA28 Board. As you know, they are a separate and independent nonprofit organization," the mayor said.
