Jill Replogle
covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.
Published May 16, 2025 3:39 PM
(
Erin Hauer / Dan Carino
/
LAist
)
Voters in Huntington Beach will soon decide two controversial ballot measures regarding the city's beloved public libraries.
What are the measures? Measure A would block a plan to have City Council appointees review children’s books and determine whether they’re appropriate. And Measure B would make it harder for the city to sell or outsource management of the city’s public libraries.
Read on ... for more details about the election, and what proponents and opponents have to say about the measures.
In a special election on June 10, Huntington Beach voters will decide on two ballot measures:
Whether to overturn a committee of City Council appointees charged with reviewing children’s books and determining whether they’re appropriate.
Whether to make it more difficult for the city government to sell or outsource management of the city’s public libraries.
Official titles on the ballot:
Measure A: Community Parent Review Board
You are being asked: Do you want to repeal the community review board tasked with choosing which books are appropriate to place in the children’s and teen library sections?
A "yes" vote on Measure A means: The ordinance establishing the community review board will be repealed. It will be replaced with minimum standards for librarians to select materials for the library that present a range of diverse viewpoints.
A "no" vote on Measure A means: The community review board will not be repealed.
Measure B: Public Operation of Library
You are being asked: Do you want to put restrictions on the city’s ability to sell or outsource management of the city’s public libraries?
What your vote means
A "yes" vote on Measure B means: The city would only be able to sell one of its public libraries or outsource library services if the city declares a fiscal emergency or voters approve the sale or outsourcing in a special or general election.
A "no" vote on Measure B means: The city can consider selling a public library or outsourcing services.
Understanding the issues
The beach city’s libraries have been a point of controversy since 'MAGA' conservatives won a majority of elected seats on the City Council. One of them, Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, has made it a major focus of her political career to try to get books removed from school and city libraries that she believes have inappropriate sexual content.
"What we're trying to do is take our library back to the days where our kids were able to go to the children's section and run around and open books and look at the pictures and read and have it be safe the way it used to be," she told LAist last year.
Elsewhere in Southern California and across the nation, children’s and young adult books — especially those with LGBTQ characters and themes, and books about sex and sexual health — have become a flashpoint in the so-called culture wars. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case filed by parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, who want to exempt their children from public school instruction that includes reading books with LGBTQ themes because of religious beliefs.
The backstory
In 2023, Van Der Mark spearheaded an ordinance, backed by her fellow conservative council members, to establish a board of local parents and guardians to review books for children and teens proposed for library acquisition and vote on whether the books are appropriate. The board can also review books already in the library and decide whether minors need parental permission to check them out.
The City Council also ordered librarians to remove books with “sexual content” from the children’s section of the library. Initially, the librarians were instructed to remove any books showing body parts that typically would be under a bathing suit. That led librarians to move books about the human body, development, and puberty to a high shelf in the adult section of the library. You can see the most recent list of removed books here.
The backlash was swift, with opponents accusing city leaders of censorship. They mounted a petition drive to get the board repealed, which is now Measure A.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed a bill last year, the “Freedom to Read Act,” aimed squarely at prohibiting the kind of book restrictions Huntington Beach has enacted for its libraries.
What the review board ordinance says
The library review board, which hasn't been officially established yet, would vote on whether a book meets “community standards for material acceptable for children's access, including books that may contain sexual content or sexual references.”
“Community standards” is defined as the review board’s determination of whether or not a book is appropriate. Examples given of “sexual content” include “sex, sexual organs, sex acts, relationships of sexual nature, or sexual relations in any form.”
The board can also review children’s books currently in the library and decide whether to move them to the adult section and require a parent’s consent to check them out.
Each council member would appoint two members to the board, and the board’s decisions would be final and unappealable.
Review board faces lawsuit
Two Huntington Beach teens, backed by the ACLU and the First Amendment Coalition, sued the city earlier this year over the book review board and its new policy of restricting minors from accessing library books with sexual content.
A city spokesperson told LAist that because of the pending lawsuit, the review board has yet to be established.
Controversy over 'PORN' signs
Some of the many campaign signs seen in Huntington Beach as the city prepares to vote June 10 on two controversial library measures.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Last month, in the run up to the June special election, supporters of the book review board posted campaign signs around Huntington Beach reading “Protect our kids from porn” in big block letters. The complaints began immediately, to schools, city leaders, and in online forums, including this comment on a local Facebook page directed at City Councilmember Chad Williams: “Chad Williams got a whole city full of kids googling ‘What is Porn’ on their smart phones, exposing them to more images online than any books in the library ever will.”
Williams defended the campaign tactic. “The bottom line is there’s pornography that’s available to minors in our public library,” he told LAist at the time. “I’m not going to dance around the subject, it needs to be addressed.”
According to Cornell Law School’s online dictionary of legal terms, the definition of pornography is “material that depicts nudity or sexual acts for the purpose of sexual stimulation.” It is illegal in the U.S. to distribute pornography to minors.
At a recent City Council meeting, supporters of the book review board read graphic passages from books they said were in the Huntington Beach library.
What supporters of Measure A say
Supporters say the book review board Measure A would repeal replaces experienced librarians with untrained political appointees with the power to decide which books kids can access in the city’s library.
They say there’s already a mechanism in place for adults to submit a complaint about a book in the library, which kickstarts a review and potential relocation or removal of the book.
What opponents of Measure A say
Opponents of Measure A, who want to keep the book review board, say the board gives the community greater decision-making power over which books are appropriate for Huntington Beach children.
They say the review board provides a safeguard to make sure children don’t have access to obscene or sexually explicit content in the library without parental consent.
Understanding the second measure on the ballot —Measure B
Around the same time the City Council passed the book review board, they voted to explore the possibility of turning over management of the city’s libraries to a private company.
The idea was immediately controversial, and the sole company that submitted a bid pulled out at the last minute. The City Council has not publicly explored the idea of privatization or outsourcing since then.
But advocates for Measure A decided to mount a second petition drive to put strict limits on the city’s ability to ever sell or privatize the library or otherwise outsource library services. That became Measure B.
What supporters of Measure B say
Supporters of Measure B say the measure will ensure that residents have the final say on any decision to privatize the public library system. And they argue that the measure allows the city enough flexibility to make tough decisions about the budget.
What opponents of Measure B say
Opponents of Measure B argue that the measure would take away the city’s ability to make budget decisions regarding the library, thereby potentially jeopardizing the city’s overall fiscal health.
Further reading
There's a lot of information about the two ballot measures on the city’s website, including:
Need to know how and where to vote? The Orange County Registrar of Voters has information on the time and place of vote centers and secure ballot drop boxes, and how to mail in your ballot.
You can also track your ballot and make sure it gets counted by signing up for alerts on the registrar’s website.
The autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo plans to file a voluntarily software recall after several reports that its self-driving taxis illegally passed stopped school buses.
Why now: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation in October in response to potential violations.
What's next: The company says it identified a software issue that contributed to the incidents and it believes subsequent updates will fix the problem.
The autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo plans to file a voluntarily software recall after several reports that its self-driving taxis illegally passed stopped school buses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation in October in response to "a media report involving a Waymo AV [autonomous vehicle] that failed to remain stopped when approaching a school bus that was stopped with its red lights flashing, stop arm deployed, and crossing control arm deployed."
WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired video in September that showed a Waymo vehicle driving around a school bus.
The NHTSA website also includes a letter from the Austin Independent School District, saying the district has documented 19 instances of Waymo vehicles "illegally and dangerously" passing the district's school buses. The letter, signed by the district's senior counsel, says in one instance the Waymo vehicle drove past the stopped bus "only moments after a student crossed in front of the vehicle, and while the student was still in the road."
In a statement emailed to NPR, Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña said that while the company is proud of its safety record, "holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better." Peña wrote that Waymo plans "to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA" and it "will continue analyzing our vehicles performance and making necessary fixes."
The company says it identified a software issue that contributed to the incidents and it believes subsequent updates will fix the problem. Waymo says it plans to file the voluntary recall early next week and it points out that no injuries have occurred because of this problem.
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. It has focused on safety in public statements, showing that driverless Waymo cars have a lot fewer crashes than those with human drivers. In the cities where the company operates, it says there have been 91% fewer crashes with serious injuries and 92% fewer crashes with pedestrian injuries.
Independent analyses from technology news website Ars Technica and the newsletter Understanding AI support Waymo's claim that its AVs are safer than human drivers. Still, federal regulators are asking the company to provide a lot more information about these incidents.
According to NHTSA, Waymo's AVs surpassed 100 million miles of driving last July and continue to accumulate 2 million miles a week. Given that and discussions with Waymo, the agency says "the likelihood of other prior similar incidents is high."
Earlier this week, NHTSA investigators sent a list of detailed questions about the incidents to Waymo as part of its inquiry. The agency asked Waymo to document similar incidents and provide more information about how it has responded. NHTSA set a deadline of Jan. 20, 2026, for Waymo to respond.
Editor's note: Google is a financial supporter of NPR.
Cedar trees in Christmas Tree Lane are lit up at Saturday's lighting ceremony.
(
Matt Ballinger
/
LAist
)
Topline:
The annual Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony was held on Saturday, the first time since the Eaton Fire.
Why it matters: The lighting is Altadena’s kickoff to the holidays, a 105-year-old tradition that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Why now: The event takes on extra significance for attendees after devastations from the Eaton Fire.
"3... 2... 1..."
Voices rang out in unison until the nearly mile-long row of cedar trees along Santa Rosa Avenue burst with color.
The Christmas Tree Lane lighting is Altadena’s kickoff to the holidays, a 105-year-old tradition that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.
And it was all that on Saturday night.
After the Eaton Fire, though, the celebration was more for many who attended. Many things about the lighting remained the same: speeches by dignitaries, a performance by the high school drumline.
But so much was different. A tree just off the lane was lit in white with 19 green lights honoring every person who died in the fire.
A tree off the Christmas Tree Lane was lit in white with 19 green lights honoring every person who died in the fire.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
And during the ceremony, a minute and 19 seconds of silence was observed, led by the night’s emcee, actor Edward James Olmos.
LAist was at Saturday night's lighting event.
Megan Murdock
Longtime Altadena resident Megan Murdock and her partner Steven Valle.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
Saturday marked longtime Altadena resident Megan Murdock's very first outing.
"I love Christmas Tree Lane, but I've never been to the lighting event," she said. " This felt like the year to show up and represent."
As the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire approaches, Murdock said it's been amazing to see the community rebuild, even though the scars are still raw.
"Through the rebuilding, there were really hard days, there's going be more really hard days," she said. "But today's a good day."
Seamus Bozeman
Seamus Bozeman and his family lost their home in Altadena.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
Seamus Bozeman will always call Altadena home.
He and his family lost their house in the Eaton Fire. But every chance he gets, Bozeman (a former LAist intern) can be found hanging out in his old haunts.
"I come back and shop at the shops as much as I can, eat from the restaurants here," he said. "I love this place so much."
Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony on Saturday.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
He said the tree-lighting ceremony he grew up knowing was a quaint, neighborhood affair.
" With this whole festival and everything because of the fire, I don't know, it's not the same for me," he said.
But change, he knows, is inevitable.
" I'm hoping it's for the better," Bozeman said. "But one thing I do know is that we'll be closer as a community because of this fire."
Patricia Valencia
Patricia Valencia (R) and her friend at the Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
For Patricia Valencia, who lost her home in the fire, Saturday night's event was a reunion.
"I saw my neighbor for the first time since we evacuated," she said. "It was emotional! I gave him a hug, and I was like, I think I'm gonna cry because I haven't seen you since that night that we left."
Greg Demus
Christmas Tree Lane resident Greg Demus.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
Greg Demus lives right on Christmas Tree Lane. For him, the event is an annual ritual.
" I've been coming here all my life," he said.
But after the fire, few things are a given.
" I wasn't quite sure what to expect," Demus said of this year's ceremony. "But it's good to see so many people come back to try to celebrate Altadena and keep Altadena strong."
Howard and Linella Raff
Howard Raff and his wife Linella at Saturday's Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Howard Raff and his wife Linella are renting outside of Altadena while their home is being remediated.
"Coming back, you just want it to be what it was, and you don't know what it's going to be like. So having this was kind of an anchor of something that you knew was going to be there," Linella said.
Marguerite Lockwood de Jauregui
Marguerite Lockwood de Jauregui holds up a photocopy of the house in Altadena she lived in for three years, at the corner of Santa Rosa Avenue and East Mariposa Street where she is standing.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
Marguerite Lockwood de Jauregui and her husband arrived at Christmas Tree Lane on Saturday in the early afternoon.
As soon as they were able to enter the area, the two set up their chairs at the corner of Santa Rosa Avenue and Mariposa Street.
The intersection of Mariposa Street and Santa Rosa Avenue at Christmas Tree Lane
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
The lot on that corner now sits razed and empty. But before the fire, it was the house where de Jauregui had lived for three years after college. A place where she built lifelong friendships with her roommates.
"It was such great memories and a great camaraderie," she said.
Altadena, she remembered, was vibrant and free-spirited.
"It was a really close-knit community," she said. "When you go further down Fair Oaks, you could go to the movies and dinner. You get together with friends in their historical homes, and we'd all sit around and play music."
Marguerite Lockwood de Jauregui brought with her a photocopy of the Altadena house she stayed at.
(
Fiona Ng
/
LAist
)
She returned to Christmas Tree Lane on Saturday to honor those formative years — and brought along images and drawings of the house that burned down.
"It was almost like claiming a bit of my own personal history back," she said.
A pint of beer is served at the Great British Beer Festival on Aug. 1, 2006, in London.
(
Peter Macdiarmid
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
The FIFA World Cup is coming to L.A. in 2026. Fans of clubs from different parts of the world will probably look for something familiar when they land in L.A.
And ... one British expat and writer has put together this guide for the best European pubs to watch games in the L.A. area.
The FIFA World Cup is just a few months away, and some national soccer teams, like Cape Verde, Curacao and Uzbekistan are competing for the first time. Their fans — and those of the other 45 countries — will probably look for something familiar when they land in L.A.
Whether it’s a fast food logo or a restaurant serving regional dishes from home, that sense of familiarity can be the first stepping stone before you start discovering the delights of where you are now.
When I arrived in Los Angeles from England, I was soon directed to Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica. Judging by the dozens of photographs on the wall, it has been a kind of entry checkpoint for newly arrived British Isles celebrities and regulars alike since the 1970s. They do afternoon tea, of course, plus their bar will open early to show UK soccer matches. Their store has snacks and candy for the homesick.
It was, of course, reassuring for me to hear familiar accents and recognize the beers on tap and even some of the crisps — sorry, chips — behind the bar. Asking whether any “football” matches were going to be shown didn’t raise any eyebrows either, even though that could mean having to arrive soon after sunrise because of the time difference in the UK.
British comfort food at Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica.
(
Donal Tavey
)
Even if I had been living locally, I don’t think it would have become my “local” (as it were) because I thought it was important to try to get to know my new home, rather than hold on too tight to what I had just left behind.
That said, I did occasionally return to watch football matches and even for a couple of New Year’s Eves, which happen here at 4 p.m. to coincide with midnight in England. Then I could call home and hear the singing of “Auld Lang Syne” while we in the pub were singing it at the same time.
Here's a select list of pubs where you can sample the drinks, eats and even watch the sports from several European countries.
Ireland
The Auld Fella (Culver City & Brentwood) 9375 Culver Blvd., Culver City
Auld Fella in Culver City
(
Kevin Kearns
/
Courtesy Auld Fella
)
Owned by an actual Irishman, Kevin Kearns from Inishowen, they pour an excellent Guinness (don’t ask any Irish person about the importance of that, nor how hard it is to find that in L.A.) and have a good selection of savory pies. Kevin’s also an actor and appeared in blockbuster Battleship.
Tom Bergin’s (Mid-Town/Fairfax) 840 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles
Tom Bergin's in the Fairfax District.
(
James Bartlett
/
LAist
)
An L.A. staple since 1936, it’s the center of celebrations on St. Patrick’s Day. Stapled to the ceiling and walls around the horseshoe bar are shamrocks with the names of past patrons: try to find Cary Grant, Kiefer Sutherland, Ronald Reagan and Bing Crosby. A short menu, but you can get shepherd’s pie (steak, carrots, celery, caramelized onions, under mashed potatoes), and it’s said to have invented Irish coffee. Choose that or a good Guinness.
Molly Malone’s (Mid-Town/Fairfax) 575 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles
Molly Malone's in the Fairfax District.
(
James Bartlett
/
LAist
)
Owned by Irish family the Hanlons since 1969, Molly’s was damaged by a fire last year but bounced right back with its dark interior and original mission as a place where Irish troubadours and traditional musicians could get together. It’s long been a respected music venue and occasionally gets some bigger names on stage. You’ll get a good pour here, too, though the menu is just a few items long.
Named after a bonnet worn by Scotsmen, the “Tam” looks like a castle crossed with a witch’s house, in part because the original fairytale European look wasn’t a hit for owners Van de Kamp bakeries when they opened in 1922, so they pivoted to kilts, flags and bagpipes. Actors came in from the nearby studios, and famously, Walt Disney and his companions were regulars. A steakhouse, it also offers Scottish rarebit (cheddar, Scottish ale, cayenne pepper on sourdough) and, as you see when you enter, a large selection of scotch whiskeys. It even has resident ghosts!
Head to Wirsthaus to experience the best of Bavaria with steins of German beers, giant pretzels, schnitzel (boneless, thin slices of meat that are pounded, breaded and pan-fried until golden and crispy), bratwurst (sausages), plenty of oompah music and staff dressed in traditional dirndls and lederhosen — the Hollywood movie go-to for scenes of beer debauchery.
Red Lion Tavern (Silver Lake) 2366 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles
Red Lion in Los Feliz.
(
Trashingetc
/
Courtesy Red Lion
)
Originally an “Olde English” pub opened by the then-owners of Cole’s in downtown, it always had some German beers on draft, and in 1963, new owners fully embraced that. The German wife of one of them reportedly taught her home recipes to the chef, and it was German-owned until 2004, when Aidas Mattis and family, longtime patrons, took over. They kept up the style at this small, maze-like local favorite: flags, German signs, memorabilia and the back-patio beer garden. Schnitzel, spaetzle (doughy noodles), goulash and bratwurst are on the menu, as well as many beers and ciders. Oktoberfest runs Oct. 14, 15, 21 and 22. Try a four-liter boot of beer.
England
The Cat & Fiddle (West Hollywood) 742 Highland Ave., West Hollywood
The Cat & Fiddle in West Hollywood.
(
James Bartlett
/
LAist
)
Located on Sunset Boulevard for several decades, “The Cat” has long been an expat hangout, especially for musicians. Now on Highland Avenue, the Gardner children carry on offering a friendly face and a familiar meal to all visitors. Their Sunday roasts are a real taste of home, and they have other classic British dishes like shepherd’s pie, a ploughman’s lunch (Gloucester, brie, scotch egg, grapes, cornichons, Branston pickle and baguette), Scotch egg and sticky toffee pudding. Want to know what those last two are? Go visit!
The Canaby (in the works)
Soon, ex-pats will be able to try Gordon Ramsay at the Carnaby, a recently announced 175-seat British gastropub that will open at Downtown Disney and bring 1960s London to Anaheim. Live bands will play music from that fab era, and dishes will include beef Wellington, fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding. No word yet on an opening date.
The Trump administration has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year's calendar of entrance fee-free days for national parks and added President Trump's birthday to the list, according to the National Park Service.
Why now: The administration continues to push back against a reckoning of the country's racist history on federal lands.
Other free dates: In addition to Trump's birthday — which coincides with Flag Day (June 14) — the updated calendar of fee-free dates includes the 110th anniversary of the NPS (August 25), Constitution Day (September 17) and President Teddy Roosevelt's birthday (October 27). The changes will take effect starting January 1.
The Trump administration has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year's calendar of entrance fee-free days for national parks and added President Trump's birthday to the list, according to the National Park Service, as the administration continues to push back against a reckoning of the country's racist history on federal lands.
In addition to Trump's birthday — which coincides with Flag Day (June 14) — the updated calendar of fee-free dates includes the 110th anniversary of the NPS (August 25), Constitution Day (September 17) and President Teddy Roosevelt's birthday (October 27). The changes will take effect starting January 1.
Non-U.S. residents will still be required to pay entrance fees on those dates under the new "America-first pricing" policy. At 11 of some of the country's most popular national parks, international visitors will be charged an extra $100, on top of the standard entrance fee, and the annual pass for non-residents will go up to $250. The annual pass for residents will be $80.
The move follows a July executive order from the White House that called to increase fees applied to non-American visitors to national parks and grant citizens and residents "preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules."
The Department of the Interior, which oversees NPS, called the new fee-exempted dates "patriotic fee-free days," in an announcement that lauded the changes as "Trump's commitment to making national parks more accessible, more affordable and more efficient for the American people."
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement: "These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations."
The new calendar follows the Trump administration's previous moves to reshape U.S. history by asking patrons of national parks to flag any signs at sites deemed to cast a negative light on past or living Americans.
Copyright 2025 NPR
