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The Brief

The most important stories for you to know today
  • How did the city spend your money this year?
    A photo illustration showing L.A. Mayor Karen Bass against an orange backdrop along with a large blue scale weighing a firefighter on one end and a tent on the other. Stacks of money and a calculator appear near the bottom.
    L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' recently released budget proposal includes estimates for how much the city government spent on services this year.

    Topline:

    Have you ever wondered how much money you’re personally paying for L.A. city services? We made a tool to figure that out.

    How does it work? Input the amount of property tax you pay in a year (we have instructions on how to figure that out), and it’ll break down how much went to various city departments and services over the past year. These numbers are based on the city’s expenditure estimates for this fiscal year, which ends in June.

    Why it matters: The L.A. city government is facing a financial crisis fueled in part by overspending, and city residents will see service cuts as a result. Better understanding how the city government handled its money — and where your taxes fit into it — is one of the biggest ways residents can start to hold leaders accountable.

    Read on… to try the calculator for yourself.

    Our tax money makes our cities function. It funds everything from pothole repair to garbage pickup to firefighting.

    So how much money are you personally putting into all these services?

    If you’re a resident of Los Angeles, we made a calculator to show you how your property tax dollars were spent on city services this year, based on the city’s spending estimates. And, yes, this matters for renters, too.

    Understanding how cities handle their funds — and where your money fits into it — is one of the best ways residents can hold their leaders accountable. That’s especially relevant now as the L.A. city government faces a financial crisis fueled in part by overspending.

    How it works

    Roughly a third of the city’s general fund (think of it as L.A.’s main checking account used to pay for services, including police, parks and libraries) comes from property taxes. This is the money we’re following with this calculator.

    If you’re a homeowner in the city of L.A., you’re paying that tax directly. If you’re a renter, you’re likely helping your landlord pay that tax through your rent. When your landlord’s property taxes go up (or any other costs — maintenance, repairs or insurance), rent prices often follow.

    The rest of the city’s revenues come from sales taxes, business taxes, parking tickets and other fees. You’re likely paying some of those, too, but it's harder to pin down how much you’re contributing in a given year.

    To keep things simple, we’ll only be tracking property taxes with this tool — but know that your actual total contribution is likely higher.

    If you live outside the city of L.A., your breakdown will look different. We don’t yet have detailed calculations for other cities within the county or some of the other government services your money goes to, like school districts or county departments.

    If you’d like us to take a closer look at anything, send us a note via the form at the bottom of this story.

    How to find out how much property tax you paid this year

    The median property tax bill in L.A. is $5,438 per year, according to the Tax Foundation. When in doubt, use this number in the calculator.

    To get a more precise figure, you can look up a property tax bill by address with the following steps:

    1. Type in your address on the L.A. County Assessor’s website and find the 10-digit Assessor’s Identification Number, or AIN.
    2. Enter the AIN here (no dashes) to pull up the most recent property tax bill.
    3. Find the number on the top right that corresponds with General Tax Levy. This is the portion that goes to city and county general funds. Use this number in our calculator below. (If you’re in a large apartment building, this number is going to be pretty big. You can divide it by the number of units in your building to estimate your contribution.)

    Try the calculator

    Input your property tax amount below and see what the breakdown looks like. Read below to get additional background on some of this spending.

    How we put this together

    LAist relied on the city of L.A.’s expenditure estimates for fiscal year 2024-25, which you can see in Mayor Karen Bass’ most recent budget proposal.

    First, we determined what percentage of the city’s general fund came from property tax dollars, and then what percentage of each department’s budget came from the general fund. We used these same percentage formulas to break down your property tax bill for this calculator.

    More on how the city spends its money

    Wondering what kind of discussions city leaders are having over spending?

    Much of their attention has been on the budgets for the police and fire departments, which receive the largest share of city funds but have grappled with staffing shortages. Payouts for liability claims have also pushed the city further into its current budget crisis. Meanwhile, departments like the Bureau of Sanitation and Bureau of Street Lighting are proposing raising other fees to fund their services as city finances get tighter.

    Here’s more context behind some of these figures along with LAist’s recent reporting on city department budgets.

    Police

    The Police Department receives more city funding than any other department. More than 95% of its budget comes from the general fund.

    The number of sworn police officers has been falling in recent years. Today there are about 8,700 sworn officers, down from roughly 10,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Encouraging recruitment is one reason L.A. Mayor Karen Bass in 2023 said she supported salary hikes for officers worth $1 billion over four years, a deal the L.A. City Council approved. The raises are guaranteed under a contract with the police officers’ union, which means the salary portion of the LAPD budget — and your contribution to it — will continue to rise until the contract is up in 2027.

    More reporting:

    Fire

    The Fire Department’s budget has been a hot topic of conversation since the Palisades Fire erupted in January. (The LAFD was not in charge of fighting the Eaton Fire, which burned the unincorporated area of Altadena. That was managed by the L.A. County Fire Department.) This department’s budget comes almost entirely from the general fund, with less than 1% coming from a half-cent sales tax all Californians pay for local public safety agencies.

    Before the fires broke out, then-L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had warned that the department was understaffed and that emergency services were suffering. With just under one firefighter per 1,000 residents, the LAFD is among the smallest fire departments per capita of any major city. Response times have also increased in recent years as the city’s population has grown.

    The L.A. City Council approved a labor contract in 2024 that boosted firefighter pay and funded new equipment, but Crowley said that wasn’t enough to address understaffing. The mayor’s budget proposal for 2025-26 increases the department’s budget to add 227 new positions, an increase of about 6%.

    More reporting:

    City employee benefits

    One of L.A.'s biggest costs is its annual contributions to retirement and pension funds for city employees, which come from the general fund. This year the city paid $1.4 billion — about 17.9% of the general fund — to cover those payments plus some short-term borrowing costs to cover cash flow gaps. Sworn police and fire employees receive the biggest portion of these pension funds.

    In 2024, L.A. city voters passed Measure FF, which raised the overall cost of pensions. It allowed about 460 park rangers, port police and other peace officers the option to move from the civilian pension system to the more generous plan reserved for fire and police officers. An analysis from the city administrative officer said the measure would cost the general fund a $23 million one-time payment and about $1 million annually.

    When the stock market performs poorly, the city has to contribute more of your tax money to pension funds to make sure pension recipients get what they’re owed. That’s one of many ways the national economic outlook will have a big impact on L.A.’s finances in the years to come.

    More reporting:

    Homelessness programs

    The dollar amount shown in this tool only represents a few of the city’s services for unhoused people that aren’t part of other departments’ costs, including Inside Safe, Bass’ initiative to move thousands of unhoused Angelenos to temporary hotels and motels while they await permanent housing, and CIRCLE, a crisis response program that sends mental health workers to respond to non-violent calls involving unhoused people.

    This figure reflects about $70 million of spending on homelessness. The city of L.A. hasn’t yet released comprehensive spending estimates for all homelessness programs for this year, for which it originally budgeted $337 million from the general fund.

    The city budgeted another $614 million in homelessness spending to come from state and federal grants, as well as taxes or bonds that L.A. city voters passed. (That’s Measure ULA, which sets aside 4% of L.A. city property sales of more than $5 million and allocates them to homeless services, and Proposition HHH, which authorized the city to borrow $1.2 billion to build 10,000 units of housing over a decade.)

    The homelessness spending not reflected here also includes city department funds for homelessness-specific services — for example, job support programs for unhoused people through the Economic and Workforce Development Department’s budget, or park encampment cleanup resources through the Recreation and Parks Department’s budget.

    The city also contributes money to the joint city-county agency Los Angeles Housing Services Authority, or LAHSA, for its services, including the annual Homeless Count, street outreach and case managers for placing unhoused people into available housing. L.A. County lawmakers recently voted to withdraw its funding for LAHSA and create a new county-run agency. L.A. City Council members are also exploring the possibility of pulling funding for LAHSA. Bass’ budget proposal for the coming fiscal year decreases spending on homelessness by about 5% overall.

    More reporting:

    Liability claims

    This year, the city of L.A. is expected to pay more than $300 million to settle claims and lawsuits against the city for wrongdoing. It’s more than triple the amount the city budgeted for liability claims. That budget has remained at $87 million for the past five years despite payouts regularly amounting to double or triple that amount.

    Some of the most expensive settlements include claims over housing discrimination, police use of force and injuries caused by decaying city infrastructure.

    More reporting:

    Sanitation

    About 20% of the Bureau of Sanitation’s spending came from the general fund this year. A large portion of the rest came from fees that residents pay for trash, recycling, water usage and other services.

    The department has been facing staffing shortages and budget gaps, which is why earlier this year it asked the L.A. City Council to raise trash collection fees. If the rate hikes don’t get approved, the general fund would have to cover about 40% of the department’s expenses in the coming fiscal year, according to the Bureau of Sanitation’s analysis.

    More reporting:

    Street lighting

    If the figure shown in this calculator seems small, that’s because it’s not the full amount we actually pay for street lighting services.

    Most of this department’s budget comes from an additional property tax that’s specifically for street lighting. If you pull up your property tax bill (see instructions near the top of this story), you’ll see a section called “Direct Assessments.” Underneath that is a line for Los Angeles City Light Maintenance — abbreviated as “City Lt Maint” — that’s most of what you’re contributing to this department’s services.

    This fee hasn’t increased since the late 1990s. That has put stress on the department’s budget, which is also seeing rising costs due to copper wire thefts and frequent outages.

    Last year’s budget eliminated about 17% of positions from the Bureau of Street Lighting, which were vacant at the time. The mayor’s budget proposal for 2025-26 cuts it by another 7%.

    More reporting:

    What else do you want to know about local government spending?
    Have more questions about where your tax dollars go? Let us know what we should look into next.

  • Pay for laughs, then find out where to go
    A half-circle style building with people inside.
    Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.

    Topline:

    Secret stand-up shows are happening where ticket-buyers are told where to show up just hours before. It's all part of the new Don't Tell Comedy series.

    Details: The sites vary from parking lots, furniture stores, wine shops and other unconventional settings for stand-up comedy.

    Read on ... to find a secret comedy show.

    The post appeared first on LA Local.

    Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.

    Shh. There’s a secret comedy show happening in there where a comic is revealing secret techniques to make babies fart.

    Don’t Tell Comedy shows like this one at Boardroom Brewery in El Segundo last month are happening all around Los Angeles County. They are stand-up shows where the crowd is only given venue clues ahead of time and only told where to be just hours before. The sites vary from parking lots, furniture stores, wine shops and other unconventional settings for stand-up comedy.

    How to find a secret comedy show

    • The first step is fairly simple. Visit the Don’t Tell Comedy website and look for a show in a city you don’t mind driving to.
    • You’re going to have to buy tickets without knowing anything about the show. That means you won’t know who is performing or where the show is being held.
    • The morning of the event, you will receive a text message or email with the address to the secret location.

    What a typical show looks like

    A comedian on stage in front of a crowd.
    Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
    (
    Don Perez
    /
    The LA Local
    )

    Boardroom Brewery bartender Rick Mathiesen told The LA Local that the night started with folks “getting out of their Ubers with confused looks on their faces.” They were trying to figure out if they got the right place, especially when the beach town bar rolled down its see-through hangar door.

    The secret comedy show organization started in 2017 with backyard and living room pop-up shows. It has expanded its clandestine comedy format to more than 200 cities, including areas across LA such as downtown, Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Pasadena.

    Griffin James, the emcee of the night and a local producer for Don’t Tell Comedy, was seen putting 80 chairs away by himself — hey, legendary comic Sam Kinison got his start as The Comedy Store’s doorman.

    The 26-year-old Griffin said the gigs are still as competitive as landing a stage at The Laugh Factory, where he’s performed. There’s an added benefit for the audience: There is no mandatory two-drink minimum, which makes it more affordable than a night at a traditional comedy club.

    A comedian on stage in front of a crowd.
    Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
    (
    Don Perez
    /
    The LA Local
    )

    Most comics at Don’t Tell Comedy shows are up-and-coming locals, but a few big names like Ali Wong, Nikki Glaser and Michael Che have appeared.

    Jenna Lewanda told The LA Local that she and her boyfriend, Manny Aguilar, decided to take a trip from their West Hollywood home to the mystery spot in El Segundo. Their usual haunts for live comedy are the Hollywood Improv and a friend’s show, Hambone Comedy.

    Lewanda received a message at 9 a.m. that Saturday with the location details. She looked it up and committed the odd curved building to memory. She was happy that night’s headliner was a famous stand-up: Brad Williams. 

    Williams — a comedian with dwarfism who has two Showtime specials and a Netflix stand-up episode under his belt — closed out the seven-comic show that night.

    He got a lot of laughs recalling a camping incident where a park ranger told him to “get big” when confronted by a bear. The 4-foot-4-inch Williams’ response: “How?”

  • Sponsored message
  • Nearly $14M spent by group funded by Meta, Google
    A man with light skin tone, slicked-back light brown hair, and a short beard stands at a microphone with his mouth open mid-speech, looking slightly upward. He wears a dark gray suit, white shirt, and red patterned tie, with a small round pin on his lapel.
    Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is fighting hard to retain his seat representing a purple district in Southern California.
    Topline:
    With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes.
    Big spenders: Political action committees backed by politically powerful groups such as unions and business have spent over $100 million on California legislative races so far this election cycle, eclipsing 2024 spending. Groups can spend unlimited amounts on “independent expenditures” to boost or oppose a candidate, providing they don’t coordinate with the campaign.

    The backstory: Since they came on the scene in January, two new tech-backed groups have dominated spending in legislative races. Grow California, funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as a “counterforce” to union spending, has spent more than $20 million this cycle. California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year to support candidates who are focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”

    With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes.

    Political action committees backed by politically powerful groups such as unions and business have spent over $100 million on California legislative races so far this election cycle, eclipsing 2024 spending. Groups can spend unlimited amounts on “independent expenditures” to boost or oppose a candidate, providing they don’t coordinate with the campaign.

    Since they came on the scene in January, two new tech-backed groups have dominated spending in legislative races. Grow California, funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as a “counterforce” to union spending, has spent more than $20 million this cycle. California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year to support candidates who are focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”

    Legislative Action PAC, which Republican strategists founded in 2025 at the request of Republican lawmakers amid frustration with the official state Republican Party, is also spending for the first time this cycle. It aims to help Republicans hold seats they flipped in 2024, and its major funders include Google, AT&T and oil and gas companies. The PAC and its offshoots, Legislative Action Victory PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC, have spent at least $6 million to support Republican candidates since April.

    A CalMatters analysis of spending since the June 2 primary found that these are the nine most expensive competitive general election contests in the Legislature. Total spending in each race includes campaign spending from the primary through Sept. 19, the most recent reporting period, and independent expenditures from the primary through Oct. 13.

    $5.6 million: David Penaloza (D) v. Jessie Lopez (D) – Assembly District 68

    The priciest race so far is between two millennial Democrats who both serve on the Santa Ana City Council in Orange County. Lopez is the more progressive of the two: She helped pass a rent control ordinance in 2021 and faced a recall attempt by the local police union after she voted to create a police oversight commission in 2022. Tech money is flowing to help her opponent: In recent weeks, California Leads has spent $1.4 million and Grow California has spent $1.3 million on ads supporting Penaloza.

    Several powerful unions, including those representing public employees, nurses and California State University faculty, have spent a combined $1.4 million on ads supporting Lopez and attacking Penaloza.

    $5 million: John Erickson (D) v. Brian Goldsmith (D) – Senate District 24

    In the battle to succeed Sen. Ben Allen, Brian Goldsmith, an entrepreneur and former senior adviser for the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel, faces John Erickson, a West Hollywood city councilmember. The coastal Los Angeles district includes Malibu and Santa Monica. The two candidates are sharply divided on renter protections. Erickson supports repealing both the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and the Ellis Act, which limit local rent control and allow landlords to evict tenants to leave the rental business. That’s likely driving the influx of money supporting Goldsmith from the California Apartment Association, which has spent $450,000 on independent ads attacking Erickson. The California Realtors Association is the main funder of a PAC that’s spent over $600,000 backing Goldsmith.

    Criminal justice reform advocates and organized labor, including the carpenters and school employees association, have bankrolled ads supporting Erickson.

    $4.7 million: Greg Wallis (R) v. Leila Namvar (D) – Assembly District 47

    Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is again fighting hard to retain his seat representing a purple district that includes both deep-blue Palm Springs and Cathedral City as well as conservative suburbs around Redlands and Yucaipa. Wallis has a significant fundraising advantage over his opponent, Democrat Leila Namvar, a former local labor leader and city planner. His campaign has outspent hers 6-to-1 and independent expenditures supporting him are more than 5-to-1. A moderate with a pro-business record, Wallis has been a favorite of California Leads, which has spent $1.1 million supporting him. A PAC funded by oil and gas companies has spent about $450,000. Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC spent about the same.

    Amid the flood of outside spending, the Democratic Party has backed Namvar. Since mid-September, the party and its county committees have given her committee about $1.8 million.

    $4.6 million: Sara Hernandez (D) v. Sarah Rascón (D)  – Senate District 26

    Two Democrats are vying to replace departing progressive Sen. María Elena Durazo in this deep blue Los Angeles-based district. Sara Hernandez, a community college trustee, faces Sarah Rascón, a planning commissioner for East Los Angeles. Grow California and California Leads are backing Hernandez to the tune of about $3 million, even though her campaign website says she will “fight for strict rules with real enforcement” on Big Tech profits. Cardrooms near this district, including Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Commerce Casino, which are in a perennial battle with tribal casinos over gaming rights, have spent about $500,000 on independent ads supporting Hernandez.

    Rascón, whose top priorities include advancing environmental and social justice, has rejected corporate money. Her campaign had spent about $34,000 as of mid-September, and the Working Families Party and California Environmental Voters have spent over $100,000 on ads supporting her.

    $3.8 million: Eric Lucan (D) v. Jackie Elward (D) – Assembly District 12

    This seat, which encompasses all of Marin County and some of Sonoma County, is another target of Grow California. The group has spent about $1.8 million on ads supporting Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan. Lucan’s positions are more moderate than those of progressive Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward, who said in a KQED questionnaire that she supports moratoriums on “all things AI,” including data centers, and that “protecting workers is the priority.”

    Elward’s support comes chiefly from the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Consumer Attorneys of California and SEIU California State Council, which have spent over $1 million to support her race.

    $3.2 million: Jeff Gonzalez (R) v. Ida Obeso-Martinez (D) – Assembly District 36

    Outside groups have spent $2.7 million to back Republican Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersTraditionally Democratic, this Latino-majority district along the California-Mexico border voted for Trump by 1.3 percentage points in 2024. The same year, Republican Jeff Gonzalez flipped it. Democrat Ida Obeso-Martinez, a nurse practitioner and Imperial County councilmember, is now challenging him to take it back. Oil and gas companies, a California Chamber of Commerce PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC are among the outside groups that have spent $2.7 million on mailers, polling, and TV and digital ads supporting Gonzalez and attacking Obeso-Martinez.

    No outside groups have spent on behalf of Obeso-Martinez, but the California Democratic Party and its central committees recently gave Obeso-Martinez over $1.5 million for the final weeks of the race.

    $2.8 million: Josh Hoover (R) v. Amy Slavensky (D) – Assembly District 7

    Incumbent Republican Josh Hoover faces Democrat Amy Slavensky, a retired teacher and superintendent, in this competitive Sacramento-area district, which shifted rightward after redistricting in 2022. Hoover’s allies, including business groups, cardrooms, and the Legislative Action PAC, have spent at least $2.3 million, chiefly on digital ads and mailers supporting him and opposing Slavensky.

    No independent groups have spent to support Slavensky, but Democrats have contributed close to $1 million to Slavensky since mid-September.

    $2.6 million: Leticia Castillo (R) v. Clarissa Cervantes (D) – Assembly District 58

    Assemblymember Leticia Castillo at her desk during a floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersRepublican Assemblymember Leticia Castillo flipped this Latino-majority seat in Riverside County in 2024, defeating Democrat challenger Clarissa Cervantes by 596 votes. This year is a close rematch. Cervantes, a Riverside city councilmember whose sister is Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, received 54.5% of the vote compared to Castillo’s 45.5% in the June primary. In a rare move, Cervantes has outspent the incumbent Castillo in the general election. Much of her spending — close to $1 million — has been from her campaign account, compared to Castillo’s $80,000.

    Legislative Action Victory PAC has spent about $650,000 on ads attacking Cervantes, and a coalition of unions spent about $530,000 supporting her. Both parties have been pouring in money to their respective candidates in the last few weeks.

    $2.6 million: Guillermo Gonzalez (R) v. Melissa Hurtado (D) – Senate District 16

    Incumbent Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado won this district by 13 votes in 2022 even as Gov. Gavin Newsom lost it by more than 10 percentage points, making her the only Democrat to represent a state Senate district that President Donald Trump won in 2024. She faces a challenge from Republican Guillermo Gonzalez, a small business owner and former aide to Rep. David Valadao. Legislative Action PAC has spent over $1.7 million supporting Gonzalez and opposing Hurtado.

    The Democratic Party and various county central committees have donated $4.8 million to Hurtado’s campaign war chest this election cycle, allowing her to spend close to $1 million between the primary and mid-September’s filing deadline.

    For the record: This story was corrected to reflect that Clarissa Cervantes received 54.5% of the vote in her June primary contest against Leticia Castillo.

    This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

  • We take you to Outpost Books
    Woman standing in front of bookshelves
    Nicole Novembrino is the owner of the new bookshop Outpost Books that opened in South Pasadena in September

    Topline:

    Tucked away between a massage parlor and pet wash on Fair Oaks Avenue is South Pasadena’s only new and used independent bookstore.

    Why now? Outpost Books opened in September. And the name sets the tone for the just under 1,000-square-foot space.

    The vibe: “I wanted it to feel obviously cozy [like] a bookstore,” said owner Nicole Novembrino. But also “like a trading post, where you just stop along the road and there's stuff everywhere.”

    Tucked away between a massage spa and pet wash on Fair Oaks Avenue is South Pasadena’s only new and used independent bookstore.

    Outpost Books opened in September. And the name sets the tone for the just-under-1,000-square-foot space.

    “I wanted it to feel obviously cozy [like] a bookstore,” said owner Nicole Novembrino. But also “like a trading post, where you just stop along the road, and there's stuff everywhere.”

    Filled bookstore shelves set against a painted wall mural of cacti, a bunny, a tent, and desert sunset.
    The back of the shop's tiny "Kids Corral" where Outpost Books plans to have weekly story readings.
    (
    Laura Dux
    /
    LAist
    )

    Inside, custom corral doors open to a mural of a desert sunset. Hand-drawn signs guide you to each genre. Novembrino selects the books herself, from bestsellers to history books, including those that honor Route 66 — which Fair Oaks is part of. Some of the used books come from a local retirement home. The stickers for sale are for causes she supports such as keeping national parks public. A donation box to keep wild horses and burros free sits by the cash register.

    How road trips shaped the store

    Novembrino signed the lease in August and spent weekends road-tripping across Arizona gathering art to fill out the space. The western vibe is inspired by her childhood road trips from Southern California to New Mexico, where her mom grew up.

    Wooden corral doors in a doorway next to a curved window inside a shop.
    Novembrino got the corral doors custom made from a craftsman in Texas
    (
    Laura Dux
    /
    LAist
    )

    Why South Pasadena — and the rent worry

    Novembrino picked South Pasadena because the city didn’t have a bookstore, but she’s aware of how difficult it is to run a small business. Nearby, longtime children's toy store Dinosaur Farm said in a September social media post a rent hike could lead to the shop shutting down.

    “That's the one thing when you own a business is making rent. I hope not to feel that fear, but it's a very real thing,” Novembrino said.

    Assorted items on a desk, including stickers for sale that read "Outpost Books' and "Historic Route 66." The table also includes replica classic Coca-Cola bottles, assorted orange and white pumpkins and pencils.
    Novembrino had her fiancé designed several of the stickers found in the shop
    (
    Laura Dux
    /
    LAist
    )

    A line out the door on opening day

    So far, so good. On opening day, she was shocked to see a long line out the door, having done little outreach and promotion beforehand. Turns out, a South Pasadena social media influencer caught wind of the shop and posted about its grand opening date.

    “I've gotten thank-yous for opening,” Novembrino, who lives in El Sereno, said. “They're just excited to have a bookstore. I wasn't expecting that.”

    Outpost Books is planning for its first events later this season, including kids' corral storytimes and book clubs. Novembrino is still settling into the dream of finally running a bookshop.

    As for her second dream, that’s opening up a donkey rescue.

  • Congressional reps described conditions inside
    A man speaks at a House of Representatives podium outdoors in the desert, with four others standing nearby under a tent.
    Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) speaks at a lectern near the Adelanto detention center.
    Topline:
    Conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have improved but serious concerns remain, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach, and other members of Congress who visited the facility Friday.

    Improvements to water: Rep. Norma Torres of Pomona, who has visited Adelanto in an oversight capacity 25 times, said the only improvement she saw this time was that the facility installed water filtration systems in response to a July court order requiring ICE to ensure people held there have access to clean drinking water 24 hours a day.

    Remaining issues: At a news conference immediately following the visit, the representatives described unsanitary conditions in the showers and kitchen areas, food that looked inedible and inadequate access to medical care.

    The visit was unannounced: Garcia, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said officials at the facility kept the delegation waiting in the lobby for half an hour before starting the tour, despite a recent court order requiring the Trump administration to grant elected officials access to immigration detention facilities. “We should have been allowed to visit immediately,” Garcia said. “That is the law.”

    Conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have improved, but serious concerns remain, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach, and other members of Congress who visited the facility Friday.

    At a news conference immediately following the visit, the representatives described unsanitary conditions in the showers and kitchen areas, food that looked inedible and inadequate access to medical care.

    Improvements to water

    Rep. Norma Torres of Pomona, who has visited Adelanto 25 times in an oversight capacity, said the only improvement she saw this time was that the facility installed water filtration systems in response to a July court order requiring ICE to ensure people held there have access to clean drinking water 24 hours a day.

    Garcia told LAist he would leave it up to the independent monitors appointed by the court to determine if the facility was fully complying with the order. The monitor overseeing overall conditions at the facility released its first report, containing 12 recommendations for improvement, earlier this month. The federal government recently purchased the facility from the GEO Group Inc. for $950 million. GEO Group is still under contract to run day-to-day operations there.

    The visit was unannounced

    Garcia, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said officials at the facility kept the delegation waiting in the lobby for half an hour before starting the tour, despite a recent court order requiring the Trump administration to grant elected officials access to immigration detention facilities.

    “We should have been allowed to visit immediately,” Garcia said. “That is the law.”

    Garcia and other representatives said it appeared the facility had been cleaned just before the tour started. The representatives also said they were not allowed to speak with people detained at the facility because ICE officials said they were conducting a point-in-time count and people were confined to their cells.

    What’s next?

    The representatives said they will take recommendations back to the oversight committee and plan to continue unannounced visits to immigration detention centers, including Adelanto. Should Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in November, Garcia and other representatives said they will increase oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. Attorneys representing people held at Adelanto in a class-action lawsuit have asked the court to enforce the July order requiring improvements to the facility based on the independent monitor’s first report and reports from people detained there.