The Brief

The latest Powerball rolled over again this week, putting the Christmas Eve jackpot in the $1.7 billion range — a top-four all-time number.

That means a fair number of folks are out there dreaming about a very merry (and green) Christmas. Who among us has never fantasized about unexpectedly come into large sums of money, be it inheritances, property or someone's estate?

So we spoke with a past lottery winner about what it's like to suddenly become very wealthy — and what you should consider if it ever happens to you.

What it's like to win the lottery

Timothy Schultz won the $28 million Powerball in 1999 when he was just 21. At the time, he was working at a gas station in Iowa trying to put himself through school. On that fateful day, he woke up to his father banging on the door, shouting that Schultz had sold the winning ticket, not knowing he'd sold it to himself.

"I compared the numbers to the newspaper and they matched and it was just so surreal and it was just very euphoric and it felt like I was living in a movie or something," Schultz told Austin Cross on LAist's daily news program, AirTalk.

How it can impact your relationships

Money can negatively affect your relationships and quickly, said Schultz, who now hosts the podcast Lottery, Dreams and Fortune, where he interviews lottery winners.

California Lottery officials hold replica check for Powerball winner at the downtown Los Angeles location where the winning ticket was bought.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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You have to be wary of scams and people wanting to use you for the wrong reasons, even family members, he added.

"If you are the giving type and you do want to help other people, I think it's better and healthier to establish that early on after speaking with financial advisors," Schultz said. "What you can or cannot do and what you do or do not want to do, and then establish that and be transparent about that early on."

Seek professional help first

If you come into money, the first thing you should do is connect with an attorney or financial advisor you trust, which is exactly what Schultz did.

"The first thing they said was secure this ticket because you have a ticket worth millions of dollars," he says. "We took it to a safety deposit box."

You can also use those professionals as gatekeepers when dealing with other people who want to have conversations about your money.

"That takes a lot of the burden off," said Joe Bert, a certified financial planner and host of On The Money, a financial call-in radio show. "That doesn't mean that they won't hound you, but they understand that you're not the decision maker. And of course you meet with that advisor and you decide where you want to give that money and so forth."

Prepare to be taxed

Be ready to be taxed on your funds, one way or another.

"If you get that lump sum, depending on your state, Uncle Sam and the state is going to end up taking about 50% of whatever that lump sum is," Bert said.

There are also potential estate tax consequences. The government could take as much as 40% in those cases, he added.

So, which is the better choice — lump sum or annual deposits? It depends on the individual.

"There's some benefit to having a steady income for 20 years, knowing that that's coming in. However, if you've got some reasonable investment background, a financial acumen, you can do a lot with that money," Bert said.

Stay grounded

Schultz said it can feel like you have a magic wand and can do whatever you want after winning a big jackpot, but he stressed the importance of keeping your head on straight, and again, starting with a financial advisor.

"It's better to be financially responsible if you want to make it last," he said.

Listen to the full conversation

Listen back to AirTalk's full conversation with Timothy Schultz, which aired in August 2023 when a $1.25 billion Mega Millions jackpot was up for grabs.

State and local lawmakers are joining immigrant rights groups in urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would bar California law enforcement from moonlighting for ICE.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who represents Angelenos from South L.A. to Mar Vista, introduced AB 1537 in January. If implemented, the bill would ban California police, sheriffs and other law enforcement from taking on second jobs that involve “arresting, detaining, transporting, or deporting” people.

The bill has made its way through the state legislature and is now on the governor’s desk. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto it.

At a press conference outside L.A. City Hall on Wednesday, José Madera, who directs the Pasadena Job Center, pointed to multiple deaths involving federal immigration agents in recent months — from Minneapolis to Houston — and to a recent shooting in Austin. “We don't need our local police to be part of that violence,” he said.

“ICE is a lawless, rogue agency that is terrorizing our communities, separating our families and kidnapping our neighbors,” said Bruno Huizar, supervising policy manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Governor Newsom must sign AB 1537 into law to protect Californians.”

L.A. City councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose own parents were undocumented, said it pained him to see immigrant parents go to work and to church in fear of being separated from their children.

“If you’re a public servant, you should be serving the public — not helping ICE tear families apart,” he added in a follow-up email statement.

The bill, dubbed “No side jobs for ICE” by its proponents, would also require officers to report secondary employment offers relating to immigration to their employers.

“If a law enforcement agent gets a conditional offer from an immigration enforcement agency, that will be part of their employment records. And that will be subject to a public records act request,” said Shiu-Ming Cheer, a licensed attorney at the California Immigration Policy Center. “This is aimed at bringing transparency, so that we know how many officers are actually getting offers to work as an ICE agent or a Border Patrol agent.”

The Peace Officers Research Association of California, which represents officers across the state, has spoken out against the bill, arguing that “policies like this don’t improve public safety.” The Los Angeles Police Protective League did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

The bill is part of a growing effort to bar local law enforcement from engaging in the ongoing mass deportation effort. The L.A. City Council approved a motion in March, barring city employees from holding second jobs with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

In Santa Ana, the City Council recently adopted a policy that prohibits employees from obtaining outside work that involves federal immigration enforcement activities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill aimed at protecting children who are abused.

The law, which went into effect this week, is named “Gabriel’s Law,” after Gabriel Fernandez — an 8-year-old boy in Palmdale who died in 2013 after being tortured and abused by his mother and her boyfriend.

“It devastated the community. Still has,” said State Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), who worked on legislation related to Gabriel’s case for years. “It hasn't gone away, right? It’s something we still acknowledge.”

Since Fernandez’s death, the Antelope Valley has seen a number of high-profile child deaths at the hands of their parents.

The new law requires social workers to make sure a child gets emergency medical care when needed, and it makes it easier to prosecute social workers who knowingly falsify records.

Officials said there had been warning signs about Fernandez’s abuse, but social workers with the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services failed to follow up on them. The high-profile case prompted internal reforms in the agency.

What happened to Gabriel

Gabriel died in May 2013, after months of abuse from his mother and her boyfriend. He was found with a number of injuries, including a fractured skull, broken ribs and BB pellets lodged in his body. His mother and her boyfriend were both sentenced.

A teacher had reported signs of abuse to the county, but social workers did not remove him from the home. Then they ended the investigation. Prosecutors charged the social workers with child abuse, but the charges were later dismissed.

“He was literally tortured. And there were many, many, many documented events, and there are many encounters that he had with people that lacked follow-up,” Lackey said.

What does the law change?

Before this week, the law said that social workers may authorize care if a child needs immediate emergency care, but did not require it. Gabriel’s law requires a social worker to secure medical care for a child.

“ They call for an ambulance or escort the child to an emergency room— make sure a physician has the opportunity to provide some level of remedy and documentation of the injury,” Lackey said.

It also clarifies the law so that social workers who are guilty of falsifying or destroying public records can be imprisoned or fined.

Why did the law take so long to change?

Lackey’s previous legislative efforts related to Fernandez’s case failed over the years. He introduced at least five different pieces of legislation that failed to advance.

“I'm not even saying that I blame the pushback and the concern, because if you're too aggressive, there's a tendency to accuse people of wrongdoing when they are not guilty of wrongdoing, so we wanted to make sure that the balance was reasonable,” he said.

Lackey terms out this year. “We're trying to do something as a community to not only pay tribute to [Gabriel], but to prevent it from reoccurring,” he said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has completed its investigation into the cause of the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights but was unable to determine what caused it. 

In a press release, LAFD said the June 17 fire was caused by an “electrical event” that occurred on the roof of the building, “adjacent to a section of solar panels.” Despite a “comprehensive investigation,” the department could not determine what caused the electrical event.

“The Department’s thoughts remain with all those impacted by this deeply tragic incident,” Arson and Fire Investigation Chief Thomas Raymond said in a release.

In response to the inconclusive investigation, District 14 Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said, “LAFD’s finding that the cause remains undetermined does nothing to alleviate what Boyle Heights residents have endured and are still carrying: months of health concerns and disruption, along with unanswered questions about whether this site can safely operate again.”

“The fact that we still cannot explain how this catastrophe began is yet another reason I will continue opposing any permits to rebuild this facility,” Jurado said.

Recently, the LA City Council voted to withhold rebuilding permits for the Lineage warehouse until after the Los Angeles Fire Department completed its investigation. Earlier this month, Lineage Chief Executive Officer Greg Lehmkuhl told Boyle Heights Beat and The LA Local that the company had not decided whether to rebuild, saying, “We’re still focused on holding the right people accountable here and making sure that we’re continuing to support the community.”

The CEO’s comments came after Lineage sued solar power provider Altus Power, Inc. and its contractor, blaming them for the fire. Altus Power and its contractor dispute those claims.

In a statement following the completed investigation, Lineage said, “Today’s report from the Los Angeles Fire Department validates what we have known all along: This was a solar fire.”

The fire and subsequent cleanup of millions of pounds of rotting food caused a flood of issues for residents living in Boyle Heights, East LA and surrounding communities, including an infestation of flies and pests, nausea and headaches, higher utility bills and other health concerns. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Boyle Heights Beat senior reporter Alejandra Molina and LA Local reporter Christopher Damien contributed to this report.

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