The Brief

An environmental impact report related to the proposed Dodger Stadium gondola project was released this week, and members of the public now are able to provide feedback.

The 437-page report focuses on the noise that could be created by construction of the gondola and how it would affect residents in communities along the route. It also discusses possible remedies for the noise, including sealing cracks in windows, replacing window glass and adding insulation.

The proposed $500 million gondola project would carry 5,000 visitors every hour from downtown’s Union Station to Dodger Stadium in about seven minutes. Opponents argue the construction would affect the Los Angeles State Historic Park and surrounding communities, and contend the money should instead be invested in more free shuttle buses.

The draft supplemental environmental impact report was released Monday, kicking off a 45-day public-comment period.

How we got here

The proposed project already has been through a similar environmental review process.

L.A. Metro released the draft environmental impact report three years ago, before the L.A. Metro Board of Directors approved a final report with conditions in February 2024.

The report later was challenged in court by separate lawsuits from the California Endowment and the Los Angeles Park Alliance, which is part of the Stop The Gondola coalition.

The alliance argued, in part, that the gondola would cause "irreparable harm” to the communities along the route, including Chinatown, Elysian Park and La Plaza, and that the proposed use of the park’s land and airspace is illegal. According to the alliance, the gondola would take nearly two acres of public land, destroy more than 250 trees, displace wildlife and permanently ruin the park’s “amazing” views.

The California Court of Appeal concluded in May that Metro’s proposals on how it would reduce construction noise from the project were “inadequate.”

The court directed Metro to prepare a supplemental report before taking further steps to approve the project again. That report was released this week.

How to get involved

You can find hard copies of the supplemental report, as well as the draft and final environmental impact reports, at the following locations:

• Central Library
• Chinatown Branch Library
• Cypress Park Branch Library
• Dorothy Peyton Gray Library at Metro Headquarters
  
  • Please note: The library is open to the general public by appointment

You can share your thoughts on the draft supplemental report by:

• Calling (213) 922-6913
• Sending an email to LAART@metro.net 
• Snail mail to Mr. Cory Zelmer, Deputy Executive Officer, Metro One Gateway Plaza, Mail Stop 99-22-6 Los Angeles, CA 90012 

The comment period will close Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. L.A. Metro is asking members of the public who wish to comment to limit commentary to what’s contained in the report.

Upcoming events

There are two upcoming events about the proposed project and report, including an informational workshop and a hearing for public comment:

• Informational workshop Oct. 9 from 5 to 6 p.m.
  
  • Zoom link
  • Call-in: (669) 900-6833 
  • Webinar ID: 879 2803 3819 
  • No formal public comment will be accepted at the workshop.

• Public hearing Nov. 6 from 5 to 7 p.m.
  
  • Zoom link
  • Call-in: (669) 900-6833
  • Webinar ID: 810 8997 8579 
  • Formal public comment will be accepted at the hearing in writing, by phone and verbally.

The mayor of Arcadia has agreed to plead guilty to a charge she acted as an agent for China, federal prosecutors announced Monday. She has resigned from her position with the city.

Eileen Wang, 58, faces one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.

What we know about the criminal case

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills worked at the direction of the Chinese government and with individuals based in the U.S. to promote pro-People’s Republic of China propaganda in the United States. Those actions occurred between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors, Wang and Sun operated a website — known as U.S. News Center — billed as a news source for the local Chinese American community in Los Angeles County. They posted content on the site, described as "pre-written articles," based on directives from Chinese government officials.

Sun, 65, pleaded guilty in October 2025 in federal court to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He is serving a four-year federal prison sentence.

Prosecutors also said Wang communicated with John Chen, whom they described as “a high-level member of the [Chinese government] intelligence apparatus,” in November 2021, and asked him to post an article from her website.

In a group chat, Wang referenced the article and wrote: “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chen pleaded guilty in New York to acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and conspiracy to bribe a public official. In 2024, he was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.

What's next

Wang, who was elected to the City Council in November 2022, was expected to make her first appearance in U.S. District Court Monday afternoon.

Citing a plea agreement, prosecutors said she's expected to enter the guilty plea within the next few weeks.

Arcadia's mayor is selected from the elected council members. A post on the city's website announced that Wang had resigned her position as of Monday and that a new mayor would be picked from the remaining council members at the next meeting.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave itself more time to consider a national ban on telemedicine access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Justice Samuel Alito extended an earlier order he issued by three more days, so rules for prescribing mifepristone online or through the mail remain in effect through Thursday at a minimum.

The case at issue

The tumult over the future of telemedicine access to mifipristone started on May 1 with a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling re-instituted prescribing rules from before the pandemic that required patients to receive mifepristone in person in a doctor's office or clinic.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that the rule was medically unnecessary in 2021. The state of Louisiana sued last fall, arguing that telemedicine access undermines the state's abortion ban.

What is telemedicine abortion?

The telemedicine abortion process starts with a patient connecting with a healthcare provider on the phone or online. If the patient is eligible, that provider can prescribe two medications — mifepristone and another pill called misoprostol. Patients can pick up the medicine at a local pharmacy, or providers can mail the drugs to a patient's home.

That access is a big part of the reason why the number of abortions nationally has actually increased since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. Now, most abortions in the U.S. use this combination of medications, and one quarter happen via telemedicine.

After the 5th Circuit ruling, some providers said they would continue offering telemedicine access to abortion medication using a different protocol that involves higher doses of misoprostol and no mifepristone.

Researchers say that method is just as safe and effective, but tends to cause more pain for patients and more side effects, like nausea and diarrhea. Misoprostol has other medical uses, such as treating gastric ulcers and hemorrhage, and has been on the market longer than mifepristone. It is likely to remain fully accessible, even if mifepristone is restricted.

Since the FDA's prescribing rules for medications apply to the whole country, a change to the rules about how mifepristone can be accessed has national impact. That means it affects states with constitutionally-protected access to abortion, states with criminal bans, like Louisiana, and all states in between.

States' rights

Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states submitted an amicus brief in this case, writing that the appeals court decision put the policy choices of states with bans above the choices of states "that have made the different but equally sovereign determinations to promote access to abortion care."

There are also stakes related to the power of FDA and other expert agencies to set rules. While the Trump administration's FDA did not respond to the Supreme Court's request for briefs, a group of former leaders of the agency, who served under mainly Democratic and some Republican presidents, wrote about this in an amicus brief.

They defended the FDA's process in approving the medication and modifying the rules for prescribing it, and say the appeals court decision "would upend FDA's gold-standard, science-based drug approval system."

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