The Brief

Thousands of immigrant California truck drivers are in legal limbo after the Trump administration ordered the state to revoke their licenses earlier this year. Many are now out of work and unable to support their families.

Multiple lawsuits seek to restore the commercial driving licenses, otherwise known as trucking licenses, but so far, none of the cases have succeeded in keeping those drivers on the road.

As many as 61,000 California truck drivers will lose their licenses in the coming years as a result of the federal actions, representing between 5% and 10% of the state’s licenseholders. Roughly 13,000 drivers have already lost their licenses, which industry experts say could raise shipping costs across the state.

Many of the affected drivers are asylum seekers or those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status. They have the legal right to live and work in the U.S. but the Trump administration has alleged, without rigorous data, that these truckers drive more dangerously than U.S. citizens or immigrants with more permanent status, such as green card holders. To justify its crackdown, the federal government cited a few fatal crashes last year involving Punjabi truck drivers, including one in Ontario in October that killed three people.

For affected immigrant drivers, the loss of their trucking licenses puts their livelihoods in jeopardy.

One, whose last name is Singh, has two kids and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. For years he was rarely home as a long-haul truck driver carrying freight across the country. CalMatters agreed not to use his first name because he fears immigration officials will target him.

Singh is legally able to live and work in the U.S. because a judge approved his asylum case. He applied for a green card three years ago, but it has yet to arrive. If it had, he would be exempt from the federal enforcement actions and policies.

As an independent contractor, Singh contracts with companies to deliver goods, making between $11,000 and $16,000 a month. But expenses are high. Four years ago, he bought his own truck for $160,000 and he has monthly $3,000 loan payments, plus $1,500 a month in insurance.

Because of the new enforcement actions, Singh lost his commercial license on March 6 and is no longer able to drive his truck. The California DMV issued him a temporary license that allows him to drive a car, but that license is inadequate as a form of ID, said Singh, since many employers don’t recognize its validity. The temporary license isn’t a hard copy and doesn’t have a photo.

Singh said his wife has started working as a nanny while Singh searches for a job.

“What kind of job is going to pay off the rent and all these payments?” he said during a phone interview with CalMatters while his kids, ages 4 and 8, yelled for him in the background.

A year-long wait for resolution

In September, the Trump administration criticized the California DMV for giving commercial licenses with expiration dates that didn’t align with the dates of drivers’ work permits. The federal government then ordered California to rescind thousands of trucking licenses for certain non-citizens and created a new policy banning such immigrant drivers from obtaining licenses in the future. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the accusations were unfair or false but the state ultimately complied.

In February, an Alameda County Superior Court judge ordered the state to give drivers such as Singh a chance to restore their licenses after a law firm and two legal advocacy groups, the Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, sued on behalf of the truckers.

But California has yet to reissue a single one of the 13,000 licenses it rescinded.

“The court ruled that DMV must accept new applications and act on those applications within a ‘reasonable time frame,’” a DMV spokesperson, Jonathan Groveman, told CalMatters in an email. The DMV has told Singh and other affected drivers that they can reapply for their licenses and that the DMV will take up to a year to process them. Even then, the DMV told the Alameda County Superior Court judge that it may not be able to make a decision on the licenses.

The DMV is delaying because it is under pressure from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has threatened to punish California if it issues commercial licenses to these immigrants. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy already said he will withhold roughly $160 million in federal highway funds from the state over its previous handling of the trucking licenses. He also said if the state reissues the licenses, the transportation department would consider more severe actions, including revoking the state’s ability to issue trucking licenses entirely.

The California DMV sued the transportation department in February in response to the threats. Other lawsuits, including a Washington, D.C. case, could reverse some of the policies affecting California’s immigrant drivers, but they are still pending.

In March, Singh called his bank to ask about a deferment for the loan payments on his truck while he waits for a decision about restoring his license. He said the bank was familiar with his situation because it had received a number of similar calls that week from other truck drivers. It denied his request, he said.

On April 2, the Alameda judge held another hearing, seeking an update on the DMV’s attempts to restore the licenses. The state said that it is still sorting out its feud with the Trump administration and is awaiting the status of related legal developments, which could take months. The judge agreed to discuss the matter again in October.

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

L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez warned this week that Los Angeles could face bankruptcy if it doesn't make an airtight deal with Olympics organizers over how it will be reimbursed for its expenses during the coming 2028 Summer Games.

The Olympics have long been promoted as a "no cost" deal for taxpayers that will be hosted by the city, but funded and orchestrated by private organizing committee LA28.

But a key agreement outlining what city services Los Angeles will provide for the Games – like policing and traffic control – and how the cash-strapped city will be reimbursed for its extra work is now more than six months late.

In a letter to LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover sent Tuesday, Rodriguez warned that if it isn't changed, the current draft agreement could leave L.A. vulnerable to spending hundreds of millions even if LA28 turns a profit.

"Every dollar owed to the City must be reconciled and paid before any surplus is retained or repurposed," Rodriguez wrote. "Bankruptcy cannot be the legacy of these Games."

The major concern is who will pay security costs for the Olympics, including LAPD overtime. The federal government has allocated one billion dollars to security costs for the mega-event, and has put the Secret Service in charge of security planning.

Despite those plans, city officials are concerned about who will be left with the bag if the federal funding doesn't come through, or if it doesn't cover all of the city's security costs.

LA28 has not included security spending in its $7.1 billion budget – a point that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto raised in a March report sent to the city council. The billion dollars in federal funding will also be allocated across all the law enforcement agencies that police the Games – meaning the actual amount the city of L.A. will receive is unclear.

"What happens if the City's actual extraordinary expenses exceed $1 billion?" Feldstein Soto wrote in her report.

The city made a gamble when it agreed to host the Olympics. To score the host bid, L.A. agreed to be the financial backstop for the Olympic Games, meaning if the organizing committee runs into the red, L.A. will pick up the bill, along with the state of California.

In their missives over Olympic expenses, both the city attorney and Councilmember Rodriguez raised a new potential nightmare scenario for the city: that the Olympics could make a surplus, and L.A. could still be left in debt.

"The City requires unambiguous language in the [agreement] to foreclose any scenario in which funds might go back to the wealthy backers and investors of the LA28 organization without reimbursing taxpayer-funded extraordinary costs," the city attorney wrote.

LA28 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Next Tuesday, the city council's ad-hoc committee on the Olympic Games will meet for the first time since January.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

If you’re part of the food allergy club — the group of people who can go from fine to anaphylactic after one wrong bite — eating at restaurants isn’t casual. It’s high stakes.

A miscommunication on the line, incomplete information from a server or a shared griddle can mean an EpiPen injection and a trip to the hospital.

Unlike intolerances, food allergies can be life-threatening. The immune system treats even trace amounts of an allergen as a threat.

And allergens are on the rise, with an estimated 7% of the U.S. population experiencing food allergies according to a 2024 CDC study.

That’s why The LA Local spoke with more than 20 restaurants and cafes about their allergen protocols and narrowed the list to seven local spots that take nut allergies seriously — and still deliver on flavor.

Please note that while we recommend these spots, this reporting is not a substitute for your own diligence. Be sure to disclose your allergy when dining and ask any questions specific to your situation.

At these spots, instead of feeling like your allergies are an inconvenience, we hope you’ll feel the warm hug of a safe and accommodating meal.

Noble Rotisserie

A typical allergen-free dish at Noble Rotisserie.

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Isabella Kulkarni

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The LA Local

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Owner Sidney Price started Noble Rotisserie to serve families like hers.

She and her husband Steve raised two sons with a range of food allergies — including nuts, dairy, sesame and eggs — a list that was long and ever-evolving.

Sidney didn’t feel safe eating out in part because restaurants couldn’t even answer her basic question, “What is in this dish? So I can look it over and make sure my son can eat it.”

Years later, Steve and Sidney opened Noble Rotisserie, a place that prioritizes transparency by making everything from scratch and clearly communicating ingredients.

Noble Rotisserie was built for people with allergens.

The protocol goes something like this: if you come in and say you have an allergy, a manager will be called over to take your order. They will pull out a detailed allergy binder — also available online — listing ingredients down to spices and alliums like onions and shallots.

They source from vendors they know, like Pasturebird, which supplies the restaurant with hormone and antibiotic-free chicken. Inside the restaurant’s kitchen, they have a separate station where they prepare allergy orders to prevent cross contamination.

The food is also really good.

The chicken was perfectly seasoned, the potatoes crisped to perfection, and the dairy-free coconut soft serve was creamy, indulgent and full of toasty flavor. The accommodation was simply the cherry on top. It’s no wonder that most diners here, according to Sidney, have no idea the restaurant is allergen friendly.

The restaurant also partners with the Food Allergy Institute in Long Beach’s TIP program, which helps children and young people with allergies. Sidney said her two sons completed the program and are now both food allergy free thanks to treatment.

Cafe Tropical

A typical allergen-free dish at Cafe Tropical.

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Isabella Kulkarni

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The LA Local

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Silverlake’s big purple landmark, Cafe Tropical — located where Sunset Boulevard and Silver Lake Boulevard meet — functions as a community hub. The cafe has been around since the 70’s according to owner Danny Khorunzhiy, who used to frequent it as a patron.

The space is bustling with goodwill reminiscent of a bygone era. During my time eating at the spot, there was a steady stream of regulars coming in to chat with the staff. The space also has a literal community center attached, which Khorunzhiy maintains to this day.

Most exceptional, however, is the food.

My plate was full of color — a strip of thick cut bacon, buttery lettuce from Roots Farms, slices of heirloom tomatoes and a bright purple slaw served alongside rich, creamy eggs.

As for the allergen protocol, they have labels on the menu, and nearly everything is made in house, which according to Khorunzhiy, is part of the reason the restaurant started to attract people with allergies.

Khorunzhiy has dealt with his own severe walnut allergy since he was a teen, so he understands the importance of taking precautions.

San & Wolves

A big part of the ethos behind San & Wolves is serving the greater Filipino community. Its founders, Kym Estrada and Arvin Torres, are both Filipino and vegan, and started the bakery to recreate the treats they grew up with — like ube halaya and pandan pudding — while maintaining their diet.

Believe me when I tell you: I am full dairy all day, and I live very far from Long Beach, but I would make the trip any day. Every treat I tried was exceptional.

Chef Estrada didn’t start her vegan bakery with any plan to be soy or nut free. Two of the heaviest hitters in traditional vegan baking are soy and nuts, but Estrada said she was “tired of draining tofu.” She also started experimenting with fewer nuts because of the cost.

After they opened San & Wolves, Estrada and Torres started to notice a steady stream of kids with allergies who frequented the shop. This sealed their decision to stay nut free.

“We have to be committed to them,” Estrada told The LA Local. “If we include nuts and soy, they can’t eat here.”

San & Wolves puts an emphasis on whole foods instead of hyper processed ingredients which are common in vegan cooking. They make their “egg salad” with whole veggies and chickpeas rather than the vegan product Just Egg, for example. Even their sweetened condensed milk is made in house with coconut milk. “I’m not sure if it’s cost effective,” Estrada admitted with a laugh.

Woon

When Keegan Fong expanded his original Filipinotown spot, Woon, to Pasadena, he decided to make the new kitchen entirely nut-free. Why? “Why not?” he said. “Nowadays there are a lot of eating restrictions.”

So he and his team built out the kitchen in a way that avoided what Fong deemed the most common and sensitive allergen. Unlike traditional Chinese cooking, where shared woks and recycled cooking oil are the norm, Fong restructured his line to separate allergens as much as possible — cooking in dedicated woks and discarding used oils to prevent cross-contamination.

At Woon, staff are trained on allergens and have access to a binder listing cross-contamination risks and sauce recipes. Employees are also encouraged to check with a manager whenever a guest with allergies comes in, so the kitchen can confirm nothing was different that day.

Despite being a nut-free kitchen, the Pasadena location does post signage reading “made in a facility that contains peanuts,” but that refers only to a packaged Peanuts + Sea Moss snack produced at the original Filipinotown location.

Fong is also candid about the limits of any such guarantee: he can’t control whether a staff member brings trail mix to work.

The menu is largely vegan — Fong notes that much of traditional Chinese cooking lends itself naturally to plant-based preparation — and includes a small selection of gluten-free items. But beyond its dietary accommodations, the Pasadena location carries personal weight for Fong.

He grew up in Pasadena, and opened Woon there just 10 days before the wildfires swept through the region, making the expansion feel like a homecoming of sorts. The restaurant has since added a weekend brunch menu, giving Pasadena and Altadena residents — and anyone else looking for a satisfying weekend meal — more reasons to visit.

Hugo’s

A typical allergen-free dish at Hugo’s.

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Isabella Kulkarni

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The LA Local

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The West Hollywood outpost of Hugo’s is the kind of place you could bring almost anyone and have a good time. The menu spans comfort food — turkey meatloaf, Cuban sandwiches — and healthier fare like pumpkin coconut curry and quinoa beet salad, plus a full wine list, an all-day brunch menu and fresh juices.

When I sat down on the patio to eat a caprese sandwich on house-made gluten-free bread, manager Kimberley walked me through the restaurant’s approach to dietary accommodations. More than 40 years in operation, Hugo’s has refined its allergen protocol considerably. “I don’t know of another restaurant in Los Angeles that takes allergies as seriously as we do,” she said.

The process begins the moment you walk in. If you mention an allergy upon arrival, you’ll receive a red coaster — a signal to your server and food runner that your table requires extra care. A binder listing every ingredient the restaurant carries, down to what’s inside a single chocolate chip, is brought to the table.

From there, the precautions continue into the kitchen. When you order, an allergy alert is placed at the top of the ticket sent to the kitchen, and the server verbally confirms with a runner that a guest with an allergy is seated — ensuring someone on the line is aware before cooking begins. Knives and counters are wiped down, and the dish is prepared in an individual sanitized pan. When the food comes out, the runner double-checks the plate and ensures it’s set in front of the red coaster.

Hugo’s is not entirely nut-free, but it is a peanut-free facility, and its toasters and fryers are completely nut-free. For guests with nut allergies, staff recommend sticking to dishes prepared in individual pans rather than those made on the shared griddle — pancakes, for instance, fall into the latter category. Like many allergy-conscious restaurants, Hugo’s makes most items in-house, including sauces, juices, and its gluten-free and rye breads.

Twice Baked

A typical allergen-free dish at Twice Baked.

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Isabella Kulkarni

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The LA Local

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If you order one thing at Twice Baked, make it the eclair.

Dahlia Villegas had been a home cook before she started experimenting with gluten-free recipes after her husband was diagnosed with celiac disease. That tinkering eventually became Twice Baked, a bakery now dedicated to serving customers with allergies and gluten or dairy intolerances.

Twice Baked is fully peanut-free and offers a wide range of nut-free, grain-free, sugar-free and dairy-free options. It’s a response, Villegas says, to a real gap in the community. The shop also partners with the Food Allergy Institute in Long Beach, which allows them to accommodate hyper-specific allergen requests. Vanilla extract, cinnamon — if it’s a concern, Twice Baked can work around it.

Villegas herself is something of a walking allergen binder. As I stood in front of the display case, transfixed by chocolate bundt cakes and chocolate eclairs, she rattled off the full ingredient list for each without missing a beat.

Though the desserts share display cases, they are prepared separately with separate ingredients, and any item can be pulled from the kitchen if a customer is worried about cross-contamination. The shop relies on a lot of shared equipment, but does maintain a dedicated nut-only food processor. In 11 years of operation, Villegas says, not a single customer has reported getting sick.

Kismet Rotisserie

A typical allergen-free dish at Kismet.

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Isabella Kulkarni

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The LA Local

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With locations in Los Feliz and Pasadena, Kismet Rotisserie is hardly a secret in Los Angeles. What may be less known is that its chicken is remarkably allergen-friendly — marinated in nothing more than a house-made spice blend of turmeric, coriander and Aleppo pepper with salt and sugar, free of nuts, alliums, soy and gluten.

Walking into the bright, yellow-tiled Pasadena location is enough to put anyone in a good mood, helped along by staff who field nitpicky menu questions with patience and genuine curiosity. The restaurant sits right on the Altadena border, and just a block north, the neighborhood still bears the visible scars of last year’s devastating fires. Kismet has responded by hiring locally and participating in multiple relief efforts — donating meals to first responders and directing proceeds from cookie sales to affected residents.

The kitchen does contain nuts and soy, but their reach is limited. The only equipment that comes into contact with nuts is the robot coupe, used exclusively to prep the gluten-free peanut miso cookie and the muhammara sauce — both of which are kept separate from nearly every other ingredient in the restaurant. According to Neal, a sous chef at the Pasadena location, the inclusive approach is by design: one of the restaurant’s owners, Sarah, is gluten-free, and Kismet was built from the start to be accessible — in terms of both its food and its clientele. Both locations also offer a kids menu.

As for the chicken: it’s the most satisfying rotisserie leg you can find in this city, served with crispy potatoes and a garlic sauce that makes the whole thing sing.

Los Angeles Unified teachers, support staff and principals are days away from a strike that would likely shut down schools starting Tuesday.

The unions, who represent about 68,000 employees collectively, say the walkout is a last resort after more than a year of negotiations over pay, benefits and school conditions. The strike would mark the first time three of the district’s most powerful unions— United Teachers Los Angeles, Service Employees International Union Local 99 and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles — collaborate on a strike.

LAUSD is the country’s second-largest school district and provides education, meals and child care for about 400,000 students daily.

Acting Superintendent Andres Chait said in March that LAUSD will continue to negotiate with the unions in hopes of reaching a deal. The unions say their demands will help members better afford the region’s high cost of living and provide a better experience for students.

“ We have a responsibility to our community to provide a quality education to our students and to make sure our employees are compensated fairly and equitably,” Chait said in a press conference last month following the strike announcement. “But we also have a responsibility to be careful stewards of the financial resources that our taxpayers entrust to us.”

This is a guide to some of the most pressing questions related to the strike. Have others? Email me: mdale@laist.com.

Will my child’s school be open?

Most likely, no.

“When you have three unions… who have all indicated that they would strike together it is exceedingly difficult, if not nearly impossible to [keep] schools open during that scenario,” Chait said in March.

The striking unions represent the majority of the district’s 83,000 employees. UTLA has said the strike would be open ended, so it’s unclear how long the strike— if it happens— will last.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the strike would also shut down the district’s spring sports program because bus drivers won’t be available to provide transportation.

What resources are available for families?

The district said in a statement Tuesday that it plans to distribute food, tech support and refer families to community organizations for child care. Updates about resources and labor negotiations will be posted to a dedicated website in English and Spanish.

However, during a three-day 2023 strike, families struggled to find care and access their child’s education.

How do parents feel?

Parents and caregivers representing more than a half-dozen community organizing and advocacy groups held a press conference Thursday morning to express their support for the strike and urge the district to reach a deal with the unions.

“When they advocate for better pay, staffing and resources, they are advocating for our children's future,” said Esmeralda Rangel, whose younger siblings attend LAUSD schools. “When educators and staff are supported, our schools are stronger and our classrooms are better.”

The Facebook group Parents Supporting Teachers started in the run-up to the 2019 UTLA strike and now has more than 30,000 members.

Carmel Levitan is a group moderator, and the parent of LAUSD students in Eagle Rock. She said there have been a lot of questions about whether there will be remote learning, food or child care available during the strike.

“I do think there's a lot of anxiety,” Levitan said. “So we all just take a few days off work? Can we afford that? Do our jobs allow that? And so I do think the uncertainty is stressful and really harming a lot of families.”

Other parents said their children would join their teachers on the picket line.

Elizabeth Hernandez plans to open her home, near a South L.A. middle school, to striking teachers, and said she'll provide snacks and bathroom access.

“It's important for us as parents to support our teachers because at the end of the day, they are the ones that spend most of the days with our kids,” Hernandez said.

What would it take to reach a deal? 

United Teachers Los Angeles, SEIU Local 99 and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles have been negotiating with the district over pay, benefits and additional support for students for more than a year.

The members of each union voted overwhelmingly to give their leaders the power to call a strike.

Here’s a summary of the current status of negotiations with each union:

United Teachers Los Angeles

35,000 members include: teachers, psychologists and counselors
Contract expired: June 30, 2025
Most recent meeting with LAUSD: Wed., April 8, 2026

UTLA’s bargaining team has met with the district more than a dozen times since negotiations began last February. The union declared an impasse in December, a legal step that triggers a “fact finding” intervention from a neutral mediator appointed by the state’s labor relations board.

The union’s most recent bargaining session ended Wednesday night and another meeting is scheduled for Saturday.

“While there was some constructive engagement, the district must do more to address critical issues like staffing, student mental health, and livable wages for educators,” the union wrote in a statement.

The union’s proposals include: 

• A 17% raise over two years.
• A minimum starting teacher salary of nearly $78,000 — a 13% increase.
• Changes to the salary schedule so that newer teachers who complete professional development can earn increases more quickly.
• Reducing class sizes and adding more mental health support for students. 
• Learn more. 

LAUSD’s most recent offer includes: 

• A 10% salary increase over three years and an agreement to “collaboratively adjust” the salary schedule.
• A 6% one-time bonus over two years.
• Learn more.

The fact finder has proposed:

• A one-time 3% payment. 
• An 11% raise over two years.
• 4 weeks of paid parental leave.
• An agreement not to replace union jobs with Artificial Intelligence or use the technology to surveil students and employees. 
• Read the full report.

What kind of money does the district have to work with?

The fact-finding chair, Donald Raczka, was unable to determine whether the district could afford UTLA's proposal.

“Due to the complexity of LAUSD’s budget, thoroughly examining these claims would be time-consuming and labor-intensive—tasks that go beyond the Chair’s current capacity given the available information,” Raczka wrote.

The union contended that such an analysis was the fact finder’s key responsibility.

“The failure of the Fact Finder to even attempt to figure out the finances is a disservice to the educators and students of LAUSD and to the fact-finding process itself,” wrote Brian McNamara, a UTLA director and fact finding panelist in a lengthy dissent.

In a statement, the district said it “appreciates the report’s balanced, fiscally responsible framework.”

SEIU Local 99

30,000 members include: bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom and campus aides
Contract expired: June 30, 2024
Most recent meeting with LAUSD: Thurs., April 9, 2026

The union’s proposals include: 

• A 30% wage increase over three years. 
• More hours for workers who don’t have enough to qualify for benefits.

LAUSD’s most recent offer includes: 

• A 13% wage increase over three years.
• A task force to advice the district on Artificial Intelligence use that includes SEIU Local 99 members.
• Learn more.

SEIU Local 99 also declared an impasse in December, but is at a different stage in the bargaining process than UTLA.

The state has appointed a mediator to try and help the two sides meet an agreement.

The basis for SEIU’s strike vote is what the union says are more than a dozen unfair practice charges where members have been disciplined or lost hours as a result of participating in union activities.

SEIU Local 99 reports its members make an average of $35,000 a year.

Maria Avalos is a supervision aide at Fernangeles Elementary School in Sun Valley. Avalos said she’s only assigned four hours of work a day and also cleans houses and sells tamales to support her daughter.

“We need more hours,” Avalos said. “I live in an apartment that has one bedroom for 10 of us.”

Associated Administrators of Los Angeles

3,000 members include: principals, directors and other administrators
Contract expired: June 30, 2025
Most recent meeting with LAUSD: Monday, April 6, 2026

The union’s proposals include: 

• A 12% raise over two years.
• The ability to use flex time more easily.

LAUSD’s most recent offer includes: 

• A 10% wage increase over three years.
• Additional stipends for administrators in specific positions.
• Learn more.

AALA announced its members would join the April 14 walkout — a first for the union, which affiliated with the Teamsters in 2024.

The union declared an impasse in February, an assessment the district disagreed with, but it agreed to continue negotiating.

“We don't have the necessary resources to really say we have safe schools, to really say that we're servicing students,” said Maria Nichols, president of AALA, during a pre-strike rally.

A sensory garden where you can sniff a plant that smells like maple syrup. Hammocks to enjoy the shade of the live coastal oak trees. Sanded chunks of wood to build forts.

The new Children’s Woodland at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont is an interactive playspace for children to connect with native landscapes and habitats. The garden, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, is home to more than 22,000 native plants.

“ We decided that we wanted the installations to be more sort of freeform and open-ended,” said Lauren Weintraub Stoebel, assistant director of visitor engagement at the California Botanic Garden. “We want kids to find creative ways to be in nature, to discover connections on their own without being too guided.”

The Children's Woodland is an interactive play space using natural materials at the California Botanic Garden.

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Elly Yu

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LAist

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The children’s space has jumping logs, bubbling rock water fountains, and natural building materials so children can create their own structures. Unlike the rest of the garden, which features some rare and valuable native plants, kids can get hands-on with the plants and landscape here.

 ”It was really inspiring and fascinating to watch the different ways that the kids found to be in this space,” Stoebel said.

The freeform space allows children to be creative in the way they interact with nature.

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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video

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The horticulture team at the garden built the space using logs and other natural materials from the rest of the 86-acre garden. They dug a log tunnel for kids to climb through out of an old oak that blew down in a windstorm.

Stoebel said the space was designed to also evolve with the seasons. The next installation will include a “living structure” — a dome that will have plants growing all around it.

There are a lot of things to step over ...

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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video

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... and sit on.

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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video

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Ashlee Armstrong, director of horticulture, said she hopes the new space allows children to learn to be curious about the nature around them, “inspiring kids to want to be in nature and make a connection with nature, so that we do have stewards for our natural environment in the future.”

How to visit the California Botanic Garden

Address: 1500 N. College Avenue, Claremont

Current garden hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Varies throughout the year)

Tickets: $15 adults, $11 seniors and students, $5 children 3-12, free for children under 3