The Brief

L.A. city crews on Friday started repainting a set of crosswalks around the popular Stoner Park that residents had painted themselves months ago — only to be promptly scrubbed off.

A week ago, the Department of Transportation removed a set of unsanctioned crosswalks painted by community members led by Sawtelle resident Jonathan Hale, who said the intersections are too dangerous for pedestrians and kids who frequent the popular park and its many amenities.

Hale was on hand as crews began work on Friday. In late May, he had gathered a group of friends and neighbors to first put in the DIY crosswalks after learning the ropes from the organization Crosswalks Collective LA.

"I'm really excited," Hale said. "Also, hey, it's a win, you know, I'm really proud."

After DIY crosswalks were removed last Friday, Hale contacted the city and the Department of Transportation to make his case — and vowed to repaint them again.

Councilmember Traci Park also told LAist she had asked the city to keep the unsanctioned crosswalks, without success.

Sawtelle resident Jonathan Hale, who led the community effort to get crosswalks installed around Stoner Park in West L.A. He showed up on Friday morning as city workers put in permanent crossings.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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On Thursday, Hale told LAist he got a call from that the city saying permanent crosswalks would be installed.

"I've been kind of communicating with the DOT, and then the mayor's office reached out to me yesterday, basically saying that they would make these changes," Hale said.

In addition, he said the city has agreed to meet with the community to take questions about infrastructure needs.

City workers at an intersection around Stoner Park in West L.A. on Friday morning, getting ready to install permanent crosswalks.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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A Bobcat loader is readying an intersection around Stoner Park in West L.A. to install permanent crosswalks.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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As to why the city removed the unsanctioned crosswalks in the first place, Hale said he finally found out from the city.

"The first is liability," Hale said. "Having markings at the crosswalk makes it more dangerous because it invites pedestrians to cross the street."

Another reason? Hale said city officials told him that in order to put in the crosswalks, they'd need to renovate the sidewalks to be ADA compliant.

“The City of Los Angeles is installing crosswalks near Stoner Park in West L.A. this morning and sidewalk improvements will be installed in the coming weeks,” the office of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass told LAist in a statement. "The installation of the crosswalk by LADOT ensures that the crosswalk meets all legal safety requirements.”

No word on why they decided to restore the crosswalks.

West L.A. resident Minal Mehta was thrilled about the turn of events. She said she and her children visit the park daily.

"I want to say thank you to the community effort," Mehta said. "It's really cool that the city actually listens."

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan begin Friday and eight athletes have roots in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Team USA’s 232-member roster includes 21 athletes from California. The Winter Games begin Feb. 6 and end on Feb. 22.

Here's a list of who is from L.A. County:

• Spencer Akira Howe - Figure Skating - Los Angeles
• Madison Chock - Figure Skating - Redondo Beach
• Chloe Kim - Snowboarding - Torrance
• Azaria Hill - Bobsled - Santa Clarita
• Beatrice Kim - Snowboarding - Palos Verdes 

Where other SoCal athletes are from:

• Cayla Barnes - Ice Hockey - Eastvale
• Kate Delson - Snowboarding - San Diego
• Maddie Mastro - Snowboarding - Wrightwood

What about the 2026 Paralympics? The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics will start on March 6 and run through March 15. Not all qualifying athletes have been announced yet.

You can watch the games starting Friday on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have reported using thousands of crowd control munitions against protesters in L.A. since June 2025, when federal immigration sweeps began escalating tensions in the region.

Many people who were never accused of breaking the law nonetheless have been struck by what are known as “less-lethal” crowd control weapons, including rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bang grenades.

Legal experts and witnesses told LAist some of these instances violated California’s protest laws.

While a federal judge banned the LAPD from using 40mm projectiles at protests last month, the department still uses other crowd control weapons. According to Scott Reynhout, who researches these weapons for Physicians for Human Rights, a nonpartisan nonprofit, some of these weapons can be just as dangerous as the banned projectiles — if not more so.

LAist spoke with Reynhout to better understand what they do and how people protesting lawfully can protect themselves.

Reynhout said it's very important that people pay attention if law enforcement declares an unlawful assembly, which they are required to do before using crowd control weapons in most cases.

“ If the police have declared an illegal assembly, it would behoove you to take steps to isolate yourself from that particular situation,” Reynhout said. “If that is not possible for you, for whatever reason — say, you live in the particular area where you are — then you could consider [protecting] yourself from chemical irritants or potentially from impact projectiles.”

Some of the most dangerous crowd control weapons used in L.A.

Physicians for Human Rights’ international study, Lethal in Disguise, found weapons that fire multiple projectiles at once were “far and away the most dangerous” type of crowd control weapons.

 "82% of all the recorded injuries in the medical literature that came from impact projectiles were from ... multiple projectile impact projectiles,” Reynhout told LAist. “And 96% of all the ocular injuries from impact projectiles were from these multiple projectile impact projectiles."

He said the LAPD is the only police department in the U.S. he is aware of that uses this type of weapon. The department uses a 37mm less-lethal launcher (LLM) that shoots five rubber bullets with each shell.

According to reports required by Assembly Bill 48, the department used more than 600 of these shells — that’s over 3,000 projectiles — against anti-ICE protesters last June. They have continued to report using the 37mm launcher, most recently to disperse crowds after the Dodgers World Series win on Nov. 2, according to AB 48 reports.

The 37mm launcher is inherently risky, Reynhout said. Even though the 37mm rubber bullets are smaller than the 40mm projectiles the LAPD was banned from using at protests, they are more likely to hit sensitive areas like the face and neck.

The use of multiple projectiles causes the 37mm projectiles to scatter in a cone shape once they leave the launcher, making them much more difficult to control than a single projectile. He said LAPD’s policy of “skip firing,” which means officers are instructed to aim 5 to 10 feet in front of the person they are shooting at, also adds randomness.

A diagram showing LAPD's policy of "skip firing" the 37mm less-lethal launcher at targets.

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LAPD Use of Force Directive

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“ The real risk behind these multi-shot impact projectiles,” he said, “is that you just really don't have any control over where these bullets go in the end.”

Reynhout said people standing beside or behind the intended target could very easily get hit, which he believes was likely the case when Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was struck in the leg by a rubber bullet in June.

[Note: LAist correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was struck in the throat by a projectile at a 2020 protest. Long Beach police later said they believed that injury was caused by a ricochet of a foam round.]

LAist reached out to LAPD for comment on their use of the 37mm launcher, but the department did not respond.

Another type of crowd control weapon found to be especially dangerous is the use of beanbag rounds, usually fired from a 12-gauge shotgun. These rounds fire small lead pellets sealed in a fabric bag.

Reynhout said the use of these rounds can be “horrific” and leave people with life-threatening injuries.

According to LAPD policy, beanbag rounds are not allowed to be used for crowd control, but other agencies have used them. The California Highway Patrol reported using beanbag rounds against anti-ICE protesters last June.

If you find yourself in a situation where projectiles are being deployed, Reynhout advises focusing on protecting your face and eyes. That’s where the most serious injuries occur.

Reynhout said ballistic eyewear that meets military standards (MIL-PRF-32432) could offer protection against some of the most severe injuries.

He said the 40mm or 37mm projectiles can be similar to getting hit by a golf ball by someone swinging just 6 feet away, and while things like bike helmets, paintball masks, hockey masks or even soft body armor might help to some degree, they aren’t designed to protect someone from that kind of impact.

What you may most likely be affected by: Chemical agents

Chemical agents like tear gas and pepper spray are crowd control weapons that saturate an area and affect everyone in it, Reynhout told LAist, and that includes people who may not even be part of a demonstration.

He said you should be especially aware of these weapons being used near you if you have asthma or any airway or respiratory system issues because they can provoke severe reactions in some cases.

In their report, Reynhout and other researchers found that children and older people are also at risk of severe reactions, which could be life-threatening.

There is gear on the market to mitigate those risks, including sealed safety goggles and respirators (N-, P- or R-100). If you find yourself exposed to a chemical irritant like tear gas or pepper spray, Reynhout said there is nothing shown to be more effective than flushing the area for 10 to 15 minutes with saline solution.

The saline solution should ideally be sterile and at body temperature, he told LAist, but plain water also works if that is what you have available. The important thing is that you continue to flush the area and dilute the chemicals.

For skin or clothing, Reynhout said dilution with water is still the key, but you can use some Dawn dish soap to help wash away pepper spray.

Other dangers

California law enforcement officers have also used flash bang grenades in response to protests since June. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol together used more than 300 aerial flash bang grenades on June 8, according to AB 48 reports. Those are crowd control munitions shot out of 40mm launchers that explode mid-air and create 170 dB of sound and 5 million candelas of light.

LAist asked the LAPD about their policy on using flash bang grenades for crowd control, but the department did not respond. The LAPD has not listed any uses of flash bang grenades in their AB 48 reports dating back to April 2024.

Aside from these, there are a number of other crowd control weapons and devices that are used by law enforcement agencies in the L.A. area: grenades that explode to release small rubber balls, pepper balls, batons or — unique to the LAPD — officers on horseback using wooden practice swords called “bokken.”

Reynhout said deciding how much protection you might choose to take with you to a protest is very personal. Some bulkier items might restrict your movement, cause you to overheat or impede your ability to maintain situational awareness, so it is important to consider what risks you may face and use your best judgement.

Sometimes, he said, that best judgment might be to walk away from the situation.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is delivering her "State of the City" speech Monday and is expected to focus on the World Cup, particularly the city's plans for the upcoming eight matches that will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, starting June 12.

Bass is making the remarks at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, which will host a FIFA Fan Festival June 11-15 to coincide with the start of the tournament.

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This is a developing story and will be updated.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against the parent company of Children’s Hospital of Orange County for violating the terms of a recently signed merger agreement when it decided to cut off hormone therapy and other gender-affirming treatments to about 1,500 patients.

Last month, Rady Children’s Health announced the restrictions, which take effect Feb. 6. It pointed to recent federal actions in its decision.

The healthcare system said that it would still offer hormone replacement therapy to patients 19 and older. It would also and continue to see its patients 18 and under for treatments without hormones or surgeries.

Bonta’s lawsuit, however, alleges the hospital system broke an agreement it had signed with his office just a year ago. That contract guaranteed that it would continue offering the same level of care to its patients through 2034 in many divisions of health care, including gender-affirming care.

“Rady flagrantly disregarded its legal obligations by unilaterally deciding to preemptively comply with the Administration’s demands and cease medically necessary care for roughly 1,450 patients,” Bonta wrote in a statement.

What the lawsuit says

Bonta is seeking a permanent injunction that would require Rady to restore “all gender-affirming care services to the same types and levels of care as were provided at the time of Rady’s merger in January 2025” at CHOC. The injunction would also apply to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, and its other hospitals and clinics across Southern California.

Bonta also pointed to the long-term health effects and complications that would result from taking trans youth off of their prescribed hormone treatments, echoing concerns that medical professionals have shared with LAist.

“Even brief interruptions in gender-affirming medical care can have a detrimental impact on a patient’s mental health and overall well-being,” the lawsuit states.

Bonta also pointed to the short notice — just over two weeks — given to families, and said it left “hundreds of patients in medical limbo.”

The father of a trans patient at Rady Children’s Health told LAist he found out from the San Diego based nonprofit TransFamily Support Services that his son’s health care provider could no longer prescribe hormones. The father later found out that he'd been notified through a brief statement in a portal in his health care app, with no information about next steps. He said he was not otherwise contacted directly by the hospital.

Bonta’s office declined to comment further on the lawsuit.

What the hospital system is saying

In a statement to LAist, Rady Children’s Health said it is “aware of the lawsuit filed by the California Attorney General and is reviewing the filing.” It did not clarify if it planned to go forward with previously announced restrictions.

“That decision was guided by our responsibilities as a nonprofit pediatric healthcare system to continue serving all children and families across our communities, including through participation in essential federal programs,” Rady Children’s Health wrote.

The hospital system said that it will address Bonta’s concerns “through the legal process.” It did not respond when LAist asked directly if this meant it was undoing its previously announced restrictions.

The hospital has pointed to recent federal actions, which include proposals aimed at restricting gender-affirming care for youth, as the reasoning behind its move. The federal HHS rule changes are still going through a required 60-day comment period, which will end on February 17. The rules, even if they’re upheld by courts, may not take effect until later in the spring.

What advocates for trans health are saying

“They are clearly in violation of their contract. They're clearly in violation of the law,” Kathie Moehlig, founder and executive director of TransFamily Support Services, said. “We didn't see any action happen around [CHLA’s trans youth clinic] when it closed, other than a letter from the Attorney General, but actually taking a legal stance is good. Somebody’s standing up for our families.”

Moehlig also pointed to the “slow drip” of actions taken by Rady Children’s Health to restrict access to its gender-affirming health care services, and noted that the state Attorney General’s office appears not to have been notified about any of them.

TransFamily Support Services regularly works to connect families seeking gender-affirming health services with providers, including at CHOC and other Rady’s Health hospitals.

Moehlig also familiar with the health care system for another reason: Her son was the first patient treated at Rady Children’s Hospital’s gender-affirming care clinic in San Diego 14 years ago, well before the care began to become restricted in Republican-led states and nationally.

The rare move from Bonta follows protests and blowback from the community in Southern California, as protests were held outside CHOC and Rady’s Children Hospital in San Diego.

What this means

Bonta’s lawsuit marks a new enforcement mechanism in the state’s tactics to protect gender-affirming care for youth.

Up to this point, Bonta has not directly intervened with hospitals in closures and restrictions for trans youth health care through lawsuits, opting instead to send hospitals letters warning them of potential legal action.

Many of the legal issues around gender-affirming care for youth, and whether the federal government's actions to restrict it are legal, have still yet to be settled. There are multiple ongoing and expected lawsuits to settle the issue of whether the federal HHS can act to restrict trans youth health care by outlawing the allocation of Medicare and Medicaid funds for healthcare providers that offer it.

Many advocates have accused the federal government of overreach and using improper enforcement mechanisms to strong-arm hospitals into closing or limiting access to clinics for trans youth.