The Brief

Construction of the 710 Freeway in Pasadena in the early 1970s divided a thriving community and displaced thousands of people, particularly several Black, Latino and Asian-owned institutions, according to the city.

The freeway never reached El Sereno and South Pasadena as intended, and the project was eventually canceled after it faced legal challenges and widespread opposition from people in those communities.

Now, officials are exploring ways to reconnect the roughly 50-acre space with the rest of Pasadena.

The state transferred control of the land back to the city in August 2022. Since then, Pasadena officials have been working on a master plan to develop the site and make up for some of what was lost. They’re seeking input from people who were affected in the past, as well as those who will be here in the future.

Brenda Harvey-Williams, assistant city manager, told LAist the project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to shape the future of Pasadena.

“We may never have this opportunity again,” she said. “And it's an opportunity for the whole community to come together and decide what we want to be there.”

The project is likely to take years, and it’s not yet clear what the finished product would look like.

What is the master plan process?

The space, which the city refers to as the “ditch” or the “stub,” spans from Union Street to the north, Columbia Street to the South, St. John Avenue to the west and Pasadena Avenue to the east.

The master plan is expected to give city officials options for future development, but it’s not a final policy.

Instead, it's a “vision plan” of what the community wants the site to become, Harvey-Williams said, whether that’s housing, parks, open space or commercial businesses.

“Pasadena is special,” she said. “And we want this to be forward-thinking, futuristic, sustainable, special and very Pasadena.”

The Pasadena City Council created the Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group to help shape the master plan. The group has held regular meetings since April 2023, which included hearing from historical consultants, experts and communities directly harmed by the freeway construction.

For example, a historic report on the 710 Displacement presented to the advisory group last month found that 209 buildings were lost along the site, including 168 residential units, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church and Vroman’s California School Book Depository. It also found that “freeway construction had innumerable and far-reaching consequences for the city’s communities of color.”

The then-newly constructed freeway system of the 1970's. The Rose Bowl stadium is near the upper left corner.

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Courtesy of the Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena, California.

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Rémy De La Peza, a land-use attorney and vice chair of the advisory group, told LAist the master plan is designed to bring together lessons learned from the past — what the city’s needs are now while balancing what people want Pasadena to look like for next generations.

“Really trying to reconcile, you know, the past, the present and the future with this exercise,” De La Peza said, describing the master plan process as a way to explore various scenarios.

The planning process, which is broken up into three phases across two years, is currently in the final document-and-refine stage, focusing on technical questions about traffic, funding for future public amenities and density, according to the city.

Restorative justice

Another part of the process focuses on what’s known as restorative justice, which aims to repair some of the harm done to individuals or communities.

It’s one of the foundational responsibilities of the advisory group, according to chair Danny Parker, a lifelong Pasadena resident whose family worked and learned where the stub now sits. He told LAist restorative justice is a way of doing right by the people affected by freeway construction “who at that time did not have much of a voice in the process.”

The advisory group has developed a draft definition of restorative justice that city officials say is unique to Pasadena. It states, in part, that the process will “identify, publicly inform, officially acknowledge, respond to and remedy these injustices through open and responsive engagement with the disproportionately impacted communities.”

The draft definition hasn’t yet been approved by the City Council.

The advisory group is responsible for making sure there’s community input throughout the process, Parker said, and they want to hear from as many people as possible.

“Both substantively and symbolically, it really matters,” he said. “The more voices, I think, the better result we’ll have.”

For example, the master plan process included an oral history report and documentary called Amplify that features stories from those who lost their homes, businesses and cultural landmarks.

“We are … listening and bringing back what we're hearing in the produce aisle of the grocery store, what we're hearing at barber shops and beauty shops,” Parker said.

What's next?

The three-phase master plan process is expected to be completed next spring, and the advisory group will present its recommendations to the City Council.

The council members can choose to adopt the groups’ ideas or suggest their own. The project will then be handed off to the city’s Planning Department and Planning Commission to create next steps, including zoning the land for residential or commercial use.

But there are still many more questions the city needs to answer as the process moves forward, Harvey-Williams said, including figuring out how to pay for infrastructure before anything is built. The stub doesn’t have any curbs, pipes, power or gutters.

And there’s another big question — about traffic.

“Because there still is a freeway that's ending and the cars have to go somewhere,” Harvey-Williams said. “So we want to make sure that the transportation system that we developed through this area does not become another de facto freeway.”

Pasadena officials have said they want the space to become more walkable and connected, according to Harvey-Williams.

Parker, who described the project as a rare opportunity for a “do-over,” said he hopes the final product feels accessible to everyone in the city.

“I hope that what we do enhances the quality of life of everyone who lives, works and plays in Pasadena,” he said. “That it's a place that becomes a meeting grounds, a crossroads where people will go on a lazy quiet Sunday afternoon.”

How to get involved

You can learn more about the reconnecting Pasadena process in English here and in Spanish here.

You can sign up to get updates here.

You can also share questions, ideas and feedback with the city by sending an email to: 710reconnecting@cityofpasadena.net.

Also watch and participate in upcoming public meetings, including:

• Pasadena City Council at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 20.
  
  • A majority of the meeting will be focused on the 710 project, according to Harvey-Williams.
  • You can watch live in-person, via Zoom or on the Pasadena Media station.

• Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group 
  
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 19
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 17
  • You can watch previous meetings here.
  • Please note the schedule is subject to change and more meetings may be added to make up for those that were missed after the fires in January.

File this under things that could only happen in L.A.

Paradise Dynasty, the Singapore-based chain known for its signature eight-flavor xiao long bao, has teamed up with Burritos La Palma — the SoCal burrito institution whose birria de res recipe traces back over 45 years — to create a limited-edition birria soup dumpling. The Birria XLB will be available starting Monday (May 11) for a limited time at Paradise Dynasty locations.

I've eaten my weight in both soup dumplings and burritos, so naturally, I'm a fan of both.

Paradise Dynasty has been on a steady ascent as a major player in L.A.'s dumpling scene, with locations at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and The Americana at Brand in Glendale.

Meanwhile, Burritos La Palma — known for its simple, savory burritos and finely crafted flour tortillas — has been capturing hearts and stomachs since Alberto Bañuelos opened the first eatery in L.A. in 2012. It’s since grown to several spots across L.A. and Orange County, earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2024 for its high-quality, Zacatecan-style handmade flour tortilla burritos at an affordable price.

How the collab came together

So what exactly is a birria soup dumpling? A delicate wrapper, lightly packed with tender birria de res — slow-braised beef stewed in chilies and spices — juicy, savory and gone in one bite.

It all began with a call from Paradise Dynasty, when Jason Kuo, district manager for Paradise Dynasty USA, reached out to Bañuelos, calling it, simply, a perfect match between the two dishes.

Kuo said the idea came straight from the community.

"When we started asking guests and people around us what flavor they would want to see in a soup dumpling, birria kept coming up again and again — it was very clear. If we're going to do birria, it has to be done right. Burritos La Palma was the first name that came to mind."

Bañuelos was "beyond thrilled" to have been approached.

"We come from a small town in Mexico, and to be able to elevate to the level of Paradise Dynasty and that culinary perfection, I can't even really put it into words," he said.

It took months of R&D to get the right consistency. Bañuelos said the process required dialing down the moisture and upping the spice potency and landed on serving a fresh red salsa with thin slivers of serrano peppers alongside — a riff on the black vinegar and pickled ginger traditionally served with soup dumplings.

The Birria XLB's juicy interior is part of what makes it work — the dish is served with a fresh, tomato-based salsa and slivers of serrano pepper in place of the traditional black vinegar and pickled ginger.

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Katrina Frederick

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Courtesy Paradise Dynasty

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How it tastes

I got a chance to try the dumplings ahead of the public launch and was struck by how well the combination worked. The juicy nature of birria is almost turbocharged in dumpling form, its savory, herbaceous flavors fully encapsulated in the thin skin, creating an exceptional texture in every bite. The dish hits even harder when dipped in the light tomato-based salsa — a rush of freshness that cuts through the richness, with a spike of heat from fresh serrano. (Feel free to skip the peppers if spice isn't your thing.)

But what's most impressive is how organic it all feels. This isn't fusion for fusion's sake — it's a natural meeting of two dishes that are deeply embedded in the Southern California diet, each playing to the other's strengths.

It feels like a logical meeting of the minds — birria and soup dumplings have both been part of L.A.'s culinary zeitgeist for the better part of a decade, and it makes sense that these worlds should collide.

When asked whether a collaboration like this could happen anywhere else, Bañuelos was quick: "It has to start in L.A. You just can't compete."

Where to try it

Nine Democratic House members from California are demanding information about how the Trump administration is treating unaccompanied migrant children who are pregnant and in federal custody. They’ve signed a letter, along with 39 other House Democrats, to Trump officials expressing their concern that the girls are not receiving adequate medical care or access to abortion.

The letter comes in the wake of an investigation by the California and Texas Newsrooms, public media collaboratives in those states. LAist is part of The California Newsroom.

The joint investigation found that the federal government is detaining pregnant migrant girls in a single group home in South Texas. Doctors and reproductive-health experts interviewed for the investigation said prenatal care is severely limited in that region.

The letter says the detention violates federal regulations because the children are “entitled to the full range of medical care, including reproductive health care.”

Rep. Gil Cisneros, who represents the central San Gabriel Valley, says he worries that pregnant migrants who are apprehended in California will be put at risk if they’re sent to a part of Texas that is short on obstetric care. Of particularly concern: High-risk pregnancies are common among minors.

“If they were in California," he said, "they would be able to have more choices of the type of health care that they would get when it comes to reproductive health care.”

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents the West San Gabriel Valley, wrote in a statement that “this administration is so intent on restricting abortion that it is using immigration detention as a tool to control these girls’ bodies.”

Mark Betancourt is a regular contributor to The California Newsroom. 

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating how the Los Angeles Unified School District responds to educators accused of sexual misconduct with students.

The department accuses the district of maintaining a policy that “automatically” reassigns teachers to other schools when they are accused of sexual misconduct with students and cites a 2024 agreement with the teachers union.

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson wrote in a statement that it’s “not true” that staff being investigated for sexual misconduct are reassigned to other school sites.

“‘Reassignment’ typically means an employee is directed to remain at home and away from students and schools during an investigation,” the spokesperson wrote.

United Teachers Los Angeles called the DOE's accusations a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the district’s reassignment policy.

“[Employees] are not reassigned to another classroom or to any other setting where they would interact with students,” read a statement provided by the union. “This policy protects both students and staff and creates conditions for a thorough and appropriate investigation of allegations.”

What to expect from the federal investigation

The federal investigation, overseen by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, will assess whether the district’s policy violates Title IX, a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.

Kimberly Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in a statement that Title IX requires schools to address claims of sexual misconduct in a “timely manner.”

“It is unconscionable that the district would simply ignore Title IX’s procedural requirements to protect teachers who cause life-changing harm to their kids,” Richey wrote. “The Trump administration will always fight to uphold the law, protect the safety of all students and restore common sense to our schools.”

The Trump administration also has recently targeted LAUSD's desegregation policy and transgender student protections.

Last year, the office failed to resolve any cases related to sexual harassment, sexual violence or racial harassment, according to a report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders in late April. Sanders is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee.

In March 2025, the Trump administration pushed to cut over half of OCR’s nearly 600 staff members, which contributed to a growing backlog of cases. Those employees were placed on administrative leave pending the result of legal challenges, and many were later brought back.

The Education Department has also withheld records related to civil rights investigations, prompting a lawsuit from investigative nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.

What does LAUSD’s policy say? 

LAUSD protocol related to employee misconduct says administrators must remove accused employees from their classroom or worksite whenever there is a risk to the safety of students or staff.

The 110-page protocol document also lists several other requirements for allegations related to sexual misconduct, including contacting law enforcement and the agencies that license teachers.

“Los Angeles Unified takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Our primary responsibility is to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of every student and staff member in our care.” The statement also said the district follows Title IX procedures and continuously reviews its policies, training and reporting systems.

The UTLA settlement outlines several circumstances where an employee can be reassigned, including a law enforcement investigation of misconduct, sexual harassment of a student, behavior toward a student perceived to be motivated by a sexual interest and communicating with a student for non-school-related purposes.

School employees are “mandated reporters” who must, by law, notify local law enforcement or child welfare agencies of suspected child abuse or neglect. California Attorney General Rob Bonta reminded K-12 school district leaders in late April of their legal obligation to prevent sexual misconduct and protect students.

How prevalent is sexual misconduct in California schools?

There have been few comprehensive studies of sexual misconduct in schools. A 2004 report to the Department of Education estimated 1-in-10 students experiences sexual misconduct, ranging from inappropriate comments to physical abuse.

A new California law requires schools to train students and staff to recognize and report misconduct and write new policies on “appropriate behavior.” It also will create a new database of educators credibly accused of abuse.

More than 1,000 lawsuits related to sexual abuse that date to the 1940s have been filed against California school districts since the enactment of a 2019 law that gave victims a three-year window to sue.

LAUSD has authorized $750 million in bonds to pay for sexual misconduct settlements related to suits stemming from the law.

The LA County Library has begun its Summer of Soccer program to bring the excitement of the North American tournament to all Angelenos.

“Soccer has a unique way of bringing people together across cultures and communities,” Skye Patrick, director of the LA County Library, said on the library website.

The program kicked off May 1 with the library system offering limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards, emblazoned with the library logo, the outline of a soccer pitch and a ball hitting the back of a net.

The new limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards

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Courtesy LA County Public Library

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The cards are available for free for anyone signing up for the first time and for $1 for people who already have an LA County Library card.

From soccer story time to making circuit boards

There’s a whole range of Summer of Soccer events at branch libraries, from May 20 to July 9.

Highlights include a soccer-themed story time for 2- to 5-year-olds at Graham Library, north of Watts at 3:30 p.m. June 4, while at 3 p.m. the same day, the A C Bilbrew Library west of Compton hosts “Makey Makey for Teens,” which will lead youth through the steps to make their own game controllers and test them on a virtual soccer field. This and other programs repeat at other branches.

All Summer of Soccer events are free and are designed to support youth and families during the summer months when school is not in session.

The LA County Library serves more than three million residents through its 86 libraries and four Cultural Resource Centers, as well as Bookmobiles and other outreach vehicles.