The Brief

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as of Thursday, has ended a new mortgage-rescue program that so far has helped about 20,000 veterans avoid foreclosure and keep their homes.

The move leaves millions of military veterans with far worse options than most other American homeowners if they run into trouble paying their home loans. And it comes at a time when nearly 90,000 VA loans are seriously past due, with 33,000 of those already in the foreclosure process, according to the data and analytics firm ICE.

At issue is the VA Servicing Purchase program, or VASP. It was put in place during the Biden administration after missteps by the VA left homeowners with no affordable way to catch up on their VA-backed home loans if they fell behind. VASP rolls the homeowners' missed payments into a new, low-interest rate loan that the VA then owns outright. With today's higher mortgage rates of around 7%, it is often the only affordable option for homeowners with VA loans.

But Republicans in Congress have been critical of the VA Servicing Purchase
program, saying it puts too much taxpayer money at risk. In a statement this week to NPR, the VA said, "[As of May 1,] the program, which was unilaterally created by the Biden Administration and lacks congressional authority, will stop accepting new enrollees."

Mortgage industry groups, housing advocates and veterans organizations have been warning the VA that shutting down VASP without replacing it with something else first would result in large numbers of veterans losing their homes, many of whom are in this financial peril because of the VA's own mistakes.

"With the expiration of VASP, tens of thousands of Veterans and their families are now at significant risk of losing their homes," said Mike Calhoun, president of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for the financial rights of underserved communities, including veterans.

His group is urging Congress to quickly pass legislation to create a new program to fill the gap, and he said, "VA should extend VASP until this program is up and running."

Thousands of vets left stranded, again

Thousands of veterans were left facing foreclosure two years ago after the VA abruptly canceled a key part of a pandemic-era mortgage relief program that allowed veterans to skip mortgage payments if they had trouble paying. When an NPR investigation first uncovered the VA's move in late 2023, there were about 40,000 vets in danger of losing their homes.

Kevin Conlon is one of them.

Conlon and his wife, Jenny, live in upstate New York, not far from where he was stationed with the Army at Fort Drum. After his two combat tours in Iraq, about 12 years ago the couple had a young kid and were struggling to pay rent and save money. Getting a VA loan meant that they could buy a house with no down payment. And they've been there ever since.

"That's the longest I've been in one place," said Conlon.

"Without the VA loan, there was no way that we could have afforded to buy a house," his wife added.

Kevin Conlon and his wife, Jenny, at their home in upstate New York. The couple have owned the house for 12 years and don't know where they would go if they lose it.

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The VA home loan has long been a bedrock benefit of the GI Bill, giving vets a leg up into the middle class.

But all that came unraveled for tens of thousands of vets like Conlon who were on what's known as a mortgage forbearance. It was supposed to help them during a time of financial hardship by pausing their monthly payments and then giving them an affordable way to start paying again and get current. After NPR reported that the VA had shut down the only affordable option for veterans to do that, the VA responded by halting foreclosures for a full year while it rolled out its VASP rescue plan.

While they've been waiting to get into VASP, the Conlons have been told not to make payments, so they've been falling further and further behind, and they say their family has nowhere to go if they lose this house.

"I joined right after Sept. 11th," said Conlon, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., and was in Manhattan the day of the attacks.

Conlon's wounds from his time in Iraq aren't visible, but they've taken years to heal. During his two combat tours, roadside bombs hit his convoys repeatedly and left him with traumatic brain injuries. On the second tour, his best friend died when he hugged a suicide bomber to the ground, giving his life to protect his friends. The trauma and survivor's guilt wounded Conlon, he says, as bad as the blast injuries. He struggled with PTSD and thoughts of suicide for more than a decade before finally getting to a stable, healthy place.

"I was willing to die for what I believed in. And for someone [to] ... take away the home that my family lives in? Like we've paid enough, we've really paid enough," he said.

Referring to the VA winding down VASP, VA spokesman Pete Kasperowicz told NPR, "This change is necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service."

Republicans have their own plan, but it's not in place yet 

Republican critics in Congress don't like that VASP buys the rescued loans from the mortgage industry and then holds the loans on the VA's own books. They say the VA would lose too much money if the homeowners fall behind again.

"The Trump administration rightfully put an end to VA's VASP program," said a joint statement from Rep. Mike Bost, an Illinois Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican, when VA announced its plan to end VASP.

Van Orden has sponsored a bill to replace VASP with what's known as a "partial claim" program that experts say would help vets struggling to keep their homes by moving their missed payments to the back of their loan term so they would pay them back down the road.

But between VASP ending and Van Orden's bill possibly becoming law is a chasm that could swallow thousands of VA home loans.

Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin arrives at the U.S. Capitol in 2023.

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"Veteran borrowers will face otherwise preventable foreclosures, which harm the government through increased payouts as well as harm Veteran homeowners," warned the nonprofit National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Responsible lending in a letter to Congress last month.

"Without VASP or immediate access to alternative policy tools that provide relief … many of these homeowners will be forced to sell their homes and move or face foreclosure," the letter said.

In the wake of the move by the VA, Democrats and Republicans in Congress both say they want to pass legislation to give veterans with VA loans better options for avoiding foreclosure. But it's unclear how long that will take.

In the meantime, veterans behind on their mortgages have far worse options than most other Americans who have loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration. Those entities all have loss mitigation options that allow homeowners to catch up on missed payments without being forced into a new modified loan at today's high interest rates.

Vets left in limbo and disbelief

For their part, veterans interviewed by NPR feel like the VA has now repeatedly stranded them by first offering them a lifeline and then cutting the rope once they grabbed hold.

"I feel let down and deceived," said Samuel McCrary, a Marine Corps vet with three young kids in Loganville, Ga. The new VASP program looked like it was going to save his house, but now the VA has ended new enrollments in it and he says his mortgage company can only tell him his application for VASP is "pending."

"I believe that we are going to lose the house," McCrary said. "Losing my house and having to go rent — it makes me sick to my stomach to think about."

Even veterans who have made it into the VASP program aren't sure if they'll be OK. That's because many of those vets are in a VASP three-month trial payment period. The VA says vets who have entered that process can continue it through August, "subject to VA's determination that funds remain available for VASP."

The VA did not respond to NPR's request for information about how much funding is available or how many more veterans in these trial periods will in fact be placed into affordable VASP loans.

Veterans also tell NPR they feel like they're scapegoated and paying the price for the VA's mistakes.

At a recent House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Van Orden criticized VASP this way:

"I understand the whole developmental process of this, and it was moronic," Van Orden said. "It gets rid of a bum loan, and it passes it off to the American taxpayers."

That comment did not sit well with fellow Iraq veteran Conlon and his wife, Jenny.

"That's a hell of a thing to say about his brothers and sisters," said Conlon.

Iraq war veteran Kevin Conlon is among tens of thousands of veterans left facing foreclosure because of a debacle in the VA home loan program.

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"That was so hurtful because these are not bum loans, and they're making the veterans and their families out to sound like irresponsible people," his wife added.

The couple says Kevin took the forbearance so he could get treatment for PTSD.  "That's why we needed it, so he could go inpatient at a veterans program," Jenny said.

The Conlons say they followed the VA's instructions and then got stuck when the VA shut off part of its forbearance program in 2022. Then they followed the VA's instructions again by applying for the new rescue program, VASP. And the VA now says it's shutting that off. Their mortgage company tells them they are enrolled in the VASP trial payment plan, but it's unclear whether the VA will determine it has funding to help all the veterans on those trial plans with permanent new VASP loans.

"The level of just mistrust I have — I mean, I get they're trying to cut spending and all that, but it's like, how do you justify cutting something that is to help the vets who were basically put in this position because of you?" Conlon said.

NPR asked the VA if it's concerned about veterans losing their homes after it shuts down VASP with no replacement ready yet. A VA spokesman has not answered that question but at one point referred our reporters to Congress.

NPR asked the Republican House VA committee leadership the same question; that office referred our reporters back to the VA.
Copyright 2025 NPR

Irvine opened a new pedestrian bridge this week that lets you pedal, scoot, or walk over the 5 Freeway.

I threw my bike in the car and went to check it out.

I parked at Cypress Community Park in Irvine and was soon biking over the 5. The bridge is only for pedestrians, bikes, and scooters — so no cars to worry about.

A new bridge in Irvine opened this week. It stretches across the 5 Freeway and connects to other trails in the city.

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The bridge, which opened on Aug. 11, is a key link in Orange County’s network of trails that can take cyclists and pedestrians all the way from the hills to the Pacific Ocean.

“It looks like they nailed it. This is great," said James Connolly, who was on a scouting trip from his home in Costa Mesa.

“ I wanna take my e-board, which can go about 30 miles, and go all the way to here and then turn around and go back, you know? It looks like that's feasible now," he continued.

The new bridge in Irvine opened this week.

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Sadia Kahn was trying to keep up with her two young boys, who were on scooters.

“ It's our first time here. We've been watching the construction for a while, so yeah, we're excited," she said.

Khan said she has come to really appreciate Irvine's network of parks and trails.

“Prior to having kids, it would just give me like the heebie-jeebies by how like manicured it is and then you have kids and you're like, "Oh, I get the hype," she said. "We've drank the Kool-Aid is what I'm trying to say.” 

There’re plenty of skate parks in the region — skateboarding, after all, got its start in Southern California. But a skate park of another kind has risen on the banks of the L.A. River.

It’s for fingerboarding.

The L.A. River Fingerboard Skatepark is four feet tall and sits atop a bank of dirt barriers installed by the Army Corps of Engineers about a decade ago to control floods.

The view from the back end of the L.A. River Fingerboard Skatepark.

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If you know, you know

There’s no exact address, finding it for yourself is part of the experience.

A group photo of fingerboarders at the the L.A. River Fingerboard Skatepark.

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Ryan Diaz

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“ The whole purpose of it is for you to get out and to use your brain and to discover the world, it just makes things fun,” said Ryan Diaz, who manages social media accounts dedicated to the fingerboard skatepark.

No one knows who built it or when it was built, but videos of people doing tricks on miniature ramps and rails started showing up on social media in March.

Diaz instantly recognized the location and decided to check it out. At that time, it was six by six feet — that’s before he started to add to it.

Others joined in and Diaz began documenting the expansion.

The park is about 90 feet long.

“Everyone does say if it wasn't for me, none of this would be happening,” Diaz said. “I was just happy to motivate people, bring out their creativity.”

Skate therapy

Levi Hernandez and his fingerboard.

Levi Hernandez performs a trick with his fingerboard.

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Levi Hernandez shows off his fingerboard.

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Levi Hernandez is from El Monte. It was his fourth time visiting on a recent Wednesday in July, but he’s been fingerboarding for nearly a decade, including at local events like ShredderMania.

He said he’s learning something new at the park.

“ It actually almost feels like real skateboarding in a way," Hernandez said. "Where your fingers end up sliding and where you're popping, it's just a lot of practice.”

Jimmy Tran of Chinatown is a regular that stops by the park on his way home from work every day. He used to skateboard – the real kind – regularly but had to stop after a bad injury.

Jimmy Tran performs a trick with his fingerboard.

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“ I could do the same tricks as skateboarding, but I don't have to get hurt at all, honestly. And I still have the satisfaction of landing a really clean trick,” Tran said.

Tran says it’s a place he can relax, be himself, and feel like a kid again.

Saturdays are for building

Gilbert Medrano (left) and Ryan Diaz (right) co-manages the park.

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Build days to expand the park are on Saturdays.

“We have kids that come from the neighborhood, and we teach them how to pour concrete and stuff like that, kind of like a big brother role,” Diaz said.

Besides the usual skatepark obstacles like ramps and rails, the crew also add art, including a large “LA” sign in Dodger Blue and requisite graffiti like the shark Diaz painted as a tribute to Jaws on a quarter pipe ramp.

Darren Mojica performs a trick on the quarter pipe ramp.

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Diaz’s dream is for the park to be recognized by the city as a local landmark.

“I want the spot to last, and for years to come for people to come and visit,” Diaz said.

Saturday build days include decorating the park with graffiti and art.

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A hardware store isn't where you’d expect to find a drawing class, a matcha pop-up or plant sales. Unless you're at Anzen Hardware, an 80-year-old staple that nearly disappeared from Little Tokyo in 2023.

The business reopened in November, and it’s been trying to find its groove in a neighborhood where legacy businesses are moving out — such as Suehiro Cafe and Rafu Shimpo — while navigating a different world from when it first opened.

“We're noticing the need for hardware tools is declining,” said Philip Hirose.

Jo Ann Maehara Hirose, along with her son Philip Hirose, are the new owners of Anzen Hardware. They are also the daughter and grandson of the founder.

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Philip Hirose is bringing new programming, from matcha pop-ups to drawing classes, to the reopened Anzen.

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Hirose and his mom, Jo Ann Maehara Hirose, are the new owners — the grandson and daughter of the founder. With the help of trusted family friend Rockett Ito Wong, Anzen is carrying on its legacy as it becomes something new.

"None of the three of us have that much experience with running retail stores," said Wong, a college student. "It's been quite a bit of trial and error."

Eight decades on First Street

Tsutomu Maehara opened Anzen Hotel Supply, a precursor to Anzen Hardware, after being incarcerated at Tule Lake during World War II.

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Tsutomu Maehara — Jo Ann Maehara Hirose’s father — settled in Los Angeles after being incarcerated at Tule Lake during World War II.

In 1946, he founded Anzen Hotel Supply on First Street to sell provisions to nearby single-room hotels.

Anzen Hardware from its early days in Little Tokyo.

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"As soon as I could hold a broom, we were sweeping the streets or the sidewalks outside," Maehara Hirose said.

Anzen eventually pivoted to selling American hardware and imported Japanese tools and goods — including bamboo garden rakes and handcrafted knives from a company that once made samurai swords.

Twenty-year-old Rockett Ito Wong is a longtime family friend and runs the floor.

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“It's always a discovery,” said Mike Okamura, president of the Little Tokyo Historical Society and a patron since Maehara was behind the cash register.

Maehara Hirose remembered Anzen imported one of the first rice cookers from Japan. “A National. That one-button one,” she said. “They were flying off the shelves.”

These days, tariffs are making it harder to keep and find suppliers. Still, Wong has just brought in a shipment of knives and chisels.

“I don't even think it's been a question that we would source any of this stuff not from Japan,” he said.

The shop still sharpens knives. In fact, Wong is the guy responsible for the job.

A reluctant homecoming

In 2023, then-owner Nori Takatani, a distant relative of Maehara who had worked at Anzen since he was a teen, put the store up for sale. He was in ill health and asked Maehara Hirose and her husband to take over.

She was hesitant, having opened the restaurant Azay several years earlier. She worried about taking on a second business. Besides, there were two prospective buyers, both invested in preserving Anzen's legacy.

But one day, Takatani told her the deals fell through because the landlord was jacking up rent.

Wong was able to find a new supplier from Japan for an order of new wood chisels.

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“You gotta buy it,” he told her.

Anzen Hardware returned two years later at one of its previous locations, 200 E. First Street.

“It was great news and great joy,” Okamura said when the community found out who the new owners were.

More than a hardware store 

On a July evening, about a dozen people, pencils and paper in hand, were at Anzen to learn how to draw.

Their subjects were Patty and Carrie — friends in their 70s — who ended up regaling the participants, some decades younger, with stories of their lives and community advocacy work.

The “Memory Capsule Drawing” class was taught by Kris Chau, an artist and loyal patron. She still brings in the knife she bought a decade ago for sharpening.

In July, Philip and artist Kris Chau organized a drawing class at Anzen Hardware. The models were two 70-something community activists.

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She said she was inspired to start the drawing class after Hirose said he was noticing that some elders were losing confidence and purpose.

"Even though you could see the light within Carrie and Patty, they were like, 'Why would anybody wanna draw us?'" Chau said. "The young students were just, like, in tears at the end of class."

That, along with the store’s matcha pop-ups, plant sales and artist collaborations, may just be what a legacy neighborhood business needs to survive.

“Philip [Hirose] is taking it forward, but keeping in mind the history and paying tribute to it,” said Okamura, who has been helping out at both Anzen and Azay since he retired as a banker.

“I see the old Anzen — the same counters and some of the hardware too,” he continued. “But then I see other things — the programming inside the store, which has never been done before.”

Federal prosecutors will pursue fewer charges in their second attempt to convict a man accused of starting the deadly 2025 wildfire that became the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.

A jury deadlocked in June over whether to convict Jonathan Rinderknecht of intentionally sparking the fire that killed 12 people as it incinerated much of the Pacific Palisades and other neighborhoods in Malibu. Ten out of 12 jurors wanted to acquit him on all three felony charges, leading the judge to declare a mistrial. Federal prosecutors vowed to try again, and a second trial is set to start in the fall.

In a new indictment filed Thursday, prosecutors reduced their case against Rinderknecht to two charges and narrowed their scope.

Prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht used a barbecue lighter on Jan. 1, 2025, to spark a fire that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up Jan. 7 to become the Palisades fire, which destroyed more than 6,800 buildings.

All three charges in the first trial blamed Rinderknecht for setting both the Jan. 1 fire and the Palisades Fire. In the new indictment, only one charge references both fires. The other only focuses on the destruction caused by the first fire.

Rinderknecht’s attorney and a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the new indictment. U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang is holding a status conference for an arraignment on Wednesday.

Throughout the first trial, prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht was the only person in the area when the Jan. 1 fire began and presented a digital trail seeking to show he was motivated by a desire to take revenge on society over rampant economic inequality. They also presented hours of recorded interviews with Rinderknecht in which he offered inconsistent recollections about his movements that night.

Rinderknecht’s attorneys argued that prosecutors lacked direct evidence showing that he started the fire and that they failed to consider fireworks as a potential cause of the first fire.