The Brief

A long-awaited vision for Huntington Drive is finally coming into focus. In the future, the busy corridor will have dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, two lanes of vehicle traffic in each direction, a thin median and wide sidewalks.

This was the plan chosen by the City for the Huntington Drive Multi-Modal Transportation Improvement Project, which runs on an approximately four-mile stretch of the street between North Mission Road near LAC+USC Medical Center and Alhambra/South Pasadena. This had much more public support than the competing alternative, which featured a wide median rather than wide sidewalks, according to Mary Nemick, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Engineering.

Nemick said the next step is to hire a consultant to create design and engineering documents. This phase is expected to take about two years before groundbreaking can occur.

Currently, Huntington Drive has three vehicular lanes in each direction, the bike lanes are unprotected, and about 25% of the corridor lacks sidewalks. Though pedestrians and bicyclists account for only 1% of peak-hour trips, they account for 54% of severe or fatal injuries from traffic collisions, according to a project document.

The design budget is about $10.5 million, Nemick said, and the overall project cost will be determined after designs are completed.

The project is being funded by some of the money previously allocated for the construction of the 710 Freeway extension, which was abandoned in 2018 after decades of local opposition.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

A local pastor, an ACLU organizer, and the leader of an immigration advocacy group showed up early Tuesday to a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting to demand answers after their scheduled presentation on federal immigration raids was canceled.

The groups had been invited to brief the commission on the impact of federal raids and ways to better protect immigrant communities, but on Friday they received a call saying the presentation was canceled. They convened a press conference soon before the commission meeting was scheduled to begin, with dozens of supporters holding “ICE out of LAPD” signs.

The police department has struggled for months to explain to city residents its role in federal immigration sweeps that have resulted in more than 14,000 being detained in the region last year. 

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has wavered between publicly criticizing state laws designed to hold  federal agents accountable when they refuse to identify themselves and promising full compliance with Mayor Karen Bass’ order for more immigrant protections.

Police Commission President Teresa Sanchez Gordon offered in a March commission meeting to invite immigrant groups to give presentations about their work and concerns regarding the raids.

The commission did not respond to a request from The LA Local for more information about the canceled presentation.

Father Brendan Busse, from Dolores Mission Church, speaks during a news conference calling for LAPD compliance with Los Angeles sanctuary policies outside LAPD headquarters.

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Martin Romero

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The LA Local

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Father Brendan Busse, of Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights and LA Voice said he helped organize efforts to protect people during aggressive federal immigration sweeps last year.

“That’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s what we’re here to ask LAPD to do: To serve and to protect, ” Busse said at the press conference. “Safety and sanctuary go together.”

He described being at a raid in the city’s Fashion District last year, saying “They threw tear gas and flash grenades at all of us.” Others said LAPD officers had established a perimeter around the federal sweep and were seen escorting agents.

In February, Mayor Karen Bass ordered the department to draw a clearer line between the work of local police and the federal government’s deportation efforts. McDonnell soon after established policies requiring officers to identify federal agents at sweep sites and be present only to protect the public. 

But Martha Arevalo, executive director of the Central American Resource Center, said that LAPD continues to respond to federal immigration agents requesting aid and is “effectively assisting ICE operations in ways that undermine the local sanctuary protections.”

The Los Angeles City Council established a sanctuary ordinance in late 2024, partly restricting how city employees and resources can assist federal immigration enforcement. Last year, the council passed additional legislation directing the commission to further limit LAPD interactions with immigration agents.

“As a city and as a police department, we have to ask the question: ‘Who are we here to protect?’” Arevalo asked the dozens gathered outside LAPD headquarters, later adding, “You should be wanting to have dialogue about these issues.”

Andrés Kwon, Senior Policy Counsel and Organizer at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, speaks during a news conference calling for LAPD compliance with Los Angeles sanctuary policies.

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Martin Romero

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The LA Local

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Andrés Kwon, senior policy counsel and organizer at the ACLU of Southern California, told The LA Local that he and others from the groups met with Sanchez Gordon and Inspector General Matthew Barragan in recent weeks. They were invited to give the 20-minute presentation, he said. 

Then, he added, “We got pulled.” He said they did not receive an explanation for why their presentation was canceled.

Kwon said they had planned to provide statistics on the impact of immigration raids and a history of the groups’ work since the 1980s helping immigrants fleeing persecution and war.

“We need LAPD to not just blindly trust ICE and Border Patrol,” Kwon said

Several people spoke during the public comment period of the commission meeting requesting that the groups be invited again to present on how to further protect the city’s immigrants.

The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment about this story.

Oil prices plunged and stocks surged as global investors breathed a sigh of relief after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire and President Donald Trump backed off his threat to wipe out Iran's "whole civilization."

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 1,000 points in early morning trade, while the S&P and Nasdaq also rallied, following strong gains in Asian and European stocks overnight.

Meanwhile, both U.S. crude futures, as well as Brent, the global benchmark, plunged amid hopes that ships could soon transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about 20% of global oil flows. The strait had been virtually shut down by the war, sparking a global energy crisis.

The strong market reaction comes after Trump announced the ceasefire on social media Tuesday evening, less than two hours before a deadline he had imposed for Iran to meet his demands or face wide-scale destruction.

Wild swings in the markets

Trump's threat — and its reversal — marked the latest rhetoric to roil Wall Street and global investors since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago.

Investors have swung from hope that Trump and Iran will de-escalate the war, to panic when it appears that the conflict is heating up, and back again.

Trump said his agreement to a ceasefire is contingent on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz immediately. It could take some time for global energy markets to recover, since some damage has already been done to oil refineries and other infrastructure in the Middle East.

The energy crisis sparked by the war with Iran has hurt consumers all over the world, including in the U.S., where national gasoline prices have risen above $4 per gallon.
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It's going to be a warm Wednesday here in Southern California.

Overcast skies will be more present along the coast this morning, followed by a mostly sunny afternoon. Temperatures along the beaches will reach the upper 60s to mid 70s for the inland coast.

Meanwhile, over in the valleys, temperatures will rise up to the mid 70s and low 80s, up to 85 degrees in the Inland Empire. Coachella Valley will be sunny with temperatures ranging from 92 to 97 degrees.