How Food Truck Vendors Stay Cool In The Heat (And Other Headlines)

As we head into a heatwave after last week’s historic tropical storm, people are retreating to indoor spaces to stay cool. But for L.A.’s street vendors, they have to find ways to protect themselves on hot days, like drinking lots of water and taking breaks outside sweltering food trucks when they can.

Beating the heat

Those who depend on cooking and selling food out of hot kitchens on wheels can’t exactly stop working during heat waves — they need to earn a living. And there are no specific heat safety work rules that govern food trucks.

My colleague Leslie Berestein Rojas talked to vendors across L.A. to hear how they prevent themselves from overheating during peak sun hours. Read the story here.

How To LA

We’re here to help curious Angelenos connect with others, discover the new, navigate the confusing, and even drive some change along the way.

Listen Now

More news

(After you stop hitting snooze)

• Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine for his conviction on corruption charges.
• People taking weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy report a dampening of the urge to drink. Here's how the drugs curb cravings and what that could mean for helping treat addiction.
• Tattoos are more popular than ever. About a third of Americans have at least one. A scientist-entrepreneur, together with a celebrity tattoo artist, believes that "smart ink" could be doing a lot more.
• California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing Chino Valley Unified School District over the school board's newest policy on mandatory gender identity disclosure.
• As Southern California continues to broil under yet another heatwave, researchers have been looking at how extreme heat affects vulnerable populations, including people incarcerated in California prisons.

Wait... one more thing

Preparing For A Power Outage

The sun shines behind electrical power lines in this file photo. The state is preparing to set a new record for power use.

(

Patrick T. Fallon

/

AFP via Getty Images

)

I always know that summer is almost over when the temperatures are even hotter than usual and I start seeing news about brushfires. I also know that means a high chance of power outages.

While there’s no official warnings as of writing this newsletter, it’s always a good idea to prepare for the likelihood of having no electricity. We put together this guide on what you can do if your area experiences a flex alert or a rolling power outage.

I leave you with one (of many) of the useful tips I found: Be sure to sign up for emergency alerts — here’s where to sign up for L.A. County cities.