Is My Home About To Slide Down A Hill? (And Other Headlines)

One day, you notice new cracks inside your home at the foundation. Then, you hear a distant rumbling sound that grows louder. The land is moving beneath your home. Part of your house is tilting. You know steep slopes, weak rocks and heavy rain create ripe conditions for landslides, especially within SoCal’s coastal mountain ranges.

The warning signs of a landslide

You are terrified. It looks, feels and sounds like a landslide. Don’t fear — there’s plenty you can do.

Over the weekend, 12 Rolling Hills Estates homes were evacuated due to damaging landslides. My colleague Jacob Margolis explained how landslides actually happen, what signs to look for and who you should contact in case of an emergency.

Read the rest of Jacob’s story for more.

Stay safe and cool, L.A. There’s more news below — just keep reading.

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)

• We are currently in the middle of a HOT heatwave. How hot? The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch through Sunday. My colleague Gillian Morán Pérez has tips on how you can stay cool and safe in the heat. 
• Yesterday began the second wave of strikes for thousands of unionized hotel workers in Southern California. This time, the walkouts are impacting hotels around LAX. 
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass renewed her emergency declaration on homelessness, seven months after originally initiating one on her first day in office. My colleague David Wagner wrote about new commitments within the declaration and why there’s an emphasis on data. 
• It’s the summertime and our favorite flowers are in bloom. Grab your cutest ‘fits and your friends and attend the Lavender Festival located at California’s Cherry Valley now through July 23 where you can try a lavender chicken sandwich, take home some lavender essential oil and snap some aesthetically pleasing photos for the ‘gram. (Los Angeles Times) 
• We could soon have two Hollywood strikes going on at the same time if SAG-AFTRA doesn’t reach a deal with studios by tomorrow night. Los Angeles Times’ Stacy Perman and Anousha Sakoui wrote about how the industry got here. (Los Angeles Times). 
• Family vacations can be a stressful time. NPR’s Allison Aubrey has tips on how to practice mindfulness over the summer vacay with your loved ones.

Wait... one more thing

How do you define a first-gen student?

Jaqueline Ruvalcaba is a first-generation college student at American River College in Sacramento. March 1, 2022.

(

Miguel Gutierrez Jr.

/

CalMatters

)

There are so many definitions for the term “first-generation college student.” Is it a student whose parents didn’t receive a bachelor’s degree or a student whose parents never went to college at all? What if a student’s parents received a certification, even though they dropped out of college? What if a student has parents who have degrees in other countries?

I’ve always considered myself a first-generation college student because my parents never received their bachelor’s degree, even though one attended trade school and the other earned their associate’s degree.

But while the University of California system would consider me a first-generation student, the California Community College would not. As it turns out, there’s no consensus among the state’s college officials on the status.

CalMatters’ Adam Echelman explored the complexities of the first-generation identifier within college and university systems in California.

In his article, he talked to Sarah Whitley, the vice president of the Center for First-Generation Student Success. She said the system lacks clarity.

“It’s something that we’re hoping to get to, but the data is just so messy everywhere,” Whitley said.

Read the rest of his story to learn how tricky it can be to figure out who qualifies as a first-generation college student across California colleges and universities.