Morning Brief: It’s Time To Cut Your Water Usage, LA

Good morning, L.A. It’s June 2.

It’s a good thing I’ve learned to take 5 minute showers (really, it’s not hard). Water restrictions are now in effect for more than 6 million Southern Californians across Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Many of us will now have to limit outdoor watering to one day a week. Here in L.A., we can water two days a week. Check out my colleague Erin Stone’s story to see if you live in one of the affected cities.

The fines are pretty hefty if you get caught not following the rules. That’s a $600 bill that I know you and I don’t need in our already expensive California life!

This drought is real, people, so we all need to do our part. Need inspiration? Here’s one Angeleno with a solution. Meet Leimert Park’s Lynetta McElroy. She’s an expert at a water conservation technique called gray water recycling — that's untreated wastewater from “showers, laundry machines and bathtubs.” Lynetta collects HER water from the shower and faucet and uses it in her garden. “When we wash our vegetables, we don't let that water just go down the drain,” McElroy said. “We catch that water.”

It’s legal, too, in the state of California as long as gray water is not used on edible crops. Read all about Lynetta’s process here. She also collects water from the shower while it heats up. Go ahead and try it yourself. You, too, might be able to make it a habit. [And if you just want to smile, check out the episode of our Off-Ramp podcast that walks you through exactly how to take a Navy shower.]

Voter Game Plan: LAUSD School Board

We’re helping you with your ballot every day from now until Primary Election Day on June 7. Today, we’re talking about what you need to know about the races for LAUSD school board.

The L.A. Unified School District is the largest school district in the country where voters, rather than the mayor, choose their school board representatives directly. And the next election for these school board members is Tuesday.

LAUSD school board members have a lot of power. They hire (or fire) the superintendent, pass the district’s $9 billion operating budget, and vote on every charter school that hopes to open in Los Angeles. This power is why,as my colleague Kyle Stokes writes, teachers’ unions and advocates for charter schools have spent millions against each other in these races over the past decade, hoping to seat their favorite candidates on the school board.

The next school board is up against these challenges:

• Enrollment has declined for the past two decades, and it plunged during the pandemic. School funding is tied to enrollment, so the school board will have to figure out how to stretch the budget once pandemic relief funds run out.
• Remote learning led to learning loss for many students, especially students with disabilities. Many students also say their mental health has suffered. The school board will have to figure out how to help students and make up for lost time in the classroom. 
• In 2020, the board agreed to cut the school police budget by $25 million and redirect that money into something called the Black Student Achievement Plan. The next school board will be responsible for successfully implementing this plan.

Three LAUSD school board seats are up for election. Are you voting for one of them? You can check your ballot, or input your address intoVoter’s Edge. Then you can explore ourVoter Game Plan guide on the school board race to learn all about the candidates who are running and how they would approach the job.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• The drawn-out court battle between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard came to a close. Depp comes out the winner of his defamation lawsuit.
• Reparations for Black Californians could include housing grants, free tuition and minimum wage increases. These are recommendations from the state’s reparations task force in a report released Wednesday. The report highlighted California’s roots in slavery and history of institutional racism. 
• Due to a Los Angeles school board vote, the district will now place children who have been identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing before the age of 3 into a bilingual program. My colleague Kyle Stokes wrote about why this vote matters.
• If there’s one thing that’s constantly breaking records, it’s Southern California gas prices. The average price of a gallon of regular is now above 6 bucks in Los Angeles and Orange counties. This congressman is demanding a suspension of the federal gas tax. 
• The L.A. Latino Film Festival returns this week through Sunday. This festival aims to represent diverse Latino filmmakers from all over the world. 
• It’s (almost) summer time! The L.A. river is now open for outdoorsy activities, including biking, running or walking the Taylor Yard Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, which connects Cypress Park and Elysian Valley.
  

Before You Go...Lady Lowriders Take Over L.A.

Sandy Avila in the driver's seat of her 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, Simply Beautiful.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez for LAist

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If you’ve been in Los Angeles long enough, you’ve probably seen a lowrider. Historically, the person in the driver’s seat has been a guy. But now, the lady lowriders are calling the shots with all-female car clubs.

In my colleague Jessica Ogilvie’s story, you’ll meet several of these trendsetting women like Sandy Avila, the president of Lady Lowriders Car Club. For Avila, being the leader of a car club is a lot of work. “Like they say, it’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. You have to have that thing, where you do this because you love it.”