Morning Brief: Your Voting Plan, Baby Formula, And ‘Score for Here’

Good morning, L.A. It’s May 11.

On June 7 — less than a month from now — L.A. will hold a primary election. The ballot will ask voters to weigh in on our next sheriff, two board of supervisor seats, eight city council seats, multiple school board seats, and a U.S. Senate seat, among others.

You’ll have between 14 and 19 races to vote on, depending on where you live in L.A. County. That’s a lot of vote prep to do, and we’re here to help. Today, we launched LAist’s Voter Game Plan, a one-stop shop where you can tap into a wealth of knowledge on each race.

Think of it as a cheat sheet for your civic duty — with some unexpected plot twists.

For instance, maybe your eyes glaze over when it comes to selecting a new City Controller. But remember back in 2008 when someone found 7,000 untested DNA rape kits sitting in an LAPD freezer? It was the controller who figured that out. Think of the position as a kind of watchdog for L.A.

Or maybe you don’t have school-age children, so you’re not totally sure why you should care about the school board. Well, their agenda this year includes accountability for the $25 million that was redirected from school policing to the Black Student Achievement Plan, and making up for pandemic learning loss — issues that affect not just the city but the very future of civilization. 

We also cover voting logistics, like where to send in your mail-in ballot, and important registration deadlines. 

So, dive in and take a look around! And if you have any unanswered questions, fire them off to us right here.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• The historic, climate change-driven drought will hit home for millions of Angelenos this summer. Starting June 1, outdoor watering will be restricted to two days per week. 
• A long-delayed cleanup at Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Lab, the former nuclear reactor and rocket engine testing facility near Simi Valley, will finally begin after a historic settlement. 
• If passed, two pieces of legislation would require California employers to disclose a lot more information about pay and internal practices. 
• The nationwide baby formula shortage is getting worse. Here’s why. 
• Privacy experts are increasingly concerned about how data collected from period-tracking apps could be used to penalize women in the wake of the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Before You Go ... This Art Installation Triggers Musical Compositions

A portion of the graphic map, designed by Sarno, combining the physical space with the invisible spaces of various sounds.

(Courtesy artist Jimena Sarno)

Artist Jimena Sarno’s Score for Here installation, which opened over the weekend at the L.A. Historic State Park, lets visitors compose sound in real time as they stroll around the grounds.

My colleagues Zoe Kurland and Mike Roe report that walking into different parts of the park triggers a different sound from Sarno’s collection, like an old out-of-tune piano from a home in Thailand, a broken faucet from Buenos Aires, and a man working as a mattress cleaner in Iran announcing that he was coming around. The sounds come from artists, writers, poets, and others from around the world.