LAHSA shuts down its computers over ‘potential security issue’
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority workers observe L.A. city sanitation workers removing an encampment in Venice Beach in June 2023. (Brian Feinzimer / LAist)The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority told its employees Friday to stop work, shut down their computers and stay off agency systems while it looked into “a potential security issue affecting our systems,” its chief executive confirmed to LAist.That shutdown order was still in place Monday evening, according to a LAHSA official not authorized to speak on the record.Gita O'Neill, the agency’s interim CEO, told LAist on Friday evening that the agency did not “yet have enough information to say definitively whether any sensitive or confidential personal information was accessed.”She has not answered questions about whether or not services for unhoused people are disrupted.Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA, speaks ahead of the annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026.(Jordan Rynning / LAist)LAHSA holds highly sensitive inform
Continue reading
How will LAUSD respond to Google’s AI mandate? You can weigh in
Google says Search will be turned off for schools that do not want to use artificial intelligence. (Chesnot / Getty Images)The Los Angeles Unified School District said it’s reviewing how to proceed after Google’s announcement last week that it will not allow schools to use its search engine unless they opt in to using artificial intelligence.Google said that in the coming months, access to products like Gemini and Google Search would be turned off by default until schools turn them on, saying it believes “schools should have control over AI in their classroom.” But Google Search, by default, includes an AI chatbot and uses AI to summarize search results — meaning that schools that restrict AI would not have access to Google Search.Earlier this school year, LAUSD implemented a moratorium on students using generative AI on district-issued devices.“We are reviewing Google’s announcement and its potential implications for schools, educators and students,” said a spokesperson for LAUSD. “Lo
Continue reading
California voters reject measure to tax the wealth of billionaires
A “Tax the Ultra-Rich Now” bus parked outside the Curran Theater before the start of a "Ballots Over Billionaires" rally in San Francisco on Oct. 3, 2026.(Manuel Orbegozo / CalMatters)California voters have rejected a first-in-the-nation tax on the net worth of billionaires following a contentious ballot fight that generated huge spending by some prominent tech leaders eager to stop their taxes from going up.The measure’s failure is a win for Democratic leaders who opposed it, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s deciding whether to run for president in 2028. Critics of the tax, known as Proposition 40, said it would have prompted ultrawealthy taxpayers to leave the state.The “no” side raised roughly 10 times as much as the “yes” side. Google co-founder Sergey Brin alone dumped more than $100 million into a political action committee working to defeat the measure.The measure would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of Californians whose net worth exceeds $1 billion. Most of the
Continue reading
Raman’s win triggers surge of optimism among advocates of transit and safer streets in LA
L.A. Mayor-elect Nithya Raman at a press conference to speak in support of safety updates following a fatal crash that occurred on Forest Lawn Drive, on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)In the home-stretch of the L.A. mayor’s race, Mayor Karen Bass and her former ally-turned-challenger Nithya Raman met for the only televised debate of the campaign.They traded jabs over public safety, homelessness and other core issues for Angelenos. But one dig was particularly eyebrow-raising. It came toward the end of the debate, when Bass chided Raman for her support from bike lane advocates.“There’s very influential people who are supporting your campaign who are very, very much advocates for bike lanes,” Bass, who conceded the race Thursday, said in the Oct. 13 debate hosted by NBCLA and Telemundo.“Um, yes,” Mayor-elect Raman can be heard quietly saying as one of the moderators tries to move the conversation along.While it represented just a moment in
Continue reading
Congress is coming back to Washington. Here's what to expect
Lawmakers are returning to Washington this week to finish up work before Democrats take control of the House and Senate in January.(Zayrha Rodriguez / NPR) It is the final hoorah for the 119th Congress. Republicans have just weeks left in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main thing on the agenda: keeping the federal government open. Funding is set to run out on December 11, when a stop-gap measure passed about a month ahead of the midterms expires. Any funding extension is all but certain to be done through another short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution. The typical government funding process — 12 carefully negotiated appropriations bills — would take time and political will that lawmakers currently lack. Congress will also need to find a path forward on the National Defense Authorization Act, long considered a must-pass annual military funding package. This year, the bill is quagmired in the unforgiving politics of the Iran war. The conflict is op
Continue reading
California’s fifth consecutive Catholic governor exemplifies the faith’s deep roots
California Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra, center, accompanied by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limon meet with reporters at the Capitol on Nov. 5, 2026, in Sacramento.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)As he campaigned for California governor, Xavier Becerra reflected on the way his Catholic upbringing informs his politics. “The sanctity of life is something that’s really ingrained in you,” the Democrat and former U.S. health and human services secretary said earlier this year.He then explained his rationale, confounding to some, for supporting abortion rights. Becerra exemplifies how Catholicism’s deep roots often go hand in hand with California’s progressive reputation. That complexity is a snapshot of a larger reality — that American Catholics are in many ways a politically mixed bag.“There is no Catholic vote,” said David Gibson, the director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture. White evangelicals for Republicans or Black Pr
Continue reading
LA had its worst mosquito year this decade. El Niño could make it even worse
A Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, also known as a southern house mosquito, in 2022.(Lauren Bishop / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)When temperatures rise above 70 degrees, tiny West Nile viral particles begin to rapidly replicate in the gut of Culex mosquitoes, which then go hunting for their next “blood meal,” injecting virus-laden saliva into their prey when they feast.This year, California’s warm, wet summer and fall produced the most West Nile activity in five years. As of Nov. 6, the virus has seriously sickened 528 people and killed 32, according to the California Department of Public Health.Most people who are infected never feel sick, but about 1 in 5 may develop fever, headache and body aches. For the rare few — 1 in 150 — things get serious: The virus can hitch a ride to the brain, causing inflammation, neurological problems and even death. There is no cure, only supportive medical care.Southern California bore the brunt of infections, with Los Angeles County acc
Continue reading
Californians vote to keep environmental protections, even with the red tape
Construction laborers work on a housing project in Valley Center on June 3, 2021. (Mike Blake / Reuters)Voters on Saturday rejected a measure that would have weakened California’s landmark environmental law by fast-tracking reviews for some projects.With about 76% of votes counted, voters rejected Prop. 45 by 55.7% to 44.3%.The vote maintains the status quo under the state’s Environmental Quality Act, which since 1970 has required public agencies to review project developments that could have harmful environmental impacts, and mitigate those harms.“Californians have sent a clear message to corporate developers, utilities and data center builders that they will not stand for a broad assault at the ballot box on state law protecting our air, water and natural resources,” No on 45’s Woody Little said. “We were outspent but not outgunned.”Supporters had said the changes would reduce building costs. The California Chamber of Commerce sponsored Proposition 45, the Building an Affordable Cali
Continue reading
Community, LA leaders denounce ICE activity at White Memorial
Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, left, and Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, center, march to Adventist Health White Memorial on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 to demand that the hospital not cooperate with federal immigration agents.(Video screenshot courtesy of Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network / The LA Local)Crowds gathered at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights on Saturday for a rally and march to Adventist Health White Memorial after federal immigration agents mounted a blockade at the emergency room entrance and detained at least two people outside the hospital.Community organizers and elected officials on Saturday handed off a letter to the hospital’s administrators, calling for an end to any collaboration between the hospital and federal immigration agents.Sen. Maria Elena Durazo said that it appears the hospital is earning a reputation for being an “ICE-friendly hospital.”“What happened last night was unacceptable,” Durazo told the hospital’s administrators in the same parking lot where the bloc
Continue reading
Best things to do in LA and SoCal: Nov. 4-10
Alanis Morissette will play four nights at YouTube Theater.(Jean Catuffe / Getty Images)The days are getting shorter, so it’s important to keep your spirits up, whether that’s by already starting to decorate for Christmas (too soon, if you ask me! I was just in London and all the department stores were decked out even before Halloween!) or just putting some fun things on the calendar for the weeks ahead. Like some of the events listed here!Elsewhere on LAist, you can follow ongoing election results, find out if Cal State will take your music memorabilia for their archives and get your tickets for the LAist Moth Storyslam on Nov. 10.MusicIf it’s music you’re looking for, Licorice Pizza has your picks, including:Wednesday Austin psych-rockers the Black Angels at the FondaK-pop veteran Henry Lau at the NovoThursdayMedium Build at the BellwetherAlvaro Diaz at the WilternFriday Carl Cox plays the Hollywood PalladiumArmand Hammer plays the Lodge RoomSaturday Moby and Underworld plus others a
Continue reading