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Federal agents guard outside of a federal building and ICE detention center in downtown Los Angeles during a demonstration in June.A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow detainees at the basement of the detention center in downtown L.
A. to access attorneys.The court order issued Friday requires ICE officials to allow lawyers to visit the facility for at least eight hours a day and four hours a day on weekends and holidays. Federal law enforcement officials must also provide rooms where lawyers can meet with their clients in private, as well as allow confidential phone calls with attorneys that are not screened or recorded. The full ruling is: The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and Immigrant Defenders Law Center accused federal law enforcement of keeping people in the basement of the federal building and not allowing them to see or speak with legal counsel, as required by the Fifth Amendment.Since June, federal immigration agents have conducted sweeps all across Southern California, including L.A. County. County officials and advocates have said those actions have created a climate of fear and disrupted daily life. Last month, the city of Los Angelesthe Federal Communications CommissionThe library can’t afford the additional $40,500 a month needed to continue the digital lending services, according to an LA County Library spokesperson. The hotspot loaning program is expected to last until March.ended e-rate discounts last month to libraries and schools for hotspot lending and school bus Wi-Fi. The commission argued that the program “exceeded” or was “inconsistent” with the commission’s authority.Following the FCC’s vote, LA County Library reported that it would be winding down its digital lending services, starting with laptops.Officials estimated that remaining American Rescue Plan dollars would allow the program to continue until March 2026. Since launching the program in 2020, the public library system has seen more than 12,000 laptop checkouts, over 10,000 hotspot checkouts and nearly 15,000 hotspot holds. The services were meant to ensure access for residents who otherwise lack reliable internet. Continuing these services would cost the library approximately $40,500 per month — an expense the department’s current budget cannot absorb, according to a library spokesperson.If you want to borrow a laptop for a full six weeks before the program ends, you should check one out by Nov. 18.If you currently have a checked-out laptop, you are asked to return the kit on or before your due date.In the early 1900s, German immigrants arrived in Southern California to a much different culture than they were used to. Villa Aurora is a sprawling home that sits atop a hillside in the Pacific Palisades, and it became the epicenter for Germans to congregate.In 1929 as the economy crashed, the original owners were forced to sell and Villa Aurora sat empty for years. That is, until a German couple arrived, exiles who fled Nazi German and remade Villa Aurora into a sanctuary for other émigrés.While the houses near Villa Aurora were burned in January's fires, the house itself still stands, as well as the history within its walls.for more on how the German immigrants set about creating a sense of community, with Villa Aurora as the centerpiece.Villa Aurora is a sprawling home that sits atop a hillside in the Pacific Palisades. Built in 1927 as aof innovation, the Spanish-inspired house sweeps across a 19,000-square-foot lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The red clay tiles and wood ceilings recall the architecture of Andalusia and cement the home as a premiere example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. But its construction wasn't just for show. It was also meant to attract people to the area, draw them outside the city center to the more rustic terrain and coastal bluffs just west of Beverly Hills — to a neighborhood whose roads were not yet paved.But in 1929, it all came crashing down as the economy did the same. The owners were forced to sell and Villa Aurora sat empty for years. That is, until a German couple arrived, exiles who fled Nazi German and remade Villa Aurora into a sanctuary for other émigrés. "The house hosted intellectual gatherings, salons and artistic exchanges, a tradition that continues today," Claudia Gordon, the Villa's director told LAist 89.3'sCheaper than New York, an unbeatable climate, the allure of Hollywood — there were many reasons to settle here. " Between the time of the monarchy and the Nazi dictatorship, so many people gathered here," Blubacher said of the Pacific Palisades."It became the center of German-speaking exiles." That time was the early 1900s during the Weimar Republic, a historical period in Germany when free speech and intellectualism were still celebrated bastions of public life. Many of the early émigrés from Germany to the Palisades were people of the film industry, like Ernst Lubitsch and Fritz Lang, who became prominent Hollywood directors.During the height of Nazism, another wave of German and Austrian exiles would make their way to the Palisades. Vicki Baum, Thomas Mann, Lion Feuchtwanger are just some of those people, not only exiles but intellectuals in their own right who made their mark on Hollywood.But as Blubacher recounts, the transition from Europe to Southern California wasn't easy. What they had left behind as intellectuals was a culture of coffeeshops and salons, where likeminded creatives would meet up to generate ideas and possibly collaborate on them. That was not the case in their new home. "When they came here, it was very strange for them that that doesn't exist here," Blubacher added."They needed a car, they needed a private invitation to meet other people. This was a total different culture."In this vacuum of communal spaces to gather, German emigres created them by opening up their homes. " Villa Aurora and the Thomas Mann house were centers where people could meet and congregate," Gordon said. Salka Viertel, a German immigrant as well as an actress and screenwriter,"was one of the salonnieres that brought people together," Gordon added.Like any other immigrant community, the Germans had a steely resolve to build community. In 1987, Villa Aurora opened a residency program for German artists and intellectuals, supported by the German government. "It's an opportunity to honor the German exiles, which hadn't been possible before," said Gordon,"and to kind of keep the spirit of the salons of the get togethers of this transatlantic cultural exchange alive." Today, the homes to the right and left of Villa Aurora are gone, burned to the ground by the January fires.The hillside is charred and the villa suffered some smoke damage. But somehow, the sprawling home in the hills and hub for cultural fellowship still stands.The former Huntington Beach city attorney is disputing allegations that he was fired by Trump administration for cause after less than a year.Friday, including a federal employment document, showing Gates was officially fired for cause. The document is undated and does not specify a reason. Gates contends he actually resigned, and that the firing was an effort to reverse the narrative about a “dysfunctional” department.The former Huntington Beach city attorney is disputing allegations that he was fired for cause by the Trump administration after less than a year. Michael Gates, a popular but controversial figure in Huntington Beach politics, told LAist on Friday he had made it known thatGates says he is going back to a job with the beach city, where he once earned more than Gov. Gavin Newsom, with a pay-and-benefits package of more than $384,000.see the app's support page. Friday, including a federal employment document, showing Gates was officially fired for cause. The document is undated and does not specify a reason.The Register reported that a Department of Justice source said that Gates repeatedly referred to women colleagues by derogatory and demeaning names and had complained about the department employing a pregnant woman. Gates said the allegations are a"100% fabrication" and that he is considering legal action for defamation. In a statement emailed to LAist, a spokesperson for Huntington Beach wrote that the city “has become aware of an OC Register article published this morning regarding Michael Gates. We take such matters seriously and are actively investigating.” Gates told LAist that the firing was an effort to reverse the narrative about a “dysfunctional” department. “It was a very unprofessional environment,” Gates told LAist, adding that morale was low in the Civil Rights Division where he worked. “In terms of leadership, it was very dysfunctional,” he said. The Register posted a government personnel form stating Gates was fired for cause, but the form is undated. Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, responded “no comment” in response to emailed questions from LAist about Gates’ departure. LAist also reached out by phone and email to Matthew Zandi, chief of staff for Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who was Gates’ boss at the department’s Civil Rights Division. We will update this story if we get a response.Interviews with Gates and documents he shared with LAist paint a murky picture of the timeline of Gates’ departure.Gates told LAist that he’d made his pending resignation known to colleagues in the Justice Department in recent weeks. He said Zandi, the chief of staff, emailed Gates last Saturday to tell him that his last day would be Nov. 30. On Nov. 7, Gates and Huntington Beach city manager Travis Hopkins signed an agreement for Gates to take a job as Huntington Beach’s Chief Assistant City Attorney upon leaving the Department of Justice, according to details of the agreement Gates shared with LAist. A city spokesperson declined to answer LAist’s questions about the employment agreement. Gates contacted LAist on Nov. 9, saying he was leaving the Department of Justice to return to Huntington Beach. He said he missed his family and missed being “in the most beautiful city in the world.” Gates told LAist that while spending time at home during the lengthy government shutdown, community members and city leaders had urged him to come back to work for the city. Later that day, Gates posted his resignation letter, dated Nov. 8, on social media. The letter was addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and said it had “been an honor of a lifetime to work with you and the Trump Administration.” Gates had been on the job for 10 months. On Monday, Nov. 10, he said he discovered he was"frozen out" of his work computer and said he told he was being terminated immediately. Gates told LAist he had no indication that he was being fired for cause, and had never received any warning about his behavior or job performance.Gates is a popular, if controversial, figure in conservative Huntington Beach. He was first elected city attorney in 2014 and has won reelection twice since then. Huntington Beach is among a minority of cities in California that elects rather than appoints a city attorney.of President Donald Trump and his policies, and has battled with the state of California in court over housing mandates, the state’s sanctuary law, and Huntington Beach’s plan to ask residents to show ID in order to cast a ballot.total in a settlement with one former and one current employee who alleged age discrimination while working at the city under Gates. The city did not concede to any wrongdoing under the settlement.Before he took the Trump Administration job, Gates was one of the highest paid public officials in California, with pay and benefits totaling $384,000 in 2024, according to the websiteHOW TO KEEP TABS ON HUNTINGTON BEACH Huntington Beach holds City Council meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2000 Main St.The city generally posts agendas for City Council meetings on the previous Friday. You can find the agenda on the is a general assignment reporter. She covers the news that shapes Los Angeles and how people change the city in return.Workers at coffee houses in Long Beach, Santa Clarita and Seal Beach walked off the job Thursday on"Red Cup Day" — an annual event where the coffee chain gives out free reusable cups. They joined baristas at the Downtown Disney Starbucks,and Starbucks, who have been bargaining a contract for more than a year. Last week, unionized baristas voted to authorize a strike, accusing Starbucks of refusing to budge on their demands for higher pay and better hours. Starbucks baristas at some unionized stores across the country are on strike, including locations in Southern California. Workers at coffee houses in Long Beach, Santa Clarita and Seal Beach walked off the job Thursday on"Red Cup Day" — an annual event where the coffee chain gives out free reusable cups. They joined baristas at the Downtown Disney Starbucks,and Starbucks, who have been bargaining a contract for more than a year. Last week, unionized baristas voted to authorize a strike, accusing Starbucks of refusing to budge on their demands for higher pay and better hours. "The cost of living is only going up. We're trying to go to school, we're trying to pay bills and it's just not enough," said Mai Tran, a striking barista at the Downtown Disney location from the picket line on Tuesday."We just want to serve coffee…and we can't."in a statement last week ."Workers United walked away from the table but if they are ready to come back, we’re ready to talk."Starbucks said in a statement to LAist Friday that less than one percent of its stores were disrupted during the strike.One of the big disputes is pay. Starbucks Workers United is demanding a wage bump for baristas that the company says is unreasonable. Neither side has made their exact proposals public, but Starbucks claims the union's demands are exorbitant and that its current pay and benefits together come out to an average of $30 an hour for baristas, which it called the"best in retail." The union says its members need higher take home pay to make ends meet, and that limited hours can mean baristas don't actually have access to Starbucks benefits. Workers also point tothat found that Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made 6,666 times the median pay of a Starbucks barista in 2024. Niccol" I am on strike because I have just about had it with Brian Nichols, our CEO. His greed is out of control," said Christi Gomeljak, who added that she has worked at Starbucks for more than five years and makes just above $20 an hour."It would be so easy for them to give us a contract and to treat us fairly." The strike is open-ended, so it's unclear when it might end. The union has said more stores could join the strike in the days and weeks to come.
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