The most important stories for you to know today
explores the weird and secret bits of SoCal that would excite even the most jaded Angelenos. He also covers mental health.Spring is less than a week away, but Southern California has already seen some summer-like temperatures.
Forecasters say we could expect higher temps next week, even though it’s still technically winter. Experts at the National Weather Service say we could be facing some triple-digit temperatures next week, with coastal areas bearing the brunt in the beginning of the week.It’s possible. “It is looking likely we’ll see at least a few monthly records fall with this next heat wave this upcoming week,” Dr. Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.Munroe told LAist that if we don’t see any widespread rain after this heat wave, “it could fast track us toward the fire season,” bumping it up to late spring or early summer.If you’re looking to escape the summer-like weather, the beach might be a spot to cool off, but it's a good idea to stay out of some waters.The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is advising people to avoid contact with ocean water at certain L.A. County beaches because of bacteria levels that exceed state health standards.to find out which beach areas health officials are advising people to avoid, and which beaches have recently been declared to be in the clear.. You can also find information on the last 30 days of beach water quality across L.A. County at Heal The Bay'sIf you’re looking to escape the summer-like weather, the beach might be a spot to cool off, but it's a good idea to stay out of some waters. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is advising people to avoid contact with ocean water at certain L.A. County beaches because of bacteria levels that exceed state health standards. After recent samples showed unsafe bacterial levels, which may increase the risk of illness, health officials recommend beachgoers to: avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the public restrooms of the Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach. avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast at Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State Beach. It's located near Will Rogers Tower 18. avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the Castlerock Storm Drain at Topanga County Beach too.avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the Marie Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach. Good news, some beach areas have been cleared of previous warnings because of recent water samples that identified quality levels back within California standards. Those include:The Pulga storm drain at Will Rogers State Beach.. You can also find information on the last 30 days of beach water quality across L.A. County at Heal The Bay'sTSA officers have been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on February 14th. They've already missed part of one paycheck, and many security officers received no money at all in their paychecks on Friday as the partial shutdown approached the one-month mark.at major airports in Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, and elsewhere, as many TSA officers have called out sick. Some officers have taken on second jobs in order to make ends meet, Jones said.Airline passengers are still paying the security fees that help to fund the TSA's budget, even as the partial shutdown drags on.Millions of spring break travelers are heading to the airport this month, and Johnny Jones was hoping to be one of them. But"I won't be traveling anywhere, but I'll be helping out getting people to where they're going," said Jones, a TSA security officer at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 100, which represents about 45,000 TSA officers nationwide. Those TSA officers have been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on February 14th. They've already missed part of one paycheck, and many security officers received no money at all in their paychecks on Friday as the partial shutdown approached the one-month mark. "They're panicking, they're scared, they're afraid. And they don't know what they're going to do," Jones said in an interview. The majority of TSA employees work paycheck to paycheck, Jones said, and don't have enough savings to cover their expenses."They're just flat-out not paying their bills because they don't have any money," he said.at major airports in Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, and elsewhere, as many TSA officers have called out sick. Some officers have taken on second jobs in order to make ends meet, Jones said. "The officers can't afford to come to work. The gas is expensive right now," said Suzette, a security officer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport who's worked for TSA for more than two decades. She requested we only use her middle name because she is not authorized to speak to the media. TSA staff members at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas unload donated lunches from MGM Resorts on Wednesday as a partial government shutdown continues, and workers stopped receiving paychecks.DHS has blamed the long lines on Democrats in a series of social media statements over the weekend, though Democrats say Republicans are also to blame. Democrats have refused to approve DHS's budget unless GOP lawmakers and the White House agree on changes to how immigration officers operate after the fatal shooting ofMore than 100,000 DHS workers will miss their first full paycheck Friday, according to the White House, including employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency , Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency , and the TSA. Meanwhile, airline passengers are still paying the security fees that help to fund the TSA's budget, even as the partial shutdown drags on., also known as the aviation security fee or the September 11 security fee, was enacted when the TSA was created after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. "That fee has underwritten part of the TSA budget for all those years," explains former TSA administrator John Pistole. Airlines collect $5.60 for each one-way segment on a domestic flight, Pistole says. And that money has continued to accrue, even though none of it is finding its way into the bank accounts of TSA workers. Security officers also went more than 40 days without a paycheck last year during the partial government shutdown last year. The back-to-back shutdowns have only made it harder for the agency to attract and retain workers, Pistole said, asAt Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, TSA workers are still on the job Friday despite not receiving a full paycheck due to the partial government shutdown."The longer it went, the more officers who resigned," Pistole said."Not knowing how long the shutdown will continue, will basically look for other work, because surprise, they have bills to pay."Travel and aviation industry leaders say all of this is creating unnecessary stress and confusion for passengers. "Travelers should be concerned that Congress has created unpredictability in the system. They've created a system where we don't know whether we should show up at the airport one hour ahead, four or 5 hours ahead," said Geoff Freeman, the CEO of the U.S. Travel Association., a program that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to get expedited processing when they enter the U.S. from abroad. DHS moved to reopen the program this week. Now Freeman is hopeful that a change in leadership at DHS will help to break the stalemate over funding for the department. Last week, President Trump announced that he is"The politics of the shutdown are complicated," Freeman said in an interview."Changes at the Department of Homeland Security create additional opportunities for compromise," he said, though he expects the shutdown to continue into next week at a minimum.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.that Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, is leaving his position at the head of the Kennedy Center before it closes for scheduled renovations in July.Grenell's departure comes about three months before the Kennedy Center is set to close for renovations, which Trump has said would take two years.Trump, who has been chairman of the Kennedy Center since Feb. 2025, said that he is promoting Matt Floca, the center's current vice president of operations, to chief operating officer and executive director.that Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, is leaving his position at the head of the Kennedy Center before it closes for scheduled renovations in July. Trump, who has been chairman of the Kennedy Center since Feb. 2025, said that he is promoting Matt Floca, the center's current vice president of operations, to chief operating officer and executive director. Grenell's departure comes about three months before the Kennedy Center is set to close for renovations, which President Trump has said would take two years.last month, the renovations as detailed in an internal memo include some facility repairs and cosmetic changes, including to public spaces that were just renovated two years ago. In his Truth Social posting Friday, the president repeated his claim that the renovations will be a"complete reconstruction" of the complex. Grenell, who served as the center's president, has a reputation as a Trump loyalist and has frequently deplored what he has calledin the arts. During Grenell's tenure, which began as interim executive director in Feb. 2025, the Kennedy Center has experienced intense tumult. Numerous prominent artists have canceled their performances and presentations. One of the center's core tenants, the Washington National Opera,in January,"We cannot have arts institutions that lose money." He insisted that productions at the Kennedy Center needed to be revenue generators or at least revenue-neutral — a non-starter in the performing arts, in which large legacy institutions generally depend on a balance of earned revenue, philanthropic giving and some amount of government grants.against Grenell, accusing him and the current Kennedy Center leadership of cronyism and corruption, citing"millions in lost revenue, luxury spending and preferential treatment for Trump allies." Grenell denied the allegations in an open letter posted to social media on the official Kennedy Center accounts, which has since been removed. In his Truth Social post, President Trump praised Grenell, writing:"Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done."Life expectancy in Los Angeles County is 80.5 years, according to the report by Measure of America, a program of the Social Science Research Council. That’s down 1.6 years from the group’sreport, produced by the research group Measure of America, said the report was driven largely by COVID, drug overdoses and cardiovascular disease. The gap between the longest- and shortest-living communities is more than 16 years — 88.1 in Westwood, 71.8 in Sun Village in the Antelope Valley. Latinos saw the steepest decline in life expectancy of any major racial group, falling 3.7 years.No community fell into the report's lowest tier of well-being, an improvement from 2017, when six did. Educational attainment also rose significantly, with an 18% increase in bachelor's degrees.The report's data end in 2023 — before the Palisades fire, ICE raids and major federal funding cuts. Researchers say those crises will likely worsen the picture. County health officials say they'll use the report to guide planning, programming and investment decisions.How long a Los Angeles County resident lives can depend on where they live in the area, and the gap between the county’s richest and poorest communities has gotten wider over the past decade, according to a report released this week. Average life expectancy countywide is 80.5 years, according to the report by Measure of America, a program of the Social Science Research Council. That’s down 1.6 years from the group’smeasures how Angelenos are doing neighborhood by neighborhood, using a metric called the Human Development Index, or HDI. The index combines life expectancy, educational attainment and personal earnings into a single well-being score between 0 and 10. The county’s HDI crept up to 5.64, from 5.43 in the previous report. That was far short of a county goal set in 2017 to raise L.A. County’s HDI by a full point. “The main reason for this anemic progress is COVID and the disproportionate impacts it had on different groups of Angelenos,” said Kristen Lewis, director of Measure of America.The report was produced in partnership with the L.A. County Department of Mental Health and supported by a group of philanthropic funders including the James Irvine Foundation, Cedars-Sinai and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.The report details disparities between L.A. County’s wealthiest communities — where life expectancy went up — and poorer ones, where it dropped. “What we saw in terms of change over time is that the areas that were already doing well are doing better,” Lewis said. The gap between the longest-living and shortest-living communities is more than 16 years. Average life expectancy in Westwood was 88.1, compared to 71.8 in the Antelope Valley community of Sun Village. Lewis said she drove to Sun Village during the research process and found no grocery stores and no sidewalks.While median personal earnings rose countywide since the last report, they didn’t keep pace with dramatically rising housing costs. In every L.A. County neighborhood, a resident earning the local median salary would need to work more than 40 hours a week to afford median housing costs, according to the report. In 31 L.A. County neighborhoods, that figure exceeds 80 hours. The report sorts L.A. County neighborhoods into five tiers of well-being, based on where they fall on the Human Development Index, from “precarious L.A.” to “glittering L.A.” No community in the county scored below 3.0 on the HDI and landed in the lowest tier in the 2026 report. That’s an improvement from 2017, when six areas fell into that category, including Cudahy, Westmont and Southeast Los Angeles. The latest report examined L.A. County death records between 2019 and 2023. The earlier report had looked at 2010 through 2014. One bright spot, according to researchers, was that educational attainment improved significantly. The share of adults with a bachelor's degree rose by more than 18%.: 194,500 people, 2% of the county. Eight places, including Brentwood-Pacific Palisades, Manhattan Beach, Beverly Hills and Malibu.: 1,461,700 people, 15% of the county. Thirty-two communities mostly along the coast, the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Valley foothills.: 4,216,200 people, or 44% of the county population. The most populous tier, including suburban areas of the southern and eastern county, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys.: 3,823,700 people, 39% of the county. The second-most populous tier. Has the largest share of foreign-born residents at 36.3%.: This category is empty this time. In 2017, six communities fell here: Cudahy, Westmont, Lennox, East Rancho Dominguez, Florence-Graham, and Southeast Los Angeles. All have risen above 3.0 since. Latinos saw the steepest decline in life expectancy of any major racial group, falling 3.7 years to 80.7 years of age. The report attributes this largely to COVID-19, noting that Latino Angelenos are disproportionately concentrated in frontline jobs and are more likely to live in overcrowded, multigenerational households, both factors that increased exposure to the virus. Asian Angelenos have the longest life expectancy, at 86.2 years. Black Angelenos live to 72.9, on average, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders to just 71.2. Black mothers remain nearly four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white or Asian women.“There's nothing natural or inevitable about inequality,” Lewis said. “It was really decades of deliberate decisions, policies and investments designed to advantage some groups of Angelenos while excluding others that really created this landscape of inequality we see today. Lewis said she hopes local officials and community organizations use the report to guide planning, programming and investment decisions. After the first report in 2017, the city of Los Angeles relocated some workforce development sites based on neighborhood HDI scores, and the county Department of Mental Health used the findings for needs assessment, according to the report. Kalene Gilbert, a coordinator at the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, said the department used the 2017 report to decide where to pilot community school programs, targeting areas with the worst education disparities. “If we're really serious about equity in L.A. County, it's reports like this that really help make that a reality because this provides that understanding of where the need is at a really detailed level,” Gilbert said.The January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed thousands of homes and displaced tens of thousands of people. Federal immigration enforcement raids that summer disrupted daily life in immigrant communities, leading the Board of Supervisors to declare a state of emergency in October. The passage of the federal budget bill in July 2025 cut $750 million in annual funding for the county's public health system, according to the report.Gilbert said those crises are already affecting the people DMH serves. She said immigration raids have made some clients afraid to leave their homes for appointments, forcing the department to shift toward telehealth. “We consistently hear concern about just even coming out into the community,” Gilbert said.The report's interactive portal, where residents can explore data for their neighborhoods, is available at
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Despite its name, Death Valley is alive with wildflower blooms. But don't wait to see themYour morning catch-up: California's wildflower blooms are back, a major heat wave slams SoCal and more big stories
Read more »
Ex-TV reporter accused of shocking SoCal hate crime shootings after asking victims their ethnicitiesToday's Video Headlines: 03/12/26
Read more »
With gangs behind many SoCal break-ins, experts explain how to protect your homeOver the past few months, we've covered a string of home break-ins in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. So who's behind the crime, how do you best protect your home, and are break-ins actually surging?
Read more »
SoCal braces for blistering March heat wave — why relief won't come for daysToday's Video Headlines: 03/12/26
Read more »
As SoCal sizzles, a round of even more extreme March heat is on deckSouthern California continues to sizzle under a heat advisory on Friday, as temperatures across the region remain a toasty 15 to 25 degrees above normal, with no meaningful relief in sight.
Read more »
Record-setting heat wave grips SD County, SoCalSan Diego County is in the grips of a record-setting heat wave Thursday as an unseasonal extended hot spell blanketed Southern California.
Read more »