The LA County Board of Supervisors voted today to approve the mask ordinance, requiring law enforcement — including federal agents — to show their faces and visible identification during most public encounters. Whether the measure can be enforced is now expected to be decided by the courts.

California launches online portal to report federal agent misconduct The reports will be collected by the California Department of Justice to create a record of unlawful contact by federal agents and inform legal action the state may take to defend Californians’ rights.

“We are losing so much water that groundwater loss is driving up sea level rise and it is doing more damage than glaciers are in terms of sea level rise. So that’s a new one.” A great conversation with @jayfamiglietti.bsky.social on Water Talk out today www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...

LAPD can continue to use military weapons, foam bullets and tear gas after City Council vote. The LA City Council voted 8-4 to let LAPD keep using foam bullets and tear gas despite documented misuse during this summer’s anti-ICE protests and over $50M in civil rights violation payouts last year.

California gas utilities are using your money to push gas on LA wildfire survivors. California’s utility regulator said it would eliminate ratepayer-funded incentives for gas appliances in new construction, but created an exception that allows rebates for them in wildfire rebuilds.

San Joaquin Valley farmers faced with drastic cuts to groundwater are finding some relief with the state’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, or MLRP. And more money can’t come quickly enough as landowners adjust to SGMA. #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2025/12/03/s...

Violence over water is on the rise around the world. Researchers counted a record 420 water-related conflicts last year. Dozens of violent incidents occurred in Ukraine and Gaza. Water-related violence also erupted in countries including India, Iran and Mexico. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Putrid odors in this nook of South Gate has one resident calling it the “armpit” of the city. Residents have filed over 100 odor complaints citing smells like rotten eggs and warm garbage to air quality regulators. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/sout...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 12: LA's homeless services on the chopping block This week, LA County short on Measure A $$ proposes gutting homeless services, LA panel tackling budget woes gets going, and a proposed measure would stick it to "overpaid" CEOs. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

He spent almost a whole day with me. I divulged more than I usually do, things about my personal life I don’t talk about. I appreciated him taking a sincere interest. So just want to say thank you @gustavoarellano.bsky.social for this feature. www.latimes.com/california/s... @lataco.bsky.social

A top environmental justice adviser to the California Air Resources Board just resigned, amid growing tensions between the powerful agency and its critics over air pollution rules that some researchers say are not grounded in rigorous science. insideclimatenews.org/news/2111202...

As the holiday season ramps up, many organizations have put together food giveaways for families struggling with food and nutrition insecurity. There are also opportunities for folks to volunteer with distributing and prepping groceries and food. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/food...

We finally have details on the Trump administration's plans to open the Pacific Coast to oil drilling: www.latimes.com/environment/... via @hayleysmith.bsky.social

The federal immigration raids are STILL happening in LA. National media might've moved on, but we're not. Support LA Public Press. 💪 givebutter.com/journalism2025

The LA Reporter, Issue 11: 'A matter of survival' This week, that includes a progressive challenge against Mayor Bass, rent hikes capped after two years organizing, LAPD wants $$ for Olympics and sweeps, and LA called to join charter civic assembly. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

LA’s immigration defense organizers are burning out. Here’s how they keep going. From 5 a.m. patrols to panic calls about family kidnappings, organizers defending LA’s immigrant communities are working 12-hour days—and struggling to keep it up.

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 10: New York's Zohran is Big in LA thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep... This week, LA's anti-Olympics movement abandoned by one-time close ally, Mamdani inspires local politicos, Working Families Party in LA, and the City Controller advertises leaving the Dems.

Leaders of the Colorado River Indian Tribes formally granted the Colorado River legal personhood status, making it the third river with such legal protections in North America. The Yurok Tribe granted personhood to the Klamath River in 2019. @debkrol.bsky.social www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

Eunisses Hernandez called homeless encampment sweeps “inhumane.” Then, she joined LA City Council and things changed. Since taking office, arrests of unhoused people have skyrocketed in Hernandez’s district. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/hern...

Greg Bovino tells LA agents ‘it’s our f–king city’ in new video. In it, the Border Patrol boss also says “arrest as many people that touch you as you want to” — and later confirmed the statement applies to Chicago as well. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/bord...

Scientists criticize ‘straw man’ arguments in Bill Gates climate memo www.theguardian.com/environment/... via @dharna.bsky.social

When your local reporter needs the same protection as a war correspondent. Five months of covering ICE raids taught our small LA newsroom hard lessons — and we’re still figuring out how to sustain it.

This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week. @wired.com #ICE www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

Gabriel Garcia Aviles would pass away just ten days later, leaving a grieving family with a lot of unanswered questions. The full story: lataco.com/second-death... By Izzy Ramirez

Thanks to @blancabegert.bsky.social for covering this important topic and a bunch of work by my colleagues @uclalawemmett.bsky.social, @uclaioes.bsky.social looking at the LADWP/SoCal Edison comparison + insideclimatenews.org/news/0511202...

It's Election Day, LA! 🗓️🗳️👏 Cast your ballot in the 2025 Statewide Special Election TODAY to make sure your vote is counted. Not sure how to vote? Head to LAPublicPress.org to learn more about Prop 50.

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 9: LA residents brace for federal shutdown 'hammer' This week, what LA residents should know about food aid, the controller's critique of LAPD's mental health response, and The LA Reporter comes to the Really Really Free Market thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

Inside LAPD’s nearly $400M settlement crisis that’s bankrupting LA. Taxpayers are covering civil rights violations and officer misconduct while basic city services face cuts—and a new audit could reveal whether LAPD is doing anything to stop the pattern.

New paper documents how the DWR's investment in open-source groundwater tools is accelerating implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) across diverse basins in the state. #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2025/11/03/s...

NEW: About 90,000 people living near larger chemical plants face an unacceptable risk of developing cancer, the EPA says. New rules adopted last year could’ve cut that number to 3,000 residents — a drop of 97%. But Trump has halted those efforts.

The board of the L.A. Department of Water and Power voted Tuesday to nearly double the amount of water it recycles for drinking at the Donald C. Tillman Wastewater Treatment Plant in Van Nuys. #cawater @laist.com laist.com/news/climate...

A Pasadena man had a heart attack from fear of ICE. Then he self-deported to Mexico. Trump’s immigration crackdown is leading some longtime residents to flee the country. They leave behind fractured communities and grieving loved ones.

Humanity is on a path toward 'climate chaos,' scientists warn The burning of fossil fuels reached a new record last year, releasing even more greenhouse gases. @williamripple.bsky.social @michaelemann.bsky.social @petergleick.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

Nory and her mother were deported together. Then she was orphaned. Estela’s death at 45 followed her rapid deportation, leaving her teenage daughter to navigate a new life in Guatemala on her own — afraid of the same gang violence her mother originally fled.

I'm on this week's episode of LA Podcast! LA Podcast - To Live and DEI in LA www.thinkforward.la/la-podcast-t...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 8: 'They're entitled to something better' This week, research group that helped get LA's $15 minimum wage closes, LA Fed backing caps to rent hikes, and bigger fine sought for candidate's ethics violation. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

California voters may get another chance to expedite environmental reviews for housing and clean energy projects: www.latimes.com/california/s... via @grace2e.bsky.social

Los Angeles’ Chinatown post office will stay open — but it’s still struggling for survival. The community post office’s owner says he’s fighting a “David versus Goliath battle.” lapublicpress.org/2025/10/chin...

“It’s a huge burden on taxpayers. Huge burden on farmers. Huge burden on the villages. And a huge burden on the planet" - my latest @truthout.org on the security implications from rapidly dwindling global groundwater supplies:

EPA scientists linked PFNA with developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but it has yet to be released by the Trump administration. By @fastlerner.bsky.social

“We'll find out Saturday" - my piece @thetdn.bsky.social on whether a new national handicapping system (launching this Saturday at Santa Anita) is ready for prime time:

Uruguay built a power grid that runs almost entirely on clean energy — at half the cost of fossil fuels. www.forbes.com/sites/kensil... @projectdrawdown.bsky.social

DWR has released two new groundwater reports – the Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions Update and a draft of California’s Groundwater Update 2025– that show measurable progress towards achieving groundwater sustainability in California. #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2025/10/21/d...

So here is the City Attorney's funding request that includes paying Best Best & Krieger as outside counsel in the LA Press Club/Status Coup case against the city. It asks for a three-year contract, and an initial $250,000 amount to help handle that case. cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2...

LA Mayor Karen Bass and the CAO are asking the city's general managers to propose cuts from each department amounting to 5%, for the next fiscal year, 2026-2027. The instructions were delivered as part of a 66-page budget instruction memo dated Oct. 6.

These three LA community libraries are filling gaps in the public health system. Independent libraries say neighbors know what they need better than some charities and public systems, and they’re responding with services and community spaces.

“But as you said, California and New York are doing it, so at least in some jurisdictions it's permissible" - my dive @thetdn.bsky.social into discrepancies between the way different parties collect equine fatality stats, and a way to resolve these problems in the future:

Ask a Scientist: How Do We Solve California’s Water Shortage Crisis? #cawater blog.ucs.org/mrama-poccia...

A new report shows that Black and Latino children in LA are still hit hardest by asthma. Metro LA, South LA, and the South Bay are among communities most impacted, advocates said the findings are “not surprising.” lapublicpress.org/2025/10/la-a...

Mountain View encampment residents confronted a progressive council member's staffer on why he ordered a sweep that drew heavy police presence, why there wasn't shelter. Another told @thelareporter.bsky.social the sweep felt like a burglary. She said it was "heartbreaking, for no reason."