| Orange County Healthcare Workers Again Strike For Higher Pay, More Staffing |
| Over 30,000 healthcare workers went on strike again this morning at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii, including two medical centers in Orange County.
The healthcare workers, consisting of the United Nurses Associations of California and the Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) went on strike as of 7 a.m. this morning. [Article] |
| by , Voice of OC. 2026-01-26 |
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| The Social Media Addiction Trials: What to Know - The New York Times |
| Beginning this week, the social media giants Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube will stand trial over claims their platforms are addictive and have harmed young users.
In a series of trials, the first of which will begin with jury selection Tuesday in a state court in Los Angeles, the plaintiffs’ lawyers are testing a novel legal theory claiming that the companies caused personal injury through defective products.
Thousands of individuals, school districts and state attorneys general have filed similar lawsuits. Just one win could open the door to an avalanche of similar claims.
Here’s what to know.
What are the cases about?
These cases test the argument that social media was built to be addictive, like cigarettes.
The lawsuits claim that social media features like infinite scrolling, algorithmic recommendations, notifications and videos that play automatically lead to compulsive use. The plaintiffs contend that the resulting addiction has led to problems like depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm, including suicide.
The cases have drawn comparisons to those against Big Tobacco in the 1990s, when companies like Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds were accused of hiding information about the harms of cigarettes.
Which case comes first?
Starting this week, a jury will hear first from a 20-year-old woman from California identified as K.G.M. in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
K.G.M. created a YouTube account at age 8, then joined Instagram at 9; Musical.ly, now TikTok, at 10; and Snapchat at 11. In her lawsuit, she claimed she became addicted to the social media sites as a child and experienced anxiety, depression and body-image issues as a result.
The trial is expected to last about six to eight weeks, and executives including Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| Housing costs are crippling many Americans. Here's how the two parties propose to fix that - Los Angeles Times |
| WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s promises on affordability in 2024 helped propel him to a second term in the White House.
Since then, Trump says, the problem has been solved: He now calls affordability a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. Yet the high cost of living, especially housing, continues to weigh heavily on voters, and has dragged down the president’s approval ratings.
In a poll conducted this month by the New York Times and Siena University, 58% of respondents said they disapprove of the way the president is handling the economy.
How the economy fares in the coming months will play an outsize role in determining whether the Democrats can build on their electoral success in 2025 and seize control of one or both chambers of Congress.
With housing costs so central to voters’ perceptions about the economy, both parties have put forward proposals in recent weeks targeting affordability. Here is a closer look at their competing plans for expanding housing and reining in costs: [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2026-01-26 |
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| Southern California condo sales slump 28% – Pasadena Star News |
| Why aren’t cash-strapped house hunters flocking to condos, Southern California’s relative housing bargain?
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed Attom sales data for the six-county region from November 2025 back to 2005. It found that the recent affordability-linked sales slump has been little different for condominiums and pricier single-family houses.
Ponder the depth of Southern California’s sales slowdown by tracking the pace of the past three years vs. the previous 18 years of homebuying. Condo purchases dropped 28% while single-family houses were down 33%.
These largely parallel sales patterns are another example of the split performance of the economy.
Folks who’d typically buy a condo suffer financially. Higher-income households, whose finances are largely doing well, have kept the pricier slice of the housing market relatively stable. [Article] |
| by , Pasadena Star News. 2026-01-26 |
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| How Monterey Park residents pushed back on a data center | LAist |
| Billions of dollars are pouring into data centers to power streaming services, cloud storage and the biggest energy monster of all, artificial intelligence. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| DOJ says it dropped its demand for unredacted info of 3,000 young transgender patients of CHLA – Daily News |
| The U.S. Department of Justice says it has dropped its demand for unredacted sensitive and personal information of more than 3,000 young transgender patients of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2026-01-26 |
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| LA County Board Commits to Climate Action Despite US Withdrawal |
| The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion affirming the county's commitment to global climate action as President Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from 66 international agreements, including major environmental organizations. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| ‘Never one single factor’: Humboldt County homicide rates continue downward trend |
| Humboldt County experienced just three confirmed homicides in the 2025 calendar year, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office. One of those was a criminal homicide; the other two were the result of officer-involved shootings.
According to the California Department of Justice’s Open Justice project, the number of homicides in 2025 and 2024 represent the lowest homicide rates in the county in over a decade. A recent study undertaken by the Independent Council on Criminal Justice suggests that the trend is broader than Humboldt County — with a survey of 35 cities reporting a 21% decrease in homicide rates. Humboldt County law enforcement says that local factors, particularly the decline of the illicit cannabis trade, likely contribute as well.
The Times-Standard reported 23 homicides in 2023 and just seven in 2024 — spread between officer-involved shootings, criminal homicides and deaths from pedestrians hit by cars. Humboldt County DHHS confirmed that there were five pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in 2025. That, coupled with a death in a homeless encampment that had initially been treated as a homicide by Arcata Police, bring the aggregate total for 2025 to nine deaths. [Article] |
| by , Eureka Times-Standard. 2026-01-26 |
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| DOJ ends bid for transgender patients health records in California |
| Transgender patients of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles secured a win this week after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to end its efforts to obtain personal and medical information of more than 3,000 young patients. [Article] |
| by , CalMatters. 2026-01-26 |
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| Economic Mobility & Leadership Strategy with Michelle Rhone-Collins - Los Angeles Times |
| Michelle Rhone-Collins, CEO of LIFT, discusses her organization’s mission to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty through a unique investment model of “hope, money, and love.” She emphasizes a data-driven approach, noting that increasing a parent’s income by just $3,000 can boost their child’s future earning potential by 17%.
Rhone-Collins reflects on her leadership evolution — moving from a desire to please everyone to a focus on aligning a diverse team with a unified organizational vision. She highlights LIFT’s agility during the pandemic, where they distributed over $1 million in direct cash transfers to families in need.
Her philosophy balances rigorous operational standards with a deep commitment to human connection, advocating for a business culture where different “areas of genius” are celebrated to co-create meaningful impact. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2026-01-26 |
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| Adelanto detainees lack proper medical treatment, live among mold | LA Local |
| A man suffering a seizure went without oxygen as guards watched him convulse on the floor, and another was not given antibiotics for a severe staph infection that led his finger to burst — allegations that civil rights attorneys and immigration advocates say reveal just how inhumane and unconstitutional conditions have become for people at the Adelanto detention center in San Bernardino County. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| Researchers say LA’s ‘mansion tax’ hurts new housing. Voters could get a chance to tweak it | LAist |
| Los Angeles voters could soon get another chance to weigh in on Measure ULA, better known as the city’s “mansion tax.”
First approved by voters in November 2022, the measure has taxed real estate selling for more than $5 million. It funds tenant protection programs and affordable housing construction. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| California Measure Would Protect Children Who Use AI Chatbots |
| (TNS) — A leading child safety advocacy group has teamed with OpenAI to push for a statewide ballot initiative, which they say would be the most comprehensive artificial intelligence safety measure for children in the country. [Article] |
| by , Government Technology. 2026-01-26 |
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| As LA maternity wards close, patients are giving birth in ERs: ‘There’s no system to care for these women’ | US healthcare | The Guardian |
| Sigita Cahoon’s 16 September 2024 stretched through the night.
From 3am to 6am, she bolted among three rooms in the Los Angeles general medical center, until three babies were safely delivered.
Staying up all night to deliver babies is a big part of Cahoon’s job as the hospital’s vice-chief of obstetrics and gynecology. But with more Los Angeles-area hospitals closing their maternity wards, emergency rooms are expected to shoulder even greater patient loads.
At Los Angeles general medical center, a public teaching hospital in LA’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, more than 1,400 women passed through the emergency room doors to access care during labor and delivery from 2016 to 2023. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| Will there be an Olympic boycott in 2028? Some LA City Council members are worried | LAist |
| The killing of another protester by immigration agents in Minneapolis and President Trump's ongoing threats against Greenland have fueled calls to boycott World Cup matches held in the U.S. this summer — including in Los Angeles. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| Lending tool library set to open in Koreatown: ‘Not everyone has space to store a 6-foot ladder’ | LAist |
| Housed in the basement of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Koreatown is a small room filled with ladders, drills, saws and other tools that many renters don’t have space – or reason – to own. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| California homebuying drops to 2nd-lowest level in 21 years – Daily News |
| California homebuying fell to its second-lowest level for a November in 21 years, despite mortgage rates at their lowest in three years.
Statewide, 23,317 existing and newly built homes — houses and condos — were sold, according to Attom data dating to 2005. This broad tally of sales is down 8% over 12 months and 30% below average.
It’s no short-run slip. Sales over the past three years averaged 26,428 per month – 31% below the pace of the previous 18 years.
Contemplate the economic swings behind the sales collapse. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2026-01-26 |
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| Newsom proposes $11.5 million for child-care providers affected by last year's fires | LAist |
| Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing $11. 5 million in next year’s budget to help rebuild child care centers affected by the fires last January.
The backstory: At least 40 childcare facilities were destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires, and more than 200 were damaged. Providers have struggled to reopen, even a year later, especially those who ran their businesses out of their homes that then burned down. They have called on the state for assistance. Some providers did receive payments from the state for 30 days after the L.A. fires, after which point the governor’s office directed them to an unemployment phone line. [Article] |
| by , . 2026-01-26 |
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| LA City Council members express concerns about Olympic boycott – Press Telegram |
| LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Council members on Monday called for the city and LA28, the Games’ local organizing committee, to have “hard and honest” conversations and come up with a backup plan in the case of a widespread boycott of the 2028 Olympic Games.
The council members’ requests come against the backdrop of mounting calls for a boycott of this summer’s World Cup because of rising international concerns about the Trump administration’s actions regarding Greenland, Venezuela and the recent fatal shootings of citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis.
Oke Göttlich, vice president of the German Football Association, said in an interview with a German newspaper that the time has come to “seriously consider and discuss” a World Cup boycott.
Sepp Blatter, the controversial former president of FIFA, earlier on Monday said in a social media post that fans should “stay away” from the World Cup.
Council members said during a regularly scheduled meeting of the council’s committee on the Olympic and Paralympic Games on Monday that they expected calls for an Olympic boycott to only increase.
“ [Article] |
| by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2026-01-26 |
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| The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is on track for fall opening - Los Angeles Times |
| To the 300,000 drivers who stream through Agoura Hills on the 101 Freeway every day, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing looks relatively unchanged from last summer, except for some leggy native shrubs growing along the outer walls.
While activity seems to have halted on what is touted to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing, there’s been lots of slow, expensive work at the site that’s hard to spot from the freeway, said Robert Rock, chief executive of Chicago-based Rock Design Associates and the landscape architect overseeing the project. This includes:
Moving power lines, water lines and other utilities underground — at a cost of nearly $20 million — along the south side of the crossing.
Drilling at least 140 deep holes along 175 feet of Agoura Road and filling them with concrete to create the foundation for the tunnel over the frontage road. The tunnel will support roughly 3 million cubic feet of soil connecting the south side of the crossing to the Santa Monica Mountains, roughly enough soil to fill half of SoFi Stadium, Rock said.
Reworking some of the project’s nonwildlife-centered designs to reduce ballooning construction costs. For instance, an underground tunnel that would have permitted utility companies to drive in and check on their equipment has been reduced to a large conduit just big enough for wires and cables to be easily pulled through.
Rock and Beth Pratt, California regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation and leader of the Save LA Cougars campaign, led a tour on top of the crossing during a sunny day last week to discuss the status of the long-awaited project, whose completion date was originally scheduled for the end of 2025. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2026-01-26 |
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