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TRAA Responds to the Explosion and Fire at the Chevron Refinery

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TRAA Responds to the Explosion and Fire at the Chevron Refinery

On Oct. 2 a huge explosion and fire engulfed the Chevron Refinery in El Segundo.

In response, TRAA has issued the following statement:

The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (TRAA) is deeply concerned, yet not surprised, about the explosion and fire at the Chevron El Segundo Refinery. While we are glad to hear there have been no reported injuries or deaths, the incident reminds everyone in the South Bay of the inherent dangers of petroleum refining, especially in such proximity to densely populated areas. We are also deeply concerned for the safety of the refinery workers who are closest to danger.

While the El Segundo Refinery did not use Hydrofluoric Acid (HF), the incident nonetheless demonstrates why threatening chemicals such as HF should not be stored on refinery premises where they are subject to accidental release. Refineries in the South Bay must take immediate action to phase out hazardous chemicals, like HF, to ensure that their workers and the communities that surround them are safe from catastrophic releases. Ironically, Chevron has been a leader in this field having developed a commercially proven alternative, successfully converted their one HF unit in Utah and sold it to other HF refineries.

We also urge elected officials and regulatory agencies to take action. The fire serves as a wake-up call for those in government to heed the warnings our organization has been making to them for ten years. We demand there be a serious effort to remove hazardous chemicals, like HF, from refineries that have consistently proven themselves to be unsafe to the people around them.

In a related article, the Times reports on the history of safety and environmental violations at the Chevron Refinery, and how little is being done. And it was considered one of the better refineries in the area.

Supervisor Hahn Stands Against Catalina Mule Deer Eradication Plan

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Supervisor Hahn Stands Against Catalina Mule Deer Eradication Plan

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn has announced her strong opposition to the Catalina Island Conservancy’s new proposal to eradicate the mule deer population on Catalina Island. The Conservancy recently applied for a scientific collection permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that would allow professional hunters to eliminate the deer over a five-year period. Hahn has issued the following statement:

“I remain strongly opposed to the Catalina Island Conservancy’s new proposal to eliminate the island’s mule deer population. While I appreciate that they have abandoned the idea of aerial sharpshooting, this revised plan—to bring in professional hunters to systematically slaughter the deer over the next five years—still represents a drastic and inhumane approach that ignores the values of many Catalina residents and visitors.

These animals have been part of Catalina’s landscape for nearly a century, and the Conservancy should be attempting every possible alternative before resorting to their eradication. Options like expanded hunting seasons, relocation, or sterilization have not been fully pursued, and I believe those deserve real investment and consideration.

I will continue to advocate for solutions that protect Catalina’s fragile ecosystem without abandoning our responsibility to treat these animals humanely. I urge the Conservancy to work with state officials, local residents, and stakeholders to find a path forward that balances environmental protection with compassion.”

Hahn sent a letter Oct. 6 to California Department of Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham urging the department to reject any application from the Conservancy regarding this proposal.

Read the full letter here.

In a recent meeting with Hahn’s office, the Conservancy’s representatives said there was an urgent need to eliminate the deer because the deer pose a fire hazard. However, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, whose department has a fire station on Catalina Island, told Hahn he believes mule deer actually help mitigate fire risks by consuming vegetation.

Catalina Island is unincorporated Los Angeles County and, apart from the City of Avalon, falls directly under the governance of the Board of Supervisors. Last year, with Hahn’s leadership, the Board formally opposed the Conservancy’s previous application to eliminate the deer population.

“Censorship Is So 1984”: Annual Banned Books Week Celebrates the Right to Read

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“Censorship Is So 1984”: Annual Banned Books Week Celebrates the Right to Read

 

By Mickey Huff and Cameron Samuels

https://www.projectcensored.org/censorship-1984-banned-books-week/

The American Library Association (ALA), Unite Against Book Bans (UABB), and other members of the Banned Books Week Coalition are celebrating the forty-third annual Banned Books Week (BBW), October 5-12. Project Censored has been part of the BBW Coalition for more than a decade, and efforts to raise awareness about the importance of protecting intellectual freedom are growing nationwide, pushing back against book bans and other forms of censorship.

This year, the theme for Banned Books Week is in keeping with the multi-front assault on civil liberties, freedom of speech, and press freedoms during the second Trump administration– “Censorship Is So 1984: Read for Your Rights.” This is a clear nod to George Orwell’s dystopian novel, which warned against creeping authoritarianism, which includes the control of language and thought, accompanied by the rise of a techno-surveillance state that coerces the public into compliance using the strong-arm tactics of fear, intimidation, and censorship.

In 2025, the United States is becoming increasingly unrecognizable as its freedoms protected under the Bill of Rights are being shredded, one by one, in the name of superpatriotism and national security, allegedly to “Make America Great Again.” We are witnessing an attack on the entire knowledge industry, encompassing K-12 and higher education, as well as the mass media and the Fourth Estate. This impacts teachers, students, librarians, professors, and everyday Americans, some of whom are even losing their jobs for expressing their First Amendment-protected views about our current volatile political climate. In short, there is not only a war on the public’s right to read, to learn, and to know, but to protest and dissent against an increasingly draconian regime in Washington.

Targeted efforts to control what schools can teach, what the media can disseminate, and what students can learn and read have been on the rise since the first Trump administration and have reached a fever pitch in his second term, contributing to the ongoing culture wars. Earlier this year, during National Library Week (April 6-12), the ALA released data documenting attempts to challenge and remove books and materials in public schools and academic libraries during 2024. Their research shows that most book censorship attempts now come from organized movements, not individuals, noting that, “Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72 percent of demands to censor books in school and public libraries.” These censorious efforts overwhelmingly come from the political right.

Parents accounted for 16 percent of the challenges, while 12 percent came from library users, teachers, librarians, and other staff members. In context, while “the number of reports decreased in 2024, the number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020.” PEN America documented “nearly 16,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number not seen since the Red Scare McCarthy era of the 1950s.” PEN’s November 2024 study “Banned in the USA: Beyond the Shelves” showed that Florida and Iowa led the way on book bans, with a significantly disproportionate amount of the banned books involving people of color or the LGBTQIA+ community.

Coupled with the many attempts to stifle dissent and restrict free expression to views approved by the current administration, this does not bode well for the future of our republic. That said, there are many heartening efforts afoot to reverse these trends in support of academic freedom and the right to read, especially from the nation’s youth. They have something to teach us and are very deserving of increased support.

Students are fighting back: Confronting censorship with visual storytelling

Today’s students are not only the leaders of tomorrow. Across the nation, young people are trailblazing today, from school classrooms to the halls of state legislatures and even the US Supreme Court. These young changemakers want a seat at the table and are not waiting around as book bans ravage their schools and communities in an effort to erase certain ideas and identities. Student advocates are speaking above the floodline of censorship to defend their freedom to read, learn, and access information.

The social media campaign #BreakTheTape is using caution tape as a visual symbol to challenge intellectual censorship. The initiative began in California with the student organization Golden State Readers and has amassed a nationwide digital footprint. The campaign aims to center and elevate student representation in education policy decisions that affect students, particularly those related to access to school library books.

“Wrapping backpacks, books, and other school supplies in caution tape is a simple and accessible way for students to visibly demonstrate their support for their freedom to read,” Elizabeth Goldman, co-president of Golden State Readers, told Project Censored. “Over the last two years, we’ve wrapped 1,800 backpacks across eight states. Each year that #BreakTheTape grows, we prove that the harder they try to censor our literature, the harder we as students—nationwide—will continue to stand up and fight for our own freedom to read.”

“So often, student voices are decentralized in the conversation about book banning. But at the end of the day, book bans directly impact students: students who want to see themselves reflected in the books they read,” Goldman noted. “Diverse literature plays such a key role in fostering empathy among adolescents and allows students to better understand themselves and the world around them. Depriving students [of] their freedom to read what they choose forcibly narrows their scope of the world and themselves.” Students at Golden State Readers encourage all booklovers to #BreakTheTape this Banned Books Week and every week.

Creating echoes in government halls across the nation

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) is a movement of young people who recognize that students are the primary stakeholders in education. Nothing about us without us is SEAT’s organizing battle cry. Established on the national momentum of the students’ school board advocacy in Katy, Texas, SEAT is on a mission to ensure every student has the tools to shape their own futures.

In organizing against book bans by school boards across Texas, SEAT has distributed hundreds of banned books and “Know Your Rights” lanyards designed to educate students about their constitutional freedoms. Delivering testimony while donning pride flags and SEAT lapel pins, symbolizing students’ seats at the table, SEAT has gained national momentum, bringing its advocacy to Washington, DC. Members of Congress wear SEAT pins in solidarity, and the student advocates have testified to the US Senate. The group has been featured in viral clips, including one shown on Jimmy Kimmel Live! In April, SEAT filed the only amicus brief representing students in the Supreme Court case, Mahmoud v. Taylor. These efforts landed SEAT a role in the award-winning documentary Pages of Protest, created by seniors at Ithaca College last spring, which focused on former SEAT member and previous BBW Youth Honorary Chair Da’Taeveyon Daniels.

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair,” the late honorable Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once professed. These students are advocating in the legacy of civil rights leaders like her, Judy Heumann, John Lewis, and Mary Beth Tinker. These young people are leading the resistance against book bans and are reminding others around the country that informed civic engagement is the cornerstone of democracy.

Democracy is not a spectator sport

We need more people to show up and do their part. This fall, get involved in your community with UABB’s Action Toolkit, take part in Let Freedom Read Day by taking one action to defend books against censorship, host a Right to Read Night with the National Coalition Against Censorship, and find out where you can get involved with those already engaged near you. Protect the right to read, learn, and exercise free speech and expression before those rights are taken away, as once they disappear, they seldom return without great cost.

As Orwell cautioned in 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” Don’t allow those in power to whitewash our history or cast historic civil rights struggles down the memory hole in pursuit of their authoritarian agendas. Asserting our rights to read is one way to oppose the erasure of entire communities and significant, if troubling, aspects of our country’s history. Affirming the right to read is also a powerful way to oppose the current administration’s Orwellian efforts to redefine lies as truth. The time to act is now! Celebrate Banned Books Week and read for your rights each and every week.

Mickey Huff is the director of Project Censored, president of the Media Freedom Foundation, Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media, and Professor of Journalism at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. He has represented Project Censored as a member of the Banned Books Week Coalition since 2012.

Cameron Samuels (they/them) is the co-founder and Executive Director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a movement that demonstrates youth visibility in policymaking. With SEAT, Cameron has spearheaded grassroots advocacy in Texas school districts and testified before the US Senate at a hearing on book bans. Cameron was named one of Teen Vogue’s “21 Under 21” and received the Trailblazer Award from the Human Rights Campaign. They were the Youth Honorary Chair for Banned Books Week in 2022.

Know Your Voting Rights

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Know Your Voting Rights

In advance of the Nov. 4, Special Election, Attorney General Rob Bonta is reminding Californians about their voting rights, encouraging Californians to vote early, and advising law enforcement agencies about laws protecting the integrity of the electoral process. In many parts of California, recent changes in the U.S. Postal mail service means that your ballot may not be counted if you drop it off at a post office on election day. If you choose to drop off your ballot at a post office on election day, ask at the counter for a postmark to ensure you get credit for mailing your ballot on time. And remember: You have other options, like dropping your ballot off at a vote center or in a secure drop box.

Details: Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/Californians-know-your-rights

photos from the edge 20 Farmworkers and Deportees – Survival is Resistance

David Bacon
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photos from the edge 20 Farmworkers and Deportees – Survival is Resistance

 

Zeke, the Magazine of Documentary Photography, September 2025

https://www.zekemagazine.com/content/-farmworkers-and-deportees

These photographs document the work and unique culture of indigenous farmworkers from southern Mexico who are now employed in farms up and down the West Coast. The images also document a new environment in the context of the current wave of ICE raids and anti-immigrant hysteria. People arriving to work in U.S. fields come from communities that speak languages that long predate European colonization, and their dances, food, music and culture have deep historic roots. As those farmworker communities today resist the immigration raids and anti-immigrant hysteria spread by the Trump administration, this culture has become a means for survival.

The photographs begin with the work itself – the reason people have come and the way communities support themselves.This work also supports society as a whole – if farmworkers don’t work the rest of society doesn’t eat.

The documentation continues with photographs in which indigenous culture is evident. Some show the traditional dances in the festivals, called the guelaguetzas, that help keep indigenous culture alive. Because this display of culture during the current anti-immigrant repression is an act of defiance and courage, the participants call them guelaguetzas of resistance.

How people organize to resist and counter exploitation is also part of culture. The photographs show organizing in the fields and the targeting of one organizer by ICE who has been forced into self-deportation. Other images document angry anti-raid protests – people out in the streets, not cowering behind closed doors.

The final set of images shows one of the important consequences of the deportation machinery and violence. In Tijuana, deportees and violence victims live together on the street and in shelters – ripped from their lives at home, trying to survive as best they can.

This series of photographs is part of the documentation of work and migration I’ve worked on for over three decades. It has been published in magazines and newspapers, exhibited in several countries, and published in three books: Communities Without Borders, In the Fields of the North/En los campos del norte, and More Than a Wall/Mas que un muro.

Dnb Mesicans Resist 01

MT VERNON, WA – 2022 -Farmworkers weed a field growing organic cabbage plants for seed at Morrison Farm. Because it is an organic field, the grower doesn’t use herbicide, and instead hires a small crew to weed the field before harvesting the seeds. Pablo Ramirez works in the crew.Copyright David Bacon

MT VERNON, WA – 2023 – Benito Lopz, Juana Sanchez and other members of Familias Unidas hold a meeting to decide if they will continue working in another field.


LOMPOC, CA – 2023 – A worker swings a bunch of stock flowers he’s cut onto a huge bunch in a field in Lompoc, near Santa Maria. A DoL job order for H-2A workers, by labor contractor Fresh Harvest, covers workers called ‘ Flower Harvester (Stock and Larkspur flower types).’ H-2A workers are recruited in Mexico for a few months work, and then have to leave the U.S.


SANTA MARIA, CA – 2012 – Sabina Cayetano, a Mixtec strawberry picker, and her son Aron and other members of her family sleep in one room in their Santa Maria apartment.


SANTA MARIA, CA – 2024 – Strawberry workers march through Santa Maria demanding a living wage Most are indigenous Mixtec migrants from Oaxaca and southern Mexico, but who now live in the U.S. The march passed in front of the Santa Maria Fairpark, where the strawberry festival was organized by growers to celebrate the beginning of the picking season. Few farmworker children can afford to go to the fair. This girl’s sign says ‘Salarios dignos por mis padres’ or ‘Dignified wages for my parents.’


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – Dancers from Las Azucenas de Maria, a group from the San Joaquin Valley, perform with the elaborate head dresses and flowing skirts of the chinas Oaxaqueñas, a dance from the chinas barrio of the city of Oaxaca de Juarez. Dancers from the many ethnic groups of Oaxaca, now living as migrants in the United States, came together at the annual festival of Oaxacan indigenous culture, the Guelagetza, which took place while the Trump administration attacked indigenous communities with immigration raids and threats. The event’s organizer called it a Guelaguetza de Resistencia, or a Guelaguetza in Resistance.


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – The Tiliche invites people to the Guelaguetza in Healdsburg


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – A group of young musicians came to the Guelaguetza from Half Moon Bay, three hours south of Healdsburg. For indigenous Mexican farmworkers, traveling long distances runs the risk of being stopped by immigration authorities and held for deportation.


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – A woman in the devil mask, a member of the Grupo Diablos Mixtecos de Oaxaca. In their informal network, members perform and share ideas at each others’ events, which has led to the incorporation of more women into the dance, and new styles of masks.


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – Food stands line the plaza during the Guelaguetza. The cook at this food stand has made Oaxacan mole from chocolate, sesame seeds, chile and other ingredients. Eating traditional food is another expression of determination to preserve indigenous culture in the face of the anti-immigrant wave of deportations.


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – A musician carries his huge bass drum keeping time for the dancers in the Calenda, a march around the town plaza that begins the Guelagetza.


HEALDSBURG, CA – 2025 – The oldest dancer, a member of Las Azucenas de Maria, at the annual festival of Oaxacan indigenous culture, the Guelagetza.


MT VERNON, WA – 2023 – Alfredo ‘Lelo’ Juarez with his partner and niece in a march of migrant farmworkers and their supporters, calling for unions and human rights. Lelo is a leader of the farmworker union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. He was arrested in March by ICE, and held in the notorious detention center in Tacoma until July, when he agreed to return to Mexico in order to get out of the prison.


MT VERNON, WA – 2023 – Lelo speaks to a May Day march of migrant farmworkers and their supporters, calling for unions and human rights.


FT BRAGG, CA – 2025 – Immigrant families march through downtown Fort Bragg, protesting the wave of immigration raids by the Trump administration. Angry marchers carried signs with denunciations that declared “MAGA: Mexicans Ain’t Going Anywhere!”


SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 2025 – Miguel Molina is an immigrant rights activist and radio personality in Santa Rosa. He came to San Francisco to demonstrate against the Trump administration on Labor Day, in one of a thousand similar demonstrations around the country.


SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 2025 – A domestic worker activist in the city’s Mission District demonstrated against the Trump administration on Labor Day.


SANTA MARIA, CA – 2025 – At the beginning of a march to protest immigration detentions, a volunteer passes out ‘red cards’ – part of a know-your-rights campaign to help immigrants facing immigration enforcement agents.


SANTA MARIA, CA – 2025 – A young woman holds a sign recognizing the work her parents have done as farmworkers. In this farmworker march many young people came to demand a living wage for their parents and to protest immigration raids. They marched for their parents who couldn’t come themselves because of threats from their employer and the risk of immigration raids.


OAKLAND, CA – 2025 – Community and immigrant rights organizations rally in Oakland’s Latino Fruitvale district protesting immigration raids and the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles. The sign carried by these young immigrant women says ‘For my father, who was deported. Watch me from Heaven, Papa. This is Our War!’


SANTA MARIA, CA – 2025 – A young boy from a Mixtec farmworker family walks in front of a banner with the hand-drawn portrait of Cesar Chavez, in a march of immigrant and farmworker youth and families.


SAN MATEO, CA – 2025 – Immigrant youth and families, and their supporters marched from San Mateo City Hall to San Francisco, protesting the wave of immigration raids by the Trump administration. Their purpose was to make the Mexican community visible in order to inspire a fightback to Trump fascism.


SAN MATEO, CA – 2025 – Youth marches like this are not the polite petitions of victims pleading for a softer repression. They are angry protests – people are out in the streets, not cowering behind closed doors. A common sign says “I drink my horchata warm because Fuck ICE!” Horchata is the iconic rice drink that has become a symbol of Mexican culture, and is usually served with ice.


SAN MATEO, CA – 2025 – Immigrant youth and families, and their supporters march from San Mateo City Hall to San Francisco, protesting the wave of immigration raids by the Trump administration.


SAN MATEO, CA – 2025 – Marches of iImmigrant youth and families met widespread community support. Here Victor Uno, a national officer of the electrical workers union, greeted a march with other union members. Uno’s family were interned during World War Two.


DELANO, CA – 2025 – Farmworkers and supporters demonstrated in Delano, where the United Farm Workers union was born, to celebrate the birthday of Cesar Chavez and protest the wave of immigration raids by the Trump administration. California Attorney General Rob Bonta marched with Lorena Gonzalez, executive secretary of the California Labor Federation and Yvonne Wheeler, President of the Los Angeles Labor Federation.


DELANO, CA – 2025 – Farmworkers protested the wave of immigration raids by the Trump administration. Protesters linked the hysteria against immigrants and indigenous people promoted by the Trump administration to the murder of Emily Pike, a 14-year old Apache girl in Arizona, one of many missing and murdered indigenous youth and women.


TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, MEXICO – 2025 – Deportees and homeless people living on the street at a food distrubution in downtown Tijuana organized by World Food Kitchen.


TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, MEXICO – 2025 – A deportee among the homeless people living on the street, lined up for food at a distribution in downtown Tijuana.


TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, MEXICO – 2025 – A young woman rests on her bunk in a casa de refugio, or sanctuary home, for refugees and deportees from the U.S. This casa is administered by the Templo Embajadores de Jesus.


TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, MEXICO – 2025 – A young disabled man and a group of children in casa de refugio, or sanctuary home, for refugees and deportees.


TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, MEXICO – 2025 – At the casa de refugio administered by the Templo Embajadores de Jesus, Daniel Ortega and Irma Cortez find sanctuary from the violence of the cartels in their home state of Michoacan.

Governor’s Briefs: Newsom Rejects Landslide Bill, Confirms New Local Appointments

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Governor’s Briefs: Newsom Rejects Landslide Bill, Confirms New Local Appointments

 

Gov. Newsom Announces Appointments

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 2 announced the following appointments:

Alysia Bell, of Redondo Beach, has been appointed to the California Workforce Development Board. Bell has been President at UNITE-LA since 2022, where she has held several positions since 2011, including executive vice president of UNITE-LA and vice president of Education Business Coalitions in partnership with the association of Chamber of Commerce executives and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. She was vice president of Workforce Development and Administration at Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce from 2007 to 2011. Bell was a human resources specialist in the personnel selection branch at Los Angeles Unified School District from 2005 to 2006. She was an adjunct professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Pepperdine University in 2006. Bell is co-chair of the executive committee of California Stewardship Network, board Member of California Forward, and member of the California Jobs First Los Angeles County collaborative steering committee and University of Southern California EdPolicy Hub advisory board. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from California State University, Long Beach and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Bell is a Democrat.

Rex Richardson, of Long Beach, has been appointed to the California Workforce Development Board. Richardson has been mayor of the City of Long Beach since 2022, where he has held several positions since 2014, including councilmember and vice mayor. He was a manager of government affairs at Crown Castle from 2019 to 2022. Richardson was president of Southern California Association of Governments from 2020 to 2021. He was chief of staff to councilmember Steven Neal at the City of Long Beach from 2010 to 2014. Richardson held multiple roles at SEIU Local 721 from 2007 to 2010, including political and community coordinator and worksite organizer. He is an advisory board member of the United States Conference of Mayors. Richardson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from California State University, Dominguez Hills. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Richardson is a Democrat.

 

City of Rancho Palos Verdes Statement on Veto of AB 986

Rancho Palos Verdes leaders Oct. 2 expressed their disappointment in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto AB 986, legislation that would have amended the California Emergency Services Act to name landslides as a natural disaster that may be eligible for disaster assistance.

“Almost two years to the day since our City entered a state of local emergency due to unprecedented land movement that has torn apart homes and vital infrastructure, we are deeply disappointed that the Governor has vetoed a bill that would codify what anyone with common sense already knows — that drastic land movement is a natural disaster and the basis for a declaration of an emergency,” said Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Dave Bradley. “The Governor’s assertion that state law already covers landslides runs counter to what has been conveyed to the City by the state as we have sought disaster assistance for the City and impacted residents, who have been left to take on the enormous costs of landslide response with little outside help. We thank Assemblymember Muratsuchi and Senator Allen for their leadership co-authoring AB 986 and are committed to continuing to work with them and the City’s coalition of supporters on this issue.”

Rancho Palos Verdes, a small, contract city with an annual operating budget of about $39 million, has spent over $48 million since October 2022 responding to destructive landslide movement that accelerated to unprecedented rates following back-to-back heavy rainy seasons. Peaking to moving about 1 foot per week in summer 2024, the natural disaster led to mass gas and electricity shutoffs, the red- and yellow-tagging of dozens of homes, major damage to infrastructure and trails, and the closure and disassembly of the historic Wayfarers Chapel. The City and impacted residents have faced difficulty securing disaster assistance, as state and federal agencies have largely deemed RPV’s ancient, slow-moving Portuguese Bend Landslide ineligible under existing law and programs.

“This was a missed opportunity to clarify and strengthen state law for landslide-prone communities navigating red tape. This decision leaves us with more questions and uncertainty, which will not help our City prepare for future landslide events,” said Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Ara Mihranian. “Albeit disappointing, the City and its residents and businesses owners are resilient, and we will continue to pursue disaster recovery assistance.”

Port of Long Beach CEO to Chart New Course at Year’s End

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Port of Long Beach CEO to Chart New Course at Year’s End

Longtime Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero – who led the port through an era of rapid cargo growth, a global pandemic and major modernization – announced Oct. 2 he will retire at the end of 2025, capping a varied career that included an 8½-year run as Port CEO, seven years on the Federal Maritime Commission in Washington, D.C. and eight years as a member of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Known for bold and industry-leading stances promoting environmental sustainability and boosting market competitiveness, as well as his optimistic outlook, Cordero has also become a noted thought leader in international trade in great demand for speaking engagements, media interviews and service on public boards of directors.

As CEO of the Port of Long Beach, reporting to the five-member Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Cordero leads a staff of about 600 professionals who improve, market and secure one-half of the nation’s largest trade gateway. In addition to his port industry career accomplishments, he is an attorney and educator.

Cordero in May 2017 said he was blessed to have landed a “dream job” when he was selected as the new chief executive of the Port of Long Beach, returning to Long Beach after his stint as an appointee of President Barack Obama to the body that oversees the nation’s maritime policy. His time on the FMC beginning in 2011 included four years as chairman.

He steps down at the end of a yearlong celebration marking two decades of the port’s environmental progress – “20 Years of Leading Green” – achieved in parallel with growth of the port’s economic benefits, such as 2.7 million jobs nationwide today tied to trade moving through Long Beach. The 20 years being commemorated started with the Green Port Policy proposed by then-commissioner Cordero circa 2005.

“I could not be more grateful for what has been the opportunity of a lifetime to lead the Port of Long Beach over these past several years. While I’ll miss being in the center of the action for international trade, I know that I’m leaving the Port in the very capable hands of our Board of Harbor Commissioners and the exemplary staff,” said Cordero. “It’s been a very rewarding experience and I have amassed wonderful memories that I will cherish forever.

He was appointed to the Board of Harbor Commissioners in 2003 by then-Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill and reappointed in 2009 by then-Mayor Bob Foster, serving as both president and vice president of the board during his tenure. It was during his time on the Harbor Commission that he proposed the Green Port Policy, a commitment by the port to environmental sustainability that was ratified in 2005. The action was a turning point for the port, which committed to considering the environment in all of its decisions going forward – leading to dramatically cleaner air, healthier harbors and today’s goal of seeking zero-emissions operations.

Cordero, the Los Angeles-born son of Mexican immigrants, was the first in his family to attend college, and his father urged him to pursue engineering as a career. The young Cordero however came to the realization that he wanted to become a lawyer to make a difference in society, given the call for activism in the early 1970s. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from California State University, Long Beach, before going on to earn a law degree at the University of Santa Clara.

He practiced law for more than 30 years, and also taught political science part-time for many years at Long Beach City College.

In addition to his port responsibilities, Cordero was appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to serve on the bank’s Los Angeles branch seven-member board of directors effective Jan. 1, 2021.

In 2025, for the seventh consecutive year, he was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “LA500” list of the city’s most influential civic leaders.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners will determine a process for replacing Cordero in the months ahead.

Transforming Immigrant Affairs: Solis Champions a Creative Vision

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Transforming Immigrant Affairs: Solis Champions a Creative Vision

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Oct. 1 approved a motion authored by Chair Pro Tem and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis to embed a creative strategist-artist in residence (creative strategist) in the county’s office of immigrant affairs or OIA.

The creative strategist program, established in 2017, assigns artists and creative professionals to county departments to collaborate on policies and services that are inclusive and informed by community voices. Chair pro tem Solis, who co-authored the cultural equity and inclusion initiative that launched the program, said the new residency will strengthen the county’s efforts to build trust and connect with immigrant communities in more meaningful ways.

“At a time when immigrant families face unprecedented fear and uncertainty, driven by harsh federal enforcement tactics and policies that threaten to tear communities apart, Los Angeles County must step up with bold, compassionate action,” said Chair Pro Tem Solis. “Embedding a Creative Strategist in the Office of Immigrant Affairs will strengthen our ability to better inform immigrant and mixed-status families of their rights through a culturally relevant and creative approach.”

The motion directs the Department of Arts and Culture to collaborate with OIA, housed within the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, to embed a creative strategist for fiscal year 2025-26.

The action builds on a successful 2021-22 residency by artist Phung Huynh, who brought her personal experience as a refugee to the work. During her time with the office, Huynh designed arts-based outreach strategies and visual materials tailored to immigrant communities, created interactive activities for events, and mentored staff to sustain creative engagement practices beyond her residency. Her work strengthened OIA’s outreach efforts and helped foster recognition and trust between the county and the residents it serves.

The motion highlighted increased immigration enforcement and a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding roving patrols as reasons why a creative strategist within OIA is urgently needed. Embedding this role is critical toward a more responsive, inclusive government that centers the lived experiences of immigrants and their families throughout Los Angeles County.

 

California Just Slashed Its Cannabis Tax to Save Its Dying Industry

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California Just Slashed Its Cannabis Tax to Save Its Dying Industry

 

SACRAMENTO — Assemblymember Matt Haney’s (D–San Francisco) bill to roll back a devastating 25% tax increase on California’s legal cannabis industry on Oct. 1 became law. AB 564, authored by Haney, received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Legislature and was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.

California is widely known as the birthplace of cannabis culture in the United States, with an industry boasting hundreds of thousands of employees and generating hundreds of millions in revenue annually. But over the past five years, the licensed cannabis market has been in a sharp decline as evidenced by plummeting sales and tax revenue.

AB 564 reverses a July 2025 cannabis tax hike of nearly 25%, which threatened closure for many small cannabis businesses and a wave of more consumers opting to turn to the illegal market. Taxes as high as 45% in some areas have already weakened California’s licensed industry, allowing states like Michigan and Colorado—with lower taxes—to surpass California in sales. The bill will freeze the state excise tax rate at 15% until 2028.

“California’s cannabis economy can bring enormous benefits to our state, but only if our legal industry is given a fair chance to compete against the untaxed and unregulated illegal market,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney. AB 564 helps level the playing field. It protects California jobs, keeps small businesses open, and ensures that our legal cannabis market can grow and thrive the way voters intended.”

California’s cannabis industry employs hundreds of thousands and generates millions in revenue, but sales and tax receipts have plummeted in recent years. By suspending the tax increase, AB 564 gives the industry a chance to recover and helps keep small businesses afloat.

The bill, backed by major cannabis industry organizations, went into effect Oct. 1.

Arts United San Pedro Awards $45,000 in Community Arts Grants to Fuel Local Creativity

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Arts United San Pedro Awards $45,000 in Community Arts Grants to Fuel Local Creativity

 

SAN PEDRO — Arts United San Pedro last month announced the 2025 recipients of its Community Engagement RFP, awarding a total of $45,000 to nine projects that exemplify the region’s cultural vitality, diversity, and creative excellence.

Selected from a competitive pool of applicants, the funded proposals include visual arts, performances, public installations, and youth engagement, each one reinforcing San Pedro’s standing as an emerging creative hub for artistic innovation and community-driven storytelling.

“These projects represent the spirit of San Pedro that is bold, imaginative, and deeply connected to the community,” said Amy Eriksen, executive director of Arts United San Pedro. “Through these awards, we are investing in artists at the forefront of culture who inspire connection, dialogue, and discovery.”

2025 Grant Awardees:

  • K Knittel / Other Places Art Fair – Expansion of the Workshop Tent at OPaf – $6,000
  • Laurie Sumiye / Space Space – MANDALA: An immersive performance at the Majestic – $6,000
  • Melody Chan & Faith Spawn – Bilingual marine mammal awareness magazine & workshops – $4,000
  • Moral Masuoko – Festival murals as part of Beautify Earth and the Seaweed Festival – $6,000
  • Peter Rothe / Feed and Be Fed – Tree of Life public mural installation – $4,000
  • Peter Scherrer – solo. gallery exhibitions exploring new thematic work – $4,000
  • Rosie Arias with Whimsical Charm & Divine Hug – Launch of a community Fashion

Academy – $3,000

  • Synchrony – Movement-based workshops and culminating performance – $6,000
  • Yozmit – PRNCX: Through the Gate, a community-led exploration of performance, healing, and creation – $6,000

These projects will unfold throughout late 2025 and early 2026, offering residents and visitors alike new opportunities to engage with the coastal town’s vibrant arts scene through hands-on workshops, visual storytelling, public installations, and immersive performances.

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