The most important stories for you to know today
Thousands gather outside the LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles in support of the SEIU99 and UTLA strike on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Two L.A.
Unified school unions voted to approve their new contracts Friday night. Members of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represent 37,00 teachers and other personnel, will get a nearly 14%, plus paid parental leave for the first time ever.
More than 450 new PSAs, PSWs, School Psychologists, and Counselors positions Special Education agreement with first-ever 20:1 ratio for RST and planning time at schools, with 80% of students in general ed setting for 80% of the day their new 2-year contract Friday night, which includes a 12% wage increase. The union represents 3,000 L.A. Unified principals and administrators.
Meanwhile, members of SEIU Local 99 will start voting today through early May. That union represents bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom aides and other school support staff. Family and friends of Bryan Bostic hold a rally in Inglewood, CA on March 22, 2026 following his death in police custody.
The Inglewood City Council will vote Tuesday on a $6.3 million purchase from police tech company Axon to kit out the city’s police department with body cameras as well as drones, Tasers and 98 stationary Automated License Plate Recognition devices, known commonly as ALPRs. March 10. Video of the incident captured by a bystander shows police pinning Bostic to the ground. Investigations by the offices of the L.A.
County District Attorney into the police use of force and L.A. County Medical Examiner into Bostic’s cause of death are ongoing. The Inglewood City Council meets at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Inglewood City Hall, 1 W. Manchester Blvd. Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed purchase ahead of the city council’s vote.
The Inglewood City Council will vote Tuesday on a $6.3 million purchase from police tech company Axon to kit out the city’s police department with body cameras as well as drones, Tasers and 98 stationary Automated License Plate Recognition devices, known commonly as ALPRs. March 10. Video of the incident captured by a bystander shows police pinning Bostic to the ground. Investigations by the offices of the L.A.
County District Attorney into the police use of force and L.A. County Medical Examiner into Bostic’s cause of death are ongoing. The city says it has been researching the tech additions, including the body cameras, since last August, and the police department began chasing grants for body-worn cameras and drones in January. Activist Najee Ali, who has helped coordinate recent demonstrations calling for Inglewood officers to wear body cameras, said the devices would be a game-changer.
Ali said activists had been planning to put forward a city ballot initiative to mandate police body cameras. He remains concerned about how the city will set police body camera policy. City staff wrote in meeting documents that the new tech would enhance the department’s capacity ahead of a string of mega-events — including this summer’s FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics. The city has not yet finalized contract terms with Axon.
Councilmembers could vote Tuesday to authorize city staff to wrap up negotiations and execute a final agreement. The city estimated Inglewood could pay an average of $1.3 million annually over the life of a five-year agreement with Axon, which would provide software platforms along with the new equipment. The package would include body cameras as well as new Tasers, meeting documents indicate. The Inglewood Police Department has 186 sworn officers,that can automatically read and look up vehicle license plates.
The ALPR tech will also be rolled out via 98 stationary cameras affixed to Stationary ALPRs scan license plates and log a vehicle’s location at a given time. Police tout their ability to rapidly locate stolen vehicles or fleeing suspects. Critics say they lack oversight and that their data can be too broadly shared, including with The devices Inglewood is purchasing also have livestream video capability, according to Axon’s website.
The Inglewood City Council meets at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Inglewood City Hall, 1 W. Manchester Blvd. Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed purchase ahead of the city council’s vote. Limited seating is available in council chambers. Members of the public have been directed to watch proceedings and deliver public comment from an overflow room during some recent meetings.
If people can’t make the meeting, they may submit written comments to the city clerk at athompson@cityofinglewood.org, or to the deputy city clerk at Comments must be submitted by 8 a.m. Tuesday in order to be distributed to councilmembers ahead of the meeting. A local store, The Plant Chica in Leimert Park plans to give away 2,000 plants to help introduce people to the rewards of living with a plant.
The event will take place on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.Adopt a plant giveaway at The Plant Chica, 4311 Degnan Blvd, Leimert Park, CA 90008. Giveaway hours: Saturday, 11a.m. - 4p.m.Sandra Mejia started Plant Chica in 2016 near the South LA neighborhood where she grew up. She wants to spread the positive aspects of plant ownership and care.
Staff with The Plant Chica were busy the day before the event receiving, labeling and preparing indoor plants at the open-air shop in Leimert Park. The company’s co-founder, Sandra Mejia, said everyone should have a plant in their home. And many people who’ve come to her adopt-a-plant events have never had plants in their homes and, therefore, have not experienced what it’s like to take care of a plant and see it grow.
“If we're giving them out for free, then people come and they take them, and then now they're plant people,” which means, she said, that some become advocates for more plants indoors and outdoors as well as public green space. Mejia’s first plant giveaway started in her home, she said, in 2018. It was an effort to clear out the less popular plants.
It didn’t go so well, but after she moved it to her shop, which has been in several locations around South L.A. , near where she was raised by Salvadoran parents, the plant giveaway has grown.
“My dad is at home right now, printing the information sheet for the plant so people know how to take care of the plants, and he's cutting them for me,” Mejia said. Some of the plants are donated by local greenhouses and the rest are paid for, about $2,500 she said, out of her business’ marketing budget.
The giveaway includes philodendrons, like pink princess, which are good starter plants because they’re low maintenance, tradescantia plants, which have green and purple leaves, as well as prayer plants, whose scientific name is maranta leuconeura. These get their nickname from the opening of their leaves during the day and closing at night, like hands in prayer.
“Everybody deserves a plant that's cleaning the oxygen around them. Everybody should have some sort of thumb in the green somewhere,” said Philip Bucknor, who started out as DJ at events for The Plant Chica and began working for the shop last year with the unofficial title of “vibe curator. ”“My thing is helping people understand the right plant for them and not overthinking these tasks of taking care of a plant,” he said. Keep up with LAist.
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. The Saree Run, a viral event that began with eight women in India running in saris, is making its U.S. debut in Huntington Beach on Sunday. It’s coming to the U.S. after L.A.
-based organizer Aanal Patel jumped at bringing its message of culturally-inclusive fitness to South Asian communities here. The event started in 2016 in Bangalore as a way to lower barriers for women to exercise, growing into a multi-city movement with thousands of participants. Patel hopes to keep the event going in Southern California and says she's already getting interest from people in other cities like Austin and Chicago.
A small group of runners in bright flowing saris darted through the streets of Bangalore to show that fitness doesn’t have to be about running gear and race culture but can look like anything you want it to.debuts Sunday in Huntington Beach Central Park East, where 5K runners and walkers are encouraged to drape themselves in saris in a celebration of health and culture. The U.S. edition is the brainchild of L.A. -based Indian American event organizer Aanal Patel.
She discovered the Saree Run through an Instagram video, one of many online, sent by a friend urging her to bring it to the U.S. “I thought it was really, really cool,” Patel, 35, said.
“But I was like, I don't know if people in the States would be interested in this because mainly here we wear saris for special occasions like weddings and receptions. " In contrast to India where the sari is part of everyday wear for many women, the sari is worn in the U.S. more for special occasions like weddings. By contrast, saris are part of everyday dress for many women in India.
But the idea stuck with Patel, who’d run plenty of races herself. She’s also spent years organizing events for the South Asian diaspora like Bollywood trivia games and singles mixers. The Saree Run, she reasoned, could be another place for the diaspora to connect and spotlight urgent issues. Like how South Asians“We are consistently putting other people in front of our own health – our husbands, our children, our community, our households,” Patel said.
Another driving force for Patel — and a point of departure from the event’s origins in India — is the lack of South Asian visibility in fitness and wellness branding in the U.S. “India is the birthplace of yoga. We're also the birthplace of Ayurveda, and you still don't see us represented in those spaces,” Patel said.
“I wanted to bring representation into that space. ”Before Patel moved forward with putting on a Saree Run, she sought the blessing of the event’s founder Pramod Deshpande. The 63-year-old “Coach Pramod,” as his runners call him, came up with the Saree Run after noticing how in India women rise to top roles in government and boardrooms but are noticeably missing from the fitness world.
When he and his trainees ran through neighborhoods, women would stare at them “like we are somebody from another world. ” “Then we realized that these ladies are really interested in doing this, but are held back because of other social pressures and family responsibilities,” Deshpande said. Safety concerns about running alone as a woman is also a big issue. The Saree Run offers strength in numbers as well as a sense of ease.
Running in saris – about six yards of fabric which can be draped to fit every body type – takes the pressure off the women to feel that they have to look like models in fitness ads, Deshpande said. Saree Run participants who kept at it typically shed their saris for lighter running gear like Deshpande’s own mother-in-law. She started running at 78 and now at 82 recently completed a half-marathon in pants and a T-shirt.
Stories like hers have helped fuel the Saree Run’s growth. Since 2016, the Saree Run has held nine editions across six cities with tens of thousands joining so far. When Patel reached out to Deshpande about bringing the concept to the U.S., he was surprised – and impressed.
“I thought, this girl has some guts,” he said, noting it took years for the Saree Run to gain traction in India. Patel, who moved to L.A. a year and a half ago from Denver, has gamely taken on challenges of organizing a run for the first time with a small team of volunteers.
She scouted a dozen parks across L.A. and Orange counties before settling on Huntington Beach's Central Park East because it could accommodate both the run and a full day of free programming. Aside from the 5K, there will be yoga sessions, dance classes, wellness workshops and a speaker series. Tickets to participate in the run will be $50 a person and includes a swag bag.
After expenses, proceeds will go to the Artesia-based nonprofit Run participants are strongly encouraged – but not required – to wear South Asian cultural attire which could also include a dupatta, a traditional scarf, or a kurti, a long tunic. Most, though, will come in saris. Given that there are over 300 draping styles, what will Patel choose?
Interest has already come from other cities like Austin, Denver and Chicago with people online asking when the event might come their way. Deshpande is also looking ahead. From India, he’s hoping to assist Patel with growing the U.S. version by tapping into diaspora networks. With fewer than six weeks to go before the City of L.A.
’s June election, candidates running for City of L.A. and Los Angeles Unified School District offices have raised a combined $19 million, according to records from the L.A. City Ethics Commission. Mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Adam Miller are leading all L.A. city candidates in fundraising, with $3.7 million and $2.7 million raised so far, respectively.
Miller, a tech entrepreneur and leader of multiple nonprofits, has loaned $2.5 million to his own campaign and raised just $223,000 from donors since entering the race in February. Bass, on the other hand, had already gathered more than $2.3 million in contributions by January. She’d received some of those donations as far back as July 2024.
With fewer than six weeks to go before the June election, candidates running for City of L.A. and Los Angeles Unified School District offices have raised a combined $19 million, according to records from the L.A. City Ethics Commission. Mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Adam Miller are leading all L.A. city candidates in fundraising, with $3.7 million and $2.7 million raised so far, respectively.
Miller, a tech entrepreneur and leader of multiple nonprofits, has loaned $2.5 million to his own campaign and raised just $223,000 from donors since entering the race in February. Bass, on the other hand, had already gathered more than $2.3 million in contributions by January. She’d received some of those donations as far back as July 2024.
The city’s matching funds program has also given Bass a nearly $874,000 boost over Miller, who did not qualify to receive a 6-to-1 match from the city on donations that meet certain criteria. Nithya Raman, City Council member for L.A. ’s District 4, has had the quickest growth in donor support out of all candidates for mayor after entering the race in February.
Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt has received about $538,000 in contributions, and Presbyterian minister and community organizer Rae Huang has taken in about $273,000. Traci Park, who is the current City Council member for the 11th district, has brought in about $1.4 million so far through contributions and matching funds. Faizah Malik is an attorney at the nonprofit law firm Public Counsel and is challenging Park for her council seat. She has raised about $632,000.
About $972,000 has been spent in support of Park, including about $634,000 from the Los Angeles Police Protective League and $297,000 from a committee sponsored by United Firefighters of L.A. City. Hydee Feldstein Soto, the incumbent city attorney, has raised nearly $1.2 million in contributions and matching funds. Marissa Roy, deputy attorney general, has raised nearly $1 million in her race to unseat Feldstein Soto.
Deputy District Attorney John McKinney and human rights attorney Aida Ashouri have raised about $73,000 and $14,000, respectively, in the race.
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