Episode Details

Scott, Alissa, and Mike look back at the first week of the World Cup as LA hosts its first of many major events. SoFi’s stadium workers won an unprecedented labor contract and a huge fire in Boyle Heights continues to burn. Then: what charter reforms are going to the ballot, and what decisions — like council expansion — are being punted back for more “study.”

Alissa wrote about the opening weekend of the World Cup and how the city is doing one week later. She also has a daily guide to activities happening around LA

So far the World Cup seems to be going pretty well in LA

One watch party at Seoul International Park in Koreatown with a huge turnout became very overcrowded and families had to leave because it felt unsafe

Metro shuttles to the games — only $1.75! — are seeing surging ridership, with CEO Stephanie Wiggins writing regular updates

Unite Here’s SoFi workers voted to authorize a strike a week before the first game, then negotiated for an unprecedented contract — allowing them to strike whenever they feel they are threatened by ICE. As Mike notes, this strategy of using deadline leverage instead of normal bargaining paid off and this now becomes the template for negotiating with LA28

By the way, many local labor contracts are set to expire May 1, 2028

There hasn’t been any ICE spotted around the stadium but ICE raids regionally have not stopped

We also don’t know how much this is costing us. The deal LA made with FIFA has not been made public — here’s an explanation for why — but other host city contracts don’t look great

Meanwhile DEA agents are conducting sweeps in MacArthur Park, which is also hosting watch parties, and Karen Bass says she’s directing LAPD to support them

LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman made a video saying MacArthur Park would be ready for picnics by Labor Day while Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez made her own video saying don’t wait until Labor Day

A huge Boyle Heights cold storage warehouse fire forced local residents to shelter in place and is