Tens of thousands of union workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District plan to go on strike for three days next week over stalled contract talks, forcing the temporary closure of schools, union leaders announced Wednesday.

Megan Telles reports for the KTLA 5 Morning News on March 16, 2023.

Details: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lausd-unions-to-announce-dates-of-upcoming-3-day-strike/

Powerball fever is gripping SoCal once again, as Saturday's drawing could get the winner nearly a billion dollars. KTLA 5's Erin Myers reports. (Sept. 30, 2023)

A homeless woman was killed after being struck by a car South Los Angeles late Friday night, and authorities are now searching for the driver. (Sept. 30, 2023)

Toys R Us is looking to make a major comeback, announcing this week it plans to expand its brick and mortar operations and add 24 new flagship stores in the country. (Sept. 30, 2023)

A row of Cyprus trees went up in flames in Hollywood on Friday night and the flames spread dangerously close to a nearby apartment building, sending one person to the hospital. (Sept. 30, 2023)

Authorities are launching an investigation after a burned body was found on the side of the 5 Freeway in Lincoln Heights. (Sept. 30, 2023)

With no deal in place by midnight Saturday, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions. KTLA 5's Carlos Herrera reports. (Sept. 30, 2023)

A black cloth and white roses sat upon the senate desk that for years belonged to Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The other California senator, Alex Padilla (D-CA), joined a tearful remembrance on the Senate floor, just hours after Feinstein’s death was announced.

“We bid farewell to my dear friend,” Padilla said. “An outright champion for the state of California.”

Lawmakers also honored her as a trailblazer for women.

“When we talk about the giants on whose shoulders we stand, for me that’s Dianne.” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

“Dianne was a leader in fighting for women’s rights and protecting our communities from violence and gun violence,” noted Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).

KTLA's Mary Beth McDade reports on September 29, 2023.

Details: https://ktla.com/news/capitol-hill-lawmakers-honor-and-remember-senator-dianne-feinstein/

Donald Trump made a personal pitch to California Republicans Friday, declaring “help is on the way” to his supporters in a state where Democrats are dominant, falsely claiming his 30-point defeats here were the result of fraud. The former president traveled to the state Republican Party convention in Anaheim as he works to solidify his support in a GOP presidential contest he has led for months.

California’s 169 convention delegates are the biggest prize in the race for the GOP nomination, and Trump can win them all by getting at least 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary.

KTLA's John Fenoglio reports on September 29, 2023.

Details: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/watch-live-donald-trump-speaks-at-california-gop-convention/

Three buses filled with migrants arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, making the 17th, 18th and 19th buses to arrive in L.A. since June. A third of all the migrants that have arrived in L.A. via bus have been children. L.A. Welcomes Collective confirmed the arrival of the buses Friday morning, all three from Texas, including one from Brownsville and two from Del Rio.

There were a total of 109 migrants that arrived on the buses, the organization said. While complete demographics have not been made available, the migrants come from Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.

Details: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/17th-18th-and-19th-buses-with-migrants-arrive-in-l-a/

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of the Senate’s most prominent women, has died at the age of 90, her office announced Friday. Feinstein served three decades as a senator from California, becoming an icon and a trailblazer in the process.

A former mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein is the longest-serving member of the Senate Democratic conference and during her Senate tenure left a mark on a range of issues, including national security and gun control.

Details: https://ktla.com/hill-politics/sen-dianne-feinstein-dies-at-age-90/ https://ktla.com/news/california-politics/looking-back-on-u-s-sen-feinsteins-liberal-legacy/

The government is headed towards a shutdown this weekend that could disrupt many government services, squeeze federal employees and roil politics as Republicans in the House, fueled by hard-right demands to slash budgets, force a confrontation over federal spending.

While some government entities will be exempt — Social Security checks, for example, will still go out — other functions will be severely curtailed. Federal agencies will stop all actions deemed non-essential, and many of the federal government’s roughly 2 million employees, as well as 2 million active-duty military troops and reservists, won't receive paychecks.

KTLA's Rick Chambers reports on September 29, 2023.

Details: https://ktla.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-the-federal-government-is-headed-into-a-shutdown-what-does-it-mean-whos-hit-and-whats-next/

Twenty-seven years after the death of rapper Tupac Shakur, a Las Vegas-area grand jury has indicted a man with the icon’s murder, Nexstar’s KLAS confirmed Friday. The arrest and indictment are a long-awaited break in the 1996 drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip that killed the rap legend, a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public for nearly three decades.

“Ultimately, our persistence in this investigation paid off,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson said Friday during a news conference.

KTLA's Rachel Menitoff reports on September 29, 2023.

Details: https://ktla.com/entertainment/man-connected-to-suspected-shooter-in-tupac-shakurs-killing-arrested-in-las-vegas/