This is an LA Times Studios podcast.

Hi, I'm Angelica Cornado at LA Times Studios.

Here are some of today's headlines from the Los Angeles Times.

Researchers are staying ahead of air quality issues in the palisades

as the neighborhood begins to rebuild.

James Rainey reports that UCLA set up 20 air quality sensors near the damage zone

to track pollution and alert residents digitally when conditions turn hazardous.

Months after the fire, air quality is still a concern for residents, with winds kicking up pollutants.

Environmental health professor Yi Fang Zoo says air quality can shift quickly in these situations,

and the dashboard will help people make smarter, real-time decisions to protect their health.

So far, the monitors show good air quality and

low levels of harmful pollutants like smoke and emissions. A federal appeals court overturned a

2016 ballot measure that required background checks to buy ammunition. Reporter Sonia Sharp says the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that

removed the background check requirement because they say it violates the Second Amendment.

Judge Sandra Segal Ikuda, who made the decision, says, quote,

The right to keep and bear arms incorporates the right to operate them, which requires ammunition.

This decision delivers a blow to California's gun laws and shows the court is sticking to its 2022 ruling that states have to base them on historical rules.

Gun rights activists celebrated the ruling, but gun violence prevention organizations

say the 2016 measure made the state safer. L.A. streets are about to get a whole lot

busier with self-driving delivery bots. According to L.A. Times reporters, Koko Robotics plans

to expand its fleet from 1,000 to 10,000 bots nationwide, after years of testing it on LA streets.

The company is focused on dense neighborhoods where parking is tough and deliveries are short.

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