This is an LA Times Studios podcast.

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

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

Top leaders of LA's firefighters union have been suspended after an audit flagged $800,000

in unaccounted credit card spending. Aline Chekmedien reports that UFLCP President Freddie

Escobar and two other officers were removed by the union's national parent organization,

IAFF, after serious problems with missing receipts and financial records

were uncovered. Escobar alone made nearly 2,000 credit card charges totaling over $300,000. More than 70%

of those purchases had missing documentation. Former Secretary Adam Walker and Treasurer Domingo

Albaran Jr. also racked up $530,000 in spending without full receipts.

The investigation revealed Walker moved tens of thousands from a union charity into his personal accounts.

The IAFF has since appointed a conservator to take over and reestablish financial oversight.

Big changes are coming to mail delivery across the country.

Karen Garcia reports that UPS and the U.S. Postal Service are cutting a combined 30,000 jobs

as they work to streamline operations and reduce spending.

UPS plans to close 73 distribution centers while UPS is slashing 10,000 jobs and restructuring its delivery

routes. Trump's tariffs and digital innovation have added pressure to an already struggling

parcel system. Mail volume has declined rapidly in recent years, from 57 billion pieces in

1997 to just 12 billion in 2023. As a result, USPS is moving to once a day pickups,

and delivery times for Priority Mail Express will now be one to three days instead of one to two.

The changes are rolling out in two phases, April 1st and July 1st.

Skechers is going private in a massive $9.4 billion deal. Caroline Petro Cohen reports the shoe brand

...