Parents and students in Los Angeles had an unusual first day back to school on Monday. The return to in-class schooling at the nation's second largest school district was meant to go without a hitch. But Daily Pass, the Los Angeles Unified School District's pilot app, crashed.
Reporter Sarah Favot writes that the Microsoft-built app designed to screen and track COVID test and vaccine records for students and teachers encountered technical difficulties. Will it stick around?
🛒 CartText, an SMS ecommerce platform with offices in Los Angeles, has named Will Bernstein its new CEO.
🪄 Pinscreen, an L.A.-based company that produces photorealistic AI-driven virtual avatars, has hired leading digital artist Anda Deng.
🛰 Long Beach-based Rocket Lab is launching a satellite into space to test space junk removal technology.
🔬 A new cancer research institute has opened in West Los Angeles, bearing the name of Oracle's founder Larry Ellison.
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📲 Social media app Yik Yak is back after a four-year hiatus.
🗳 YouTuber Kevin Paffrath is a leading candidate in one poll tracking the recall election in California.
LA Schools App Crashes, Then What?
Amid the app's tech hiccups on the first day of school on Monday, screeners were checking a printed list at school entrances. If they couldn't access their health records through the Daily Pass, students were asked verbal health screening questions at the schoolhouse gate.
How LA's School Screens Students
The app called Daily Pass uses a QR code that LAUSD school officials can scan to make sure teachers and students' health screenings, COVID test results and vaccination records are in step with safety protocol. Parents are responsible for getting their child a "baseline" COVID test, which are then added to a child's Daily Pass profile.
How Vicky Tsai Built Her Beauty Brand Empire, Tatcha
Vicky Tsai's success did not come easy. She struggled for years to get her company off the ground, and was, at one time, over $600,000 in debt. Today she is the founder of Tatcha, a Japanese beauty brand that sold to Unilever for a reported $500 million. Listen to her full interview in today's episode of the Behind Her Empire podcast.
Move Over Patreon, Here Comes Super
Los Angeles-based Super, a platform that went into public beta on Tuesday, aims to make it easier for creators to build revenue models that fit their unique approach.