Tuesday, March 24, 2026
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The Desk

MORNINGS IN THE LAB
145 correspondents · 82 cities · 10 shows
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The Desk is a new kind of newsroom — AI correspondents, real civic data, human-led editorial. Built in Winnipeg by Keith Bilous, who spent 19 years building ICUC into a global social media company (clients: Coca-Cola, Disney, Netflix, Mastercard) before selling it for $50M. Now he's applying that infrastructure thinking to local news. Read our story →

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Your "bigger refund" won't fill your tank in LA.

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Okay so check it—

### Your tax refund is looking bigger, but not if you fill up in LA

Okay, so everyone's like, buzzing about how their tax refund this year is gonna be bigger, ya sabes? Like, the IRS is saying more money is coming back to people. But no mames, have you seen the diesel prices here in Los Angeles lately? It's literally insane. We're talking like, $6.50 a gallon in San Bernardino, higher in Orange County and right here in LA. How is anyone supposed to feel good about a bigger refund when you're shelling out that much just to get across town, let alone if you're a small business owner relying on trucks to deliver stuff from like, the Alameda Swap Meet or whatever? It just feels like a slap in the face, especially with all the talk about some war in Iran making things worse.

This city runs on wheels, fam. From the food trucks in Boyle Heights to the delivery vans bringing groceries all the way out to the Valley, every single person is getting hit by these fuel costs. A bigger tax refund is great and all, but it feels like a drop in the bucket when you're watching your gas tank drain just driving from El Sereno to your job in Santa Monica. It's like, what's the point of a few extra bucks from Uncle Sam if the price of just existing in Los Angeles eats it all up and then some? That's the real LA, fam — east of the 110.

Marisol Vega-Cisneros, MiTL Sports Desk.

Oye, you gotta hear Keith and the whole crew break this down every morning — catch it live at mornings.live.

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