Lowriders are rolling onto U.S. mail as the Postal Service launched a stamp collection honoring the artistry and tradition of Chicano culture.

Why it matters: Putting lowriders on U.S. postage elevates a tradition born in Mexican American neighborhoods to a national audience.

What they're saying: The USPS stamp program honors "things that represent the best of our nation," USPS spokesperson Albert Ruiz tells Axios.

• "And our new Lowriders stamps continue that proud tradition of celebration and inclusion," he says.

Driving the news: USPS launched the collection at Logan Heights Library on Friday, which San Diego city leaders proclaimed as Lowrider Day.

• Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed the five Lowriders Forever stamps using photographs by Beto Mendoza and Philip Gordon.
• The 15 Forever Stamp sheet is $11.70 and available nationwide.

Between the lines: Lowrider culture started in Los Angeles in the 1940s and is now embedded in generations of Latinos across the U.S. It's a bouncy, glittering expression of craftsmanship, resistance, tradition and community.

• "I'm really proud that we're finally getting our flowers, because everybody looked at us like gang bangers and drug dealers," Mendoza, a California-based photographer, tells Axios. "We're family men, it's generational, it's a family thing — that's one thing people don't understand … we look out for each other."

Zoom in: Local professor Alberto López Pulido, founding chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of San Diego, helped USPS choose Logan Heights to host the ceremony because of the community's cultural and historical significance.

• His archive for San Diego's lowrider legacy features photographs, car club meeting minutes and news articles from the 1950s through today. He also produced a documentary and wrote a book about lowriding in San Diego.
• Lowriding and cruising flourished through the 1970s, with Highland Avenue in National City as "the mecca" of the scene, he wrote in the Union-Tribune in 2021.
• But legal crackdowns and bans, which have raised concerns they were racially motivated or based on negative stereotypes, restricted the cultural expression until a few years ago.

Catch up quick: National City reversed its own cruising ban in 2023, an effort led by the United Lowrider Coalition that evolved into a state law.

• Lowrider cruising became officially legal in San Diego and across California in 2024. The law overturned decades-old local bans, prohibiting cities from restricting "low and slow" driving or targeting customized, low-riding vehicles.

What's next: See some of the West Coast's finest lowriders in action at the 25th Meguiar's Del Mar Nationals car show in April.

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March Madness is coming to San Diego this year, but only one local team will be dancing.

The big picture: The San Diego State University men's basketball team missed the cut for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, a day after losing the Mountain West title game. It's the first time the Aztecs didn't make the bracket since 2019.

• The SDSU women were also left out after getting upset in the Mountain West tournament. UC San Diego men's team's loss in the Big West tournament kept them out too.
• Yes, but: The UCSD women's team won the Big West Championship to punch their ticket to the tournament for a second straight year. The No. 14-seed Tritons play No. 3-seed TCU on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.

Flashback: All four San Diego teams got invited to the Big Dance last year.

State of play: SDSU will still host the first and second rounds of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena March 19-22.

• Top college teams, including No. 1-seed Arizona, No. 4-seed Kansas, No. 5-seed St. John's and No. 8-seed Villanova, will play on Friday. The winners of their matchups will then play on Sunday at Viejas.
• Fans can get tickets for those games, and attend practices on Thursday for free.

Tell a fan

🔥 A five-day heat advisory goes into effect today, with temperatures 15 to 25 degrees above normal. (Union-Tribune)

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 After a key insurance carrier backed out of covering foster family nonprofits, more than two dozen have closed, threatening to displace thousands of vulnerable children. (CalMatters)

🏠 The San Diego Housing Commission is laying off dozens of workers amid federal funding shortfalls, but demand for housing assistance is still rising. (Times of San Diego)

🥑 Escondido's high water rates are squeezing local avocado growers who've waited years for a long-promised supply "lifeline." (UT)

PSA: San Diego is now ticketing cars in Balboa Park.

• While the city set up parking meters and started asking for payments in January, the past few months have been a grace period.

Last week, the city started writing warnings to cars that hadn't paid and this week will start writing tickets, city spokesperson Nicole Darling told Axios.

• "We are prioritizing education and helping people get familiar with the new system," she said. "Education is our priority, not ticketing people."

Yes, but: Anyone violating the parking rules could get a ticket, she said.

• San Diego residents can register online and park for free at some lots, or get discounts to park more centrally.

The tooth fairy is brushing off two years of declines, paying an average of $5.84 per tooth — up 17% from last year, according to Delta Dental's 2026 Original Tooth Fairy Poll.

Why it matters: For nearly three decades, tooth fairy payouts have doubled as a tiny economic indicator — and this year's jump mirrors the broader market's gains, signaling renewed spending power under the pillow.

The big picture: The average payout rose from $5.01 in 2025, according to the survey of 1,000 parents of children ages 6 to 12.

• That ends a two-year slide after a record $6.23 peak in 2023.

The intrigue: A first lost tooth now fetches $7.17 on average — about 23% more than the typical tooth, and up from $6.24 in 2025.

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