Traffic is down at America’s busiest port complex – and anxious dock workers are fearful of further economic harm Southern California may be known for celebrities and glitz but the true action has long been about 40 miles away from Hollywood in a place where high-visibility coveralls and hardhats dominate For the past 25 years, the San Pedro Bay port complex – comprising the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach – has been the celebrity of the shipping world and an economic driver of California’s huge economy The busiest seaport in the western hemisphere and one of the busiest in the world approximately 15,000 longshore workers usually pull shifts around the clock moving billions of dollars’ worth of cargo in cars the port is shining a little less brightly As a result of the Trump administration’s decision to subject imports to a minimum 10% tariff (and levies far higher for goods from 57 countries) roughly a third of the traffic at the port has ground to a halt the chief executive officer of the Port of Los Angeles With more than 70% of the port workforce living within a 10-mile radius of the complex Wilmington and Long Beach are expected to be the first hit by the slowdown president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) local 13 “One in every five jobs in southern California is tied to the ports – warehouse workers who has been a longshore worker since 1998 which serve as warehousing centers for retailers such as Walmart and Amazon as well as communities such as Bakersfield and Barstow What happens in the port doesn’t stay in the port echoed the longtime labor activist and former Los Angeles harbor commissioner Diane Middleton cargo that comes in here goes to all 435 US congressional districts The port, which handles 40% of all containerized imports into the country, is widely seen as a bellwether for the entire US economy For months leading up to the election and inauguration Large retailers especially were front-loading – stocking up on merchandise in fear of what might be to come experts say the front-loaded stock will only last six to eight weeks who meted out the harshest tariffs to China has referred to his 2 April announcement as “liberation day” chaos and anxiety are better ways to describe it sometimes even suggesting certain tariffs may not last There’ll be a deal with China in no time,’” said Middleton ‘We’re not talking to anybody.’ So there are contradictions Ships are shown offshore at the port of Long Beach Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersVivian Malauulu job orders and 24-hour operations across day and what we call “hoot” shifts.” Now there are “fewer imports and fewer vessels calling at our terminals” Workers who previously clocked full work-weeks have already been slashed to three or four shifts are now tightening their purse strings – eliminating luxuries like family outings and entertainment “There’s definitely concern on the docks,” said Malauulu The west coast-based ILWU has a long history of backing progressive ideas along with a handful of other labor union representatives spoke briefly at Bernie Sanders’ recent “Standing Up to Oligarchy” rally in downtown Los Angeles But Malauulu said that not all individual members rebuffed Trump Neither did the ILWU’s counterpart on the east coast – the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) had a well-publicized visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago like many working-class Americans across the country were drawn to Trump because he sounded like he was speaking directly to them,” said Malauulu being “tough on China” and protecting American industries felt like it aligned with labor values Malauulu says too many people did not take the time to really dig into Trump policies and the potential effects that the focus among port workers can remain on strength and unity But all US ports and longshore workers will be negatively affected “We are the most resilient workforce in the world we kept moving the world’s cargo because we couldn’t work remotely we’re all just hoping that there’s some type of resolve because at the end of the day it’s about the American worker that’s being hurt – and the consumer and the communities.” does not appear to be resolving any time soon the Trump administration announced new rules that will also phase in port fees on many ships built in China the head of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said the fees were designed to “reverse Chinese dominance address threats to the US supply chain and send a demand signal for US-built ships” The USTR action says that in the first phase the charge will be $50 per net ton per US voyage increasing incrementally to $140 per net ton by 17 April 2028 will be charged up to five times per year per vessel The charges have been dialed back since they were first floated by the Trump administration and there may be additional carve-outs but Beijing has nonetheless vowed to retaliate The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have tripled the number of projected blank sailings – or canceled ships The ports are projecting 30 combined blank sailings for this month “The men and women of the ILWU are strong and resilient we’re just trying to remain as positive as we can,” said Herrera Without this long-established precautionary measure, tens of thousands of wildfire survivors are poised to rebuild and eventually return home, not knowing if unhealthy levels of heavy metals are hidden in the soil on their properties. That leaves homeowners with a daunting choice: Pay for testing and potentially for additional soil removal themselves, or live with the possibility of lingering contamination. Climate & Environment A Times investigation finds toxic levels of lead in soil in Altadena and Pacific Palisades that the government refused to test after the L.A How concerned should homeowners be? The Los Angeles Times set out to answer that question by launching its own soil-testing initiative modeled after the state’s sampling methodology used in previous wildfires Journalists fanned out across Altadena and Pacific Palisades to obtain soil samples from 20 properties cleared by federal cleanup crews and 20 homes that survived; the samples were transported to a state-certified laboratory where they were tested for 17 toxic metals Two of the 10 Army Corps-remediated homesites in Altadena still had toxic heavy metals in excess of California standards for residential properties — including one where lead levels were more than three times higher than the state benchmark The findings are the first evidence that — by skipping comprehensive soil sampling — federal contractors are leaving toxic contamination behind Testing also revealed elevated levels of arsenic lead and mercury in the yards of three homes that survived the Eaton fire — although these homeowners did not have the benefit of a federal cleanup These results — along with historical data from previous fires — suggest that there could be more than a thousand ostensibly remediated properties still containing toxic substances in the regions ravaged by the fires in January Select a circle to view more details about the property’s soil testing results and access the full report Arsenic naturally occurs in soil at rates above the health-based standard so testing officials recommend using the regions’ general background levels as the screening goal Because there are no official arsenic cleanup goals for these fires (since federal officials decided not to test soil after debris removal) The Times is referencing arsenic standards from nearby fire recovery testing efforts with similar soil types The 2024 Mountain fire was used for the Eaton burn area and the 2018 Woolsey fire for the Palisades burn area Sampling sites are obscured using a 100-meter buffer to protect privacy Prolonged exposure to lead — a potent neurotoxin — raises the risk of irreversibly stunting cognitive development in children and inflicting serious kidney damage in adults. Mercury is a neurotoxin and can impair respiratory, kidney and mental health at high levels of exposure. Arsenic is also a known carcinogen — and ingesting high levels can be fatal. mercury and other heavy metals in Altadena and Pacific Palisades given how often their hands are in the soil since they are likely to play in yards with contaminated soil and put unwashed hands in their mouths Although soil testing has been carried out as a precautionary measure after every major wildfire in California since 2007 this time the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have only agreed to remove hazardous ash and up to a 6-inch layer of topsoil from destroyed properties — but not to test what toxic substances might remain FEMA officials now insist it’s not the agency’s responsibility to meet California’s health standards for private properties They argue their current cleanup procedures are sufficient to rid properties of fire-related contamination A worker sprays water to minimize dust as soil is excavated from a house that burned in the Mountain fire in Camarillo (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) The Newsom administration has urged federal officials to reconsider their decision to forgo testing underscoring the state’s concern for the potential health risks to returning residents and construction workers But the state has not committed to pay for testing The city of Los Angeles has also not stepped in to fill the void Los Angeles County is the one government body that has arranged for some soil sampling But it has made clear that the purpose is to gain a general understanding of the situation not to inform individual homeowners about the condition of their property executive director of nonprofit California Communities Against Toxics said that the county has a duty to inform homeowners of their test results you don’t give people the option to make good choices The collective failure to uphold these critical disaster-recovery protocols sends a chilling message to future disaster victims in California and across the U.S.: You’re on your own ‘Nothing but a smoke cloud’In California — the state that faces the greatest wildfire risk in the nation — these decisions could foist thousands of dollars in additional costs on homeowners or leave wide swaths of residential areas subject to extensive soil pollution “The ramifications are huge,” said Greg Kochanowski co-chair of the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ wildfire disaster response task force “California becomes the poster child for a lot of this because of the amount of fires that we do have This is a national issue that I think has implications on all state budgets.” (()=>{const e=document.getElementById("yt-img-NPwMAfynbZ4");e&&e.addEventListener("load",(t=>{t.target.naturalWidth<=120&&(e.parentNode.children[0].srcset=e.parentNode.children[1].srcset=e.src)}),{once:!0})})() Historic communities, like Altadena, are particularly susceptible to poisonous fallout, due to aging housing stock that still carries the legacy of lead paint and other toxic building materials. Lupe Sanchez has called Altadena home for nearly 50 years. In 1976, as a young mother of two, she left Los Angeles’ frenetic Echo Park neighborhood for the tranquil and tight-knit community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Her family bought a 1925-built wood-framed home, and then fixed it up with stucco and an expansive garden of citrus trees and flowers. Like 85% of property owners in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, Sanchez signed up for the Army Corps cleanup, which typically involves the removal of fire debris and up to a 6-inch layer of soil. Federal contractors soon cleared away the debris from the roughly 400-square-foot plot of land. Afterward, she expected the property to be free of harmful levels of contaminants. Following best practices from previous federal post-wildfire soil-testing efforts The Times collected samples from residential properties in Altadena and Pacific Palisades taking multiple 4-inch-deep soil cores from across the property The results: lead levels of 290 milligrams per kilogram of soil (mg/kg) in the footprint of the detached building is now trying to negotiate with her insurance company to see if it will cover the cost of removing the contaminated soil — work that is typically performed by government cleanup crews She’s already been disappointed by a $34,000 insurance payout that is supposed to help her rebuild her backhouse — proceeds that will barely cover the cost of materials The Los Angeles Times tested the soil at Lupe Sanchez’s house in Altadena and found high levels of lead Chun / Los Angeles Times) In the meantime she struggles to reconcile what public officials say about help they claim to be offering and the assistance that is actually available “It’s nothing but a smoke cloud,” Sanchez said of the response from public officials grandkids and great-grandbabies — this is their inheritance,” said the single mom Altadena was particularly vulnerable to postfire contamination because most homes there were built in the 1920s through 1950s — well before lead paint was officially banned in the U.S Ninety-six percent of properties destroyed by the Eaton fire — more than 5,300 in total — were built before lead paint was banned in 1978 according to a Times analysis of Los Angeles County assessor and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection records When the Eaton fire consumed these buildings it aerosolized countless coats of lead paint — showering Altadena and areas downwind with poisonous ash and soot 78% of all homes that burned in the Palisades fire were built before the lead paint ban Out of the 20 homes The Times tested in the Palisades only one had contamination above California standards: A standing home with elevated levels of arsenic 42% of homes in California’s very high fire hazard zones were built before 1979 according to a Times analysis of Cal Fire and census data Hollywood Hills and Culver City homes with a very high fire hazard were built before the lead paint ban Those neighborhoods would be extremely susceptible to toxic fallout in the event of a devastating wildfire If the Eaton and Palisades fire recoveries are suggestive of what’s to come the costs of environmental remediation could fall on homeowners In Southern California where the cost of homeownership is already among the highest in the U.S. shifting the financial burden of rebuilding safely from government and onto disaster victims will only make it more unaffordable for many current and potential residents Rachel Morello-Frosch, an environmental health scientist and professor at UC Berkeley, called the government’s failure to fully remediate contaminated properties in the Altadena area a “quintessential environmental justice issue.” Roughly 20% of wildfire-destroyed properties still have excessive soil contamination after a single layer of dirt is excavated, according to past data collected by the state. For example, after the 2018 Camp fire in Paradise, the state’s deadliest and most destructive fire in its modern history, one-third of properties — more than 4,200 — failed to meet state standards after the first scrape. Michael Saylors tries recovering his tools after the Camp fire destroyed his home in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 18, 2018. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) But in that case, as in all major wildfires in California in nearly two decades, disaster agencies ordered cleanup crews to return to remove more soil and perform additional testing on properties that didn’t satisfy those standards. When shown The Times’ findings of contamination in Altadena soil, Robert Fenton, the FEMA administrator overseeing federal disaster response and funding in Region 9, which includes California and other parts of the Southwest and Pacific Islands, declined to comment. The decision not to perform soil testing after the Eaton and Palisades fires was never publicly announced. It wasn’t until a Feb. 12 news conference that an Army Corps official confirmed that soil sampling would not occur — after he was asked by an L.A. Times reporter. Since then, FEMA and the Army Corps have repeatedly declined to provide The Times with documents outlining their cleanup objectives or debris removal contracts. Public records requests from February are still pending. It wasn’t long ago that FEMA did pay for the type of soil testing that L.A. property owners and environmental experts say is necessary now. But, in 2020, FEMA apparently changed its policies. That year — the worst wildfire season on record in California — Fenton, the FEMA administrator, wrote a letter to state officials informing them that FEMA would not pay for soil sampling or excavation deeper than 6 inches. The state was left to assume those costs. Fenton has repeatedly stated that removing 6 inches of topsoil is sufficient to rid the ground of fire-related contamination. In response to questions from The Times, he cited a 2019 letter from former Environmental Protection Agency regional Superfund director Enrique Manzanilla. The brief letter did not address the nearly two decades’ worth of data contradicting that claim. California see the cleanup process for the Palisades and Eaton fires is probably preexisting contamination and is ineligible for cleanup the agency is only authorized to pay for soil testing to remove the “immediate threat” after a disaster not to aid communities in “long-term cleanup.” the Army Corps’ contract clearly stated that it expected 20% of properties to need up to 12 inches of soil removal FEMA spokesperson Brandi Richard Thompson told The Times “At the request of the Hawaii Department of Health FEMA approved targeted soil testing and deeper excavation as an exception former director for the California Office of Emergency Services suggested FEMA’s policy change was driven by a desire to save money the typical cost for an additional round of soil testing and removal on a single property is several thousand dollars “The contractors that are driving these debris [removal] operations are charging a ton of money and every time they’ve got to go in for another scrape Filling the voidOn a hot Thursday afternoon in February Tom Purnell rested his hand on a hulking yellow excavator planted in his front driveway as officials wearing hard hats and bright yellow vests walked him through how the Army Corps would clean up the remnants of his Altadena home — at that point The federal contractors told Purnell they could cut down one tree but not another They could take out the building foundations and scrape 6 inches of soil from the footprint of his house — but no further “What if I buy you guys lunch?” Purnell asked Left unsaid was that no one would be testing Purnell’s soil for toxic metals The Army Corps of Engineers clears debris from a house in the 100 block of West Palm Street in Altadena. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Testing by The Times found that Purnell’s lot had 10 mg/kg of arsenic — double the natural levels in Altadena’s soil, according to a 2019 study by the U.S has historically been used as a wood preservative and in pesticides But it also occurs naturally in California soils it’s often difficult to distinguish contamination from natural deposits disaster agencies have traditionally recommended removing enough soil to return a property to levels naturally found in the burn area Adam Love, a scientist hired by the L.A. County Health Department to conduct soil testing, said he wouldn’t consider anything below 12 mg/kg as a potential sign of fire contamination. That level represents the very high concentrations of arsenic that can naturally be present in Southern California, according to a 2020 state study natural arsenic levels in many parts of Southern California are much lower — the average in the study was roughly 3 mg/kg In the case of the Palisades and Eaton fires there is no target goal — the policy is to simply remove up to 6 inches of soil Experts say there is no safe level of arsenic exposure Without clearly stated standards for residential soils some academic experts have tried to fill the void For those who can’t afford a full remediation, forgoing the scrape for their yard and just adding new topsoil is the second-best option, he said. This will help dilute any contamination. Planting grass can also help by suppressing dust and locking the soil in place. Lifestyle The Eaton and Palisades fires likely made polluted soils worse but soil experts say bioremediation may be an alternative to scraping Purnell, a trained horticulturalist, is confident he can remediate his yard to a safe level. He plans to cover his entire yard with mulch or stones to reduce his potential exposure to the fire-stricken soil. Some experts say the void left by federal agencies should be filled by the state. Although California has so far not offered to do soil testing for residents affected by the L.A. fires, it has continued its sampling program elsewhere. About 40 miles north of Los Angeles, crews recently completed state-funded soil testing in the footprint of the Mountain fire, which burned 19,000 acres in Ventura County in November. Sean Smith, the fire’s operation chief and a former 20-year veteran of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, oversaw the work on the Mountain fire. Disaster Recovery Experts owner Sean Smith and senior environmental specialist Diane Lamkin stand at the site of a house that burned in the Mountain fire in Camarillo. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) “I’ve done this 32 times,” said Smith, who in late March was supervising cleanup crews in Ventura County while wearing a helmet covered in stickers representing many of the previous fires on which he’s worked. “I could never promise that you cleared a parcel without the confirmation sample, regardless of how good the contractor does or how it looks. The proof is over there in that jar.” Smith said 35 of 133 properties affected by the Mountain fire — 26% — were still contaminated after the initial debris removal. For those properties, he sent crews back to remove another layer of soil and perform another round of testing. The process will continue until the levels of toxic substances meet California safety standards for residential properties, he said. This approach has been in place for nearly two decades. It was based on what state workers informally called the “3-year-old principle,” meant to describe when a yard would be deemed safe enough for a toddler to play in without concern for toxic substances. “It really made sense to me, because I would go home on the weekends and watch my kids play in the yard and play in the dirt,” Smith said. “And they have a little place where they use their Tonka trucks and dig. And I’m thinking, ‘Wow, if we didn’t do what we did, and we had a fire, my kids would be digging in something that may or may not be clean.’” Rebuilding in uncertain circumstancesEven without testing, rebuilding is moving forward. L.A. County and the city have each issued several rebuilding permits, with no soil testing requirement. Hundreds more applications are awaiting review. The first home to break ground in the Palisades is in the Via Bluffs area, according to Cory Singer, co-owner of the building firm Dolan Design & Build, who is overseeing the work. The company has already contracted with a dozen homeowners planning to rebuild and return. Singer said he doesn’t fault federal disaster officials for opting not to test the soil in the Eaton and Palisades fire areas, noting that the scale of the fires’ destruction and devastation is unlike anything the agency has had to deal with before. Taking samples from each of 13,500 properties destroyed — all of which would need to be processed, analyzed and turned into reports — could create a huge backlog that would ultimately delay the city’s recovery efforts, he said. “The government cannot test every single property. I think that’s a pretty reasonable statement.” Singer advised his clients to pay for their own soil testing, which can cost several thousand dollars. Archives You can’t always stop wildfires from starting, but you can prepare for them. But others say precautionary soil testing should not be an entitlement. “It’s going to always leave a question in the public’s mind as to what’s the long-term liability,” said Ghilarducci, the former Cal OES director. “If you don’t know what’s in the soil ... is it going to extend the time frames of recovery because people are concerned? Or, down the road, if people get sick, is there going to be some tie back to the fire and the fact that no one in the government is doing the testing that they need to do? Ultimately, I think the homeowner is left on the hook.” The point of testing, experts say, is not just to find and eliminate contamination. It’s also to give peace of mind to the homeowners whose properties will test clean. Now, day by day, more and more neighbors are deciding to move, as the daunting task and financial burden of rebuilding looms. When Sisco, with two young kids, learned from The Times that the soil on her property wasn’t contaminated, she said she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Her family was already determined to rebuild, but the test results offered her a small but meaningful reassurance. “I take everything as a sign right now,” Sisco said. “It’s just a very hard time, so it’s helpful to have good news … because that’s one thing that just keeps us moving forward.” Times data journalist Sandhya Kambhampati and staff writers Corinne Purtill and Melody Gutierrez contributed to this report. L.A. County soil testing near Eaton, Palisades fires shows significant contamination April 11, 2025 Methodology Tony Briscoe is an environmental reporter with the Los Angeles Times. His coverage focuses on the intersection of air quality and environmental health. Prior to joining The Times, Briscoe was an investigative reporter for ProPublica in Chicago and an environmental beat reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Noah Haggerty is an environment, health and science reporter at the Los Angeles Times. With a background in physics, he has conducted research on spacecraft propulsion, fusion energy and plasma — the stuff that makes up lightning and the sun. He joined The Times in 2024 as an AAAS Mass Media Fellow. Hayley Smith is an environment reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she covers the many ways climate change is reshaping life in California, including drought, floods, wildfires and deadly heat. Sports Subscribe for unlimited access Site Map A source told PEOPLE in December 2024 that Jennifer Garner was "very happy with" her relationship with CEO John Miller 2025 7:56PMTwo people were killed in a hit-and-run crash in South Los Angeles Monday morning.SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man was arrested after two people were killed in a hit-and-run crash in South Los Angeles Monday morning The collision involving two vehicles happened around 5:11 a.m according to the Los Angeles Police Department Authorities said a dark-colored SUV was heading south on Vermont when it ran a red light and hit a car that was traveling east on 66th Street Gabriel Nily said they believe one person was ejected from the car that was hit The suspect fled the scene on foot after the deadly crash Your handy guide on where to eat from the editors at Eater LA Every Friday, our editors compile a trusty list of recommendations to answer the most pressing of questions: “Where should I eat?“ Here now are four places to check out this weekend in Los Angeles. And if you need some ideas on where to drink, here’s our list of the hottest places to get cocktails in town The fresh strawberry doughnut is a must-try for first-timers The coffee at the cafe comes from Stereoscope and punches well above its weight A post shared by The Court Cafe (@thecourtcafe_inc) Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Vans RV-10, a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft with four seats that is sold in kit form and typically home-built. The plane departed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster and was traveling to Camarillo Airport when it crashed in Simi Valley, according to the FAA. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot and one passenger were killed as well as a canine that was in the plane. The identities of the victims had not been released as of Sunday afternoon. The accident happened around 2 p.m. in the 200 block of High Meadow Street in the Wood Ranch area of Simi Valley. The FAA and NTSB are investigating. The plane crashed in the backyard and dining room of Arman and Armineh Hovakemian. Arman Hovakemian said he was doing yardwork when he noticed the plane above, circling lower and lower in the hillside neighborhood. Fearful that the plane was spiraling toward his home, he ran inside to get his wife and their Pomeranian, Koko. A loud bang followed and the fuselage landed where he had stood in the yard, he said. Firefighters work at the site of the plane crash. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press) The smell of gas filled the air and the side of their home caught fire, he said, prompting the couple to flee as neighbors called 911. “I’m overwhelmed,” Arman Hovakemian said, standing in the street as dozens of firefighters and police officers surrounded his home. A light rain misted the street as neighbors watched a firetruck with a ladder hoisted over the Hovakemians’ residence. “I’m numb. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “We’re fortunate we were able to get out.” The plane’s movements just before the crash alarmed some residents. In security video taken by a neighbor that was viewed by The Times, the craft can be heard circling the neighborhood for nearly three minutes and flying close to homes at points. In another video, the plane can be seen shooting straight up into the clouds before dropping down again. The other home damaged by the plane belongs to P.J. Van Kralingen and his wife, Iris. The couple were at the Getty Center when they got a text about the crash. Two of their three dogs somehow escaped the home during the incident and are still missing, said P.J. Van Kralingen, standing in the street. Still, he expressed gratitude that no one was home at the time. The plane shattered windows in their family room, which is where his wife’s parents, who live with the couple, usually sit. “It’s a little bit unsettling,” he said. He said officials told him he couldn’t enter the home for at least 24 hours because NTSB needed to come to the site. NTSB was at the scene Sunday removing wreckage. Officials expect the full investigation into the accident to take between 12 and 18 months. Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report. Dakota Smith covers City Hall for the Los Angeles Times. She is part of the team that won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for reporting on a leaked audio recording that upended City Hall politics. She joined the newsroom in 2016 and previously covered City Hall for the Los Angeles Daily News. She is a graduate of Lewis & Clark College and lives in Los Angeles. Nathan Solis reports on breaking news with the Fast Break team at the Los Angeles Times. Hollywood Inc. -- The Los Angeles Kings and vice president/general manager Rob Blake mutually agreed to part ways team president Luc Robitaille announced Monday The search for a replacement will begin immediately I would like to thank Rob for his dedication to the L.A Kings and the passion he brought to his role," Robitaille said and I appreciate Rob's partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings "Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today He has been an important part of the Kings and will always be appreciated for what he has meant to this franchise." Blake guided the Kings to a 309-238-71 regular-season record and clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times Los Angeles (48-25-9) finished second in the Pacific Division this season before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the Western Conference First Round It was the fourth straight year the Kings lost to the Oilers in the first round "It's a hard day," Kings captain Anze Kopitar said Monday and more importantly I think he's my friend I think he did a good job of building this team And it sucks to see that we didn't deliver he's done a lot for me as a player as a GM it's going to be weird not having him around." coach Jim Hiller admitted he is uncertain about his future in Los Angeles but currently is operating under the "status quo" until he hears otherwise "I haven't had any of those conversations yet," Hiller said But I do understand whenever there's change like that Hiller is 69-37-10 two seasons since replacing Todd McLellan on Feb who played 14 of his 20 NHL seasons as a defenseman for the Kings joined the front office in 2013 as assistant GM Initially tasked with trying to get another sustained playoff run out of the core group that won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 Blake instead pivoted into a rebuild during the 2018-19 season That was the first of three straight seasons where the Kings missed the postseason, but Los Angeles selected center Quinton Byfield with the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and defenseman Brandt Clarke with the No Byfield was fourth on the Kings in goals (23) assists (31) and points (54) in 81 games this season one assist) in six games against the Oilers during the playoffs Clarke led Kings defensemen in assists (28) and points (33) in 78 games this season He had two goals in six games in his postseason debut However, even with success through the draft and in team building, Blake never could find the right mix to get the Kings past the Oilers and their star centers, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl The Kings traded for center Pierre-Luc Dubois on June 27, 2023, acquiring him in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) Blake hoped Dubois would give the Kings three centers capable of matching up against McDavid and Draisaitl while eventually becoming the successor to Kopitar as the Kings' first-line center But Dubois never meshed with McLellan or Hiller 24 assists) in 82 games in his lone season in Los Angeles Dubois was traded to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper on June 19 with the admission of failure increasing the pressure on Blake entering this season Blake pivoted in an attempt to build a team that could beat the Oilers with depth and physicality, signing forward Warren Foegele and defenseman Joel Edmundson during free agency and acquiring forward Tanner Jeannot in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 29 Those additions helped the Kings tie franchise records for points (105) and wins (48) in a season Los Angeles had the best home record in the NHL at 31-6-4 and set a Kings record for home victories in a season But it still wasn't enough to help the Kings win a playoff series for the first time since the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers "I think we definitely made progress," Kopitar said And that's on us to figure out how to do it." A post shared by TURNSTILE (@turnstileluvconnection) "These bands are way too popular to be in arrears." "Guess you'll have to go Steal This Album if you want to hear it now.." LOS ANGELES — Rob Blake is out after eight seasons as the Los Angeles Kings’ vice president and general manager The Kings announced a mutual parting with Blake after Los Angeles lost to Edmonton in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive season Blake built a consistent regular-season winner with the Kings but the team failed to win a playoff series during his tenure and I appreciate Rob’s partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings,” team president Luc Robitaille said in a statement “Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today He has been an important part of the Kings and will always be appreciated for what he has meant to this franchise.” Blake was a Hall of Fame defenseman during a playing career spent mostly with the Kings although he won his only Stanley Cup title with the Colorado Avalanche He retired in 2010 and joined the Kings’ front office during the 2013-14 season Los Angeles’ second Stanley Cup championship campaign who built the two championship-winning teams and they went 309-238-71 in his eight regular seasons But the Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs five times during his tenure winning just eight total games in those five series Los Angeles has exited in each of the past four seasons at the hands of Connor McDavid’s club unable to build a team capable of withstanding the Oilers’ offensive onslaught Los Angeles won the first two games of its series against Edmonton but then lost four in a row to crash out of the playoffs yet again amid growing fan discontent A Division of NBCUniversal DISCLAIMER: This site and the products offered are for entertainment purposes only and there is no gambling offered on this site This service is intended for adult audiences No guarantees are made for any specific outcome If you or someone you know has a gambling problem Official website of the State of California What you need to know: The state of California is providing LA City and County a new AI-powered e-check software free of charge to speed the pace at which local governments are approving building permits LOS ANGELES – Leveraging the power of private sector innovation Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence-driven software to aid Los Angeles City and County in accelerating the approval process for rebuilding permits to help communities recover more quickly from the Eaton and Palisades fires “Bringing AI into permitting will allow us to rebuild faster and safer reducing costs and turning a process that can take weeks and months into one that can happen in hours or days,” said Steadfast LA Chairman Rick Caruso “Working with our coalition partner Mike Hopkins and Amazon I’m proud Steadfast LA identified Archistar as the right company to develop and apply this game-changing technology Now we can work with great philanthropic organizations to provide this critical tool at no cost to taxpayers We will continue bringing forward new technology and ideas to cut through red tape and expedite this recovery.” While the state has no direct role in the local permit approval process Governor Newsom has worked aggressively to cut red tape and provide every available resource to local governments so they can fast-track permits and rebuild quickly and automated rulesets to instantly check designs against local zoning and building codes in the assessment process for building permits This technology will allow property owners to pre-check their building plans before submission to ensure they submit valid plans thus avoiding frustrating delays and expediting the review process once received by city or county staff and speed of the rebuilding process from the Eaton and Palisades fire while also improving the experience for disaster survivors “Getting residents home quickly and safely is my top priority,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass I signed an Executive Directive to spearhead an AI pilot program to streamline the permitting process for Palisades residents we’re infusing new technologies into City Hall processes to ensure nothing stands in the way of families getting home – and to keep our recovery effort on track to be the fastest in modern California history I thank Governor Newsom and our County partners for their collaboration on this exciting effort.” The County of Los Angeles has also committed to using the software and passed a Board Resolution to establish a unified permitting authority for the Altadena one-stop recovery center “I’m excited to see Los Angeles County embrace innovative technology like Archistar to accelerate the rebuilding process in Altadena and neighboring communities recovering from the Eaton Fire,” said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger “This AI tool has the potential to save homeowners valuable time by helping them submit code-compliant plans from the start I appreciate Governor Newsom’s stewardship of this opportunity and SoCal Grantmakers for their fiduciary support Their help—along with collaboration from our County’s permitting departments—helped make this opportunity possible Our collective work will help ensure we’re delivering real efficient solutions to those working hard to rebuild their lives Our wildfire survivors deserve nothing less.” government and philanthropy are standing with our community to ensure a safe and lasting recovery from the Palisades and Eaton Fires,” said Supervisor Lindsey P “With new AI-powered tools and LA County’s One-Stop Permitting Centers we’re cutting red tape to help residents rebuild and return home sooner and LA Rises for their investment in our recovery.” The technology is already being used by more than 25 forward-looking municipalities across the United States Houston and Seattle as well as states like Colorado British Columbia (Canada) and New South Wales (Australia) In addition to providing the software free of charge in Los Angeles the tool is now available on a statewide contract that any local government can now access quickly to streamline their own plan review process Today’s announcement is part of a broader effort to cut red tape and harness innovation in the LA fire recovery process and providing critical regulatory relief to help fire survivors rebuild Since the start of his administration in 2019, Governor Newsom has made efficiency and engagement a top priority, implementing new technologies and practices that make government more efficient and responsive to the people it serves the Governor established the Office of Data Innovation to help advance this important work As the birthplace of tech, California is at the forefront in the study and implementation of AI in government. In 2023, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to utilize Generative AI technologies to improve state services and help solve important issues the state has integrated AI and other efficiency solutions to make state government work faster and even more effective To help provide the Los Angeles community with a stronger voice in the rebuilding and recovery efforts, Governor Newsom launched Engaged California a new platform that gives Californians a unique opportunity to share their thoughts and connect with other people on topics that are important to them It creates new opportunities for Californians to connect with their government to inform and shape policy through honest The program was launched in February with the first use case focusing on the impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires Today’s announcement was made possible through partnerships with philanthropic and community organizations who are aiding wildfire recovery in Los Angeles Autodesk is a global leader in design and make technology Steadfast LA is a civic nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the rebuilding of Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires by bringing together top leaders and effective solutions to get things done right and fast LA Rises is a unified recovery initiative that brings together private sector leaders to support rebuilding efforts led by the city of Los Angeles Los Angeles County and the State of California the Governor enlisted Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter business leader and basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson LA28 Chairperson and President to lead and recruit others to this private sector and philanthropic effort Track LA’s recovery, including the latest air quality results, at CA.gov/LAfires Housing and Homelessness, Press Releases, Recent News News What you need to know: The Governor honored the contributions of fallen California law enforcement officers at the annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony California – Honoring the contributions of fallen California peace officers,.. News What you need to know: California applied to the federal government today to update the state's benchmark plan which would expand coverage requirements for essential health benefits (EHBs) like hearing aids and wheelchairs in the individual and small group.. News What you need to know: California remains the #1 state for tourism with record-high tourism spending reaching $157.3 billion in 2024 the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric are driving away tourists © Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) prediction and pick for tonight’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins yet still sits dead-last in a stacked NL East Los Angeles lost 4-3 to Atlanta on Sunday, halting a seven-game win streak. Can the Dodgers get a new streak started on Monday? Let’s break down this matchup with some odds on the DraftKings Sportsbook There’s only one place to start with this matchup: Sandy Alcantara I mentioned Los Angeles’ prior seven-game win streak and that included a 15-2 victory over Miami last Tuesday — a contest where Alcantara surrendered seven runs in only 2.2 innings That has been a theme so far in 2025 for the former NL Cy Young award winner. Alcantara was impressive in Spring Training and he got some people’s hopes up on Opening Day, looking overpowering against the Pirates The RHP owns an 8.31 ERA and his 6.37 xERA isn’t much better It’s simply a lack of strikeouts and far too many walks yet his 15.8% strikeout rate is currently a career-low while his 14.2% walk rate is twice as high as its been this decade Things are not going well for an asset that many believed the Marlins would try and trade for a haul at this year’s deadline Ben Casparius is the other probable for this tilt The 26-year-old is yet another developmental success story for the Dodgers organization Casparius is currently transitioning from the bullpen to Los Angeles’ rotation The right-hander made his first MLB start back on April 23 then followed that up with a 3.2-inning bulk performance versus the Pirates on April 27 Casparius threw a season-high 54 pitches in that contest and it’s likely he’ll be looking at a pitch count between 65-70 on Monday Casparius owns a 1.96 FIP and a 27.1% strikeout rate over 21.2 innings of work Casparius will go up against a Miami lineup that was projected to be the worst in baseball back in March but has actually been far more middle-of-the-pack in 2025 the Marlins enter this game ranking 17th in wOBA (.308) Kyle Stowers has been the team’s star posting a 154 wRC+ in his 124 plate appearances including a game-winning grand slam off Mason Miller this past Saturday Matt Mervis and rookie Agustin Ramirez have also been quite solid for the fish Alcantara hasn’t been successful within any split in 2025 but it’s notable how awful he’s been specifically against LHBs with the veteran giving up a .387 OBP and 2.08 home runs per nine to lefties That seems like bad news with the Dodgers in town as Alcantara will have to deal with the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman Things could — and probably will — get ugly Ohtani has cleared this prop in six of his last eight games It also beat Miami by 13 runs with Alcantara on the mound less than a week ago The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences All odds and lines provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and are subject to change Garion is a Toronto-based writer who has been playing fantasy sports since elementary school With a particular affinity for advanced statistics and sabermetrics Football and Basketball for DraftKings dating back to 2018 Garion’s work could be found at FNTSY so his decision-making can be questioned from time-to-time I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests Price and Where To Buy details for the Nike A’One “Pink A’ura” set for release on Tuesday Alex Hunter details the betting splits and most popular player props for Game 1 between the Celtics and the Knicks on Monday and pick for Monday’s game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox CALL 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (AZ/CO/DC/IA/IL/IN/KS/KY/LA/MD/ME/MI/NC/NJ/NH/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV/WY) (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA) Call 877-8-HOPENY / text HOPENY (467369) (NY).Please Gamble Responsibly Void where prohibited.21+ (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY) Physically present in AZ/CO/DC/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/KY/LA(select parishes)/MA/MD/ME/MI/NC/NH/NJ/NY/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV/WY only On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS) The Los Angeles Kings' inability to get past the Edmonton Oilers is leading to a change in management The Kings announced Monday that the team and general manager Rob Blake mutually agreed to part ways I would like to thank Rob for his dedication to the LA Kings and the passion he brought to his role," team president Luc Robitaille said in a statement "Reaching this understanding wasn’t easy and I appreciate Rob’s partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today The Oilers have knocked out the Kings four years in a row in the first round. This year seemed the best chance to end that futility because the Kings tied franchise records with 48 wins and 105 points, and Darcy Kuemper was a Vezina Trophy finalist The Kings had home advantage this year and won Games 1 and 2 before things imploded In Game 3, coach Jim Hiller's challenge of the Oilers' tying goal was rejected and Los Angeles received a delay of game penalty The Oilers scored 10 seconds into the power play for the go-ahead goal and eventual win The Kings then blew a 3-1 lead in the third period of Game 4 for an overtime loss Los Angeles hasn't announced a decision on the future of Hiller. He was in his first full season as head coach after being named interim coach last season following the firing of Todd McLellan The team went 309-238-71 and made the playoffs five times in eight seasons but never made it out of the first round His 2023 trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois didn't pan out though the forward was later moved for Kuemper Robitaille said the search for a new general manager will begin immediately. The Islanders are also looking for a GM after not renewing Lou Lamoriello's contract. Print The aftermath of the January wildfires in the L.A including in debris removal and the rebuilding process After the Palisades fire destroyed or seriously damaged more than 6,000 homes in Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County leaders pledged to streamline permitting procedures for property owners who want to rebuild Below are photos from January and April of a few of the sites that were devastated by the fires. You can interact with the images to see the state of the cleanup and rebuilding process. Myung J. Chun has been a photographer with the Los Angeles Times since 1999. He started as a still photographer and then moved to videography from 2007 to 2018. Chun won an Emmy in 2011 for his work on a multimedia project about innocent victims of gang violence. He previously worked for the Los Angeles Daily News, a position he started in 1988 while attending Cal State Northridge. Brian van der Brug was a staff photojournalist at the Los Angeles Times from 1997 to 2025. Robert Gauthier has been with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. He was the photographer for a project detailing the failings of an L.A. public hospital that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Before The Times, Gauthier worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Escondido Times-Advocate and the Bernardo News in San Diego County, his hometown. Los Angeles Times staff photographer Allen J. Schaben is an award-winning journalist capturing a wide range of images over the past 34 years. Before joining The Times, he honed his craft at the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News, Wichita Eagle and Connecticut Post. Schaben earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993. Print The Trump administration announced a plan Monday to try to ramp up the number of deportations: paying unauthorized immigrants $1,000 if they return to their home country voluntarily The Department of Homeland Security called the plan a “historic opportunity for illegal aliens,” noting in a news release that it would also pay for travel assistance Any immigrant who used the Customs and Border Protection Home App to inform the government that they plan to return home, the department said, would receive a $1,000 payment after the government had confirmed their return. “If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “This is the safest option for our law enforcement, aliens and is a 70% savings for US taxpayers.” President Trump has made mass deportations — a key platform of his 2024 election campaign — a priority in his first three months in office. But so far, the actual number of immigrants deported under his Republican administration has slightly lagged the number deported under his predecessor, Democratic President Biden, as fewer immigrants are now attempting to cross the U.S. border. Hiroshi Motomura, a law professor at UCLA who specializes in American immigration and citizenship, said the U.S. is not the first nation to try to persuade immigrants to leave the country. Over the years, other countries, such as Germany and Japan, have offered financial incentives for immigrants to self-deport. “Some of the calculus is what you’re seeing now, which is it’s much cheaper to pay people to leave than it is to forcibly deport them,” Motomura said. Clearly, the Trump administration is looking for ways to up the number of deportations to match its campaign rhetoric, Motomura said. But he urged any immigrant considering whether to self-deport to consult with an attorney. Many immigrants have a potential legal pathway to stay — if they are married to a U.S. citizen or have a job offer or a claim of persecution in their home country — but may not have access to an attorney or the legal help to negotiate that pathway, Motomura said. “Self-deportation certainly is one way to get people to leave the country,” he said. “But the dilemma here, or the policy problem, is that they’re going to get people to leave the country who actually have a right to stay. … They’re asking people to make decisions in a vacuum of knowing what their rights are.” World & Nation One order directs the attorney general and Homeland Security secretary to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that ‘obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.’ The Trump administration is promoting its incentives to immigrants who are in the country illegally to leave on their own as a “dignified way to leave the U.S.” — one that it says will have them deprioritized for detention or being picked up by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they demonstrate they’re making plans to depart Homeland Security also provoked controversy in legal circles by promoting its offer as a way for unauthorized immigrants to legally return to the U.S.: Self-deporting to re-enter the United States legally in the future.” Some immigration experts warned that this offered false promise “It is an incredibly cruel bit of deception for DHS to be telling people that if they leave they ‘will maintain the ability to return to the U.S. legally in the future,’ Aaron Reichlin-Melnick a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council “Despite DHS’s claims, leaving the country could impose SEVERE consequences for many people here currently without status, with a 10-year bar on reentry being a best-case scenario for most,” he added. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said immigrants who took advantage of the deal could “potentially come back the legal, right way and come back to live the American dream.” “This might put you in a better position,” she added, “because there’s documentation that you have decided to self deport.” Asked why immigrants should trust the Trump administration’s offer, McLaughlin said: “We’re giving you our word that we will give you this money and that you can leave today. It’s the safest way. You will not be arrested, you will not be detained, and we will give you that free flight.” Motomura said the idea that immigrants who self-deport would have a better chance of returning to live in the U.S. legally stemmed from the fact that there are some negative consequences to a formal order of removal: “It limits when you can come back,” he said, “and it may limit your ability to access other immigration related benefits.” But ultimately, Motomura said, any benefit of self-deportation would depend on the individual: an immigrant who left the U.S. after being in the country without status for 180 days could not come back for three years, he noted, and an immigrant who left the U.S. after being in the country for a year could not come back for 10 years. He added that while an immigrant who was in the country without status for a shorter period of time, such as two weeks for example, could be better off leaving on their own rather than being subject to a formal deportation order, such situations were less typical. The Trump administration is also pitching its plan as a deal for American taxpayers. “Even with the cost of the stipend, it is projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the costs of a deportation by around 70 percent,” the Department of Homeland Security said in its release, noting that it costs more than $17,000, on average, to arrest, detain and remove an unauthorized immigrant. Homeland Security said that an immigrant in the U.S. illegally recently used the program to receive a ticket for a flight from Chicago to Honduras, and that additional plane tickets have been booked for the next few weeks. Jenny Jarvie is a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times based in Atlanta. The 18-year-old bagged another victory just days ago, winning the Mission League doubles championship. In a photo, the beaming Levi stands beside teammate Cooper Schwartz, holding up four fingers — one for each of his four straight league doubles championships. Those achievements had to be a bit of a balm for the Levi family, coming just a few months after their home in Pacific Palisades burned in the January firestorm. The family had relocated to the South Bay. It felt beyond comprehension, then, when Loyola Principal Jamal Adams emailed students and staff of the Catholic Jesuit school Sunday to inform them that Levi had been killed in a traffic accident just hours earlier, a month before his high school graduation. “Braun was a shining presence in our Loyola family,” Adams wrote, “bringing light, joy, and inspiration to everyone he touched.” The principal invited the Loyola school family to a prayer vigil on campus Sunday evening. “All members of our community are welcome to join us as we gather in unity and remembrance,” Adams wrote. Manhattan Beach police said they had arrested a 33-year-old Los Angeles woman on suspicion of drunk driving and homicide in connection with the crash, which they said occurred after midnight Sunday morning. A brief news release from the department said only that a call came in at 12:46 a.m. about a traffic accident involving a pedestrian in the 100 block of South Sepulveda Boulevard. They found the victim, whom they did not identify, lying in the street. The police statement said that Jenia Belt of Los Angeles had been arrested in the crash. Belt remained in the Manhattan Beach jail Sunday, a police watch commander said. Friends showered Levi’s social media accounts with tributes to him. Levi was to attend the University of Virginia in the fall. “Anyone who got to know you knows how lucky they are,” said one message. “You never met a stranger, and left an impact on everyone you met. I’m going to live and love as big as you every day.” Said another: “Whether you were lucky enough to cross paths with him for an hour or a lifetime, he left an impression. It was impossible to be sad or bored whenever Braun was around, and his gift for lifting those around him was truly singular.” The images from Levi’s social media hint at a prototypical Southern California upbringing. He’s wading in a High Sierra lake with his family, arm-in-arm with buddies on the beach, posing for a selfie with actor Adam Sandler and rocking a pink suit and a fedora beside a horse racing track. Just two years ago, another Loyola High student-athlete died in the final weeks of his high school career. Ryan Times, a pitcher on the baseball team, was struck and killed by a train in April of 2023, when the school was on spring break. Brian Held, coach of the Loyola varsity tennis team, called Levi, a three-year captain, “probably the most decorated player to ever play for the school.” Held also taught Levi in AP Economics and Statistics. “We are all stunned, devastated and heartbroken with this tragedy,” Held said via email. “Braun was the most amazing, all-around leader, whom everyone loved, even his opponents. He was just that type of kid — unique and special. As one of his teachers, I witnessed how he brought joy to everyone.” Levi is survived by his parents and an older sister. Times staff writer Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report. James Rainey has covered multiple presidential elections, the media and the environment, mostly at the Los Angeles Times, which he first joined in 1984. He was part of Times teams that won three Pulitzer Prizes. After a strong start to the year, the number of jobs has started to slip in recent days and truck drivers have heard reports predicting a sharp decline in incoming cargo for May and June. Helen, a 38-year-old mother of three, said her family has to stretch to make ends meet even under normal conditions. “There’s real concern that we’re going to be struggling,” said Helen, a Downey resident who declined to give her last name for fear she might lose work if she is considered disgruntled. “If ships are not coming in and there are no loads, then there is no work. If there is no work, there’s no money.” Business The Port of Los Angeles could see a 35% drop in imports in just two weeks following a surge in goods to beat the tariffs As President Trump’s aggressive tariffs rattle business owners and shake the foundation of American importing, the men and women who work on the ground at the country’s busiest port are feeling the effects too heavy equipment operators and truck drivers support a flurry of activity at the Port of Los Angeles which covers 7,500 acres on San Pedro Bay and processed more than 10 million 20-foot-long cargo units in 2024 The neighboring Port of Long Beach moved 9.6 million 20-foot equivalent units and 10% tariffs on dozens of other countries Fewer shipments into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach mean less work for the Californians who move cargo, said Raman Dhillon, chief executive of the North American Punjabi Trucking Assn. “The truckers are scrambling right now,” he said. “They are at the verge of collapsing. The administration needs to move quickly, or it’s going to be chaos and price hikes and empty shelves.” U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California and two other Democratic senators called a news conference Thursday to decry Trump’s tariffs, predicting lost jobs, higher prices and stores bereft of merchandise. Dozens of agricultural exporters also held a conference call this week to express their fear about how the tariffs, and retaliatory levies by other countries, will affect overseas markets. “The drop in cargo volume caused by Trump’s tariffs will mean empty shelves when products don’t reach our stores, rising prices on everything from groceries to clothes to cars, and undoubtedly, more Americans out of work,” Padilla said. Key drivers of Los Angeles’ economy — trade and logistics — will be hard hit by the tariffs announced by the Trump administration A 2023 report found that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach contributed $21.8 billion in direct revenue to local service providers generating $2.7 billion in state and local taxes and creating 165,462 jobs A decline of just 1% in cargo to the ports would wipe away 2,769 jobs and endanger as many as 4,000 others Last week, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said arrivals could drop by 35% over the next 14 days. This threat looms large for members of ILWU Local 13, a union representing longshoremen who unload cargo and support port operations. Trump’s worldwide tariffs are putting the squeeze on several high-profile L.A.-based toy makers and apparel companies “They’re just wondering what’s going to happen,” ILWU Local 13 President Gary Herrera said of his members “Some of the workforce will not be getting their full 40 hours a week based on the loss of cargo there will be more than 30 “blank sailings” in May at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles which occur when cargo ships cancel planned trips That will mean 400,000 fewer containers will be shipped through the ports The impending downturn at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles comes not long after the twin facilities reported booming activity, tied to a labor dispute that shut down major ports on the East and Gulf coasts. Nearly one-third of all cargo containers delivered to the U.S. travel through Los Angeles and Long Beach. Navdeep Gill, who owns the Northern California trucking company Ocean Rail Logistics, said his business is already moving 60% to 70% less cargo as a result of the tariffs. Gill’s truckers, who haul goods from the Port of Oakland, typically move 50 containers a week. Recently, they have been moving 10 to 15, Gill said. “When we are not doing anything and the trucks are not working, then we lose money,” he said. His company hauls industrial goods, paper and food products. “We have fixed expenses like insurance that we cannot bypass, so we’re losing money,” Gill said. Over the three-day period ending Sunday, 10 container ships are expected at the Port of Los Angeles. That’s a decline from the 17 container ships that typically arrive every three days at this time of year, according to a memo from a trade group that represents shippers. “That is going to have an effect on the work opportunities for not just us, but for truck drivers, warehouse workers and logistics teams,” said Herrera, the union president. “This is the ripple effect of not having work at the waterfront.” Demand for warehouses used to move goods through Los Angeles County ports is expected to fall if widespread tariffs take effect, potentially damaging the economic vitality of one of the world’s largest industrial real estate markets. Helen said that some of her fellow drivers had hoped for a better economy under Trump. Her own exposure is doubled because her husband also drives trucks to and from the ports. Because she is paid per load, Helen’s income does not meet the minimum wage when there are too few jobs available. “We feel like it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she said. “You feel this looming uncertainty. It’s hanging over everybody.” Caroline Petrow-Cohen is a Business reporter at the Los Angeles Times covering electric vehicles and aviation. She is a graduate of Duke University, where she studied journalism, English and environmental science and policy. Print Several federal prosecutors — including the chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section — have submitted their resignations following a plea deal offered by the new U.S attorney in Los Angeles to a sheriff’s deputy who had already been found guilty of using excessive force Reached Saturday afternoon, Faerstein said he had no comment. None of the other prosecutors said to have resigned responded to inquiries. The sources who confirmed the resignations requested anonymity because they feared retaliation. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment. Kirk, who has been “relieved of duty” by the Sheriff’s Department, was found guilty in February of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law and faced up to 10 years in prison. Under the plea deal filed Thursday, which still requires approval from a judge, he would serve a maximum of one year in prison. The government agreed to recommend a year of probation. County sheriff’s deputy was found guilty of excessive force after an incident in which he threw a woman to the ground in Lancaster Kirk was responding to a reported robbery when he threw a woman to the ground and pepper-sprayed her in the face while she filmed him outside a Lancaster WinCo Although the woman matched the description of a female suspect Kirk had received from a dispatcher she was not armed or committing a crime at the time he first confronted her Kirk would plead guilty to a lesser-included misdemeanor violation of deprivation of rights under color of law attorney’s office would “move to strike” the jury’s finding that Kirk injured the victim attorney who signed off on the plea agreement Bill Essayli, appointed U.S. attorney for Los Angeles last month by President Trump, is also listed on the agreement. The attorney general has selected Riverside County Assemblymember Bill Essayli — a rising and controversial Republican voice — to serve as interim U.S. attorney for L.A. and surrounding areas. Kirk’s attorney, Tom Yu, declined to comment Friday evening. Previously, he described Kirk as a “hero, not a criminal” and said video showed he acted within the law to “detain a combative robbery suspect.” Essayli’s move to offer a misdemeanor plea to a defendant who had already been convicted was extremely unorthodox, according to Carley Palmer, a former supervisor in the federal prosecutor’s office in Los Angeles who is now a partner at Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg. “It’s not unprecedented, but it is extraordinary, to try to have a jury verdict withdrawn and replaced by a plea agreement to a lesser crime. The government invests extraordinary resources to take a case like that to trial,” she said. “You have the agency’s investigation, you have all the man or woman hours ... then you have a jury that says you got it right beyond a reasonable doubt.” To justify seeking a post-conviction plea deal, prosecutors would need to have found evidence that the defendant was innocent or that there was some serious misconduct on the part of the trial team, according to Palmer. Last month, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson denied a motion from Yu for an acquittal. Wilson ruled footage of the incident was sufficient evidence for a jury to find Kirk had used “objectively unreasonable force.” “J.H. did not have a weapon, did not attack Defendant, was not attempting to flee, and was not actively committing a crime,” Wilson wrote, identifying the woman involved by initials. The judge also noted in his ruling that while Kirk acted aggressively toward the woman from the outset, his partner managed to lead the arrest of the other robbery suspect without using force. There are noticeable differences in the way the new plea agreement describes what Kirk did, as compared with a press release issued by the U.S. attorney’s office in February when the jury returned a guilty verdict. The agreement makes references to the woman having “resisted” Kirk’s attempt to detain her and describes her as “swatting” at the deputy’s arm. In his ruling last month, Wilson determined this could have been seen as the victim reacting reflexively to Kirk’s actions, and noted it’s unclear if she even hits Kirk. The plea agreement also makes no reference to the woman’s injuries, while the February release says she “was treated for blunt-force head trauma and injuries to her head, arms, and wrist.” Attorney Caree Harper, who is representing the woman in a civil suit that reached a settlement earlier this year, said the new plea deal is “changing the facts” and is not supported by video footage of the incident. The recent firing of a federal prosecutor in L.A. who had criticized Trump and was leading a case against one of the president’s supporters reflects a larger campaign against lawyers accused of opposing the administration’s agenda. “They’re taking creative liberty with the facts and deciding to give a jury of Trevor Kirk’s peers the middle finger and it should not be tolerated,” she told The Times. If Wilson approves the agreement, Harper said, she expects civil rights groups will launch protests and urge state or county prosecutors to take up the case. Harper noted that downgrading Kirk’s charge from a felony could allow him to continue working as a law enforcement officer. He will also retain his right to own a firearm without a felony conviction. “He definitely should not be able to wear a badge again, anywhere in any state,” she said. According to Robert Bonner, a former federal judge who now chairs the county’s Civilian Oversight Commission, a post-conviction plea deal is an extreme rarity. Allowing pleas after trial, Bonner said, could undermine prosecutors’ ability to negotiate in the future. “If you did this routinely, you could never get a plea bargain,” he said. Even though federal prosecutors and the defense have both agreed to the deal, Bonner said, the judge doesn’t have to adhere to it. “He could reject the whole plea deal, or he can accept the plea deal and say I’m not going to give one year probation, I’m going to give six months in custody or some other period of time up to one year in prison,” he said. Wilson last month refused to delay Kirk’s May 19 sentencing hearing, after prosecutors told him Essayli wanted more time to review the case. Wilson, the Sheriff’s Professional Assn. spokesperson, on Friday said he was “encouraged by the recent development in Deputy Trevor Kirk’s case and will continue to monitor the upcoming sentencing closely.” “While this case should never have been prosecuted in the first place, we are deeply grateful the Department of Justice took a second, impartial look at the facts and merits,” he said in an email. “This action sends a powerful message — not just in Trevor’s case, but to law enforcement officers across the state and nation who too often feel abandoned or politically targeted in today’s climate.” A spokesperson for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately comment on the developments in Kirk’s case. The wave of resignations comes amid other recent controversy in the federal prosecutor’s office. In March, a White House official fired Adam Schleifer as an assistant U.S. attorney, in a one-line email informing him that the dismissal was “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump.” attorney in Los Angeles has filed a claim calling his dismissal “unlawful” and alleging it was motivated in part by his prosecution of the ex-CEO of the Fatburger and Johnny Rockets restaurant chains calling it “unlawful” and alleging it was motivated in part by his prosecution of Andrew Wiederhorn the former chairman and chief executive of Fat Brands which owns the Fatburger and Johnny Rockets restaurant chains Schleifer had also posted negative comments about Trump during a period when he had left his job as prosecutor to run for office as a Democrat According to Meghann Cuniff, an independent legal affairs reporter, the Department of Justice is reviewing a separate case involving Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant who pleaded guilty to lying about a phony bribery scheme involving President Biden and his son Hunter. A federal judge sentenced Smirnov to six years in prison. The turmoil in the L.A. federal prosecutor’s office follows mass resignations in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan earlier this year, when several prosecutors stepped down after Trump administration appointees pushed to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. James Queally writes about crime and policing in Southern California, where he currently covers Los Angeles County’s criminal courts, the district attorney’s office and juvenile justice issues for the Los Angeles Times. including former second gentleman Doug Emhoff the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris “Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized,” Emhoff, who is Jewish and a leader in fighting rising antisemitism against Jewish Americans, wrote on social media after his termination “To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous — and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.” A page on the Kennedy Center website still references its Tapestry of Pride programming Groups planning festivities at the center told the AP that after Trump’s takeover forcing them to relocate their performances to other venues here with Ashley Lee with your weekly arts news and some worthwhile diversions from our reality ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Fest Stephen Schwartz hosts this two-night event: Monday features “Songs From the Cutting Room Floor,” composers performing tunes that were painfully excised from their hit musicals; in Tuesday’s Musical Theatre Workshop composers present excerpts from “Piney Needlesmith and the Road Less Traveled” and “Weekend.” 7:30 p.m. Monday. 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org 1975: Fifty Is the New Hollywood The Who’s musical “Tommy,” directed by Ken Russell launches this tribute to one of the landmark years in cinema; other films (with special guests) include “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Nashville,” “The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser” and “Cooley High” (with Michael Schultz 1 and 4 p.m.; series continues through May 26. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. egyptiantheatre.com Phil Live With Adam Ray The lighthearted lampooning of the TV therapist returns with an all-star supporting cast of comedians in an array of ridiculous sketches 8 p.m. Comedy Store, 8433 Sunset Blvd., L.A. www.showclix.com Life of Pi A 16-year-old boy survives on a lifeboat with a hyena an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger in Lolita Chakrabarti’s adventurous stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s bestselling novel Through June 1. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org 7 p.m. Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. hollywoodpalladium.com J Balvin The reggaeton singer goes “Back to the Rayo” on his tour 8 p.m. Toyota Arena, 4000 Ontario Center, Ontario; 8 p.m. Friday. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. jbalvin.com Debussy & Boulez Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the L.A Phil in a program contrasting Bartók and the two iconic French composers 8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com Love’s End French director Maurice Attias brings a slice of French culture to L.A with the West Coast premiere of “Clôture de l’amour” (Love’s End) by celebrated French playwright Pascal Rambert in an English translation by Jim Fletcher and Kate Moran 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through June 15. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. odysseytheatre.com Yo La Tengo An evening with the eclectic indie rock band and its most recent album 8 p.m. The Novo, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., L.A. thenovodtla.com Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber. reportedly worth an estimated $200 million Beloved L.A. Phil music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel is heading to New York City in advance of his move there to take over the New York Philharmonic at the end of the 2025-26 season. He may still belong to L.A., but this summer he’s scheduled to conduct four free New York Phil concerts in parks around the Big Apple The 15th annual theater festival is on the calendar for June 12-29, and tickets for hundreds of shows, featuring a wealth of local and national talent, are on sale now The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra recently held a sold-out gala at the Skirball Cultural Center that raised more than $1 million for the organization as were longtime LACO supporters Sandy and Pat Gage Want a ridiculously filling, meat, cheese, egg and potato-stuffed breakfast burrito? Head to Pasadena! Jessica Gelt is an arts and culture writer for the Los Angeles Times Ashley Lee is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes about theater, movies, television and the bustling intersection of the stage and the screen. She also co-writes the paper’s twice-weekly Essential Arts newsletter. Entertainment & Arts While the event is associated with head-turning haute couture donned by the most popular celebrities — think Tyla’s Balmain sand dress, Blake Lively’s Statue of Liberty-inspired Versace gown or Rihanna’s papal get-up by John Galliano — the annual gala serves as a charity dinner for the museum’s Costume Institute and coincides with a fashion exhibit that shares the theme of the event. Here’s what you need to know about fashion’s biggest night. Live updates on the best and boldest celebrity looks from the 2024 Met Gala benefiting New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute The Met Gala will be held Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City dinner will be overseen by chef Kwame Onwuachi owner of top restaurants Tatiana in New York City and Dōgon in Washington will lead the creative direction of the red carpet design and the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The dress code for the gala is “Tailored for You.” The theme draws from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.” In it, Miller explores how Black people, and Black men, in particular, through the culture of dandyism, have used flamboyant fashion to navigate identity and expand their possibilities in otherwise limiting environments. “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will be on view at the Met from May 10 to Oct. 26. Zendaya and her longtime stylist Law Roach have leaned into ‘method dressing’ with chic tennis-inspired looks for the actor’s new film In addition to the co-chairs, there is also a host committee, featuring modern-day dandies including André 3000, Dapper Dan, Edward Enninful and Jeremy O. Harris, as well as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Simone Biles, Jonathan Owens, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Olivier Rousteing, Grace Wales Bonner, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tyla, Rashid Johnson, Regina King, Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Usher and Kara Walker. Awards Timothée Chalamet in a yellow Givenchy suit: See how all the stars arrived in style at the Academy Awards One attendee of note is image architect Law Roach, famously Zendaya’s stylist, who this year will partner with British luxury fashion house Burberry on their Met Gala presence whose partner A$AP Rocky is co-chairing the gala; the Kardashian-Jenner clan; Sarah Jessica Parker; Gigi Hadid; Lady Gaga; Cardi B; and Blackpink stars Rosé and Lisa Vogue will livestream the Met Gala on all of its digital platforms, including YouTube La La Anthony and Ego Nwodim will host the livestream E! News will also broadcast a livestream, hosted by Zanna Roberts Rassi, Maria Taylor, Elaine Welteroth and Yvonne Orji, at the same time from New York City’s Lincoln Center. Karla Marie Sanford, an Atlanta native, is a reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she worked as a breaking news reporter at the Washington Post. Television That peace of mind may prove elusive. The government is not testing soil on supposedly cleared properties for toxic substances — so The Times did it and found evidence that the decision not to test is leaving potentially dangerous levels of contamination behind. Climate & Environment The federal government decided not to test the soil of L.A.’s burn areas for hazardous substances. A Times investigation found high levels of lead and other heavy metals. The Times tested for lead, mercury and other heavy metals in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. From respiratory problems to lung cancer, these are the risks of exposure. Following best practices from previous federal post-wildfire soil-testing efforts, The Times collected samples from residential properties in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Lifestyle The Eaton and Palisades fires likely made polluted soils worse, but soil experts say bioremediation may be an alternative to scraping, especially for gardeners. Two Altadena residents set out to collect testing data for toxic contaminants within the Eaton burn area’s standing homes. They found lead everywhere. Soil testing revealed concerning levels of lead on properties downwind of the Eaton fire, as well as isolated “hot spots” of contamination in the Palisades, according to county officials. Rebuilding in Altadena and Pacific Palisades has begun, despite the lack of official requirements to test soil for heavy metals and other toxic substances. In the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires, Army Corps officials are saying that excavating six inches of topsoil is enough to rid properties of contamination. L.A. fire contaminant levels could sicken the marine food chain, new tests show March 28, 2025 About this investigation Tickets are available now View this post on Instagram A post shared by TURNSTILE (@turnstileluvconnection) See Turnstile on their upcoming EU/UK tour: One team that could make sense as a trade partner for the Magic is the Los Angeles Clippers who are seeking a backup center for Ivica Zubac Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley suggests the Clippers could be interested in Goga Bitadze in a trade "When the Clippers had Zubac on the floor this season they outscored opponents by 9.4 points per 100 possessions (would have tied Boston for the second-best net rating they were outscored by 3.4 points per 100 possessions (would have ranked 24th)," Buckley wrote "They need to beef up their roster behind the big fella He's been squeezed for floor time by Orlando's crowded center rotation 3.4 assists and 2.5 blocks per 36 minutes this season it may be smart for the Magic to shop Bitadze They should only make a deal if they get good value for him "And since the Magic are so deep at that spot they should be willing to field offers for him," Buckley wrote "Assuming the price is relatively reasonable he'd make a ton of sense for this team." Could Orlando Magic Trade For Future Hall of Fame Guard? Orlando Magic Star Paolo Banchero Hints At Contract Extension? Orlando Magic Connected To $100 Million Guard In Trade Rumor To Help Paolo Banchero Jeremy Brener works as a contributing writer for Orlando Magic On SI. He can be reached at jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com or follow him on X @JeremyBrener. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” he wrote As he is a 34-count felon himself it’s strange that the president does not seem to believe in rehabilitation or second chances to write off this push to spruce up and fill up America’s most notorious prison-turned-national park as just bloviating or distraction But like the sharks that circle that island in the Bay the real danger of the idea lurks beneath the surface Trump in recent weeks has moved to undo years of criminal justice reform He is making changes that increase police power signaling a push to refill federal prisons and detention centers with Black and brown people and curbing the ability of those impacted to seek redress in courts None of that is about justice or safety — most violent crime rates are actually declining, despite what the president would like us to believe. It’s about empowering authorities to act without fear of consequence, and undoing the changes in culture and law set in motion by the killing of George Floyd. Multiple federal prosecutors in Los Angeles submitted resignations after U.S Attorney Bill Essayli offered a plea agreement to an L.A County sheriff’s deputy who had already been convicted of using excessive force The real-time results of those moves can already be seen in Los Angeles made the extraordinary move of offering a plea deal to a sheriff’s deputy — who had already been found guilty by a jury of using excessive force he is asking a judge to throw out a jury’s decision attorney would basically tell a jury to stuff it isn’t just arrogant It sends the message that if the people want to hold local authorities accountable for brutality the federal authorities will simply override them This is what Trump promised law enforcement during his campaign, and he is delivering. Do you remember in 2017 when, to cheers, he requested officers “don’t be too nice” when making arrests The case in question feels spot-on for Trump’s plea The incident that landed former Deputy Trevor Kirk in court stemmed from an arrest at a Lancaster grocery store in June 2023 Kirk grabbed a Black woman who matched the description of a suspect threw her face-first to the ground while she filmed him and pepper-sprayed her The woman was later treated for blunt force trauma to her head The case was investigated by the FBI, and in April, Kirk was convicted of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. but Kirk could face up to 10 years in prison Unless the judge accepts the dubious plea deal in which case Kirk would plead guilty to a misdemeanor which could result in probation rather than time behind bars It would also mean Kirk would not be prevented from working in law enforcement again An organization that that represents some sheriff’s deputies and which contacted Trump about the case, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Professional Assn., has long contended that the prosecution was “politically charged” and Kirk did nothing beyond the bounds of training or law. Many of his former fellow officers agree. But prosecutors saw it differently, arguing in a three-day trial that the deputy had gone too far. The jury agreed. The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Monday that it would also pay for travel assistance a prosecutor may move to undo a conviction if new evidence pops up post-trial But that does not appear to be the case here This really looks like a Trump-appointed prosecutor trying to undo the will of the people Kirk has the right to appeal his conviction it’s hard to see Essayli’s actions as anything other than political Three attorneys resigned from his office in the wake of his unusual request To drive home the point, also last week, Trump signed an executive order on policing that promised to “unleash” U.S law enforcement to “firmly police” criminal activity “When local leaders demonize law enforcement and impose legal and political handcuffs that make aggressively enforcing the law impossible crime thrives and innocent citizens and small business owners suffer,” Trump wrote That same executive order promised to provide new legal protections for law enforcement and even help cover costs if an officer is sued don’t write it off as a joke or another empty decree one year before the Civil Rights Act passed Reopening it is nostalgia for an America where power ran roughshod over true justice and police were an authority not to be questioned — or restrained L.A. Times Insights delivers AI-generated analysis on Voices content to offer all points of view Insights does not appear on any news articles The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content. Anita Chabria is a California columnist for the Los Angeles Times, based in Sacramento. Before joining The Times, she worked for the Sacramento Bee as a member of its statewide investigative team and previously covered criminal justice and City Hall. Follow her on Bluesky @anitachabria.bsky.social and on X @anitachabria. I grew up in the shopping centers of the San Gabriel Valley, their bright lights and maze-like parking lots serving as the colorful backdrop of my Chinese American childhood. My mother once chased an unruly grocery cart that held me in its front basket as it rolled through the parking lot of the Victorian-looking strip mall at the corner of San Gabriel Boulevard and New Avenue. I remember racing my younger sister up and down the stairs of the Atlantic Place Shopping Center while we waited for a table at my grandmother’s favorite dim sum restaurant. There were countless days spent as a child under the care of my uncle and grandmother, who brought us along to three, sometimes four strip malls in a day to find the various ingredients needed for that evening’s dinner, beauty products, the Hello Kitty pencil box I desperately needed and egg tarts. Food Where to eat on a ‘Brothers Sun’ food crawl through the San Gabriel Valley with the Netflix series’ star Justin Chien and writer Byron Wu ‘When it came to setting the show somewhere It was the same story for countless Asian Americans growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, where 13 of the 14 Asian-majority suburbs in Los Angeles County are located These strip malls were a way for residents to create a stronghold in their communities markets and other businesses that catered to an Asian clientele a gleaming display of resilience that often functions as its own ecosystem Diners dig in to a spread of salted egg crab and sautéed cabbage with skewers at Tang Dynasty a restaurant on the third floor of the Hilton Plaza in San Gabriel (Jennelle Fong / For The Times) My current favorite a multistory strip mall adjacent to the Hilton Hotel on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel a wooden trellis that lines the second and third floors of the complex and a fountain in three of the four corners of the center The parking lot upstairs is a war zone I tend to avoid because of its sharp turns and car horns the spaces are larger and the tempers milder The Hilton Plaza is a one-stop destination for soup dumplings nightlife and an outpost of one of L.A.’s most celebrated ramen restaurants The spicy chicken burger from Macho Burger in San Gabriel. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) If you’re curious about the wave of chicken burger restaurants that have opened in the San Gabriel Valley over the last few years It’s a chain with multiple locations in California with a chicken-centric menu of chicken burgers fried fish sandwiches and beef wraps that look a little like a Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme Its red and yellow color scheme is reminiscent of the most recognizable American fast food chains only the mascot is a cartoon character with buff arms and a sesame seed bun on top of its baseball cap There is no ground chicken patty involved in the sandwich a fried chicken thigh with a circumference consistently greater than its bun serves as the burger The bun is a soft potato roll and the chicken has a thick craggy crust heavily seasoned with black pepper A few bites in and the chicken burger craze starts to make sense Fish congee from Huo Zhou Wang in the Hilton Plaza. (Jennelle Fong / For The Times) It’s difficult to find congee that competes with the stuff my grandma Tina makes But the porridge at Huo Zhou Wang may be in a category all its own You can order the porridge studded with dried scallops silky nuggets of fish nestled into the rice There is no shortage of deep-fried delights to dip into your porridge with fried rolls like mini coconut-scented doughnuts and red bean-filled sesame balls And don’t overlook the complimentary side dishes marinated radish that arrives mere seconds after you reach the table Grilled fish with two flavors from Liu Roast Fish at Hilton Plaza in San Gabriel (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) The dish in front of every party is a raised platter of fish its body submerged in a bubbling liquid that sputters all over the table Faces are momentarily obscured behind extravagantly scented walls of steam The fish on my table is typically black cod with one fillet trembling in a “golden soup garlic,” and the other in “Lius homestyle.” The golden soup is savory and pungent with an astonishing amount of garlic humming with the flavor of mellow toasted chiles You scoop spoonfuls of the fish and sauce over white rice with cumin-rubbed mutton and spiced quail eggs you may want to eat by the dozen feature a sunshine yellow hue just below the wrapper The pork filling is infused with the salty making them about five times more satiating than your average dumpling A bowl of noodle soup from Potato Powder Love Noodle in the Hilton Plaza in San Gabriel (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times ) Each order of noodle soup arrives in its own pot The potato noodles that bob across the top are pale and round almost too slippery to catch between your chopsticks the noodles may be tangled with ribbons of beef and bok choy alongside a handful of cilantro The noodles themselves are unlike any other with a singular texture that’s at once chewy and bouncy There are fried mushroom skewers to round out the meal and each order of soup or rice bowl comes with a free beverage This is a tea shop where the most popular drink on the menu is a concoction called the Tiramisu milk tea It’s a robust black tea mixed with milk and topped with something called tiramisu puff cream this is the place to go for a brown sugar latte with boba after lunch or for a cocoa drink with cheese foam and crushed Oreos after dinner sautéed cabbage and skewers from Tang Dynasty one of the many restaurants at the Hilton Plaza in San Gabriel (Jennelle Fong / For The Times) I don’t know that I crave a single dish in Los Angeles more often than the stir-fried cabbage at Tang Dynasty It’s seasoned with just the right amount of what could be black vinegar as the main attraction or as a side dish intended to offset the meat skewers that are likely to accumulate on the table Tang Dynasty is a restaurant that feels like a peaceful respite during the day and a roaring party when the sun goes down with dishes and elaborately presented beverages that are meant to be shared the glass containers filled with pink peach wine osmanthus rice wine and whatever other flavored low A.B.V The skewers range from garlic vermicelli scallops to Taiwanese sausage And the salted egg yolk crab is a must order with the fried crab enveloped in a buttery salted egg sauce you can suck from every crevice Where to start your SGV strip mall journey Hilton Plaza, 227 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel. Jenn Harris is a columnist for the Food section and host of “The Bucket List” show. She has a BA in literary journalism from UC Irvine and an MA in journalism from USC. Follow her @Jenn_Harris_. The May 15th event will take over a Los Angeles landmark and is presented by hardcore authority, Sound and Fury. Parceling out a series of one-off performances, Turnstile continues to dial up the anticipation for their June release, Never Enough. Last week, the band not only issued the release of a new two-pack of tracks in the Hayley Williams-assisted "Seein' Stars" and the instant anthem "Birds", but also confirmed a benefit show in their hometown in Baltimore. Set for May 10th at Wyman Park Dell, the event will be free to the pubic and function as a fundraiser, collecting donations to support healthcare initiatives for the homeless in the greater Baltimore area. Now, the band have announced another underplay one-off, this time trekking back to the West Coast for a headlining event in Los Angeles at the Ukrainian Cultural Events Center. The show is being presented by Sound and Fury and set for May 15th and will feature Turnstile playing to a packed house - showcasing new music from Never Enough as well as essentials fro their catalog. The latest announcement precedes the band's upcoming Under the K Bridge album release performance set for June 5th in Brooklyn. Stacked with support from Teezo Touchdown, Boy Harsher and Big Boy, the event coincides with the release of the band's new album, Never Enough. See an updated list of international dates and festival appearances below. NEVER ENOUGH, the new record from Turnstile arrives June 6th via Roadrunner Records. Print Diamond Dave is back in the live business David Lee Roth performed his first public concert in more than five years Saturday night at the M3 music festival in Columbia, Md. — a 75-minute set of classics by his old band Van Halen, according to Rolling Stone in which he was accompanied by a band that included guitarist Al Estrada and four backing vocalists According to a set list published by Ultimate Classic Rock, Roth, 70, opened the concert with Van Halen’s “Panama” and went on to play “You Really Got Me,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Jamie’s Cryin’,” “Hot for Teacher” and other Van Halen hits before closing with the band’s Hot 100-topping “Jump.” Music the former Van Halen frontman tells the stories behind six of his songs Ultimate Classic Rock reported that Roth joked onstage that the show marked “the end of my first retirement” — a reference to his announcement in late 2021 that he was calling it quits due to unspecified health issues Ticketmaster listed more than a dozen upcoming shows by Roth starting July 22 at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles Roth’s most recent show before Saturday’s was a private 2023 corporate gig for Home Depot he opened for Kiss on a tour that ended in March 2020 amid widespread cancellations and postponements related to the COVID-19 pandemic The singer was scheduled to play a residency in Las Vegas in early 2022 but called off the shows before they happened Saturday’s performance came as Sammy Hagar — who replaced Roth as Van Halen’s frontman in 1985 — has been talking publicly about Van Halen, whose founding guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, died in 2020. Sammy Hagar and the Goo Goo Dolls all performed on Day 3 of the country music mega-festival in Indio Last month, ahead of Hagar’s appearance at Indio’s Stagecoach festival, Hagar told The Times that he and Eddie had discussed a reunion before the guitarist’s death and that Eddie had asked him not to talk about the plans with Eddie’s brother Hagar went on to tell Rolling Stone that he thinks Alex — who made no mention of Hagar in his 2024 memoir — is angry at him because “I’m out doing it … and he can’t.” After Stagecoach Hagar launched a Vegas residency at the Park MGM Van Halen’s final concert took place in October 2015 at the Hollywood Bowl — the second of two dates in the band’s Los Angeles hometown to wrap a tour featuring Roth on vocals and Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass. Mikael Wood is pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times. Print Showers and cooler temperatures continue to linger across Southern California a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard “This week will definitely be transitioning.” A high-pressure system is building across the region and by Wednesday and Thursday any chance of rain will be in the rearview mirror we’re actually looking at highs in the mid-80s to early 90s,” he said Those highs are expected to be 5 to 10 degrees above average for this time of year when highs are forecast to be several degrees below average In Los Angeles County, highs Monday and Tuesday are expected to be in the mid-60s to low 70s, Kittell said. On-and-off showers remain possible after the wet and cold weekend which brought significant rainfall and some snow across the Southland Rainfall amounts were highest in the Inland Empire, where up to 2 inches of rain fell in the foothills and valleys, according to the National Weather Service Cal State San Bernardino recorded 1.57 inches Yucaipa saw a little more than an inch and Riverside Airport got almost half an inch San Diego and Orange counties’ valleys saw a quarter-inch to three-quarters of an inch of rain. Amounts in most of L.A. County were less than half an inch, with Lancaster and Sandberg recording about a tenth of an inch Sunday, weather service data show Off and on again showers possible today over the #LosAngeles area. Roads might be slippery. #cawx #larain pic.twitter.com/2XCbXCt0e6 Any further rainfall Monday and Tuesday is going to be relatively minimal. “We still have a little bit of rain out there now, so those totals could go up a bit,” Kittell said, but it won’t be by much. “Everything’s pretty light as far as what we’re seeing,” Kittell said of the rain, expecting nothing more than a quarter of an inch. Grace Toohey is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times covering breaking news for the Fast Break Desk. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Sentinel and the Advocate in Baton Rouge. Toohey is a Maryland native and proud Terp. Gary Hall Jr., a 10-time Olympic champion, lost his Olympic medals earlier this year in the wildfires that raged throughout Southern California The fires burned down a house he was renting in Pacific Palisades But he recently received 10 replica medals from IOC President Thomas Bach to replace them during what Hall Jr called an "emotional" ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne it's hard for me to put words together in this time I would like to express my gratitude first and foremost," Hall said "I cannot thank the Olympic Movement enough for their support through this very difficult time "Their realizations through this process that outweigh the sense of loss and that is this word of solidarity and what it means: the value of friends outweighs the value of objects it cannot be lost and what is inside of us consumerism and you realize when you lose everything how little of it you truly need." won back-to-back gold medals in the men's 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens) Olympics He also won three golds as a member of Team USA's relay teams in 1996 (Atlanta) He also won three silvers and two bronzes during his Olympic career "It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse," Hall told the Sydney Morning Herald of the fires earlier this year showed two of his gold medals that had been fused together after melting in the fire Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff. Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor Insurance department investigates State Farm over Los Angeles fire survivors’ smoke damage claims as insurer awaits approval of rate increase This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters Rossana Valverde’s Pasadena home of 35 years is still standing after Los Angeles County’s devastating January fires — but more than 100 days later she and her husband still can’t move back in That’s because they’re waiting for their insurer “We were lucky our house made it through,” Valverde said The windowsills have a thick layer of black ash and soot.” After getting their home tested for toxins they discovered it contains high levels of arsenic repair and replacement costs for their hardwood floors appliances and more total upwards of $300,000 per some written estimates she shared with CalMatters as well as her own estimates of costs to replace things like their bed and upholstered furniture she and her husband have received about $40,000 from State Farm but are having trouble getting the insurance company’s adjuster to respond promptly to their requests for more She said the company’s adjuster — the second one they were assigned — hardly returns emails and phone calls from her or the public adjuster she’s enlisted for help “He pulls this ‘I didn’t receive it’ BS and then when I press him he suddenly finds it,” she said The Insurance Department routinely investigates insurance companies’ response to disasters which can lead to deeper examinations of their conduct and millions of dollars of additional payments State Farm is facing complaints as it happens to be seeking to raise its rates an average 17% for homeowners Lara sent a letter to State Farm Chief Executive Dan Krause last week asking for details about how the company is handling claims Lara asked for a copy of the insurer’s standards for reviewing investigating and processing smoke damage claims He also asked State Farm to commit to providing at least 75% of contents coverage without requiring an inventory from fire survivors — the company had raised what it pays out in advance contents coverage from 50% to 65% The commissioner set a May 9 deadline for a written response from the company Lara told CalMatters that he also spoke with Krause by phone about the letter He said he asked Krause if State Farm could maintain a visible physical presence in the area as customers continue to need help with claims and disaster recovery centers close “He’s going to look at keeping a presence in Eaton and Palisades,” Lara said When asked whether he planned to tie State Farm’s handling of claims to the company’s request to raise its rates the commissioner said: “I’m going to see what they respond Lara said he has to consider that State Farm is California’s biggest insurer and that it has millions of customers in the state “I want to be clear to the Legislature,” he said a Democrat representing Padadena who co-wrote the letter asking Lara to investigate State Farm and withhold a rate increase told CalMatters: “Everybody realizes we’re in a home insurance crisis (Nobody is) saying there should never be a rate increase.” But she said her constituents have been good customers who “feel like they’ve been left in the cold.” State Farm spokesperson Sevag Sarkissian did not answer questions about Lara’s letter to Krause or his requests of the company CalMatters also asked about policyholder complaints Sarkissian sent the following response by email: “We’re here to help our customers recover and we empathize with those who are rebuilding their lives We’ve received approximately 12,500 total claims related to the fires and have paid over $3.12 billion to our customers.” State Farm has said it expects to pay more than $7 billion in claims from the LA-area blazes It’s unclear how many State Farm customers are complaining about the company’s handling of claims The insurance department would not disclose exactly how many such complaints it has fielded with spokesperson Michael Soller saying only that the complaints are in line with State Farm’s market share in California Soller said the complaints are ongoing and that complaint data is posted annually But a group of LA-area fire survivors of the Eaton Fire has a website with at least a couple of hundred detailed — though unverified — complaints which Perez and other lawmakers cited in their letter to Lara the president of San Francisco-based United Policyholders a national nonprofit organization that advocates for insurance customers the same year the Oakland Hills fire exposed insurance-coverage problems for survivors Bach said smoke damage has been part of “a longstanding fight.” Smoke damage’s effects can seem less obvious than fire damage and appears to be one of the factors in LA-area fire survivors having trouble with their claims She said the more she finds out about the effects of smoke damage the more she thinks insurers need to better handle related claims Bach and her group now advise policyholders to make sure they get their homes tested by an industrial hygienist before cleaning adding that if their insurer won’t agree to pay for it at first they should get it done anyway and try to get compensated afterward “You have to figure out what you’re dealing with,” she said “There’s too much at stake: your family’s health A California appeals court ruling in February could affect insurance coverage of soot and ash claims It held that wildfire debris doesn’t necessarily mean direct physical loss or damage Bach was one of several advocates who recently submitted letters in an attempt to depublish — or strike from the record — the decision by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal. She said she doesn’t want insurance companies to be able to point to that court decision as a reason to deny smoke claims the California Supreme Court rejected the depublication requests by Bach and other consumer advocates They included Consumer Watchdog and Consumer Federation of America plus an association of public insurance adjusters and a couple of consumer attorneys groups The groups that opposed depublication included American Property Casualty Insurance Association and other insurance groups as well as the FAIR Plan — the fire insurance provider of last resort in California Just like State Farm has been accused of delaying claims and payments related to smoke damage, so has the FAIR Plan. LA fire victims sued the FAIR Plan, State Farm and other insurers over smoke damage claims earlier this month The FAIR Plan did not immediately return CalMatters’ requests for answers about its policies on smoke damage In March, Lara issued a bulletin regarding smoke damage claims. It said insurance companies should not take the February court ruling to mean they are off the hook for such claims. The commissioner told CalMatters last week that he is working with the governor’s office and public health officials on establishing statewide standards for smoke damage remediation — of cleaning up and stopping environmental damage. Those standards could help inform insurance policy requirements, but spokesperson Soller said the insurance department has no further details to share yet. A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the commissioner has requested technical support for the effort. In Altadena, Andrew Wessels is also dealing with delays from State Farm. He and his family are now on their seventh temporary home since the fire because the insurer has not approved their request for long-term housing. They have relied on friends, a hotel and three Airbnbs, for which they pay the rent out of pocket. They started submitting receipts to State Farm in January, he said. As of now, they have received about $25,000 of $40,000 in reimbursements they have requested. They have gotten their home tested and found high levels of lead and possibly chlorine gas exposure — not good for him, his wife and their two children, ages 20 months and 5. They have requested 100% of their Coverage B, or $355,650, because Wessels said their personal goods are a total loss. He asked the company for the money up front, without having to continue submitting receipts. Wessels said he and his family are “blocked from the ability to rebuild.” He joined other Eaton Fire survivors at a press conference last month, where several State Farm policyholders called on the insurance commissioner to reject the company’s request to raise its premiums on an emergency interim basis until it takes care of their claims. Another survivor, Gail Jamentz, spoke with CalMatters on April 25, sounding discouraged because she said she hadn’t heard from State Farm since February. “I submitted my claim status Jan. 11,” she said. “I can’t go to FEMA because I don’t have a claim status.” Photos the survivors group shared with the media show her home is standing but badly burned, with its roof caved in. She needed State Farm to declare it a total loss. She called the inside of her home “toxic soup.” “There’s no roof, it’s been raining, it’s all mush inside,” Jamentz said. Thursday, she told the Eaton Fire survivors group on Discord that State Farm had finally agreed to let her claim her home as a total loss. “I have to give you all credit in helping expedite this process these last few weeks as I really think our press conference helped move things along,” Jamentz wrote. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. A worker stands atop a home being rebuilt after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Construction begins on a property damaged by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Construction begins in the Palisades Fire devastation zone in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Kathryn Frazier visits her fire-damaged property, which she plans to rebuild, in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) A home is rebuilt in the Palisades Fire damage zone in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Cal/OSHA workers remove hazardous materials from a home destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Workers rebuild a property destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Contractors rebuild a home destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Pacific Palisades property owner DeAnn Heline stands in front of her home being rebuilt after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Crews remove debris from a home destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes A sign reads “Altadena is not for sale” in front of a fire-damaged property in Altadena, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Construction workers install new roofing in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Tim Vordtriede looks through the remains of his property, which was destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Tim Vordtriede looks at the remains of his property, which was destroyed the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Kathryn Frazier looks at property, which was destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Tim Vordtriede holds white roses at the gate of his property, which was destroyed the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly four months after wildfires reduced thousands of Los Angeles-area homes to rubble and ash, some residents are starting to rebuild. Hundreds of homeowners have sought city or county approval for new home designs and other permits to eventually rebuild or repair damaged homes, though few have gotten the green light to break ground. Some 17,000 homes, businesses and other structures burned to the ground in the Jan. 7 fires. It’s uncertain how much will be rebuilt. Facing overwhelming loss and the chaos that comes with sudden displacement, those looking to rebuild must navigate an often confusing and time-consuming process. In most cases, it will take years for them to rebuild. “Putting this in context of other disasters, the speed is actually probably faster than expected,” said Sara McTarnaghan, a researcher at the Urban Institute who studied the aftermath of urban wildfires in recent years in Colorado, Hawaii and California. Kathryn Frazier, a music publicist and life coach, had lived in her four-bedroom, three-bath house in Altadena for 10 years and raised her two children there. After her home burned to the ground, she was in shock and questioned whether it made sense to come back. But after conversations with neighbors, she became determined to rebuild. “I’m not leaving,” Frazier said. “That’s what kept coming up for everybody, and the more we all talked to each other the more we were all like ‘hell yes.’” She is making progress. Frazier hired a crew to clear the property of debris and she is nearly through the first phase of permitting, which involves getting county review and approval for her new home’s design. The next phase before receiving approval to begin construction includes reviews of electrical, plumbing and other aspects of the design. Frazier, 55, is rebuilding her home without major changes to its size or location in order to qualify for an expedited building permit approval process. “We are hoping to be building by June or July, latest,” she said. “I’ve been told that maybe by February or March of 2026 we could be back in our home.” “I’m doing things like scouring Home Depot, finding slate tiles that look modern and beautiful, but they’re actually really cheap,” she said. DeAnn Heline, a TV showrunner, knows what it’s like to build her dream house from the ground up. She waited more than two years for construction to be completed on the five-bedroom, eight-bath home with ocean views. Once the project was done, her husband vowed to never build another house. The family lived there for six years before it was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. “It was ash. There was nothing,” Heline said. The couple, who have two daughters, have lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years. They couldn’t imagine giving up and not rebuilding. “Not only are we building another house, we’re building the exact same house again,” Heline said, noting the new home will have some upgrades including fire-resistant materials and sprinklers for the exterior of the house. Recently, they cleared debris from the land where the house once stood, a particularly onerous task because the home featured a large basement into which much of the structure collapsed as it burned. Heline isn’t sure when construction will begin, but figures it could be two or three years. She wonders, however, what the neighborhood will look like by then. “What are you going back to? You’re going back to a moonscape? Are you there and no one else is on your block, or are you going back to a construction zone for many more years?” she said. The Eaton wildfire destroyed many of the more than 270 historic Janes Cottages in Altadena, including the three-bedroom home Tim Vordtriede shared with his wife and two young children. The family had only lived in the roughly 100-year-old house for three years. “We just loved the storybook cottage and the vibe, and of course the grander vibe of Altadena,” he said. “It was perfect.” Vordtriede, 44, has decided to rebuild, but not just yet. For now, he is using his experience as a construction project manager to help others who also lost their homes. He co-founded Altadena Collective, a group providing assistance with home designs and guidance on how to navigate the complex and lengthy approval process for rebuilding permits. Of the roughly two dozen clients that the group is serving, at reduced cost, three are in the early stages of the permitting process. Even after projects reach shovel-ready status, homeowners will have to wait perhaps more than a year before they can move in, he said. “My first statement when anyone walks in the door is: We’re not here to help you design your dream home,” Vordtriede said. “This isn’t a dream time. This is a nightmare, and our job is to get you out of the nightmare as soon as possible.” Around 6 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2023, a white Ford Escape pulled out of rush hour traffic on Figueroa Street, stopping along the curb outside Fixins Soul Kitchen. A man stepped out of the Ford, wearing a dark jogging suit with white trim, white sneakers and a baseball cap with the words “No F— Given” on the front. A black balaclava covered his face as he entered the restaurant. L.A. Live’s security cameras captured what happened next: In front of about 20 diners and employees, he walked up behind a man eating alone at the bar, aimed a pistol with two hands and shot him in the back of the head. At a court hearing Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Department detectives revealed how they identified the alleged shooter and a second man accused of coordinating what police called a “very well-orchestrated execution.” Detectives testified that surveillance footage, license plate readers and an analysis of cellphone and car location data helped solve the case — but only partially. The alleged assassins behind several recent murder-for-hire cases in Los Angeles were sloppy, authorities say, leaving behind a trail of evidence that links the killings to Chicago gang disputes. It remains a mystery why the two defendants, alleged gang members with prior convictions for violent crimes, would target Sidney Barrett Morris, who until shortly before his death held a high-level post at Cal State Northridge. In search of a motive, detectives got a search warrant for the victim’s CSUN email account, court records show. Morris’ colleagues told detectives he’d been investigating players on the school’s men’s basketball team who’d been accused of sexual misconduct and harassment. His co-workers theorized the investigation had something to do with his homicide. The tip went nowhere, the lead detective told The Times. A review of public records related to Morris, 43, revealed no obvious signs of a life in distress. No rancorous divorces or business disputes, restraining orders or recent financial trouble — nothing connecting him to the two men accused of his murder. “I’ve been screaming to the D.A. myself: ‘What is the motive?’” Theida Salazar, a lawyer representing one of the suspects, said in an interview. “My client’s got no ties to this guy.” Morris’ killer could have hardly picked a more conspicuous place to commit murder. L.A. Live is bristling with cameras. Armed with a clear shot of the getaway car’s license plate, authorities found the Ford Escape two days later, set ablaze on the side of a road in Palmdale. The Hertz rental had burned down to its frame, precluding the collection of DNA evidence, Det. Joshua Byers of the LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division testified at the hearing Wednesday. Some police officials are pushing back after a wealthy community gifted the department scores of controversial, high-tech cameras that scan license plates. Police license plate readers showed the Ford was in South Los Angeles the morning that Morris was killed, Byers wrote in a search warrant affidavit reviewed by The Times. Detectives obtained footage from that morning, which showed a woman park the Ford outside a building on 2nd Avenue before entering one of the units. The unit was rented by a man named Santana Jermaine Kelly, Byers wrote. Kelly, then 49, had been released from prison in 2019. According to a 2001 probation report reviewed by The Times, the Baldwin Village native was a longtime member of the Rollin’ 40s gang nicknamed “Ice Man.” Santana Kelly, shown in a 2018 photograph, is charged with orchestrating the murder of Sidney Barrett Morris. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) First arrested at 16 for carjacking a woman, Kelly went in and out of the California Youth Authority and state prison until 2000, when he was charged with following Asian patrons of the Hollywood Park Casino to their homes and robbing them, the report said. After serving 19 years of a potential life sentence for fleeing police, Kelly was released, court records show. The morning that Morris was killed, Byers wrote, Kelly was seen in the surveillance footage with two distinctive hats. He wore the baseball cap later seen on the shooter, the detective wrote. He was also holding a wide-brimmed straw hat that detectives saw on the footage from L.A. Live, obscuring the face of the getaway driver. At the South L.A. building, detectives also caught a glimpse of the killer’s face, Byers testified. A man entered Kelly’s unit wearing the same clothing as the shooter. “Mask, jacket, pants, shoes — everything is identical,” Byers testified. Phillip Clark, shown here in 2015, is charged with shooting Sidney Barrett Morris as he ate dinner at Fixins Soul Kitchen on Nov. 28, 2023. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) At L.A. Live, the killer was careful to cover his face. But in South L.A., he pulled down his balaclava, Byers testified. Detectives identified him as Phillip Pasco Clark, then 33, a convicted robber and burglar. Arrested on suspicion of Morris’ murder on March 22, 2024, Clark called a woman from jail. “I ain’t never shot nobody,” he declared in the recorded call, which was played in court. Nor, he said, had he ever been to L.A. Live. Clark said he told the detectives that, as a member of the Carver Park Compton Crips, he didn’t get along with the “40s,” a reference to Kelly’s gang. Federal prosecutors say the fearsome reputation of the Rollin’ 60s gang allowed Eugene “Big U” Henley to intimidate businesses and people for decades. The woman, furious, told Clark he shouldn’t have said anything. “Stop talking!” she yelled. “I don’t shoot people,” Clark said. “I’m a robber. I love you.” Detectives arrested Kelly the same day at his Palmdale home, about 10 miles from where the getaway car was torched, Det. Martin Mojarro testified. Inside his black Dodge Durango, detectives found the baseball cap from the video, Byers said. Searching through Kelly’s phone, Mojarro testified, he found two videos time-stamped a month before Morris was killed. The detective recognized where they were filmed: an alley behind the Westchester apartment complex where Morris lived. “This is the place,” Kelly said as he drove around the building, according to Mojarro. “Hmmm. It’s kind of secure. There’s red cameras. So he’s tight-knit. As you can see, there’s cameras everywhere.” The second video showed a parking garage beneath Morris’ building. “I think it’d be better to get him at the other location,” Kelly said, according to Mojarro. Kelly and Clark have both maintained their innocence. The getaway driver, whose face was covered by the straw hat, remains unidentified, according to Byers’ affidavit. Although detectives made arrests within four months of Morris’ death, they were still no closer to knowing the motive. Morris went through financial problems in the past. He declared bankruptcy in 2013, stating in a petition that his $76,000-a-year salary as human resources administrator at the University of San Diego couldn’t cover the $224,000 he owed in student debt, unpaid taxes and personal loans. But Morris’ fortunes had seemingly improved by 2019, when he was hired as CSUN’s director of equity and compliance with a $150,000 salary, according to school records reviewed by The Times. By 2023, his annual pay had risen to $185,000. He had also opened a restaurant, B-You, about three blocks from L.A. Live. Some of Morris’ colleagues at CSUN theorized his death was connected to his work. Acting on their tips, Byers in April 2024 wrote a search warrant for his CSUN email account. The powerful prison syndicate known as the Aryan Brotherhood has moved to expand its reach, testimony and court records show, relying on gang called Public Enemy Number 1, for brutal killings, kidnappings, and drug deals on the streets of Southern California. Before his death, Morris was investigating the CSUN men’s basketball team, Byers wrote in a search warrant affidavit. According to university records reviewed by The Times, a female student accused a basketball player of sexual assault and two other players of retaliation after she reported it in July 2023. Morris also ran a consulting business to provide Title IX compliance training. When he hired his own firm to advise the school at a cost of $12,000, it led some CSUN officials to accuse him of self-dealing, Byers wrote in the affidavit. Morris resigned three weeks before his death. Byers wanted to read Morris’ emails. The notes may “provide insight into the investigations conducted by the victim,” he wrote in his affidavit, as well as reveal “any concerns, threats or fears the victim may have had.” But after reviewing the emails, Byers told The Times, he did not find evidence to connect Morris’ death to his work at the university. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Chung, who is prosecuting Kelly and Clark, said he still does not know the motive for Morris’ homicide. Carmen Ramos Chandler, a spokeswoman for CSUN, said university officials have “no reason to believe that his death is related to his work.” The school will continue to cooperate with the LAPD, she said, “to bring the perpetrators to justice.” The preliminary hearing for Clark and Kelly will continue May 22. Matthew Ormseth is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2018, he covered city news and state politics at the Hartford Courant. Libor Jany covers the Los Angeles Police Department. Before joining the Los Angeles Times in 2022, he covered public safety for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. A St. Paul, Minn., native, Jany studied communications at Mississippi State University. Print At night Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen becomes Issa Rae’s pizzeriaWine shop Buvons in Long Beach expandsJaime Taqueria opens from a “Top Chef” Jackson Kalb and some of the country’s favorite doughnuts take over a busy L.A A new pizzeria from entertainment multihyphenate Issa Rae and her business partners is set to debut this weekend bringing funk-inspired pizza to their popular cafe the downtown space will continue as Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen a pizza joint that specializes in a kind of California-meets-Neapolitan style the crust leopard-spotted from a wood-fired brick oven and the nighttime is for the dough,” said co-owner Ajay Relan Relan and business partner Yonnie Hagos launched Hilltop via their hospitality group, GVO, and quickly partnered with the “Insecure” actor and producer, whose mission of creating inclusive spaces aligned with theirs. In the years since, the trio launched another four Hilltop locations, downtown rooftop bar Lost and a sleek restaurant, bar and jazz club called Somerville “We could not think of a better partner and ambassador for our mission,” said Relan who added that Rae is “very involved” in the restaurants’ operations and menu planning the menu calls for almond wood sourced from Northern California which is used at the wood-fired grill — for dishes such as chicken branzino and steak — as well as in the pizza oven Chef Geter Atienza (previously of Broken Spanish the Fig) brushes his crust with garlic oil and sprinkles it with Parmesan and tops the pizzas with pepperoni local honey and Fresno chiles; truffled fondue and farmers market cauliflower; bacon Manila clams and caramelized onions; and more Funk can be found in the restaurant’s flavor — and in the air and on the walls “All of GVO’s venues have a very music-first vibe curation but funk is a genre that we had always enjoyed the most,” Relan said and [we’re] marrying our love for pizza with the free and forward era of the ’70s and the music that came along with it.” the playlist will all take their inspiration from funk Sly and the Family Stone and other classics Steen Bojsen Moller (also of Lost and Somerville) oversees the full bar which focuses on spritzes — some of which are named for funk musicians their albums and the movements they started but due to its popularity it became permanent The 6,000-square-foot location accommodates nearly 200 In the evenings the trio previously used the open kitchen and ample space for catering and events but knew they wanted to open a full restaurant eventually Hagos and Relan hope to serve the downtown community with a series of experiences: coffee by day at Hilltop pizza and spritzes by evening at Downtown Dough a nightcap and a taco at Lost’s nearby rooftop — and more projects for Rae and GVO are already in the works Downtown Dough launches May 3, and will open Wednesday to Sunday from 6 to 11 p.m. 718 S. Hill St., Los Angeles, instagram.com/downtowndoughco Carrots four ways (roasted, puréed, pickled and crisped) at Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant in Long Beach. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) Buvons Wine Bar + RestaurantOne of the best wine shops in Long Beach recently expanded next door with a restaurant and wine bar. Last year, Alicia Kemper closed her cafe, Mangette which she co-owned and sat next to her popular natural-wine shop she’s reimagining the Mangette space as an evening-only restaurant and wine bar that works in tandem with the bottle shop Smoked-eel carbonara at Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant offers a more extensive food menu than what was found at Mangette and in Buvons (which offers by-the-glass pours and snacks) It draws on weekly farmers market bounty and plays off the bottle shop’s lengthy wine offerings Both the food and wine menus rotate each month Guests might find smoked-eel carbonara with dashi and a confit egg; duck confit with leek chutney; or house-made terrine Sometimes the kitchen will be helmed by a guest chef; May features a menu by Côme Richard Plates such as charcuterie and cheese boards can still be found in the bottle shop alongside wines by the glass but more prepared dishes can only be found in the new wine bar and restaurant The new wine bar and restaurant also features more seating areas than were available in Mangette and hosts classes and events such as a monthly pasta workshop Buvons Wine Bar is open Wednesday to Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m., while the adjacent bottle shop’s hours are now Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. 1145 and 1147 Loma Ave., Long Beach, (562) 342-6557, buvonswine.com A “Top Chef” contestant with a range of Italian restaurants is branching out with his first taqueria (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) Via his hospitality group Memento Mori chef Jackson Kalb operates Ospi in Venice and Brentwood Jame Enoteca and John Thomas Bar in El Segundo and the temporarily closed Jemma Pizzeria in the Palisades his newest restaurant and first foray into tacos “This isn’t supposed to be inspired by any one regionality,” Kalb said telling The Times that he lives in the area and wanted to open a cantina for the neighborhood He tapped executive chef Marco Arreguin (Puesto and together they’re serving large-format plates such as al pastor-inspired pork shank under pineapple glaze; starters such as guacamole topped with scallion and black garlic chile crunch; sides like brown-butter esquites; and tacos piled with beef cheek quesabirria citrus-achiote chicken and mojo shrimp gobernador Jaime Taqueria is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with brunch slated for the future. 450 Main St., El Segundo, (310) 648-8231, jaimetaqueria.com Jaime Taqueria’s citrus-achiote chicken taco (front) and filet mignon taco (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) Voodoo DoughnutOne of the country’s most famous doughnut chains just launched a bright-pink outpost at the corner of Melrose and La Brea Voodoo Doughnuts — which also operates a smaller location in Studio City’s Universal CityWalk — can now be found slinging its signature bacon-topped maple bars along with classics The new Fairfax-neighborhood Voodoo Doughnut is open nearly 24 hours a day and features a larger menu than the shop in CityWalk A beachy location just under the famous Venice sign is also in the works Melrose Avenue’s Voodoo Doughnut is open daily from 6 a.m 7101 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 782-7666, voodoodoughnut.com Stephanie Breijo is a reporter for the Food section and the author of its weekly news column. Previously, she served as the restaurants and bars editor for Time Out Los Angeles, and prior to that, the award-winning food editor of Richmond magazine in Richmond, Va. Born and primarily raised in Los Angeles, she believes L.A. to be the finest food city in the country and might be biased on that count but doesn’t believe she’s wrong. Scouts can pretend like they know; however, no one ever really knows how a player will turn out after being drafted Greats in college have become duds at the next level many times However, Zak Keefer of The Athletic believes the Chargers didn't just crush the draft but may have had the best draft of any team RELATED: Chargers linked to intriguing WR trade with Cowboys Keefer has the Chargers as one of his winners from the 2025 draft The Chargers surprised fans with their first round selection of running back Omarion Hampton it wasn't as shocking as first believed Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has always wanted his offenses to establish the run game and adding Hampton to a backfield with Najee Harris will do just that RELATED: Chargers make the obvious contract choice on Zion Johnson and what it means The Chargers also added two receivers in Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith from the SEC The franchise also added the SEC Defensive Player of the Year to the roster after selecting Kyle Kennard in the fourth round the Chargers added four players from the SEC It's easy to see that Harbaugh and the front office wanted to get more physical Rookie camp starts for the Chargers on May 9th North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images— Enjoy free coverage of the Chargers from Los Angeles Chargers on SI — Chargers reveal they almost traded up during 2025 NFL Draft List of past SEC DPOTY is great sign for Chargers rookie Jim Harbaugh's latest Justin Herbert quote has arrived and it's outrageous Analyst tabs Day 2 selection as Chargers best-value pick in 2025 NFL draft Chargers expect sophomore leap from underrated name after he packs on 20-plus pounds TYLER REEDTyler is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he majored in communications. Aside from his roles with the Cowboys and Chargers on SI, Tyler also covers sports and pop culture for The Big Lead. The study of social work got its start at UCLA in 1947 the Department of Social Welfare remains committed to enhancing human well-being and promoting social and economic justice for disadvantaged populations Throughout the 2022-23 academic year, we invite you to join UCLA Luskin Social Welfare at a series of events marking three-quarters-of-a-century of making a difference in Los Angeles and cities around the world The UCLA Department of Social Welfare’s research and teaching guide policy makers shape practice and programs in such areas as welfare UCLA Social Welfare faculty members are committed to placing their knowledge at the service of communities and empowering the disadvantaged and the vulnerable The Master of Social Welfare is a two-year period of full-time study program (6 quarters) merging theory and research with generalist and specialized practicums of practice Our curriculum is comprised of coursework and two separate year-long field placement components with social work agencies that allows our students to actualize what they are learning in the classroom The Ph.D. in Social Welfare is a national leader in educating the next generation of social welfare scholars Whether your interest is in service delivery or scholarly research you will design your own advanced education aimed at pursuing your own intellectual interests a three-year period part-time program (8 quarters or 9 quarters with Pupil Personnel Services Credential) is available as an option for students interested in the Child and Family Well-Being area of concentration Students in this program take classes in the mornings and work with their practicum agencies to complete their required internship hours over the course of their academic program Please note that this is not an evening and weekend program; classes and an internship will be scheduled during regular business hours Concurrent Degree Programs include four joint graduate degrees: Social Welfare MSW / Asian American Studies MA; Social Welfare MSW / Law JD; Social Welfare MSW/Public Health MPH and Social Welfare MSW / Public Policy MPP International Study Opportunities include summer programs international/comparative planning workshops and international exchange agreements Visitor Programs attract and highlight visiting scholars international professionals and trend-setting work by students at other institutions International related courses are also available to our students Certificates, Licensure and Training Programs Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) Licensure Pupil Personnel Services Credential (PPSC) As a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education our MSW program measures and reports student learning outcomes Click the link below for the most recent data Form AS M5.0.1(d): Student Achievement Assessment Summary She’s the youngest mayor to serve as the first Indigenous and openly LGBTQIA+ mayor As Los Angeles grapples with the impact of catastrophic fires experts in public affairs provide context and insight Five projects will explore transportation challenges and community engagement in disaster recovery Latoya Small is one of several recent additions to the outstanding Social Welfare faculty. Find out more about Small and her research in a recent profile by the Center for HIV Identification Choose between three advanced areas of concentration: Child and Family Well-Being Health and Mental Health across the Life Span our students are consistently honored for their work UCLA’s Department of Social Welfare is committed to enhancing human well-being and promoting social and economic justice for disadvantaged populations Social Welfare is the oldest and largest in terms of both student enrollment and number of faculty As professionals and scholars at a great public research university the faculty has a responsibility to train the next generation of practitioners and leaders for the social work profession and to advance the knowledge base for social work policy and practice in California and around the world Graduates assume leadership roles in social work practice and scholarship and mental health needs of diverse populations UCLA is committed to increasing diversity in graduate education We embrace the principles of diversity and inclusion to understand and respect differences in cultures and customs Our graduate population reflects broad intellectual interests and includes students from many cultures and backgrounds We feel it crucial to continue to increase the diversity of our graduate student population so the university community more accurately reflects the demographics of California and the nation UCLA offers action-oriented study in arguably the most dynamic region in the world UCLA Graduate Division awards numerous fellowships supporting diversity Luskin School-wide fellowships support our commitment to social justice The department offers merit-based fellowships to top applicants regardless of citizenship status All eligible Social Welfare students receive a need-based fellowship award students typically receive tuition and fees Students in our programs come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are attracted to the diversity and vitality of Los Angeles from across the country and around the world They represent a broad range of undergraduate degrees including psychology The programs attract individuals with a strong interest in public service who share a passion for assisting those in need Our program reflects the commitment to making a difference that is common among social workers nationwide and reflected in recent public service announcements from the National Association of Social Workers students who are accepted into UCLA’s program have a minimum of 1-2 years of work and/or volunteer experience Most students live off campus and spend a significant percentage of their time in practicum placements The Department of Social Welfare and the students themselves have compiled a list of department and university resources to aid them in their studies here at UCLA Naomi Klein will deliver the 3rd Annual Distinguished Lecture in Ideas and Organizing Join us on May 20th for a Luskin Lecture featuring LGBTQ+ rights leader Tony Hoang who will share the high points of the fight for full lived equality and identify how to defend against efforts to dismantle the progress 3250 Public Affairs Building - Box 951656Los Angeles The statements on this page represent the views of people affiliated with the Luskin School of Public Affairs and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of California Posts and comments by individuals at UCLA on social media channels may not reflect the opinions or policies of UCLA, the University of California or the Luskin School, nor its benefactors and academic partners. The 22-year-old film school graduate, who works as a receptionist at the Ross Stores buying office in downtown Los Angeles, said that for most of those applications, she never heard back — not even a rejection. When she did land follow-up interviews, she was almost always ghosted afterward. “I knew that I wouldn’t be a famous screenwriter or anything straight out of college,” said Hernandez, who graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2024. But she thought she’d at least be qualified for an entry-level film industry job. “It shouldn’t be this hard,” she kept thinking. Movies Hollywood’s crew members reflect on a 2024 marked by production slowdowns mental health struggles and sacrifices as they brace for a fragile recovery Studios scrambling to cut costs amid the turbulence were quick to slash low-level positions that historically got rookies in the door. “You almost feel cursed,” said Ryan Gimeson, who graduated from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in 2023, in the early days of the writers’ strike. And while screenwriting has always been a competitive field, industry veterans attested that the conditions have rarely ever been harsher for young writers. “In the past 40 years of doing this, this is the most disruptive I’ve ever seen it,” said Tom Nunan, founder of Bull’s Eye Entertainment and a lecturer in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. As reality TV takes a hit amid a slowdown in Hollywood production crew members lament the loss of jobs to “runaway production,” cutbacks and consolidation The landscape is especially dry in television writing, according to a jobs report released last month by the Writers Guild of America. TV writing roles dropped 42% in the 2023-2024 season that coincided with the strikes, the report said. About a third of those cuts were to lower-level appointments. It’s a far cry from the TV business Liz Alper broke into 15 years ago. Alper, an L.A.-based writer-producer and co-founder of the fair worker treatment movement #PayUpHollywood, came up in the early 2010s, when opportunities in scripted television were still plentiful. The CW, for instance, was putting out three original one-hour shows a night, or about 18 to 21 original pieces of programming a week, Alper said. That translated to anywhere between 100 and 200 staff writer slots. The TV station group aims to make the network more compatible with its local newscasts the rise of streaming has essentially done the opposite — poaching cable subscribers edging out episodic programming with bingeable on-demand series and cutting writing jobs in the process The job scarcity has driven those in entry-level positions to stay there longer than they used to. A 2021 #PayUpHollywood survey found that most support staffers were in their late twenties, several years older than they were on average a decade ago. Without those employees moving up and creating vacancies, recent graduates have nowhere to come in. “I think if you have a job, it feels like you’ve got one of the lifeboats on the Titanic, and you’re not willing to give up the seat,” Alper said. After strikes by actors and writers last year Los Angeles’ entertainment economy is struggling to stage a comeback as production activity employment and box office revenue are down The entertainment job market has also suffered from the ongoing exodus of productions from California where costs are high and tax incentives are low Meanwhile, young creatives are questioning whether L.A. is the place to launch their careers. In 2024, soundstage occupancy levels decreased to 63%, down from 69% the year before. The number of on-stage shoot days for 2023 also declined, according to a new report. Peter Gerard. (Robert Hanashiro / For The Times) Peter Gerard, 24, moved to L.A. from Maryland two years ago to pursue TV writing. After graduating with a data science degree from the University of Maryland, he sensed it was his last chance to chase his dream. Within weeks of arriving in L.A. in April 2023, he landed a handful of job interviews and even felt hopeful about a few. “I came moments before disaster, and I had no idea,” he said. In the days before the Writers Guild of America called on members to strike, the creators of hit shows, including ‘Shrinking,’ ‘The Last of Us’ and more, gathered to discuss the state of the industry. During the slowdown, Gerard filled his time by working on independent films, attending writing classes and building his portfolio. He was fine without a full-time gig, he said, figuring L.A. would work its magic on him eventually. Such “cosmic choreography” touched writer-producer Jill Goldsmith nearly 30 years ago, she said, when she left her job as a public defender in Chicago to pursue TV writing. After seven trying months in L.A., her luck turned when she met “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch in line at a Santa Monica chocolate shop. Goldsmith sent him a script, the show bought it and she got her first credit in 1998. Goldsmith, a lecturer in the UCLA MFA program in the School of Theater, Film and Television, said she tells her students such opportunities only come when they meet fate halfway. But hearing veteran writers mourn their lost jobs and L.A.’s bygone glory led Gerard to question his own bid for success. “I felt sorry for them, but it also made me realize, like, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people who want to do this, and a lot of them are much further along than me, with nothing to show for it,’” he said. Film and TV writers of varying experience levels are struggling to find work after the Hollywood strikes amid an ongoing industry contraction. Lore Olivera. (Robert Hanashiro / For The Times) As the youngest staff writer in her current writers’ room, Lore V. Olivera, 26, has gotten used to her senior counterparts waxing nostalgic about the “good old times.” “I think they’re definitely romanticizing a bit,” she said, “but there is some truth in there.” Olivera landed her first staff writer job in 2023, a year after graduating from Stanford University. The process was straightforward: her reps cold-emailed her samples to a showrunner, he liked them, she interviewed and got the job. But Olivera said such success stories are rare. “I was ridiculously lucky,” she said. Still, getting staffed is no finish line, she added, just a 20-week pause on the panic of finding the next gig. What does a TV writer do? How do you become one? How do you move up? How much money can you make? The L.A. Times is explaining the entertainment industry — here’s what you need to know about being a TV writer. Olivera is also the only staff writer in her current room, with all her colleagues holding higher titles like editor or producer. It’s a natural consequence, she said, of showrunners facing pressure to fill limited positions with heavy-hitters already proven capable of creating hits. Olivera said she knows not every 26-year-old was getting hired a few decades ago, but even her elder peers agreed the industry has lost a former air of possibility. “It’s definitely a slap in the face when you get here and you’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a few miserable years, and then I might not even make it,’” Olivera said. “Not even because I’m good or bad... but just because the industry is so dead and so afraid of taking chances.’” a wondrous mythology has emerged about Los Angeles in cultural circles who graduated from Chapman’s Dodge college in 2023 But the industry hasn’t given them anywhere to put it Instead, studios are pouring money into remakes, the 24-year old said, even as consumers have displayed their appetite for original material. “I hope that we move into an era of film where it’s new, fresh ideas and new perspectives and having an open mind to the voice of our generation,” Gillams said. Until then, the filmmaker said she’ll continue to create work for herself. During the strikes, Gillams and a production team with no budget made the short film “Sincero,” which won the audience award for short documentary at the 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival. As she continues the search for a distributor for the doc, she already has another project in the works. Director Joe Burke and longtime collaborator Oliver Cooper make microbudget indies. Their new one, ‘Burt,’ doesn’t have a distributor yet, just tons of heart. Weary from the “black hole” of job applications, Hernandez said she, too, is focused on bringing her own work to life. In an ideal world, that leads to a film festival or two, maybe even agency representation. But mostly, what drives her is pride in the work itself. “If I’m successful in my mind,” said Hernandez, “I’m content with that.” tax cuts and deregulation — promising the “America First” agenda would be “the blueprint for a more abundant world.” in a brief speech Monday that opened the Milken Institute Global Conference said all three elements of the policy must be taken together in order to be understood “They are interlocking parts of an engine designed to drive long-term investment in the American economy,” he said at the Beverly Hilton “Tariffs are engineered to encourage companies like yours to invest directly in the United States not only because we have the most productive workforce in the world but because we will soon have the most favorable tax and regulatory environment as well,” he said Bessent telegraphed his speech with an opinion piece Sunday in the Wall Street Journal that made the same points In a conversation with the institute’s chairman and founder he said one key goal was regulatory reform that would “make everyone look more like Texas” while reducing the government’s borrowing so the deficit decreases by about 1% per year and falls to its long-term average of 3.1% of gross national product Bessent’s appearance was not without drama. The New York Post reported that Trump envoy Ric Grenell organized a soiree at the nearby five-star Peninsula Beverly Hills on Sunday afternoon featuring Bessent that directly competed with a conference reception hosted by hedge fund mogul Ken Griffin The billionaire founder and chief executive of Citadel Griffin has been highly critical of the tariffs and will help close the conference with a conversation late Wednesday afternoon with Milken This is the 28th annual global conference hosted by the Santa Monica think tank which seeks to employ capitalist models in solving the world’s economic 1,000 speakers and some 4,000 participants paying thousands for tickets “While there’s no shortage of those challenges we actually have the resources and technology to address these issues what’s often missing is finding a common will to do so,” said Milken Chief Executive Richard Ditizio “How else to explain that in a world that has created some $500 trillion in wealth one in 11 people on the planet live on under $2 a day As Trump’s aggressive tariffs rattle business owners and shake the foundation of American importing the men and women who work on the ground at the country’s busiest port are feeling the effects too Coming four months after the devastating Los Angeles County fires the event will feature a Wednesday afternoon panel with L.A “Rising Strong: Los Angeles’ Path to Recovery.” Panel members include Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Snap Inc co-founder and Chief Executive Evan Spiegel Bessent is not the only Trump administration official attending the conference. Others include Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who is leading a controversial effort to dismantle the Education Department Among the Wall Street notables onstage will be Citigroup Chief Executive Jane Fraser; Henry Kravis and George Roberts, co-founders of private equity pioneer KKR; David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of Carlyle Group; and hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman, a leading Trump backer who has called for a trade deal with China Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang will have a conversation with Milken company makes chips critical for artificial intelligence computing Bessent said in his remarks that it is crucial the country lead in artificial intelligence and quantum computing or “everything else doesn’t matter.” Huang’s panel is one of a number on the topic. On Sunday, during an invite-only session that preceded the conference’s formal kickoff, Elon Musk called the U.S government inefficient and said artificial intelligence should be used to replace the functions currently done by some public workers according to a person who attended the session who recently said he was stepping back from his Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting efforts also spoke about his brain-implant company and ongoing developments at SpaceX in a conversation with Milken Last year, Musk also spoke at the conference, but it was a publicly streamed session. Since then, the world’s richest person has been a lightning rod for criticism due to his involvement with DOGE. Bloomberg News contributed to this report. Laurence Darmiento covers finance, insurance, aerospace and dealmakers in Southern California for the Los Angeles Times. He joined the paper in 2015 as an assistant business editor and has overseen finance, real estate and Washington business coverage. Previously he had been the managing editor of the Los Angeles Business Journal and was a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News and other outlets. A New York native, he is an alumnus of Cornell University. But studio executives on Sunday were surprised by the announcement, saying they had no advance notice of the tariffs plan and didn’t know the details of how it would be applied. For more than two decades, major studios have shifted movie production to cheaper countries, including Canada, U.K., Bulgaria, New Zealand, Australia and other countries that offer generous tax benefits to build their local economies, luring films away from Hollywood. The migration of high-paying jobs has become a critical issue for Los Angeles, which has seen a dramatic loss in film production and jobs in recent years The industry hasn’t fully recovered from shutdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic labor strikes and a retrenchment by legacy entertainment companies many of which overspent to build streaming services to compete with Netflix January’s wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena dealt another blow “I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” Trump said late Sunday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” The proposal is the latest in a series of tariffs that Trump has imposed on trading partners worldwide, causing turmoil in global markets. Movie executives reached Sunday privately wondered how a tariff would be imposed on a film, which, like a car, has components made in different countries while post-production often occurs in the U.S. The Motion Picture Assn. wasn’t immediately available for comment. Trump lamented how the “Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.” The president said countries that have offered “all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.” “Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated,” Trump wrote. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.” In addition to the U.K., Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic also offer lucrative incentives to filmmakers. Many in Hollywood are still waiting for Trump’s ‘special ambassadors’ to reveal their plans for boosting U.S feature films and commercials all declined in the Los Angeles area during the first three months of the year according to the nonprofit organization FilmLA On-location production declined 22.4% compared with the same period a year earlier The call for U.S. production comes after Trump tapped a trio of actors — Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson — to be his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. In January, Trump unveiled the initiative, calling Hollywood “a great but very troubled place.” The president at the time said he and his ambassadors would help Hollywood spring “back — bigger, better, and stronger than ever before!” But the envoys have kept a low profile since their appointment and many in Hollywood say they have not heard from them. All levels of Hollywood workers are now banding together to push for legislation that would change the state’s tax incentive program Bloomberg News reported that Voight and his manager were preparing to present Trump with some ideas aimed at bolstering U.S including offering some national incentives to help win back offshore business “It’s important that we compete with what’s going on around the world so there needs to be some sort of federal tax incentives,” Paul said in an interview with Bloomberg One producer, Randy Greenberg, wrote in a Sunday LinkedIn post that tariffs would hurt, not help Hollywood. “Putting a tariff on Movies shot outside the US will increase the cost of shooting and the studios will lobby the Exhibitors to raise ticket prices and then the audience will skip the theatre and then … well you see where this is going,” Greenberg wrote. Talent, glamour, charisma, sensuality. So many things come to mind when we think of her. The one and only Marilyn Monroe. With her undeniable beauty and meteoric rise to fame becoming part of pop culture mythology and a true icon of contemporary history View this post on Instagram Barney’s Beanery quickly became a go-to spot in its new home, drawing in Hollywood legends like Clara Bow, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, and Rita Hayworth. And, of course, Marilyn Monroe herself. Every time she stopped by, she ordered her favorite: a comforting bowl of chili. For years, several sources have confirmed that Monroe was a regular, often slipping away during the filming of Some Like It Hot (makes sense…), to enjoy a bowl of their signature chili. This detail is backed up by a handwritten, signed check from Monroe herself, which is still framed on a wall. The check? Used to pay for a chili order that cost just $2. Barney’s Beanery continues to serve up its beloved chili to this day, making it a must-visit for anyone who appreciates classic dishes with a fiery kick and a touch of Hollywood legend. 📍 Location: 8447 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 Print Los Angeles County prosecutors must speed up the filing of felony charges against persons accused of sex crimes or violence against family members according to a new policy announcement Thursday The announcement follows a recent Los Angeles Times report highlighting how a backlog of criminal cases in the district attorney’s office may have played a role in the sexual assault and slaying of a 13-year-old boy. Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Katz said Thursday that once a decision has been made to seek an arrest warrant in such cases, the process to file a criminal complaint must begin within one business day, according to a copy of an officewide memo reviewed by The Times. “The urgency with which a case should be processed and filed is particularly great when the underlying conduct involves family violence or a sexual assault, including matters in which the accused is not in custody,” Katz wrote. A spokesperson for Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said Thursday that there was a push “to streamline case processing at every level — from filing deputies to support staff — to ensure expeditious justice without sacrificing the standards needed to file a case.” A sex abuse allegation against a youth soccer coach appears to have languished for months before the coach was charged with killing a 13-year-old boy The policy announcement comes roughly 24 hours after The Times published a report confirming that a backlog of thousands of pending cases in the district attorney’s office played a role in delaying charges against Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino a once-revered North Hollywood youth soccer coach who now stands accused of murder in the death of one of his players A 16-year-old boy had accused Garcia-Aquino of sexual misconduct in February 2024 County Sheriff’s Department presented a case to prosecutors for filing in May But charges weren’t filed for more than 10 months due to a backlog of nearly 10,000 cases according to multiple law enforcement sources and an email reviewed by The Times The district attorney’s office confirmed the backlog was a factor in delaying charges against Garcia-Aquino this week the office said it had also suggested the case may have been slowed by requests for “additional forensic testing of evidence.” a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said detectives on the case were never “asked for additional information or testing on the case by the D.A.’s office.” “The toxicology report was submitted with [the investigator’s] completed report in May 2024,” spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said was last seen boarding a Metrolink train to Palmdale where he was supposed to help Garcia-Aquino make soccer jerseys The coach is accused of killing him during a lewd act on March 28 and the seventh-grader’s body was found in Ventura County in early April Prosecutors filed charges against Garcia-Aquino in the older case on April 2 — four days after Omar was killed The killing of a 13-year-old boy and criminal charges against his trusted soccer coach have profoundly shaken this Latin American immigrant community in Los Angeles. Gascón has not responded to requests for comment. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the policy shift Thursday. Hochman repeatedly attacked Gascón about the conditions that led to the backlog on the campaign trail last year, and said he has stepped up efforts to clear the queue in recent weeks. Garcia-Aquino is charged with murder and several counts of sexual abuse against two other players stemming from allegations dating to 2022. Authorities have warned there may be more victims. The coach did not enter a plea during a brief appearance in a downtown courtroom this week. Representatives of the victim’s family have expressed outrage that Garcia-Aquino wasn’t arrested sooner. “I am stunned it took so long to file these charges. They could have saved this boy’s life,” Michael Carrillo, an attorney for Omar’s family, said this week. “Somebody needs to be held accountable here for keeping this man on the streets and it led to this boy’s killing. ... Someone needs to come to the family and explain how this could be allowed to happen.” James Queally writes about crime and policing in Southern California where he currently covers Los Angeles County’s criminal courts the district attorney’s office and juvenile justice issues for the Los Angeles Times Richard Winton is an investigative crime writer for the Los Angeles Times and part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011. Known as @lacrimes on Twitter, during almost 30 years at The Times he also has been part of the breaking news staff that won Pulitzers in 1998, 2004 and 2016. Samuel Patrick Groft cruised through the streets of Los Angeles on his bicycle single-handedly chopping down about a dozen city trees with an electric chainsaw in three different neighborhoods decades-old trees in the middle of the night he wielded his cordless power saw on busy sidewalks in broad daylight according to surveillance videos reviewed by the Los Angeles Police Department The footage also showed that Groft's destruction spanned at least five days beginning on April 17 and continuing until his arrest on April 22 — Earth Day He has since been charged with felony vandalism It's unclear if he is still being detained Efforts to reach Groft or an attorney were unsuccessful During a press conference police said the cost of replacing the trees will be at least $347,000 But that estimate does not include three additional toppled trees discovered by the LAPD Media Moussavy was on a morning walk when he came across about a half dozen felled shade trees in downtown Los Angeles where he lives. He told NPR he was livid at the sight of the severed trees and immediately posted about it on his Instagram account @DTLAInsider Moussavy's videos showed several of the older trees likely measured between 20 to 30 feet — only about 5 feet of their trunks remaining in the ground touching off tens of thousands of angry comments from users who were equally perplexed and dismayed over the loss of any piece of the city's already meager urban canopy In post after post they called for justice and revenge They demanded that the culprit be forced to replant new trees Within days, the public outrage was so fervent that Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement calling the attacks "beyond comprehension." She promised residents that all of the trees would be quickly replaced. No small feat in a city that's looking to cut a billion dollars from its budget "I think that the uproar from everybody that we heard and saw online definitely shows how people feel when it comes to nature," Moussavy said but trees that take that much time to grow and honestly do nothing but provide us with a benefit … I mean at the end of the day what did the tree ever do to you?" he asked the bizarre act of vandalism has incensed locals who say they're fed up with the chaos that seems to have taken over downtown since the COVID-19 pandemic once bustling neighborhoods have become ghost towns homeless encampments have spilled onto streets lined with newly built luxury buildings Businesses and restaurants that drew in crowds of shoppers and weekend and nightlife goers have shuttered told NPR that the general absence of people has allowed for rampant open drug use the changes have taken a toll on the 90,000 people who live downtown That's why Leslie Ridings is so demoralized by this latest bout of destruction As co-founder of the Downtown Los Angeles Residence Association Ridings is actively trying to build a thriving downtown community "Part of downtown's job is to be a gathering place It's the heart of the city; We come here to watch sports games We want everybody to come and spend time here and live here which he described as "wanton destruction for destruction's sake," gives the public the impression that antisocial behavior will be overlooked "It really highlights the presumption of impunity," Ridings said adding that it also signals that city and county officials are returning to an era wherein they "used downtown as sort of the carpet they swept stuff under." City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado represents the district where half of the trees were felled calling on city leaders to quickly replace the trees She told NPR that losing such "living infrastructure" is an eerie but apt metaphor in two ways and how it's been chopped down by forces that are external to it whether it's COVID or another economic recession," Jurado explained It also serves as a metaphor for Jurado as a council member Our city government is broken in this upcoming hostile fiscal environment So much labor is being put on the table to be laid off and our city services are being cut down even more." The tree canopy across Los Angeles leaves a lot to be desired. A 2021 study by the city found that 20% of the tree canopy within the city limits was located in just four neighborhoods The research said that the root of the problem stems from federal redlining policies that refused to insure mortgages in non-white neighborhoods those practices have resulted in a lower investment in parks and other public green spaces All of which confer a variety of benefits to residents that so many of those communities suffer disproportionately some of the most ill effects of climate change – be it heat or the stresses that are associated with pollution," Bryan Vejar associate director of community forestry at TreePeople told NPR The organization is involved in a citywide program seeking to increase the urban tree canopy "in areas with the greatest need" by 50% by 2028 it's not as easy as just planting new trees Research shows Los Angeles is in desperate need of large better storm water management and energy savings If there's a silver lining to an otherwise senseless spate of arbor violence the city now has an opportunity to diversify its urban forest The majority of the trees that were felled were ficuses While they are often used in unwelcoming hardscaped areas because they can endure high radiant heat they're not native to California and can be really destructive the department that oversees public works spaces for the city said the trees ranged in age from 10 to more than 50 years old The agency did not give a timeline or cost estimate to replace them "We have to plant trees that are climate adaptive that can withstand some of the average heat and drought conditions that are commensurate with the built environment Become an NPR sponsor Wearing custom button-up shirts with matching shorts, they proudly pointed out the emblems pressed onto their kits — symbols of home. Their outfits featured a Union Jack, a classic Cornish mining engine house and scones topped with jam first, then cream — the only proper way, they insisted, while chastising anyone who did it differently, much like their intolerable cousins from the neighboring county of Devon. The getaway to L.A. wasn’t so much a planned excursion as it was a series of phone calls among seven childhood friends, all contingent on getting approval from their wives. Unfortunately, the group was greeted with back-to-back dreary, overcast afternoons instead of the trademark California sunshine. Still, the weather didn’t dampen the fun. Olympics Dodger Stadium and Alamitos Beach are among 10 new venues that have been selected by LA28 to host events during the 2028 L.A “That’s what we like about sevens — it goes all day,” said Jason Penprase referring to the raucous atmosphere and rapid pace “It’s good that we actually get to see nations that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with rugby You get to see other nations come forward and play You’re trying to make it a worldwide sport.” This year’s tournament which featured New Zealand winning the women’s title and South Africa the men’s crown marked the first time the championship was held on American soil The event served not only as an Olympic preview for fans “I played rugby in Japan for a couple of years, and they weren’t able to come in and see me play out there, so to have them finally come to a game, and the world championship at that, just means so much,” Toliver said. Toliver and her teammates are at the forefront of rugby sevens’ growing national exposure in the U.S., building on the momentum from the national team’s captivating bronze-medal run at the Olympic Games in Paris. Having witnessed the sport’s growth since beginning in high school over a decade ago, Toliver was excited by the weekend turnout and the potential for even larger crowds in 2028. “I’m imagining you’ll be like this for, like, 100 fold,” Toliver said with a smile. “Because when people showed up in Paris, it was ridiculous. So I’m imagining L.A. just spilling out. ... It’s so easy to fall in love with, it’s like there’s no reason for you not to watch.” Fighting for a bronze against Canada, the U.S. fell short in a 27-7 loss, leaving Toliver deflated. She remains determined, however, to compete for a medal in the Olympics. She was named rookie of the year after the season-ending tournament, and she could be in line to lead the national team in three years. “Once in a lifetime, it’ll be full circle for me,” Toliver said of the prospect of playing in the Olympics. Much like the Olympic Games, simply being present meant everything for some countries, and nowhere was that more apparent than with Kenya and its fans. Hundreds of supporters, equipped with African drums and miniature flags adorned in black, red and green, claimed a section of the lower bowl, becoming the tournament’s most boisterous group. Their chants of “Let’s go Kenya!” and “Kenya, aye!” in Kiswahili filled the stadium with vibrant energy. “It’s not about winning or losing, it’s just about that happiness,” said Ng’ang’a Njenga, who traveled from Seattle. “We come straight from Third World countries, and when we come and gather like this, have fun, enjoy.” Armed with a drum by his side, Njenga was dressed in leopard-print Kenyan garb, with a mohawk painted half white and half black, in honor of Lwanda Magere, a Kenyan folk hero whose powers lay in the shadows. Njenga was among the many who led the drum section, spilling out from the stands, joined by men’s national players Denis Abukuse and Vincent Onyala. Together, they led the charge, dancing in circles to the rhythm of the drums. Aaron Cummings of the U.S., top, competes for a line-out against George Ooro Angeyoof of Kenya during the Rugby Sevens World Championships on Sunday. (Jack Megaw / AEG Rugby) “We love this,” Njenga added. “That emotion, like life, can be good. Let’s be happy. It’s not about winning or losing in life.” Players mingling along the walkway, enjoying the festivities, were a common sight. Fans asked Kenya women’s captain Grace Adhiambo Okulu for selfies and autographs as she cheered on the men’s national team. “We really work hard to come into L.A. and the experience you’re getting from everyone. It’s a blessing,” Okulu said. “Rugby would be fine if the Kenyans were not here. It’s an amazing thing that the Kenyans are here, and definitely they’re not only supporting Kenya, but any team that is playing.” The event was not without criticism from fans like Penprase, who stayed in Long Beach with his mates. He pointed out the difficulty of getting around L.A., with constant Uber rides required due to the city’s limited public transit options. Additionally, some U.S. fans took issue with the setup, which featured two pitches — one inside the stadium and another on its outskirts. Fans noted that they missed a men’s matchup on the second pitch because of the setup. Multiple pitches are expected to be used during the Olympics, in contrast to the single-stadium setup at Stade de France last year. Despite a few kinks that might need ironing out, just over 27,000 fans visited over the weekend, according to officials. With growing excitement among attendees, many are already looking ahead to the 2028 Games. After attending the Paris Games, the Cornishmen are potentially eyeing a return flight to LAX in three years, pending the approval of their better halves, of course. “Never say never — you never know,” Penprase said, hopeful that the next trip would bring more sunshine. Anthony De Leon was a 2023-24 reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. Born in Fresno to a Chicano family, he pursued his higher education in his hometown, earning an associate‘s degree in journalism from Fresno City College and then completing a bachelor’s in media, communications and journalism at Fresno State. He went on to complete his master’s in media innovation at the University of Nevada, Reno. Print News that next year’s Los Angeles Marathon and Oscars were double booked for March 15 caused a headache for the organizers of both events but a solution was reached Thursday and the marathon has agreed to change dates The 98th Oscars will be held as originally scheduled according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles Marathon and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce a new March date for the race in the coming days in future years it will honor the marathon’s tradition of hosting the run on the third Sunday in March The two organizations brokered the agreement with the assistance of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and agreed to work together to promote each other’s events “to benefit the greater Los Angeles community,” according to the statement chief operating officer of the McCourt Foundation told The Times that it would be logistically impossible to hold both events on the same day The Oscars is hosted at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard It’s simply not feasible for thousands of runners and spectators to pass the theater and then have the area cleaned up and ready to host a red carpet event a few hours later Both events also require significant road closures law enforcement deployment and are broadcast by KTLA The McCourt Foundation announced its 2026 marathon date on March 15 this year. Two days later, the academy published a news release announcing that the 2026 Oscars was also scheduled on March 15. Reinschreiber was driving home after finishing cleaning up this year’s marathon, eager to rest after successfully executing the huge sporting event, when he learned of the double booking. “It was confusing and the other thought that went to my mind is there are just no days off in this business,” he said. “It’s one thing after the other.” Moving a marathon is no easy feat. The event spans a massive chunk of the city and involves more than 25,000 runners, thousands of volunteers, medical personnel, law enforcement and city workers. “There are two major facilities — Dodger Stadium and Century City — connected by what’s really a 26-mile stage, and the number of people, communities and businesses that are all impacted by a change of date is mind-boggling,” he said. “We are going to have to undergo a significant community awareness program.” More than 5,000 people have registered for the 2026 Marathon, and they will need to be offered the option of a refund due to the change in date, he said. While the marathon is typically held on the third Sunday in March, there have been exceptions. In 2009, it was moved to Memorial Day to reduce disruptions to Sunday churchgoers. It was moved back to March the following year based on community feedback. In 2016, it was held Feb.14, a Sunday, to coincide with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Then, in 2021, the event was postponed until November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oscars’ date has traditionally been more flexible. Clara Harter is a breaking news reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered politics and education for the L.A. Daily News. While at the Daily News, she published a series on fentanyl addiction that won a first-place investigative journalism award from the L.A. Press Club. Harter majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies at Columbia University. She loves surfing and, when not reporting, can most likely be found in the ocean. Print In a one-month period artificial-intelligence-assisted cameras mounted on Los Angeles Metro buses generated nearly 10,000 citations for parking violations according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation Cameras were first installed on the windshields of some Metro buses last year but the first tickets were issued in mid-February the only buses to have cameras were along line 212 from Hollywood/Vine to Hawthorne/Lennox stations via La Brea Avenue which services Olive Street and Grand Avenue and lines 910 and 950 that serve Metro’s J Line have since been included The AI-powered cameras scan for illegally parked cars and compile a video of each violation, a photo of the license plate and the time and location, according to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Each citation is reviewed by a human. At a minimum of $293 per violation, there’s nothing artificial about the ticket’s price tag. The technology from Hayden AI will help the ticketing process of vehicles parked in Metro bus lanes and at bus stops the program gave out 3,093 citations over cars blocking bus lanes or stops That number more than doubled in the first two weeks of April Before the cameras were installed, officers typically issued around 570 tickets for impeding bus lanes monthly, the transportation department told LAist “Without enforcement, a single parked car in a bus lane can delay dozens or even hundreds of riders. So, this is not just about issuing tickets, it’s about making sure our Metro buses run on schedule and get our riders to their destinations on time,” said Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. The program, designed by technology company Hayden AI, is meant to improve bus times, increase ridership and address mobility concerns. Metro’s board of directors approved an $11-million contract with the company last year to roll out 100 camera systems. The agreement started in December and is supposed to last roughly five years. Some police officials are pushing back after a wealthy community gifted the department scores of controversial high-tech cameras that scan license plates Although the AI-powered security cameras constantly scan for illegally parked cars said the technology is trained to record only when a potential violation is observed “If the bus is moving and there’s no vehicle parked in the lane “Only when the system observes a vehicle parked illegally in a bus lane or a bus stop does it record the license plate and capture video of the event.” Similar programs are being used in Washington, D.C., and New York City as the use of AI continues to expand for travel safety Recently, Southern California’s regional rail system Metrolink was granted $1.3 million to develop an AI-powered security system to detect unexpected movement on the tracks. Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this report. Terry Castleman is a data reporter on the Fast Break Desk covering breaking news. In 2020, he was named alongside his colleagues as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in explanatory reporting. Previously, he worked at the New York Times and volunteered as a first responder for refugees arriving on the shores of Lesvos. If you buy something from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy Los Angeles is no stranger to restaurant openings whether splashy openings in iconic buildings helmed by big-name chefs or a pop-up leaping into a permanent space Consider this monthly rundown a go-to guide for the newest and boldest debuts across the Southland It’s a departure from the steakhouse format with a Rio de Janeiro-style “fusion” menu and grilled branzino with shrimp enchiladas The interior makes diners feel like they’re on a Brazilian beach and a ring of rattan poolside modular sofas and chairs at the center of the room Round out evenings here with a bottle from the international wine and beer list Zach Pollack, the restaurateur behind now-closed restaurants Alimento and Cosa Buona, has opened his latest project in Santa Monica Pollack’s new California Italian restaurant is serving puffy-crusted wood-fired pizzas topped with soppressata and peppers Smaller bites include a tin of Fishwives Cantabrian anchovies Pollack emphasizes that Cosetta is a family-friendly restaurant that’s happy to accommodate dietary needs offering a flexible menu with gluten-free Milanese and plenty of vegan options a casual fried chicken sandwich spot in Silver Lake the menu is inspired by Lin’s experiences in Hong Kong Find dishes like sesame prawn toast topped with dollops of sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard aioli One of South Korea’s most popular dessert cafes, Cafe Knotted, landed in the U.S. for the first time with a location at the Westfield Century City The cafe is best known for its cream doughnuts which are available in flavors like fresh strawberry find a full lineup of the popular doughnuts alongside croissants and cream-topped lattes in flavors like chestnut tiramisu The team behind Beverly Hills wagyu restaurant Matu (stylized as matū) opened its sister restaurant Matu Kai on April 6 in Brentwood all of the meat at Matu Kai comes from New Zealand’s First Light Farms Much of the menu at Matu Kai is similar to Matu including its focus on set meals that start with a rich 24-hour bone broth Dishes that are exclusive to the new restaurant include steak brochettes brushed with harissa spice wagyu meatballs that could compete with any Italian restaurant in town While this may be Kettl’s first location in Los Angeles its teas have been served in the city for years at restaurants and coffee shops including Tsubaki and Mandarin Coffee Shop At Doto, Jared Dowling, also the chef of the stylish Edgemar in Santa Monica introduced California izakaya fare in the former Jewel space as of April 11 The restaurant is an all-day affair with miso arctic char bento boxes and breakfast burritos from morning to evening Dowling leans on his three-and-a-half years spent with Yess chef Junya Yamasaki at London’s Koya Noodle Bar to employ Japanese flavors and techniques on peak-season produce Edgemar architect and investor Thomas Greek is Dowling’s partner at the restaurant On April 12, one of Los Angeles’s most popular street taco stands opened its first permanent location in Anaheim. Angel’s Tijuana Tacos maintains a ubiquitous presence throughout Southern California who opened the first location of the taco stand outside of North Hollywood’s John’s Market in 2018 Angel’s traditional taqueria menu bears all of the favorites with aguas frescas all packed with the diner’s choice of proteins like pollo And it’s less than 10 miles away from Disneyland Sanz took inspiration from Mexican Norteño cantinas for his menu with aguachiles and oysters plus a unique salsa bar where a compelling savory cocktail variety (order the Salsa Verde) could earn another nod on the coveted Best Bar list Print Tens of thousands of Los Angeles County workers walked off their jobs and onto picket lines Tuesday amid what their union described as a failure by the county to fairly bargain for a new contract began a two-day strike Monday evening with social workers clerical workers and other public employees walking off the job The union said this is the first time in county history that all its members have joined a strike As a result, libraries, nonurgent health clinics and parks are closed Public service counters throughout the county will be moving more slowly A sea of workers in SEIU Local 721’s signature royal purple T-shirts descended on the county Hall of Administration in downtown L.A on Tuesday for a rally marking the first full day of the strike said 14 members were arrested for refusing to disperse at a march after the rally meant to underscore the severity of the situation was 44 labor law violations allegedly committed by the county including retaliation and contracting of jobs that are supposed to be filled by union workers Union members said they were also insulted by the pay offered by county officials who have said they can’t afford significant increases due to a dizzying number of financial woes A sea of SEIU Local 721 striking workers rally and march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times) “Does anyone remember what they tried to give us in the fall Zeroes,” said union head David Green as workers dinged purple cowbells at the downtown rally County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport said county officials have “moved off” a zero raise offer in recent weeks but remained cautious about what they could offer “We don’t want to negotiate ourselves into a structural deficit,” Davenport said in an interview Monday Otherwise, she said, the county might have to cut positions down the road, similar to what Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has proposed. Last week, Bass released a budget proposal that included 1,650 layoffs to help close a nearly $1-billion deficit fueled in part by employee raises the city agreed to last year. The county said it is now offering SEIU Local 721 members a $5,000 bonus in the first year of the contract, as well as a cost-of-living adjustment and an additional bonus. Valencia Simpson, left, and Asiata Adekunle Murtala march with thousands of striking SEIU Local 721 members in Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times) “The County is offering what we believe is a fair three-year compensation package, considering the tremendous budgetary pressures we face,” Davenport’s office said in a statement. County and city are saddled with billions in unexpected costs How come only one faces a $1-billion deficit said the county waited until the last moment to respond to the union’s first proposal for a new contract The previous contract expired at the end of March and they sat on it for months,” Koffroth told the booing crowd Union members allege the county has spent too much money on outside contract workers rather than filling thousands of vacancies. Many speakers at the rally pointed to a union-led study last December that found the county spent billions on private firms, in what amounted to a “taxpayer-to-private-sector-pipeline.” Costs from the Eaton and Palisades fires include soil testing, debris removal and beach cleanup, Fesia Davenport, L.A. County’s chief executive, said Monday. The county dismissed the report as a “misleading and erroneous” negotiation tactic. Union members said the reliance on contractors has been particularly apparent in healthcare, where they said that vacancies are temporarily filled by highly paid contract workers. “How would you feel if someone comes into your hospital for three weeks and makes four times your salary and leaves you,” said Theresa Velasco, a member of the union’s executive board, who works as a community health worker at Rancho Los Amigos, the county rehabilitation hospital.