Greater LA

The $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium is hosting the Feb. 13 Super Bowl, and while investment is pouring into Inglewood, some residents worry about being able to afford their community. After Cari Golden graduated from culinary school in 2020, she started cooking and distributing meals for unhoused residents of Skid Row. KCRW previews Frieze, Felix, and Spring Break Art Fairs that are returning to LA the...

A bronze statue of Dana Point surfer Joyce Hoffman was recently unveiled. It’s believed to be the first life-sized statue of a female surfer in the country. The December storms weren’t enough to get Southern California out of the drought, and February has almost no rain in the forecast. The novel “Fiona and Jane” is about the 30-year friendship between two Taiwanese American women who grew up in L...

In-person classes resumed at several UC campuses this week, but some students are pushing for a permanent hybrid learning option. A wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway is about to break ground just as new research shows LA’s mountain lion population is likely 12-15 years away from extinction. A slate of new SoCal restaurants will debut this year. KCRW gets a rundown of the hotly anticipated spo...

Santa Monica bulldozed homes to build the I-10 freeway in the 1960s. Now it’s offering displaced families or their descendants affordable rent as reparations. Dangerous levels of lead exist in the soil underneath Santa Ana’s Logan barrio, a Grist investigation found. Activists blame the city for deciding to zone it as industrial nearly a century ago. The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Distri...

LA Times columnist Patt Morrison is back with an updated version of her 2011 bestseller: “Río L.A.: Tales from the Los Angeles River.” Mark Oliver Everett, singer of the LA band Eels, talks about the lack of a warm relationship with his quantum physicist dad, and eating strawberries and popcorn for dinner.

As LA makes safety improvements during rapid neighborhood development south of the 10 freeway, locals ask why now, and who are these changes meant to benefit? LAUSD is seeing a drop in COVID numbers and rise in attendance. KCRW checks in with third grade teacher Kristie Collette and high school teacher Aviva Alvarez-Zakson.

The City of Los Angeles is seven years into an ambitious plan to end traffic-related deaths by 2025. So why are fatalities going up? Former LA Rams running back Eric Dickerson talks about the team’s prospects, his untraditional family, and why retired players deserve better health care and pensions.

Long-term care facilities have made COVID testing requirements stricter just as tests have become harder to find. Now visitors can’t get inside. LA Fire Department Deputy Chief Kristin Crowley has been tapped to become the next fire chief, which would make her the first woman to ever lead the LAFD. A proposed bill would change when OC residents vote for the Board of Education, from the primary to...

With Omicron, many offices resemble ghost towns again, and questions emerge about the future of in-person work. It’s especially true in Culver City. “ Salt in My Soul ” is a documentary and book about former KCRW intern Mallory Smith, who died of cystic fibrosis at age 25. Her mom Diane is raising awareness about CF and the new medical technologies to fight it. Marty Roberts — of the beloved jazz...

Assembly member Ash Kalra defends AB 1400, his bill that would establish California universal health care by taxing businesses and citizens. Two very different exhibits recently opened in LA: Rodrigo Valenzuela’s “New Work for a Post-Worker’s World” at Luis de Jesus, and Katherina Olschbaur’s “Live Flesh” at Nicodim.

Cutting or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is the aim of two new developments in Valencia and Tejon Ranch. KCRW looks at how residents are living “net zero” at Five Point Valencia. LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva circumvented LA County District Attorney George Gascón in a high-profile case last week. And Governor Gavin Newsom reversed the state parole board in another. What might that mean for cri...

LA City Council expanded restrictions on street camping this week, while advocates for the unhoused called for a pause on such bans during the Omicron surge. The nationwide shortage of blood is the worst in over a decade, according to the Red Cross. This week, a SoCal trauma center closed for a few hours because of it. The LA Rams have a chance to play in Super Bowl LVI on their home turf. But the...

To get a COVID test now, you have to be a savvy consumer. KCRW shares tips on navigating options from LA County, pharmacies, and drugstores. Also, be careful about scams online and at pop-up tents. Thieves have taken 22 ornate bronze street lamps from the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge. Residents are upset, and the city is trying to save the remaining lamps. What’s being done to fix LA’s potholes during...

After nearly two years of free bus rides, LA Metro is resuming fare collection this week. The agency says it needs to charge to continue the service, but riders and public transit advocates aren’t buying it. “ We The Unhoused ” covers the stories and issues of Angelenos living on the streets. Host Theo Henderson personally knows the experience.

LAUSD requires students and staff to submit a COVID test before returning to school on Tuesday. More than 60,000 have tested positive, and that has parents worried. The recycling system is rampant with fraud and is costing consumers tens of millions of dollars a year, according to Consumer Watchdog . Kelly Ernby — a rising star in the California Republican Party and anti-vaxxer — died last week du...

Diablo Canyon is supposed to start closing in a few years, but a Stanford-MIT report says keeping it open would help California transition to clean energy more cheaply and cleanly. More than 700 people who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 have been charged with crimes — many from LA and Orange County. A lot of them have made plea deals. Where do the cases stand? Jan. 6 is Erin Aubry Kap...

SoCal water agencies are investing in cloud seeding programs to squeeze more moisture out of their winter storms. But playing rain god has risks and limitations. Some truck drivers live full-time — and cook — in their big rigs, driving across the country to keep the supply chain going. The human body is the focus of two artists with shows up in LA right now: Nevine Mahmoud at M+B and Julia Phillip...

Marine Mammal Care Center LA has survived struggles and the pandemic as it cares for injured sea life. Now the center has reopened to the public. The Black Phoebe, the Cassin’s Kingbird, and Pacific Slope Flycatcher are among the unusual birds found in the San Fernando Valley during the latest annual Christmas Bird Count. Bassist Frederick “Juice” Johnson suffered strokes, cancer, and then homeles...

The supply chain backlog increased toxic emissions at the ports in 2021. There’s a plan to clean things up, but residents worry it’s not moving fast enough. The current COVID surge is “short, sharp, and fast,” says microbiology and immunology professor Paula Cannon. She adds that it’s moving toward “endemic” status, like measles and mumps. After less than six months on the job, Mater Dei High Scho...

On this holiday rebroadcast, Greater LA looks at the history of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, which sits on land that was the private domain of one woman 100 years ago, and why the first Black woman to own property in Los Angeles has a park named after her but no street.

This year included many stories of struggles and trauma, but Greater LA also highlighted hope through “ The Helpers ” series — about people making unique differences in their communities. Three of the Helpers we’ve featured over the past year are still active with their efforts, and they shared personal and professional updates as we reflect on 2021.

The leader of the Juaneńo Band of Mission Indians follows in the footsteps of her ancestors by foraging for acorns in the Angeles National Forest. And the tribal president of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians says more and more individuals are interested in learning about Native American culture and acknowledging the tribal land.

Some Angelenos haven’t seen their families since 2019. They share why they’re excited to go home for the holidays. Inflation rose nearly 7% from last year and most businesses have passed their price hikes on to customers. What happens when those consumers can’t afford more? Black workers are underrepresented in the hospitality industry. One man is trying to change that.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough made two big promises in October: To house 40 homeless veterans living at the high-profile Veterans Row encampment in West LA by November, plus another 500 veterans in LA County by December 31. Now VA officials say they’ve fulfilled those promises, but their success depends on how you define “housing” and “Los Angeles.”  Outdoors for All is a new...

If you’re skeptical about gathering with unvaccinated family members over the holidays, a clinical psychologist offers suggestions to help avoid uncomfortable confrontations. The Pasadena Model Railroad Museum in El Sereno features hand-made miniature mountains, lakes, train stations and towns. Its next open house is December 18-19, 2021. Kevin Goetz’s new book, “ Audience-ology: How Moviegoers Sh...