Greater LA

Food service jobs nationwide are down 2.5 million since February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Southern California, it’s been devastating for the hundreds of thousands of restaurant workers. Many of them are immigrants, and COVID-19 has exposed how few safety nets exist for this labor pool.  Manuel Villanueva is a labor organizer with the nonprofit Restaurant Opportunities...

The LA Rams host the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at their brand new home: SoFi Stadium. The complex held a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony today. The multibillion dollar development is billed as a destination, complete with outdoor parks and shiny, sleek finishes. But some longtime Inglewood residents say the stadium is already hiking up the housing market, leading to further gentrification.

On this Labor Day, Greater LA replays highlights from the past few months. Condors are making a comeback — after being on the brink of extinction. Librarians are working as contract tracers during the COVID-19 pandemic. And some folks are trying to find love virtually.

A viral video of three transgender women being attacked in Hollywood on August 17 has opened up a larger conversation on what’s being done to protect trans women. A self-defense coach for trans and queer people says people rarely get help. Another woman was moved by the video and thus created self-defense kits for trans women. LA county officials announced a rapid response hotline in the event of...

KCRW looks at a program at the West LA VA that allows unhoused veterans to camp on the property and access services. At least one LA City Councilmember, Joe Buscaino, is considering a similar designated campsite in his district.

Pandemic or not, being outside is a daily ritual for dog owners. Neighborhood dog parks are one of the few places right now where people can socialize with strangers and build community.  KCRW visits one dog park in the San Fernando Valley.

Skid Row has about 4,700 unhoused residents, and it’s tough for them to find clean water. And so, a group of USC students and volunteers has been delivering water to Skid Row every Sunday since mid-July. The group is known as Water Drop LA, and they’ve already collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.  “It's really important that when we go into these spaces, we're not going into th...

Fifty years ago, the Chicano Moratorium sought to underscore the costs of the Vietnam War among Latinos. What started out as a peaceful demonstration ended violently. Riot-clad police attacked the crowd, and the crowd pushed back. When it was all over, 400 people were arrested, and four people were dead. One of those killed was Los Angeles Times reporter and KMEX news director Rubén Salazar.

Lien Ta closed her Koreatown restaurant, Here’s Looking at You, in July. But she managed to keep open her Silver Lake restaurant, All Day Baby, by downsizing staff and focusing on takeout and delivery. However, will she be able to keep paying utility bills or rent for All Day Baby? Nothing is guaranteed.

Dodger Stadium is home to one of the largest COVID-19 testing sites in the United States, with the capacity to test 6,000 Angelenos every day. We hear from three volunteers who have worked at Dodger Stadium since the site’s early days.

On San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood, there’s an unusual-looking homeless encampment. It’s a row of nearly two dozen large, identical tents with American flags pinned to the outside. This is home to a number of homeless veterans who say they’re protesting decades of failure to provide more permanent housing for them on the nearby West LA VA campus. KCRW learns the origins of the protest and gives...

A fight about masks on Nextdoor is typical of pandemic tensions. What’s not typical is that everyone in this fight agrees on the importance of wearing masks. KCRW talks to USC neuroscientist Jonas Kaplan about the psychological and emotional traps we fall into when wrestling with tough issues.

For the past month, hair and nail salons in California have been able to reopen outdoors only, with masks and strict sanitary protocols in place. Some salons don’t have enough space to expand outside, and their clients either feel unsafe or want certain services that can’t be offered. But others are trying to embrace the al fresco experience.

The new academic year starts this week for students across Southern California. Typically, parents prepare by spending hundreds of dollars per child on supplies and clothes. But this fall semester is starting with virtual learning to curb the spread of COVID-19. It’s turned the back-to-school market upside down.

The Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where speakers will be virtually addressing audiences who are watching from home. Rep. Karen Bass, who represents parts of West and South LA, would usually be at that packed convention hall.  Bass talks to KCRW about the convention, mail-in voting, coronavirus-related federal aid, calls to defund the police, and Joe Bide...

The Pac-12 conference has decided to postpone all sporting events for the rest of the year. That means no soccer, volleyball or football. Pac-12 health officials say it’s too risky, for example, for a player to recover from COVID, end up with an enlarged heart, and then sustain a big hit on the football field. Coaches, fans, marching band members, and people who work seasonal jobs at the games are...

The Trump administration announced last week that the 2020 Census count would end a month early on September 30, raising concerns among Census takers and community groups about an undercount.

Roller skating has become increasingly popular since the coronavirus pandemic. But African American skaters have been gracefully gliding around LA and cities nationwide for decades. They developed unique dance styles and new music scenes despite segregation and discrimination. New skaters are learning about the history they’re now a part of.

Six months into the pandemic, people are looking for masks that meet their personal styles and needs. Designers have come up with bedazzled coverings to printed logo masks. There’s also a latex face covering with a zipper over the mouth. These masks can cost hundreds of dollars each. Meanwhile, some people think designers are catering too much to vanity. In the end, what will it take to make mask-...

Boyle Heights community gardeners are attempting to stop a cell phone tower from being built due to their 5G fears. “We're afraid that this radiation is going to add more damage to our community,” says Brenda Martinez, a parent, coach, and anti-5G activist. Martinez says she also wants to fight the tower because she was told it could displace the garden where she works.

For many years, visitors often thought of Hollywood as a place of glitz and glamour. But locals knew it as a seedy area. Then a big new mall opened at Hollywood and Highland in 2001, complete with white elephants on columns, a view of the Hollywood sign, and a new theater for the Oscars.  Last year, investors DJM Capital and Gaw Capital bought Hollywood and Highland. They’re working with local des...

One of LA’s largest homeless encampments was on a waterfront stretch of Beacon Street in San Pedro. For blocks, both sides of the street were lined with tents. But on Friday, the people living there had to pack all their things, fold their tents, and get out.  This was the first major cleanup of an encampment in four months. Until last week, the city was following advice from the Centers for Disea...

In Huntington Beach, a debate is brewing over the construction of a desalination plant, which would convert seawater to drinkable water. The process is extensive and expensive. The construction is controversial because of the cost and because of what all that salt and excess could do to the coastal ecosystem.

Olivia Moctezuma thinks she contracted COVID-19 at the Santa Paula DMV in early March. Shortly after, she was hospitalized, on a ventilator for 23 days, and unable to see her family for more than two months. She’s now back home, recovering, and sharing her story in hopes that it will prevent another family from going through what hers did.

The Perseverance rover is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday. The rover’s mission is to gather a sample of Mars’ soil, so scientists can begin to figure out whether the planet can sustain life for humans or extraterrestrials.