Greater LA

A new air quality rule requires the biggest commercial ovens in SoCal to become fully electric. It’s the first industrial regulation of its kind in the U.S.  Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and Polo’s Pantry are giving household products, water, and food to SoCal farmworkers who are struggling, especially after Tropical Storm Hilary. As a tribute to the anniversary of Ruben Salazar’s death, Orange...

This weekend would have been jazz musician and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane’s 86th birthday. Her family celebrates and remembers her legacy. The extinction of large, Ice Age mammals coincided with the arrival of humans, according to researchers who studied bones from the La Brea Tar Pits and Lake Elsinore. Black Restaurant Week is back and bigger than ever, focusing on diverse offerings of LA’s...

Pico Boulevard is home to dozens of Oaxacan businesses. Now, less than a year after an LA City Councilmember disparaged Oaxacans, locals want city recognition. In her new book, “Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millenial LA,” Kate Flannery gives an insider's look at the problematic rise of scandal-plagued American Apparel. The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery’s annual showcase of mid-career grant recipien...

Many of Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes crew members support actors and writers striking, but they feel left out of the conversation as they’re struggling financially. With school back in session, two LAUSD teachers discuss the challenges they’re facing, like students losing social skills and skipping classes. ParaCliffHangers aims to adapt rock climbing experiences so people of all physical abiliti...

In a win for Mayor Karen Bass, LA’s City Council voted 12-2 to purchase the Mayfair Hotel in Westlake and convert it to transitional housing. A new podcast by journalist Sonari Glinton examines how broken systems allow some criminals to get away with the unthinkable.

LA’s iconic hillside stilt houses have been destroyed in many disaster movies, but in real life, they offer residents a thrilling perch in the clouds. As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes roll on, animal actors are finding themselves with a lot of time on their paws. Their handlers are trying to figure out how to get by.

Southern Californians have donated lots of supplies to help those displaced by the Lahaina fire. Shipping containers are full, but there are other ways to help. Ivy Pochoda’s latest novel, “ Sing Her Down ,” focuses on two formerly incarcerated women making their way to and through LA in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Art historian Thuy N.D. Tran aims to shed light on a lost “golden era” of...

With COVID slightly up in LA, residents are wondering about masking up again and getting boosted. John Eastman, a former Chapman Law School dean, faces nine counts in an indictment accusing him of designing the plan to reverse Joe Biden’s presidential victory. An ecologist, an urban planner, a conservationist, and a filmmaker spent six days exploring all 51 miles of the LA River — even the section...

Los Angeles Unified has opened a new grade to all 4-year-olds called universal transitional kindergarten. Who’s enrolling, and why are some choosing not to? AP African American Studies became an official course at Dorsey High School in Crenshaw last year, and soon it’ll expand to the rest of LAUSD. Schools around the state are feeling the effects of climate change. Now, after heavy parental lobbyi...

Born in Mississippi but drawn to the West, Minerva Hamilton Hoyt was behind the push to make Joshua Tree a special place on the map. The millions of people who visit Joshua Tree have an abundance of vacation rentals to choose from — but that also means challenges to the local community. For eight years, Ken Layne has been keeping desert wanderers company with his esoteric musings about the lore, l...

As the Hollywood writers’ strike drags past 100 days, the financial pain is widespread for business owners and tradespeople who need production to earn a living. In 2021, LA passed a law to ban tenant harassment, which can be used to displace tenants from their rent controlled units. But the city has done little to enforce it. The LA Art Book Fair returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art this wee...

TransparentSea Farm in Downey produces nearly 1 million shrimp a year. That’s great for some of LA’s top seafood restaurants, but how do the prawns feel? Goats are being used more often to clear vegetation and prevent wildfires. But some say the immigrant workers who manage them 24/7 aren’t getting a fair deal. You can help the Natural History Museum count bats and learn more about their roosting...

Outside SoFi stadium, fans who didn’t have tickets to Taylor Swift’s concert still find a way to sing, dance, and exchange friendship bracelets. In a new podcast, two Amoeba Music staffers share their discoveries about favorite albums from the iconic record store’s collection. Anaheim’s former political leaders Harry Sidhu and Todd Ament are alleged to have been involved in a “potential criminal c...

This is the year of extravagant “revenge weddings,” and members of the nupital party are paying the price in money, time, and emotional energy. Chicano Batman, often known as “LA’s house band,” will perform at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend for the first time. You can head to El Segundo to hear a 13-piece big band while dancing the night away at the sixth annual Summer Swing Nights, which runs Au...

Students in Ramona Gardens, one of LA's most polluted neighborhoods, are helping create a green space that will act as a barrier between homes and the freeway. When it comes to climate questions, KCRW listeners wanted the most help with recycling. Here’s a list of what you can and can’t recycle, plus the bottom line on plastic bags. Koreatown’s Beverly Hot Springs is a spa fed by natural hot sprin...

What daily climate questions do you have? Help with the recycling bin was by far the most common response. Here are some answers. Paul Reubens, famously known as Pee-Wee Herman, died from cancer on July 30. Friends and collaborators remember the joy he brought to many lives.

Eviction filings in LA County are at their highest level in recent years. An August 1 deadline for some indebted renters could mean even more tenants forced out. With the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes lingering into summer, more actors and writers need economic aid. The World Harvest Food Bank has teamed up with comedian Kristina Wong to help. If the Anaheim Angels want to hold on to star player Shohe...

LA’s hotel workers, actors, writers, and Teamsters are all throwing their weight behind striking workers in a way that hasn’t been seen in town for decades. Some of the world’s best surfers will compete at the U.S. open in Huntington Beach starting this weekend. The nine-day festival includes freestyle motocross, concerts, family-friendly activities, and giveaways. Spiral croissants are having a m...

Amid climate change, shade is increasingly important — and so is the question of who can access and control it. On July 21, the Santa Barbara News Press filed for bankruptcy, leaving employees, creditors, and the community wondering what happened to the over 150-year-old paper. In separate exhibitions, artists Suchitra Mattai and Acaye Kerunen create powerful images of their ancestors and their vi...

In sleepy Sierra Madre, an uptick in bears has spurred the city to declare the animal a “public safety threat.” But locals and officials aren’t sure how to handle the ursine explosion. Henry Hoke’s latest novel, “ Open Throat, ” was inspired by LA’s own big cat P-22 and Nick Cave’s song “ Hollywood .” It’s told from the perspective of a mountain lion. Sick sea lions have washed up on beaches due t...

Since 1923, LA’s Roman-inspired stadium has hosted key moments in U.S. history, including Olympic Games, plus visits from international luminaries and U.S. presidents. Ahead of the 1932 Olympics, LA officials planted tens of thousands of Mexican fan palm trees around the city of Angels — to help beautify the burgeoning metropolis and solidify its place on the world map. Those trees may be dying so...

This summer’s ramp-up to the “Barbie” movie’s release has made her and her signature pink inescapable. One “immersive experience” in Santa Monica takes it even further. Actor and singer Darren Criss is performing at the Ford Theater this weekend. Expect the show to be a sing-along dance party. Every year, starting in late July through September, the Griffith Observatory holds monthly “Star Parties...

Conflict over a proposed aerial gondola to carry fans to and from Dodger Stadium is heating up. Is it a traffic solution or a dubious development plan? Fast food workers at McDonald’s are organizing against low wages, tough working conditions, and the highest levels of homelessness of any workers in LA. Hundreds of Filipinos in LA will march to the Philippine Consulate on Sunday to protest Preside...

Gov. Greg Abbott has sent a third bus — carrying 30 migrants — from TX to LA. What are the experiences of these asylum seekers, and who’s helping them in LA? As excessive heat becomes more common in Los Angeles, some local officials say air conditioning should be a necessity, not a luxury.

As summers get hotter, the City of LA is trying to keep neighborhoods cooler by painting streets with lighter colors. And it actually works.  De Los , launched this month, aims to cover stories written by and for Latinos in LA and beyond. The content will all be free. Disneyland must follow Anaheim’s minimum wage law, an appellate court recently ruled. That means all employees at the theme park wi...