Greater LA

One of LA’s gas power plants will start burning hydrogen to meet clean energy goals. The controversial decision has some worried about air quality and explosion risks. LA’s mosquito population has been on the rise for a decade, but a winter of rain has created better conditions than ever for the bloodthirsty creatures. Which city has the best burrito in California? San Francisco has a super-sized...

Los Angeles is the epicenter of indoor cannabis cultivation in Southern California, but how intensive is it on our environment, and is there a better way? In the San Fernando Valley and South LA, council seats have been left empty in the wake of multiple City Council scandals. But a special election and a new appointee mean they’ll soon be filled. Laguna Beach has long been known as an “art colony...

Gov. Newsom announced plans to transform San Quentin into a Norwegian-style restorative environment. That would require overcoming gangs, racial divides, and structural inequality that runs deeper in the U.S. than Scandinavia. The pros and cons of electric vehicle purchases are getting murkier with coming changes to federal incentives. Is it time to make the switch?

Wear your Sunday best. At Drag March LA, scheduled for Easter Sunday, drag queens take the stage to protest the rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation. LA’s Rashida Holmes and Greg Dulan are James Beard Award finalists. The pandemic may have played a part in their nominations. One of LA’s most iconic art institutions just got a big makeover. The Hammer Museum in Westwood now occupies an entire city block...

A new business focused on training formerly incarcerated people is now diverting thousands of pounds of clothes from landfill each month. Director Colin K. Gray’s “Unzipped” follows housed and unhoused residents of Venice, California in the struggle for the soul of the neighborhood. Renters and activists in Buena Park have put a measure in front of the City Council to make them just the second cit...

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood Sign. It’s been at the center of scandals, PR stunts, and more during its time perched up on Mount Lee. In 1978, the Hollywood Sign was in a sad state, so rock legend Alice Cooper spent $27,000 to buy an “O” to honor his friend Groucho Marx. Other celebs followed. Artist Zach Fernandez marked California’s marijuana legalization by turning the...

As women rise to positions of authority within LA’s alcohol industry, they are using their experiences to support one another and create welcoming spaces. Americana at Brand, the elusive local internet celebrity, talks about his niche brand of humor, how he memes, and his abiding love of the account’s namesake mall. On baseball’s opening day, the Dodgers will host the Arizona Diamondbacks, as walk...

Robert Luna takes charge of the LA Sheriff's Department amid concerns about crime, deputy gangs, and poor jail conditions. Can he turn the department around?

Back-to-back winter storms in Southern California have got us feeling the blues. Could it be seasonal affective disorder? Tensions are rising in the Orange Unified School District boardroom, and the stakes are as high as defending democracy and protecting children. While Gov. Newsom stopped short of calling the drought over, the state is rolling back several mandates as rivers and dams replenish.

Are you having a hard time making friends as an adult? Speed friending events are popping up across LA to help folks connect. Balboa Island’s ferry has been making the trip back and forth across the harbor since 1919, but new state environmental mandates may sink it. Near LA, DDT is contaminating an area of the seafloor that’s larger than the city of San Francisco. Scientists and policymakers are...

Two years after police cleared a large homeless camp and the city fenced Echo Park Lake amid massive protests, a new council member wants to bring down the chain link barrier. Reactions are mixed. A new exhibit at the Honor Fraser Gallery explores the history of drag. It features more than 40 artists who work in photography, painting, film, performance, and animation. LA County has seen record amo...

SoCal’s drought restrictions are over for now, but this winter’s rainwater won’t last long. LA County captured lots of stormwater, but not enough to provide lasting relief. May 1 is the end of the contract between Hollywood studios and film/TV writers who are represented by WGA. This week, the two sides started negotiating. Las Fotos Project teaches photography to young women and gender expansive...

Two teachers — from an elementary school and a high school — explain why they’re striking in solidarity with LAUSD workers such as custodians and bus drivers. Plus, how to get resources for surviving the strike, and what’s driving this conflict? Louise Nevelson was one of the most iconic sculptors of the 20th century. LA’s Pace Gallery is showing her larger, monochromatic wooden sculptures as well...

KCRW hears from parents, teachers, LAUSD’s Jackie Goldberg, and SEIU’s Lester Garcia as the district sits on the verge of a three-day shutdown. Following unprecedented amounts of winter rain, Orange County is struggling to save hillside housing and railways.

Sidewalk vendors in LA are suing the city for access to no-vending zones as part of a broader push to make vending a viable legal business opportunity. The Actor’s Gang has been bringing theater classes to California prisons for over a decade, now some alumni of the program have written and will perform an original play.

Both USC and UCLA’s women’s basketball teams surpassed pre-season expectations by making the NCAA tournament. But how far can fans expect them to advance? Longtime LA politician Mark Ridley-Thomas finds himself on the wrong side of a 19-count federal corruption trial. He’s arguing his behavior was “unethical,” not “illegal.”

A local Inglewood church backs an entertainment company and studio to spread a message of hope. Residents in the San Bernardino Mountains are still digging out from the snow. Now another storm bringing rain complicates the situation. In “L.A. Painter: The City I Know. The City I See,” artist Karla Klarin shares essays and images spanning 40 years in the City of Angels.

Mayor Karen Bass’s efforts to shelter unhoused Angelenos is scaling up fast. But some participants say the rollout has been messy and confusing. There’s no Oscar for Best Location. If there were, a San Fernando couple might win. They own the laundromat featured in the movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The state of California recently sued the City of Huntington Beach over failure to follo...

The Corgi Nationals attract thousands of people to Santa Anita Park racetrack to watch 100 stumpy-legged dogs race … or maybe just play. Illegal gambling venues called “casitas” are popping up around Southern California. The real people making money, though, are members of the Mexican mafia. North Hollywood High School’s science bowl teams cleaned up at last weekend’s regional competition, and are...

Three decades after bringing “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” to the stage, Anna Deavere Smith returns with a new cast and expanded vision. The Survivors Healing Garden offers a safe space for people who’ve been affected by crime and may be experiencing complicated feelings of anger, grief, and hopelessness.  

Students at Dorsey High School learn real-life business skills by creating and marketing an avocado-based sauce. Sales are strong. Maybe it’s the avocado-pit alien logo? “Don’t Fence Me In” at the Japanese American National Museum takes a unique look at the quest for normalcy by adolescents in concentration camps during World War II. A century ago, Florence Casler developed buildings in a booming...

One (very unauthorized) play about the king of pop had its performance schedule cut short by COVID-19. Now, the show is back on. But like all of us, it’s changed. Since 1976, the Kim family has owned the Gardena Cinema, one of the last single-screen movie theaters in Southern California. But times have changed, and now they have to move on. Deaths among homeless people have increased sharply over...

Two years ago, LAUSD funded a plan aimed at closing the achievement gap between Black students and their peers. Now the impact is visible in the high school experiences of two sisters. Culver City has eliminated honors English classes for ninth and 10th graders in an effort to increase racial equity for students. Not all parents are happy. The world is heavy these days, but art doesn’t have to be...

The Inflation Reduction Act includes billions of dollars for people to make climate-friendly improvements to their homes. Here’s how to qualify for it. Staying warm in LA recently hasn’t been easy or cheap. Angelenos share how they’ve been weathering this freezing winter. LA has plenty of soups — traditional and unique fusions. Here’s where to get Vietnamese pho, Japanese ramen, clam chowder, vega...

Senator Steve Padilla’s SB 253 requires officials to calculate how much people need to earn to pay for basic needs in each California county. At two ICE facilities in California, detainees are on a hunger strike. They earn a dollar a day for eight-hour work shifts. Each year, kids in foster care and from low-income backgrounds receive free new dresses and suits for prom from the nonprofit Glamour...