If elected, Nithya Raman could shake up the LA Olympics. Here’s how
L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman criticized L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' signature homelessness program, Inside Safe, and her administration's response to major fires.(Courtesy NBC4 and Telemundo 52)If Nithya Raman defeats incumbent Karen Bass on Nov. 3, she’ll become the third mayor of Los Angeles to oversee plans for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games — and the first to have started out as an Olympics critic.Raman told the Democratic Socialists of America’s L.A. chapter in 2020 that she opposed Los Angeles playing host to the world’s largest sporting event, skewering the city for making a “rushed” deal without public input.Still, she’ll be stuck with the Games if she becomes mayor, and will also oversee the city in the period that follows, when L.A. will be left with any cost overruns if the private organizing committee LA28 runs out of money.Depending on how she wields the role, Raman could shift the city’s approach to its host duties, ramping up pressure on LA28 to publicly disclo
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Walter Koenig, Ensign Chekov on original 'Star Trek' series, dies at 90
Walter Koenig, second from left, in a shot of the original "Star Trek" cast members. He has died at the age of 90.(Courtesy CBS Studios, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corp.)Actor Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov, the youthful Russian navigator on the “ Star Trek ” television series and several movies, has died. He was 90.Koenig died Monday at his home in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, talent agent Zachery McGinnis said in a statement.In “Star Trek,” Ensign Chekov was the sole Communist-bloc member of the spaceship Enterprise bridge staff. His friendly, supportive presence showed how the rival nations (in the far-off future in which the show was set) were capable of working together.Speaking heavily Russian-accented English, Chekov embodied stereotypical Russian personality traits, including fierce pride, love of poetry and blind loyalty.“Star Trek” ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969 and has had an almost unprecedented afterlife as fans, or Trekkies, kept interest
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Start watching your speed, LA speed cameras go online today
(Courtesy LAPD South Traffic Division via Twitter)Topline:About one-fifth of the city of Los Angeles’ new speed cameras are now issuing warnings, with the rest slated to go live later this year.Tickets on hold for now: Each speed camera will issue automated warnings for 60 days before they start issuing fines. Those penalties start at $50 for going 11 mph over the limit and go up to $500 for drivers going over 100 mph.How many cameras: There are 125 speed cameras across the city, and at the time of writing, 26 are now issuing warnings. You can check on the status of the cameras around town by clicking on the image below. Locations of speed cameras in L.A. Click for an interactive version of the map.(Courtesy LADOT)The backstory: The speed cameras are part of a pilot program signed into law three years ago. Five other cities in California are also part of the program, including Glendale and Long Beach, the latter of which turned on its speed cameras earlier this month.Where the money wi
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Why are pro-housing groups split on Proposition 45?
Housing developments under construction in the community of Goshen on Aug. 17, 2024.(Larry Valenzuela / CalMatters/CatchLight Local)For nearly a decade, California’s Yes In My Backyard activists and other pro-development advocates have wanted to overhaul California’s signature environmental law to clear the way for more housing construction.Now Proposition 45 is on the ballot. Supporters say it would, among other things, overhaul that law, known as the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, to clear the way for — you guessed it — more housing construction.So why are YIMBYs divided?Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and one of the movement's most stalwart champions in the Legislature, is for it. So is the bulk of the building industry, including many major for- and non-profit developers.Bay Area pro-housing advocates Eastbay for Everyone and the Greenbelt Alliance, two typical allies of Wicks, are emphatically against it.In the uncommitted middle lies the lion’s sha
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The hidden history of LA’s Underground Railroad includes an unsolved emancipation mystery
Biddy Mason in the late 1870'sAfter 170 years, one of the great mysteries of early Los Angeles history remains unsolved: Who initiated the freedom suit that emancipated Biddy Mason and 13 other Black women and children in an L.A. courtroom in January 1856? The City Council’s recent move to rename Pershing Square for Mason has refocused public attention on her history. Yet we’re no closer to identifying the single figure behind her emancipation, a historic case that broke the back of slavery in Southern California.I’ll confess, I’ve probably spent as much time as anyone trying to unravel that mystery. A decade of research, resulting in the first scholarly biography of Biddy Mason, The Boundless Biddy Mason: An Odyssey from Slavery to Freedom Across the American West, brought me no closer to the truth.My excuse: The 19th-century official court records were either destroyed or lost, while the accounts of Mason’s own descendants point toward different people, in different places.Only recen
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The city and county are battling over LA’s homelessness response. Here’s how you can weigh in
L.A. City Councilmember Tim McOsker at an L.A. Continuum of Care board meeting, Oct. 6, 2026(Aaron Schrank/LAist )The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is losing control of responsibilities tied to about $239 million in federal taxpayer funds as the Trump administration continues a push to strip power from the joint city-county agency. Now, Los Angeles and L.A. County are competing for control of some of those federal roles. A key vote scheduled for Monday could help chart the future of the region’s response to its homelessness crisis.And it’s happening in a unique format. Anyone, including you, can join and likely cast a vote.Here’s what to know about what’s happening and how to get involved.How we got here A regional planning group called the L.A. Continuum of Care voted earlier this month to designate L.A. County to take over at least two federal roles currently managed by the L.A. Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA — running the homeless count and managing the region
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How to follow the money in local races this election season
We're following the money in the Nov. 5 election.(Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images / Getty Images AsiaPac)This is an excerpt from Make It Make Sense, our pop-up newsletter on the 2024 election. If you want weekly updates through September on following the money this election season, sign up here.Campaign mailers, robocalls, unsolicited texts and TV ads — who’s spending all that money to sway your vote?With Election Day less than three months away, we’re kicking off a short series to help you follow the money in local races this election season.In the weeks ahead, we’ll look closely at spending in specific races, like L.A. County district attorney and some statewide ballot measures. But before we get into the details of who’s spending money and how much, let’s talk about what we’re actually looking at when we look at campaign finance, and why.My colleague Maloy Moore is a longtime data journalist who’s spent decades diving deep into campaign finance. I spoke with her to get her tips — her ad
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Have opinions on school closures? LAUSD adds meetings to get community input
LAUSD is calling its outreach campaign about the district's future “Stronger Schools Together.” (Mariana Dale / LAist)Los Angeles Unified will hold another round of community meetings in November as it begins to consider school closures and mergers.“We're gonna be embarking, I would say, on one of the most consequential initiatives that this district has completed and done over the last 30 years,” said Pedro Salcido, a deputy superintendent, at a similar community meeting in early October.LAUSD officials’ decisions could reshape the experience of 374,000 students from transitional kindergarten through high school. The meetings, scheduled from Wednesday, Nov. 4, through Monday, Nov. 9, offer community members a chance to share their concerns and questions directly with district staff. Most are virtual, but there are two opportunities to attend in person.Enrollment has fallen more than 40% in the last two decades, and the district has closed relatively few of its more than 1,000 schools.
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Best things to do in LA and SoCal: Oct. 21-27
Kool & the Gang will play Pershing Square's free "I Love Funk" festival this weekend. (Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Images)While those of us closer to LAX wait around for the People Mover to finally make its much-delayed debut (oh, how I remember fondly taking a video of its virgin run around the terminals when I got off a plane a few months ago … ), those in the Valley and parts north have had the last laugh as the new Burbank terminal makes the area’s best airport even better. Sigh.But who needs to go anywhere? We’ve got plenty going on right here. And remember to get your ballot in and use our voter guides as your one-stop-ballot-info stop. Election Day is Nov. 3!MusicIn music around the region this week, highlights from Licorice Pizza's recommendations include:Chief Keef will be at the Wiltern on Oct. 27(Erika Goldring / Getty Images)WednesdayG-Eazy with Logic and Juicy J at the YouTube TheaterChappell Roan’s two-night charity event “Super Graphic Spectacular” at the Shrine Auditorium,
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An Olympics budget report from LA28 is missing key details. One city official says that’s a problem
Dodger Stadium is one of L.A.'s many 2028 Olympic venues.(Bonnie Ho / LAist )The latest budget from the Olympics organizing committee for the 2028 Games is now public, but like other reports from LA28, it’s light on key financial details.It comes as L.A.’s city controller pressures LA28 to be more transparent and release more specific data. Controller Kenneth Mejia’s deadline of today (Sept. 28) for more information appears likely to pass with no action from the Olympics organizers.The newly public report from LA28, which includes a summary of the organization’s 2025 finances, puts LA28’s budget at $7.26 billion, up from a previous estimate of $7.15 billion. That includes expense line items such as $1.4 billion for venue infrastructure, $1.42 billion for “sport, games services & operations,” and $586 million for “other expenses.” It doesn’t provide a more comprehensive breakdown. It also doesn’t include budgets or schedules for specific venue construction projects or a list of contract
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