Trump signed off on the decision to replace Makary as he has clashed with Trump, officials in the Department of Health and Human Services and other officials in the administration, multiple reports said on Friday.
Makary, a former surgeon at Johns Hopkins, was confirmed to run the FDA in March 2025 on a vote the included two Democratic members of the Senate voting yes.
His nomination carried some controversy because, like several other Trump cabinet members and nominees, is a former Fox News contributor who preferred that society develop natural immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 instead of the CDC’s preferred method of using vaccine-induced immunity during the pandemic.
The reports suggest that Makary has struggled to run the FDA as long-time staff have left the agency and a range of healthcare, pharmaceutical and advocacy groups have been highly critical of its actions.
The Department of Health and Human Services and Makary have not commented on the reports, and sources for all four news organizations noted that the plan could change if Trump changes his mind.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an event he is hosting for a group that includes Gold Star Mothers and Angel Mothers in honor of Mother’s Day in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
May 7 (UPI) — A group appointed by President Donald Trump made its final recommendations Thursday on changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, suggesting moves that would put more responsibility back on states and other authorities.
The changes also include reviews of agency staffing and privatizing flood insurance, The Hill reported.
“We need to refocus FEMA to get it back on what its mission originally was,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. FEMA is part of Homeland Security.
Panel members said FEMA has become too involved in politics, specifically mentioning state assistance during the coronavirus epidemic, The New York Times reported. Recommendations included changes in how FEMA helps state and local governments with financial recovery.
“Disaster response is complicated and increasingly expensive,” the final report said. “With taxpayers bearing the burden of funding emergency management in the United States, it is the responsibility of every American to embrace their individual responsibility to lessen this burden by being prepared for disasters. … As our nation returns ownership of emergency management back to local communities and their states, tribes and territories, we encourage every American to review their insurance policies and personal disaster plans as well as engaging with their local community leaders to be better prepared when disaster strikes.”
Trump has said that FEMA’s work is too expensive and that state governors should be able to manage more on their own, the Times reported. He has also suggested in the past that the agency should “go away” entirely.
The changes recommended by the report would require congressional approval. They include tweaks meant to make the reimbursement process, once approved, quicker and more direct, and changes meaning the FEMA plays less of a role in helping disaster survivors find housing.
“These recommendations are all about accelerating federal dollars, streamlining the process, making it less bureaucratic, so that Americans can get the help they need on the worst day of their lives,” said former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a member of the council. “And this is not a moment for bureaucracy, it is a moment for action, it is a moment for clarity.”
The Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement that Americans are facing increasingly severe weather and the council’s recommendations “don’t meet this reality.”
“The proposed changes would leave communities without the necessary funding, information and access to insurance to stay prepared and safe when disasters strike,” said Will McDow, the fund’s associate vice president for coasts and watersheds.
The group said the proposed changes would “shift enormous burdens onto states and communities and reduce government efficiency.”
May 2 (UPI) — Spirit Airlines closed Saturday morning, with no options for those already booked on the airline.
“Unfortunately, despite the company’s efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,” the airline said in a statement. “With no additional funding available to the company, Spirit had no choice but to begin this wind-down.”
All flights are canceled, and passengers shouldn’t go to the airport, Spirit said. Those who booked directly with the company will get refunds, but others should reach out to their travel agent or booking site, the company said.
The company reported around 17,000 employees as of the shutdown.
“We’ve activated our airline partners to ensure passengers are not stranded, communities maintain route access, fares do not skyrocket, and Spirit’s workforce is connected to new job opportunities,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a statement.
United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest are all capping ticket prices for Spirit customers who now need to rebook cancelled flights, Duffy’s statement said. But those prices will only be available for 72 hours.
Last week, President Donald Trump said the government could buy the airline, and it has been working on a $500 million rescue plan that would give the government a large ownership stake. But the company couldn’t get support between bondholders and the government for the deal.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that an announcement about Spirit was coming within the next couple of days.
“I guess we’re looking at it. If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal,” Trump said about a bailout plan. “But if we can’t make a good deal – no institution’s been able to do it. I said I’d like to save the jobs. … I would say we’re driving a tough deal, but it’s one of those things. We will do it or we won’t.”
Spirit CEO Dave Davis explained the shutdown.
“The sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the company,” Davis said in a statement. “Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure. This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.”
Spirit customer Angela Moreno told NBC News that she was planning to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Nashville for a wedding Saturday.
“The whole family is going there from different states, so it’s very shocking,” she said. “There’s many people who cannot attend the wedding as of now.”
She said she’s struggling to find replacement tickets.
“They’re refunding the tickets, but the only tickets right now are $600,” she said. “I hope the best for those people who really needed that flight.”
Henry Hartevelt, airline industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told The Washington Post that Spirit was struggling long before the war. Bad business decisions, overexpansion and loss of focus caused its internal issues, and increased competition from other budget airlines added to its woes.
Spirit’s core demographic earns less than $80,000 per year, and those customers took the brunt of the inflation hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
“So [there’s] no single cause of Spirit’s demise, but Spirit has been teeter-tottering on the verge of shutting down for a long time,” Harteveldt told The Post. “It’s very unfortunate. More than [17,000] people may lose their jobs if it does shut down, and we lose an airline and a source of price competition.”
May 2 (UPI) — A company that makes the abortion drug mifepristone on Saturday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately pause a ruling that prevents doctors from prescribing it during telehealth visits.
Late Friday, a three judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in favor of the state of Louisiana in a case asking the court to block doctors from prescribing the drug in telehealth visits.
Louisiana in the last four years has moved to prevent women in the state from obtaining abortion care legislators there were among the first to ban abortion after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, and later blocked doctors from prescribing the medical abortion pill in virtual telehealth visits.
The company, which is not the only drugmaker planning to file an appeal, said that patients will be stuck in limbo because of the lack of clarity it leaves for legal use of the drug, NBC News and Politico reported.
Roughly half of all abortions in the United States are performed using medications.
“Danco has been free to rely on procedures set by the FDA to distribute its product,” lawyers for the company said in a filing with the court.
“The Fifth Circuit’s decision immediately ends that,” the lawyers said. “A stay should issue to prevent the disruption and confusion that will result if the decision below were to remain operative.”
In addition to Danco, Politico reported that GenBioPro, which also manufactures the drug, has indicated that it will also file an appeal with the court.
Mifepristone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000 for medical termination of pregnancy and, until the COVID-19 pandemic, could only be prescribed during in-person appointments.
Early in the pandemic and the country locked down in an effort to stem the spread of the virus, doctors sued the FDA to allow them to prescribe mifepristone during telehealth visits.
The FDA temporarily changed the rule, but in 2023 adopted it permanently as some states started to restrict access to abortion and abortion services after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
Pharmaceutical companies and patient advocates warned that the restriction circumvents the FDA’s regulatory authority, which is based on evidence and data, and that it may offer a path for people to challenge other medications based on personal interest or opinion.
In the case of Danco, it also immediately filed the appeal because it is the only product it makes and “without a valid legal framework for distributing that product, Danco will lose its only source of revenue and may be unable to continue operating.”
President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. Trump signed an order to expand workers’ access to retirement accounts. Trump also signed legislation ending a 75-day partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security after the House voted in favor of funding. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
A federal appeals court on Friday night blocked the nationwide sale of mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill, after the state of Louisiana sued the federal government for allowing it to be sold during telehealth appointments and mailed to patients. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
May 1 (UPI) — A federal appeals court on Friday night issued a ruling that enacts a nationwide block on the prescription of the abortion pills in telehealth appointments and mailing them to patients.
A three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the state of Louisiana, which had used to end a Food and Drug Administration rule that allows doctors to prescribe mifepristone without having an in-person visit, ABC News, Politico and The New York Times reported.
Mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000 for medical termination of pregnancy, and until the COVID-19 global pandemic required that the drug be prescribed to patients during in-person doctor’s appointments.
After enacting a strict abortion ban in 2022, Louisiana then moved to reclassify mifepristone as a controlled substance and criminalized its possession, effectively making it illegal in the state.
Although Louisiana had made it illegal to prescribe or possess in the state, people could obtain prescriptions from out-of-state doctors have virtual telehealth visits, with the mails mailed to people’s homes.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country in spring 2020 and forced much of in-person life to stop, doctors sued the FDA for an exception to the in-person requirement to prescribe mifepristone.
The agency in 2021 announced that it would exercise “enforcement discretion” because of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
After Roe v. Wade was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, several states across the country moved to outlaw most abortions, but mifepristone continued to be available through telehealth appointments and the mail.
Louisiana told the court that it needed relief because of an alleged influx of abortion pills to the state, making the argument that mail-delivered abortion pills endanger the safety of women there.
“We are alarmed by this Court’s decision to ignore the FDA’s rigorous science and decades of safe use of mifepristone in a case pursued by extremist abortion opponents,” Evan Masingill, CEO of GenBioPort, which manufacturers the drug, told Politico in a statement.
“We remain committed to taking any actions necessary to make mifepristone available and remain accessible to as many people as possible,” Masingill said.
May 1 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday said that his administration had made a “final” bailout offer to Spirit Airlines as reports suggest it is on the verge of shutting down.
Although Trump said his administration is still discussing a $500 million bailout for the beleaguered airline, its investors have not agreed to the government’s proposal and Spirit could shut down as soon as Saturday, The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported.
Trump has for the past two weeks said the government would try to get involved to save the airline and its 7,500 employees, unveiling last weekend a plan to loan Spirit $500 million under the Defense Production Act and become its main debtor.
The price of jet fuel has doubled since Feb. 28 because of the war in Iran, raising costs for all airlines globally, but Spirit has been working to emerge from bankruptcy for the second time in a year and its financial plan has been completely upended.
“We’re looking at it,” Trump told reporters on Friday, hours after reports of the airline’s demise started to spread.
“If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal,” he said. “No institution has been able to do it. I said I’d like to save the jobs but we’ll have an announcement sometime today … We gave them a final proposal.”
Spirit told a bankruptcy court on April 23 that its cash was “not going to last for very much longer” and that, without some sort of bailout, it would likely have to cease operations within a matter of days.
The Trump administration’s bailout plan — of which some Republicans and members of Trump’s administration have been critical — would give Spirit the loan it needs in exchange for the government becoming its largest debtor and potentially owning 90% of the airline.
The Fort Lauderdale-based airline told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that it is “operating as usual,” and travelers at its main hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport said that their flights had not been canceled.
Officials at Miami-International Airport also told the Sentinel that they had not been notified by Spirit that it was shutting down.
Spirit is said to have revolutionized air travel as one of the first of several value airlines that has managed to offer flights at rock-bottom prices, but it also has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company flew less than half the number of flights in April than it had two years ago — it dropped from roughly 25,000 to 12,000 — and has not turned an annual profit since 2019, The New York Times reported.
Having renegotiated contracts with its employees, shook off engine defects that doomed parts of its fleet and charted a path forward, Spirit was expected to emerge from bankruptcy in better shape sometime this summer.
After the war in Iran launched, affecting oil and gas prices worldwide, the cost of jet fuel doubled and tanked the company’s financial plan.
In the event that Spirit does shut down, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways all have said they are preparing to assist the airline’s customers and employees, which includes helping customers to travel in places where they operate routes similar to Spirit, CNBC reported.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before a Senate committee hearing in 2022 in Washington, D.C. One of Fauci’s former aides has been charged with concealing emails, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Fauci is not implicated in the case. File Photo by Greg Nash/UPI | License Photo
April 28 (UPI) — A former aide to Anthony Fauci faces charges for allegedly concealing emails that involve the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
David M. Morens, 78, worked with Fauci from 2006 to 2022. Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president from 2021 to 2022, is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case. Congressional Republicans have been investigating the U.S. coronavirus response, which started during President Donald Trump‘s first administration.
The indictment charges Morens with conspiracy against the United States and destruction and concealment of records in a federal investigation. Prosecutors say that he purposefully concealed emails he’d exchanged with the president of a nonprofit group. This group had worked with a Chinese lab that’s faced scrutiny over a perceived connection to the coronavirus, the Washington Post reported.
The indictment does not name the president or the group, but previous records have shown the former to be Peter Daszak, former president of EcoHealth Alliance, the Post reported. The group received a grant in 2014 to study bat coronaviruses.
Morens was released on his own recognizance after appearing Monday in federal court in Maryland. He has said he tried to keep some records off his government email in part to keep coronavirus misinformation from spreading and to discourage conspiracy theories.
Controversy over the origins of the virus has existed for as long as it’s been known. While many scientists say it jumped naturally from bats to humans through another animal, Trump and his administration have promoted other theories, including that the virus came from a Chinese lab.
Some Republicans hailed the charges against Morens as validation, including Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
“I applaud the Trump Justice Department for taking action to hold his public official accountable for hiding information from the American people,” Comer said Tuesday.
Under Trump’s second administration, the White House’s covid.gov website has been changed to a site that promotes the “lab leak” theory, replacing information about vaccines, testing and health issues related to the virus.
Ninety-five years ago next month, Aurelio Manrique Jr. landed a job as a mild-mannered L.A. Times columnist. But the resume this native of the central Mexico state of San Luis Potosí brought to the paper was that of a firebrand.
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Medical student turned political prisoner. Fought in the Mexican Revolution. Governor of his home state. Trusted advisor of general-turned-president Álvaro Obregón. Founder of a left-wing political party. Mexican legislator. He even took to the floor of Mexico’s congress to denounce former president Plutarco Elías Calles as a farsante — a phony — and then pull a gun on a rival who took issue with his vitriol.
Tall, with round wire glasses and a shock of black hair that was the inverse of his Moses-like beard, Manrique cut an exciting figure in Latino L.A. when he arrived as a political exile in 1929 after the so-called Escobar rebellion, which was an attempt to overthrow the Mexican government. A Oct. 28, 1929 Times dispatch noted that “it is not uncommon to find among the shabby, shuffling street venders [sic] of Sonoratown” former Mexican bigwigs “offering sweetmeats and trinkets from trays” in an effort to survive.
Finding a home in L.A.
They, like so many other political refugees before and since, made L.A. a home but also a place to fight for the freedom of their homeland.
Manrique, on the other hand, was hailed as the “intellectual head” of his fellow Mexican refugee politicos and an “accomplished linguist” who spoke Spanish, English, French and German.
“He stands in my memory as a pillar of fire because, at all times, he has never been afraid to do or say what he considered to be right, regardless of his own personal or political fate,” an admirer would recall decades later in the Virginia Quarterly Review.
The revolutionary found welcome audiences across the Southland with lectures and Spanish-language radio show appearances to talk about what was going on in his home country. He participated in Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo festivities and even found work in Hollywood films as everything from a British lord to an Arab sheikh.
But reputation doesn’t pay the bills, so Manrique also offered translation and interpreter services from a small Bunker Hill office. He also held Spanish-language classes twice a week at the L.A. Central Library. Soon after, The Times — a paper that back then loathed leftists of all stripes — hired Manrique as a columnist in May 1931. He was to be in charge of its daily Spanish-language roundup of world and local events, which the paper had regularly published since 1922.
The revolutionary plays a more reserved role
I wish I could say that Manrique used his platform to inveigh against the mass roundups of Mexican Americans that kicked off that year and that would lead to the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Mexican Americans, citizens and not, during the 1930s. Or that Manrique taught his Times bosses that Latinos were more than domestic help or a societal scourge. Or that he deserves a spot in the pantheon of legendary Times metro columnists like Jack Smith, Ruben Salazar and Steve Lopez.
Alas, it was not to be.
The daily columna was just a roundup of wire stories published in Spanish, part of The Times’ effort to teach the language of Cervantes to those interested. Every Monday, the 40-year-old Manrique also wrote Platicas de Los Lunes [Monday Lessons], a place for the professor to teach new words to readers via translations, poems and sample sentences.
Manrique’s last byline was April 25, 1932. In the hundreds of columnas he wrote for us, I found nothing even remotely hinting at the progressive lion that Mexicans in Southern California knew him as. But in an era in which Latino visibility in Anglo Southern California was nonexistent when it wasn’t heavily stereotyped, Manriquez’s brief tenure at The Times was an important step for future Latino writers at the paper, all of us whom owe a debt to the man.
He returned to Mexico in early 1933 after President Abelardo L. Rodríguez announced amnesty for him and other exiles. The former revolutionary spent the rest of his life working for the Mexican government, most notably as ambassador to Scandinavian countries from 1946 to 1956.
In 1962, the retired Manrique returned to his old L.A. stomping grounds one final time five years before his death for a lecture at the Alexandria Hotel.
“He finds Los Angeles completely changed,” La Opinión reported, “and told us, with a tone of barely concealed sadness, that many of those who knew him had disappeared.”
The fate of all Angelenos, alas.
Today’s top stories
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks at a March 7 town hall in Mentone.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A Trump-endorsed Republican could become California’s next governor
A second ticket drop for the Olympics
A second ticket drop is set to open in August and will offer refreshed inventory across all sports at a range of prices.
Those who registered but did not receive a slot in the first ticket drop or did not buy all 12 of their tickets will be enrolled in a lottery for a spot in the second ticket drop.
The parks will serve historically underserved communities with recreation and historic preservation.
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Commentary and opinions
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The waffle with maple butter is the drive-across-town dish at celebrity-backed Max & Helen’s, the Larchmont diner opened by Phil Rosenthal and Nancy Silverton.
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
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A question for you: What’s your favorite California-themed book?
Marya says, “Hard Times in Paradise” by David and Micki Colfax.
Cristina says, “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck.
On this day 21 years ago, “Me at the zoo” was the first video uploaded to YouTube, opening the door to a new medium of television.
For the 20th anniversary last year, The Times’ Wendy Lee wrote about the video sharing platform and how it changed TV as we know it.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Much of the news dominating the local restaurant scene has focused on sadness.
Two Los Angeles icons, Cole’s French Dip and Echo Park’s Taix restaurant, closed after more than 215 combined years of service.
It’s easy to be down and not necessarily want to go out.
Fortunately, our Food team, led by senior editor Danielle Dorsey, has some amazing recommendations for new favorites and old haunts that will fill your stomach and lift your spirits.
This month’s highlighted selections include locales from Altadena and Echo Park to Malibu and Westwood that the team feels are all worth your time.
The iconic restaurant along PCH was on the heels of reopening after the Pacific Palisades fire last February when heavy rain caused mudslides that led to flooding and extensive damage.
Fourteen months later, Duke’s Malibu is open with significant renovations and limited lunch and dinner menus featuring Hawaiian-influenced seafood staples such as crispy coconut shrimp, Korean sticky ribs and hula pie.
As the restaurant celebrates 30 years in operation, plans are underway for an anniversary party this summer.
City officials have encouraged Golden Leaf restaurant to install an expensive filter to address the pungent smell, though owners insist that none of their immediate shopping center neighbors have complained about the odor.
Supporters launched a Change.org petition last summer backing the preparation of the dish.
From married couple Omar Limon and Blanca Flores Torres, with help from Omar’s brother Arnold Limon, Hoja Blanca offers a playful take on modern Mexican food with dishes such as quesabirria tacos, esquites with cauliflower and a tetela topped with pork belly, all served alongside Bryan Jimenez’s classic cocktails.
(Stella Kalinina/For The Times)
Meymuni Cafe (Rancho Park)
As war unfolds in Iran and neighboring countries, L.A.’s Persian community has found comfort and support at restaurants such as Meymuni, a modern Persian cafe that offers free tea and cookies to diners, many of whom stop by after related protests at the nearby Federal Building.
The cafe opened in 2025 with barbari bread and lavash wrap sandwiches, tahini-date shakes and chai lattes, plus a full slate of events aimed at uplifting the local Persian community.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
NADC Burger (Westwood)
The rapidly expanding smashburger chain from Pasta Bar and Sushi by Scratch Restaurants chef Phillip Frankland Lee has opened its first L.A. location in Westwood Village, with plans to open additional locations in the city.
The signature burger at NADC — an acronym for “not a damn chance” — features two Wagyu patties, American cheese, grilled onions, jalapeños, pickles and a house sauce, with beef tallow fries and brown butter chocolate chip cookies rounding out the short menu.
Roshona Bilash, which translates to “luxurious taste,” features Bengali classics such as bone marrow nihari, rice pilafs and meats and breads cooked in a clay oven, with plans to expand with regional specialties such as seafood dishes popular along the Bangladesh coast.
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The week’s biggest stories
(Kyra Saldana/For De Los)
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
California living
Crime, courts and policing
Entertainment and media news
What else is going on
Must reads
Other meaty reads
For your downtime
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
Going out
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L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Commenters who never have been — and never will go — complain about the cost, the influencers, the hype. Purists wax poetic about the days when they disappeared into three days of music and the field wasn’t overtaken by brands like Barbie and e.l.f. cosmetics. Defenders claim they can camp their way to an affordable weekend, and others spend the whole time posting. A select few even talk about great performances they saw — it’s still a music festival.
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But one thing everybody can agree on: Coachella has changed. I should know. I’ve been covering it as a journalist since 2007.
Rapid advancements in technology and mass adoption of social media have brought out the best and worst of the festival — not just on screens thousands of miles away, but to those of us trying not to trip over the makeshift photoshoot you might have seen on Instagram.
In the early years, there were no brand activations on the field; nobody knew what an influencer was and the only corporate sign you saw was for Heineken in the beer gardens. (There was no Heineken House with its own stage, just signs advertising the beer.)
The grounds were also considerably smaller, making it easier to explore the different stages and discover new music. You didn’t have fancy food options, but a slice of Spicy Pie was less than $10. (Coachella upgraded its food options from festival staples to weekend outposts of L.A. restaurants in 2014.)
The music was the draw. The festival’s track record includes artists like the Killers, the Black Keys, Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar climbing up from small type to headliner on the lineup poster.
Livestreams and influencers made Coachella’s reach global
The vibes started to shift in 2010 as smartphones grew in popularity, although the service on the field was spotty. It was the first year Coachella offered a livestream — available via Facebook and MySpace. The next year, the stream moved to YouTube, where it remains and draws millions of viewers.
As Coachella expanded to twin weekends due to popular demand on the ground in 2012, it also had the first viral moment fans could enjoy from thousands of miles away: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg brought 2Pac back to life via a hologram.
Celebrities were always at Coachella (I spotted Ryan Seacrest, Corbin Bernsen, David Hasselhoff and Danny DeVito in my early years), but the rise of social media made celebrity culture a key part of the event. By 2011, TMZ was posting about stars like Lindsay Lohan. Clips from Coachella went viral and ended up on shows like “Tosh.0” and referenced in “Community.”
The art, which was always part of the festival, became bigger and more iconic. On the growing photo app Instagram, larger-than-life sculptures of astronauts started appearing in selfies.
Brands saw an opportunity. American Express, H&M and Samsung launched activations on-site in 2015. The party scene outside the festival, with non-affiliated events that were timed because everyone was in town for Coachella, became marketing vehicles. Brands are still cashing in more than a decade later.
The next watershed moment was Beyoncé in 2018. Today, most headlining sets at the fest feel as if they are designed for the viewing experience on the livestream rather than the fans on the field (ahem, Justin Bieber and his laptop). But Beyoncé’s spectacle was just as mind-blowing on-site as it was at home. A year later, the “Homecoming” special debuted on Netflix, widening the reach.
Coachella became a key part of the pop culture landscape, and then it became a cornerstone of the influencer economy.
Behind all the hype, there’s still a music festival hiding
I inadvertently photobombed approximately 500 people just trying to go to and from the press tent last weekend and my inbox is overflowing with requests for coverage of off-site events with brands, celebs and TikTok influencers, including social media clips.
Coachella is what you make of it. And besides, everyone knows there are fewer influencers on Weekend 2.
Today’s top stories
A health worker administers a measles test on Fernando Tarin, of Seagraves, Texas, at a mobile testing site outside Seminole Hospital District on Feb. 21, 2025.
The Automated People Mover system began construction in 2019 and was initially slated to open to the public in 2023.
Nationwide recall of a popular anxiety drug
Specific bottles of Xanax, one of the most widely prescribed medications to treat anxiety and panic disorders, has been recalled due to its failure to dissolve at a standard rate.
FDA officials are not warning against consuming the product at this time.
What else is going on
Commentary and opinions
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Reporter Deborah Vankin gets a massage by an “Aescape” robot at Pause Wellness Studio.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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A question for you: Are you planning on leaving California for another state? If so, tell us why.
Laura says, “I left California during the pandemic. Part of the push factor for me was politics, but not blue politics. I had been living in OC since 2018 and was surprised it was so Conservative (and conservative). That became a bigger source of discomfort for me as the vaccine question demonstrated how our neighbors’ decisions can impact us directly. Rather than moving elsewhere in California, which would have sorted out the political discomfort nicely, I moved to a much more affordable state where I had family.”
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration national security official, speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago. Troye has launched a campaign for Congress in Virginia. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
April 14 (UPI) — Saying, “Trump doesn’t scare me,” Olivia Troye, a former counterterrorism and homeland security adviser in the first administration of President Donald Trump, launched a campaign for Congress as a Virginia Democrat on Tuesday.
“I took [Trump] on when it mattered the most, and I’m ready to do it again,” she said in a campaign video posted on YouTube. “It’s time to send some real courage to Congress.”
The former Republican, who was also a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, resigned before the presidential election in2020. She became a vocal critic of Trump’s attitude toward the coronavirus pandemic and appeared in an ad for Republican Voters Against Trump to share those criticisms.
In her launch video, Troye said “the evil I saw in that White House was staggering.”
“Too many families are struggling to get by while Washington looks the other way,” she said. “I won’t because I’ve lived it. Virginia deserves someone who’s been through the fire, who isn’t afraid to fight for our freedom, for our values, for our future.”
Troye, the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, worked in the Pentagon during the George W. Bush administration, as an intelligence officer in the Department of Homeland Security and as an adviser for then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Details of Troye’s run depend in part on a vote planned April 21 in Virginia, Politico reported. If voters approve a redistricting measure in that vote, she’ll run in the state’s 7th Congressional District, while Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., will run in the 1st Congressional District.
A train enters Dorasan Station near the border with North Korea on Friday. South Korea resumed tourist rail service to the border station for the first time in over six years. Pool Photo by Yonhap
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Friday the resumption of tourist rail service to the border with North Korea is a “small” starting point for establishing peace with Pyongyang, as Seoul reopened a long-closed border rail station.
Earlier in the day, South Korea resumed tourist rail service to and from its northernmost Dorasan Station in the border city of Paju, which is a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation that once connected the two Koreas.
“The resumption of train service is a small starting point toward establishing everyday peace, allowing people to experience it in their daily lives,” Chung said in a ceremony marking the event.
“When tourists can visit, see and experience the site of peace at Dorasan Station, peace will finally become an everyday language that breathes in our lives, rather than grand discourse,” he said.
The station, the northern endpoint of South Korea’s rail network just south of the inter-Korean border, was established after the then South and North Korean leaders agreed to connect their railways at a 2000 summit held amid a period of reconciliation between the two Koreas.
Freight trains once ran through Dorasan Station between the two Koreas, carrying materials and finished goods to and from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a jointly operated factory park in North Korea that was shut down amid inter-Korean tensions in 2016.
Since then, the station had served tourist trains carrying passengers in South Korea to border areas, before closing completely in late 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resumption of the border station comes as Seoul continues efforts to resume dialogue and engagement with North Korea to reduce military tensions and establish peace, despite Pyongyang’s repeated rebuffs.
“Only peace and coexistence, as well as reconciliation and cooperation, are the path to mutual prosperity for the South and the North, not worthless animosity and confrontation,” Chung also noted.
He said he believes the two Koreas can surely establish new relations that accommodate the changing international situation and their respective national interests, expressing hope that their railways could be reconnected in the future.
The resumption of rail service to the station will allow tourists to travel by train beyond the Civilian Control Line, which restricts public access near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
The train, named “DMZ Peace Link,” departs from Seoul Station and stops at Unjeong and Imjingang before reaching Dorasan Station, where tourists can visit a nearby observation post and a tourist village.
It runs once on the second and fourth Fridays each month till May, before expanding to every Friday from June.
Going forward, the government, municipalities and the rail agency plan to add more tourist destinations near the border station to provide various programs aimed at promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Sorry, Orlando. Southern California is the theme park capital of the world. Yes, I believe that.
A brief history: Knott’s Berry Farm created a framework that allowed Disneyland to invent the theme park, which Universal Studios tweaked. SoCal innovations, all of them — and the industry remains centered here.
Theme parks are integral to SoCal life. They’re institutions, as familiar as Dodger Stadium, Griffith Park or the Getty. Many of us grew up going to the parks and have archives of fading photos to prove it.
That’s why The Times is launching its first-ever theme park newsletter, a weekly guide to what matters and how to best experience these themed wonderlands. Welcome to Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride, where I’ll take you on my adventures in make-believe, share news and tips, and go deep on the hidden artistry behind SoCal’s most beloved attractions. (Sign up, and we’ll be in your inbox soon.)
Why theme parks are magical
Maybe you haven’t been to a theme park in a while. And maybe that’s intentional. Yes, ticket prices increase every year, crowds frustrate and your ankle will probably be struck by a stroller. But theme parks are art. They’re meticulously designed, as real as our ability to pretend. Few spaces exist in which so many artistic endeavors collide: architecture, costuming, landscaping, animation, engineering, urban design and more. The delight is in the details.
Theme parks are more than an escape — they reflect and respond to culture. Maybe these are simply the ramblings of a Disney adult and fan of all theme parks, but I won’t apologize for seeking joy, wonder and play. It’s what’s needed right now.
I visit theme parks regularly — probably too often by some people’s standards — but I’m excited every time. The key is to stop viewing them as a checklist of activities. So as we enter the busy spring break and summer seasons, here are some ways to develop a deeper appreciation (and simply have more fun) at our most iconic parks.
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Embrace the Disneyland classics
I received pushback when I declared It’s a Small World the best attraction at the Anaheim resort, but hear me out. The ride is designed in the look of animator turned theme park artist Mary Blair, reflective of her color clashes and childlike whimsy. It’s akin to a boat trip through an art gallery. No other attraction is so reflective of a singular art style. The facade, designed by renown Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump and inspired by Blair, mixes glistening white metals and fiberglass with gold leaf accents that nod to the Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pisa, a Dutch windmill and more. How many more landmarks can you spot amid the jagged edges and byzantine shapes?
Fun fact: Legend tells that Disneyland used the entire U.S. supply of gold leaf to make the facade. Germany, apparently, came to the rescue.
Don’t skip a ride on the greatest tram tour ever built
Visitors enter the set of Jupiter’s Claim from the movie “Nope” while taking the Universal Studios tram tour in May 2023.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Universal Studios’ World-Famous Tram Tour, as it is officially designated, is the most important modern theme park attraction in America. The slow-moving backlot trek existed long before Universal Studios had a theme park, but it changed the industry.
In 1976, one year after Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” opened, the studio put guests face-to-face with a 24-foot shark. Never before had a cultural phenomenon like “Jaws” been so quickly replicated in a theme park. “Ride the movies” is a phrase coined by Spielberg, and it’s an industrywide trend that hasn’t stopped.
Fun fact: Universal consulted submarine builders General Dynamics to construct a shark that could survive long term under water.
Spend an afternoon in America’s first theme park
Knott’s Berry Farm’s entrance as parkgoers ride the Silver Bullet roller coaster behind it in May 2021.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
There are times I go to Knott’s Berry Farm and never leave its Ghost Town area, which predates Disneyland and is filled with oddities. A toy shop, for instance, sells actual puppets, and a train ride still features a staged robbery. The park also just remodeled its 72-year-old Bird Cage Theatre, home to outrageous vaudeville-style shows, where a young Steve Martin once performed. It’s a rarity these days to have live theater at a theme park.
Fun fact: The theater’s facade is a replica of the original Bird Cage in Tombstone, Ariz., which has long had a bawdy reputation.
So I hope you’ll sign up for Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride, where we’ll geek out on the history, the artistry and the future of these spaces. Have a theme park question? Email me, and I hope to answer it in an upcoming edition of the newsletter. Life is tough. We can all use more fun.
Today’s top stories
Billionaire Tom Steyer speaks during Jewish California: Governor 2026 Candidate Forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 26.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
Billionaire candidate for California governor faces criticism
Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for California governor, faces mounting criticism over his former hedge fund’s prior investments in private prisons now housing undocumented immigrants.
Steyer says he deeply regrets the investment and left his hedge fund 14 years ago and has since spent hundreds of millions on Democratic causes, particularly efforts to fight climate change.
Artemis II crew flies past the moon
NASA’s Artemis II crew flew past the moon Monday, traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history and becoming the first to see some sections of the moon’s far side in the sunlight with the naked eye.
The four astronauts described the far side in eloquent detail: Geometric patterns of browns, blues and greens amid the moon’s typical shades of gray.
L.A.-based relatives of a deceased Iranian leader were arrested
The general’s daughter has disputed the family connection, according to Iranian media, which has quoted a statement attributed to her saying that the two women bear no relation to the general.
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State Route 78.
(Josh Jackson)
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And finally … your photo of the day
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne travels over the Coachella 2004 crowd in an inflated plastic bubble.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier during 2004 Coachella. Here’s a look at The Times’ photos from every year of the festival, including its origins in 1999, legendary performances from Daft Punk, Prince and Beyoncé, and the iconic art installations the festival has hosted over the years.
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Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Covered marquees. Downed statues. Painted-over murals. A canceled holiday.
California has effectively exorcised César Chávez from the public sphere just weeks after a New York Times investigation found two women who said the legendary labor leader sexually assaulted them when they were teenage girls in the 1970s. Just as explosive was the revelation by his longtime lieutenant, Dolores Huerta, that he raped her in the 1960s.
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My prediction for the next place we’ll see a Chávez purge: books about him, which number into the dozens and span from academic treatises to children’s tales. But before critics relegate those texts to the banned section, folks should read some of them to see how writers helped establish the Chávez myth and propagated it for decades.
The books that created the Chávez legend
The tendency to elevate him above other activists was there from the start. In 1967, John Gregory Dunne published “Delano: The Story of the California Grape Strike,” which saw the author (and husband to Joan Didion) capture the essence of el movimiento in its earliest days through on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Chávez, whom Dunne described in the introduction as “the right man at the right place at what was, sadly, both the right and the wrong time.”
Famed writer Peter Matthiessen cemented Chávez’s image as a humble hero fighting a lone, brave battle against philistine farmers with a two-part New Yorker profile that became the basis for 1969s “Sal Si Puedes: Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution.” That narrative continued with Jacques Levy’s 1975 release “Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa.” Talk about getting too close to the subject: The author’s archived papers disclosed he served as Chávez’s literal notetaker during the 1970 negotiations that ended the grape strike and led to the UFW’s first union contracts.
Chávez came under strong scrutiny
Rose-tinted biographies tellingly stopped around the time Chávez created a commune in what’s now currently the César E. Chávez National Monument in Keene and began to target perceived enemies within the UFW. Critics instead appeared in the media — one of the first was a 1979 Reason article that alleged he was misusing federal funds and contained the prescient line, “Many people will be reluctant to believe anything that could cast a shadow over this man.”
Other critical dispatches included pieces in the L.A. Times, Village Voice and one in the Sacramento Bee so damning in its indictment of how Chávez had, on his own, sabotaged the movement so many associated with him that its author, Marcos Breton, recently wrote how Chávez was left “hostile and angry” by his simple questions.
In the wake of Chávez’s decline and eventual death in 1993, authors created a new genre: Saint César. Titles like “Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence,” “Conquering Goliath: Cesar Chavez at the Beginning” (by his mentor, Fred Ross Sr., the most important California organizer you’ve never heard of) and “The Rhetorical Career of César Chávez” pushed forth the gospel of their subject as a plainspoken prophet out of the Good Book.
Chávez inspired millions — but those books will now forever read as hollow and sadly myopic.
Rethinking the Chávez myth
True reappraisals of Chávez and his work wouldn’t start until after former Times editor and reporter Miriam Pawel published a 2006 series for this paper that showed the ugly, domineering side of Chávez and the UFW’s decline. Six years later, longtime activist Frank Bardacke simultaneously praised and damned Chávez in his “Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers.” Though a good read, it pales in importance and poignant lyricism to two double whammies that dropped in 2014: “From the Jaws of Victory The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement” by Dartmouth College professor (and my distant cousin!) Matthew Garcia and Pawel’s own “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography.”
Garcia and Pawel are now making media appearances and writing essays to opine on where they think Chávez went wrong. Expect updates to all of these books and so many others in the months and years to come — if they’re ever published again.
Today’s top stories
Red diamond rattlesnakes are among species in the Golden State. One reptile expert who relocates snakes says her phone has been “ringing off the hook.”
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Weird rattlesnake season
Unseasonably warm March weather triggered an unusually active rattlesnake season in California, with experts fielding record calls about sightings statewide.
Two fatal bites in Southern California in March and 77 Poison Control calls in three months far exceed typical annual patterns.
Those former Californians said the move saved them almost $700 in monthly housing costs, and they became 48% more likely to own a home in their new state.
Minimal snow in California mountains
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(Stella Kalinina / For The Times; Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times; Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times; Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
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A question for you: How are you celebrating Easter this year?
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the second inning of a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Ronaldo Bolaños at Tuesday night’s Dodgers’ game. Shohei Ohtani battled through the rain to throw a one-hit gem in the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
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Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend reporter Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
March 27 (UPI) — An ethics adjudicatory subcommittee found Friday that 25 of 27 charges of ethics violations against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., had been “proven by clear and convincing evidence.”
“Following the hearing, the adjudicatory subcommittee moved into executive session to deliberate. After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the [Statement of Alleged Violations] had been proven,” the release from the Committee on Ethics said.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who maintains her innocence, was indicted in November on the federal charges along with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus.
The representative’s family owns Trinity Healthcare Services. The company had a FEMA-funded contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccines, but in July 2021 was accidentally overpaid by $5 million by a Florida agency, the indictment said. Instead of returning the funds, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly moved the money to different accounts “to disguise its source,” the Justice Department said. She then allegedly used some of the funds to finance her campaign.
The full ethics committee is scheduled to have a hearing when the House comes back from its two week recess beginning Friday, “to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the Committee to recommend,” Ethics Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said in a joint statement.
The hearing lasted nearly seven hours Thursday night.
Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in a federal criminal case.
William Barzee, Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer, argued that the facts in the committee’s motion were in dispute and that the federal charges kept her from responding to the Ethics panel because of concerns about self-incrimination in the trial.
Barzee argued in the hearing that there was evidence of a “profit-sharing agreement” for the family company, which means she was “entitled to every single penny that she received” from her family’s company after the improper payment. Lawmakers appeared skeptical of that argument and of the evidence of a profit-sharing agreement.
The committee said Cherfilus-McCormick failed to file accurate financial disclosure forms, accepted improper campaign contributions from others and provided special favors in connection with community project funding requests, The Hill reported.
The panel did not approve two of the 27 counts.
It said that Cherfilus-McCormick: “had knowledge that some or all information identified as inaccurately disclosed in numerous FEC reports filed on behalf of her campaign were false” and that she “caused her campaign to submit false records to the FEC.”
Another charge it didn’t approve was lack of candor and diligence in ethics investigations, because she missed deadlines and canceled interviews, but her lawyer said that her previous lawyer had told her not to cooperate because of the federal charges.
“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., posted on X. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”
When asked if she should stay in the House, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., didn’t answer.
President Donald Trump stands with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins during an event celebrating farmers on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
March 26 (UPI) — The House Ethics Committee will have a rare public hearing Thursday on allegations that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., stole $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and used some of it to finance her campaign.
Depending on the outcome of the 2 p.m. EDT hearing, the committee could recommend expulsion from the House of Representatives. While House Republicans are already trying to oust her, Democrats are waiting to see what the hearing reveals.
“We believe that Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick has an opportunity to defend herself both from the allegations here under the dome as well as those in a courtroom,” The Hill reported Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “After the conclusion of those, we will see what happens.”
Cherfilus-McCormick, who maintains her innocence, was indicted in November on the federal charges along with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus.
“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” she said in a statement. “The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues. From day one, I have fully cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.”
Cherfilus-McCormick has tried to postpone the hearing because she is unable to speak freely due to the pending federal case.
“While I am limited in what I can address due to an ongoing federal matter, I have cooperated fully within those constraints,” The Hill reported she said. “I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight and challenge these inaccuracies when I am legally able to do so.”
She requested the committee “follow its own precedents and uphold fairness and not allow this process to be driven by politics or numbers.”
Cherfilus-McCormick’s family owns Trinity Healthcare Services. The company had a FEMA-funded contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccines, but in July 2021 was accidentally overpaid by $5 million by a Florida agency, the indictment said. Instead of returning the funds, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly moved the money to different accounts “to disguise its source,” the Justice Department said. She then allegedly used some of the funds to finance her campaign.
The hearing will be conducted by an adjudicatory committee made up of four Democrats and four Republicans to decide if the allegations “have been proved by clear and convincing evidence” and “make findings of fact.”
The hearing will be public, according to House rules, but can be made private if the committee votes to do so. On Wednesday, the committee said it would start the hearing by considering Cherfilus-McCormick’s request to close the hearing to the public.
An investigative subcommittee had been investigating for a while before her indictment and in January released a 59-page statement of its findings.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., filed a resolution to expel her from the House but held off on forcing a vote until the subcommittee releases its findings.
“$5 million, 15 indictments — like, if she’s found guilty on all 15 of those charges, she’s going to serve 53 years in prison,” The Hill reported Steube said.
First lady Melania Trump speaks during the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit roundtable event in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Plus, every time you drive, you can see the escalating average cost for a gallon of gas throughout the state that ranges from $5.77 in Orange County, $5.78 in San Diego County, $5.80 in Los Angeles County and $5.86 in San Francisco County to the high of $6.57 in Mono County, according to AAA.
It can easily make anyone think having fun is unaffordable.
Fortunately, our Travel and Experiences team has put together a list of 75 fun things to do for under $20.
On warm days, it’s hard to beat a ride on the swan boats at Echo Park.
They’re powered by foot paddles, and the pedaling is easy because you’re in no hurry. Maybe you’ll want to do a circuit of the lake (really a man-made reservoir). Maybe you’ll sidle up to the towers of whitewater rising from the mid-lake fountain.
Maybe you’ll wait until after dark (because the swans light up).
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Experience L.A.’s esoteric history at the Philosophical Research Society (Los Feliz)
Cost: Free to visit, workshops and lectures from $10 and up.
Located at the intersection of Los Feliz and Griffith Park boulevards, the Philosophical Research Society has long been a place of mystery, intrigue and, for some, apprehension.
The Mayan Revival campus painted in Southwestern shades of clay, cream and sage was built in 1935 by the celebrated author and esoteric lecturer Manly P. Hall.
Today, it hosts a dizzying array of events each week including poetry readings, death cafes, sound baths, a weekly class on Buddhism, tarot and astrology salons and musical performances — some of which have a suggested donation of just $10.
If you visit, make sure to make time to browse the excellently curated metaphysical bookstore.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Find the perfect meditation spot at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine (Pacific Palisades)
Cost: Free.
Whether or not you’re familiar with the work of Paramahansa Yogananda, who founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920, if you live in Los Angeles you owe him a debt of gratitude for the smattering of lush, meditative gardens in Southern California that are still open to the public today.
Among those is Lake Shrine, a beautifully landscaped 10-acre property in the Pacific Palisades surrounding a spring-fed lake that is dotted with quiet meditation spots.
It is free to visit, but you will need to make a reservation online before you go. (Reservations open each Saturday at 10 a.m. for the week ahead, and they can fill up quickly.)
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Cozy up with a flick at the Paramount Drive-In Theater (Paramount)
Cost: $14 per adult, $7 per kid (ages 3-11).
For a night out that feels as cozy as a night in, head to the Paramount Drive-In Theater. In the comfort of your own car, you can spread out, munch popcorn and make all the commentary you want without getting looks from other moviegoers.
Tickets are purchased on arrival, and the parking lot is huge, so you’re bound to secure a good view of the big screen. There is a concession store on site with candy, chips and drinks, but you are free to bring all the snacks you want from home. Recline your seat all the way back, relax and enjoy the show.
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All the predictions, drama and pageantry of Hollywood’s biggest night will play out at the Dolby Theatre this afternoon as the 98th Academy Awards get underway.
How many awards will “Sinners,” directed by Ryan Coogler, win from its record-setting 16 nominations? And will Coogler win best director? Our critic says, “no.”
Tonight is also a big evening for our entertainment team, which has been producing features, previews, explainers, predictions and so much more.
The 2026 Oscars will air on ABC, and those with cable subscriptions can also watch by logging into the ABC app or abc.com.
The telecast will also stream live on Hulu, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. Internationally, the ceremony will be broadcast in more than 200 territories. You can check your local listings here.
When the red carpet viewing gets underway
“Chicken Shop Date” host Amelia Dimoldenberg will return, for a third-straight year, as social media ambassador and correspondent for the official red carpet, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and Hulu.
For extended coverage, E! will begin its red carpet broadcast at 1 p.m. ABC’s coverage begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by “The Oscars Red Carpet Show,” hosted by Tamron Hall and Jesse Palmer.
“Sinners” is picking up steam heading into the show
My colleague Greg Braxton wrote about how award prognosticators believe Sinners gained positive press after its stars — Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan — were called a racial slur at the BAFTAs.
Jordan’s and Lindo’s handling of the BAFTA incident, along with warmly received victories for the “Sinners” cast at the Actor Awards on March 1, has given the Warner Bros. release unexpected momentum leading up to Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
Although it received a record-breaking 16 nominations, the film has been largely overshadowed through much of awards season by Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller “One Battle After Another.”
And Timothée Chalamet of “Marty Supreme” had been considered for months as an almost-certain lock for lead actor. But the events in past weeks have seemingly positioned “Sinners” for upset wins in the picture race and lead actor for Jordan.
Every character — from Miles Caton’s rebellious guitarist and Jack O’Connell’s lilting vampire to Wunmi Mosaku’s soulful witch and Michael B. Jordan’s bootlegging twins Smoke and Stack — has been scarred by life in 1930s Mississippi.
She also said the film “Eddington” should’ve been a contender (perhaps a nod to “On the Waterfront”). Ari Aster’s merciless black comedy drags us back to May 2020 when tempers, temperatures and misinformation were heating up across America.
Dueling civic leaders Sheriff Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted (Pedro Pascal) agree that COVID has yet to arrive in their New Mexican hamlet.
But with the Oscars, quality is often secondary to an awards narrative. Both movies have cultural relevance.
Both won critical acclaim and, to a degree, commercial success. (Though “One Battle” wasn’t the blockbuster “Sinners” was, it still grossed more than any other movie in Anderson’s career.) “Sinners” scored 16 Oscar nominations, the most in history; “One Battle” was close behind with 13.
There’s much more to read in the above links. Enjoy them and the Oscars.
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When I think of the solidarity of musicians, I recall an iconic scene from the film “Titanic.”
It’s the one where a quartet plays “Nearer, My God, to Thee” as the great, “unsinkable” ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean.
They attempted to offer calm amid a sea of panic as passengers and crew feverishly boarded lifeboats. The events were based on a true story and historians note that the body of the Titanic band leader Wallace Hartley was found floating in the ocean “with his music case strapped to it.”
Even in tragedy, we seek music to bring us solace.
Much closer to home, musicians from Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other affected areas have been challenged to keep the music going after losing instruments, studio equipment and business along with their homes in the January 2025 fires that claimed the lives of 31 people.
One organization, Altadena Musicians, launched the app Instrumental Giving to connect donors who can spare an old piano or a gently used cello with those who lost similar instruments.
KC Mancebo, an Altadena Musicians advisor, spoke with The Times about the group’s mission and success.
The campaign’s genesis
It started with composers Brandon Jay and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, who saw their Altadena home, music studio and several instruments destroyed by the Eaton fire.
Shortly after the fire, Jay posted about the lost equipment and what each piece meant to his family.
He said the response from that post — hundreds of people offering their instruments and other types of aid — left him “overwhelmed and gobsmacked.”
He called friends and helpers from throughout the music industry, including Mancebo, chief executive of the event production and talent booking agency Clamorhouse, hoping to offer to others the same help he received.
Mancebo had been helping homeowners navigate fire insurance paperwork and processes.
“Brandon Jay asked, ‘Why don’t we start gathering instruments for our friends,” Mancebo said. “We had 25 friends in the Palisades and 15 friends in the Eaton fire that lost everything, so we and others got involved.”
How’s it going so far?
The organization has passed out around 3,500 instruments to 1,200 families since the first donations in late January 2025, Mancebo said.
The donations range from ukuleles to Steinway & Sons pianos.
“We’re providing instruments to anyone from children who lost their first instruments to people who lost their entire studio,” she said. “The need is great.”
The gifts have come from individual donors and corporate benefactors such as JBL, which has provided speakers and equipment, as well as guitar makers Fender and Gibson, among others.
Rebuilding from the ashes
Mancebo lost her Westside home eight years ago because of a defective dryer that caught fire, she said.
“I went through the whole process of insurance, permitting and rebuilding and we didn’t have FEMA or anyone to help,” she said. “I want to provide that help to those in a similar situation.”
Mancebo said it took eight years to recover and rebuild her home.
“No one is fine after the first year,” she said. “Everyone needs help.”
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, donated her Kawai Upright Piano to the Altadena Musicians organization on March 10, 2026.
(Courtesy of Amy Engelhardt)
One person’s goodbye is another’s hello
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, loved her Kawai upright piano she purchased through a PennySaver ad in 2000.
“It was a deal for the starving artist,” she said. “I paid so little and I always considered it a gift.”
Since then, Engelhardt said she has written all of her music on that piano. She didn’t, however, play it while recording her Grammy-nominated vocal group, the Bobs.
Still, she donated her piano this week to a woman who lost her home. The instrument would not be making the permanent move with Engelhardt back to New York, where her playwriting services are in demand.
“I did get emotional about it, but it’s OK,” Engelhardt said. “It’s comforting knowing that someone else will love it and create their own memories.”
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A passenger train linking North Korea and China crosses the Amnok River bridge, also known as the Yalu River bridge, on the border between two countries on Thursday. Photo by Yonhap
North Korea and China resumed an international passenger train service linking their capitals Thursday for the first time in six years, with a train spotted crossing the border bridge between the two countries.
A nine-car train traveling from Pyongyang to Beijing was seen by Yonhap News Agency passing over the Amnok River bridge, also known as the Yalu River bridge, connecting North Korea’s Sinuiju and China’s Dandong, at around 4:23 p.m.
Some train cars had closed curtains, while passengers were visible in others.
According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, a five-car passenger train departed from the Chinese border city of Dandong at 10 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang at 6:07 p.m.
The Dandong-Pyongyang passenger line will operate daily in both directions, Xinhua said, quoting a Chinese official as saying the service will serve as a “dynamic link strengthening the friendship between these two nations.”
Also on Thursday, North Korea and China were set to resume a rail route connecting their capitals, Pyongyang and Beijing.
The resumption marks the first cross-border passenger train service between the two countries since operations were suspended in 2020 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, North Korea resumed direct flight and train services between Pyongyang and Moscow, Russia’s capital.
The reopening of the North Korea-China rail services comes as the two countries appear to be aligning more closely as they seek to repair relations frayed by Pyongyang’s military cooperation with Russia, amid speculation that the United States may seek to reengage Pyongyang for talks.
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