pioneer

There are certain first names that are also businesses that tap into the Angeleno collective unconsciousness and bring a smile of familiarity even to those who’ve never patronized the place.

Tommy’s Burgers, especially. Frederick’s of Hollywood. Phillippe the Original. Nate’n Al’s. Lupe’s and Lucy’s.

And, of course, Leonardo’s.

The nightclub chain with five spots across Southern California has entertained patrons since 1972. Its cumbia nights, Mexican regional music performances and a general air of puro pinche parri bridged the gap in the cultural life of Latino L.A. between the days of the Million Dollar Theater and today’s corrido tumbado stars.

Its namesake, Leonardo Lopez, came to Santa Monica from Mexico in the late 1960s, at age 17, to work as a dishwasher and proceeded to create a cultural empire.

On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council honored him in a celebration that reflected the joy and diversity — but especially the resilience — of Latino LA.

His family members count at least 40 businesses among them, including restaurants, banquet halls, concert venues, equestrian sports teams, political firms that work Southern California’s corridors of power, and the Pico Rivera Sports Arena, Southern California’s cathedral of Mexican horse culture. They were one of the main forces in the 2023 fight that carved out exemptions for traditional Mexican horse competitions such as charrería and escaramuza when the L.A. City Council banned rodeos.

“Our family is like a pyramid, with every person supporting each other at every level,” said Leonardo’s son, Fernando. “And my dad is at the very top.”

A resplendent celebration

He and about 40 other relatives went to Friday’s City Council meeting to see their patriarch recognized. They strode through City Hall’s august corridors in charro outfits and Stetsons, berets and hipster glasses, leopard-print blouses and sharp ties — the diversity of the Mexican American experience in an era where too many people want to demonize them.

Leonardo was the most resplendent of them all, sporting an outfit with his initials embroidered on his sleeves and his back. A silver cross on his billowing red necktie gleamed as much as his smile.

“You work and work and work to hope you do something good, and it’s a blessing when others recognize you for it,” Lopez told me in Spanish as we waited in a packed conference room for the council meeting to start. He gestured to everyone. “But this is the true blessing in my life.”

Sitting at the head of a long table, Lopez doted on his grandson but also greeted well-wishers like Esbardo Carreño. He’s a historian who works for the government of Durango, the state where Lopez was born in 1950.

“Don Leonardo came with a bigger vision than others,” Carreño said in Spanish. “But he never left his people back home,” noting how Lopez has funded restoration projects in Durango’s eponymous capital, a welcome arch at the entrance to the entrepreneur’s hometown of La Noria and more.

“My tío and dad and my other tíos made it in L.A. because there was no Plan B,” said Lopez’s nephew, Lalo Lopez. He was shepherding guests toward his uncle while also talking up a fundraiser later that evening at the Sports Arena for L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “That’s a lesson all us kids learned fast.”

Spanish-language reporters pulled Don Leonardo into the City Hall press room for an impromptu conference, where he talked about his career and offered child-rearing advice.

“Get them busy early,” he joked, “so they don’t have that free time to do bad things.”

Lopez motioned to Fernando and his son Fernando Jr. — both wearing charro suits — to join him at the podium.

“I got them to follow me” to be proud of their Mexican heritage. “Today, it’s the reverse — now I follow them!”

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez then grabbed Lopez. The meeting was about to start.

Always the sharpest-dressed member of the council, Rodriguez didn’t disappoint with a taupe-toned tejana that perfectly complemented her gray-streaked hair, black-framed glasses and white outfit.

Her introduction of Lopez was even better.

“His spaces have created a place where we [Latinos] can be authentically who we are,” said Rodriguez, who represents the northeast San Fernando Valley. She praised Lopez’s life’s work as an important balm and corrective “at a time especially when our community is under attack.”

“I want to thank you, Don Leonardo, for being that example of how we can really be the force of resilience and strength in the wake of adversity,” the council member concluded. “It’s a reminder to everyone who’s feeling down that we will persevere.”

Lopez offered a few words of thanks in English, tipping his sombrero to council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who had previously honored him in 2017 when each council member recognized an immigrant entrepreneur in their district.

Harris-Dawson returned the respect.

“You are such angels in this city — L.A. is not L.A. without the Lopez family,” he said, noting how two Leonardo’s stood in his South L.A. district and “y’all never left” even as other live music venues did. Harris-Dawson told attendees how the Lopez family had long catered jazz festivals and youth sports leagues without ever asking for anything in return.

“The only time I’ve seen you closed was that weekend of the terrible ICE raids,” Harris-Dawson said. “And you all were back the next week ready to go and you had security out. … Thank you all for treating us like family.”

The Lopez clan gathered around their jefe at the podium for one final photo op. Doctors and contractors, retirees and high schoolers: an all-American family and as Angeleno as they come. See ustedes soon at — where else? — Leonardo’s.

Today’s top stories

Colorado River water flows in the Central Arizona Project aqueduct beside a neighborhood in Phoenix.

(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)

The dwindling Colorado River

• A group of experts say Western states urgently need to cut water use to avert a deepening crisis on the Colorado River.
• The river’s major reservoirs are less than one-third full, and another dry winter would push reservoirs toward critically low levels.
• They say the Trump administration should act to ensure reductions in water use.

Trump’s $1.2-billion call to remake UCLA

• A Times review of the Trump administration’s settlement proposal to UCLA lays out sweeping demands on numerous aspects of campus life.
• The government has fined UCLA nearly $1.2 billion to settle allegations of civil rights violations.
• Hiring, admissions and the definitions of gender are among the areas the Department of Justice seeks to change.

A looming fight over vaccines

• After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted vaccine experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California is now making its own vaccine guidance.
• The CDC is no longer a trusted source for vaccine guidance, some experts now say.
• California and medical groups are urging more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with the Trump administration.

Your utility bills

The Emmys were last night

What else is going on

Commentary and opinions

• There will be cooling in all L.A. rentals by 2032. Here’s how contributors Sophia M. Charan and Hye Min Park suggest you survive the heat until then.
• Wait, what happened to saving the children? California columnist Anita Chabria points out that California congressmen dodge the issue.

This morning’s must-read

Other must-reads

For your downtime

(Amir Mrzae / For The Times)

Going out

Staying in

And finally … your photo of the day

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Allen J. Schaben of ctor Kathy Bates on the red carpet at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. See Allen’s photos from the awards show here.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jim Rainey, staff writer
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected]. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.

Philippe Laffont was known for successfully investing in technology stocks before he founded Coatue Management, a technology-focused hedge fund, in 1999. Since then, he has grown the fund’s size to more $35 billion in assets under management.

Laffont has his finger on the pulse of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. His contrarian investment in Super Micro Computer, a company that manufactures high-end servers for data centers, turned some heads earlier this year.

Image source: Getty Images.

Coatue bought into Supermicro at a controversial moment, but it seems Laffont had a change of heart. At the end of June, there were zero shares of the custom server builder in its portfolio.

While Coatue was disposing of Supermicro with its left hand, it was buying up shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG -1.34%) with its right. The hedge fund snapped up 39,512 shares of the robot-assisted surgery pioneer in the second quarter.

Intuitive Surgical stock has tumbled this year, but Laffont has reasons to expect a rebound. Here’s a look at what they are to see whether this stock could be a good fit for your portfolio.

An unbeatable advantage

When the market closed on Sept. 12, 2025, shares of Intuitive Surgical were up 19,390% since its initial public offering (IPO) 25 years ago. A few years before its IPO, the Food and Drug Administration made the company’s da Vinci robotic surgical system the first one with clearance to assist with minimally invasive abdominal surgeries.

Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker market surgical robots, but they entered the market after Intuitive Surgical. The pioneer is still the largest member of its industry. At the end of 2024, there were 11,040 Intuitive Surgical systems installed in hospitals worldwide.

Intuitive’s massive installed base of machines isn’t sitting idle either. Surgical teams trained to use da Vinci systems performed 2.7 million procedures last year. Plus, Ion, its more recently launched lung tumor biopsy machine, performed 95,000 procedures last year.

To date, competing systems generally address procedures that don’t already employ da Vinci systems, such as knee replacements and spinal surgeries. Hospital systems can spend more than $1 million installing a da Vinci system and then an even larger sum supporting and training the professionals who will use it. That’s a huge advantage over newer surgical systems that competitors probably won’t be able to overcome.

Placing systems and training surgeons to use them generates revenue for Intuitive, but these aren’t the main sources. Around 84% of total revenue last year came from recurring sources such as instruments and accessories that must be replaced before each procedure.

Why Intuitive Surgical stock is down

Intuitive Surgical has been a terrific stock for its long-term shareholders, but it’s been a stinker this year. It’s down about 26% from a peak it set in February.

Fear that tariffs will pressure profit margins has been a weight on Intuitive Surgical’s stock price. When reporting second-quarter results in July, management reduced its adjusted gross profit margin expectation to a range between 66% and 67%. That would be a minor decline from the 69.1% gross margin reported last year, but this temporary setback is hardly a reason to avoid the stock.

Earlier this year, Medtronic submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration to perform urology procedures with its Hugo RAS system. Roughly one-fifth of all procedures performed with da Vinci machines last year were in the urology category.

Investors concerned that the Hugo system will pull market share from da Vinci should know that its launch overseas hasn’t been very successful. It’s been authorized for sale in the European Union since 2021, but Medtronic still doesn’t tell investors how much revenue Hugo’s generating in its quarterly reports.

Time to buy?

In the U.S., hospitals considering a new surgical system for urologic surgeries could have a new option from Medtronic by the end of the year. Luckily for Intuitive Surgical, the da Vinci 5 system, which launched in March 2024, already makes Medtronic’s Hugo system seem outdated.

Despite tariff pressure, investors can expect significant growth from Intuitive Surgical. Management is forecasting overall procedure growth of 15.5% to 17.0% this year. High switching costs for hospitals could lead to procedure growth that continues rising for another decade or two.

With a stock price that’s been trading at 55.3 times forward earnings expectations, investors are already expecting profit growth at a double-digit percentage for years to come. Intuitive Surgical stock could fall hard if Medtronic or another competitor begins pressuring sales growth in the years ahead.

Given Hugo’s performance in the E.U., threats from well-heeled competitors appear toothless. Adding some shares to a diverse portfolio now could be the right move for investors with a high risk tolerance.

Merrick Bobb, one of the godfathers of the modern police oversight movement in Los Angeles and beyond, has died. He was 79.

Bobb, whose health had deteriorated in recent years, died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A., his two children, Matthew and Jonathan, confirmed Friday.

A Los Feliz resident for more than 40 years, Bobb had four grandchildren, was fluent in several languages and was respected as one of the earliest champions of civilian oversight of law enforcement.

He had a long career, shining a light on problems within major law enforcement agencies from L.A. to Seattle. And he accomplished his most significant work without the use of his hands or legs, which became effectively paralyzed after he contracted a rare and debilitating autoimmune condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2003.

“He was always a person who was really engaged in the world,” Jonathan said in an interview with him and his brother. “I think that growing up in the 1950s and 1960s with the civil rights movement and other associated movements was very seminal for him in terms of instilling belief in justice [and] understanding the voices of traditionally underrepresented groups.”

For two decades beginning in 1993, Bobb served as special counsel to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. In that position, he delivered semiannual reports that detailed pervasive issues within the department, from widespread violence in the county’s jails to excessive force, driving a number of reforms in the department.

In 2014, the board created the Office of Inspector General and dismissed Bobb from his role with the county. That decision came in the wake of criticism that he and Michael Gennaco, the then-head of the Office of Independent Review, had not done enough to stop the problems in the jails, which had become a major scandal.

Two years earlier, a federal judge had appointed Bobb to serve as independent monitor of the Seattle Police Department’s consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. He held that position until 2020, when he resigned in protest of the department’s use of force and “powerful and injurious” crowd control weapons against protesters in the months following George Floyd’s killing by a white Minneapolis police officer.

In 2001, he founded the Police Assessment Resource Center, a nonprofit that provides “independent, evidence-based counsel on effective, respectful, and publicly accountable policing,” the center’s then-vice president Matthew Barge wrote in 2015.

Before that, Bobb served as deputy general counsel for the Christopher Commission, which examined use of force within the Los Angeles Police Department in the wake of the 1991 beating of Rodney King. The commission published a sweeping report that year that called on then-LAPD Chief Daryl Gates to step down and found the department had a persistent and pervasive problem with excessive use of force.

Bobb graduated from Dartmouth College in 1968, then received his law degree three years later from UC Berkeley, according to his curriculum vitae. He worked for private law firms between 1973 and 1996. Bobb was named one of the top 50 lawyers in L.A. by the Los Angeles Business Journal that year, when he left a major law firm to focus on his law enforcement oversight work.

But for many people he met, according to his sons, it was Bobb’s kindness that made the strongest impression.

“No matter who it was in his life he was engaging with at that point, he focused in on them and developed a personal connection,” Matthew said. “You never knew if he was going to be having lunch with the former chief of police or his former handyman who came by once a week, and everyone in between.”

Bobb is survived by his children and grandchildren, his ex-wife Aviva Koenigsberg Bobb — a former judge with whom he remained close — his sister Gloria Kern and his longtime assistant and caretaker, Jeffrey Yanson.

Bobb’s funeral will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 5 at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

CIF SOCAL REGIONAL FINALS

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

BASEBALL

DIVISION I

#1 St. John Bosco 4, #7 Patrick Henry 0

DIVISION II

#8 Rancho Bernardo 2, #6 Point Loma 1

DIVISION III

#5 University City 3, #2 Mt. Carmel 1

DIVISION IV

#2 Ridgeview 1, #1 Wilmington Banning 0

DIVISION V

#3 Pioneer 4, #1 Corcoran 3

SOFTBALL

DIVISION I

#2 Chula Vista Mater Dei 12, #1 El Modena 3

DIVISION II

#6 Eastlake 2, #1 El Cajon Christian 1 (12 innings)

DIVISION III

#1 Point Loma 4, #2 Legacy 1

DIVISION IV

#2 Woodlake 4, #1 Pioneer Valley 3

DIVISION V

#2 Orcutt Academy 6, #1 Rancho Mirage 1

SOCAL REGIONAL PLAYOFFS

BASEBALL

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION I
#7 Patrick Henry 2, #2 Santa Margarita 0

DIVISION II
#8 Rancho Bernardo 4, #1 Fountain Valley 2
#7 San Dimas 6, #2 Santa Maria St. Joseph 3

DIVISION IV
#3 Estancia 2, #6 Mary Star of the Sea 1

DIVISION V
#4 Nuview Bridge 14, #5 Port of Los Angeles 3

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I
#5 Villa Park at #1 St. John Bosco
#7 Patrick Henry vs. #3 Crespi at Hartunian Park

DIVISION II
#8 Rancho Bernardo at #4 Eastlake, Friday
#7 San Dimas ar #6 Point Loma

DIVISION III
#5 Universal City at #1 Dos Pueblos
#3 Venice at #2 Mt. Carmel

DIVISION IV
#5 Rancho Mirage at #1 Wilmington Banning
#3 Estancia at #2 Ridgeview, Friday

DIVISION V
#4 Nuview Bridge at #1 Corcoran, Friday
#7 High Tech SD at #3 Pioneer

Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday at higher seeds.

SOFTBALL

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION I
#5 Poway 4, #4 Ayala 1

DIVISION IV
#3 Irvine University 5, #6 Marquez 3

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I
#5 Poway at #1 El Modena
#3 Bonita Vista at #2 Chula Vista Mater Dei

DIVISION II
#4 Monache at #1 El Cajon Christian
#6 Eastlake at #2 Westlake, Friday

DIVISION III
#4 Olympian at #1 Point Loma
#3 St. Bonaventure at #2 Legacy, 3 p.m.

DIVISION IV
#4 Rio Hondo Prep at #1 Pioneer Valley
#3 Irvine University at #2 Woodlake

DIVISION V
#1 Rancho Mirage at #4 Culver City
#6 Hueneme at #2 Orcutt Academy

Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday at higher seeds.

SOCAL REGIONAL PLAYOFFS

BASEBALL

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION 1

#1 St. John Bosco 2, #8 St. Augustine 1

#5 Villa Park 5, #4 Granite Hills 4 (9 innings)

#3 Crespi 4, #6 Mater Dei 3

DIVISION II

#4 Eastlake 4, #5 Glendora 1

#6 Point Loma 6, #3 El Camino Real 4

DIVISION III

#1 Dos Pueblos 10, #8 St. Anthony 2

#5 University City 5, #4 Birmingham 2

#3 Venice 5, #6 Trinity Classical Academy 2

#2 Mt. Carmel 5, #7 Elsinore 0

DIVISION IV

#1 Wilmington Banning 3, #8 Lemoore 2

#5 Rancho Mirage 7, #4 Ramona 3

#2 Ridgeview 13, #7 Riverside Notre Dame 3

DIVISION V

#1 Corcoran 9, #8 LA University 5

#3 Pioneer 6, #6 Mountain View 3

#7 High Tech SD 3, #2 Fillmore 1

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION I

#7 Patrick Henry at #2 Santa Margarita, 12 p.m.

DIVISION II

#8 Rancho Bernardo at #1 Fountain Valley, 3:15 p.m.

#7 San Dimas at #2 Santa Maria St. Joseph, 4 p.m.

DIVISION IV

#6 Mary Stat of the Sea at #3 Estancia, 3:45 p.m.

DIVISION V

#5 Port of Los Angeles vs. #4 Nuview Bridge at Mystic Field

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

(All games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I

#5 Villa Park at #1 St. John Bosco

#3 Crespi vs. #7 Patrick Henry or #2 Santa Margarita

DIVISION II

#4 Eastlake vs. #1 Fountain Valley or #8 Rancho Bernardo

#6 Point Loma vs. #7 San Dimas or #2 St. Joseph

DIVISION III

#5 Universal City at #1 Dos Pueblos

#3 Venice at #2 Mt. Carmel

DIVISION IV

#5 Rancho Mirage at #1 Wilmington Banning

#3 Estancia or #6 Mary Star of the Sea at #2 Ridgeview

DIVISION V

#5 Port of Los Angeles or #4 Nuview Bridge at #1 Corcoran

#7 High Tech SD at #3 Pioneer

Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday at higher seeds.

SOFTBALL

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION II

#1 El Cajon Christian, bye

#4 Monache 3, #5 Long Beach Poly 2

#6 Eastlake 3, #3 Bakersfield Christian 2

#2 Westlake 5, #7 Rancho Bernardo 3

DIVISION III

#1 Point Loma 9, #8 Port of Los Angeles 2

#4 Olympian 7, #5 West Ranch 6

#3 St. Bonaventure 6, #6 Southwest EC 5

#2 Legacy 5, #7 Elsinore 4

DIVISION IV

#1 Pioneer Valley, bye

#4 Rio Hondo Prep 9, #5 Taft 3

#2 Woodlake, bye

DIVISION V

#1 Rancho Mirage 9, #8 San Diego Lincoln 8

#4 Culver City 20, #5 Westchester 7

#6 Hueneme 9, #3 North Hollywood 4

#2 Orcutt Academy 17, #7 Cathedral City 0

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

FIRST ROUND

DIVISION I

#5 Poway at #4 Ayala, 4 p.m.

DIVISION IV

#6 Marquez at #3 Irvine University, 2 p.m.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

(All games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I

#5 Poway or #4 Ayala at #1 El Modena

#3 Bonita Vista at #2 Chula Vista Mater Dei

DIVISION II

#4 Monache at #1 El Cajon Christian

#6 Eastlake at #2 Westlake

DIVISION III

#4 Olympian at #1 Point Loma

#3 St. Bonaventure at #2 Legacy

DIVISION IV

#4 Rio Hondo Prep at #1 Pioneer Valley

#6 Marquez or #3 Irvine University at #2 Woodlake

DIVISION V

#1 Rancho Mirage at #4 Culver City

#6 Hueneme at #2 Orcutt Academy

Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday at higher seeds.