Among the small army of prospects who’ve eyed the California governorship, none seemed more qualified than Toni Atkins.
After serving on the San Diego City Council, she moved on to Sacramento, where Atkins led both the Assembly and state Senate, one of just three people in history — and the first in 147 years — to head both houses of California’s Legislature.
She married that expertise with the kind of hardscrabble, up-by-her-bootstraps backstory that a calculating political consultant might have spun from whole cloth, had it not been so.
Atkins grew up in rural Appalachia in a rented home with an outdoor privy. Her first pair of glasses was a gift from the local Lions Club. She didn’t visit a dentist until she was 24. Her family was too poor.
Yet for all of that, Atkins’ gubernatorial campaign didn’t last even to 2026, when voters will elect a successor to the termed-out Gavin Newsom. She quit the race in September, more than eight months before the primary.
She has no regrets.
“It was a hard decision,” the Democrat said. “But I’m a pragmatic person.”
She couldn’t and wouldn’t keep asking “supporters and people to contribute more and more if the outcome was not going to be what we hoped,” Atkins said. “I needed sort of a moonshot to do it, and I didn’t see that.”
She spoke recently via Zoom from the den of her home in San Diego, where Atkins had just returned after spending several weeks back in Virginia, tending to a dying friend and mentor, one of her former college professors.
“I was a first-generation college kid … a hillbilly,” Atkins said. She felt as though she had no place in the world “and this professor, Steve Fisher, basically helped turn me around and not be a victim. Learn to organize. Learn to work with people on common goals. … He was one of the first people that really helped me to understand how to be part of something bigger than myself.”
Over the 22 months of her campaign — between the launch in January 2024 and its abandonment on Sept. 29 — Atkins traveled California from tip to toe, holding countless meetings and talking to innumerable voters. “It’s one thing to be the speaker or the [Senate leader],” she said. “People treat you differently when you’re a candidate. You’re appealing to them to support you, and it’s a different conversation.”
She heard plenty from business owners and, especially, put-upon residents of red California, who griped about Sacramento and its seeming disconnection from their lives and livelihoods. “I heard in Tehama County … folks saying, ‘Look, we care about the environment, but we can’t have electric school buses here. We don’t have any infrastructure.’ ”
Voters seemed to be of two — somewhat contradictory — minds about what they want in their next governor.
First off, “Someone that’s going to be focused on California, California problems and California issues,” Atkins said. “They want a governor that’s not going to be performative, but really focused on the issues that California needs help on.”
The challenge, Atkins suggested, is “convincing people … you’re absolutely going to fight for California values and, at the same, that you’re going to be focused on fixing the roads.”
Maybe California needs to elect a contortionist.
Given her considerable know-how and compelling background, why did Atkins’ campaign fizzle?
“I hoped my experience and my collaborative nature and my ability to work across party lines when I needed to … would gain traction,” Atkins said. “But I just didn’t have the name recognition.”
Or, more pertinently, the huge pile of cash needed to build that name recognition and get elected to statewide office in California.
While Atkins wasn’t a bad fundraiser, she simply couldn’t raise the many tens of millions of dollars needed to run a viable gubernatorial race.
That could be seen as a referendum of sorts. If enough people wanted Atkins to be governor, she theoretically would have collected more cash. But who doubts that money has an unholy influence on our elections?
“I’ve lost parents, but it’s been decades,” she said. “And to lose Steve” — her beloved ex-college professor — “I think I’m going to take the rest of the year to reflect. I’m definitely going to stay engaged … but I’m going to focus on family” at least until January.
Atkins remains optimistic about her adopted home state, notwithstanding her unsuccessful run for governor and the earful of criticisms she heard along the way,
“California is the place where people dream,” she said. “We still have the ability to do big things … We’re the fourth-largest economy. We’re a nation-state. We need to remember that.”
WASHINGTON — Plans are on hold for President Trump to sit down with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to talk about resolving the war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official.
The meeting had been announced last week. It was supposed to take place in Budapest, although a date had not been set.
The decision was made following a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The back-and-forth over Trump’s plans are the latest bout of whiplash caused by his stutter-step efforts to resolve a conflict that has persisted for nearly four years.
Lee writes for the Associated Press. This is a developing story that will update.
Colin Creason’s journey to become the starting quarterback at Los Alamitos High in his senior year has been anything but smooth.
He went to Mater Dei as a freshman. He went to Los Alamitos as a sophomore. He briefly went to Long Beach Poly for two days at the start of his junior year before returning to Los Alamitos, which forced him to sit out all last season.
In his first varsity start on Aug. 15, he guided the Griffins to a 20-12 win over Inglewood. The team has won eight consecutive games under Creason, who has become more comfortable and confident with each game. He has passed for 1,292 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 239 yards and eight touchdowns.
He grew up knowing and playing with most of his Los Alamitos teammates in youth ball. Somehow, someway, he got through all his starts and stops and concluded, “Of course, the grass isn’t always greener.”
His ability to run and pass and stay cool under pressure has been important for the offense, and he’s adopted the attitude of his teammates.
“We’re not scared of anybody,” he said. “This team is so close.”
Santee running back Darnell Miller of Santee has set a City Section record with 502 yards rushing against Jefferson. He had 33 carries and five TDs. The state record is still held by Ronnie Jenkins at 619 yards.
His father, Brandon, was an All-CIF basketball player at Oak Park in 1994. Colin played basketball, baseball and flag football since he was 8 with many of his teammates.
Berwick-upon-Tweed has been named the happiest and also one of the most charming seaside towns in England and it’s just a 40 minute train ride from Edinburgh and Newcastle
Milo Boyd Digital Travel Reporter and Alycia McNamara
02:58, 21 Oct 2025
Berwick-upon-Tweed is home to beautiful coastal scenery(Image: Getty Images)
This charming town ranks amongst the finest seaside destinations to explore this summer – and it’s merely a brief 40-minute train journey from both Edinburgh and Newcastle. Berwick-upon-Tweed is nestled on the northeastern tip of England, directly beside the Scottish border.
It’s a picturesque and historical location that is adored by its guests. You’ll locate the town at the mouth of the River Tweed, providing stunning vistas across the North Sea.
Although there are rarely crowds in Berwick, even during the high season on the sunniest of days, the town of 12,000 has a lot of fans. Recently, it was named by Touropia as one of the most delightful coastal towns in England. It has just been crowned ‘the happiest place in the UK’ by the Guardian.
“Today, Berwick-upon-Tweed remains an often overlooked jewel. Yet people who know it, adore it – it is a great place to live with community spirit in bundles,” the publication writes.
“Berwick was LS Lowry’s favourite holiday destination and a place where he made more than 30 sketches, drawings and paintings including one of Bridge Street which, wonderfully, looks more or less as it did when he painted the scene in 1938.
“Today there is a Lowry Trail (about three hours), taking in cobbled streets, romantic riverbanks and the big, sandy, fun Spittal beach. When there was an attempt to recreate the painting last year, there was no shortage of volunteers – a reflection of the importance of community in Berwick.”
When visiting the town, one essential destination is Spittal beach. It ranks as one of the most beloved beaches in the region. A visitor on Tripadvisor reported: “A beautiful yet quiet beach. There is a car park nearby, as well as a cafe, a small amusement arcade, a splash park and toilets – it is definitely well worth a visit.”
Another big seasonal draw is the Riding of the Bounds, which takes place in May and is a celebration of the traditional horse ride that used to be carried out to ensure the safety of the town. Berwick’s markets on Wednesday and Saturday are also a big hit with locals and visitors alike.
“The romantic River Tweed runs through its centre, dominated by three iconic bridges that have seen years of conflict as control of the town was repeatedly changing. Climb on-board The Border Rose with Berwick Boat Trips, where you can sail beneath the magnificent Royal Border Bridge and into the mouth of the river for some seal and dolphin spotting. All the while, skipper David and crew will keep you entertained with anecdotes of the town’s turbulent history and its rich salmon fishing heritage.”
When in the local area, the nearby Farne Islands are intriguing. They are home to a large colony of grey seals and puffins.
The destination has been named the best city in the world for food and among 30 top foodie favourites across the globe
12:34, 20 Oct 2025Updated 12:34, 20 Oct 2025
The city has a rich food culture(Image: Massimo Borchi/Atlantide Phototravel via Getty Images)
When it comes to culinary delights, most people’s minds wander to Italy’s pasta, Japan’s sushi or Mexico’s tacos. However, a recent study by TasteAtlas has revealed the top foodie destinations around the globe.
The team analysed nearly half a million ratings from 17,073 cities on its database. Interestingly, many of the top-rated locations are just a short hop from the UK, with the majority of the top 10 situated in Europe.
Naples clinched the top spot, thanks to its world-renowned dishes such as pizza, lasagna and macaroni, reports the Express.
But Naples wasn’t the only Italian city to make the cut. Milan bagged second place, with its famous risotto and panettone, not to mention the iconic Campari cocktail that originated there.
Italy continued its gastronomic dominance with Bologna securing third place, known for its spaghetti bolognese, ragu and tortellini.
Despite the Italian-heavy list, other global cities made the top 10, including Paris, Vienna and Mumbai.
Unfortunately, the UK didn’t make it into the top 30, along with Hong Kong, Barcelona, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, and Amsterdam.
Visitors say the village is “warm and inviting” and perfect for winter walks
08:57, 20 Oct 2025Updated 08:57, 20 Oct 2025
Visitors can enjoy relaxing walks along the Ribble(Image: Getty)
A charming Yorkshire town famed for its historic architecture and beautiful countryside has been crowned one of Britain’s finest destinations when temperatures drop.
Settle, nestled in the Dales, has earned recognition as one of the nation’s “prettiest winter villages” according to Fine and Country, who described it as a “perfect spot for winter walks and nature exploration”.
The estate agents highlighted how its period cottages, rolling countryside vistas and welcoming pubs create a “warm and inviting atmosphere”.
Much of Settle falls within a designated Conservation Area, boasting numerous buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries – with 76 listed structures dotted throughout the town.
Among the most famous is The Folly, constructed in 1679, which stands as the sole Grade I listed historic residence in the Yorkshire Dales that regularly welcomes visitors, reports the Express.
The Folly is home to the Museum of North Craven life, showcasing tales of the region’s landscape and inhabitants.
One TripAdvisor reviewer hailed it as a “gem of a local museum”, writing: “Wide range of fascinating exhibits on local history. Very strong on the Carlisle-Settle railway.”
Another visitor remarked: “Fascinating and well-presented history and artifacts of everything one might wish to know about Settle and the entire N Craven area. Staff most welcoming and helpful.”
Nearby attractions and trails feature the Trow Gill Gorge, characterised by Visit Settle as a “spectacular, wooded limestone ravine at the head of Clapdale”.
There’s also Castleberg Crag, a towering limestone formation which has been “recognised as a beauty spot for centuries”, alongside the picturesque Settle Riverside Walk offering visitors a chance to discover the River Ribble.
Cascades such as Catrigg Force, Scaleber Force and Stainforth Force await, whilst ramblers can take pleasure in numerous gorges, summits and forest trails.
Those wishing to tackle the Three Peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside can reach them on foot from Settle.
History enthusiasts will appreciate the Settle Station Signal Box – a compact museum devoted to railway signalling.
One visitor said about the attraction: “This is a real experience. It brings to life the important part that the signal man played in the operation of the railways and demonstrates how this very complex system worked. Very worthy of a visit.”
The Settle Station Water Tower represents another captivating piece of heritage, standing as the “only survivor” of eight watering stations for steam locomotives along the Settle-Carlisle railway.
It appeared on Channel 4’s Restoration Man following the 2011 renovation of the structure and its transformation into a private residence. Settle offers a plethora of unique experiences, from mastering the art of cheese-making to learning how to handle birds of prey.
Visitors can also embark on a spooky graveyard tour, join a guided walk along the Settle-Carlisle line, or explore the wonders of the Ingleborough Show Cave.
A first taste of L.A.’s new Maydan Market. Plus, eating in this town for $50 or less, a cookbook of gravestone recipes, allegations of racial discrimination at a popular L.A. cafe … and how Diane Keaton liked to drink her favorite wine. I’m Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week’s Tasting Notes.
Market of dreams
Chefs Rosio Sanchez, left, and Laura Flores Correa of Copenhagen’s Sanchez and Hija de Sanchez, sample mole-sauced turkey legs from Lugya’h at Maydan Market.
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
Many of us have favorite places to take out-of-town guests — restaurants, hiking trails and idiosyncratic spots like the recently reopened Museum of Jurassic Technology that show our friends and family why we love L.A.
For years, I’ve brought friends to Mercado la Paloma, the food hall and cultural center that is home to Gilberto Cetina‘s Holbox, the seafood counter that was our L.A. Times Restaurant of the Year in 2023 and last year was awarded a Michelin star. These days, there’s always a line for Cetina’s exquisite seafood plates, including his octopus taco with squid-ink-stained sofrito. While one person in your group waits to order at Holbox, you can find many other things to bring to your table at the mercado — unbeatable cochinita pibil and more Yucatecan dishes (try the papadzules or a refreshing agua de chaya) from Chichén Itzá, founded by Cetina’s father Gilberto Sr.; Oaxacan nieves or ice cream flavored with mamey, tuna (cactus fruit) or especially leche quemada (burnt milk) from OaxaCalifornia; and Fátima Juárez‘s gorgeous quesadilla de flor, with orange squash blossom petals spilling out of the blue corn tortilla like sunshine at her masa-focused restaurant Komal (one of Bill Addison’s picks on his 101 Best California Restaurants list).
This week, however, I tried a new place when Rosio Sanchez, the Copenhagen-based chef I wrote about in this newsletter a few months ago, said she was coming to L.A. for the Chef Assembly conference and two collaborations, one that took place Wednesday with Jordan Kahn at Meteora and another that is happening all day Sunday at Enrique Olvera and chef Chuy Cervantes’downtown taco spot Ditroit with Yia Vang of Minneapolis’ Hmong restaurant Vinai. Sanchez wanted to meet someplace for lunch, but had just tried Komal at the Mercado la Paloma and had even been to Thai Taco Tuesday at Anajak Thai, one of my other dependable suggestions for wowing visitors. I had to change my usual game plan.
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Chef-founder Rose Previte details the bevy of vendors and dishes at West Adams’ cross-cultural new food hall.
Fortunately, our intrepid woman about town Stephanie Breijo had been telling me all about Maydan Market in anticipation of its recent opening in L.A.’s West Adams neighborhood, across the street from a branch of chef Kat Turner‘s Highly Likely. In addition, Breijo made a hunger-inducing video showing off the live-fire-based restaurants at the heart of the market founded by Rose Previte, whose Maydan in Washington, D.C., is devoted to the cuisines of the Middle East and was among the Top 40 restaurants chosen in 2024 by the Washington Post’s recently unmasked criticTom Sietsema.
Here in Los Angeles, Previte wanted to open a food hall centered on hearth cooking from different cultures. That not only means new branches of her Maydan restaurant and Compass Rose cafe, but Afro-Mexican Guerrerense cooking at Maléna from Tamales Elena founder Maria Elena Lorenzo; Yhing Yhang BBQ from Holy Basil chef Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat, serving charcoal-grilled Thai chicken, seafood and duck, and a space for emerging chefs that is currently featuring Melnificent Wingz from Melissa “Chef Mel” Cottingham.
Most of the places so far don’t open until 5 p.m. — I spotted Arpapornnopparat prepping some fantastic-looking chile sauces for his dinnertime barbecue that I am eager to try. But lunch operations are slowly getting underway and on Thursday afternoon we were lucky to find Alfonso Martinez of Poncho’s Tlayudas fame at Lugya’h, his new post in the market. In addition to tlyaudas — which Addison, in his 2022 review of Poncho’s called one of his “this is the Los Angeles I love” dishes — Martinez is serving dishes from Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte at Lugya’h.
Mole-covered turkey leg with a black bean tamal from Alfonso Martinez’s Lugya’h at Maydan Market.
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
With Sanchez and her chef Laura Flores Correa, best known as Laurita, I was able to try a turkey leg sauced in a dark, rich “mole de bejed” with a black bean tamal on the side. The meat was incredibly moist, perfect with the tamal. We also got bowls of foamy Mexican cacao-flavored atole, which came with brioche-like Oaxacan pan de yema.
A slice of tlayuda with chorizo, grilled tasajo and the blood sausage moronga from Lugya’h at L.A.’s Maydan Market.
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
And even though the current plan is to serve tlyaudas only during dinner, we were able to try one with three meats: chorizo, beautifully charred on the edges from the fire; a slice of grilled tasajo, and a link of moronga, one of the best blood sausages I’ve ever eaten, from a recipe, as Addison writes, handed down as a wedding gift from the father of Martinez’s wife Odilia Romero. She was helping out at the market this week, though is anxious to get back to her work advocating for Indigenous migrants in L.A. That might not be easy once word spreads about the deliciousness of Lugya’h’s food.
Alfonso Martinez, right, and Odilia Romero, who have expanded their Poncho’s Tlayudas operation to Maydan Market under the name Lugya’h.
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
Indeed, each of the places Previte has curated is certain to draw a crowd. I’m looking forward to bringing more friends and trying them all.
If you think $50 a person sounds like a lot for dinner …
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s crazy that $50 per person is now considered a cheap sit-down meal.”
“The fact that LAT is suggesting $50 a person is somehow a ‘win’ is pretty crazy.”
Those are two reader comments on our 50 under $50 guide to restaurants where it’s possible to eat for $50 or less a person — including tax and tip. Which actually means finding items on the menu that cost $38 a person to account for an approximate 10% sales tax and 20% tip. We thought it was important for you to not get hit with charges that traditionally are not reflected on most restaurant menus.
To those readers who say $50 a person is too much to spend for a nice sit-down dinner, we agree. But all over the city — and in so many parts of the country — it’s increasingly difficult to get dinner at a non-fast-food or fast-casual restaurant for less than $50. Indeed, some of our finest restaurants charge $500 and even more than $1000 a person once you figure in wine or sake pairings.
This kind of pricing, which accounts for luxury ingredients and livable salaries for members of the kitchen and dining room staff that provide world-class service, puts many of our most acclaimed restaurants out of reach for the majority of Angelenos. That’s why we thought it was important in these tough economic times to come up with a guide to more affordable restaurant choices. We weren’t only going for “cheap eats.” Our entire Food team searched the city for a range of places that, as senior Food editor Danielle Dorsey wrote, “must be open until 9 p.m.” (so a true dinner spot), “doesn’t have to offer table service, but must [have] seating available to enjoy your food on-site” and where “you must be able to order at least two menu items, whether that’s a starter and a main, an entree and a dessert, or a large plate and a cocktail.”
The restaurants we chose ranged from the casual but highly acclaimed Sonoratown, which has what our critic Bill Addison says is “the Los Angeles food item I have consumed more than any other” (the $12.50 Burrito 2.0) to strategic ordering suggestions at star chef spots such as Dave Beran‘s Pasjoli and Bestia from husband-and-wife chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. In between are affordable date-night places, including Cody Ma and Misha Sesar‘s Persian spot Azizam, the buzzy Cal-Italian Beethoven Market and Propaganda Wine Bar in the Arts District. We’re always looking for more suggestions. If you have a favorite affordable place, tell us about it in the story’s comment section.
Also …
Stephanie Breijo spoke with archivist and social media personality Rosie Grant about her new cookbook “To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes,” which as the title implies, is a collection of recipes that decedents or their loved ones treasured so much they had them etched on their tombstones.
Breijo also broke down the allegations of racial discrimination at the L.A. restaurant Great White and Gran Blanco “after intensifying social media videos claim that Great White segregates customers based on ethnicity and race, which its owners and some employees deny.”
And finally … ‘slug it down’
Diane Keaton in 2023.
(Raymond Hall/GC Images via Getty Images)
In memory of the great Diane Keaton, let’s raise a toast to her unforgettable movie roles and personal style with what she called “the only wine that I love.”
“It’s called Lillet,” she said in an Instagram video she made back in 2022 with a similar unconventional approach to ice that Stanley Tucci demonstrated his viral negroni video from 2020. After adding many ice cubes to a large yet elegant tumbler, she fills the glass with Lillet and adds a wedge of lemon, instructing her followers to “slug it down” without the addition of the usual tonic or sparkling water. Apparently, Keaton was not a spritz kind of gal. “And if you don’t like it,” she said to her viewers, “that’s fine with me. I’ll just drink all this myself.” Sounds like she knew how to live.
SACRAMENTO — Thousands of rebels gathered outside the state Capitol on Saturday, mindlessly trampling the lawn in their Hokas, even as the autumnal sun in Sacramento forced them to strip off their protective puffer vests.
With chants of “No Kings,” many of these chaotic protesters spilled off sidewalks into the street, as if curbs held no power of containment, no meaning in their anarchist hearts.
Clearly, the social order has broken. Where would it end, this reporter wondered. Would they next be demanding passersby honk? Could they dare offer fiery speeches?
The answer came all too soon, when within minutes, I spotted clear evidence of the organized anti-fascist underground that U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi has been warning us about.
The “Raging Grannies of Sacramento” had set up a stage, and were testing microphones in advance of bombarding the crowd with song. These women wore coordinating aprons! They had printed signs — signs with QR codes. If grandmothers who know how to use a QR code aren’t dangerous, I don’t know who it is.
Ellen Schwartz, 82, told me this Canadian-founded group operates without recognized leaders — an “international free-form group of gaggles of grannies,” is how she put it, and I wrote it all down for Kash Patel.
Within moments, they had robbed Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews of their most famous duet: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” mutilating it into “super callous fragile racist narcissistic POTUS.”
Ellen Schwartz, 82, is a member of the “Raging Grannies,” a group that protested at the “No Kings” rally in Sacramento on Saturday.
(Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)
Not to be outdone by the Silent Generation, 2-year-old Rhea also showed up, first clinging to her mom, then toddling around on her own as if she owned the place. This is a kid to keep an eye on.
Since Rhea cannot yet speak about her political beliefs, her parents gave me some insight into why she was there.
“I’m not sure if we’ll still have a civilization that allows protest very long, so I want her to at least have a memory of it,” said her dad, Neonn, who asked that their last names not be used. Like many Americans, he’s a bit hesitant to draw the eye of authority.
Kara, Rhea’s mom, had a more hopeful outlook.
“America is the people, so for me I want to keep bringing her here so that she knows she is part of something bigger: peace and justice,” she said, before walking off to see the dinosaurs.
Kara holds her 2-year-old daughter, Rhea, at the rally in Sacramento.
(Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)
Dinosaurs, that’s right. And tigers. And roosters. And unicorns. Even a cow hugging a chipmunk, which I believe is now illegal in most of the South.
Yes, folks, the Portland frog has started something. The place was full of un-human participants acting like animals — dancing with abandon, stomping around, saying really mean things about President Trump.
Meanwhile, the smell of roasting meat was undeniable. People, they were eating the hot dogs! They were eating the grilled onions! There were immigrants everywhere selling the stuff (and it was delicious).
I spoke to a Tyrannosaurus Rex and asked him why he went Late Cretaceous.
“If you don’t do something soon, you will have democracy be extinct,” Jim Short told me from inside the suit.
Jim Short, left, and his wife, Patty Short, donned dinosaur costumes at the “No Kings” rally in Sacramento.
(Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)
His wife, Patty, was ensconced in a coordinating suit, hers brown, his green. Didn’t they worry about being labeled anti-American for being here, as House Speaker Mike Johnson and others have claimed?
“I’m not afraid,” Patty said. “I’m antifa or a hardened criminal or what’s the other one?”
“Hamas?” Jim queried. “Or an illegal immigrant?”
“I think people need more history,” Patty said.
I agree.
And the day millions of very average Americans turned out to peacefully protect democracy — again — may be part of it.
Would the Dodgers have paid $4 million for Shohei Ohtani’s production on Friday night?
“Maybe I would have,” team owner Mark Walter said with a laugh.
Four million dollars is how much Ohtani has received from the Dodgers.
Not for the game. Not for the week. Not for the year.
For this year and last year.
Ohtani could be the greatest player in baseball history. Is he also the greatest free-agent acquisition of all-time?
“You bet,” Walter said.
Even before Ohtani blasted three homers and struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings in a historic performance to secure his team’s place in the World Series, the Dodgers were a target of complaints over the perception they were buying championships. Their payroll this season is more than $416 million, according to Spotrac.
During the on-field celebration that followed the 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, manager Dave Roberts told the Dodger Stadium crowd, “I’ll tell you, before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”
What detractors ignore is how the Dodgers aren’t the only team that spent big dollars this year to chase a title. As Ohtani’s contract demonstrates, it’s how they spend that separates them from the sport’s other wealthy franchises.
The New York Mets spent more than $340 million, the New York Yankees $319 million and the Philadelphia Phillies $308 million. None of them are still playing.
The Dodgers are still playing, and one of the reasons is because of how opportunistic they are.
When the Boston Red Sox were looking for a place to dump Mookie Betts before he became a free agent, the Dodgers traded for him and signed him to an extension. When the Atlanta Braves refused to extend a six-year offer to Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers stepped in and did.
Something else that helps: Players want to play for them.
Consider the case of the San Francisco Giants, who can’t talk star players into taking their money.
The Giants pursued Bryce Harper, who turned them down. They pursued Aaron Judge, who turned them down. They pursued Ohtani, who turned them down. They pursued Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who turned them down.
Notice a pattern?
Unable to recruit an impact hitter in free agency, the Giants turned their attention to the trade market and acquired a distressed asset in malcontent Rafael Devers. They still missed the postseason.
The Dodgers don’t have any such problems attracting talent. Classified as an international amateur because he was under the age of 25, Roki Sasaki was eligible to sign only a minor-league contract this winter. While the signing bonuses that could be offered varied from team to team, the differences were relatively small. Sasaki was urged by his agent to minimize financial considerations when picking a team.
Sasaki chose the Dodgers.
Players such as Blake Snell, Will Smith and Max Muncy signed what could be below-market deals to come to or stay with the Dodgers.
There is also the Ohtani factor.
Ohtani didn’t want the team that signed him to be financially hamstrung, which is why he insisted that it defer the majority of his 10-year, $700-million contract. The Dodgers are paying Ohtani just $2 million annually, with the remainder owed after he retires.
Without Ohtani agreeing to delayed payments, who knows if the Dodgers would have signed the other pitchers who comprise their dominant rotation, Yamamoto, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
None of this is to say the Dodgers haven’t made any mistakes, the $102 million they committed to Trevor Bauer a decision they would certainly like to take back.
But the point is they spend.
“We put money into the team, as you know,” Walter said. “We’re trying to win.”
Nothing is stopping any other team from making the financial commitments necessary to compete with the Dodgers. Franchises don’t have to make annual profits to be lucrative, as their values have skyrocketed. Teams that were purchased for hundreds of millions of dollars are now worth billions.
Example: Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003 for $183.5 million. Forbes values them today at $2.75 billion. If or when Moreno sells the team, he will receive a huge return on his investment.
The calls for a salary cap are nothing more than justifications by cheap owners for their refusal to invest in the civic institutions under their control.
The Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball. They might not do everything right, but as far as their spending is concerned, they’re doing right by their fans.
Oct. 18 (UPI) — Several million people plan to participate Saturday in more than 2,500 “No Kings” rallies throughout the United States in what organizers are billing as the largest single-day protest in modern history.
The first “No Kings’ events, in opposition to President Donald Trump, was on June 14, when there were more than 2,000 events drawing more than 5 million people. A military parade in Washington, D.C., also took place that day.
“I think what you’ll see on No Kings II in October is a boisterous, joyful crowd expressing their political opinions in a peaceful, joyous way,” Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin told USA Today. “People with dogs, people with kids, people with funny signs, music, dancing, laughing, community building, and a sense of collective effervescence that comes when you gather with a lot of people with a shared purpose.”
The events are being run by a coalition of organizations that also include the American Civil Liberties Union.
“No thrones. No crowns. No Kings,” states the “No Kings’ website, which lists event locations. “Millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people.”
The first events are scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT, including a march in New York City. One in Washington is set for noon and in Chicago at 1 p.m. EDT. Hours later, events will take place in western time zones.
Events alsooccurred in Europe, including outside the U.S. embassy in Berlin, Germany.
Britannica lists the largest single-day protest in the United States as occurring on April 22, 1970, drawing an estimated 20 million on the first Earth Day. Hands Across America drew 5 million to 7 million on May 25, 1986, with the first “No Kings” listed as third. The Women’s March, one day after Trump first became president on Jan. 21, 2017, drew an estimated 4.6 million.
Nonprofit organizer Indivisible Project said the protests will be “nonviolent action” with people trained in safety and de-escalation.
The Department of Homeland Security has warned law enforcement agencies across the country about the potential for certain events to become violent. According to an intelligence report obtained by CNN, police should look out for demonstrators “with a history of exploiting lawful protests to engage in violence” and attendees with who are perceived to have had paramilitary-like training.
Some state leaders are calling up additional law enforcement.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he’s activated the National Guard to support police “to help keep Virginians safe.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, wrote on X on Thursday, that he “directed the Dept. of Public Safety and National Guard to surge forces into Austin” ahead of the rallies.
“Texas will NOT tolerate chaos. Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested,” Abbott wrote.
Republican leaders describe the protests are a series of”Hate America” rallies.
“And I encourage you to watch — we call it the ‘Hate America Rally’ that will happen Saturday,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see Antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists in full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
“The truth is — what Democrats really want is something Republicans can’t give them. And that is the approval of their far-left base,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday.
Organizers say the Republican stance will backfire.
“I think, if anything, it will increase turnout,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the ACLU, told ABC News. “I think Americans can really see through these sad attempts to distract attention from the failure of these Republican Congress people and Republican Trump administration to actually address what most Americans want and need from their government.”
Trump, who is spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., said in a Fox Business Network interview that aired Friday: “You know, they’re saying. They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not.”
During Trump’s 11th visit to his county of residence since he became president again, events are planned in Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach and Boca Raton.
A June rally was at the Meyer Amphitheater in downtown West Palm Beach.
The events are coming on the 18th day of the U.S. government shutdown. Senators on Thursday failed for the 10th time to resolve the impasse in votes on Thursday.
“We’ll be in the streets for immigrant families under attack and for voters who are being silenced,” the Progressive Change Campaign Committee wrote in an email obtained by ABC News. “For communities being terrorized by militarized policing. For families who are about to lose their health insurance. And for every single person whose rights are threatened by this administration’s cruelty.”
The protests are occurring amid a backdrop of immigration enforcement and a crackdown on crime.
Trump ordered National Guard deployments to Illinois; Memphis, Tenn.; Portland, Ore.; and Washington, D.C. In June, the guard and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles amid protests.
Los Angeles County is poised to pay out an additional $828 million to victims who say they were sexually abused in county facilities as children, months after agreeing to the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.
The award, posted on the county claims board agenda Friday, would resolve an additional 414 cases that were not included in the $4-billion sex abuse settlement approved this spring. Both the supervisors and the county claims board will need to vote on the payout before it is finalized.
The record $4-billion settlement covered more than 11,000 people, who say they were abused inside county-run juvenile facilities and foster homes as children. The individual payouts will range from $100,000 to $3 million.
The newest payout would break down to an average of roughly $2 million per person. It involves cases from three prominent law firms: Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team, and Panish Shea Ravipudi.
The firms declined to comment on the potential settlement until the vote by the Board of Supervisors.
The announcement follows reporting by The Times that found nine plaintiffs who say they were paid by recruiters to sue the county over sex abuse. Four of them have said they were explicitly told to make up claims. All had lawsuits filed by Downtown LA Law Group, or DTLA.
The firm has denied any involvement with recruiters who allegedly paid plaintiffs to sue. DTLA said previously it would never “encourage or tolerate anyone lying about being abused” and is conducting new screenings to remove “false or exaggerated claims” from its caseload.
The county said any claims brought by DTLA will undergo an additional level of review before payments are made, citing reporting by The Times. The extra screening “may require plaintiff interviews and additional proof of allegations,” the county said.
DTLA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The exterior of Downtown LA Law Group’s offices in Los Angeles.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who recently launched an investigation into the $4-billion settlement following The Times’ reporting, said the vetting will ensure “money goes only to the true victims of abuse.”
“Our settlements balance our obligation to compensate victims and treat their experiences with compassion with the need to put strong protections in place to protect taxpayers from fraud,” she said.
County Counsel Dawyn Harrison says she wants to see the law changed so “unscrupulous lawyers don’t get windfalls at the expense of survivors of abuse.”
“The conduct alleged to have occurred by the DTLA firm is absolutely outrageous and must be investigated by the appropriate authorities,” said Harrison. “Not only does it undermine our justice system, it also deprives legitimate claimants of just compensation.”
All cases will be reviewed by retired judges before the money is allocated, the county said.
If a judge believes a claim is fraudulent, the plaintiff will not get any money, the county said Friday. The county’s original plan stated that if the county found a fraudulent claim, the plaintiff could be offered $50,000 to resolve it or remove the case from the settlement so that it could be litigated separately.
The flood of claims was unleashed with the passage of Assembly Bill 218 in 2020, which changed the statute of limitations and gave survivors a new window to sue their abusers. Since then, school districts and governments have faced many decades-old claims, for which they say there are no longer records kept on file to allow for vetting.
Dominique Anderson, pictured above around age 11, is among the plaintiffs who sued the county for alleged sexual abuse and would stand to receive payouts as part of a new settlement announced Friday.
(Courtesy of Dominique Anderson)
County supervisors have been increasingly critical of the law, which they argue has left them defenseless against claims dating back to the 1950s. If the supervisors approve the new settlement, the county will have paid out nearly $5 billion in child sex abuse lawsuits this year — with more to come.
The county is still facing an additional 2,500 cases, which they say will further strain the region’s social safety net. The county recently required most departments trim their budgets to pay for the $4-billion settlement.
“L.A. County and other local governments must balance their obligations to past victims with the need to avoid ruinous financial impacts,” said acting Chief Executive Joe Nicchitta.
Neither will the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays.
The clear truth emerged from the Dodger Stadium shadows late Thursday amid a downtown-shaking roar of delight and disbelief.
This is ridiculous. This is simply ridiculous, how well the Dodgers are playing, how close the history books are beckoning, and how an ordinary summer has been followed with unbelievable days of the extraordinary.
The Dodgers are not going to lose another game this October. Write it down, bet it up, no major league baseball team has ever played this well in the postseason, ever, ever, ever.
With their 3-1 victory over the Brewers Thursday in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers take a three-games-to-none lead with a sweep likely in the next 24 hours and coronation coming in the next two weeks.
The Dodgers are going to win this NLCS and follow it with a four-game whitewash of the World Series because, well, you tell me.
How is anybody going to beat them?
Match their aces-flush rotation? Nope. Equal their hot closer and revived bullpen? Sorry. Better than their deep lineup? Nobody is even close.
The Dodgers are more than halfway to finishing the most dominant postseason in baseball history, it’s all there in the numbers.
The only team to go undefeated through the playoffs since the divisional era began was the 1976 Cincinnati Reds. But the Big Machine only had to win seven games. Since the playoffs were expanded and the test became tougher, the greatest October streaks have belonged to the 2005 Chicago White Sox and 1999 New York Yankees, both of whom went 11-1.
These Dodgers were forced into that early wild-card series, so if they end this postseason without another loss, they will finish 13-1.
The last time a team in this town had such a dominating postseason was the champion 2001 Lakers, who went 15-1 in the postseason with only one stumble against Philadelphia on the night Allen Iverson famously stepped over Tyronn Lue.
Those Lakers were legendary. These Dodgers will be soon.
They are currently 8-1 in the playoffs and have won 23 of their previous 29 games and again, who’s going to beat them?
Start with that rotation. Tyler Glasnow followed gems by Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto Thursday by twirling 5 ⅔ innings of swing and miss, holding the Brewers to one run with eight strikeouts, and in three games the Brewers have scored two runs in 22 ⅔ innings against Dodger starters.
And perhaps their best pitcher hasn’t even taken the mound yet, that being Friday’s starter Shohei Ohtani.
Now for their deep lineup. Ohtani is still mired in a career-worst slump, but his one hit Thursday was a leadoff triple that led to him scoring the first run, and seemingly everybody else chipped in. Mookie Betts had the first RBI, Tommy Edman knocked in Will Smith with the go-ahead run in the sixth, a hustling Freddie Freeman scored on a wild pickoff attempt, and on and on..
Finish with their bullpen, which is actually finishing. Taking over for Glasnow with a runner on first and two out in the sixth Thursday, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Roki Sasaki shut the Brewers down the rest of the way, and their regular-season weakness has become their strength.
Incidentally, Sasaki’s ninth-inning shutdown was aided by a brilliant in-the-hole putout by shortstop Betts, and that’s just one more way the Dodgers can beat you.
All this, and as Thursday confirmed, they have arguably the best home-field advantage in baseball.
No place is bigger. No place draws more fans. And no place is louder, from the bleacher-rattling roar to the cover-your-ears sound system.
“This place has an aura about it,” Max Muncy said of Dodger Stadium. “It’s the biggest capacity in baseball. Everybody talks about it when you come here. The lights seem a little brighter. The music seems a little louder — that might actually be because it is a little louder.”
“That’s part of the perks of being at Dodger Stadium, we have that sound system,” said Muncy. “It sounds silly to say something like a sound system could be an advantage. But it really is. When the speakers in the center field are cranking and the crowd is going absolutely nuts and you feel the field shaking beneath your feet, it’s a really big advantage. And that’s something we’ve always had here.”
The stadium rose to the occasion Thursday as it always does this time of year, filling up despite the weird mid-afternoon starting time, constantly standing and screaming by the game’s end.
“When we’ve had those big moments, there’s arguably no place that can get louder than Dodger Stadium, especially in the postseason,” Muncy said. “When you have 56, 57,000 people screaming all at the same time in a big moment, it’s pretty wild. That’s an advantage that we’ve always had here, and the guys love it.”
It’s clear from the existence and execution of “Black Phone 2” that Universal and Blumhouse never expected 2021’s “The Black Phone” to be a hit. If there was ever an inkling that the first film might have been more than a quick and dirty ’70s-style riff on a boogeyman tale, there’s no way those in charge would have let their big baddie, the Grabber, be killed off at the end of the movie.
But a hit it was and so, for a sequel, supernatural elements must be spun out and ’80s slasher classics consulted, especially since it’s now four years later, in 1982. Masked serial killer the Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke (we never really see his face, though we do hear his voice), continues to haunt, torment and maim children, despite the inconvenience of death.
Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill co-wrote both films, with Derrickson behind the camera as director. The first was based on a short story by Joe Hill (the son of Stephen King) and is set in 1978 Denver, where plucky Finney Blake (Mason Thames) had to escape the clutches of kidnapper the Grabber while fielding phone calls from the ghosts of his previous victims, offering tips and tricks. What distinguished “The Black Phone” was its shocking approach to violence with its young characters, who all sported entertainingly profane potty mouths. While it was daring in its hard-R riskiness and played on our basest fears, it didn’t reinvent the wheel, or even try to. However, the film’s phone conceit played well enough and young star Thames was outstanding.
In “Black Phone 2,” Finney’s now a high school student, drowning his trauma in weed and schoolyard fights, sometimes the bully himself. He’s protective of his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who has the gift of psychic sight, but mostly he just wants to check out from his own brain. The sequel is primarily Gwen’s movie. She starts lucid dreaming and sleepwalking, receiving phone calls from beyond — like from their dead mother when she was a teenager beyond.
The messages bring Gwen, Finney and her crush, Ernesto (Miguel Mora), to a winter retreat for Christian youth, Camp Alpine, now run by Mando (Demián Bichir) and his niece, Mustang (Arianna Rivas). As it turns out, this camp is rife with the ghosts of young dead boys — the phone keeps ringing and it won’t stop until Finney picks it up.
If “The Black Phone” dabbles in crimes that are taboo and is even unforgivable in its depiction of brutality against innocent children, “Black Phone 2” commits its own unforgivable crime of being dreadfully boring. This movie is a snooze, not just because all of the action takes place entirely during Gwen’s dreams.
The film can’t shake its lingering scent of “Stranger Things,” but the filmmakers have also turned for inspiration to another iconic ’80s-set property: The whole movie is a “Nightmare on Elm Street” ripoff, with a disfigured killer stalking his prey through their subconscious. Those sequences are fine, action-packed if not entirely scary, but at least it’s something more rousing than the awake scenes, where the characters stand in one place and make speeches to each other about their trauma and backstories. The entire affair is monotonously one-note and dour, with only a few pops of unintentional humor.
You realize almost immediately what the deal is with these ghost boys, but the film takes its sweet time explaining it all. It’s a fairly simple story, so you do understand why Derrickson gussies it up with grainy dream sequences and shaky 8mm flashbacks, and a pretty terrific electronic score composed by his son, Atticus Derrickson.
It’s also a bit surprising that “Black Phone 2” turns out to be so pious and deeply Christian, which is a bit of an odd mix. For a film about Jesus and the power of prayer, it also features a scene in which a kid’s face gets sliced in half by a windowpane. Then again, horror’s trend toward the faith-based isn’t a surprise when you take a look at the success of the Bible-thumping “Conjuring” franchise.
However, it seems like this might be the Grabber’s last hurrah. You’ll root for the characters to vanquish him only because then the drudgery might finally end. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a hit and they’ll figure out another way to reanimate this utterly uninspiring horror villain. Personally, I’ve had my fill of the Grabber’s grabbing.
Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.
‘Black Phone 2’
Rated: R, for strong violent content, gore, teen drug use and language
United Arab Emirates denied Japan and took the final place at next year’s men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket victory in the qualifier in Oman.
Japan could have reached their first major tournament with a victory but UAE held them to 116-9 and then chased their target in 12.1 overs.
It means UAE join Oman and Nepal in progressing from the Asia and East Asia-Pacific qualifier to the World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.
In addition to the two hosts getting automatic spots, England, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, United States and West Indies qualified courtesy of reaching the Super 8 stage of the 2024 edition held in the United States and West Indies.
Ireland, Pakistan and New Zealand qualified via the rankings while Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia and Zimbabwe came through their regional qualifying tournaments.
The tournament schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Japan beat Kuwait and Samoa earlier in their qualifying tournament which meant they would have progressed had they beaten UAE and overturned a net run-rate deficit.
They slumped to 58-8, however, with spinner Haider Ali taking 3-20, and only limped to their total thanks to 45 not out from Wataru Miyauchi.
Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem put on 70 for the first wicket of the chase and, despite the pair falling for 46 and 42 respectively, UAE, who played at the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups, eased to victory.
Are you eating out less? Is it starting to feel like a sit-down dinner, even at a casual restaurant, can set you back what you might have paid for a big celebratory meal not too long ago?
Daytime is one thing, with lunch deals or happy hour discounts coaxing more consumers out for a bite. But at prime dinnertime lately, getting the check can come with sticker shock.
Industry trends show diners are getting more selective about dining out as inflation worries wallop U.S. consumers. In a 2025 survey from global accounting firm KPMG, 85% of respondents said they are eating at home more often to save money due to budget limitations. As a result, U.S. restaurants and bars saw one of the weakest six-month periods of sales growth during the first half of 2025 — even weaker than during the COVID pandemic when lockdown orders were in place, according to a CNN analysis of Commerce Department data.
In Los Angeles, the added factors of the 2025 wildfires, ICE raids, and rising rental and labor costs make the trend feel especially acute.
About This Guide
Our journalists independently visited every spot recommended in this guide. We do not accept free meals or experiences. What should we check out next? Send ideas to [email protected].
But with a little strategy, it’s more than possible to have a standout meal at some of L.A.’s most exciting haunts right now without breaking your budget. For this guide, the Food team challenged ourselves to find 50 L.A. restaurants where you can dine for $50 or less per person, including tax and tip.
A nice dinner out translates differently for everyone, so we set a few parameters before beginning our search:
The pre-tax total should be no more than $38 per person, in order to account for a roughly 10% sales tax and 20% tip. Sometimes it needs to be even less if a restaurant includes a mandatory service fee.
The restaurant doesn’t have to offer table service, but there must be seating available to enjoy your food on-site.
It must be open until at least 9 p.m.
You must be able to order at least two menu items, whether that’s a starter and a main, an entree and a dessert, or a large plate and a cocktail.
The final list ranges from places ranked on The Times’ annual 101 Best Restaurants guide that require specific hacks to stay within budget, to more casual options where $50 lets you sample a wide swath of the menu. And just in case you’re bringing a date or a friend, we share suggestions for how to approach this challenge as a duo.
Note that the prices outlined below are accurate as of our most recent visits but may change based on which location you visit, whether you’re ordering in person, for pickup or delivery and other factors.
Despite a handful of popular Día de los Muertos events facing cancellation due to community fears surrounding ICE operations, many annual celebrations throughout Southern California will continue to honor the dearly departed as planned.
Organizers for the Oct. 18 El Sereno Día de los Muertos Festival are working with Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado and her team to ensure the safety of its attendees during a precarious time for immigrant communities. Others, like the Museum of Latin American Art’s Day of the Dead Family Festival on Oct. 26, are placing an added emphasis on resilience.
This year, De Los is hosting a free community celebration to commemorate the holiday on Oct. 25 from 2 to 10 p.m. at the Las Fotos Project. Attendees can enjoy a community altar, a skull decorating workshop, face painting and more.
De Los will also be accepting submissions for our annual digital altar from Oct. 15 to Nov. 2. Community members can submit a photograph or memento to honor the memory of their dearly departed — pets included.
Here is a list of other Día de los Muertos observations and events taking place across Southern California.
Looking for things to do in L.A.? Ask us your questions and our expert guides will share highly specific recommendations in our new series, L.A. Times Concierge.
My 73-year-old mother is coming to visit from the East Coast. She recently had hip surgery and it’s painful for her to walk too far. She likes quirky experiences like sushi on conveyor belts. I live in Sawtelle. Other times she has come we have gone to the Getty Villa, a couple studio tours, live taping of “Jeopardy!” and a local ramen place. She likes places with a backstory. For example in Boulder, she wanted to drive past the house where JonBenétRamsey had lived because she is obsessed with true crime. One thing she did say she wanted to do was try to see “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — CJ Schellack
Here’s what we suggest:
First off, your mom sounds like a good time. And I agree with her: The best places to visit often have an interesting backstory. Let’s start with the food. Given that your mom likes sushi experiences, make a stop at Yama Sushi Marketplace, conveniently located in your neighborhood. The family-owned Japanese seafood shop sells restaurant-quality sushi at takeout prices, writes Tiffany Tse in our guide to Sawtelle. “Just point to what catches your eye, and the staff will slice it fresh, sashimi-style, right in front of you,” she adds. Or if you’d prefer to check out another revolving sushi spot, check out Kura, which has a Sawtelle location.
To satisfy your mom’s appetite for one-of-a-kind, quirky experiences, head to Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Highland Park. Yes, it’s a bit of a push from your hood — don’t go during rush hour — but it’s worth the trek, especially if you have a sweet tooth. The 100-year-old family-owned shop is stacked with aisles of rare sodas from around the globe, nostalgic candies and retro toys that its 82-year-old owner John Nese tells me “you can’t find anywhere else.” In the back of the shop, next to the make-your-own-soda station, there’s a deli stand that sells “blockbuster” sandwiches — a name that was inspired by boxing legend Rocky Marciano who, after tasting one, declared “This is a real blockbuster!” (Pro tip: If Nese is there when you visit — and the likelihood is high because he “practically lives there,” he says — be sure to ask him for a rec.)
Once you’ve secured your snacks, grab a picnic blanket or low chair and head over to Hollywood Forever Cemetery to watch a movie — a favorite L.A. experience for many of my colleagues. Through Halloween, Cinespia is hosting movie nights at the cemetery where stars like Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and Johnny Ramone are laid to rest. Films are projected onto a mausoleum wall and moviegoers sit on the lawn (an open area with no graves). There’s a designated wheelchair user and companion area with restrooms close by, and accessible parking is available with a placard (though you’ll still need to buy a parking pass in advance).
But if you think your mom would be more comfortable indoors, check out the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly Cinema, known for screening double features of classic, indie, cult and foreign flicks the old-fashioned way — on 35mm film. As Michael Ordoña writes in our guide to the best movie theaters in Los Angeles, “the New Bev is just what a rep cinema should be. It’s cozy, with a mellow, enthusiastic vibe. Surprises sometimes occur.”
To tap into your mom’s inner true crime fascination, make a visit to some of L.A.’s darker landmarks. “I like to take friends visiting from the East Coast on a drive along the Sunset Strip to show them where famous people died, like Belushi at Chateau Marmont and River Phoenix outside the Viper Room,” senior audience editor Vanessa Franko tells me. (Bonus: You don’t even need to get out of your car.) But if you prefer an actual tour, visit the Greystone Mansion and Gardens, where oil heir and homeowner Ned Doheny and his secretary, Hugh Plunkett, were found dead in 1929. Times travel writer Christopher Reynolds recommends it, saying that at this destination, you get “a crime scene, filming location and L.A. oil history, all in one.” We’ve also curated a list of 12 iconic L.A. film and TV horror homes that’s worth checking out (the filming location for the WB series “Charmed” is featured in the photo illustration above). I hope that you and your very cool mom have the best time. Please send us pictures if you hit up any of these spots.
A Place in the Sun host Laura Hamilton has been at the helm of the Channel 4 programme for more than a decade and has visited some breathtaking locations over the years
Laura Hamilton has reflected on her 13-year career as the host of A Place in the Sun(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Laura Hamilton has looked back on her 13-year stint presenting A Place in the Sun and revealed her three top destinations. It’s fair to say that Laura, having hosted the sun-soaked Channel 4 property-hunting show for over a decade, has clocked up some serious air miles.
You would also expect that, after more than ten years of globetrotting, picking a favourite spot would prove tricky. But thankfully, for curious fans, Laura has whittled it down to just three choices.
She told Woman magazine how the first holds special family significance.
South Africa
“I loved filming in South Africa,” Laura revealed. “My dad was born there. It was great to get to see that.” South Africa, perched at the southern tip of the African continent, boasts one of Africa’s largest and most developed economies.
The nation has 12 official languages, encompassing Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, and IsiNdebele. It’s also renowned as a wildlife paradise, home to everything from lions and elephants to vervet monkeys and baboons.
Meanwhile, along the coastline, adventurous tourists might even glimpse great white sharks and dolphins.
Morzine, France
Laura’s second choice was considerably nearer to home. She revealed: “I also loved filming in Morzine, in the mountains of France. I’m a big skier and it was great to see it in the summer months.
Morzine is an alpine village nestled within the Chablais mountain range, positioned between the towering 4,800-metre Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva. This bustling ski resort boasts a rich history spanning more than 1,000 years.
In earlier centuries, monks and miners made Morzine their home. However, by the 1800s, with advancing technology, the area became renowned for its slate mining operations, an industry that brought wealth to the town.
Granada, Spain
Lastly, Laura selected Spain’s stunning city of Granada and its encompassing mountain range. She went on: “Granada, Sierra Nevada, was amazing. Being on the beach in the morning and the slopes in the afternoon – that’s amazing. There are places I’ve seen that I would probably not have got to go to.”
Sierra Nevada describes a mountain range in Spain, located in the Andalusian province of Granada. It’s reportedly also the location of Europe’s most southerly ski resort, providing spectacular views across the Mediterranean.
This comes after reports revealed how Laura admitted to occasionally feeling exasperated by some “crazy” buyers on the programme. Speaking in the same interview, she was questioned whether people ever participate in the show simply to secure a free trip.
She dismissed this idea, explaining how it’s a “week’s work” and a massive decision for those taking part. Nevertheless, she also described how she has presented properties to people and thought “you’re crazy” when they choose not to purchase them.
To live in Los Angeles is to be a seeker. There are those who come to the city in search of the limelight and affluence. There are others who crave temperate weather and long for accessible beaches. The list goes on. Some of these desires are easily satisfied, while others are left unfulfilled or forgotten. But for those born and raised in this atypical metropolis, like Shirley Kurata, the search is never-ending.
The costume designer tells me the key to loving this city is to never stop venturing around. We sit in the shaded back patio of Virgil Normal, a 21st century lifestyle shop she owns with her husband, Charlie Staunton. She wears a vibrant pink getup — a vintage top and Issey Miyake pants — complete with small pleats and optimal for the unavoidable August heat wave. Her signature pair of black circular glasses sits perfectly on the bridge of her nose. It’s a style of eyewear she owns in several colors.
“I always tell people, L.A. is like going to a flea market. There’s some digging to do, but you’ll definitely find some gems,” says the stylist and costume designer, as she’s regularly on the lookout for up-and-coming creative hubs and eye-catching storefronts. “It won’t be handed to you. You have to dig.”
In one way or another, “digging” has marked Kurata’s creative livelihood. Whether she’s conjuring wardrobes for the big screen, like in the Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” or styling musicians like Billie Eilish, Florence and the Machine and ASAP Rocky for photo shoots and music videos, the hunt for the perfect look keeps her on her toes.
Over the summer, Kurata spent a lot of time inside the Costco-size Western Costume Co., pulling looks for Vogue World, the magazine’s annual traveling runway extravaganza. This year, the fashion spectacle is centered around Hollywood and will take place at Paramount Pictures Studios in late October. She is one of the eight costume designers asked to present at the event — others include Colleen Atwood of “Edward Scissorhands,” Ruth E. Carter of “Black Panther” and Arianne Phillips of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Kurata will be styling background performers and taking inspiration from the invited costume designers.
Shirley wears vintage hat, Meals Clothing top, shirt and dress, We Love Colors tights, Opening Ceremony x Robert Clergerie shoes and l.a. Eyeworks sunglasses.
“[Vogue] wanted someone that is a stylist and costume designer who has worked both in fashion and film. Because a lot of costume designers work primarily in TV and film, they don’t do the fashion styling for editorial shoots,” says Kurata. “I’m coming on and working with what other costume designers have done.”
Since her start in the business, Kurata has gained acclaim for her ability to infuse daring prints and vibrant color into the narrative worlds she deals with. Her maximalist sense of experimentation took center stage in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and earned her an Academy Award nomination for costume design. From a bejeweled Elvis jumpsuit to a look made entirely of neon green tassels meant to resemble an amoeba, her vision was avant-garde, playful and undeniably multidimensional.
When Kurata isn’t on set or in the troves of a costume house, she’s likely tending to Virgil Normal. Housed in a former moped shop, the Virgil Village store offers a selection of novelty items and streetwear treasures, curated by both Kurata and Staunton. Though Staunton jokes that he’s constantly seeking her approval when sourcing inventory: “If it’s not cool enough for her, it doesn’t come in.”
The couple first met at the Rose Bowl Flea Market through mutual friends. At first sight, Staunton recalls being enthralled by her perpetually “cool” demeanor. Early in their relationship, he even floated the idea of starting a clothing line together, just to “knock off her closet.”
Shirley wears Leeann Huang t-shirt, skirt and shoes, We Love Colors tights and l.a. Eyeworks glasses here and in photos below.
“She’s like a peacock. It’s not like she’s trying to get attention. But she has her own vision and doesn’t really care what’s going on. She knows what’s cool,” says Staunton, who cites Kurata as the biggest “inspiration” for the store.
Inside the quaint red brick building, blue L.A. hats are embroidered to read “Larry David,” acrylic shelves are packed with Snoopy figurines (for display only), trays of l.a. Eyeworks frames fill the tables and each clothing tag is a different elaborate doodle illustrated by Staunton. He adds that everything in the store is meant to have a “rabbit hole” effect, where shoppers can give in to their curiosities.
“We wanted a place where like-minded people could come here and have it be a space to hang out. They don’t have to buy anything,” says Kurata. The attached patio is complete with a mural of a man floating in space, pipe in hand, and the coolers are still filled with chilled beers and sparkling waters from their most recent get-together. She tells me about how many times they’ve allowed musicians and artists to transform this peaceful outdoor space into a lively venue.
“Having that connection with a community of creatives in the city is essential. Having that sort of human interaction is really good for your soul, and for your creativity,” she shares. “Having this store has been one of the most fulfilling things that I’ve done, and it’s not like we’re not making a ton of money off it.”
From the cactus out front, which Kurata and Staunton planted themselves, to grabbing lunch at the taqueria down the street, she explains cultivating a space like this and being an active part of the neighborhood has made her into a more “enriched person.” Kurata, who is of Japanese descent, brings up the lesser known history of East Hollywood. In the early 1900s, the neighborhood, then called J-Flats, was where a sizable group of Japanese immigrants settled. It was once a bustling community with Japanese boarding houses that offered affordable rent and home-cooked meals. Today, only one of these properties is operating.
“Having that connection with a community of creatives in the city is essential. Having that sort of human interaction is really good for your soul, and for your creativity,”
For Kurata, being a part of this legacy means trimming the nearby overgrown vegetation to keep the sidewalks clear and running over to the locally owned convenience store when Virgil Normal needs supplies, instead of immediately turning to Amazon. She pours everything she learned from being raised in this city back into the store, and in turn, its surroundings.
Kurata was born and raised in Monterey Park, a region in the San Gabriel Valley with a primarily Asian population. The neighborhood is a small, homey stretch of land, known for its dining culture, hilly roads and suburban feeling (but not-so-suburban location). These days, she’ll often find herself in the area, as her mother and sister still live there. Together, they enjoy many of the surrounding dim sum-style restaurants.
Even from a young age, she was encouraged to treat the entire city as her stomping grounds. She attended elementary school in the Arts District, which she describes as quieter and “more industrial than it is today.” She also spent a lot of her childhood in Little Tokyo, shopping for Japanese magazines (where she found a lot of her early inspiration), playing in the arcade and grocery shopping with her family.
Shirley wears Leeann Huang lenticular dress and shoes, Mary Quant tights and l.a. Eyeworks sunglasses.
For high school, she decided to branch out even further, making the trek to an all-girls Catholic school in La Cañada Flintridge. “It was the first time where I felt like an outsider,” Kurata says, as she had only previously attended predominantly Asian schools. She laughs a little about being one of the rare “Japanese Catholics.”
“When you’re raised in something, you go along with it because your parents tell you, and it’s part of your education,” Kurata says. Her religious upbringing began to reach a point where she wasn’t connecting with it anymore. “Having that sort of awakening is good for you. I was able to look at myself, early in life, and realize that I don’t think this is for me.”
Her senior year, she discovered vintage stores. (She always knew that she had an affinity for clothing of the past, as she gravitated toward hand-me-down Barbies from the ’60s.) Her coming-of-age style consisted of layering skirts with other oversize pieces — and everything was baggy, “because it was the ’80s.” With this ignited passion for vintage and thrifting, Kurata began to mix items spanning across decades into one look.
“All the colors, the prints, the variety. It just seemed more fun. I would mix a ’60s dress with a jacket from the ’70s and maybe something from the ’40s,” says Kurata. It’s a practice that has remained a major part of her creative Rolodex.
Her lifelong interest in fashion led her to get a summer job at American Rag Cie on La Brea Avenue. At the time, the high-end store primarily sold a mix of well-curated timeless pieces, sourced from all over the world. It was the first time she encountered the full range of L.A.’s fashion scene. She worked alongside Christophe Loiron of Mister Freedom and other “rockabilly and edgier, slightly goth” kinds of people.
“Living abroad is such an important way of broadening your mind, being exposed to other cultures and even learning another language. It helps you grow as a person. It’s the best thing I ever did.”
“Time moved really slowly in that place. But just the creativity that I was around, from both the people who worked there and shopped there, was great exposure,” says Kurata, who recalls seeing faces like Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp browsing the selection and Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington trying on jeans.
Kurata continued her L.A. expedition to Cal State Long Beach, where she began her art degree. It wasn’t long before Studio Berçot, a now-closed fashion school in Paris known for its avant-garde curriculum, started calling her name.
“Living abroad is such an important way of broadening your mind, being exposed to other cultures and even learning another language. It helps you grow as a person,” says Kurata. “It’s the best thing I ever did.”
Her Parisian studies lasted around three years and it was the closest she had ever gotten to high fashion. Sometimes, she would be able to see runway shows by selling magazines inside the venue or volunteering to work backstage. Other times, she relied on well-intentioned shenanigans. She used to pass around and reuse an invitation within her group of friends. She once snuck in through a large, unattended hole in a fence. In one instance, she simply charged at the entrance when it began to rain. All things she did in the name of fashion.
“I would just do what I could to see as many shows as possible. All of the excitement is hard to explain. When I worked backstage, there’s this labor of love that’s put towards the show. It’s this contagious energy that you could feel when the models start coming,” says Kurata, who saw everything from Jean Paul Gaultier to John Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent. When she was backstage for a Vivienne Westwood show, she recollects seeing this “shorter model, and thinking, ‘Oh, she’s so tiny,’ and then realizing that it was Kate Moss who was still fairly new at that point.”
“We wanted a place where like-minded people could come here and have it be a space to hang out. Having this store has been one of the most fulfilling things that I’ve done.”
Staying in France was intriguing to a young Kurata, but the struggles of visas and paperwork deterred her. She instead returned to L.A., freshly inspired, and completed her bachelor’s degree in art (to her parents’ satisfaction). She didn’t plan to get into costume design, Kurata explains. But when it became clear that designing her own line would require moving to somewhere like New York or back to Europe, she realized, “Maybe fashion is not the world I want to get into; maybe it’s costumes.”
“I felt comfortable with that decision,” shares Kurata. “I do love film, so it was just a transition I made. It was still connected [to everything that I wanted to do].”
Without the aid of social media, she sent letters to costume designers, hoping to get mentored, and started working on low-budget jobs. She quickly fell in love with how much the job changed day-to-day. On occasion, there are 12-hour days that can be “miserable,” but her next job might be entirely different. One day she’s styling the seasonal campaigns for her longtime friends Kate and Laura Mulleavy, owners of Rodarte, and the next she could be styling for the cover of W Magazine, where a larger-than-life Jennifer Coolidge stomps through a miniature city in a neon polka-dot coat.
Whenever Kurata takes on a project, Staunton says she “just doesn’t stop.” Sometimes, he’ll wake up at 3 in the morning and she’s emailing people in Europe, attempting to hunt down a rare vintage piece. Her passion is the kind that simultaneously consumes and fuels her.
“There’s a lot of times [with her work] where I’m like, ‘That’s just straight out of Shirley’s closet.’ It’s not like she has to compromise. It’s something she would wear herself. She doesn’t have to follow trends,” explains Staunton. “People seek her out, because she has such a unique vision.”
“I always tell people, L.A. is like going to a flea market. There’s some digging to do, but you’ll definitely find some gems.”
Kurata thinks of herself as “someone who gets bored easily.” It’s a quality that’s reflected in her eclectic style, busy travel schedule, Virgil Normal’s constantly changing selection and even the common feeling she gets when she’s sick of all of her clothes. It’s a good thing being bored and being in Los Angeles don’t go hand in hand.
I ask Kurata a somewhat daunting question for a born-and-bred Angeleno.
“Do you think you could ever see yourself calling another place home?”
She lets out a deep sigh and tells me it’s not something she’s closed off to. Though, she takes a moment to reflect on how everyone came together to provide support during the Palisades and Eaton fires earlier this year. Or how good it feels when they have events at Virgil Normal, to be surrounded by a diverse group of creative minds “who don’t judge.” She even thinks about how she currently lives in a Franklin Hills house, a neighborhood she never thought she would be able to afford.
Time and time again, Kurata and this sprawling city-state have looked out for each other. From the way she speaks of different areas with such an intrinsic care, to showcasing her unique creative eye in Tinseltown, L.A. has made her into a permanent seeker. Whether she chooses to stay in Franklin Hills for the rest of her life or packs up everything tomorrow, she’ll always keep an eye out for hidden gems — just like at the flea market.
A recent study has pinpointed the perfect spot to enjoy some sea air and unwind after decades of work
Taking Car compiled the list and found the best places to retire(Image: Getty)
After years of toiling away in bustling towns and cities, it’s no surprise that many retirees crave a more peaceful existence. A recent study has pinpointed the ideal spot to enjoy some sea air and unwind after decades of graft, with a Welsh seaside town being hailed as the best place for a tranquil retirement.
This year’s list, compiled by Taking Care, is topped by the Victorian seaside destination of Llandudno. This charming town, nestled on the North Wales coast, clinched the top spot, outshining Glossop, Tynemouth and Ilfracombe.
The study took into account factors ranging from life expectancy to property prices to average care home costs, should they ever be needed.
Beyond the core statistics, the study also factored in the amount of green spaces, bingo halls, English Heritage properties and other amenities that contribute to an entertaining lifestyle.
With a population of just 19,700 according to the 2021 census, the town offers ample opportunities for socialising, but also plenty of quiet spots when you need a breather.
The town’s seafront is its heart, boasting a two-mile stretch of Victorian terraces intermingled with grand hotels, reports Wales Online.
There are numerous lovely shops, restaurants, churches, and museums to discover, and the pier boasts a selection of slot machines and a pub with views across the beach – something that residents are delighted to say feels like stepping back through time.
Ray, 80, who moved to Llandudno nearly three decades ago, told The Telegraph: “Living here is like going back 50 years.
“The older ladies still dress nicely. You can go out for walks after dark. There are no rough gangs going around swearing and fighting.”
Adjacent Conwy can also provide a delightful day trip to explore additional retailers and boutiques offering a much wider selection.
Helen Parkes, who relocated to the town with her family, added: “It’s [Llandudno] lacking in terms of retail and culture – Conwy next door has had more spent on it and has more independent shops – but living here, you do realise life’s not all about spending.”
While picturesque North Wales might be the perfect location for retirement, Scotland seems to have surfaced as one of the worst options, particularly its capital.
Amongst all the places evaluated, Edinburgh came last with an average life expectancy of 79 and an overall lifestyle score of 3.8/10, proving that city living can come at a cost.
The capital also proved to be expensive, with annual care costs in the city hitting nearly £40,000 on average, with just one care home for every 778 elderly residents.
