Much of the news dominating the local restaurant scene has focused on sadness.
Two Los Angeles icons, Cole’s French Dip and Echo Park’s Taix restaurant, closed after more than 215 combined years of service.
It’s easy to be down and not necessarily want to go out.
Fortunately, our Food team, led by senior editor Danielle Dorsey, has some amazing recommendations for new favorites and old haunts that will fill your stomach and lift your spirits.
This month’s highlighted selections include locales from Altadena and Echo Park to Malibu and Westwood that the team feels are all worth your time.
The iconic restaurant along PCH was on the heels of reopening after the Pacific Palisades fire last February when heavy rain caused mudslides that led to flooding and extensive damage.
Fourteen months later, Duke’s Malibu is open with significant renovations and limited lunch and dinner menus featuring Hawaiian-influenced seafood staples such as crispy coconut shrimp, Korean sticky ribs and hula pie.
As the restaurant celebrates 30 years in operation, plans are underway for an anniversary party this summer.
City officials have encouraged Golden Leaf restaurant to install an expensive filter to address the pungent smell, though owners insist that none of their immediate shopping center neighbors have complained about the odor.
Supporters launched a Change.org petition last summer backing the preparation of the dish.
From married couple Omar Limon and Blanca Flores Torres, with help from Omar’s brother Arnold Limon, Hoja Blanca offers a playful take on modern Mexican food with dishes such as quesabirria tacos, esquites with cauliflower and a tetela topped with pork belly, all served alongside Bryan Jimenez’s classic cocktails.
(Stella Kalinina/For The Times)
Meymuni Cafe (Rancho Park)
As war unfolds in Iran and neighboring countries, L.A.’s Persian community has found comfort and support at restaurants such as Meymuni, a modern Persian cafe that offers free tea and cookies to diners, many of whom stop by after related protests at the nearby Federal Building.
The cafe opened in 2025 with barbari bread and lavash wrap sandwiches, tahini-date shakes and chai lattes, plus a full slate of events aimed at uplifting the local Persian community.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
NADC Burger (Westwood)
The rapidly expanding smashburger chain from Pasta Bar and Sushi by Scratch Restaurants chef Phillip Frankland Lee has opened its first L.A. location in Westwood Village, with plans to open additional locations in the city.
The signature burger at NADC — an acronym for “not a damn chance” — features two Wagyu patties, American cheese, grilled onions, jalapeños, pickles and a house sauce, with beef tallow fries and brown butter chocolate chip cookies rounding out the short menu.
Roshona Bilash, which translates to “luxurious taste,” features Bengali classics such as bone marrow nihari, rice pilafs and meats and breads cooked in a clay oven, with plans to expand with regional specialties such as seafood dishes popular along the Bangladesh coast.
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The week’s biggest stories
(Kyra Saldana/For De Los)
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
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L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
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Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Commenters who never have been — and never will go — complain about the cost, the influencers, the hype. Purists wax poetic about the days when they disappeared into three days of music and the field wasn’t overtaken by brands like Barbie and e.l.f. cosmetics. Defenders claim they can camp their way to an affordable weekend, and others spend the whole time posting. A select few even talk about great performances they saw — it’s still a music festival.
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But one thing everybody can agree on: Coachella has changed. I should know. I’ve been covering it as a journalist since 2007.
Rapid advancements in technology and mass adoption of social media have brought out the best and worst of the festival — not just on screens thousands of miles away, but to those of us trying not to trip over the makeshift photoshoot you might have seen on Instagram.
In the early years, there were no brand activations on the field; nobody knew what an influencer was and the only corporate sign you saw was for Heineken in the beer gardens. (There was no Heineken House with its own stage, just signs advertising the beer.)
The grounds were also considerably smaller, making it easier to explore the different stages and discover new music. You didn’t have fancy food options, but a slice of Spicy Pie was less than $10. (Coachella upgraded its food options from festival staples to weekend outposts of L.A. restaurants in 2014.)
The music was the draw. The festival’s track record includes artists like the Killers, the Black Keys, Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar climbing up from small type to headliner on the lineup poster.
Livestreams and influencers made Coachella’s reach global
The vibes started to shift in 2010 as smartphones grew in popularity, although the service on the field was spotty. It was the first year Coachella offered a livestream — available via Facebook and MySpace. The next year, the stream moved to YouTube, where it remains and draws millions of viewers.
As Coachella expanded to twin weekends due to popular demand on the ground in 2012, it also had the first viral moment fans could enjoy from thousands of miles away: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg brought 2Pac back to life via a hologram.
Celebrities were always at Coachella (I spotted Ryan Seacrest, Corbin Bernsen, David Hasselhoff and Danny DeVito in my early years), but the rise of social media made celebrity culture a key part of the event. By 2011, TMZ was posting about stars like Lindsay Lohan. Clips from Coachella went viral and ended up on shows like “Tosh.0” and referenced in “Community.”
The art, which was always part of the festival, became bigger and more iconic. On the growing photo app Instagram, larger-than-life sculptures of astronauts started appearing in selfies.
Brands saw an opportunity. American Express, H&M and Samsung launched activations on-site in 2015. The party scene outside the festival, with non-affiliated events that were timed because everyone was in town for Coachella, became marketing vehicles. Brands are still cashing in more than a decade later.
The next watershed moment was Beyoncé in 2018. Today, most headlining sets at the fest feel as if they are designed for the viewing experience on the livestream rather than the fans on the field (ahem, Justin Bieber and his laptop). But Beyoncé’s spectacle was just as mind-blowing on-site as it was at home. A year later, the “Homecoming” special debuted on Netflix, widening the reach.
Coachella became a key part of the pop culture landscape, and then it became a cornerstone of the influencer economy.
Behind all the hype, there’s still a music festival hiding
I inadvertently photobombed approximately 500 people just trying to go to and from the press tent last weekend and my inbox is overflowing with requests for coverage of off-site events with brands, celebs and TikTok influencers, including social media clips.
Coachella is what you make of it. And besides, everyone knows there are fewer influencers on Weekend 2.
Today’s top stories
A health worker administers a measles test on Fernando Tarin, of Seagraves, Texas, at a mobile testing site outside Seminole Hospital District on Feb. 21, 2025.
The Automated People Mover system began construction in 2019 and was initially slated to open to the public in 2023.
Nationwide recall of a popular anxiety drug
Specific bottles of Xanax, one of the most widely prescribed medications to treat anxiety and panic disorders, has been recalled due to its failure to dissolve at a standard rate.
FDA officials are not warning against consuming the product at this time.
What else is going on
Commentary and opinions
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Reporter Deborah Vankin gets a massage by an “Aescape” robot at Pause Wellness Studio.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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A question for you: Are you planning on leaving California for another state? If so, tell us why.
Laura says, “I left California during the pandemic. Part of the push factor for me was politics, but not blue politics. I had been living in OC since 2018 and was surprised it was so Conservative (and conservative). That became a bigger source of discomfort for me as the vaccine question demonstrated how our neighbors’ decisions can impact us directly. Rather than moving elsewhere in California, which would have sorted out the political discomfort nicely, I moved to a much more affordable state where I had family.”
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Sorry, Orlando. Southern California is the theme park capital of the world. Yes, I believe that.
A brief history: Knott’s Berry Farm created a framework that allowed Disneyland to invent the theme park, which Universal Studios tweaked. SoCal innovations, all of them — and the industry remains centered here.
Theme parks are integral to SoCal life. They’re institutions, as familiar as Dodger Stadium, Griffith Park or the Getty. Many of us grew up going to the parks and have archives of fading photos to prove it.
That’s why The Times is launching its first-ever theme park newsletter, a weekly guide to what matters and how to best experience these themed wonderlands. Welcome to Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride, where I’ll take you on my adventures in make-believe, share news and tips, and go deep on the hidden artistry behind SoCal’s most beloved attractions. (Sign up, and we’ll be in your inbox soon.)
Why theme parks are magical
Maybe you haven’t been to a theme park in a while. And maybe that’s intentional. Yes, ticket prices increase every year, crowds frustrate and your ankle will probably be struck by a stroller. But theme parks are art. They’re meticulously designed, as real as our ability to pretend. Few spaces exist in which so many artistic endeavors collide: architecture, costuming, landscaping, animation, engineering, urban design and more. The delight is in the details.
Theme parks are more than an escape — they reflect and respond to culture. Maybe these are simply the ramblings of a Disney adult and fan of all theme parks, but I won’t apologize for seeking joy, wonder and play. It’s what’s needed right now.
I visit theme parks regularly — probably too often by some people’s standards — but I’m excited every time. The key is to stop viewing them as a checklist of activities. So as we enter the busy spring break and summer seasons, here are some ways to develop a deeper appreciation (and simply have more fun) at our most iconic parks.
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Embrace the Disneyland classics
I received pushback when I declared It’s a Small World the best attraction at the Anaheim resort, but hear me out. The ride is designed in the look of animator turned theme park artist Mary Blair, reflective of her color clashes and childlike whimsy. It’s akin to a boat trip through an art gallery. No other attraction is so reflective of a singular art style. The facade, designed by renown Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump and inspired by Blair, mixes glistening white metals and fiberglass with gold leaf accents that nod to the Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pisa, a Dutch windmill and more. How many more landmarks can you spot amid the jagged edges and byzantine shapes?
Fun fact: Legend tells that Disneyland used the entire U.S. supply of gold leaf to make the facade. Germany, apparently, came to the rescue.
Don’t skip a ride on the greatest tram tour ever built
Visitors enter the set of Jupiter’s Claim from the movie “Nope” while taking the Universal Studios tram tour in May 2023.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Universal Studios’ World-Famous Tram Tour, as it is officially designated, is the most important modern theme park attraction in America. The slow-moving backlot trek existed long before Universal Studios had a theme park, but it changed the industry.
In 1976, one year after Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” opened, the studio put guests face-to-face with a 24-foot shark. Never before had a cultural phenomenon like “Jaws” been so quickly replicated in a theme park. “Ride the movies” is a phrase coined by Spielberg, and it’s an industrywide trend that hasn’t stopped.
Fun fact: Universal consulted submarine builders General Dynamics to construct a shark that could survive long term under water.
Spend an afternoon in America’s first theme park
Knott’s Berry Farm’s entrance as parkgoers ride the Silver Bullet roller coaster behind it in May 2021.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
There are times I go to Knott’s Berry Farm and never leave its Ghost Town area, which predates Disneyland and is filled with oddities. A toy shop, for instance, sells actual puppets, and a train ride still features a staged robbery. The park also just remodeled its 72-year-old Bird Cage Theatre, home to outrageous vaudeville-style shows, where a young Steve Martin once performed. It’s a rarity these days to have live theater at a theme park.
Fun fact: The theater’s facade is a replica of the original Bird Cage in Tombstone, Ariz., which has long had a bawdy reputation.
So I hope you’ll sign up for Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride, where we’ll geek out on the history, the artistry and the future of these spaces. Have a theme park question? Email me, and I hope to answer it in an upcoming edition of the newsletter. Life is tough. We can all use more fun.
Today’s top stories
Billionaire Tom Steyer speaks during Jewish California: Governor 2026 Candidate Forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 26.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
Billionaire candidate for California governor faces criticism
Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for California governor, faces mounting criticism over his former hedge fund’s prior investments in private prisons now housing undocumented immigrants.
Steyer says he deeply regrets the investment and left his hedge fund 14 years ago and has since spent hundreds of millions on Democratic causes, particularly efforts to fight climate change.
Artemis II crew flies past the moon
NASA’s Artemis II crew flew past the moon Monday, traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history and becoming the first to see some sections of the moon’s far side in the sunlight with the naked eye.
The four astronauts described the far side in eloquent detail: Geometric patterns of browns, blues and greens amid the moon’s typical shades of gray.
L.A.-based relatives of a deceased Iranian leader were arrested
The general’s daughter has disputed the family connection, according to Iranian media, which has quoted a statement attributed to her saying that the two women bear no relation to the general.
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Commentary and opinions
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State Route 78.
(Josh Jackson)
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And finally … your photo of the day
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne travels over the Coachella 2004 crowd in an inflated plastic bubble.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier during 2004 Coachella. Here’s a look at The Times’ photos from every year of the festival, including its origins in 1999, legendary performances from Daft Punk, Prince and Beyoncé, and the iconic art installations the festival has hosted over the years.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Covered marquees. Downed statues. Painted-over murals. A canceled holiday.
California has effectively exorcised César Chávez from the public sphere just weeks after a New York Times investigation found two women who said the legendary labor leader sexually assaulted them when they were teenage girls in the 1970s. Just as explosive was the revelation by his longtime lieutenant, Dolores Huerta, that he raped her in the 1960s.
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My prediction for the next place we’ll see a Chávez purge: books about him, which number into the dozens and span from academic treatises to children’s tales. But before critics relegate those texts to the banned section, folks should read some of them to see how writers helped establish the Chávez myth and propagated it for decades.
The books that created the Chávez legend
The tendency to elevate him above other activists was there from the start. In 1967, John Gregory Dunne published “Delano: The Story of the California Grape Strike,” which saw the author (and husband to Joan Didion) capture the essence of el movimiento in its earliest days through on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Chávez, whom Dunne described in the introduction as “the right man at the right place at what was, sadly, both the right and the wrong time.”
Famed writer Peter Matthiessen cemented Chávez’s image as a humble hero fighting a lone, brave battle against philistine farmers with a two-part New Yorker profile that became the basis for 1969s “Sal Si Puedes: Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution.” That narrative continued with Jacques Levy’s 1975 release “Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa.” Talk about getting too close to the subject: The author’s archived papers disclosed he served as Chávez’s literal notetaker during the 1970 negotiations that ended the grape strike and led to the UFW’s first union contracts.
Chávez came under strong scrutiny
Rose-tinted biographies tellingly stopped around the time Chávez created a commune in what’s now currently the César E. Chávez National Monument in Keene and began to target perceived enemies within the UFW. Critics instead appeared in the media — one of the first was a 1979 Reason article that alleged he was misusing federal funds and contained the prescient line, “Many people will be reluctant to believe anything that could cast a shadow over this man.”
Other critical dispatches included pieces in the L.A. Times, Village Voice and one in the Sacramento Bee so damning in its indictment of how Chávez had, on his own, sabotaged the movement so many associated with him that its author, Marcos Breton, recently wrote how Chávez was left “hostile and angry” by his simple questions.
In the wake of Chávez’s decline and eventual death in 1993, authors created a new genre: Saint César. Titles like “Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence,” “Conquering Goliath: Cesar Chavez at the Beginning” (by his mentor, Fred Ross Sr., the most important California organizer you’ve never heard of) and “The Rhetorical Career of César Chávez” pushed forth the gospel of their subject as a plainspoken prophet out of the Good Book.
Chávez inspired millions — but those books will now forever read as hollow and sadly myopic.
Rethinking the Chávez myth
True reappraisals of Chávez and his work wouldn’t start until after former Times editor and reporter Miriam Pawel published a 2006 series for this paper that showed the ugly, domineering side of Chávez and the UFW’s decline. Six years later, longtime activist Frank Bardacke simultaneously praised and damned Chávez in his “Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers.” Though a good read, it pales in importance and poignant lyricism to two double whammies that dropped in 2014: “From the Jaws of Victory The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement” by Dartmouth College professor (and my distant cousin!) Matthew Garcia and Pawel’s own “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography.”
Garcia and Pawel are now making media appearances and writing essays to opine on where they think Chávez went wrong. Expect updates to all of these books and so many others in the months and years to come — if they’re ever published again.
Today’s top stories
Red diamond rattlesnakes are among species in the Golden State. One reptile expert who relocates snakes says her phone has been “ringing off the hook.”
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Weird rattlesnake season
Unseasonably warm March weather triggered an unusually active rattlesnake season in California, with experts fielding record calls about sightings statewide.
Two fatal bites in Southern California in March and 77 Poison Control calls in three months far exceed typical annual patterns.
Those former Californians said the move saved them almost $700 in monthly housing costs, and they became 48% more likely to own a home in their new state.
Minimal snow in California mountains
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(Stella Kalinina / For The Times; Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times; Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times; Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
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A question for you: How are you celebrating Easter this year?
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the second inning of a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Ronaldo Bolaños at Tuesday night’s Dodgers’ game. Shohei Ohtani battled through the rain to throw a one-hit gem in the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend reporter Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
This is the April 21, 2021, edition of the Essential Politics newsletter. Like what you’re reading? Sign up to get it in your inbox three times a week.
Outgoing presidents often leave decisions for their successors to take on.
Over the last two decades, and four presidents, how to end America’s longest war — in Afghanistan — has been among the largest open questions. President Biden inherited it from President Trump, who inherited it from President Obama, who took it from President George W. Bush. Unpopular, seemingly unending and unwinnable, the war is a case study in how the choices of one administration echo into the next.
Last week, Biden formally announced a deadline of Sept. 11 — the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that provoked the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan — to end military involvement in the country.
“War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking,” he said.
The prospective exit also has been years in the works. Obama promised to scale back U.S. involvement, but first he sent a surge of troops. Trump vowed several times to withdraw all troops, making chaotic progress that stopped short of a full exit. Biden is now the third president to make a similar commitment.
Whether he will follow through remains to be seen. My colleagues David S. Cloud and Tracy Wilkinson have extensively covered the American involvement in Afghanistan, from Trump’s growing tensions with the Pentagon over withdrawal to the lives of Afghanistan’s youngest generation, which was born into U.S. occupation.
Taken together, their work over the last few years reveals the deep roots of Biden’s promise, and the complicated history that will color his path forward.
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The long path to leaving
January 2017: A president who promised peace leaves office after eight years of war
During his first presidential campaign, Obama pledged to end the war in Afghanistan, as well as in Iraq. He ended his presidency as the first two-term president to see U.S. forces at war for all eight years.
Experts saw his legacy as mixed. He did reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, cutting their ranks to 8,400, and his administration reduced American deaths — if not Afghanis’ — by relying on diplomacy and on drones to launch airstrikes. Yet intelligence officials said the U.S. faced more threats in more places than the country had seen since the Cold War. “We’re now wrapped up in all these different conflicts, at a low level and with no end in sight,” one expert told The Times.
August 2017:Trump presides over a stalemate and negotiated settlement
Trump the candidate ran as a tough-on-the-Taliban leader, promising a hard-fought and fast victory to end U.S. engagement. But Trump the president softened when it came time to reveal formal plans, Cloud and Wilkinson wrote with former Times reporter W.J. Hennigan. Fighting continued — to show U.S. forces could not be pushed out — while Trump promised that the 16-year war might end “some day” in a negotiated settlement. It was an acknowledgment that victory would elude a president who loved to win and refused to concede defeat.
“This entire effort is intended to put pressure on the Taliban, to have the Taliban understand you will not win a battlefield victory,” then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. “We may not win one, but neither will you. So at some point, we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end.”
By February 2018, the Trump administration proposed a defense budget that increased spending in Afghanistan by almost $2 billion, for a total of $48.9 billion in the next fiscal year.
December 2018:Trump presses for peace talks and announces a withdrawal of half of troops
That month, a series of announcements signaled Trump’s growing dissatisfaction with involvement in Afghanistan. Increased Taliban attacks had caused hundreds of Afghan civilian and military casualties a month, prompting Trump administration officials to press for a cease-fire agreement, but with dim prospects, Cloud wrote.
Less than two weeks later, administration officials announced a drastic plan: withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan, potentially by summer. The backlash was swift from U.S. lawmakers, allies and even the Pentagon. Defense Secretary James N. Mattis was so furious that Trump would abandon allies in Syria and Afghanistan that he resigned in protest, as Cloud reported.
February-May 2020: A truce and a landmark agreement to withdraw
With 12,000 troops still in Afghanistan, the Trump administration brokered a temporary deal with the Taliban to reduce violence for a week in February, Wilkinson reported. The test was a success, and on Feb. 29, U.S. and Taliban officials signed an accord to end the war. The Taliban would prevent Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghan territory to threaten the U.S., without renouncing its terrorist ties. In return, the U.S. would withdraw its troops within 14 months, setting a deadline of May 1, 2021.
The plan again drew backlash, from former Trump and Obama administration officials, who warned a complete withdrawal could backfire, Cloud, Wilkinson and Stefanie Glinksi reported. Even as conflict continued between the Taliban and the Afghan government into May, the Trump administration remained committed to removing troops.
November 2020: Hopes of exiting before the election dashed
Trump, hoping that a full exit in 2020 would boost his reelection prospects, made clear to advisors that he cared little about conditions in Afghanistan, Cloud and Wilkinson reported. He wanted out, period. By July, the number of troops on the ground had shrunk to 8,600.
But as the peace talks the U.S. hoped to broker struggled to get off the ground, administration officials said about 4,000 troops would have to remain into November. The Pentagon said too rapid a withdrawal would doom the talks, invite violence and cause American forces to have to abandon valuable equipment. Trump said he wanted a withdrawal by the end of his term in January, and in November — as he refused to concede his loss to Biden — he ordered troop levels reduced in Iraq and Afghanistan, to 2,500 in each country.
Trump’s relationship with Congress further deteriorated in December, in part over the bipartisan pushback to his withdrawal plans. It was among the reasons he cited in vetoing the annual National Defense Authorization Act, Cloud and Jennifer Haberkorn wrote.
April 2021: Biden says it’s “time to end the forever war.”
When Biden took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2,500 troops remained in Afghanistan. But the new president faced the decision of whether to honor Trump’s May 1 deadline for withdrawing them — the final exit from the war, Cloud wrote. Once again, Defense Department officials pressured the president to delay a full withdrawal as the deadline the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban approached.
On April 14, Biden made his decision public: The drawdown would proceed, but not so quickly. The U.S. would fully exit by Sept. 11, Cloud and David Lauter wrote.
“I am now the fourth United States president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats,” Biden said. “I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth.”
The top half of the front page of the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 9, 2001.
(Los Angeles Times)
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— The conviction of former Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd reenergized a push for sweeping criminal justice reform by President Biden and leading Democrats, who said Tuesday’s verdict was just the first step on the path to national healing, report Evan Halper, Eli Stokols and Sarah D. Wire.
— Anticipating an uproar, Facebook said it would crack down on violent content, hate speech and harassment ahead of the Chauvin verdict. But as Brian Contreras reports, critics are wondering why the platform doesn’t take those precautions all the time.
The latest on the environment
— China, Japan and South Korea are the world’s biggest funders of coal-fired power plants around the globe — and the Biden administration is looking to win their agreement to deep cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, write Anna M. Phillips and Wilkinson.
— Biden will convene leaders from around the world on Thursday and Friday as he marks the United States’ return to the global fight against climate change, Chris Megerian writes. Three people with knowledge of the White House plans say Biden will pledge to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030.
— Solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars will go far in helping California and the Biden administration meet their aggressive climate goals — but not far enough. As time runs short, scientists and government officials say the moment to break out the giant vacuums has arrived, Halper writes.
More from Washington
— Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to North Carolina on Monday to talk about economic opportunities and electric school buses as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to promote its roughly $2-trillion infrastructure, clean energy and jobs plan, Noah Bierman writes.
— The Supreme Court is weighing whether immigrants granted temporary protected status can get green cards — and if the Biden administration will make that decision, David G. Savage reports.
— The Justice Department has brought charges against hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, but one of its most pivotal potential cases involves a man who never set foot inside the building, writes Del Quentin Wilber.
— After Jan. 6, many of the nation’s largest corporations pledged that they would suspend donations to elected officials who opposed the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, hindered the peaceful transfer of power or incited violence. The vast majority kept their word, report Seema Mehta, Maloy Moore and Matt Stiles.
— What is there left to say about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Plenty, it turns out. In a new biography, Pelosi dishes on chiding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and using the nickname “Moscow Mitch,” writes Wire.
Plus, every time you drive, you can see the escalating average cost for a gallon of gas throughout the state that ranges from $5.77 in Orange County, $5.78 in San Diego County, $5.80 in Los Angeles County and $5.86 in San Francisco County to the high of $6.57 in Mono County, according to AAA.
It can easily make anyone think having fun is unaffordable.
Fortunately, our Travel and Experiences team has put together a list of 75 fun things to do for under $20.
On warm days, it’s hard to beat a ride on the swan boats at Echo Park.
They’re powered by foot paddles, and the pedaling is easy because you’re in no hurry. Maybe you’ll want to do a circuit of the lake (really a man-made reservoir). Maybe you’ll sidle up to the towers of whitewater rising from the mid-lake fountain.
Maybe you’ll wait until after dark (because the swans light up).
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Experience L.A.’s esoteric history at the Philosophical Research Society (Los Feliz)
Cost: Free to visit, workshops and lectures from $10 and up.
Located at the intersection of Los Feliz and Griffith Park boulevards, the Philosophical Research Society has long been a place of mystery, intrigue and, for some, apprehension.
The Mayan Revival campus painted in Southwestern shades of clay, cream and sage was built in 1935 by the celebrated author and esoteric lecturer Manly P. Hall.
Today, it hosts a dizzying array of events each week including poetry readings, death cafes, sound baths, a weekly class on Buddhism, tarot and astrology salons and musical performances — some of which have a suggested donation of just $10.
If you visit, make sure to make time to browse the excellently curated metaphysical bookstore.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Find the perfect meditation spot at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine (Pacific Palisades)
Cost: Free.
Whether or not you’re familiar with the work of Paramahansa Yogananda, who founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920, if you live in Los Angeles you owe him a debt of gratitude for the smattering of lush, meditative gardens in Southern California that are still open to the public today.
Among those is Lake Shrine, a beautifully landscaped 10-acre property in the Pacific Palisades surrounding a spring-fed lake that is dotted with quiet meditation spots.
It is free to visit, but you will need to make a reservation online before you go. (Reservations open each Saturday at 10 a.m. for the week ahead, and they can fill up quickly.)
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Cozy up with a flick at the Paramount Drive-In Theater (Paramount)
Cost: $14 per adult, $7 per kid (ages 3-11).
For a night out that feels as cozy as a night in, head to the Paramount Drive-In Theater. In the comfort of your own car, you can spread out, munch popcorn and make all the commentary you want without getting looks from other moviegoers.
Tickets are purchased on arrival, and the parking lot is huge, so you’re bound to secure a good view of the big screen. There is a concession store on site with candy, chips and drinks, but you are free to bring all the snacks you want from home. Recline your seat all the way back, relax and enjoy the show.
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All the predictions, drama and pageantry of Hollywood’s biggest night will play out at the Dolby Theatre this afternoon as the 98th Academy Awards get underway.
How many awards will “Sinners,” directed by Ryan Coogler, win from its record-setting 16 nominations? And will Coogler win best director? Our critic says, “no.”
Tonight is also a big evening for our entertainment team, which has been producing features, previews, explainers, predictions and so much more.
The 2026 Oscars will air on ABC, and those with cable subscriptions can also watch by logging into the ABC app or abc.com.
The telecast will also stream live on Hulu, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. Internationally, the ceremony will be broadcast in more than 200 territories. You can check your local listings here.
When the red carpet viewing gets underway
“Chicken Shop Date” host Amelia Dimoldenberg will return, for a third-straight year, as social media ambassador and correspondent for the official red carpet, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and Hulu.
For extended coverage, E! will begin its red carpet broadcast at 1 p.m. ABC’s coverage begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by “The Oscars Red Carpet Show,” hosted by Tamron Hall and Jesse Palmer.
“Sinners” is picking up steam heading into the show
My colleague Greg Braxton wrote about how award prognosticators believe Sinners gained positive press after its stars — Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan — were called a racial slur at the BAFTAs.
Jordan’s and Lindo’s handling of the BAFTA incident, along with warmly received victories for the “Sinners” cast at the Actor Awards on March 1, has given the Warner Bros. release unexpected momentum leading up to Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
Although it received a record-breaking 16 nominations, the film has been largely overshadowed through much of awards season by Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller “One Battle After Another.”
And Timothée Chalamet of “Marty Supreme” had been considered for months as an almost-certain lock for lead actor. But the events in past weeks have seemingly positioned “Sinners” for upset wins in the picture race and lead actor for Jordan.
Every character — from Miles Caton’s rebellious guitarist and Jack O’Connell’s lilting vampire to Wunmi Mosaku’s soulful witch and Michael B. Jordan’s bootlegging twins Smoke and Stack — has been scarred by life in 1930s Mississippi.
She also said the film “Eddington” should’ve been a contender (perhaps a nod to “On the Waterfront”). Ari Aster’s merciless black comedy drags us back to May 2020 when tempers, temperatures and misinformation were heating up across America.
Dueling civic leaders Sheriff Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted (Pedro Pascal) agree that COVID has yet to arrive in their New Mexican hamlet.
But with the Oscars, quality is often secondary to an awards narrative. Both movies have cultural relevance.
Both won critical acclaim and, to a degree, commercial success. (Though “One Battle” wasn’t the blockbuster “Sinners” was, it still grossed more than any other movie in Anderson’s career.) “Sinners” scored 16 Oscar nominations, the most in history; “One Battle” was close behind with 13.
There’s much more to read in the above links. Enjoy them and the Oscars.
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When I think of the solidarity of musicians, I recall an iconic scene from the film “Titanic.”
It’s the one where a quartet plays “Nearer, My God, to Thee” as the great, “unsinkable” ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean.
They attempted to offer calm amid a sea of panic as passengers and crew feverishly boarded lifeboats. The events were based on a true story and historians note that the body of the Titanic band leader Wallace Hartley was found floating in the ocean “with his music case strapped to it.”
Even in tragedy, we seek music to bring us solace.
Much closer to home, musicians from Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other affected areas have been challenged to keep the music going after losing instruments, studio equipment and business along with their homes in the January 2025 fires that claimed the lives of 31 people.
One organization, Altadena Musicians, launched the app Instrumental Giving to connect donors who can spare an old piano or a gently used cello with those who lost similar instruments.
KC Mancebo, an Altadena Musicians advisor, spoke with The Times about the group’s mission and success.
The campaign’s genesis
It started with composers Brandon Jay and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, who saw their Altadena home, music studio and several instruments destroyed by the Eaton fire.
Shortly after the fire, Jay posted about the lost equipment and what each piece meant to his family.
He said the response from that post — hundreds of people offering their instruments and other types of aid — left him “overwhelmed and gobsmacked.”
He called friends and helpers from throughout the music industry, including Mancebo, chief executive of the event production and talent booking agency Clamorhouse, hoping to offer to others the same help he received.
Mancebo had been helping homeowners navigate fire insurance paperwork and processes.
“Brandon Jay asked, ‘Why don’t we start gathering instruments for our friends,” Mancebo said. “We had 25 friends in the Palisades and 15 friends in the Eaton fire that lost everything, so we and others got involved.”
How’s it going so far?
The organization has passed out around 3,500 instruments to 1,200 families since the first donations in late January 2025, Mancebo said.
The donations range from ukuleles to Steinway & Sons pianos.
“We’re providing instruments to anyone from children who lost their first instruments to people who lost their entire studio,” she said. “The need is great.”
The gifts have come from individual donors and corporate benefactors such as JBL, which has provided speakers and equipment, as well as guitar makers Fender and Gibson, among others.
Rebuilding from the ashes
Mancebo lost her Westside home eight years ago because of a defective dryer that caught fire, she said.
“I went through the whole process of insurance, permitting and rebuilding and we didn’t have FEMA or anyone to help,” she said. “I want to provide that help to those in a similar situation.”
Mancebo said it took eight years to recover and rebuild her home.
“No one is fine after the first year,” she said. “Everyone needs help.”
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, donated her Kawai Upright Piano to the Altadena Musicians organization on March 10, 2026.
(Courtesy of Amy Engelhardt)
One person’s goodbye is another’s hello
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, loved her Kawai upright piano she purchased through a PennySaver ad in 2000.
“It was a deal for the starving artist,” she said. “I paid so little and I always considered it a gift.”
Since then, Engelhardt said she has written all of her music on that piano. She didn’t, however, play it while recording her Grammy-nominated vocal group, the Bobs.
Still, she donated her piano this week to a woman who lost her home. The instrument would not be making the permanent move with Engelhardt back to New York, where her playwriting services are in demand.
“I did get emotional about it, but it’s OK,” Engelhardt said. “It’s comforting knowing that someone else will love it and create their own memories.”
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A selection of the very best reads from The Times’ 143-year archive.
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