Valley

In the muffled silence all I can hear is the crunch and squeak of snow underfoot. The white path ahead of me meanders skyward through forests of larch and pine, their boughs glittering with snow. When I look back, I can see for miles – an icily beautiful panorama of crags and peaks.

I’m in the Lower Engadine, in remote south-east Switzerland, thanks to a tip shared by my Swiss friend Kaspar, when I was pondering a winter walking holiday away from the crowds. Over two weeks I’ll be exploring this fairytale landscape alone, following well-marked trails.

Aerial footage from Elgeyo-Marakwet County shows massive mudslides and flash flooding stretching over vast distances.

Heavy rains have triggered landslides in Kenya’s western Rift Valley region, killing at least 21 people and destroying more than 1,000 homes, according to officials.

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for the Interior Kipchumba Murkomen, in a statement on X on Saturday, said at least 25 people with “serious injuries” have been airlifted from Elgeyo-Marakwet County to the city of Eldoret for medical attention, while at least 30 remain missing.

He said that rescue efforts would resume on Sunday, with help from the military and the police.

“Preparation to supply more food and non-food relief items to the victims is underway. Military and police choppers are on standby to transport the items,” he added.

The landslide occurred overnight in Elgeyo-Marakwet County’s hilly area of Chesongoch in western Kenya, which has been battered by heavy rains amid the country’s ongoing short rainy season.

Local Stephen Kittony told the Citizen Television station that he heard a deafening sound and, together with his children, rushed out of his house and ran in different directions.

The Kenyan Red Cross shared aerial images from the region that showed massive mudslides and flash flooding stretching over vast distances.

It said it was coordinating rescue efforts with the government, including air evacuations for the injured.

“Access to some of the affected areas remains extremely difficult due to flooding and blocked routes,” it said in a statement on X.

Aerial views show the extent of destruction in Chesongoch after heavy overnight rains triggered a landslide and flash floods.

Kenya Red Cross teams, working with the National and County Governments, are coordinating rescue and relief efforts, including air evacuations for the… pic.twitter.com/SrVmFYF5fr

— Kenya Red Cross (@KenyaRedCross) November 1, 2025

The hilly area of Chesongoch is prone to landslides, which left dozens of people dead in separate incidents in 2010 and 2012. A shopping centre was washed away in 2020 by raging floods.

The Painswick Rococo Garden is one of the most beautiful places in Gloucestershire – and it’s perfect for an autumn day trip or weekend escape.

Gloucestershire is harbouring a double secret.

Nestled amidst the stunning countryside, the delightful town of Painswick, often hailed as ‘The Queen of the Cotswolds ‘, is already a hidden jewel. Previously acknowledged as one of the UK’s most picturesque towns by The Telegraph – it’s easy to see why.

This tucked-away gem in Gloucestershire is perfect for an autumn day trip or weekend escape. Situated in the heart of the Cotswolds, this beautiful town is one of the best-preserved spots in the region and its allure has remained untouched over the decades.

The best part? Painswick remains a peaceful haven, unaffected by the overwhelming surge of tourists that descend on nearby villages like Bibury, The Slaughters, Bourton-on-the-Water, and Stow-on-the-Wold.

Perched atop a hill with views over the verdant Stroud Valley, the town sits beautifully and offers a harmonious mix of history, architecture, and awe-inspiring natural beauty – which isn’t surprising, really, since it’s located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Its honey-coloured stone buildings, winding lanes, and charming chocolate-box cottages radiate that quintessentially English charm, while the town’s serene atmosphere provides a welcome respite for visitors from the hustle and bustle of the more popular Cotswold must-see destinations.

If you’re still not convinced to pay a visit, the charming town boasts an open secret that its residents take great pride in – the Painswick Rococo Garden.

The Painswick Rococo Garden, the only one of its kind in the UK, has been acknowledged as one of the top 10 per cent of attractions worldwide by Tripadvisor’s Travellers Choice Awards for 2025. Just a stone’s throw from the town centre, it’s safe to say this stunning garden is Painswick’s crowning glory.

Brief history of the Rococo Garden

The history of the garden is rich and layered, stretching back nearly three centuries when Benjamin Hyett designed this unique and captivating haven to entertain his guests at Painswick House in the 1740s. In 1748, he hired local artist Thomas Robins to paint the garden, and it’s this very painting that has served as the blueprint for the garden’s restoration from 1984 to the present day.

Today, this 18th-century treasure on Gloucester Road stands as the only fully preserved rococo garden in the UK, making it a truly one-of-a-kind destination for visitors. Since 1984, it has been painstakingly restored into a beautifully kept outdoor space, saved from certain ruin.

The term ‘rococo’ refers to an art period that was popular in Europe in the 1700s, characterised by ornate decoration, the use of pastel colours and asymmetry, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Why it’s so famous

The garden’s popularity is well-earned, with up to 1,000 visitors descending on the garden daily during snowdrop season, which spans from late January to early February, when the snowdrop displays are at their most spectacular.

Currently, the Rococo Garden is featured on the Historic England Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. It has been under the care of the Painswick Rococo Garden Trust, a registered charity that has been rejuvenating the garden since 1988.

This esteemed garden, offering stunning views of the Cotswolds, includes enchanting follies, woodland strolls, a café, and a maze. There’s also a charming wooden play area for children along with a gift shop selling locally crafted produce and souvenirs, as well as top-quality plants.

How to get there and ticket prices

If you’re contemplating a trip to the Rococo Garden, you might want to consider becoming a season ticket holder. Single membership begins at £37, granting free entry throughout the year.

Alternatively, you can buy a ticket on the day. Prices range from £5.70 for children and £12.20 for adults, to £10.95 for seniors (60 and above) and £31.50 for a family ticket.

The nearest train station is Stroud, which is approximately 5 miles away from the garden. You can also utilise the Stagecoach 66 local bus route, operating hourly from Cheltenham to Stroud, Monday through Saturday.

On Sundays, the Stagecoach 166 service runs between Cheltenham and Stroud. The closest stop is at the foot of Pullens Road, roughly half a mile from the Garden.

When any basketball coach is raving about an opposing player, that sets off an alarm bell for sportswriters to pay attention and investigate.

It turns out all the good things coaches are beginning to say about 6-foot-4 junior guard Donovan Webb of Golden Valley High are true. Canyon Country Canyon coach Ali Monfared said Webb might be the best player in the Foothill League, which held its media day at Canyon on Saturday.

Webb is one of those players who worked hard when nobody was watching. His focus was on improving his three-point shooting, and all those hours in the gym could pay off.

“I’m a gym rat,” he said.

Last season, he was moved to point guard and kept deferring to other players. This season, he got the message to take charge. “We put the keys to the car in his hands,” first-year coach Scott Barkman said.

With a 4.3 grade-point average, Webb said he understands what his role needs to be.

“I needed to take my game to the next level,” he said.

Golden Valley and Valencia will be the co-favorites because of the experience each team has with returning players.

Valencia has its own much-improved player in junior Steven Irons. Last season he was 6-5, 170 pounds. Now he’s 6-7, 210 pounds after eating lots of chicken and rice while working on strength.

“The day we lost the playoff game, I started lifting,” he said.

Said coach Greg Fontenette: “His development has been like night and day.”

Double-doubles are in his future, and it’s not about In-N-Out. He’ll be scoring and providing rebounds to support Valencia’s talented class of 2027 players.

Saugus returns Braydon Harmon, who had a 43-point performance against West Ranch last season.

Hart coach Tom Kelly is in his 26th season for the Newhall school and 36th overall (he was head coach at Burbank Burroughs for 10 years).

Canyon won a 2A championship last season and lost most of its players, but returning is standout point guard Isaac Yuhico, who delivered clutch baskets in the Cowboys’ triple-overtime championship game win over St. Bonaventure.

Former Golden Valley coach Chris Printz has become an assistant principal, but his son, Wyatt, remains on the team. Asked if his father got a pay raise, Wyatt said, “I hope so.”

Conner Peterson of West Ranch was asked about playing against friends in the league. “It’s the same thing playing against your brother,” he said. “You want to beat them.”

Castaic coach Louis Fernando offered optimism about his team, saying, “I don’t have to coach ego and I don’t have to coach effort this year.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

At a car lot just off the 405 in the San Fernando Valley, there is more than meets the eye.

Galpin Motors sells new and used Fords — touting itself as one of the largest dealerships in the world. But next door, it also displays exotic rides: Shelby Cobras. A vintage purple Rolls-Royce. Sylvester Stallone’s Harley from “The Expendables.”

And then there’s the on-site diner, the Horseless Carriage, where the vinyl-covered booths have hosted generations of Valley power brokers and men who have shaped the policies of the Los Angeles Police Department for decades.

Bert Boeckmann, owner and president of Galpin Motors, stands with new Fords in his showroom.

( Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Former Galpin boss Herbert “Bert” Boeckmann was an influential figure in local politics and a member of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners, the civilian panel that oversees the LAPD. A longtime lawyer for car dealer, Alan Skobin, also served on the commission.

Now, another member of the Galpin Motors family is poised to carry on the legacy.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether Jeffrey Skobin, a vice president at Galpin, will follow in his father Alan’s footsteps and join the commission.

Appointed by Mayor Karen Bass, the younger Skobin, 45, already serves on an advisory board that gives the mayor input on issues facing the Valley. He did not respond to an interview request from The Times.

Skobin cleared one hurdle last week, when the council’s public safety committee approved his nomination by a 3-1 vote.

Several committee members professed to knowing Skobin’s family, with one lauding him for the “good stock you come from.”

Skobin said he wouldn’t take the role of commissioner lightly. The five-member panel acts like a corporate board of directors, setting LAPD policies, approving its budget and scrutinizing police shootings.

“I recognize the seriousness of this role and the gravity of this responsibility,” Skobin told the committee. “My story is deeply tied to Los Angeles.”

A mega-dealership with five franchises, Galpin has long wielded influence as a source of jobs and tax revenue for the city. It was Boeckmann who established the business as a powerful player in local politics.

Rare classic Porsche sports cars on display in the Galpin Hall of Customs during the LA Auto Show’s opening day at Los Angeles Convention Center in 2021.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Boeckmann was a self-made millionaire who started out as a car salesman in 1953, seven years after Galpin opened. He eventually bought out the company’s founder, Frank Galpin.

In the decades that followed, he amassed a large corporate empire in the Valley that also included vast land holdings and a film production company.

Boeckmann and his wife, Jane, longtime publisher of the Valley magazine, backed George W. Bush for president, Gray Davis for governor and Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor.

Galpin’s website features a picture of Boeckmann and his wife meeting California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1974. “When I think about what’s right in America, I will always think of men like Bert Boeckmann,” said the future president, according to the company.

Samantha Stevens, a Los Angeles political consultant and former legislative staffer, said candidates routinely made pilgrimages to the Galpin lot on Roscoe Boulevard to court Boekmann.

“Everybody would go and ask for their support, not just the money. You wanted the name on the endorsement list,” Stevens said.

Although Boeckmann leaned conservative, she said, he was also a force behind the scenes in L.A.’s left-leaning City Hall and seemed to put aside politics when he found causes or candidates that he believed in — including a failed push for the Valley to break away and form its own city.

Ford Explorers on a Galpin storage lot on Woodley Avenue near Van Nuys Airport.

(Los Angeles Times)

“I remember sending my liberal Democrat candidates to meet with them, and they would get donations,” Stevens said.

First appointed to the Police Commission by then-Mayor Tom Bradley in 1983, Boeckmann served two stints under three mayors.

During his 17 combined years on the panel, Boeckmann gained a reputation as its most conservative member — with critics calling him an apologist for former Chief Daryl Gates.

He sat on the commission during two of the darkest chapters in LAPD history: The fallout of the 1991 beating of Black motorist Rodney King and the Rampart corruption scandal, which uncovered cops planting evidence, dealing drugs and committing other crimes.

Boekmann died in 2023 at age 93, but the company still maintains close ties with both the LAPD and City Hall.

Campaign finance records show that Galpin and its employees, including Jeffrey Skobin, have made contributions to numerous local, state and politicians, though not Bass’ mayoral campaign.

Yet when Bass announced the possibility of laying off city workers earlier this year, she chose Galpin as the backdrop of her news conference to rally support.

Last November, less than a week after taking over as LAPD chief, Jim McDonnell held a meet- and-greet at the company’s gleaming showroom of exotic cars across the street.

Galpin twice supported McDonnell’s campaigns for Los Angeles County sheriff, with records showing tens of thousands of dollars in donations during his successful run in 2014 and his failed re-election bid four years later.

In years’ past, the company came under scrutiny after it was revealed that Boeckmann leased city land and sold cars to the city. A controversy arose when the City Council spent $2.4 million to help buy a 239-acre parcel from Boeckmann in Mandeville Canyon. For a time, the LAPD stored some undercover vehicles on Galpin properties.

Those deep ties have led to questions about whether Skobin can be an effective police watchdog. The mayor’s office scrutinized Skobin’s business for any conflicts of interest before putting forward his nomination, city officials said.

LAPD Capt. Johnny Smith said Galpin has given to countless charitable causes and regularly provides meeting space for community groups.

“Their support has always come from a place of partnership, grounded in the belief that together, we can do better for this city we all love,” said Smith, who said he has known the Skobin family for years.

Alan Skobin, 74, told The Times his work on the police commission, on which he served from 2003 to 2012, gave his son a unique window into how the department functions — and what it takes to provide police oversight.

An auto enthusiast views the Batmobile, which was formerly a Ford Futura, on display at Galpin Hall of Customs.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Number one, don’t take things that are brought to you at face value. Look beyond the surface,” he said. “Always remember you are a representative of the public, and keep that perspective. Continue to be a good listener of various views.”

The elder Skobin recalled how his teenage son once came home upset over a traffic stop that occurred while he was driving to school with a friend, who was Black. The teens felt they were pulled over for no reason — and the incident left a lasting impression about discrimination by law enforcement, Skobin said.

“One thing I know about LAPD is things slip,” he said. “And Jeff is the kind of person that will look into those things.”

The only vote against the younger Skobin when he appeared before the council’s public safety committee last week came from Hugo Soto-Martinez, who peppered him with questions about his reaction to the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration raids.

“Heartbreaking,” Skobin said, noting that roughly half of Galpin’s employees are of Mexican descent. He is also married to a Mexican American woman.

Soto-Martinez also pressed him on how he would respond if he discovered that local law enforcement shares license plate reader data with federal authorities.

The license plate data allows law enforcement to track the movements of Angelenos in their vehicles without court orders, and some worry that they could potentially be used to track people for deportation.

“I think I would take a position to seek to understand the legality of that, what options there are,” Skobin said.

The village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, Wales, is a traveller favourite and is known for the majestic ruined abbey that sits in the centre of the village

Wales is renowned for its picturesque villages and breathtaking landscapes, but there’s one Welsh village that stands out from the rest.

Tintern, nestled in the heart of the stunning Wye Valley and hugging the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, is a sight to behold. The village is famed for its awe-inspiring ruined abbey, which sits majestically at its centre, making it a favourite among travellers.

The modern-day Tintern we see today is the result of two historically rich villages merging – Chapel Hill, forming the southern end, and Tintern Parva, making up the northern end. Since 1976, it has been a designated Conservation Area and underwent a name change in 2022 from Tintern to Wye Valley, along with some boundary alterations.

Despite its small size, Tintern holds immense historical significance. The star attraction is undoubtedly Tintern Abbey, a shining beacon in the celebrated Wye Valley.

Its stunning gothic architecture, complete with pointed arches, lancet windows, and ribbed vaults, leaves many visitors awestruck at first sight. Over the centuries, the magnificent ruins of this Cistercian monastery have enchanted visitors and inspired countless travellers, reports Wales Online.

Tintern, a village steeped in history and industrial heritage, has made its mark on the world in several significant ways. The Abbey Forge, nestled within this quaint village, is renowned as the birthplace of British brass production and was instrumental in pioneering wire manufacturing on an industrial scale.

Notably, it was here at Tintern’s Abbey Forge that the first transatlantic cable was crafted.

Today, Tintern serves as a popular destination for walkers and cycling enthusiasts, with numerous long-distance trails and circular routes either starting or passing through the village. A vast network of local footpaths crisscrosses the area, intersecting with two major long-distance paths: the Wye Valley Walk on the Welsh side and Offa’s Dyke path on the English side.

The charming St Mary the Virgin chapel on Chapel Hill is a favourite amongst tourists, and the village also boasts the award-winning Parva Farm Vineyard. Another must-visit spot in Tintern is the medieval church of St Michael in Tintern Parva.

Adding to the village’s attractions is the Tintern railway station, located just a mile’s walk above Tintern. Although passenger services ceased in 1959, the station remains operational as a bustling tourist centre.

As a dog-friendly village, visitors are welcome to bring their furry friends along when visiting any of Tintern’s numerous pubs and cafes, where they’re guaranteed a warm reception.

Getting to the village is straightforward, with the number 69 Wye Valley bus providing hourly services from both Monmouth and Chepstow.

Tintern Abbey

By the 18th century, Tintern Abbey had already become a must-see attraction as part of the Wye Tour along the river – and for good reason.

Most notably, Tintern Abbey inspired poems by literary giants such as William Wordsworth and Alfred Lord Tennyson, and was even the subject of breathtaking paintings by artist JMW Turner.

Tintern Abbey was first established on May 9, 1131, during the reign of King Henry I, by Walter de Clare alongside the river. The abbey was the second Cistercian foundation in Britain (following Waverley Abbey) and the first in Wales.

Initially, the abbey was simply a complex of timber buildings. However, between 1270 and 1301, it underwent reconstruction and was completely rebuilt.

The current remains at Tintern Abbey are a mix of architectural works spanning several centuries and its present-day remnants reflect this diverse architectural history. Once it was rebuilt, around four hundred monks, who originally came from a daughter house of Cîteaux in France, lived in the complex.

For four centuries, Tintern Abbey was a powerhouse in the local economy, with its land divided into farming units or granges. The locals worked the land and served the abbey and its many visitors, making it an integral part of Tintern village’s history and culture.

However, the abbey ceased operations following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. In a more recent development, Cadw took over the management of Tintern Abbey in 1984.

By the late 18th century, tourism had begun to flourish in the Wye Valley, with many visitors travelling along the river to see the abbey and other scenic spots in the famous region. The poet William Wordsworth was one such visitor in 1798, and he wrote the well-known Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey during his visit.

The construction of the turnpike road (now known as the A466) through the valley in 1829, followed by the arrival of the Wye Valley Railway in the 1870s, led to a significant increase in visitor numbers. This established tourism as the bedrock of Tintern’s economy, a legacy that continues to this day.

Today, Tintern Abbey attracts approximately 70,000 visitors each year, who travel from near and far to marvel at the stunning beauty of the historic abbey.

Truly Adams of Moreno Valley is racing Formula 4 cars in France even though he’s not old enough to obtain a driver’s license in California.

The 15-year-old freshman who’s enrolled in online classes at Epic Charter School in Corona became the first American driver to finish on the podium at the Feed Racing Volant F4 finals last month, taking third place in a field of international contenders at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, one of France’s top F1 racetracks.

Truly Adams races in the Feed Racing Volant F4 Finals in France.

(Troy Adams Coaching)

Adams is bilingual in English and Spanish and learning French to help further his desired career in racing. He’s won kart races in Spain and was the fastest driver at the Mexico F4 Series test. He’s preparing for the 2026 French Formula 4 season next year, which is the path toward being a Formula 1 driver. Entry into the series requires $300,000 in funding, so he’s seeking sponsorships and partnerships.

“I love racing cars because of the thrill of it, passing cars, getting passed, going 130 mph in the straightaway,” he said.

His father, Troy, serves as his driving coach. His mother, Kara, is his driver when he’s in Southern California. In the last year, he’s traveled throughout the United States and to France, Portugal, Spain and Italy for competitions.

“I played every sport growing up — soccer, football, basketball, golf, tennis, rugby, swimming,” he said. “I tried to play the guitar. I tried to play piano. I tried to play everything.”

Racing cars turned out to be what he was most successful at. He has his own YouTube channel highlighting some of his early experiences. Now he uses Instagram @Truly_theTruth.

He said he has begun studying for his California driving test in September of 2026.

Asked what he might tell the instructor in the car, he said, “I’ll tell him I’m a professional race car driver and do you want to go more than the speed limit?”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

As someone who’s lived in and visited family throughout the Inland Empire for years, I have seen firsthand the rapid growth that has changed the region.

When I travel to Yucaipa nowadays, the orange groves of my youthful weekend visits have long since been replaced by housing developments as the town has nearly doubled in 30 years.

My colleague Terry Castleman has been analyzing the demographic changes taking place in California but he recently took a deep dive into the explosive growth of income in the Inland Empire, in particular the south desert portion of Riverside County.

Castleman, a data reporter, noted that two of the top three communities that saw the greatest growth in average income in the state between 2017 and 2022 were in the Coachella Valley, perhaps best known for hellish summer temperatures, Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

For this analysis, The Times considered only communities with more than 3,000 tax returns. I’ll address the cities with fewer returns shortly.

Thousand Palms saw average incomes rise more than 3.5 times over that span, from $12,700 in 2017 to nearly $45,000 three years later. In nearby Indian Wells, incomes nearly doubled, from $139,000 to $256,000.

Castleman analyzed what was happening in his full article. Let’s look at some of those findings.

The Coachella Valley is experiencing a desert bloom

Income levels in Thousand Palms were far lower than in Indian Wells — but each is getting richer from a regionwide perspective, said Kyle Garman, an agent for Keller Williams who has sold real estate in the Coachella Valley for eight years.

Part of the story is attributable to remote work, he said, but the valley has also undergone a shift from being primarily a tourist destination to a place to settle down.

“It’s not just Palm Springs, it’s not just people coming for the festivals, it’s the whole valley,” Garman said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices were much lower and only about 35% to 40% of residents stayed for the hottest months of the year, he said. As more attractions and infrastructure have become available to residents, though, “people are sticking around more.”

So, who is moving in?

The average California household has a net worth between three and six times their adjusted gross income, meaning that the average Indian Wells resident probably became a millionaire between 2017 and 2022 as average household income skyrocketed to $256,000 from $139,000.

In the Coachella Valley, “the money’s coming from all over,” Garman observed. When the housing market was most competitive, around 2022 and 2023, cash buyers flooded in.

Now, they’re high earners who have relocated to towns that were formerly less tony. “This is the new norm,” he said.

Garman pointed to a number of new Coachella Valley attractions that were drawing families — the Firebirds professional ice hockey team and Disney’s Cotino housing development.

Thousand Palms is unincorporated, drawing homeowners because, as one businessperson there put it: “Taxes are more reasonable, you have fewer regulations when you want to build.”

Notes that didn’t make Castleman’s cut

When Castleman looked at the income changes in smaller towns, he found some intriguing data.

He discovered staggering income jumps in towns like Helm, an unincorporated Fresno County village that has about 200 residents.

Between the 2017-2022 period, Helm saw incomes grow by 10 times, reaching near $200,000.

Castleman said many smaller towns throughout the state are disproportionately impacted by the moves of one or a handful of “big fish.”

“The experts told me that there was likely a big farm owner who reported huge losses one year and then huge gains the next year,” he said. “So, these towns can have wild fluctuations.”

For more, check out Castleman’s full story.

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Under the scorching sun, away from their makeshift tent of thatch, bamboo, and a trampoline sheet used as roofing, Pwanabeshi Job* washes clothes with a three-month-old baby strapped to her back. Her two-year-old son plays nearby, while her eldest fans the burning coal to ensure lunch can be ready. Her husband was out.

Before resorting to life on the streets of Imburu, a community in Numan Local Government Area, Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, the family of five lived under a proper roof.

However, by early August, they, like many others in the Numan and Lamurde areas, grew anxious, knowing that from mid-August through September, their houses are usually flooded.

Each year, as the Benue River, one of West Africa’s largest rivers, swells, it pushes into homes and farms across Numan, where it meets with the Gongola River. The rising waters, which carved through the fertile Benue Valley, a region long prized for farming, leave communities across the area, such as Imburu, Hayin Gada, Ngbalang, Lure, and Opalo, quickly submerged. 

Some residents migrate to neighbouring communities, while others, like Pwanabeshi, gather mats, chairs, cooking utensils, clothes, and other essentials to settle on the street. There, on higher ground beyond the reach of the floodwaters, they remain for about two months. For many, this has become a way of life since 2022. 

Cycle of displacement 

Locals told HumAngle that flooding was first recorded on a large scale in Adamawa in 2012, especially in the Benue Valley. For the next decade, no incident of that scale was recorded. But in 2022, another devastating flood displaced more than 130,000 people across 153 communities. Twenty-five lives were lost, and properties were severely damaged. Heavy rains, dam spillover, and river overflow were said to be the causes of the incident.  

Flooding returned the following year. In 2023, unusually heavy seasonal rain combined with the occasional release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon led to floods that destroyed homes and infrastructure in Fufore, Demsa, Shelleng, and other local government areas.

By August 2024, communities such as Kwakwambe, Lure, and Imburu were again affected by a flood, this time linked to overflow from the Kiri Dam in Shelleng. In Madagali, floods struck due to the upstream flow of water from the Cameroonian highlands. 

Most recently, in July 2025, a violent flood ravaged communities in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, claiming lives and properties. By August, communities around the Benue Valley began to migrate after water levels rose and flooded their homes. 

A study identified the opening of dams, excessive rainfall, rising water levels, and poor drainage, among other factors, as the major drivers of floods in Adamawa State. It also noted that many residents fail to heed early flood warnings.

Lives under water 

On the streets of Imburu, affected residents like Pwanabeshi make do with thatch shelters, each separate but stretched along a street so long that it takes about thirty minutes to walk from one end to the other. They sleep, cook, and carry out domestic chores. With no bathrooms and toilets, they bathe and relieve themselves in nearby bushes, usually before dawn or at night. 

While every household is trying to continue their normal life on the streets, things are tough. The trampoline that covers Pwanabeshi’s shelter leaves gaps, so rain seeps in, soaking the mud floor and chilling the family. “The weather is cold, the mosquito nets we have are not enough, and we are many here, including children,” she said. 

Others face similar struggles. Dati John, a mother of six, keeps a plastic container in the middle of her tent to catch dripping water when it rains.

“I’ve been staying here for over three weeks,” she told HumAngle.

Within this period, Dati said that her children have fallen ill several times, but she could only afford paracetamol until workers from the local primary healthcare centre distributed drugs on Sept. 14. “My basic concern is proper shelter and drugs for our children. If we can get those waterproof tents and mosquito nets, then it’ll go a long way for all of us here,” she said.

According to Dennis Sarka, the community leader of Hayin Gada, about thirty households have been flooded in his community so far. He is unsure of the total number of affected households in Imburu, but he says they are the most affected.

The hardship in these communities goes beyond shelter. The floodwaters have also wiped out the residents’ main source of livelihood—farmlands. Talegopwa John said he lost his entire farm, unable to estimate the hectares submerged or the worth of what was destroyed.

“Some people cultivated large hectares of maize and soya beans, but the flood destroyed everything,” he said. Although the residents were informed about the looming flood months ago, they did not have anywhere else to cultivate their farm, so they clung to hope. 

“That is why I no longer cultivate rice or maize, because the rain washes them away easily. Now, I only farm millet, which can withstand the flood,” said Ramson Mandauna, a retired civil servant and full-term farmer who lives in Imburu. 

The 69-year-old said he didn’t experience flooding as a child living in the community. But over the past four years, he has lost his farmland repeatedly and has been forced to live on the streets each rainy season.

“What we need now is food and how to bring an end to the flooding,” Talegopwa said. 

For children and educators in Imburu, the crisis is not just about lost shelter or farmland; it is also about lost education. September marks the start of a new academic year, but pupils cannot attend classes because Kwakwambe Primary School, located in Hayin Gada within the Benue Valley, is submerged. Locals have nicknamed it the ‘Marine Academy’. 

Each year since 2022, the school, which has a population of about 100 pupils, has been forced to close from mid-August through September, leaving children from Imburu, Hayin Gada, and neighbouring communities at home until the water recedes and classes resume in October. 

Dennis told HumAngle that a non-governmental organisation recently surveyed the area with plans to build another school in a location that is not prone to flooding. “We have provided them with land, and we are expecting work to begin soon,” he said. 

These days, some of the out-of-school children spend their days swimming in the flooded areas.

‘Dredge the Benue River’

Agoso Bamaiyi, an environmental scientist from Adamawa State, says the overflowing of the Benue River through its tributary, the Gongola, is the main driver of flooding in the region. While climate change and global warming contribute to the rising frequency and intensity of floods worldwide, he argues that the Benue’s overflooding remains the central cause in Adamawa.

“The release of huge volumes of water from the Lagdo Dam and the fact that the Benue trough is silted so much that it cannot hold the resultant runoff anymore a major reasons,”  he stated, adding that the situation worsens each year. 

Agoso believes the suffering can be significantly reduced if the Benue is dredged and a reservoir dam is constructed. He said the dam, which could be completed within four to five years, would store excess water released from Lagdo, provide irrigation and electricity, and release water back into the Benue at a natural flow. “If this is done, the flooding caused downstream would be averted,” he said, stressing that dredging would restore the depth and banks of the river, allowing it to carry more water away from farmlands and communities.

“This will also restore year-round navigability and the economic benefits thereof,” he added. 

*Asterisked names have been changed to preserve the identity of the sources.

SACRAMENTO — In a bid to stabilize struggling crude-oil refineries, state lawmakers on Saturday passed a last-minute bill that would allow the construction of 2,000 new oil wells annually in the San Joaquin Valley while further restricting drilling along California’s iconic coastline.

The measure, Senate Bill 237, was part of a deal on climate and environmental issues brokered behind closed doors by Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). The agreement aims to address growing concerns about affordability, primarily the price of gas, and the planned closure of two of the state’s 13 refineries.

California has enough refining capacity to meet demand right now, industry experts say, but the closures could reduce the state’s refining capacity by about 20% and lead to more volatile gas prices.

Democrats on Saturday framed the vote as a bitter but necessary pill to stabilize the energy market in the short term, even as the state pushes forward with the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

McGuire called the bills the “most impactful affordability, climate and energy packages in our state’s history.”

“We continue to chart the future, and these bills will put more money in the pockets of hard-working Californians and keep our air clean, all while powering our transition to a more sustainable economy,” McGuire said.

The planned April 2026 closure of Valero’s refinery in Benicia will lead to a loss of $1.6 billion in wages and drag down local government budgets, said Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), who represents the area and co-authored SB 237.

Wilson acknowledged that the bill won’t help the Benicia refinery, but said that “directly increasing domestic production of crude oil and lowering our reliance on imports will help stabilize the market — it will help create and save jobs.”

Crude oil production in California is declining at an annualized rate of about 15%, about 50% faster than the state’s most aggressive forecast for a decline in demand for gasoline, analysts said this week.

The bill that lawmakers approved Saturday would grant statutory approval for up to 2,000 new wells per year in Kern County, the heart of California oil country.

That legislative fix, effective through 2036, would in effect circumvent a decade of legal challenges by environmental groups seeking to stymie drilling in the county that produces about three-fourths of the state’s crude oil.

“Kern County knows how to produce energy,” said state Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield). “We produce 80% of California’s oil, if allowed, 70% of the state’s wind and solar, and over 80% of the in-state battery storage capacity. We are the experts. We are not the enemy. We can help secure energy affordability for all Californians while enjoying the benefits of increased jobs and economic prosperity.”

Environmentalists have fumed over that trade-off and over a provision that would allow the governor to suspend the state’s summer-blend gasoline fuel standards, which reduce auto emissions but drive up costs at the pump, if prices spike for more than 30 days or if it seems likely that they will.

Some progressive Democrats voted against the bill, including Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José), the chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus. The bill, Lee said, was a “regulatory giveaway to Big Oil” that would do little to stabilize gas prices or refineries, which are struggling because demand for oil is falling.

“We need to continue to focus on the future, not the past,” Lee said.

The bill also would make offshore drilling more difficult by tightening the safety and regulatory requirements for pipelines.

Lawmakers also voted to extend cap-and-trade, an ambitious climate program that sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allows large polluters to buy and sell unused emission allowances at quarterly auctions. Lawmakers signed off on a 15-year extension of the program, which has been renamed “cap and invest,” through 2045.

The program is seen as crucial for California to comply with its climate goals — including reaching carbon neutrality by 2045 — and also brings in billions in revenue that helps fund climate efforts, including high-speed rail and safe drinking water programs.

Also included in the package was AB 825, which creates a pathway for California to participate in a regional electricity market. If passed, the bill would expand the state’s ability to buy and sell clean power with other Western states in a move that supporters say will improve grid reliability and save money for ratepayers.

Opponents fear that California could yield control of its power grid to out-of-state authorities, including the federal government.

Almost one million tourists a year flock to the stunning – but deadly – tourist trap

An abandoned mine has been transformed into a glittering but deadly tourist trap in China. The stunning – but terrifying – former mine and includes death drops at the foot of beds, roaring water fountains and gaping canyons.

The majority of the fairytale town is built into the sides of cliffs, with Wangxian Valley was described as “the most dangerous tourist destination in the world” by one X user.

Now, this rocky death trap pulls in almost one million visitors a year, according to China Discovery. Nestled in Shangrao , in the Jiangxi Province, the quarry that fell into disrepair in 1969 has now been overhauled into a tourism superstructure.

It is surrounded by ancient Buddhist villages and farms, bordered by the Ling Mountain. Its name means “Gazing at Immortals” and legend says in ancient times, “Hu Zuyu ascended to the Immortal Palace”, marking the area as a land of outstanding natural beauty and spirituality.

Blanketed by centuries old forests, the valley is dotted with bright streams, which you can now white water raft in. A stand out is the Wangxian Waterfall which creates its own localised fog with the force of its waters., whereas the serene Sanqing Waterfall is more gentle, complete with quaint mossy rocks.

There is also the fantastical Odd Rock Pool, which is made up of a plethora of quirky and unusually shaped rocks. At night, the cliff side transforms into a stunning light show, with it lit up by a network of warm yellow lights.

If you stay at the White Crane Cliff hotel, which has 12 glass-walled guest rooms, you can read a book with a head-spinning view in their cliff-side library, perched 110 meters above the valley floor. The cobblestone streets such as Baiwei Street, Rock Plaza and the ancient Yang Mansion house reconstructions of ancient Chinese buildings, offering a glimpse into architecture of a bygone era.

If you are more of an activity person, you can trek through a path that follows the valley’s collection of waterfalls. and if you fancy something that will raise your heart rate a little more, you can take a stroll down the breathtaking Cliffside Walkway, a terrifying 388-meter adventure along canyon walls, with 100 meters of vertical drop.

For the truly daring there is also a 50-meter Glass Walkway. Whilst you may rest assured the 28mm thick glass floor will support you, your mind may also be soothed as the glass has been made slightly opaque.

You can also raft in a thrilling 2.8km journey down the river through 185-meter canyon walls. The trip lasts about an hour after a half-an-hour walk up to the launch point

If you’re more interested in trying local food, Wangxian Tofu is a delicious and unique dish made from soybeans grown at an altitude of over 200 meters.

The tofu is prepared using mountain spring water. The Yuyu dumplings consist of a pork filling encased in chewy wrapper made from taro and tapioca starch and the Dengzhan Guo is a lantern-like structure made from filled with shiitake mushrooms, pork, soybean sprouts, and bamboo shoots.

Each evening the streets are filled with performances, folk music and traditional cultural experiences, ending with their famous fire show and bonfire party.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Dakota Smith giving you the latest on city and county government during a short week.

When Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1984, the San Fernando Valley refused to take part.

Valley homeowners, fearing traffic and development, successfully blocked any Olympic competitions from taking place in the Sepulveda Basin. Environmentalists also objected to using the basin, a 2,000-acre flood plain that’s home to an array of birds.

Business owners, who had hoped for a surge from international visitors, lost out. Many tourists didn’t come across the hill, and some Valley locals stayed home to watch the Olympics on television, rather than shop, The Times reported in August 1984.

Now, the Olympics are coming to L.A. and the Valley, with BMX, skateboarding, 3×3 basketball and modern pentathlon planned for temporary venues at the Sepulveda Basin.

L.A. City Council members and business leaders are planning for a flurry of activity, including Olympics watch parties, youth sports clinics and pin-trading parties where athletes and fans swap pins and other Olympics memorabilia.

They are also hoping that stores, restaurants and other businesses in the Valley can benefit from the Games.

“During ’84, I remember being this young girl in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and feeling completely disconnected [from the Olympics],” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez at a Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce event Thursday.

Rodriguez and four other council members who represent San Fernando Valley neighborhoods (Bob Blumenfield, John Lee, Nithya Raman and Adrin Nazarian) weighed in on Olympics planning and other city issues during the panel, hosted by journalist Alex Cohen. (Councilmember Imelda Padilla, who represents the central and eastern Valley, was absent.)

Rodriguez said her father worked at a Los Angeles Fire Department station near USC and the Olympic Village, and would come home with stories about the festivities.

Blumenfield, whose district includes Reseda, Woodland Hills and Tarzana, recalled sneaking into a men’s gymnastics final in 1984 by walking the wrong way through an exit door. (His seats were very good: actor John Travolta was a few rows in front of him, he told The Times.)

During the 2028 Games, Blumenfield is planning watch parties in his district, with locals and visitors enjoying the Games on a big screen. He hopes visitors will take the G Line to Olympic events at the basin, and stop at stores and restaurants along the way.

“We want the Olympics to be part of the whole city, including the West Valley,” Blumenfield said in an interview.

Resistance to the ’84 Olympics wasn’t isolated to the Valley: Many Angelenos feared traffic from swarms of visitors and the threat of terrorism following the murders of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team by a Palestinian militant group at the 1972 Munich Summer Games.

Still, the pushback by Valley residents traced to another event: Mayor Tom Bradley‘s effort in 1978 to move the Hollywood Park racetrack from Inglewood to the Sepulveda Basin. Dozens of homeowners and business groups fought the proposal, and Bradley eventually dropped it.

The same opponents coalesced again when Bradley supported swimming, archery, rowing and biking events in the basin.

Renee Weitzer was president of the Encino Homeowners Assn. during planning for the ’84 Games and helped fight the Hollywood Park project. But she later broke with those opponents and backed Olympic venues in the Valley.

Peter Ueberroth, head of the committee that brought the Games to Los Angeles in 1984, also lived in Encino at the time and told Weitzer that the committee couldn’t afford a long fight over Valley venues.

Ueberroth said, “ ‘I don’t have time for this. I am pulling out of the Valley,’ ” Weitzer said in a recent interview.

Ueberroth also claimed that anti-Olympic Valley residents threw poisoned meat to his dogs at his home.

Today, Weitzer thinks the Valley lost a big opportunity to transform the Sepulveda Basin with swimming pools and other venues that the committee would have paid for.

“It would have been fabulous, and it would have served the Valley well,” she said.

Bob Ronka, then a city council member from the northeast San Fernando Valley, led the effort to put a charter amendment on the ballot in 1978 to ensure that taxpayers didn’t foot the bill for the Olympics.

In the end, the ’84 Games generated a profit of more than $250 million dollars.

“He thought it would be a financial disaster for Los Angeles,” said Rich Perelman, former vice president of press operations for the L.A. Olympic organizing committee that Ueberroth chaired.

“So we didn’t put anything [in the Valley]. Why row the boat uphill?” said Perelman, who today runs The Sports Examiner, an online news site dedicated to Olympic sports.

Nor did Bradley want a fight with Valley council members over Olympic venues, recalled Zev Yaroslavsky, who was a council member representing the Westside and part of Sherman Oaks at the time.

“The Valley was left out of any part of the Games,” said Yaroslavsky. “Most people would probably say it was a mistake.”

While the Valley didn’t host any events, Birmingham High School in Van Nuys got a new synthetic-surface running track so Olympic athletes could train. (The school is now called Birmingham Community Charter, and the neighborhood is referred to as Lake Balboa.)

Nailing down venues in the Valley isn’t the only pressure faced by LA28, the private committee paying for and overseeing the Games.

Like other parts of L.A., the Valley today is far more ethnically, racially and culturally diverse than in 1984. Rodriguez, whose district includes Mission Hills, Sylmar and Pacoima — neighborhoods with large Latino populations — has repeatedly questioned whether Latinos will be adequately represented.

LA28’s “Los Angeles” portion of the closing ceremonies and handover event at the Paris Olympics included Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg, as well as appearances by Tom Cruise and Olympic athletes, sparking criticism on social media about the lack of Latino participants.

A coalition of Latino and Asian organizations also highlighted the dearth of diversity in a September 2024 letter to LA28 chair Casey Wasserman and Mayor Karen Bass.

At last week’s Ad Hoc Committee for the 2028 Olympics, Rodriguez asked LA28 leaders about the “glaring omission of the Latino community in the flag transfer ceremonies” during the 2024 Paris Games.

“I’ll be damned if that happens again with these Games, especially in light of what our community is going through,” Rodriguez said last week, referring to the recent federal immigration raids in L.A. that have overwhelmingly targeted Latinos.

State of play

— SETBACK FOR TRUMP: Mayor Karen Bass and other California political leaders cheered a federal judge’s decision Tuesday barring soldiers from aiding in immigration arrests and other civilian law enforcement in the state. The 9th Circuit or the Supreme Court could reverse the order.

— UP, UP, AND AWAY?: The price tag for the proposed Los Angeles Convention Center expansion keeps rising and is now an estimated $2.7 billion — an increase of $483 million from six months ago. The project would connect the two existing convention halls with a new building and add massive digital billboards, including some facing the freeways.

—BAD OWNER: City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto announced that the city is settling several lawsuits over alleged illegal short-term rentals and party houses in Hollywood. Among them is Franklin Apartments, a rent-stabilized building that turned 10 units into short-term rentals, and later, an underground hotel.

— MEET THE TRASHERS: Bass launched Shine LA to clean city streets in time for the 2028 Olympics. Meet the San Fernando Valley group whose members — mostly retirees in their 60s and 70s — are already volunteering their time.

— PADILLA TARGETED: A group of residents in City Councilmember Imelda Padilla‘s district on Tuesday filed a notice of their intention to seek her recall. The residents — some of whom have a connection to the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council — didn’t respond to requests for comment. Padilla’s chief of staff, Ackley Padilla, told The Times that her office is “focused on the work at hand, improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods, keeping our youth, seniors and families safe.”

—GARCETTI REEMERGES: Former Mayor Eric Garcetti, in an email fundraising pitch for U.S. House of Representatives candidate Eileen Laubacher, who is trying to unseat Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, confirmed that he is now a Valley resident after returning from India, where he served as U.S. Ambassador. Garcetti, who spent some of his childhood in Encino, wrote that it’s “great to be home in our house in the San Fernando Valley (where my LA story began).”

Zine exits. Who didn’t see this coming?

Former City Councilmember Dennis Zine last week abruptly withdrew from consideration to serve on the commission tasked with changing L.A.’s charter.

Zine, a former LAPD sergeant who is now a reserve officer, served on a similar charter commission in the late 1990s. He is known as a bomb thrower who regularly skewers some city council members by referring to them as the “Crazy Train” in his CityWatch column.

Zine wrote in CityWatch that he met with two council members, including Ysabel Jurado, ahead of his nomination hearing and concluded that he could not work with a “hostile and anti-LAPD body of elected officials.”

In an interview, Zine said he has no ill will toward Jurado — who is among the council’s most progressive members — and plans to have lunch with her. Other council members relayed to him that the full council wouldn’t support his nomination, Zine said.

“I didn’t want to see a split vote on the council floor,” he said. “I didn’t want to see a dogfight.”

Zine, who represented the West Valley when he was a council member, said he is staunchly against some proposals pushed by advocates, including expanding the size of the City Council.

Blumenfield, who nominated Zine for the commission, mistakenly told him that the appointment didn’t need council approval, Zine said.

Blumenfield said he hadn’t anticipated the “difficult process” and said the former council member would have added “immense institutional memory and experience regarding how the city works.”

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? Inside Safe, Bass’ program to shelter homeless people, visited Skid Row this week, a Bass spokesperson said.
• On the docket next week: The City Council is expected to consider a vote on the Convention Center expansion. On Sept. 10, the council’s Transportation Committee will hear an update on transit plans for the 2028 Olympics.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

I wake to the peal of church bells as sunlight streams into my room and go out on to the balcony to look up at Mount Storžič. My base, Senkova Domačija, an organic family-run farm just outside the village of Jezersko, is so picturesque it looks like an AI hallucination: an ancient farmhouse with beautiful wooden outbuildings, cows grazing in small green fields, organic vegetables growing neatly in rows, and a backdrop of some seriously dramatic mountains. The Slovenian capital Ljubljana may be less than an hour away, but here in the Jezersko valley, just 3 miles from the Austrian border, it feels like another world.

Bordered on the east by the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, and on the west by the peaks of the Karavanke mountain range, and with a tranquil green lake at the bottom of the valley, there’s a tangible sense of apartness – an idyllic escape from the world.

As with all of Los Angeles, one word or phrase can’t characterize the San Fernando Valley, or its 1.8 million residents. When it comes to dining within its 250-plus-square miles, the golden rule germane throughout Southern California very much applies here: Look past the visual ubiquity of strip malls and chock-o-block businesses to find the beauty — the cultural specificity — just inside the sun-bleached storefronts.

Our guide to dining in the Valley

There’s an overwhelming amount of good eating filling the vastness between Burbank and Canoga Park, which the Food team confirmed over the last several months. This week we published our extensive guide to the Valley, featuring 65 freshly researched restaurant suggestions, plus another 24 recommendations for standout bars, tea stops and coffee shops.

I remember my first meal in the Valley. It was at Brent’s Deli in Northridge in 1997. I was visiting Los Angeles, and as we settled into one of the booths spaced in neat rows the friend who lived in the area talked about the 1994 earthquake, how it felt to her like yesterday and already the distant past. I think she took me to Brent’s because I was a vegetarian at the time.

The menu had many meatless, filling choices: cinnamon-laced noodle kugel, latkes I layered with sour cream and apple sauce, kasha varnishkes with lots of caramelized onions but with no brown gravy for me, since it contained roast beef drippings.

My second meal in the Valley was nearly 20 years and about three lifetimes later, in the middle of my run as Eater’s national critic before I moved to L.A. in 2018. The meal, at Kobee Factory in Van Nuys, also carries a memory of cinnamon, one of the sweet spices infused in the broth in which rice-stuffed lamb intestines are served.

I was far from my vegetarian days, and the delicate, boudin blanc-like qualities of the innards complemented whirls of hummus, crackling fried kibbeh and a grilled, soft-crisp variation of kibbeh favored in Syria, where owner Waha Ghreir grew up.

Dishes at Kobee Factory in Van Nuys.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Both of these culinary tentpoles show up in our guide.

So does plenty of sushi, certainly along the “Sushi Row” stretch of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City but also far beyond. Stephanie Breijo has an essay in the package on Tetsuya Nakao, the silver-coiffed 62-year-old Asanebo sushi chef who has brought a new angle of fame to the restaurant with viral social media videos. Breijo observes Nakao filming on a recent Sunday: “He dusts so much edible gold over the top it looks like the [crispy-rice] ‘pizza’ passed through the glitter aisle at a craft store, a dish truly made for the eye of the algorithm.”

Thai restaurants have been shaping the Valley’s culinary landscape since the 1980s. We name four of our very favorites, including Anajak Thai, the meteor that has my vote for the Valley’s absolute best restaurant.

Breijo has another story tracing Anajak’s recent two-month closure for a summer renovation. The space will have an additional dining room, an open kitchen with new equipment (including a refurbished wok station long manned by chef-owner Justin Pichetrungsi’s father Ricky) and art made by Justin’s grandfather. It reopens this weekend; report coming soon.

Sketches of dishes, and some that came to fruition, at Anajak Thai

(Stephanie Breijo and Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

What else made the cut? Our top choices from among the area’s smattering of Indonesian and Sri Lankan restaurants. Pork belly adobo, from among a menu of Filipino and Mexican dishes, served in a Northridge building that also houses a car wash. An Italian deli in Burbank steeped in red sauce and nostalgia. Extraordinary lamb barbacoa. Classics for breakfast burritos, hot dogs, burgers and soft serve.

A Chicago dog, top, with a signature Cupid dog with chili, mustard and onions at Cupid’s Hot Dogs in Winnetka.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Among dive bars and tiki haunts, in an expanse where breweries perfect West Coast IPAs and one shop brews Arabic coffee in blazing-hot sand, it feels especially cheering to settle in again at the Sherman Oaks destination Augustine Wine Bar, which reopened last year after a devastating fire in 2021.

The vintage by-the-glass list at Augustine Wine Bar.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

One final bonus: Vanessa Anderson (a.k.a. the Grocery Goblin) reports on Iranian spices, and other treasures of the cuisine, sold at Q Market & Produce in Lake Balboa.

And did I mention, during a heat wave, the cooling cherry soup that begins a Hungarian meal in Encino?

Mark the dates

The Times’ Food Bowl Night Market, this year presented by Square, is taking place Oct. 10 and 11 at City Market Social House downtown. Among the participating restaurants announced so far are Holbox, Baroo, the Brothers Sushi, Oy Bar, Heritage Barbecue, Crudo e Nudo, Hummingbird Ceviche House, Rossoblu, Perilla LA, Evil Cooks and Holy Basil. VIP tickets that allow early entry always go fast. Check lafoodbowl.com for tickets and info.

Also …

• One last bit of news from the Valley: Stephanie Breijo reports on the hidden weekend-only bar and tasting menu at Jeff Strauss’ Oy Bar in Studio City.
• Daniel Miller writes an obituary for Dan Tana, the founder of eponymous entertainment industry hangout Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood. He died on Aug. 17 at 90.

Los Angeles has many valleys, but only one is the Valley. You know it as soon as you crest over the 101, 405, 170 or 5 freeways, its bordering hills verdant or golden depending on the time of year. Pull off almost any exit and you’ll immediately be greeted by shopping centers, strip malls, mom-and-pop markets and fine-dining dens serving up some of the city’s most ambitious and heartfelt meals.

Bounded by mountains on all sides, the San Fernando Valley spans 260 square miles and is home to nearly half of L.A.’s population, around 1.8 million people. Across its expanse, it assumes many identities.

Our favorite places to eat and drink in the 818. From high-end sushi to burger shacks, tiki bars, dives and more.

Long before its peaks and basins were crisscrossed with highways and miles-long boulevards, the Tongva people lived along the water-rich and wooded areas of the Valley for more than 7,000 years. In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers by way of Mexico traversed over the Santa Monica Mountains into what is now known as Encino.

More than a century ago, the citrus orchards began to give way as Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Universal studios built out their filming lots. A tinge of Tinseltown and tourism followed, while room to grow brought a midcentury housing boom to the region. Themed restaurants and tiki haunts popped up to keep diners entertained. Now, it’s difficult to find a Valley establishment that hasn’t made a TV or film appearance.

As Valley dwellers began settling in — immigrants, suburban families, celebrities — its food scene flourished in step.

On Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, you’ll find Casa Vega, its dim interior practically untouched since Rafael “Ray” Vega first founded it in 1956. The son of Tijuana-born immigrants who ran popular Cafe Caliente on Olvera Street beginning in the 1930s, Vega introduced many Valley diners — including a flock of silver screen regulars — to Mexican-American staples such as fajitas and enchiladas.

Farther south in Studio City, take your pick from a parade of Japanese restaurants along Sushi Row. The stretch of Ventura Boulevard became a hub for high-end Japanese cuisine after pioneering chef Kazunori Nozawa opened his Edo-style sushi restaurant Nozawa in 1987. Though that location has since closed, Nozawa has spawned a global restaurant empire with his KazuNori, Nozawa Bar and Sugarfish chains.

Pull off the main drag and you’ll find hidden gem burger shacks, taquerias, hot dog joints, kebab shops and neighborhood delis. Meanwhile, Valley residents are spearheading new concepts.

“We’re born and bred Valley kids, so we had to do it in the Valley,” said Marissa Shammas on opening Yala Coffee, a Middle Eastern-inspired cafe, with her husband Zain Shammas in Studio City. “[People] commonly think [the Valley] is where things go to die — and we think that that’s where things go to be more.”

There’s more to discover than ever when it comes to dining in the 818 (or 747). Eight Times food writers spent months exploring the Valley in search of the best for this guide, reconnecting with old favorites and finding new surprises.

For me, it was also an exercise in nostalgia. Old shortcuts returned like muscle memory as I reacquainted myself with the Woodland Hills blocks where I navigated young adulthood. In North Hollywood, my home for several years into my early 30s, former standbys suddenly returned to the forefront of my mind: The tiki bar across the street from my old apartment, a hole-in-the-wall Puerto Rican restaurant where salsa music draws you in, a vibrant Jamaican bistro that now sits in Sherman Oaks. I found myself wishing I could linger in the Valley longer.

Here are our favorites, spanning Filipino-Mexican fusion in a Northridge car wash-turned-restaurant, a DMV-adjacent street-stand for lamb barbacoa in Arleta and a fast-growing mini chain of Sephardic pastries. It’s time to dig into the Valley.
— Danielle Dorsey

One of the best parts of Bodevi is the space itself, decorated with colorful wall decor, leather chairs and houseplants. Owned by husband-and-wife duo Joeleen and Miguel Medina, who also own Truman House Tavern next door, Bodevi has a boho-chic aesthetic that matches both its daytime coffee shop crowd and its eccentric evenings, when customers often drift to the back room for board games, beer and wine in hand.

Whether you go for a DJ set or a journaling session (check Instagram for upcoming events), accompany your evening with charcuterie. Bodevi offers two options: one charcuterie board and a smaller personal plate. It also has $18 wine flights — for the most variety, opt for the Studio 54, which comes with a light South African Champagne, a Portuguese white, a bright rosé and a 2021 Pinot Noir.

It was football media day for six West Valley League teams on Saturday at Granada Hills, and as a unit, the coaches and players are convinced they have a chance to be the best league in the City Section in terms of competition.

While defending league champion Birmingham has an overall 49-game winning streak against City Section opponents, Cleveland, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, Taft and El Camino Real hope to be factors in the playoffs.

Cleveland is making strides to challenge for second place with a group of talented juniors, including two Nigerian-born players, running back Moyosoreoluwa Odebunmi and linebacker Oluwafemi Okeola.

Odebunmi, in his first varsity carry in a scrimmage against Van Nuys on Thursday, ran for a touchdown.

“When I scored, I was like, ‘Oh wow,’” he said. “But I know it’s not going to be easy.”

Birmingham has an offensive line filled with 300 pounders, and when 6-foot-5, 260-pound quarterback Kevin Hawkins plays tight end, the Patriots are truly giants up front. Coach Jim Rose said of Hawkins running the ball: “It’s like tackling a lineman. He’s a huge guy out there.”

Birmingham held a pizza eating contest this past week, and the winner was lineman Pablo Granados, who ate 10 slices in seven minutes. Hawkins was runner-up with seven.

Chatsworth offensive lineman Pablo Escobedo is known for riding his horse in his Chatsworth neighborhood. “It’s pretty cool,” he said.

Chatsworth should have one of the league’s best running backs in junior Devin Del Toro, who has been playing running back and linebacker since his freshman season. Coach Shawn Johnson said he has made “a huge jump.”

There are two players in the league who are outstanding two-sport athletes in football and baseball. That’s Taft quarterback/catcher Nathan Swinson and El Camino Real defensive back/center fielder Shane Bogacz.

Both try to find time to hit the batting cages to stay sharp during football season.

Granada Hills will continue to run the double-wing attack, focusing on running the ball, but the midseason availability of transfer quarterback Taiyo Dorio from Crescenta Valley could cause coach Bucky Brooks to try a pass or two.

Wingback Myles Cross drew laughter when he said, “I caught a pass.”

Brooks offered praise to all coaches and players in the City Section.

“I applaud all those who opted to stay in the neighborhood and play for neighborhood schools,” he said. “I want to salute everyone. I love the competitiveness.”

High school football began on Friday night in California, and no one was having more fun than the tourists/players from Sparks, Nev., the Spanish Springs High Cougars.

They flew in Friday morning on Southwest Airlines, with plans to visit the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday and Six Flags Magic Mountain on Sunday. First up was a game against Simi Valley, and it went better than expected.

Brady Hummel, a senior receiver and the son of coach Robert Hummel, caught 14 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-21 victory. There were 11 turnovers, with Simi Valley losing four fumbles and getting intercepted twice.

Hummel was so wide open on one touchdown because of a Simi Valley secondary communication error that he could have been counting one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi and still would have been wide open. Quarterback Tyson McNeil passed for 211 yards.

From the opening kickoff, when Jackson Sundeen returned it for a 96-yard touchdown, the Pioneers were trying to come from behind.

The two teams combined for seven turnovers in the first half. Spanish Springs held a 20-14 halftime lead. Micah Hannah and James Scida each had interceptions for Simi Valley. The Pioneers lost three fumbles. Quarterback Connor Petrov had touchdown passes of 29 yards on fourth down to Quentin McGahan and 50 yards to Cole Alejo.

In the second half, Petrov was intercepted twice and also lost a fumble that turned into a touchdown. Zane Tryon had a 73-yard touchdown run.

Simi Valley was 12-2 last season and defeated the Cougars in Nevada, but two new quarterbacks and a rebuilt offensive line has the Pioneers working to improve.

“We’ll bounce back,” Hannah said.

As for playing against Hummel, Hannah gave up a touchdown against him, but also picked off one of his passes.

“He’s smooth,” Hannah said.

Los Alamitos came away with a 20-12 win over Inglewood. A two-yard touchdown run Lenny Ibarra put Los Alamitos ahead for good. Los Alamitos is headed to Hawaii next week.

In Henderson, Nev., Long Beach Millikan defeated Foothill 27-14. Tight end/defensive end Jude Nelson had two sacks and made nine catches. Quarterback Ashton Pannell threw two touchdown passes.

As a deep-pocketed producer, David Ellison helped breathe new life into Paramount franchises including “Mission: Impossible,” “Star Trek” and “Top Gun.”

But can the high-flying son of a billionaire make a full-fledged media company airworthy again? Can he use Silicon Valley money and movie business know-how to restore the legacy of one of the entertainment industry’s original studios, following a deal clinched through an act of political appeasement?

Those are the questions Hollywood talent, studio rivals and insiders will be asking as Ellison takes the controls of the new Paramount, after regulators finally approved the long-awaited $8-billion merger with his Santa Monica production company Skydance Media. The deal — two years in the making, and approved by the FCC only after a $16-million settlement with Trump and promises to mindwipe any trace of DEI from the company — is expected to close Aug. 7.

After that, Ellison, backed in large part by his father, Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison, will bring in his own team to face the daunting challenges.

Chris McCarthy, the architect of Paramount’s recent streaming strategy, is out. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon head Brian Robbins is also expected to exit while CBS chief George Cheeks is staying. The incoming management team includes former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell, who is currently a heavyweight at Ellison’s bidding partner RedBird Capital.

Skydance Chief Creative Officer Dana Goldberg will run the film studio, and former Netflix executive Cindy Holland will play a major role at the new company. Also joining is Sony Pictures movie executive Josh Greenstein.

This may be a different team from the one that labored under outgoing controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, but it’ll be contending with most of the same problems.

Paramount is dogged by issues buffeting all legacy media companies, including the decline of traditional TV ratings, the post-COVID-19 realignment of the theatrical box office and the escalating costs of sports rights, as my colleague Stephen Battaglio and I reported last week. Those difficulties were exacerbated at Paramount by chronic underinvestment and years of shambolic leadership, as corporate governance experts have long pointed out.

Ellison has direct experience with movies, having produced many of them, including some of Paramount’s biggest hits (as well as some notable flops). He’s less steeped in running TV channels and streaming services, which have urgent needs. The scion is also coming in to make good on a promise to investors: to find $2 billion in cost cutting, which will mean layoffs and disruption.

Paramount+ has been growing, thanks in part to the NFL, CBS shows and a run of original hits including “Landman,” “1923” and “Tulsa King.” But the service has lost money for years, and the app is clunky. (It’s expected to reach full-year U.S. profitability in 2025.) McCarthy spent big bucks on talent, including Taylor Sheridan and the creators of “South Park,” enough to make Matt Stone and Trey Parker billionaires, according to Forbes.

Analysts say the service will need substantial investment in content and technology to make it competitive while also partnering with other companies to increase its reach through discounted bundles and other initiatives.

The new owners will have to decide what to do with the cable channel business, which includes such eroding brands as MTV, BET and Comedy Central.

Many observers tend to assume Ellison will eventually spin those off, following the lead of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. In a sadly comical reminder of what can happen with a merger gone wrong, David Zaslav’s Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday announced that the two companies resulting from its pending breakup will be called — wait for it — Warner Bros. and Discovery Global.

TD Cowen analyst Doug Cruetz, in a recent note to clients, speculated that Ellison didn’t buy the Paramount assets just to “break it up for parts.”

We’ll see.

Another looming and potentially costly issue is the NFL’s relationship with CBS Sports. The change of control will trigger an early renegotiation of Paramount’s contract with the league once the transaction closes. That’s important because the NFL has significant leverage in dealmaking, considering that its games account for the vast majority of most-watched programming on television.

Ellison has promised to bring technological enhancements to Paramount. That would mean a more functional app for Paramount+ and an improved personalized recommendation system. It might mean using tech to make movies cheaper and faster. A year ago, Ellison noted a partnership between Skydance Animation and Oracle to build a so-called studio in the cloud. What technology can’t do is pick the movies people want to see, and that’s where the new leadership group will have to prove themselves.

But the biggest hurdle will be overcoming the stain covering the deal itself after the concessions required to get it over the finish line.

Paramount paid a substantial sum to make peace with President Trump, who had sued the company over CBS News’ “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 election rival, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The case was frivolous, 1st Amendment experts said. But the Redstone family and the Ellisons were desperate to get the deal done. As a result, the new company is starting off on a crooked foundation, as one Hollywood insider put it to me.

Stephen Colbert, speaking on “The Late Show,” called Paramount’s settlement a “big fat bribe.” Days later, he learned that his show would be ending in May. Even assuming the company told the truth in saying that the cancellation was a purely financial decision (i.e., the show was too expensive and it was losing money), the optics were bad.

Comedians responded the way comedians do. The “South Park” team, having secured a $1.5 billion deal to bring the long-running animated series to Paramount+, opened their 27th season with, effectively, a pair of middle fingers raised to Trump and their parent company.

The show depicted a flapping-headed cartoon Trump in bed with Satan, similar to its past portrayal of Saddam Hussein, and ended with an AI-generated PSA showing the president wandering the desert and stripping naked, revealing tiny, talking genitalia.

The Trump settlement cast a pall over whatever plans Ellison has. CBS News lost key figures in part due to Paramount’s push to reach a peace accord with the president (Tanya Simon being named to run “60 Minutes” is seen as a relief). But whatever you say about the corporate behind-the-scenes machinations that took place to make the deal happen, you can’t say the artists have lost their spine.

Stuff we wrote

Number of the week

In a return to form for Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opened with a robust $118 million in the U.S. and Canada and $218 million globally, according to studio estimates, slightly outperforming prerelease projections.

This comes after middling results and poor reviews for “Captain America: Brave New World” and tepid sales (but better reviews) for “Thunderbolts*.” Last summer’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” was a $1.34-billion hit.

Like Deadpool and Wolverine, the Fantastic Four — known as Marvel’s first family — came to Disney through the company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox entertainment assets. Fox made three “Fantastic Four” movies, all bad. “First Steps” earned mostly positive reviews from critics and fans (88% on Rotten Tomatoes; “A-” from CinemaScore).

The $218-million global opening weekend was similar to that of James Gunn’s DC reboot “Superman,” released earlier this month. That film just crossed the $500 million box office milestone, with a strong $289 million domestically and a less-impressive $213 million overseas.

Theaters have been on a winning streak this summer. So far this year, ticket sales are up 12% from 2024, according to Comscore. But the rest of the season looks thin. Next weekend features Paramount’s “The Naked Gun,” Universal’s animated “Bad Guys 2” and Neon’s Sundance horror breakout “Together,” starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie.

Finally …

One marker of a great artist is the number and diversity of musicians who take inspiration from their work. And Ozzy Osbourne, the Black Sabbath frontman who died last week, had plenty of admirers who covered his songs.

The Times’ Mikael Wood already rounded up the Prince of Darkness’ 10 essential tracks. Here are some of the best covers, with help from Rolling Stone and Loudwire.

Ask a random Angeleno to find Piru, Fillmore or Santa Paula on a California map and odds are they’ll shrug and give up. Blame it on location, location, location. Collectively known as the Heritage Valley, these small towns hidden on the stretch of Highway 126 are often ignored and bypassed by L.A. travelers bound for Ojai or Ventura.

But if you take the time to stop in this rural oasis, you’ll find miles of citrus groves, heaps of history and truly tasty Mexican food. Yes, there are more tractors than Tesla Superchargers in this region — that’s part of the draw. This, you realize, is what Southern California looked like before suburbia moved in.

Heritage Valley was previously known as Santa Clara River Valley, which is what the locals still call it. In 1998, a committee was assembled to help bring in tourists, and the new, jazzier label was coined. It was an improvement over an earlier, clunkier nickname, Santa Clara River Valley Heritage Trail, which sounded more like a hiking path.

It wasn’t the only title created for the sake of marketing. The town of Santa Paula has always proclaimed itself “the citrus capital of the world” for its abundance of lemons and oranges. Fillmore, not to be outdone, picked a gem: “The last, best small town,” which inspired a play of the same name that’s set there. Piru was already born with a compelling handle when its devoutly religious founder proclaimed it as “The Second Garden of Eden” in 1887. Today, it’s better known for its popular outdoor recreational area, Lake Piru. (After “Glee” actress Naya Rivera drowned in the lake in 2020, swimming was temporarily banned. It’s now allowed, but only in designated areas between Memorial Day and Labor Day.)

If you go back hundreds of years before Lake Piru was created by the construction of the Santa Felicia Dam, you’d see Chumash villages dotting the valley. Then came the Spanish expeditions in the late 18th century, followed by ranchos that used the land for sheep and cattle. Soon the railroads arrived, and then an oil boom. The valley’s eventual transformation into an agricultural mecca was hastened by a Mediterranean climate that proved ideal for crops — first citrus, then avocados.

But along with the bounty there were disasters, both natural and man-made, including the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and the catastrophic flood from the 1928 St. Francis Dam collapse. Numerous fires also have made the valley live up to a Times article that called it “among the most dangerous wind and fire corridors in Southern California.”

Yet through it all, the population has steadily grown and more travelers are discovering the area for its lively gatherings (the Santa Paula Citrus Music Festival took place last week), new attractions (check out the 17-mile Sunburst Railbike experience) and stunning hikes. Here’s where to go on a road trip along Highway 126.