Topline:
As oppressive heat continues to blanket much of Southern California, it's especially crucial to take precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones — furry friends included.
Why it matters: Heat waves can pose the same kinds of risks to animals as they do to humans, says Michael San Filippo, a spokesperson for the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Why now: Most of SoCal is looking at triple-digit heat this week. An extreme heat advisory is in effect until Sunday night.
During heatwaves it's especially crucial to take precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones — furry friends included.
Heat waves can pose the same kinds of risks to animals as they do to humans, says Michael San Filippo, a spokesperson for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
"If it's hot outside for you, it's most likely even hotter for your pet," he tells NPR over email.
Generally, he says, pets with longer or darker fur and those with flat or pushed-in faces, like pugs or Persian cats, may have extra trouble managing heat. Pets that are older, obese or have certain medical conditions could also face a higher risk of heat stroke.
Latest on SoCal's heatwave: Hottest day is here. How to stay safe and what to expect
Experts recommend limiting pets' outdoor exercise and activities if it's too hot. But what happens when Fido needs to use the bathroom or gets restless at home?
There are precautions you can take, like keeping your pet off hot asphalt, out of parked cars and shielded from the sun (dog sunscreen is real!). And there are other activities you can do indoors to keep them active and stimulated.
Read on how to keep your pets safe in the heat — and how to tell if they're not.
Experts advise limiting walks to the cooler early morning or evening hours, in part because hot asphalt can put dogs at risk for burned paw pads.
Sy Woon, a Florida representative for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, recommends feeling the pavement with the back of your hand to see whether it's tolerable for dogs.
"We sometimes think that they can walk across any surface and fare well, but actually, they can be quite sensitive," she told NPR last summer.
Try to keep your pet on grass or at least avoid dark-colored pavement. Using dog booties can also help prevent accidental injury, San Filippo says.
Make sure to give your pet access to shade and cold water while outside. The Humane Society advises adding ice to water when possible, and says tree shade and tarps are ideal because they don't obstruct air flow.
"A doghouse does not provide relief from heat," it adds. "In fact, it makes it worse."
Sunburn is another summer pet safety risk that many owners may not be aware of, San Filippo says.
All dogs and cats may be susceptible, he says, though those that are hairless, have white or thin coats or light-pigmented noses and eyelids are especially at risk.
"There are special sunscreens available to protect pets from sunburn," he writes. "It's very important that you only use formulas that are specifically intended as sunscreen for your type of pet."
And while the hot temperatures may scream summer haircut, San Filippo advises caution.
He says shaving breeds with a "double coat" (like golden retrievers, Pomeranians and huskies) is actually not recommended. Their coats provide protection from the elements, including heat, so shaving increases their chance of overheating and sunburn.
The AVMA recommends asking your vet whether your pet would benefit from a warm-weather haircut or sunscreen.
Fleas, ticks and other bugs are also more active in warmer weather, which San Filippo says is another reason to be careful.
"It's important that pet owners work with their veterinarians to develop a flea and tick prevention strategy, and also be aware of other critters in their area that may pose a risk to their pets," he adds.
Experts advise leaving your pet at home if you'll be out and about. And while they're indoors, there are things you can do to make your pet as comfortable as possible.
The American Red Cross recommends keeping all doors and unscreened windows closed, and securing screens tightly, to keep pets from getting out.
The AVMA recommends providing different "temperature zones" throughout the house for your pet's comfort. And the Humane Society notes that fans don't cool pets off as effectively as people, since they respond to heat in different ways.
Make sure to provide them with water, and consider whipping up pet-friendly "pupsicles" as a refreshing treat or buying a cooling body wrap, vest or mat.
And never leave your pet in a parked car, since temperatures can quickly rise to dangerous levels even in the shade or with the windows down.
On an 85-degree day, for instance, the temperature inside a car with the windows slightly open can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes, and 120 degrees after half an hour — which can cause irreparable organ damage or death.
If you come across a dog in a parked car this summer, the Humane Society recommends asking any nearby businesses to make a loudspeaker announcement or, if the owner can't be found, calling the non-emergency number of the local police or animal control and waiting for them to arrive.
Even if it's too hot for your pet's regular outdoor activities, it's still important that they get some kind of mental and physical stimulation to keep them happy and healthy, San Filippo says.
"While walks or trips to the dog park might be out of the question, there are some easy alternatives," he adds.
If you have a yard, consider setting up a kiddie pool in a shady spot or a sprinkler your pet can run through. He says you can also splash your dog with a garden hose — just make sure the water is cool and that they don't drink too much of it, which could cause vomiting.
You could also consider a doggy day care, which San Filippo says can provide "the same thrills and excitement as the dog park," just in an air-conditioned environment. Some facilities have outdoor spaces, so he recommends asking about their policies for hot days.
There are also plenty of indoor exercise and enrichment activities anyone can try at home, from hallway fetch to food puzzles.
You could hide treats or food around the house to let your pet practice their foraging skills, he says, as long as you help them out at first and adjust their meals to account for the calories. Or build your own obstacle course using pillows, boxes and other household items.
San Filippo says it's also a good time to teach your pet a new trick or brush up on some old ones.
"These activities are a great way to bond with your pet and learn more about what kinds of activities they're interested in or capable of," he says. "The more you play, the more you both will learn!"
If your pet has been out in extreme temperatures, make sure to watch for signs of heat stress or heat stroke.
Symptoms include anxiousness or restlessness, excessive drooling and panting (even when lying down), vomiting or diarrhea, abnormal gum and tongue color (like deep red or purple), unsteadiness or collapsing. Cats might also experience open-mouthed breathing.
If you suspect heat stroke, experts recommend taking your pet's temperature rectally.
Anything above 105 degrees means you need to cool the animal down (and stop when they reach 103 degrees), according to the Red Cross.
"If you see signs of heat stress in your pets, the best thing to do is get them into a cool, shady area and give them water to drink," San Filippo says.
You could also run cool hose water over them, apply ice packs or cold towels to their head, neck and chest and let them lick ice cubes.
But be careful — San Filippo says cooling a hyperthermic animal too quickly can cause their blood vessels to constrict, which will actually make it harder for them to get cool. That's why it's crucial to use cool water or wet towels, instead of cold ones, and fan your pet to help encourage evaporation.
Once you've taken immediate action, experts recommend bringing your pet to the vet as soon as possible — especially if their symptoms don't improve quickly.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.
Topline:
A gray wolf was found in L.A. County for the first time in more than a century on Saturday morning.
Why now: The wolf, tagged as BEY03F, was spotted in the town of Neenach, near Lancaster, at 6 a.m.
The backstory: Last May, BEY03F was caught in Tulare County and fitted with a GPS tracking collar. The department has been monitoring her movements since. Hunnicut estimated that she has traveled more than 500 miles throughout the state.
Howl about this for the history books? A wolf was found in L.A. County for the first time in a century on Saturday morning.
“It's the furthest south the gray wolves have been documented since their reintroduction into Yellowstone and Idaho just over 30 years ago,” said Axel Hunnicutt, the state gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The wolf, tagged as BEY03F, was spotted in the town of Neenach, near Lancaster, at 6 a.m.
The three-year-old wolf was born in 2023 in Plumas County, north of Lake Tahoe, as part of the first litter of the Beyem Seyo pack.
“ We don't know what happened to her after that,” said Hunnicutt. “ We documented her through genetics when she was born.”
Last May, BEY03F was caught in Tulare County and fitted with a GPS tracking collar. The department has been monitoring her movements since. Hunnicut estimated that she has traveled more than 500 miles throughout the state.
The end of January marks the start of the breeding season for gray wolves, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. They will typically break from their pack to find a mate, sometimes traveling thousands of miles to establish a new pack.
There are no records of wolves in the San Gabriel or coastal regions, but the likelihood of her finding a mate is not impossible. Researchers were surprised to discover the pack that BEY03F belonged to in Northern California.
”No one expected a pack to pop up there,” Hunnicutt said. “And that's because two wolves wandered hundreds of miles, so it's possible that some other wolf is doing the same thing.”
The last gray wolf to make it into the Southern California region was in 2021, when the male wolf, OR93 traveled as far down as Ventura County. His journey was cut short later that year, after he was struck and killed by a vehicle along Interstate 5 in Kern County.
Hunnicut said that’s one of the main challenges for BEY03F in her search for a mate.
“ This morning she’s just east of Pyramid Lake,” said Hunnicutt. “Close to I-5, which is honestly just down the road from where [OR93] was killed on the highway.”
Topline:
On Saturday, Newsom posted on social media proclaiming today, Super Bowl Sunday, as "Bad Bunny Day" in California in an over-the-top tweet written in all caps.
The proclamation: "AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF 'THE SPANISH'... THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS “BAD BUNNY DAY” WHEN BAD BUNNY PERFORMS AT THE BIG GAME IN THE GOLDEN STATE WITH HIS SOOTHING, BEAUTIFUL VOICE, AND HIS VERY NICE LOOKS," reads the message tweeted out through Newsom's office.
We looked into it: The declaration was so extra, we decided to look into it. Read on to learn what we found.
Bad Bunny has fans the world over. One of them apparently is Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On Saturday, Newsom posted on social media proclaiming today, Super Bowl Sunday, as "Bad Bunny Day" in California in a rather tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top tweet written in all caps.
"AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF 'THE SPANISH'... THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS 'BAD BUNNY DAY' WHEN BAD BUNNY PERFORMS AT THE BIG GAME IN THE GOLDEN STATE WITH HIS SOOTHING, BEAUTIFUL VOICE, AND HIS VERY NICE LOOKS," reads the message tweeted out through Newsom's office.
AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF “THE SPANISH.” IT IS A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY MANY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IN THE GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ACROSS THE WORLD. I AM ALSO A HUGE FAN OF PUERRRRRRRTO RICO. THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS “BAD…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 7, 2026
For months, the governor's social media team has been adopting the manners and tone of President Trump's signature style.
"Obviously in this case, the governor is making light of the President's criticisms of Bad Bunny performing during today's Super Bowl halftime show," said Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor of law at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, as well as the author of a number of textbooks on California state government.
To answer that question, let's take a detour into the state proclamation process.
"The governor has a wide authority on proclamations," said Micheli, who also works as a lobbyist for groups like the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.
Proclamations generally fall into two categories, he said. One is official actions, such as states of emergency in the case of disasters, to direct resources for relief. The second is proclamations that are ceremonial and commemorative in nature, where the governor may designate a specific day, week or a period of time to recognize a person or an event — like Black History Month or Ronald Reagan Day.
The Bad Bunny Day proclamation, Micheli said, falls in the second category. But, he added, proclamations are signed by the governor and attested by the Secretary of State in written declarations. As such, it's easy to interpret the Bad Bunny Day tweet as done in jest.
"The Governor declared Bad Bunny Day via tweet. Enjoy!" The governor's office told us in an email seeking confirmation on Sunday.
Micheli said that means the governor would likely follow up with an official written declaration.
Here's the thing with ceremonial proclamations, though. Micheli said they need to be re-upped every year by the governor — they don't automatically renew.
So yes, let's celebrate Bad Bunny Day on this Super Bowl Sunday. Let's hope to do it again next year, and the years after.
Topline:
Bad Bunny is headlining today's Superbowl halftime show — a historic moment for some, a controversial choice for others.
The backstory: Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language album. The artist has been vocal in his opposition to federal ICE raids.
Why now: But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
Puerto Rican superstar, Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language project, with him winning for his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. In addition to the top prize, Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took home the award for the best música urbana album and best global music performance for his song "EoO".
In his acceptance remarks, and not unlike other moments throughout his career, the artist used the spotlight to express his political views.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," Bad Bunny said during his acceptance speech for best música urbana album. "We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens — we're humans and we are Americans," he added in response to the ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country.
The crowd in Los Angeles, largely met his statements with applause and ovation.
But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl, where he is set to headline this year's halftime show. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
To learn more about Bad Bunny's political history and what we might expect at the Super Bowl, Morning Edition host A Martinez spoke with Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, who chairs the American Studies Department at Wellesley College and the co-author, alongside Vanessa Díaz, of the new book, P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. The two academics are also behind the Bad Bunny Syllabus, an online teaching resource based on Puerto Rican history and Bad Bunny's meteoric rise since 2016.
Below are three takeaways from the conversation.
Rivera-Rideau teaches "Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaetón" at Wellesley and said the course uses Bad Bunny's work as a hook to get students into the seminar.
"But we really actually spend most of our time talking about Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican history is part of U.S. history," she said. "And Bad Bunny music has consistently made references to this history."
Rivera-Rideau pointed to an example from 2018 when Bad Bunny debuted on a U.S. mainstream English language television show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The artist opened with a critique of the Trump administration's handling of Hurricane Maria, which had devastated his island in 2017.
"After one year of the hurricane, there's still people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump is still in denial," Martínez Ocasio said.
Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens — but this has not always protected them from being caught in recent ICE operations.
"I think part of that has to do with the kind of racialization of Spanish and the racialization of Latino communities of which Puerto Ricans are a part," she said. "And I think what it indicates is that, to me, Latinos in the United States, many of whom have been here for generations, are often understood to be perpetually foreign as a group of people that just does not belong."
Rivera-Rideau said if Apple Music's trailer for the Super Bowl halftime show — which features Bad Bunny dancing with a group representing a smattering of ages, faces and abilities — is any indication of what audiences can expect on Sunday's stage, the theme might be joy in the face of a difficult moment for immigrants and Latinos in the U.S.
"One of the things we talk about in our book is that Bad Bunny is part of resistance, he does engage in protests but it's often through joy," she said. "We have a chapter in our book called 'The Party is the Protest' and I actually feel like that's what I expect at the Superbowl, a party and a protest.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
For LAist Senior Editor Suzanne Levy, who grew up in the U.K., the Super Bowl is a fascinating experience. Yes, there's the football — but for her that's the least interesting thing about it.
Why it matters: Want to know how the Super Bowl looks to much of the rest of the world? Read on.
Why now: It's Super Bowl Sunday... let the commercials and the half-time show begin!
The Super Bowl, to someone who a) grew up in the UK, and b) doesn’t really get football, is a strange experience.
Of course, I’m talking American football, not English football, by the way. If England gets into the World Cup quarter final you might find me at 7 a.m. in a pub in Santa Monica drinking a nice cup of tea and cheering the TV.
The Super Bowl is a national cultural event, and there’s so much excitement running up to it, yet when it happens, the thing that everyone is fixated on is the thing you’re least interested in. As in, the football — the men with padded shoulders who pile into a heap. I mean, I get the ones in the middle are doing something, but the ones at the edges are just for show, right?
All the running and the throwing and the tackling … well that just gets in the way of all the entertainment.
OK, OK, I’m kidding. I do get excited when a halfback grabs the ball and starts up the field, elbowing people out of the way, but even that can get a bit wearing when it happens over and over again. Just let the guy get to where he wants to go already!
And that’s where the Super Bowl is ideal. It comes with ready prepared breaks in the action, so there’s no chance to get bored. There’s the commercials. Over the years, some of them have been so great, like that one with the kid and the Force, and that Eminem Detroit one.
Some, not so much. That’s where I do my armchair critiquing. “Well I hoped they paid him a whole boatload of money for that one, his credibility’s down the toilet,” or, “Oh come on, ad agency, for a million dollars per millisecond, that’s all you can come up with?”
But it’s the hope, the desire, that this moment you’ll be blown out of your chair. Wait, that sounds a lot like watching football. Hmm.
Then there’s the half time show, which I always watch. “Call me when it starts!” I yell at my family as I walk out to do some very important laundry folding. As the music begins, I rush back in. Lady Gaga, Beyonce and now … Bad Bunny. As I watch pure perfection, I keep telling myself, they’re doing it live, in front of a billion people. They are not missing a damn note. Or step. Except that left shark. Hell, even the Weeknd won me over eventually.
And then there’s the last quarter. I make sure I watch that. It’s the psychodrama of it all. The looks on the coach’s faces as they chew their gum, serious, determined. The fans, holding their breath. The commentators asking Tom Brady what it was like when he was doing it. And then.. the whistle blows. And one half of the stadium is ecstatic, giddy with delight, while the other half stares into the abyss. It's a Shakespearean tragedy come to life. For all the commercials and the music, this really is the can’t miss part, which brings me back year after year. Go Patriots! Go Seahawks! Let the game begin.
