The Brief

If you’re looking for fire anniversary events (many of which continue through the weekend), check out our roundup here.

We’re continuing with our staff L.A. resolutions, and Associate Editor Anthony Schneck has on his list some old and new adventures for 2026. First, it’s to have a martini at Musso and Frank (despite the touristy rep!), then it’s a trip to a Grand Ole Echo night at The Echo for some country music vibes. Later in the year, he’s excited to watch World Cup matches at the boisterous fan villages.

Senior K-12 education reporter Mariana Dale is trying not to take our beautiful landscape for granted this year; she hopes to spot an octopus at the tidepools after lucking out seeing a bat star and a colorful nudibranch during the last king tide at White Point tidepools in San Pedro. She also plans a valiant return to Eaton Canyon once the damaged trails begin to reopen.

Our friends at Licorice Pizza have tons of new music on their 2026 to-do list; this weekend, Mike Garson wraps up this three-night Bowie tribute residency at the Sun Rose with a rotating cast of all-stars, including Billy Corgan, Chad Smith, Jake Wesley Rogers, Judith Hill, Luke Spiller and Licorice Pizza’s own all-star Carmine Rojas. Friday and Saturday, Galantis play the Hollywood Palladium, and on Saturday there’s another big benefit show at the Shrine, Artists For Aid, to raise funds for those affected by the ongoing crises in Sudan and Palestine. Also on Saturday, you could also check out Unwritten Law at the Teragram Ballroom, or American Idol winner Lee DeWyze at the Hotel Café.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can keep up with anniversary events marking one year since the Eaton and Palisades fires, meet five new species discovered in 2025 and catch up on the new laws that will affect California schools in 2026.

Events

Power Up Altadena!

Sunday, January 11, 11 a.m.
Zorthian Ranch 
3990 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Altadena 
COST: FREE, $10 SUGGESTED DONATION; MORE INFO

(

Courtesy KCRW

)

Dena United is hosting this all-day festival at Altadena’s historic Zorthian Ranch to celebrate the community’s diverse culture and commemorate one year since the devastating Eaton Fire. Expect to see a wide range of performances from acts including Bobby Bradford, Dwight Trible, Baba Onochie Chukwurah & the Rhythms of the Village Family Band, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Earthseed Band and the Whispering Giants with MCs Medusa and Myka 9.

Polar Bear Plunge

Saturday, January 10, 10:15 a.m.
Annenberg Community Beach House
415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica 
COST: FREE, $10 for heated pool admission; MORE INFO

(

Courtesy Annenberg Community Beach House

)

Cold plunge, or really cold plunge? Start your year with fellow polar bears at the Annenberg Community Beach House and take a group jump into the Pacific, followed by a 300-yard swim out and back to warm up for those with a little more stamina. Brrr!

Morton Feldman: Centennial Marathon

Sunday, January 11, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. 
Wende Museum 
10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

(

Courtesy Wende Museum

)

Two special afternoons of concerts from Piano Spheres at the Wende Museum on Sunday and The Brick on Monday span the masterworks of legendary American composer Morton Feldman. The two days will feature works including Crippled Symmetry, For Bunita Marcus, and Patterns in a Chromatic Field. Special guests like Amy Williams, Conor Hanick and more will perform. On Monday, head to Melrose Hill to art space The Brick (518 N. Western Ave.) from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a second set of music.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Saturday, January 10, 8:30 p.m.
Rooftop Cinema Club
888 S. Olive Street, Downtown L.A.
COST: $31; MORE INFO

(

Focus Features

)

The rainy weather seems to be taking a break, so take advantage and enjoy some eternal sunshine of your own at Rooftop Cinema Club’s Fireside Films. The modern classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, is a meditation on memory — and the setting is cozy, with outside heaters and a roaring fire. Tickets include a hot beverage.

Historic Main St. Santa Monica Walk

Saturday, January 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. 
Shotgun House 
2520 2nd. Street, Santa Monica 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

(

Piermario Eva

/

Unsplash

)

Santa Monica Conservancy hosts this walk along historic Main Street and through the vibrant Ocean Park neighborhood, led by street historian and author of the award-winning blog The Street Seen, Mark Gorman. Miss this week? The SMC leads tours every second Saturday of each month.

Two films by Zoe Beloff 

Friday, January 9, 6 p.m. 
Velaslavasay Panorama 
1122 W. 24th Street, West Adams
COST: $18; MORE INFO 

There’s no more unique place in L.A. than the Velaslavasay Panorama, and filmmaker Zoe Beloff will be there in person to debut two new films at the space, Josephine the Singer or The Mouse People and Life Forgotten. The first looks at the history of New York’s Lower East Side through its community gardens, told through the text of a Franz Kafka short story; the second centers on a silent movie theater and storefront cinema in early 20th-century New York City.

CHAOS: Chelsea Peretti, Natasha Leggero, Sabrina Jalees

Sunday, January 11, 7:30 p.m. 
Elysian Theater 
1944 Riverside Drive, Elysian Valley  
COST: FROM $25; MORE INFO

(

Courtesy The Elysian

)

Chaos/riotous laughter/who knows what will happen when these three incredibly funny women get together on stage? Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Natasha Leggero (Chelsea Lately) and Sabrina Jalees (Search Party) take to the Elysian for a night of much-needed antics.

Ukrainian Christmas Dinner

Sunday, January 11, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
Ukrainian Cultural Center 
4315 Melrose Ave., East Hollywood 
COST: FROM $81; MORE INFO 

(

Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles

/

Eventbrite

)

Keep the holiday celebrations going with this Ukrainian Christmas Dinner — the Schedriy Vechir (“generous evening”) Holiday Gala — celebrating the resilience of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. The fundraising event includes performances from the Kobzar Choir, KOLO Choir of St. Volodymyr’s Church, Blagovist Choir of St. Andrew’s Church, Vova Zi Lvova, Vsudy Svoya, Chervona Kalyna Dance Ensemble and more.

Dry January at Burden of Proof

Various dates 
1012 Mission Street, South Pasadena
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

(

Courtesy Burden of Proof

)

If drinking less is on your January to-do list, you couldn’t pick a better place to start than Burden of Proof in South Pasadena. While other N.A. bars have closed in the past year (The New Bar, Stay), Burden of Proof is thriving, with a variety of events featuring local producers to help keep you on the straight and narrow for dry January and all year long.

Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.

But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.

The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.

The background

Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.

That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.

New terms, failed negotiations

Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.

Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.

Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.

LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.

Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.

“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.

He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.

Who owns what?

The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.

Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.

After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.

The Mercado family is resisting.

"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.

Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.

"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."

She apologized to customers for the confusion.

Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.

Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.

" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.

L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.

"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Noem to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities.

“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” she said in a statement.

Some protesters also gathered outside the federal building in downtown L.A. Thursday morning to condemn the killing.