A Thai food fest serves up eats on Santa Monica Pier, Union Station hosts a train extravaganza, One Man, Two Guvnors hits the stage at A Noise Within and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
Do the locomotion down to Union Station for a day of free railroad-themed fun for all ages at the Union Station Train Festival. There will be railroad equipment tours and displays, model train exhibits, interactive information booths, live entertainment and more!
Grab your pom poms and get ready for the cheer showdown that ended all cheer showdowns, the 2000 high school comedy Bring It On. The Kirsten Dunst classicis showing at Alamo Drafthouse for its 25th anniversary.
Thai food, music and cultural performances take over Santa Monica Pier at the Thai Fest by the Beach. It's free to explore, so head west and experience the delicious dishes and entertainment.
We have a lot on the agenda this edition. First, make sure you get to the Jeffrey Gibson show at The Broad before it closes. It’s even free this weekend in celebration of the museum’s 10th anniversary! Gibson's vibrant, indigenous-inspired creations spark joy and meaning, and a special event on Saturday features a music lineup of all indigenous artists.
Through Sunday, September 28 One Man, Two Guvnors A Noise Within 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena COST: FROM $49.75; MORE INFO
The best British farces feel like total escapes — slapstick comedies that are so out there and take incredible acting precision to pull off. One Man, Two Guvnors is one of those. James Corden won a Tony for the role he originated in London back in 2012. The Noise Within production stars Kasey Mahaffey as Francis Henshall, a down-on-his-luck Londoner in the 1960s tasked with working for two bosses at once. The L.A. Times says, “The wit is crisp and the comic routines are evergreen.”
September 20-21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Union Station Train Festival Union Station 800 N. Alameda St., Downtown L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Union Station Los Angeles
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Do the locomotion down to Union Station for a day of free railroad-themed fun for all ages at the Union Station Train Festival. There will be railroad equipment tours and displays, including the steam locomotive Santa Fe 3751 of the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society. Plus, enjoy model train exhibits, interactive information booths, live entertainment and more. What better way to spend time in one of L.A.’s coolest Art Deco buildings?
Saturday, September 20, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Poems & Prayers Revivals Tour: Matthew McConaughey + John Mayer Saban Theatre 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills COST: $67.90; MORE INFO
Alright, alright, alright. Book Soup is hosting this conversation between two of the most earnest performers out there — musician John Mayer and actor (and author) Matthew McConaughey. The pair will discuss McConaughey’s new book, Poems & Prayers, and — I am not making this up — “put a mirror to our souls to see if we recognize each other again.” I guess you will have to attend to figure out what that means.
Saturday, September 20, 6 to 8 p.m. Upcycle Embellishment Workshop The Hidden Rivet 8366 1/2 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Becca McHaffie
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What’s old is new again. Show up with your tired t-shirts, jeans or tote bags, and go home with a whole new look, made by you. The Upcycle Embellishment Workshop at The Hidden Rivet will provide the flair to upgrade your look with things like grommets, vintage charms, mother-of-pearl buttons, beads, patches, rare textiles and more for just $15.
With L.A.-based designer Kenzie and stylist Isa on hand, you’ll have pros helping you transform your wardrobe in just a couple of hours. They suggest bringing “items with stains or damage, and transform them before they hit the rag pile!”
September 20-21, 4 p.m. Free Theatre in the Parks: Pericles Kings Road Park 1000 North Kings Road, West Hollywood COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Summer is winding down, and so are your Shakespeare in the Park opportunities. But there are still a couple more chances to check out the free performance of Pericles, put on by The City of West Hollywood and Coeurage Ensemble in Kings Road Park. Seating is first-come, first-served.
Friday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. The Swell Season The Greek Theatre 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz COST: FROM $40.50; MORE INFO
Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard of The Swell Season perform during the 2025 Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.
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Douglas Mason
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Getty Images
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Who hasn’t been in love with Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová of The Swell Season since they charmed us in the Irish movie musical Once? Plus, Hansard's been in his band The Frames for even longer, of course. The Swell Season will be performing for one night only at the Greek Theatre during their current tour, featuring both old favorites and songs from their new album, Forward.
Through Sunday, September 28 Luminous Streets: A Highland Park Theatrical Tour The Pop-Hop 5002 York Blvd., Highland Park COST: $20; MORE INFO
Neighborhood favorite spots like Johnny’s Bar, Cafe De Leche, Moryork, Be Nice Have Fun and Pop-Hop Books become the set for Luminous Streets: A Highland Park Theatrical Tour, showcasingshort plays by Jesse Bliss, Melissa Lugo, Tyree Marshall, Roger Q. Mason and Ligiah Villalobos. Directed by Bliss, the Roots and Wings Project event takes the audience into local businesses, gives them an opportunity to support them, and tells stories of women’s survival and pursuit of justice.
Friday, September 19, 7 p.m. Pearl and the Oysters Farm House Collective 1393 University Ave., Riverside COST: $26.22; MORE INFO
Farm House Collective is a very cool space in Riverside — a former 1950s motel that’s now a music venue, local business hub and food hall. KCRW-pick Pearl and the Oysters are playing a show with Dent May supporting. Take advantage of seeing them in a more intimate space.
Outdoor Pick
Saturday, September 20, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. California Coastal Cleanup Day Manhattan Beach Pier 2 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Roundhouse Aquarium Teaching Center
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Join Roundhouse Aquarium for California Coastal Cleanup Day in Manhattan Beach, where you’ll pick up trash, meet some other conservation-minded folks and learn about marine conservation. All trash is weighed, and the data is sent back to the California Coastal Commission.
Viewing Pick
September 18-24 Bring it On: 25th Anniversary Screening Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 700 W 7th St., Suite U240, Downtown L.A. COST: $19.18; MORE INFO
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Universal Pictures
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Grab your pom poms and get ready for the cheer showdown that ended all cheer showdowns, the 2000 high school comedy Bring It On. The Kirsten Dunst classicis showing at Alamo Drafthouse for its 25th anniversary. And has much changed? It does sometimes feel like we’re living in a cheerocracy.
Dine & Drink Deals
Saturday, September 20 Pacific Wine & Food Classic Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach COST: $199; MORE INFO
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Kelsey Knight
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Unsplash
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Chefs from across Orange County come together at the Pacific Wine & Food Classic in Newport Beach. Enjoy bites from restaurants like Luke’s Lobster, Red O, Salt & Lime, Scratch Bakery, The Crack Shack and dozens more. There will be wines from Paso Robles wineries and much more. It's currently sold out, but you can add yourself to the waitlist.
September 20-21 Thai Fest by the Beach 2025 Santa Monica Pier 200 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica COST: FREE, MORE INFO
Thai food, music and cultural performances take over Santa Monica Pier at the Thai Fest by the Beach. It's free to explore, so head west and experience the delicious dishes and entertainment with the family!
Sunday, September 21, 12 to 5 p.m. AeroPress Championship MICA Studios 356 S. Mission Road, Boyle Heights COST: $10; MORE INFO
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@aeropress
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Full disclosure: I recently made my first AeroPress coffee, and while I’m definitely far from ready to compete in the AeroPress Championship, I do now get why this is a thing. If you, too, are a fan of the low-tech espresso maker, join some of L.A.’s best roasters and watch them compete for a spot to move on to the U.S. AeroPress Championship in San Francisco. Of course, great coffee will be on offer, plus food, drinks, music and more.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published September 16, 2026 5:16 PM
The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena is in a legal tug of war.
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Courtesy Norton Simon Art Foundation
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Topline:
A new lawsuit aims to recover a Renaissance two-panel painting, "Adam" and "Eve," by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, acting on behalf of the heir of the original owner, says it was looted by the Nazis during World War II and should be given back to the family.
Why now: A lawsuit was filed on Monday against the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, based on a 2024 California law that gives people the ability to petition to recover cultural property “that was taken or otherwise lost as a result of political persecution."
Why it matters: Jewish families and their heirs lost generational wealth when their cultural property was stolen by the Nazis. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles says if its lawsuit is successful, the Federation pledges to use the majority of the net proceeds to care for impoverished Holocaust survivors living in the L.A. area.
The backstory: The Nazis stole the two paintings from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in Holland in 1940. After the war, the Dutch government sold them to a Russian aristocrat, who sold them to the Norton Simon in Pasadena in 1971. In 2018, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that since a foreign government sold the artwork, the court could not declare that sale illegal.
The legal tug-of-war centers on a two-panel work called “Adam” and “Eve.” The life-size paintings depicting the biblical characters were created around 1530 by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The Nazis stole the two paintings, and many others, from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in Holland in 1940. After the war, the Dutch government sold these two works to a Russian aristocrat, who sold them to the Norton Simon in Pasadena in 1971.
“By pursuing the recovery of the Cranachs, we are seeking to reverse a great injustice perpetrated by the Nazi theft of a Jewish family’s property,” Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said in a written statement.
The Federation is plaintiff in a lawsuit filed on Monday in L.A. Superior Court that names the museum and two related foundations as defendants. Cranach the Elder’s work has sold for millions of dollars.
Goudstikker’s only living heir, Marei von Saher, gave the Federation the authority to file the lawsuit. If the lawsuit is successful, the Federation pledges to use the majority of the net proceeds to care for impoverished Holocaust survivors living in the L.A. area.
Adam and Eve, painted around 1530 by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder.
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Courtesy Norton Simon Art Foundation
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Von Saher has spent years trying, unsuccessfully, to get these paintings back. But this lawsuit is different. It’s filed under a 2024 California law that gives people the ability to petition to recover cultural property “that was taken or otherwise lost as a result of political persecution,” according to the law.
Stolen painting
Responding to the lawsuit, the Norton Simon Museum did not challenge that the painting was looted by the Nazis.
“After decades of litigation, court after court including the United States Supreme Court has confirmed that the Norton Simon Art Foundation has proper title to 'Adam' and 'Eve,'" the museum said in a written statement.
The museum is referring to a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that since a foreign government sold the artwork, the court could not declare that sale illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court let that decision stand without reviewing it.
“In my opinion, it's immoral and unethical because they don't have good title,” said Joel Greenberg, founder of the nonprofit Art Ashes, which helps families of Holocaust survivors recover art looted from their ancestors.
It’s not the only high-profile case of Nazi-looted art in the region. The late Los Angeles resident Maria Altman recovered a work by Gustav Klimt that was looted from her family by the Nazis in Austria.
By Ashley Duong, Hallie Golden, Dave Collins | The Associated Press
Published September 16, 2026 3:58 PM
Police and LA Metro investigate the scene of a crash between an SUV and a LA Metro Bus that left three people dead on Tuesday in Chatsworth.
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Ronaldo Bolanos
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
A motorist was arrested on murder charges after authorities say she slammed her SUV into a city bus in Los Angeles, killing at least two people and injuring six others in a prelude to a second deadly tragedy: the fiery crash of a TV news helicopter that was covering the collision.
About the bus crash: Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was arrested Tuesday night and is being held at a Los Angeles jail with bail set at $4 million, police said Wednesday. Police say Rios drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue, ran a red light and struck a vehicle before hitting the bus. One passenger was fully ejected from the bus and another was partially ejected, police said. The case is being forwarded to the district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file the charges in court or pursue different ones.
Helicopter crash: NBC4 Los Angeles reported that two people aboard the helicopter — reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw — were killed when the chopper went down Tuesday in the Chatsworth. A person on the ground, identified as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, died in a parking lot, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said. He was from Guatemala, the country’s consulate confirmed. The crash happened as news crews were reporting on the collision involving the SUV that slammed into the bus.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A motorist was arrested on murder charges after authorities say she slammed her SUV into a city bus in Los Angeles, killing at least two people and injuring six others in a prelude to a second deadly tragedy: the fiery crash of a TV news helicopter that was covering the collision.
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was arrested Tuesday night and is being held at a Los Angeles jail with bail set at $4 million, police said Wednesday. The case is being forwarded to the district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file the charges in court or pursue different ones. Information on a lawyer who could speak on her behalf was not immediately available.
The helicopter, which was used by NBC and Telemundo, crashed about two hours after police say Rios drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue, ran a red light and struck a vehicle before hitting the bus. One passenger was fully ejected from the bus and another was partially ejected, police said.
Rios’ mother, Cindy Rios, said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events. She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement.
“It’s just horrible,” Cindy Rios told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday. “The fact that my daughter was involved and was the cause of it is just extremely disturbing.”
“If anything, I’m sorry for the other families,” she added. “My daughter’s alive. People lost their lives.”
Chopper crash killed a reporter, a pilot and a man on the ground
NBC4 Los Angeles reported that two people aboard the helicopter — reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw — were killed when the chopper went down Tuesday in the Chatsworth neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley north of downtown.
A person on the ground, identified as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, died in a parking lot, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said. He was from Guatemala, the country’s consulate confirmed.
The crash happened as news crews were reporting on the collision involving the SUV that slammed into the bus.
There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter crash, but an alarm could be heard sounding inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude in the final seconds of video the crew broadcast before the crash.
Just after the beeping noise starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude. The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.
“That video is probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far,” National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday at a news briefing.
Salazar said the sounds were consistent with the helicopter’s engine changing speed, as well as what he said were likely advisory tones for the pilot. The NTSB said it is also investigating the bus collision.
The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350, went down near a large storage facility. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire. NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was at the bus scene and saw black smoke and rushed to the helicopter crash site.
Anchor and reporters pay tearful tributes to deceased colleagues
Moreno was a familiar voice for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 during the station’s aerial coverage. She and Marciniw were both were employees of Angel City Air, which operated the chopper for the station.
Moreno, born in Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University. She reported for several news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, the NBC4 website said.
Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.
“I think a lot of us are still trying to process what happened, this terrible loss,” NBC4 reporter Lauren Coronado told viewers early Wednesday as she stood near the crash site. A hazmat crew was cleaning up jet fuel, she said.
In a tribute to Moreno and Marciniw, the newscast referred to them as “the team in the sky,” saying Moreno would often post videos from her job and was in awe of the view. Anchor Lynette Romero held a colleague’s hand and wiped away tears after hearing Moreno’s voice when one of her posts was played.
In an interview with the station, Esteban Jimenez, a pilot, said he had known Marciniw since the 1990s. He said Marciniw had been his instructor.
“I just talked to him on Sunday. We were talking about the aviation business and retiring,” he said.
Expert talks about what may have caused the crash
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm sounding in the helicopter’s final video sounds like the low rotor RPM warning horn that signals the main rotor is no longer spinning enough to keep the helicopter in the air.
“It just has all the earmarks of a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed,” said Guzzetti who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and FAA.
Guzzetti said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again much like a breeze turns a windmill. Doing that can create a bit of lift that could help cushion the impact, but Guzzetti said there would have been little opportunity to do that because the helicopter had been hovering at a low altitude beforehand.
There are risks to news helicopters particularly in a major city like Los Angeles where multiple helicopters respond to an incident, but the pilots all coordinate closely over the radio to ensure they maintain a safe distance from each other. The industry also shares best practices to help keep these news flights safe.
“It’s a very unique form of flying. And the community is very good about lessons learned,” Guzzetti said. “And so because of that, you don’t hear about too many of those accidents. So they’re rare, but they do occur, just because the mission is a risky one.”
Other crashes involving news helicopters
The station said this is the second aviation tragedy in its history.
In 1977, a KNBC news helicopter crashed when it ran out of fuel while returning to the station after covering a wildfire in Santa Barbara, killing the pilot and camera operator. The pilot, former U.S. Air Force officer Francis Gary Powers, had been in the news years earlier when he was shot down and captured while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union for the CIA, an ordeal portrayed in the movie “Bridge of Spies.”
There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.
A 2007 midair collision in Phoenix of two TV news helicopters that were covering a police chase led the NTSB to recommend that news helicopters have at least two people in the cockpit so the pilot can focus on flying while the reporter focuses on the story.
___
Golden reported from Seattle, and Collins from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Allen Breed in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed.
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For UCLA students to football and basketball games
Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published September 16, 2026 3:47 PM
UCLA students line up outside for a chance to sit in the student section before a game between UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans at Pauley Pavilion on February 24, 2026.
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Jordan Teller
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ISI Photos via Getty Images
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Topline:
UCLA announced Wednesday that students can get free tickets to home football and men's and women's basketball games this season.
The backstory: Eligible students can claim their tickets for home football games through their student ticket account every Monday of a game week. Details about basketball tickets will come out before the season starts.
If you bought a Den Pass for the 2026-2027 season, you'll get an automatic refund by Friday, Sept. 25.
What's next: Registration is now open for Saturday's game against Purdue. Eligible students can register here.
Prosecutors allege failures to oversee contractors
Nick Gerda
has been reporting on allegations of corruption and mismanagement within L.A.'s homelessness services industry for more than three years.
Published September 16, 2026 3:45 PM
Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli, seen last month, said Wednesday that when it came to homelessness spending in L.A., "nobody was minding the shop."
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
Federal and county law enforcement announced charges Wednesday against three people in their widening investigation of homelessness fraud in the L.A. area. Prosecutors said they plan to bring “many more” cases.
‘Ghost’ clients: Authorities alleged a bribery scheme built on "ghost" clients illustrates a deeper problem: For years, virtually no one was checking whether homeless services money was doing what it was supposed to do. "There's no vetting. There's no auditing. There's no accounting,” the top federal prosecutor in L.A. said Wednesday. “It was just a rush to push as much money out the door."
Nightclub allegation: Authorities announced the arrest of Michael Young — founder of the Culver City nonprofit Home At Last — and accused him of using shell companies and fake bids to siphon $1 million in taxpayer money into a high-end nightclub, a nearly $50,000 trip to Tahiti and a $140,000 restoration of a vintage Chevy Impala. About $12 million in misappropriated funds — almost all of it by Young — is alleged in the new cases.
Read on … to learn what a federal prosecutor had to say about the leaders of L.A.’s homeless services agency.
Federal and county law enforcement announced charges Wednesday against three people in a widening investigation of homelessness services fraud in the L.A. area. Prosecutors previously charged three other people and said they plan to bring “many more” cases.
In Wednesday’s announcement at a news conference, authorities alleged a bribery scheme built on "ghost" clients illustrates a yearslong problem.
"Nobody was minding the shop," the region’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, told reporters in response to a question from LAist. "There's no vetting. There's no auditing. There's no accounting. It was just a rush to push as much money out the door."
What are the charges?
Authorities arrested Michael Young — founder of the Culver City nonprofit Home At Last — and accused him of using shell companies and fake bids to misappropriate $12 million in taxpayer funds. The allegations include siphoning $1 million into a high-end nightclub, a nearly $50,000 trip to Tahiti and a $140,000 restoration of a vintage Chevy Impala.
Michael Young, 46, of Baldwin Hills
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Courtesy Department of Justice
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A headshot of Alex Soofer shared by a federal prosecutor on X.
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First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli via X
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Scott Turner, the U.S. secretary for Housing and Urban Development, said Young's group received more than $118 million in public dollars for homeless housing since 2019 — over $75 million of it through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.
The new cases allege about $12 million in misappropriated funds — almost all of it by Young.
The bribery charges are against Lakiya Malone, an employee of the nonprofit Special Service for Groups, or SSG, who was responsible for referring homeless people to LAHSA-funded housing. Prosecutors say Malone took roughly $180,000 in bribes from Alexander Soofer, head of the now-defunct nonprofit Abundant Blessings, and in exchange steered him "ghost" participants — so he could bill for services never rendered.
Lakiya Malone, 48, of South Los Angeles
Donye Mitchell, 55, of Orange
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Courtesy Department of Justice
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“She was supposed to guard the money, and instead she took bribes,” Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said.
In a statement, SSG said it has been working with federal prosecutors “to ensure that any responsible individuals are held accountable” and has strengthened its “protocols and compliance.”
Charges against Soofer were announced in January. Authorities announced Wednesday that he has agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. Soofer admitted in his plea agreement to the alleged bribery scheme.
According to prosecutors, Soofer also admitted to "pocketing at least $2 million in taxpayer money for his own personal enrichment and for businesses unrelated to homeless housing," and that he has agreed to forfeit the money to the U.S. government. Prosecutors previously alleged he diverted a much larger amount: at least $10 million.
An LAist investigation found LAHSA kept awarding millions in contract renewals to Soofer’s group even after LAHSA’s own compliance team labeled it "high-risk" for, among other things, billing for services while reporting no enrolled participants.
The third defendant announced Wednesday is Donye Mitchell of the nonprofit Big Blue Umbrella. Mitchell is accused of lying about his experience to land a $1.2 million county-funded grant, receiving $315,000 and using those funds for personal expenses, including bail for a domestic violence arrest and video games. Officials said he's believed to be in Las Vegas and hadn’t been arrested as of Wednesday morning.
Mitchell is “a convicted fraudster, by the way,” Essayli said. He was convicted in 2011 of defrauding California unemployment benefits, according to the criminal complaint in the new case, and was ordered in 2012 to compensate the state $6 million.
The county funds he’s accused of stealing were awarded by a county vendor in 2024 — well after his fraud conviction.
LAist has left phone messages for Young's and Malone’s lawyers inviting their response to the charges and will update this article if they respond. It is unknown if Mitchell, who has not yet been arrested, has a lawyer.
Prosecutors' critique
Essayli and L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman criticized what they called a glaring lack of oversight of massive spending on homeless services. Hochman cited a court-ordered 2025 report that found L.A. city officials failed to properly track $2.3 billion in homeless funds, largely by outsourcing to LAHSA — which the review found failed to collect accurate data on its vendors and hold them accountable.
"We have not seen the results you would expect for billions of dollars being spent," Hochman said.
“This is the beginning of these prosecutions,” he added. ”Many more” are expected in the coming months, he said.
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Continuing trouble for LAHSA
The new charges were announced the day after LAHSA's governing commission decided to give up its responsibility for federal dollars, including applying for roughly $240 million a year in federal homelessness funding and running the annual homeless count.
Also on Tuesday, Mayor Karen Bass skipped a congressional hearing on LAHSA's fraud problems, calling it a "politically motivated" attack.
LAHSA, now led by Interim CEO Gita O'Neill, said in a statement Wednesday that it has "zero tolerance for fraud, waste, or the exploitation of public resources" and commended prosecutors’ action.
The agency said it terminated its contracts with Young’s nonprofit in June after evidence of wrongdoing emerged, and is pursuing recovery of cash seized from Young. The statement added that LAHSA fully cooperated with the federal task force and that no LAHSA staff are implicated — only "external provider executives and outside contractors.”
Essayli was asked Wednesday whether LAHSA's past or current leadership has been culpable.
"That's actually a very difficult question to answer," he said.
"It is not against federal law to be incompetent, unfortunately. I wish it were,” Essayli said. “So just because the people at the helm did not do a good job, that does not give us the authority to arrest them."
“ I assure you, if anyone in power engaged in violation of federal law, we will not hesitate to charge them.”
