The Brief

Catch Haim at one of their hometown shows. Listen to risky stories. Watch PowerPoints that won’t numb your skull. Choose from a number of free outdoor movies and concerts.

Events

Monday, July 17 - Wednesday, July 19

Haim
The Bellwether
333 S. Boylston St., downtown L.A. 
The sisters from the San Fernando Valley play a three-night hometown stand at L.A.’s new music venue. The July 19 show performs its debut Days Are Gone album to commemorate the 10-year anniversary. Opening each night is Buzzy Lee, the new artist project of performer, writer and actress Sasha Spielberg. All ages.
COST: $75; MORE INFO

Monday, July 17; 7:30 p.m.  

2/3 of a Threesome
Dynasty Typewriter
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake
Watch an evening of comedy, music and musical comedy hosted by AJ Holmes and Caitlin Cook with special guests Reggie Watts, Langston Kerman, Beth Stelling, Dylan Adler and Tom Thakkar. 18+.
COST: $20 - $25; MORE INFO

Tuesday, July 18; 7:30 p.m. 

Risk!
The Lyric Hyperion 
2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake  
Watch people tell true stories they never thought they’d share (in public, no less). Hosted by storyteller and author David Crabb, with performances by Lindsey Mallard, Jonathan Bradley Welch, Katy Townsend and Anastasia Washington.
COST: $20; MORE INFO 

Next Slide Please is a live show that invites comedians to make PowerPoints about whatever they want.

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Arin Sang-urai

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Courtesy of Next Slide Please

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Wednesday, July 19; 7:30 p.m. 

Next Slide Please: A PowerPoint Comedy Show
Dynasty Typewriter
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake
Usually PowerPoint presentations make us want to gouge our eyes out. But Next Slide Please lets comedians make PowerPoints about whatever they want — which should be a whole lot more entertaining. Presenting this week are Dylan Adler, Sudi Green, Andrew Michaan, Anna Garcia, Levi Macdougall, Annapurna Sriram and Mark Vigeant.
COST: $20 - $25; MORE INFO

Wednesday, July 19; 8 p.m.

Roguelike Rumbles
The Roguelike Tavern
259 N. Pass Ave., Burbank 
Gamers and drinkers unite for Pick Your Poison Productions’ monthly live Roguelike Rumbles — a live, comedy-action show of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Pre-game questioning begins at 7 p.m.
COST: FREE with two-item minimum purchase; MORE INFO

Wednesday, July 19; 7:30 p.m.

Teen Wolf + Movie Club the Band
Secret Movie Club 
1917 Bay St., downtown L.A. 
Watch the 1985 film Teen Wolf in 35mm. Directed by Rod Daniel, the film stars Michael J. Fox as a likable teen who discovers he has lycanthropy running in the family. A whole lot of hijinx happens when you mix hormones and werewolf tendencies. The retro film is followed by a party and live music set by rock band Movie Club.
COST: $18 - $21; MORE INFO

Wednesday, July 19; 6 - 8 p.m.

Hometown Hangout
The Shay 
8801 Washington Blvd., Culver City
This pop-up market is held every third Wednesday of the month, featuring local brands and businesses. This month, in addition to jewelry and vintage scarves and accessories, Imperial Barbershop offers $40 haircuts, barber style (by appointment, cash only); Jon Narcisso Millinery demonstrates his custom and bespoke hat-making technique; and milk + honey provides polish-change manicures and tension-relieving massages.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Thursday, July 20; 8 p.m. 

Sunset Concerts: Billy Valentine
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood
Listen to the socially conscious soul of blues and R&B singer Billy Valentine. He’ll reimagine covers of iconic protest songs, including works by Stevie Wonder, Prince and Marvin Gaye. The event kicks off Skirball’s Summer Concert series. Get there early at 6:30 p.m. for gallery exhibitions and concessions, with the concert starting at 8 p.m. While advanced reservations are closed, walk-up tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis.
COST: FREE, but parking is $20; MORE INFO

No Duh, a No Doubt tribute band, performs at OC Parks Summer Concert Series in Irvine this week.

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Courtesy of No Duh

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Thursday, July 20; 6 p.m.

OC Parks Summer Concert Series 
Mason Regional Park
18712 University Dr., Irvine.
Watch a concert by No Duh, an awesomely named ultimate tribute band for OC’s own No Doubt. The event is family-friendly with free parking and food and drink options available for purchase. COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Thursday, July 20; 6:30 p.m.

Abraham Alexander
The Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood
KCRW Summer Nights welcome rising artist Abraham Alexander, whose debut album SEA/SONS is now critically acclaimed. KCRW DJs Dan Wilcox and Chris Douridas also spin tunes through the night. Happy hour, full bar, and food trucks will be available and the galleries are open late.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Pack a picnic basket for the beach to watch the sunset at the Annenberg Beach House.

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Evangelina Silina

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via Unsplash

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Thursday, July 20; 5 - 8 p.m.  

Sunset Picnic
The Annenberg Community Beach House 
415 Pacific Coast Hwy., Santa Monica  
Take a break from the heat and bring your own picnic to the Beach House for a chill evening. Come solo or with friends. Get fancy or bring a brown bag. A live Brazilian duo adds to the seaside ambiance. Leave the alcohol, glass and dogs at home.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Thursday, July 20; 8 p.m.

Watch at the Water Garden: Sister Act
The Great Lawn at 1620 26th St., Santa Monica
Watch family-friendly movies under the stars in Santa Monica this week with a free screening of Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg. Guests can arrive as early as 5 p.m. to listen to live music, bring blankets and picnic baskets or buy snacks from SweetPea Catering.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO 

Cosplayers portraying Thundercats characters attend Comic-Con International in San Diego in 2022. The 2023 edition returns this week.

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ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

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AFP

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Thursday, July 20 - Sunday, July 23

Comic-Con
San Diego Convention Center
111 Harbor Dr., San Diego 
With the industry strikes, and many studios scaling back their presence, the 2023 Comic-Con may be a little more subdued — which means it should be so much easier to get around Hall H. Day 1 programs include Todd McFarlane, the Emmy- and Grammy-winning director/producer and creator of the bestselling comic, Spawn; Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation and Dr. Horrible Screening and Horrible Karaoke.
COST: Varies; MORE INFO

Viewing Pick

Spirited Away
Rooftop Cinema Club screens the work of legendary animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki every Wednesday in July. This week, watch the original version of Spirited Away (2002) on the DTLA rooftop location with on-screen English subtitles. Watch a young girl Chihiro, who becomes trapped in a strange new world of witches, spirits and gods. Chihiro must call upon her inner strength and courage to free her parents, who’ve undergone a strange transformation. Tickets start at $19.50. MORE INFO

Chef Eric Huang of Pecking House in Brooklyn brings his much-beloved chili fried chicken to L.A. at a new pop-up.

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Courtesy of Peking House

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Dine and Drink Deals

Here are a few dine and drink options to indulge in this week.

• Xuntos is a new tapas bar that opened last week in downtown Santa Monica. This is the second eatery from chef-owner Sandra Cordero who opened Gasolina in Woodland Hills in 2015. Xuntos serves tapas featuring traditional dishes of Galicia, Asturias, Catalunya and Basque Country. The restaurant also offers natural wines from these regions, along with Spanish beer on tap and aperitivos made with sherry, vermouth and seasonal fruit. Currently open for dinner only.
• On Monday, July 17, Rock & Brews outposts in Buena Park, El Segundo, and Corona locations partner with the Body Art Bus to offer free tattoos up to $50 to the first 20 guests who pop by the truck. Diners with tattoos at all participating SoCal locations (Buena Park, Corona, El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Tustin) can enjoy “penny pints” of select Rock & Brews beers. Guests can buy one pint at regular price and get the second one for just one cent when they show their tattoo.
• Chef Suzanne Tracht of Jar welcomes her friend and colleague Raphael Lunetta for a collaborative four-course dinner at Jar, creating an edible ode to summer and SoCal’s seasonal markets. The dinner begins with an amuse bouche of summer melon with Dungeness crab with jalapeno vinaigrette and Persian mint, and continues with fried Ipswich clams, wild striped bass and spot prawn with sweet corn succotash,  Westholme Australian wagyu New York strip and chilled summer cherry soup with vanilla ice cream and chocolate biscotti. The dinner takes place on Tuesday, July 18 and is $172 per person, inclusive of taxes and gratuity. 
• On Wednesday, July 19, the teams behind Tuk Tuk Thai on Sawtelle and Turntable at Lord Stanley (SF) open Tuk Tuk x Turntable, a new pop-up space at 1644 Sawtelle Blvd. that will host ongoing chef residencies. Chef Eric Huang of Pecking House in Brooklyn brings his much-beloved chili fried chicken (pictured above) to L.A. The Pecking House pop-up runs through Sept. 17.
• Punch Bowl Social and Fortaleza host a tequila tasting on Thursday, July 20 from 5 to 10 p.m. at Punch Bowl Social in Rancho Cucamonga. Admission is $10 and includes small tastings of the tequila brand and a hand-crafted cocktail (alcoholic or non-alcoholic).
• The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (9705 S. Santa Monica Blvd.) has opened in its new space and holds an official grand opening on Monday, July 17. The Cheese Store also now offers its first takeaway menu with an array of gourmet sandwiches and salads.  

The leader of a congressional panel warned Tuesday he would use “every tool” to get Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to testify after she skipped a hearing that put L.A.’s homeless services system in the hot seat.

It came as multiple audits, reviews and court rulings have found L.A. has failed to ensure proper tracking of large-scale spending on homeless services — particularly through the joint city-county L.A. Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA. Much of the money is federal dollars authorized by Congress.

Bass had declined to testify at Tuesday’s hearing, saying she was unavailable and that it would be a “politically motivated” attack. Her public schedule showed she planned to attend a groundbreaking of a shopping and community center in the Pacific Palisades two hours after the hearing was set to start.

Rep. Tim Burchett, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee's DOGE subcommittee, said she won't get off that easily.

Bass "seems intent on evading accountability, but she knows we will not let her off the hook," Burchett said at the hearing. He added that he and the Oversight Committee’s chair would "use every tool at our disposal to secure her appearance if she does not cooperate.”

House committees and subcommittees can issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify or provide documents.

Just before the hearing got underway, Bass called it "the latest attack on Los Angeles by the Trump Administration and his allies in Congress.”

"I don't run LAHSA," she said, adding that she was the first mayor to sit on its board and that street homelessness has dropped since she took office. The latest official count for the city showed a 8% year to year jump in street homelessness.

Bass stepped off LAHSA’s governing commission last week, after LAist reported she had missed most of its meetings since she appointed herself to it in 2023. The mayor cited “time and all” as her reason for stepping down. She continues to appoint — and has the power to remove — half the commission’s members, including its current chair.

What happened at the hearing

Much of the hour-and-a-half hearing focused on Republican members’ criticism that Democrat-led cities distribute drug paraphernalia and don’t require unhoused people with addictions to get treatment as a condition of living in publicly funded housing.

Some proposals raised Tuesday would change how money reaches Los Angeles.

Burchett said he will introduce the Recovery First Housing Act, to require federally funded housing to offer substance abuse treatment. He has also introduced a bill restricting federal housing dollars to only support U.S. citizens.

LA's fights on a national stage

Burchett noted LAHSA’s audit committee chair, Justin Szlasa — who was proactive in rooting out wasteful spending — was demoted by Stephanie Graves, a Bass appointee who has declined to give her reason for doing so. The move was first reported by LAist.

Burchett also made claims that don’t hold up. He said 50,000 people are homeless in the city with "another 75,000" in the surrounding county. The latest official count found a total of 73,000 unhoused people across L.A. County — a figure that includes the city.

Burchett also said, “ LAHSA recently doled out funds to an L.A.-area nonprofit whose CEO had just been indicted for fraud.” LAist recently investigated LAHSA’s awarding of funds to that nonprofit, Abundant Blessings, and found no indication that LAHSA awarded it any funds after the fraud indictment. However, the review did find that long before the indictment, LAHSA kept awarding millions in contracts to the group even after it was flagged internally as high-risk for failing to do its job.

Burchett, however, was correct in saying “a court-ordered independent assessment of LAHSA's finances found alarming financial control weaknesses that leave the door open to rampant fraud.”

On Tuesday, street safety advocates and families of victims of vehicle collisions demanded that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declare a state of emergency on traffic violence in the city.

Sandra Sanchez Loulakis’s son died last year after she said he was hit by a negligent driver.

“I’ve been struggling just to survive daily,” she said at the news conference organized by traffic safety nonprofit Streets are for Everyone. “This is what happens to a parent when they lose a child.”

The city has seen 8% more fatal traffic collisions this year than during the same period last year, according to LAPD data from the end of August.

Advocates said an emergency declaration would better coordinate resources to respond to traffic fatalities, which have exceeded the rate of homicides for the last three years.

“ This is not a matter of we don't know what to do,” Damian Kevitt, who leads Streets are for Everyone, said Tuesday. “This is a matter of we know exactly what to do. We’re just not making this a priority as a city.”

Kevitt said more than 1,250 people signed an open letter delivered to the mayor and L.A. City Council. One of the demands listed in the letter is for the city to restore transportation department staff.

Earlier this year, the city gave up $100 million in state grants to make streets safer because it did not have the personnel to complete the projects in compliance with state-mandated deadlines.

Draft executive directive on Vision Zero

It appears there had been momentum from the mayor’s office earlier this year to issue an executive directive recommitting the city to its Vision Zero goals of reducing traffic fatalities to zero.

According to emails from May shared with LAist, the mayor’s senior director of transportation told an activist that a draft executive directive was “under review” and expected to be released “within the next three weeks.”

The email was sent to Jonathan Hale, who organizes community members to paint crosswalks where there have been pedestrian-involved collisions.

The executive directive has yet to be released.

LAist submitted a public records request for drafts of the executive directive, but on Sept. 14, the mayor’s office responded saying it could not disclose any records.

“[The records] include drafts and/or deliberative process for which the public interest served in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest served by the disclosure,” the office said.

The mayor’s office has not responded to requests for comment about the draft executive directive.

A new report commissioned by Olympics organizers estimates that the 2028 Games will generate at least $20 billion in economic output across Greater Los Angeles.

The analysis, prepared for LA28 by the nonprofit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics, looked at the economic effects of L.A. hosting the Olympics and Paralympics. It includes organizing committee spending, capital investments, publicly funded transportation and security investments, and tourism. 

In total, the report projects that new economic activity across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties could total somewhere between $20.5 billion and $25.4 billion and add around 126,000 and 152,000 jobs to the economy.

A second less conservative methodology employed by the researchers estimates the overall economic output could be even higher, between $35.4 and $40.6 billion and up to 224,000 new jobs.

“ Together, they provide a responsible range, not an exaggerated promise,” Stephen Cheung, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, said at a news conference announcing the report on Tuesday. “ If we work together with intention, the Games can leave Los Angeles with more than unforgettable memories. They can leave us with stronger businesses, greater opportunities, and a more connected regional economy.”

Despite the 2028 Games being advertised as a "no-build" Olympics, the biggest chunk of spending laid out in the report is on capital projects, including the $2.6 billion L.A. Convention Center renovation, billions in LAX improvements, major transit projects like Metro ExpressLanes on the 105 Freeway, and venue renovations, such as upgrades to Rose Bowl Stadium.

The report also estimates that around $5.7 billion of LA28’s spending will be in the five county region. LA28 has a $7.1 billion budget and has pledged to keep 75% of its spending in the Greater L.A. area, and put 25% toward small businesses.

“ That economic impact is going to be felt far and wide and across Los Angeles, as well as the Southern California region,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said Tuesday.

The report is the second economic analysis forecasting the effects of the 2028 Games to come out this month. A separate report submitted to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in early September estimated that the Games would produce more than $13 billion in direct spending and a total economic output of $19.2 billion in Los Angeles County alone.

The same report also laid out the potential uneven distribution of economic benefits to the region, including limited benefits for Olympic venue sites that are not tourist destinations and parts of Los Angeles being excluded from the Games altogether.

HR&A Advisors, the consultant group that put the report together, identified Carson, Pomona, the City of Industry and Exposition Park as locations that are hosting Olympic events, but that could end up being “passthrough areas.”

“Although these areas may be active during the day, they may struggle to capture spending from visitors who pass through but do not spend money outside the venue,” the report states.

The county report also questioned what economic benefits will flow to parts of L.A. County that will be disconnected from Olympic and Paralympic activities, like Antelope Valley and Southeast Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the analysis found that L.A.’s typical tourist destinations — including downtown L.A., Old Town Pasadena, downtown Long Beach and the Venice Boardwalk — can expect to be active areas for economic activity during summer 2028.

The Palisades and Eaton Fires last year destroyed thousands of homes in Los Angeles County. Thousands more were left standing, but choked with toxic fire residue.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills that will make California the first state in the nation to establish smoke damage testing and cleaning standards for insurance companies.

Assembly Bills 1642 and 1795 will require insurers to test for smoke damage, cover the cost of cleaning contaminants, and keep paying for a homeowner’s alternative living expenses until the home is found safe to reoccupy.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control will have until the end of 2028 to develop testing and cleaning standards for lead and asbestos, and until the end of 2029 to set rules for heavy metals and other pollutants.

Reaction to the bill

According to the state Department of Insurance, property owners filed 13,000 smoke damage claims for standing homes after the January 2025 fires. While insurers have covered testing and cleaning in many cases, other homeowners are still unable to return home as they battle with insurance companies over addressing smoke damage.

In a news release Tuesday, the governor and an author of one of the bills praised the changes to state law.

“These new protections will make insurer obligations clearer and give homeowners more financial flexibility when they need it most,” Newsom said.

Assemblymember John Harabedian said: “Science, not an insurance company’s opinions, will determine whether a home is safe.”

Insurance industry groups had opposed shifting rules and regulation away from the state Department of Insurance and to the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Altadena residents pushed for change

Testing efforts by a group known as Eaton Fire Residents United found that lead, asbestos and heavy metals were still present in homes even after they were cleaned by professional remediation companies. Jane Lawton Potelle is the group’s executive director.

“California is leading the nation in how to recover safely after an urban wildfire,” she said in a news release about the laws’ passage.

Public health officials said smoke from the L.A. County fires was particularly toxic because it emanated from urban areas. The structures that burned often had lead paint and asbestos insulation.

The fires also destroyed cars, appliances and other human-made materials. This created more pollutants than smoke from fires in rural areas, which mainly burn through vegetation.

LAist covered the push to change smoke damage policies in a recent episode of our podcast Imperfect Paradise, which breaks down what these changes could mean for insurers, homeowners and how California adapts to climate change.