The Brief

Listen to El Grito and celebrate Mexican Independence. Immerse yourself in the terror-filled tale of the Angel of Light. Take part in National Dance Day. Attend the 2023 Power Fest!

Events

Friday, Sept. 15; 5 - 11 p.m.

El Grito  
Los Angeles City Hall
200 N. Spring St., downtown L.A.
El Grito de Dolores (The Cry of Dolores) commemorates the moment Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell of his church on Sept. 16, 1810, and cried for a call to arms, triggering the Mexican War of Independence. L.A. kicks off Latino Heritage Month with an El Grito celebration at City Hall and Grand Park on Friday, with a reenactment of El Grito, family activities, food trucks and music from Banda Machos, Las Colibrí, Las Cafeteras and Banda Las Angelinas.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Other Mexican Independence celebrations this weekend include:

• El Grito De Independencia and the Latinx Heritage Month kick off in Pico Rivera on Friday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. in Smith Park; 
• The city of Santa Ana celebrates Fiestas Patrias on Saturday, Sept. 16 and Sunday, Sept. 17, at Flower Street between Civic Center Drive and Santa Ana Boulevard.
• Fiestas Patrias Olvera is a one-day celebration at El Pueblo in downtown L.A. from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17.

"Angel of Light" is a brand new haunting, immersive theatrical and horror production that opens in downtown L.A. this weekend.

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Odeon

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Friday, Sept. 15 - Tuesday, Oct. 31

Angel of Light
Los Angeles Theatre
615 S. Broadway, downtown L.A.
Step into the theater for an immersive and terrifying story of a hexed girl, just in time for the spooky season. Be transported to old Hollywood in 1935 and step into the chaotic and unsettling Angel of Light tale through the combination of live performances, elaborate sets, artistry and good, old-fashioned jump scares. The production also includes dark and small spaces, strobe lights and extreme sound and light effects. The show is not recommended for those 13 and younger.
COST: Tickets start at $59.50; MORE INFO

Solvang Danish Days returns to Solvang this weekend, Sept. 15-17.

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Deborah Chadsey

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Courtesy of Solvang Danish Days

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Friday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 17 

Solvang Danish Days 2023
Various locations in Solvang 
With the theme of “Kom Sammen” (“Come Together”), the weekend honors the 1911 establishment of Solvang by Danish Americans. The festivities include three parades, Danish folk dancers, live concerts, and a Danish-style beer and wine garden serving up Carlsberg beer. Fan favorites like Æbleskivers (the pastry round), story time sessions with Hans Christian Andersen, a Viking encampment and an Old World artisanal crafts marketplace will occur throughout the weekend. Plus, there’s a two-day LEGO-building competition.
COST: Free admission, but some activities run $10 - $100; MORE INFO

Saturday, Sept. 16; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Beyond the Streets: Art Exhibitions + Book Signing
Beyond the Streets Flagship
434 N. La Brea Ave., Hancock Park
The street art gallery hosts an opening reception for three solo shows: Huskmitnavn’s Under The Same Sky; Pose’s In/Sight and Tim Conlon’s Tracks Of Time. Also happening during the reception from 3 to 6 p.m. is a book signing of the hardcover art book Freight Train Graffiti by Roger Gastman, Darin Rowland and Ian Sattler. Gastman, founder of the gallery, produced the 2010 Academy Award-nominated film Exit Through the Gift Shop. The exhibitions will remain on view through Oct. 21.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Saturday, Sept. 16; 12 - 8 p.m. 

2023 Power Fest!
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Baldwin Hills / Crenshaw
Join in a day of positive vibes and empowerment sessions at Community Coalition's 2023 South LA Power Fest. Expect amazing music from a lineup that includes No Name, Buyepongo, Kg Superstar, Roxcizzle, DJ Adé, !Baile! and DJ Abstrkt. The day also features art, community-building, food and family friendly fun.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

A radiator cap of a 1931 Packard, 845 Deluxe Eight, Sport Sedan, is seen at the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar in 2010. The Nethercutt Museum showcases more than 130 of the world's greatest antique, vintage, classic and special interest automobiles.

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GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images

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AFP

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Saturday, Sept. 16; 12:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Driving Force Talk & Tour 
Nethercutt Museum and Collection
15151 Bledsoe St., Sylmar
The Art Deco Society of L.A. heads to the antique auto collection in the Valley for its first in-person lecture since before the pandemic. Attend an illustrated presentation, lecture and signing for the new Angel City Press book Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 by Darryl Holter with Stephen Gee and a foreword by Jay Leno. A private tour of the vintage collection is included in the event. Books will be for sale.
COST: $20 - $25; MORE INFO

Saturday, Sept. 16; 1 p.m. 

National Dance Day
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa 
Get ready to move your feet on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza in the day-long celebration of dance and community. The center is the official West Coast host and features live performances, inclusive and interactive dance and movement lessons, and the chance to learn this year’s official National Dance Day routine from a special guest artist. This year’s National Dance Day celebration will be Spanish-language friendly and include American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Saturday, Sept. 16; 3 p.m. 

The Grand Finale: Hip-Hop Architecture Symposium, Auction, and Reception
8707 Washington Blvd., Culver City
Helms Bakery District, SoCalNOMA, and A+D Museum present closing events for the exhibition, Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture. A Symposium/Cypher begins at 3 p.m. with Exhibit Designer/Curator Sekou Cooke and featured architects Andres Hernandez, James Garrett, Demar Matthews and others. A live and online charity auction of the artwork follows at 5 p.m. The night closes with a party beginning at 7 p.m. featuring DJ Mr. Sonny James and food and drinks by Leimert Park Wine.
COST: $10; MORE INFO

Saturday, Sept. 16; 7:30 p.m. 

La La Land in Concert: Film Screening with Live Orchestra
LA State Historic Park
1245 N. Spring St., downtown L.A.
The Street Food Cinema event presents composer Justin Hurwitz, who conducts his Oscar-winning score and Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Hurwitz’s Oscar-winning song “City of Stars,” performed live-to-film by a 52-piece symphony orchestra and jazz band. (The musicians accompany the film's original vocal recordings.) DJ Taja Barber kicks things off at 5:30 p.m. Food trucks expected include Aloha Fridays, BBQ Smokehouse, District Burger, Mikachi Hibachi, Pearson's Cajun Food, Pickles and Peas, Rice Balls of Fire, Surfer Taco, Tropic Truck and West Side Banh Mi.
COST: $45 - $195; MORE INFO

Sunday, Sept. 17; 7 p.m. 

The Talent Show with Sam Jones: featuring Michael Shannon and music by The Spoilers
Hotel Cafe
1623 N Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood
The live music/interview show features actors, artists and musicians in a live conversation about risk-taking, artistic process and creative choices (in a similar vein to Jones’ former TV show/podcast Off Camera with Sam Jones). But in this show, after the conversation, the guest — and this week it’s Michael Shannon — plays music with a band and often brings up famous friends to join them.
COST: $46.50; MORE INFO

Sunday, Sept. 17; 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

The Sunset & Vinyl Market
The Roxy Theatre
9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
The Roxy continues its 50th anniversary celebrations this month by teaming with the Rainbow Bar & Grill for a vinyl record fair in the parking lot between the two locations. Holey Grail donuts and coffee will be available to guests as they shop from Record Safari, Deadly Wax, Boogie Maru Sounds, AudioPhileUSA, Shattered Music, Galaxy Music, Str33trecords and others. Exclusive and limited-edition merch for The Roxy’s 50th will also be available for purchase.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles opens its Spider Pavilion this weekend.

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Courtesy of the National History Museum

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Sunday, Sept. 17 - Sunday, Nov. 26

Spider Pavilion 
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA)
900 Exposition Blvd., Exposition Park 
NHMLA opens its seasonal Spider Pavilion this weekend, where guests can wander through the open-air pavilion to view webs and the critters that spun them up close. If you're a museum member, you can attend a preview on Friday or Saturday. Tickets are for a 30-minute time slot and require general admission fees.
COST: $8, plus admission ($7 - $18); MORE INFO

CicLAmini - North Hollywood closes down a one-mile stretch of Lankershim Boulevard on Sept. 17.

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Courtesy of CicLAvia

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Sunday, Sept. 17; 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

CicLAmini - North Hollywood
Lankershim Boulevard, between Chandler Boulevard and Camarillo Street/Vineland Avenue
North Hollywood 
The CicLAvia team transforms one mile of Lankershim into a pedestrian-friendly, neighborhood-oriented experience. The street turns into a public park, open for strolling, jogging, skating, playing or hopping on a pedicab. Family- and pet-friendly activities and two hubs with special programming will be sprinkled along the route.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The CA Brewery Running Series combines 5K runs with post-run beers from local breweries.

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Bruno Nascimento

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Unsplash

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Outdoor Pick

5k Beer Run x HiDef Brewing
The CA Brewery Running Series combines 5K runs with post-run beers from local breweries. On Saturday, Sept. 16, sleep in a little and meet up at HiDef Brewing in downtown L.A. for a 5K that starts at 10:15 a.m. The open course (which means it’s not closed off to traffic) begins and ends at the brewery and weaves throughout the city with great views. Runners, joggers and walkers of all ages and all levels are welcome to participate. Participants must be 21+ to enjoy the post-race beer from HiDef. Those under age will receive a token for a nonalcoholic beverage. Registration fees begin at $40.

Viewing Pick

Sing-A-Long Sound of Music
Don the lederhosen or come dressed as your favorite nun as the Hollywood Hills come alive for The Sound of Music sing-a-long. The annual tradition features a preshow and costume contest at 6 p.m. followed by the screening of the 1965 beloved musical directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer at 7:30 p.m. Watch the von Trapps’ idyllic life in their beloved Austria get spoiled by WWII and the Nazis. The evening is hosted by actor Melissa Peterman. Tickets: $45 - $134.

Fanny's at the Academy Museum offers a prix fixe dinner inspired by "Serial Mom," John Waters' satirical black comedy.

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Courtesy of the Academy Museum

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Dine and Drink Deals

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

• Commonspace Brewery in Hawthorne is “hopping” this weekend. The brewery recently partnered with iconic L.A. diner Norms to create the Norms IPA, a beer with Citra & Mosaic hops showcasing aromas of mango, clementine and calamansi. RSVP to join a release party on Friday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. with appetizers, DJ Krizzia and giveaways. On Saturday, Commonspace holds an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, Sept. 16, with live music, fried chicken, fresh pretzels, stein FEST beer specials, games, prizes and glass blowing. And Sunday, they’re holding a Spicy Pop-Up from noon to 5 p.m.
• On Sunday, Sept. 17, starting at 4 p.m., Fanny’s at the Academy Museum offers a Serial Mom-inspired prix fixe dinner in honor of the museum’s latest exhibition, John Waters: Pope of Trash. The menu takes on the traditional family meals that Kathleen Turner's character cooks up in Waters’ satirical back comedy, including "The Perfect Meatloaf," (pictured) sesame broccoli, and a slice of classic cherry pie. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.
• Mockingbird Incubator, an L.A. nonprofit that supports and trains activists, grassroots organizers and early stage/emerging nonprofits, holds a drag brunch fundraiser at Checker Hall in Highland Park on Sunday, Sept. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Brunch features performances by local drag performers Joule Elento and Opal Lame, as well as a silent art auction sponsored by the Arroyo Arts Collective. General admission tickets are $50 and include one mimosa or non-alcoholic beverage. Additional drinks or brunch menu items will be available for purchase. VIP tickets are also available.
• Celebrate La Vie En Rosé on Sunday, Sept. 17, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Sea Level at the Shade Hotel Redondo Beach. Tickets ($75) include an immersive experience featuring a “pink carpet” welcome, cocktails, DJs, small bites courtesy of the oceanfront Sea Level restaurant, which can be perfectly paired with six pours of prestigious rosé brands. VIP tickets are available for $95 per person and include access to the VIP Rose Garden as well as a dessert bar and swag bags. The event is 21+ and tickets are available on Resy.
• Oktoberfest comes to the Grand Central Market (GCM) this weekend (Sept. 16 and 17) and again on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The festivities include games, food specials, authentic Oktoberfest brews (Paulaner and Hofbrau) as well as offerings from Golden Road Brewery. Admission is $15 or $25 for special entry, including one GCM souvenir boot with the first beer.

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Thousands of immigrants who are lawfully in California are set to lose their food assistance benefits, known as CalFresh, starting this month.

The new restrictions stem from H.R. 1 — also known as the “Big Beautiful Bill” — which Congress passed last year.

The changes remove eligibility for certain noncitizens, including people with refugee status and victims of trafficking. It also applies to immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan who have special immigrant visas for helping the U.S. government overseas.

 ”These are folks … many of whom have large families that we have a commitment to as a country because we welcomed them and invited them here to find a place of refuge,” said Cambria Tortorelli, president of the International Institute of Los Angeles, a refugee resettlement agency. “They’re authorized to work and they’ve been brought here by the U.S. government.”

The federal spending bill, H.R. 1, made sweeping cuts to social safety net programs, including food assistance and Medicaid. In signing the bill, President Donald Trump said the changes were delivering on his campaign promises of “America first.”

Officials estimate 23,000 people in Los Angeles County will be affected. The state estimates about 72,000 immigrants with lawful presence will be affected across California.

CalFresh is the state’s version of the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Undocumented immigrants have not been eligible to receive CalFresh benefits.

State officials say noncitizens who are currently receiving benefits will continue to get them until it’s time to renew their benefits — adding that people might be able to receive benefits again if their legal status changes to lawful permanent residents.

Who the changes apply to:

• Asylees
• Refugees
• Parolees (unless they are Cuban and Haitian entrants)
• Individuals with deportation or removal withheld
• Conditional entrants
• Victims of trafficking
• Battered noncitizens
• Iraqi or Afghan with special immigrant visas (SIV) who are not lawful permanent residents (LPR)
• Certain Afghan Nationals granted parole between July 31, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2023
• Certain Ukrainian Nationals granted parole between Feb. 24, 2022, and Sep. 30, 2024

Nearly every student in the California State University system has used artificial intelligence tools, but most don’t trust the results, are worried about how AI will affect their future job security and want more say in systemwide AI policy.

That’s according to results of a 2025 survey of more than 80,000 students enrolled at CSU’s 22 campuses, plus faculty and staff — the largest and most comprehensive study of how higher education students and instructors perceive artificial intelligence.

Nationwide, university faculty struggle to reconcile the learning benefits of AI — hailed as a “transformative tool” for providing tutoring and personalized support to students — and the risks that students will depend on AI agents to do their thinking for them and, very possibly, get the wrong information. Educators want a say in how and which AI tools are used. Students across the CSU system want to be included in those discussions.

Some professors teach students how to use AI and encourage students to use it, while others forbid its use in the classroom, said Katie Karroum, vice president of systemwide affairs for the Cal State Student Association, representing more than 470,000 students.

“Both of these things are allowed to coexist right now without a policy,” she said.

Karroum said that faculty practices are too varied and that what students need are consistent and transparent rules developed in collaboration with students. “There are going to be students who are graduating with AI literacy and some that graduate without AI literacy.”

In February 2025, the CSU system announced an initiative to adopt AI technologies and an agreement with OpenAI to make ChatGPT available throughout the system. The system-wide survey released Wednesday confirms that ChatGPT is the most used AI tool across CSUs. The system will also work with Adobe, Google, IBM, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft and NVIDIA.

Campus leaders say the survey and accompanying dashboard provide much needed data on how the system continues to integrate AI into instruction and assessment.

“We need to have data to make data-informed decisions instead of just going by anecdote,” said Elisa Sobo, a professor of anthropology at San Diego State who was involved in interpreting the survey’s findings. “We have data that show high use, but we also have high levels of concern, very valid concern, to help people be responsible when they use it.”

Faculty at San Diego State designed the survey, which received more than 94,000 responses from students, faculty and staff. Among all responding CSU students, 95% reported using an AI tool; 84% said they used ChatGPT and 82% worry that AI will negatively impact their future job security. Others worry that they won’t be competitive if they don’t understand AI well enough.

“Even though I don’t want to use it, I HAVE TO!” wrote a computer science major. “Because if I don’t, then I’ll be left behind, and that is the last thing someone would want in this stupid job market.”

Faculty are divided about the impact of AI on teaching and research. Just over 55% reported a positive benefit, while 52% said AI has had a negative impact so far.

San Diego State conducted its first campuswide survey in 2023 in response to complaints from students about inconsistent rules about AI use in courses, said James Frazee, vice president for information technology at the campus.

“Students are facing this patchwork of expectations even within the same course taught by different instructors,” Frazee said. In one introductory course, the professor might encourage students to use AI, but another professor teaching the same course might forbid it, he said. “It was a hot mess.”

In that 2023 survey, one student made this request: “Please just tell us what to do and be clear about it.”

Following that survey, the San Diego State Academic Senate approved guidelines for the use of generative AI in instruction and assessments. In 2025, the Senate made it mandatory that faculty include language about AI use in course syllabi.

“It doesn’t say what your disposition has to be, whether it’s pro or con,” Frazee said. “It just says you have to be clear about your expectations. Without the 2023 survey data, that never would have happened.”

According to the 2025 systemwide survey, only 68% of teaching faculty include language about AI use in their syllabi.

Sobo and other faculty who helped develop the 2025 survey hope other CSU campuses will find the data helpful in informing policies about AI use. The dashboard allows users to search for specific campus and discipline data and view student responses by demographic group.

The 2025 survey shows that first-generation students are more interested in formal AI training and that Black, Hispanic and Latino students are more interested than white students. At San Diego State, students are required to earn a micro-credential in AI use during their first year — another change that was made after the 2023 survey.

Students in this year’s survey said they want training that will be relevant to their careers. “I want to learn AI tools that are actually used in my industry, not just generic chatbots,” a mechanical engineering student responded. “Show me what engineers are actually doing with AI on the job.”

The California Faculty Association, which represents about 29,000 educators in the CSU system, said in a February statement that faculty should be included in future systemwide decisions about AI, including whether the contract with OpenAI should be renewed in July.

“CFA members continue to advocate for ethical and enforceable safeguards governing the use of artificial intelligence,” the CFA said in the statement, asking for “protections for using or refusing to use the technology, professional development resources to adapt pedagogy to incorporate the technology, and further protections for faculty intellectual property.”