The UCLA women's basketball team in the Final Four, a Homeboy Industries musical, a White Lotus finale party, Shakespeare at a bar and more.
Our picks:
Watch Me! in Long Beach is the place to watch women’s sports in the area, so it’s no surprise they will be hosting a big party for the UCLA game against the UConn Huskies in the NCAA Women's Final Four. Go Bruins!
Not sure you can get more L.A. than this. Homeboy Industries, the iconic L.A. nonprofit founded by Father Greg Boyle, is now the subject of a new musical. Workshop performances of Homeboys are on this weekend through Sunday. The show celebrates the organization that began serving former gang members and at-risk youth in 1988.
Head to the West Hollywood Edition for a free drink and a screening of the season finale of The White Lotus. Wear your best tropical caftan and gasp as we all find out (finally, it’s been dragging, hasn’t it?) who fired the shots in the episode 1 opener.
I went to an inspiring lecture with Jane Goodall — who turns 91 this week — at Pasadena High School last Sunday. She shared stories from her life and the lives of the animals she’s spent her career studying. It was the perfect kickoff to Earth Month (and L.A.’s own upcoming Climate Week) and a reminder that, like nature, we are resilient.
One way to flex your green this month is by participating in CicLAvia — this weekend, it’s “Koreatown meets Hollywood” for the open streets event.
Friday, April 4, 6 p.m. NCAA Women’s Final Four: UCLA vs. UConn ESPN, Watch Me! Sports Bar and multiple other bars around the area COST: VARIES; MORE INFO
UCLA forward Timea Gardiner, #30, celebrates her basket with teammates UCLA forward Kendall Dudley, #22, and UCLA forward Angela Dugali, #32.
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Allen J. Schaben
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L.A. Times via Getty Images
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Watch Me! in Long Beach is the place for watching women’s sports in the area (we wrote this piece featuring them last year), so it’s no surprise they will be hosting a big party for the UCLA game against the UConn Huskies in the NCAA Women's Final Four. Of course, bars closer to campus will be rocking, and it’s on ESPN as well. Go Bruins!
Through Saturday, May 3 'Superradiance' CTRL Gallery 945 Chung King Road Chinatown COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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superradiance.net
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It’s hard to explain, but this very cool installation that first premiered at Tribeca Film Festival is a must-see while it’s here. “Superradiance” is a multiscreen video and sound installation that blends dance, poetry, music, generative visuals and artificial intelligence. Created by L.A.-based artists @memo_akten and @katiepeytonhofstadter, the piece explores the relationship between ourselves and AI using the concept of “embodied simulation — our brain's tendency to unconsciously mirror the movements and experiences of others.”
Saturday, April 5, 9:30 p.m. La Roux El Cid 4212 Sunset Blvd. Silver Lake COST: $34.25; MORE INFO
Grammy-winning British synthpop favorite La Roux (Elly Jackson) plays El Cid for the last night of a month-long L.A. residency that’s taken her to several L.A. venues since March. These shows are the first for La Roux in L.A. in a decade; the El Cid show is sold out, but there is a waiting list.
Through Sunday, April 6 Homeboys: A Musical Casa 0101 2102 1st St. Downtown L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
I’m not sure you can get more L.A. than this. Homeboy Industries, the iconic L.A. nonprofit founded by Father Greg Boyle, is now the subject of a new musical. Workshop performances of Homeboys are on this weekend through Sunday, celebrating the organization that began serving former gang members and at-risk youth in 1988. The show “follows six homeboys and homegirls as they try to leave la vida, recounting the founding of Homeboy Industries by Father Greg Boyle and featuring pan-Latin musical styles from 1990s rap to reggaeton and cumbia.”
Following Sunday’s performance, a conversation featuring the creators of Homeboys and members of Homeboy Industries will be moderated by USC professor Robert Hernandez.
Friday, April 4, 8 p.m. Bardfly Theatre Co.presents Twelfth Night Boomtown Brewery 700 Jackson St. Arts District COST: $15; MORE INFO
A little Shakespeare with your pint? Don’t mind if I do. Bardfly Theatre Company only does site-specific shows, so this time they’ve adapted Shakepeare’s tale of love and mistaken identity to the brewery’s picnic tables. Tickets for the 90-minute retelling of Twelfth Night are general admission; seating is available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Saturday, April 5, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. DTLB Art + Design Walk: Celebrate Downtown Edition Multiple locations Long Beach COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Mike Zampelli
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Courtesy Downtown Long Beach Alliance
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Celebrate downtown Long Beach’s art scene during this free, walkable afternoon with open galleries, live bands and public art. There’s also a free shuttle and the presentation of the annual Spirit of Downtown Awards.
April 4-6 U.S. Hip Hop Dance Championship Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel 2500 N. Hollywood Way Burbank COST: FROM $45; MORE INFO
Dance crews from around the country face off at the Hip Hop Dance Championship. Who will rep the USA this summer at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in Phoenix? The creators of America’s Best Dance Crew host the championships, plus there are dance workshops and competitions for all ages going on throughout the weekend. Check it out with the whole family!
Outdoor Pick
Sunday, April 6, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Composting Workshop Dirt Girls Ojai Address made available with RSVP COST: $75, FREE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS/DISPLACED FOLKS; MORE INFO
A compost pile.
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Jessica Langlois for LAist
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Kick off Earth Month with a drive up to Ojai for this unique composting workshop with the environmental collective Dirt Girls. You’ll learn to build usable, nutrient-dense compost using the “hot compost” method with Connor Jones, the founder of the Ojai permaculture site East End Eden. Plus, stick around after for a backyard grill at 5 p.m.
Viewing Pick
Saturday, April 5, 11 a.m. The Garage and The Battle of the Century Sierra Madre Playhouse 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre COST: $12; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Sierra Madre Playhouse
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Sierra Madre Playhouse has teamed up with Retroformat Silent Films for a real treat. A double feature of silent film comedies – The Garage (1920) starring Buster Keaton and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and The Battle of the Century (1927) starring Laurel and Hardy. It’s a rare opportunity to see films like this on the big screen.
Dine & Drink Deals
Friday, April 4, 8 a.m. Levain opening in Venice Levain 1661 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Venice
Everyone in Venice has been walking by the Levain storefront for weeks now waiting for those cookies to be ready. I was walking down Abbot Kinney Boulevard yesterday and heard a woman stop a worker wearing a Levain apron to ask when it would be open. Friends, it’s here and if you’re one of the first 100 in line, score a free Levain swag bag. Those cookies the size of your head are baked daily in Venice from this Friday onward. Yum.
Saturday, April 5, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Yama Sushi x domi Yama Sushi Marketplace 911 W. Las Tunas Dr. San Gabriel COST: VARIES; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Domi
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Beautiful little matcha cakes from dōmi are popping up at Yama’s San Gabriel location in all kinds of delightful flavors this weekend. Flavors include: Matcha Red Bean Cake, Blueberry Matcha Cake, a Mini Matcha Strawberry Tart, Yuzu Matcha-Misu, and Chocolate Salted Caramel Black Sesame Cake
Sunday, April 6, 5 p.m. The White Lotus Grand finale screening party EDITION 9040 W. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Morgana O'Reilly, Arnas Fedaravičius, Christian Friedel, Dom Hetrakul and Lalisa Manobal play resort workers in Season 3 of 'The White Lotus.'
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Fabio Lovino
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HBO
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Don’t mix lorazepam with your martini, but do head to the West Hollywood Edition for a free drink and a screening of the season finale of White Lotus. Wear your best tropical caftan and gasp as we all find out (finally, it’s been dragging, hasn’t it?) who fired the shots in the episode 1 opener and what will become of the guests at Thailand’s most luxe resort.
What’s next: The temporary order expires in 14 days. The court battle will continue to play out, with further decisions by the judge expected in the coming weeks, after more arguments from both sides.
The context: In halting childcare and welfare benefits to hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians, the Trump administration wrote that “recent federal prosecutions” are driving concerns about “systemic fraud.” But an LAist review found fraud in the targeted programs appears to be a tiny fraction of the total spending. Prosecutions that have been brought around child care benefits amount to a small fraction of 1% of the federal childcare funding California has received, according to a search of all case announcements in the state. When pressed for details about what specific prosecutions justify the freeze in California, administration officials have offered few specifics.
Federal judge orders LA to pay $1.8M in settlement
Makenna Sievertson
has been covering the case and attending federal hearings in downtown L.A. since at least March 2024.
Published January 9, 2026 5:02 PM
A view of L.A. City Hall in downtown.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.
The details: In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, the judge awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.
Why now: The city is appealing the decision.
Why it matters: In his order, released Tuesday, the judge compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A.in the settlement.
Read on ... for more about this week's order.
A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.
The city is appealing the decision.
The details
L.A. Alliance is a group of business owners and residents who sued the city and county of Los Angeles in 2020 in an effort to push both governments to provide more shelter to unhoused people in the region.
The city of L.A. settled with the plaintiffs in 2022, and U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing the city’s progress in keeping up with the terms of that agreement. The judge found the city breached its agreement in multiple ways in a ruling last summer.
Specifically, the judge found that the city did not provide a plan for how it intends to create 12,915 shelter beds, as promised, by 2027. The court also found the city “flouted” its responsibilities by failing to provide accurate, comprehensive data when requested and did not provide evidence to support the numbers it was reporting, according to court documents.
In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, Carter awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.
The organizations are considered “intervenors” in the suit, representing people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row. Their attorneys include those from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
Why it matters
In his order, released Tuesday, Carter compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A. in the settlement.
“It has fallen to plaintiff, intervenors, and journalists to point out the deficiencies in the city’s reporting,” Carter wrote, referring to data the city is required to report to the court as part of the settlement.
“Plaintiff and intervenors must be compensated for this,” he said.
The city’s response
Attorneys representing the city filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday.
L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment by phone or email.
Shayla Myers, senior attorney with the Unhoused People's Justice Project at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, told LAist the intervenors participated in the case without compensation “because it's incredibly important given what is at stake in these proceedings that unhoused folks have a voice.”
Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for L.A. Alliance, told LAist he’s thrilled the court is imposing accountability on the city, including sanctions for violating the settlement agreement. But Umhofer said he’s saddened that L.A. Alliance is going to have to keep fighting to hold the city to its promises.
“The obvious city strategy here is hire a big, good law firm to fight on absolutely every front in hopes that the plaintiffs, the intervenors or the court will ultimately give up trying to hold the city accountable,” he said.
What's next
The parties are scheduled to appear in federal court in downtown L.A. on Monday, when a hearing will resume to determine whether the judge will hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt of court.
Carter has said in documents that he’s concerned “the city has demonstrated a continuous pattern of delay” in meeting its obligations with court orders under the settlement and that the “delay continues to this day.”
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Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published January 9, 2026 3:52 PM
Asha Stark's Hot Grease specializes in Black fish fry with a side of social justice.
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Gab Chabrán
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LAist
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Topline:
Smorgasburg L.A. reopens this Sunday with 13 new food vendors joining the downtown market's annual grand reopening at the Row.
Why now: The January grand reopening with new vendors is a longstanding tradition that kicks off the year ahead. Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots. This year marks the market's 10th anniversary celebration in June.
Why it matters: The new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, following a challenging year for the restaurant industry, with concepts ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish honoring Black migration history.
Every January, the open-air downtown food fair reopens after its winter break and announces new additions to its carefully selected group of regular vendors.
This year’s new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish celebrating Black American culinary traditions, to an LAist 2025 Tournament of Cheeseburger heavyweight contender.
The reopening also marks the start of Smorgasburg LA's 10th anniversary year, and will feature 41 returning vendors, who've helped build the regular event into a fun, family-friendly opportunity to try new, often cutting-edge food you may not be familiar with.
Doors open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DTLA’s The Row, with free entry and free parking for the first two hours.
A new year
General manager Zach Brooks said this is his favorite time of year. "We add the new vendors at the beginning of the new year, everyone's excited."
Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Brooks said it's not a vetting process like "Shark Tank" but rather a matter of seeing if it's a good fit. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots.
"I think it's just a testament to L.A. and the resilience of people who love this business and have a passion for it, and are going to continue to persevere and start their businesses and want to be out there selling food," Brooks said.
Here are a few highlights:
Viral orange chicken sandwich
Long Beach-based Terrible Burger becomes Smorgasburg's new permanent burger vendor after standout appearances at LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers and the market's rotating Smorgasburger Stand. The smashburger pop-up, run by husband-and-wife team Nicole and Ryan Ramirez, specializes in burgers that draw from pop culture and global influences. They've made waves with a Korean barbecue burger topped with bulgogi barbecue sauce and a viral orange chicken sandwich, previously available only at their Tuesday night residency at Long Beach's Midnight Oil, making its L.A. debut Sunday.
Terrible Burger's viral orange chicken sandwich makes its LA debut at Smorgasburg after being available only in Long Beach.
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Courtesy Terrible Burger
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"We have been big Smorgasburg fans for a really long time before we even started Terrible Burger. We would go to Smorgasburg on dates, just eat and hang out. And it was just always a little dream of, "oh, what if we ever sold food here?" Nicole Ramirez said.
Crispy fried snapper and thick-cut fries
Orange County-based Hot Grease, run by Asha Starks, is among four vendors graduating from residencies to permanent status. The Southern fried fish pop-up celebrates Black American history through food that honors Starks' family heritage.
"Folks often forget that there are Black folks in Orange County. My family came to Orange County during the second wave of the Great Migration, and they settled in Santa Ana... my food is very cultural. And the story, I feel like, is just as important to highlight," Starks said.
Hot Grease's crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and "Ill Dill" tartar sauce.
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Courtesy Hot Grease
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Hot Grease serves crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and small-batch sauces like "Ill Dill" tartar. Honoring the fish fry's history as a site of mutual aid, Starks directs 3% of sales to the Potlikker Line, Hot Grease's reproductive justice mutual aid fund. For January, she's added fish and grits, black-eyed peas and collard greens.
Pizza with a Persian twist
Mamani Pizza brings studio-born energy to Smorgasburg LA with pies featuring Persian-inspired creativity.
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Courtesy Mamani Pizza
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Mamani Pizza, from the Grammy-nominated producer Farsi, part of the music production team Wallis Lane, started making Neapolitan-style pizzas at his West L.A. recording studio a year ago. What began as late-night pies for friends and artists became an underground hit. Most pizzas are traditional, but Farsi adds Persian touches like The Mamani, topped with ground wagyu koobideh, roasted Anaheim chilis, Persian herbs and pomegranate molasses.
Cato Hernández
covers important issues that affect the everyday lives of Southern Californians.
Published January 9, 2026 3:48 PM
Potholes pop up after rain because water seeps into the road's crevices and weakens the foundation. Cars driving over it exacerbates the damage, leading to more cracks.
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Cato Hernández
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LAist
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Topline:
All that rain didn’t just flood L.A. County streets, it chewed up our roads. You’re likely driving over more potholes than usual, so what do you do if your car gets damaged from one? You could get the government to pay for it.
How it works: You’ll want to take pictures of the pothole and your car. Then, submit a claim form. Personal property damage claims have a six-month filing period, and you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket first.
Unincorporated L.A. County: If the damage happened in an unincorporated area, you’ll have to print and mail this claim form.
Highway/freeways in L.A. or Ventura counties: For Caltrans damage claims, follow the filing directions here.
Manage your expectations: Keep in mind, this isn’t a quick way to cash. Claims can take months. You’ll also have to prove the agency was aware of the problem before your incident, such as by looking at street maintenance records for your area. Here are tips from the now-defunct site LAPotholes.com.
What’s next: Potholes continue to plague the city of L.A., and that’s probably not ending soon. In the next budget, StreetsLA (aka Bureau of Street Services) is proposing to prioritize funding for “large asphalt repair,” which means patching over sections rather than fully repaving streets, which some argue will lead to worse roads.
