The Brief

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.

For more to explore, visit LAist.com, where you can listen to or watch Larry Mantle’s special 40th-anniversary show (congrats, Larry!), see the first layer of soil go in at the 101 wildlife crossing and learn about the Hollywood duo behind Argentinian empanada spot Fuegos.

Events

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.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is blaming Boeing and his own agency for botching a test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, designed to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

A 311-page report details the issues that led to the failure of Starliner's first crewed test flight, which in June 2024 launched NASA astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The duo's launch was initially a success — but as their Starliner spacecraft approached the station, multiple thrusters failed, hampering the crew's ability to steer toward the station and dock.

After months of deliberation, NASA and Boeing made the decision to send Starliner back to Earth without Wilmore and Williams on board. Instead, the astronauts remained on the space station and returned home nine months later — in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

In a news conference Thursday, Isaacman said the report classified the failure as a Type A Mishap — the highest classification for a mission failure. The Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents, along with the Apollo 1 fire, were also classified as a Type A Mishap. While those accidents resulted in the deaths of crewmembers, the Starliner mission was "ultimately successful in preserving crew safety," according to the report.

The report identifies the thrusters as a key technical issue leading to the failure, although an investigation is still ongoing and a root cause has not yet been found.

"Starliner has design and engineering deficiencies that must be corrected," said Isaacman. "But the most troubling failure revealed by this investigation is not hardware. It's decision making and leadership that, if left unchecked, could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight."

He said those organizational and leadership problems were seen at both Boeing and NASA, Isaacman's own agency.

The report identified an erosion of trust between the two organizations and leadership that was "overly risk-tolerant."

Isaacman said that the more than 30 launch attempts for this mission led to "cumulative schedule pressure and decision fatigue." When discussing whether to return Wilmore and Williams in Starliner, Isaacman said the "disagreements over crew return options deteriorated into unprofessional conduct while the crew remained on orbit."

Isaacman said there would be "leadership accountability," but didn't offer any details.

"These are very complex programs, and complex programs like this fail in complex ways," said Don Platt, department head of aerospace engineering, physics and space science at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. "Those organizational issues are oftentimes, maybe even more important than the technical problems that they're facing."

Such a public scolding of NASA and one of its contractors by its own leader is uncommon, says Platt, who worked on the construction of the space station.

"I think it's really setting the stage for sort of the new way that NASA plans to do business here in his administration," says Platt.

He says that could mean greater transparency and oversight over NASA's contractors

Despite NASA's plans to decommission the space station by the end of the decade, Isaacman says he is still committed to flying Starliner. That would leave NASA with two options, Boeing and SpaceX, to fly astronauts to the station — something SpaceX already does with regularity.

The report offered 61 formal recommendations ahead of the next crewed Starliner mission.

"We're grateful to NASA for its thorough investigation and the opportunity to contribute to it," Boeing said in an emailed statement. "We're working closely with NASA to ensure readiness for future Starliner missions and remain committed to NASA's vision for two commercial crew providers."

Copyright 2026 NPR

The Long Beach Unified Board of Trustees on Wednesday authorized the school district to end the employment of close to 600 employees, a move the LBUSD says is necessary to stabilize its ballooning deficit.

Board members approved two separate resolutions, the first of which does not renew the contracts of 515 certificated employees, who are on temporary contracts that must be re-upped annually. Though it is common for the district to choose not to renew some temporary contracts, the non-renewal of hundreds of TK-12 teachers, early childhood education teachers and social workers represents a massive change for the next school year from the current workforce of 10,000 total employees. While schools across the district will feel the cuts, Poly and Jordan high schools may be especially hard hit; 14 and 12 teachers at each site are listed on the district’s document of non-renewals.

The second resolution authorized the district to formally lay off 54 classified district positions: non-teaching staff members ranging from office support staff to instructional and recreation aides to library media assistants to parent liaisons.

The board votes come after months of warnings from the district that costs and spending have outpaced the district’s funding, saddling LBUSD with a $70 million deficit. The district is now attempting to shrink that deficit through a fiscal stabilization plan that “has prioritized preserving core instructional, wellness, and student support services,” the district wrote in an agenda item related to the cuts.

Prior to the vote, Superintendent Jill Baker framed the proposed cuts with the historical context of significant enrollment declines, the expiration of funds following the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic that had allowed the district to develop a healthy reserve, uncertain federal and state dollars and low attendance numbers, for which the district is penalized — “a really grave situation, fiscally,” she said, one that many districts across California are grappling with.

Baker walked board members through the significant efforts the district has made to manage costs, saving more than $47 million, including through significant central office reductions. Despite these efforts, it’s still not enough, Baker said.

“The release of temporary certificated contracts is one way of reducing the number of employees without impacting permanent certificated employees,” the district wrote in the agenda item.

For those 515 certificated employees who will be notified that their contracts will end, it’s a way that “the district can get away with letting teachers go without calling it a layoff,” said Peder Larsen, vice president of the Teachers Association of Long Beach, which represents certificated employees in LBUSD.

Some of them could be rehired, especially if their positions are in high demand, like science, math and special education teachers, Larsen said. Yet, it throws hundreds into a tailspin of uncertainty and fear, unsure if their jobs have definitively ended and how long they will have health coverage, he added.

While he said the district has not officially announced that no permanent certificated employees will be cut (they have until March 15 to do so), he said he is “reading the tea leaves” and predicting those permanent positions will be safe this year.

In his comment to the board during public testimony, Larsen advocated for examining the money spent annually on consultants and contracts and urged the board and district to re-examine their priorities and “choose to protect the people who serve students every single day.”

On both votes, School Board Member Maria Isabel López was the lone vote against the resolutions, voicing her opinion that some of these positions could have been saved if fiscal priorities had been different and major contracts had not been approved.

Other board members acknowledged that the votes will change lives. “There’s not one of us in this room that takes this lightly,” said Board President Diana Craighead before voting in favor of the cuts. Board Member Doug Otto said he was voting to adopt the resolutions “sadly, reluctantly and necessarily.”