The Brief

A new contemporary art show tucked away in a sprawling warehouse gallery space in Boyle Heights is sure to draw in a diverse mix of art enthusiasts — and possibly ufologists, cryptozoologists and X-Philes. Opening this week at the Legacy West Media gallery is The Chris Carter Collection, an exhibition of mixed media art from producer, director and writer Chris Carter, best known as the creator of the seminal sci-fi TV series The X-Files.

During a private preview on Saturday, Carter viewed the mounted show for the first time, chatting with guests and reporters throughout the afternoon. The artworks range from large panels and abstracts to mixed media on custom surfboards, all of which reflect different periods of his life and career.

“My artistic background goes back 50 years,” he said, calling attention to a number of ceramic plates painted with spicy words and phrases around the gallery. (He nicknamed the series Hate Plates.) “I put myself through college as a production potter. I have literally made tens of thousands of pieces of pottery.

“I sat at a potter's wheel with eight other potters making about 10 different things over and over and over again. And it was fantastic. People say, ‘Why would you do that?’ It was my first experience having to some great degree mastered something.”

'X-Files' success

Writing for film and TV in the 1980s and eventually creating 22 to 25 episodes a year for The X-Files on FOX, which first aired from 1993-2002, left little time for Carter to work on his art. He instead poured his energy into building memorable characters and alternative worlds and theories — borrowing inspiration from the short-lived 1974 series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Rod Serling’s classic series The Twilight Zone.

More than three decades after the debut of The X-Files, fans still have questions about Fox Mulder’s father, Dana Scully’s seeming immortality, the Smoking Man, the Lone Gunmen and whether the controversial episode “Home” (which includes a storyline about incest and infanticide) should be banned in perpetuity.

Capitalizing on the success of his stylistic niche with The X-Files, Carter also created three more shows for FOX: the dark, supernatural profiler series Millennium (1998), which lasted three seasons; Harsh Realm (1999), the short-lived cat-and-mouse series set in a VR game; and the single-season comedy-adventure escapades of The Lone Gunmen (2001), featuring Mulder’s smart and nerdy pals from The X-Files.

Chris Carter gives an artist talk at Legacy West Media for the opening of The Chris Carter Collection.

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O'cēan S. Brown

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His television work both directly and indirectly inspires Carter’s art on view at the gallery. There are dark underpinnings and black humor found throughout the show, which includes the titles of the two 13-foot works — Xanax and Manic — set back-to-back as you walk into the space.

“I really did the majority of this work…really all of this work after The X-Files," he said. "A great deal of it came between the end of season 9 [which ended in 2002] and the beginning of season 10, which was the [2016] reboot.”

For The X-Files curious, off the main room, there’s a section dedicated to original memorabilia from the show. It includes Carter’s director’s chair, a clapboard from the series, magazines and the casting interview schedule.

Carter recalled the best piece of advice he’d gotten before launching The X-Files. He showed the pilot to Rick Carter (no relation), the famed production designer and a frequent collaborator of both Robert Zemekis and Steven Spielberg. Rick Carter had just finished Spielberg’s TV series Amazing Stories (1985-87).

“He said to me, ‘You're not going to have any time or any money,’ which I learned,” Chris Carter said. “And also, if you want to scare people, make sure that the scares are in the shadows in the dark; that the scare is what you imagined, not what you see. And that was one of the most, if not the most, valuable bit of advice that I got because it actually made the show literally what is was.”

There’s also notes for the roles of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. (And yes, you get to see who else was considered for the roles, including Tom Verica [Picket Fences], Malcolm Gets [Caroline in the City] and Claudia Christian [Babylon 5].) A nearby mixed media work called Typewriter features images of Mulder and Scully composited with other visual references from the show.

Look closely at the interview notes to see who else was considered to portray your favorite FBI agents.

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Christine N. Ziemba

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LAist

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Surfing roots

A Bellflower native, Carter enrolled in Cal State Long Beach first as an art major. “When I got to my first year in college, I had an English professor who had us write a Blue Book essay on Herman Melville’s Billy Budd,” Carter said during an interview at the preview. He still remembers the professor unexpectedly reading his essay in class and saying, “I wish all my students could write like this.”

A light bulb went off for the young artist — who then promptly switched majors.

“I came from a working class family," he said. "And so it was very important to my parents that I was gainfully employed. So I got my degree in journalism my senior year in college.”

An avid surfer since the age of 12, he combined writing with his love for the sport, parlaying an internship at Surfing Magazine into a senior editor role during his dozen years with the magazine.

It’s not surprising then that The Chris Carter Collection includes three mixed media works created on custom surfboards, two by designer James Perse and one by renowned surfer Gerry Lopez (aka “Mr. Pipeline”). Ever the writer, the surfboards, along with the majority of works in the show, incorporate writing or text with graphics.

For his piece Orange, black text is printed on orange foam core with with phrases such as “MIGHT YOUR HAIR FALL OUT” and “MIGHT YOUR DARK SOUL BURN IN HELL.” While Carter doesn’t divulge much about the inspiration or meanings behind any individual works, he does disclose later during an artist talk that Orange is a Valentine to a particular person.

"Orange" is a valentine from Carter to an unnamed person.

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Christine N. Ziemba

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LAist

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“I can tell you [my] two main influences. And when you look at some of the pieces, you'll see the connection. Ed Rucha and Jenny Holzer,” Carter said. “And I have to say to some extent, Barbara Kruger.”

The art show marks the first time that Carter has exhibited his work publicly. Longtime family friend Jim Carter (son of the aforementioned Rick Carter), founder and CEO of Legacy West Media, convinced the artist to show (and sell) his work in the space. The Chris Carter Collection marks the fourth show in the newish gallery, which opened last fall. “I never did [the art] to sell them,” Chris Carter said during the artist talk. “I only did them because they came from my head and my heart. And that I'm sitting here today talking to you, amongst these pieces, is completely unexpected.”

Located in the same room with The X-Files ephemera are three black-and-white abstract images named UFO #1, #2 and #3. Viewed side-by-side, the UFO series unveils a figure emerging from, or possibly fading into, the blackness. Is it an alien? Is it related to the black oil alien virus story arc of the show? Art aficionados will say that interpretation is left to the viewer. But as any diehard X-Files fan will tell you: The truth is out there.

This on-and-off rain is looking like good news ... for wildflower lovers.

We talked to Katie Tilford, our go-to wildflowers expert at the Theodore Payne Foundation here in L.A., which is dedicated to native plants and wildflowers in Southern California.

And she is holding out hope the rains this week and next will be just what we need to see California poppies and more bloom big in the upcoming weeks.

"A little more rain would be nice," she said, "Then I think we’ll have a really good bloom this year. Either way, I think there’s going to be some flowers for sure … but a little more rain would really just kick things up a notch.”

And as for the question we always ask this time of year … will it be a superbloom kind of year?

Only Mother Nature knows for sure. We plant nerds also know that that the term superbloom gets thrown around with regularity during wildflower season, even though it refers to very specific conditions created by a potent cocktail of early rains, cool temps, hot temps, and late rains. So, we repeat: Stay tuned.

But Tilford says she’s already seeing signs there will be plenty of wildflowers to enjoy in the coming weeks, so you might want to make a plan to get out there.

One surefire spot: the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, when the poppies hit full bloom. There is a live cam to help you time your trip for the best blooms.

Another great resource is also the wildflower hotline hosted by Theodore Payne. Starting in March, it will be updated each Friday with the latest wildflower news and tips on where to see it all. Call: 818 768-1802, Ext. 7. 

An annual meeting of the nation's governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.

The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.

"If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year," the Democrats wrote. "Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter on Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association's annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to Republican governors only.

"Because NGA's mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program," Stitt wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The governors' group, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 19-21, is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump has "discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House."

"It's the people's house," she said. "It's also the president's home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House."

Representatives for Sitt and the NGA didn't comment on the letter. Brandon Tatum, the NGA's CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an "important tradition" and said the organization was "disappointed in the administration's decision to make it a partisan occasion this year."

In his letter to other governors, Stitt encouraged the group to unite around common goals.

"We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us," he wrote. "The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America's governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics."

Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year, when Trump and Maine's Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs.

Trump singled out the Democratic governor over his push to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, threatening to withhold federal funding from the state if she did not comply. Mills responded, "We'll see you in court."

Trump then predicted that Mills' political career would be over for opposing the order. She is now running for U.S. Senate.

The back-and-forth had a lasting impact on last year's conference and some Democratic governors did not renew their dues last year to the bipartisan group.
Copyright 2026 NPR

A booming industry that charges veterans for help in obtaining the benefits they earned through military service must shut down or dramatically change its business model in California by the end of the year under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday.

The law prohibits unaccredited private companies from billing former military service members for help with their Department of Veterans Affairs claims.

Technically, it was already illegal under federal law to charge veterans for that work, but Congress 20 years ago removed criminal penalties for violations, and scores of private companies emerged, offering to speed up and maximize benefit claims.

“We owe our veteran community a debt of gratitude — for their years of service and sacrifice," Newsom said in a written statement. "By signing this bill into law, we are ensuring veterans and service members get to keep more money in their pockets, and not line the coffers of predatory actors. We are closing this federal fraud loophole for good.”

Critics call the private companies “claim sharks” because their fees are often five times the monthly benefit increase veterans obtain after using their services. CalMatters in September, for instance, interviewed a Vietnam-era veteran who was billed $5,500 after receiving benefits that would pay him $1,100 a month.

Depending on a disability rating, a claim consulting fee under that model could easily hit $10,000 or more.

“We owe it to our veterans to stand with them and to protect them from being taken advantage of while navigating the benefits they've earned,” said Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat representing Norwalk. Archuleta, a former Army officer, carried the legislation. “This is not about politics; it's about doing what's right. Making millions of dollars on the back of our veterans is wrong. They've earned their benefits. They deserve their benefits.”

California’s new law is part of a tug-of-war over how to regulate claims consulting companies. Congress for several years has been at a stalemate on whether to ban them outright, allow them to operate as they are or regulate them in some other way.

California is among 11 states that have moved to put the companies out of business, while another group of mostly Republican-led states has legalized them, according to reporting by the veteran news organization The War Horse.

That split in some ways reflects the different ways veterans themselves view the companies. The bill had overwhelming support from organizations that help veterans file benefits claims at no cost, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as from Democratic Party leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

But the VA’s claims process can take months and sow uncertainty among applicants. Several of the claims consulting companies say they have helped tens of thousands of veterans across the country, and that they have hundreds of employees.

Those trends led some lawmakers to vote against the measure, including Democrats with military backgrounds.

“We're going to say to you, ‘Veteran, you know what, I don't know if you are too stupid or too vulnerable or your judgment is so poor you can't choose yourself,'” said Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat and former Army colonel, during a debate over the measure last month.

The new law was such a close call for lawmakers that nine of 40 senators did not vote on it when it passed that chamber last month, which counts the same as a “no” vote but avoids offending a constituency that the lawmaker wants to keep.

It was also one of the 10 most-debated measures to go before the Legislature last year, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. Lawmakers spent 4 hours and 39 minutes on the bill at public hearings in 2025 and heard testimony from 99 speakers.

Two claims consulting companies spent significant sums hiring lobbyists as they fought the bill, according to state records. They were Veterans Guardian, a North Carolina-based company that spent $150,000 on California lobbyists over the past two years; and Veterans Benefit Guide, a Nevada-based company that spent $371,821 lobbying on Archuleta’s bill and a similar measure that failed in 2024.

Those companies view laws like California’s as an existential threat. Both have founders with military backgrounds. Veterans Benefit Guide sued to block New Jersey’s law prohibiting fees for veterans claim consulting, and a federal appeals court sided with the company last year.

"This was the hardest bill I’ve had to work on since I’ve been in the Legislature," said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Democrat who supported the law. "We know why that is, because there was so much money on the other side."

Charlotte Autolino, who organizes job fairs for former military service members as the chairperson of the Veterans Employment Committee of San Diego, criticized Newsom’s decision to sign the law. She spoke to CalMatters on behalf of Veterans Benefit Guide.

“The veterans lose,” she said. They lose the option. You’re taking an option away from them and you’re putting all of the veterans into one box, and that to me is wrong.”

But David West, a Marine veteran who is Nevada County’s veterans service officer, commended Newsom. West was one of the main advocates for the new law.

“The veterans of California are going to know that when (Newsom) says he’s taking care of everybody, he’s including us; that he values those 18- and 19-year-olds who are raising their hands, writing a blank check in the form of their lives; to then ensure that they aren’t writing checks to access their benefits,” West said.

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