Yusra Farzan
covers Orange County and its 34 cities, watching those long meetings — boards, councils and more — so you don’t have to.
Published November 24, 2023 5:19 PM
The Turnbull home decked out for Candy Cane Lane festivities in 2022. The family has begun decorating to welcome visitors to their neighborhood.
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Courtesy Kelsey Turnbull
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Topline:
Neighbors on East Acacia Avenue in El Segundo, dubbed “Candy Cane Lane” every holiday season, are preparing for their annual light show. This year, the crowds are expected to be larger than usual due to Amazon Prime Video's new film "Candy Cane Lane," which was inspired by the neighborhood.
The back story: The neighborhood has its own Yelp page and has been decorating as a group for the holidays since 1949. The new film debuts Dec. 1 and stars Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross.
How to visit: Candy Cane Lane is free and open to the public on Dec. 9 through Christmas Day from dusk to 9:30 p.m. every night. Head to East Acacia Avenue and California Street in El Segundo. Keep reading to see photos from neighbors prepping their displays.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Most people are usually sleeping in, but 79-year-old Don Kehl has two ladders out and is directing his two sons, three grandkids and granddaughter-in-law on how to string up an elaborate Christmas light design.
“None of my family will let me on the roof anymore,” Kehl said, with a smile. “I'm just kind of down here telling them what they did wrong.”
The Kehl family decorates their home to welcome visitors to "Candy Cane Lane" in El Segundo.
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His decor, he said with a bellowing laugh, is “whatever was on sale at Home Depot on the 26th of December last year.”
Kehl lives on East Acacia Avenue in El Segundo, dubbed “Candy Cane Lane” every holiday season. The neighborhood has its own Yelp page and has been decorating as a group for the holidays since 1949. Starting Dec. 9, thousands of visitors will descend to enjoy the holiday light displays. This year, the neighborhood is expecting a bigger crowd, after the street inspired the upcoming holiday film Candy Cane Lane starring Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross.
The film will be released on Amazon Prime Video on Dec. 1. You can watch the trailer here.
Kehl thinks the film will bring more visitors, “but that's fine,” he said. “The reason we put these up is to attract people so the more people, the better.”
For the Kehl family, decorating each year is a treasured family tradition that now stretches to three generations. Don Kehl’s two sons, Tom and Russell Kehl, remember when their kids — now in their 20s — were young and would watch them put up lights with their dad.
“It's been fun to watch the kids go from, ‘Can I please go on the roof, can I please go on the roof, can I please go on the roof’ to running the show now,” Russell Kehl said.
Don Kehl instructs his grandson and granddaughter-in-law on how to string the Christmas lights around the window.
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Scott Brunnenkant, who has lived on the street for 34 years, was also busy putting up decorations Friday.
“The movie looks like a lot of fun,” he said, adding that the film’s screenwriter Kelly Younger used to live up the street. “He's a friend of ours, nice guy.”
Scott Brunnenkant with his decorations pulled out of storage ready to be put out.
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In addition to lights around the roof line, Brunnenkant’s decorations also include LED icicles, window garlands with lit-up wreaths and ornaments, fairy lights on the bushes, four electric trains on one side of the yard and teddy bears and elves on the other side.
He knew about the neighborhood’s tradition when he bought the house back in 1989 as the open house was held during Christmastime. Friends ask him all the time if holiday decorations are allowed as part of the HOA, he said.
“And I tell them, oh yeah, it's the Santa clause,” he chuckles. Technically there’s no requirement to participate, but neighbors joke that peer pressure gets just about everyone involved.
A community effort to pay the bills
Brunnenkant said his home’s electricity bill triples during the month of December and because the neighborhood decorates the cul-de-sac at the end of the road, that part of the neighborhood has its own address under Southern California Edison.
The "Candy Cane Lane" plaque.
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“There's a bill that comes with that,” he said, explaining that the neighborhood sets up a Santa tent at the end of the block that takes donations. “Some of that money is used to pay the electric bill for the end of the block and get the Santa suit cleaned and things like that.”
The rest of the money is donated to different causes like St. Jude’s Hospital, said Jennifer Turnbull, another neighbor who has co-chaired the Candy Cane Lane committee for around 15 years.
“It's a labor of love, worth every penny, worth every minute,” Turnbull said. “It's a lot but it brings joy to a lot of people.”
The Turnbull family stands in front of their home on "Candy Cane Lane."
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The neighborhood typically gets about 8,000 visitors on opening night and 3,000 to 4,000 a night through Dec. 25 — the last day of the light show, Turnbull said.
With the movie release, Turnbull said, they are ready for additional visitors. To help things run smoothly, she asks that people use waste bins for trash.
What to expect on opening night
On opening night, Turnball said, people line up behind police barricades at the beginning of the block on California Street. Santa Claus arrives on a fire truck and “Candy Cane Lane” is pitch black.
How to visit
Candy Cane Lane is open to the public on Dec. 9 till Christmas Day from dusk to 9:30 p.m. every night.
Where: East Acacia Avenue and California Street, El Segundo
Santa Claus will be at his sleigh every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Visiting is free. Donations are welcome at Santa’s sleigh at the end of the street.
“He will wave his hand at each street, or each home, screaming Merry Christmas or ho ho ho, and those lights turn on and it's oohs and ahhs all the way ‘till he gets to the cul de sac where his sleigh is,” she said.
Jennifer Turnbull wraps Christmas lights in front of her home. Her display features thousands of lights.
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Turnbull’s home is one of the houses decorated with thousands of lights, she said, and Looney Tunes characters, all custom and made by hand.
Storage issues
Richard and Judy Doukakis, who have lived on “Candy Cane Lane” since 1986, begin decorating their home for Christmas after Halloween ends. They don’t decorate for Halloween because they just don’t have room for decorations, Richard Doukakis said.
Just some of Richard and Judy Doukakis' Christmas decor in storage.
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“There's probably 75 boxes,” Richard Doukakis said — of their Christmas decor — stored in multiple closets, the attic and the garage.
“I bought him a storage shed last year for Christmas, so that's helped,” Judy Doukakis said. “But storage is a problem.”
Richard and Judy Doukakis in the storage shed Judy bought Richard last Christmas to house some of their Christmas decor.
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New this year: Custom made Bluey characters
That did not stop them from ordering custom made Bluey characters decked out in holiday fare for this year’s holiday decorations.
The custom Bluey decor Richard and Judy Doukakis ordered for their holiday display.
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“I thought it'd be nice. It's so popular. My grandkids love it. So I had somebody make me those characters so they're going to be on my lawn now,” Richard Doukakis said.
Bill and Debra Mitchell also custom make their decor. Their blue front door is flanked by two candy canes on either side. After spotting them in a mail order catalog, the couple decided they could make them cheaper, so they did.
Bill Mitchell stands beside two candy canes he custom made with his wife Debra.
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Over the years, they have also made penguins and flamingos which will come out in the next few days leading up to opening day.
Back when the pair moved into the neighborhood in 1995, they didn’t know about the tradition.
“Right before it happened. I met a friend down the street and she said, ‘What are you doing for ‘Candy Cane Lane?’ And I said, ‘We know nothing about it,’” Debra Mitchell said. “And then he pops up with, ‘Oh, that explains the big manger animals, farm animals, that were in the garage when we looked at the house.’”
Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published February 9, 2026 5:00 AM
Local high school students tour Eastern Municipal Water District facilities in Perris in the Inland Empire.
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Courtesy Eastern Municipal Water District
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Topline:
As water agencies across the state grapple with the increasingly extreme effects of climate change, they’re also facing another problem: the incoming “silver tsunami.” That’s the phrase coined by the industry to illustrate the fact that much of the workforce that keeps our water flowing and safe are baby boomers getting ready to retire.
The background: Nationwide, about a third of the nation’s water workforce is eligible for retirement within the next decade, “the majority being workers with trade jobs in mission critical positions,” the Environmental Protection Agency wrote in a 2024 report.
Why it matters: To deal with how pollution in our atmosphere is driving longer, hotter droughts as well as increasingly intense rain when it does come, water agencies across Southern California are working to boost aging infrastructure and invest in more diverse water supplies, such as recycled water. The lack of people to staff those changes is a problem for pretty much every water agency, urban and rural.
Read on ... to learn how one local water agency is bringing high schoolers into the water workforce pipeline.
As water agencies across California grapple with the increasingly extreme effects of climate change, they’re also facing another problem: the incoming “silver tsunami.”
That’s the phrase coined by the industry to illustrate the fact that much of the workforce — largely baby boomers — that keeps our water flowing and safe are getting ready to retire.
Nationwide, about a third of the nation’s water workforce is eligible for retirement within the next decade, “the majority being workers with trade jobs in mission critical positions,” the Environmental Protection Agency wrote in a 2024 report.
Climate resilience needs a workforce
To deal with how pollution in our atmosphere is driving longer, hotter droughts, as well as increasingly intense rain when it does come, water agencies across Southern California are working to boost aging infrastructure and invest in more diverse water supplies, such as recycled water.
The lack of people to staff those changes is a problem for pretty much every water agency, urban and rural.
L.A. is the second-largest city in the nation and is spending billions on water recycling and stormwater capture, for example, but it has been struggling to fill needed positions at its four wastewater treatment plants.
The city of L.A. plans to clean all wastewater that flows to the Hyperion plant.
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Eric Garcetti via Flickr
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The city plans to treat nearly all of the Hyperion wastewater facility’s water to drinkable standards in the coming decades. To support that massive expansion, Hi-Sang Kim, the operations director at Hyperion, told LAist in 2022 the facility will need to boost its workforce by at least 30%.
For less urban water agencies, the challenge is even greater. The Eastern Municipal Water District serves close to 1 million people (and growing), as well as agricultural customers in western Riverside County and northern San Diego County.
They estimate as much as half of their workforce could retire within five years.
"We are in dire need of technical skill sets."
— Joe Mouawad, general manger, Eastern Municipal Water District
“Not only are we investing in new infrastructure, but we have aging infrastructure, so we are in dire need of technical skill sets to operate, maintain everything from treatment plants to pipelines, to pump stations,” said Joe Mouawad, the water district's general manager.
Jobs in the water industry — potable water and wastewater treatment operators, engineers, managers, skilled maintenance, public relations and more — are well paid and secure, Mouawad said, but it’s hard to fill the needed positions.
“We are finding it more challenging to backfill retirees,” he said. “It's not so much a lack of interest — I think it's a lack of awareness.”
Building a pipeline for water jobs
Those job gaps are why Eastern Municipal has become a leader in building the water workforce pipeline. For decades, the water district partnered with local schools to provide education about water conservation and what they do. But over the last decade, as the retirement forecast grew more dire, the agency has shifted to prioritize skills-based programming and partnerships with local high schools.
Local high school students tour Eastern Municipal Water District facilities in Perris.
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Courtesy Eastern Municipal Water District
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In 2013, they launched the Youth Ecology Corps program, for young adults between 18 and 24. Many who went through the program and paid internships are now full-time employees, said Calen Daniels, a spokesperson for the agency, who himself went through the program.
In recent years, the water agency has focused on younger potential future employees through a variety of Career and Technical Education programs at local high schools, including in automotive tech, engineering, agriculture, construction and information systems, said Erin Guerrero, Eastern Municipal’s public affairs manager overseeing its education programs.
“We're starting earlier and getting these kids real world experience,” Guerrero said.
Michelle Serrano teaches a two-year pre-apprenticeship Environmental Water Resources program at West Valley High School in Hemet. Students leave the program equipped to take the state-level certification exam for a job as a water treatment operator or water distribution operator once they turn 18.
Clayton Gordon, GIS mapping administrator at EMWD, talks to West Valley High students in the GIS Engineering certification summer program.
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Courtesy Eastern Municipal Water District
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Already more than 200 students have gone through the program since it launched last year. While local community colleges have similar Career and Technical Education programs, this is the first program of its kind targeting high schoolers in the region. Eastern Municipal hopes to expand to other area schools as well.
“Once the kids get out of the program, they're set if this is the direction they want to go,” Serrano said. “We have these students set for a job or a career for the rest of their life.”
"Once the kids get out of the program, they're set if this is the direction they want to go."
— Michelle Serrano, teacher, West Valley High School
She said the program is a gamechanger for students who don’t see themselves going to college or who are unsure of their future career path.
“We really are pushing hard for college, and that's a good push,” Serrano said. “However, we have kids who don't see themselves going to college. It's opening up an amazing path for students who otherwise may not see a job direction.”
They’re not only finding a stable career path, she said, but fulfilling roles necessary to our society, Mouawad said.
“It's working for us,” he said, “and we want to see this serve as a model for the rest of the industry.”
This week, get relationship advice, go to a game night, see a chat with the Silversun Pickups, listen to poetry at Oxy and more.
Highlights:
National Book Award winner and former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles Robin Coste Lewis visits Occidental College for poetry and conversation with Oxy Live's host, celebrated visual artist and cultural collaborator Alexandra Grant.
Channel family game night with new friends over drinks in Highland Park at a classic board game night with Cat Darling Agency and Asian American Collective.
Hometown heroes Silversun Pickups are back with a new album and tour. Dive deep with a conversation at the new Sid the Cat venue between singer Brian Aubert and producer and musician Butch Vig about the making of their new album, Tenterhooks.
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and author Lindsay Jill Roth has the questions that will make your new (or long-term!) relationship last. Her book, Romances & Practicalities, lays out 250 questions you should ask each other to make your love a time and challenge-tested success. She’s in conversation with love, sex, and relationship therapist Dr. Laura Berman at Zibby’s in Santa Monica.
It takes an icon to know an icon. If you haven’t seen the new Harry Styles video, check it out and you’ll recognize downtown’s Westin Bonaventure in a starring role. The hotel has been in plenty of movies — including True Lies— and now it’s the stage for Styles’ music video for his new single, “Aperture.” Fiona Ng takes you behind the scenes.
Speaking of cool movie settings, Kristen Stewart bought the abandoned Highland Theatre and plans to restore it to its original grandeur. Good news for film lovers.
On tap in the music space this week, Licorice Pizza recommendations include new wave goddess Dale Bozzio and her Missing Persons at the Whisky, rock goddess Melissa Etheridge at the Canyon Club in Agoura or Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera in conversation onstage at the Roxy — all on Wednesday. Thursday, experimental hip-hop group Clipping is at the Observatory, Atmosphere is at the Novo, UK singer-songwriter Erin LeCount plays the Roxy and Long Beach Dub All Stars & Bedouin Soundclash hit the stage at the Wayfarer. Plus, Aloe Blacc kicks off the first of four nights at the Blue Note.
Tuesday, February 10, 7:30 p.m. Cheerio Collective 5917 N. Figueroa Street, Highland Park COST: $25; MORE INFO
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Nik
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Unsplash
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Channel family game night with new friends over drinks in Highland Park at this classic board game night with Cat Darling Agency and Asian American Collective. Play Connect Four, Jenga and Uno while meeting some folks and enjoying a free drink!
Concert reading of Dogfight
Through Sunday, February 15 The Morgan-Wixson Theatre 2627 Pico Plvd., Santa Monica COST: $23; MORE INFO
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Joel Castro
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Morgan-Wixson Theatre
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Before there was The Greatest Showman, there was Dogfight. Benji Pasek and Justin Paul’s musical about a group of young Marines in San Francisco on the eve of the war in Vietnam is presented in a concert reading at Santa Monica’s Morgan-Wixson Theatre. Dogfight “explores themes of love, loss, and coming of age.”
OXY LIVE! with Robin Coste Lewis in conversation with Alexandra Grant
Tuesday, February 10, 7 p.m. Thorne Hall Thorne Road, Occidental College COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Oxy Arts
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National Book Award winner and former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles Robin Coste Lewis visits Occidental College for poetry and conversation with Oxy Live's host, celebrated visual artist and cultural collaborator Alexandra Grant (you may recognize her from excellent grantLove series… and her red carpet photos with beau Keanu Reeves). A book signing hosted by beloved Pasadena bookstore Octavia’s Bookshelf will follow, and attendees will have the opportunity to have their books signed by the author.
Dance at the Odyssey
Through Sunday, February 15 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A. COST: $28; MORE INFO
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Courtesy of Dance at the Odyssey
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Next weekend is the last weekend of Odyssey Theatre’s six-week-long Dance at the Odyssey festival, which features two world premieres: Silent Fiction from Intrepid Dance Project in Odyssey 2, and One World from choreographer Hannah Millar and her Imprints company in Odyssey 3.
Author Lindsay Jill Roth with Dr. Laura Berman
Thursday, February 12, 6 p.m. Zibby’s Bookstore 1113 Montana Ave., Santa Monica COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Zibby's
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It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and author Lindsay Jill Roth has the questions that will make your new (or long-term!) relationship last. Her new book, Romances & Practicalities, lays out 250 questions you should ask each other to make your love a time- and challenge-tested success — alongside Roth’s own long-distance love story and interviews with couples of all stripes. She’s in conversation with love, sex and relationship therapist Dr. Laura Berman at Zibby’s in Santa Monica.
An evening in conversation with Silversun Pickups’ Brian Aubert & Producer and Musician Butch Vig
Wednesday, February 11, 7 p.m. Sid the Cat 1022 El Centro Street,South Pasadena COST: $32.75; MORE INFO
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Sid the Cat
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Dice FM
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Hometown heroes Silversun Pickups are back with a new album and tour — catch them this week for free at Amoeba’s in-store show on Monday. Then dive deep at this conversation at the new Sid the Cat venue between singer Brian Aubert and producer and musician Butch Vg about the making of their new album, Tenterhooks. Plus, Lyndsey Parker of Licorice Pizza (friend of Best Things to Do) will moderate the chat.
Stronger Together: Nurturing Mind, Body, and Spirit
Monday, February 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. St. Monica Catholic Community Grand Pavilion 725 California Ave., Santa Monica COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy St. John's Foundation
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Recovery is an ongoing process, and the medical and spiritual communities of L.A. are reminding you they're here to help. Providence Saint John’s Health Center and St. Monica Catholic Community are marking the anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton fires with an evening of community, commemoration and healing.
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Adding even small numbers of EVs leads to measurable reductions in pollution, a study by USC researchers has found.
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Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
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Topline:
A new study out of USC finds that even relatively small upticks in EV adoption can have a measurably positive impact on a community.
The findings: Researchers used satellites to measure actual emissions. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2023, focused on California, which has among the highest rates of EV use in the country, and nitrogen dioxide, one of the gases released during combustion, including when fossil fuels are burned. Exposure to the pollutant can contribute to heart and lung issues, or even premature death. Across nearly 1,700 ZIP codes, the analysis showed that, for every increase of 200 electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide emissions decreased by 1.1%.
"It's remarkable": “A pretty small addition of cars at the ZIP code level led to a decline in air pollution,” said Sandrah Eckel, a public health professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “It’s remarkable.”
What's next: Eckel hopes that, eventually, advances in satellite technology will allow for more widespread detection of other types of emissions too, such as fine particulate matter. That could even help account for some of the potential downsides of EVs, which are heavier and could therefore kick up more tire or brake dust than their gasoline counterparts. On the whole, though, she believes the picture overwhelmingly illustrates how driving an electric car is better not just for the planet but for people.
Read on ... to learn more about the study's findings.
The logic behind electric vehicles benefiting public health has long been solid: More EVs means fewer internal combustion engines on the road and a reduction in harmful tailpipe emissions. But now researchers have confirmed, to the greatest extent yet, that this is indeed what’s actually happening on the ground. What’s more, they found that even relatively small upticks in EV adoption can have a measurably positive impact on a community.
About this article
This article originally appeared in Grist, an LAist partner newsroom.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org. Sign up for Grist's weekly newsletter here.
Whereas previous work has largely been based on modeling, a study published in January in the journal Lancet Planetary Health used satellites to measure actual emissions. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2023, focused on California, which has among the highest rates of EV use in the country, and nitrogen dioxide, one of the gases released during combustion, including when fossil fuels are burned. Exposure to the pollutant can contribute to heart and lung issues or even premature death. Across nearly 1,700 ZIP codes, the analysis showed that for every increase of 200 electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide emissions decreased by 1.1%.
“A pretty small addition of cars at the ZIP code level led to a decline in air pollution,” said Sandrah Eckel, a public health professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “It’s remarkable.”
The group had tried to establish this link using Environmental Protection Agency air monitors before, but because there are only about 100 of them in California, the results weren’t statistically significant. The data also were from 2013 through 2019, when there were fewer electric vehicles on the road. Although the satellite instrument they ultimately used only detected nitrogen dioxide, it did allow researchers to gather data for virtually the entire state, and this time the findings were clear.
“It’s making a real difference in our neighborhoods,” said Eckel, who said a methodology like theirs could be used anywhere in the world. The advent of such powerful satellites allows scientists to look at other sources of emissions, such as factories or homes too. “It’s a revolutionary approach.”
Mary Johnson, who researches environmental health at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and was not involved in the study, said she’s not aware of a similar study of this size, or one that uses satellite data so extensively. “Their analysis seems sound,” she said, noting that the authors controlled for variables such as the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts toward working from home.
The results, Johnson added, “totally make sense” and align with other research in this area.
When London implemented congestion pricing in 2003, for example, it reduced traffic and emissions and increased life expectancy. That is the direction this latest research could go too.
“They didn’t take the next step and look at health data,” she said, “which I think would be interesting.”
Daniel Horton, who leads Northwestern University’s climate change research group, also sees value in this latest work.
“The results help to confirm the sort of predictions that numerical air quality modelers have been making for the past decade,” he said, adding that it could also lay the foundation for similar research. “This proof of concept paper is a great start and augurs good things to come.”
Eckel hopes that, eventually, advances in satellite technology will allow for more widespread detection of other types of emissions too, such as fine particulate matter. That could even help account for some of the potential downsides of EVs, which are heavier and could therefore kick up more tire or brake dust than their gasoline counterparts. On the whole, though, she believes the picture overwhelmingly illustrates how driving an electric car is better not just for the planet but for people.
Research like this, she says, underscores the importance of continued EV adoption, the sales of which have slumped recently, and the need to do so equitably. Although lower-income neighborhoods have historically borne the brunt of pollution from highways and traffic, they can’t always afford the relatively high cost of EVs. Eckel hopes that research like this can help guide policymakers.
“There are concerns that some of the communities that really stand to benefit the most from reductions in air pollution are also some of the communities that are really at risk of being left behind in the transition,” she said.
Previous research has shown that EVs could alleviate harms such as asthma in children, and detailed data like this latest study can help highlight both where more work needs to be done and what’s working.
“It’s really exciting that we were able to show that there were these measurable improvements in the air that we’re all breathing,” she said.
Another arguably hopeful finding was that the median increase in electric vehicle usage during the study was 272 per ZIP code.
That, Eckel says, means there is plenty of opportunity to make our air even cleaner.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published February 8, 2026 8:15 PM
Bad Bunny celebrates Latino culture — and tacos — at the 60th Super Bowl
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
Villa's Tacos founder Victor Villa appeared with his taco cart during Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show, marking a rare moment of L.A. street food culture being showcased on one of the world's biggest stages.
Why it matters: The appearance was more than a cameo — it underscored the cultural significance of L.A.'s taquero tradition and immigrant entrepreneurship. Villa's journey from his grandmother's Highland Park front yard to the Super Bowl reflects the broader story of how Latino food vendors have shaped Los Angeles' culinary identity.
The backstory: Villa launched his business more than eight years ago, selling tacos from his grandmother's front yard in Highland Park. The operation has since expanded to brick-and-mortar locations in Highland Park and downtown Los Angeles, earning recognition as one of the city's standout taco spots.
What he said: "Villa's Tacos is a product of immigrants," Villa wrote on Instagram. "As a 1st generation Mexican-American born & raised in LA, it was an honor to represent my raza & all the taqueros of the world by bringing my taco cart to @badbunnypr's Super Bowl LX 2026 Halftime show."
The bigger picture: Villa dedicated the moment to immigrants who paved the way, emphasizing the performance as a celebration of Latino culture alongside Bad Bunny's shoutouts to Spanish-speaking countries worldwide.
Victor Villa brought his taco cart to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime performance.
Los Angeles residents likely know the name — Villa's Tacos is an award-winning taco business based in Highland Park. Villa began in his grandmother's front yard and now has brick-and-mortar locations in Highland Park, off Figueroa Avenue, and at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.
The restaurant has won L.A. Taco's Taco Madness championship three times (2021, 2022 and 2024) and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for three consecutive years for its signature quesotacos.
A celebration of Latino culture
The entire performance was a celebration of Latin American culture's prominence in the United States, with Bad Bunny taking a moment to recognize Spanish-speaking countries worldwide.
Villa appeared during the opening number, "Tití me preguntó" from Bad Bunny's 2022 album "Un verano sin ti." In the sequence, Bad Bunny visits a piragüero cart — piraguas are iconic Puerto Rican shaved ice treats shaped like pyramids — before the camera pans to Villa and his cart, where Bad Bunny hands him the frozen treat. The moment bridges two beloved Latin American street food traditions: Puerto Rico's piraguas and L.A.'s taco culture.
After the performance aired, Villa took to Instagram to express his thanks and call it a historic moment, He traced his journey from selling his first taco more than eight years ago to the Super Bowl stage.
"I want to give a huge thank you to @badbunnypr for hand selecting me & allowing me to represent my people, my culture, my family & my business," Villa wrote on Instagram.
'A product of immigrants'
As a first-generation Mexican American, he dedicated the moment to the immigrants who made it possible, emphasizing that Villa's Tacos is a product of immigration and that he is honored to represent his culture and all taqueros and Latinos everywhere. The post closed with shoutouts to Puerto Rico, Mexico, and all Latinos.
In August last year, Villa appeared on a Food Friday segment on LAist 89.3's AirTalk, bringing his freshly cooked tacos for host Josie Huang.
