Carol Park as an adult at the gas station formerly owned by her family in Compton.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Topline:
In the first episode of "Inheriting," host Emily Kwong speaks with Carol Kwang Park, whose family ran a gas station in Compton, California, for decades. The episode follows how Park experienced working as a cashier at the gas station, leading up to and during the 1992 L.A. Uprising.
Meet Carol Kwang Park: Park started working as a cashier at her family’s gas station in Compton in 1990, when she was only 10 years old. After Park’s father died, her mother needed help running the station. Park says she would work 24 to 72 hour shifts, in which she would mostly sit inside of the cashier’s booth encased in bulletproof glass.
By 1990, Korean families like the Parks ran thousands of businesses across L.A. County, many in majority Black and Latino communities. As a child, Park didn’t fully understand the historic, economic, and cultural context outside her narrow view from the bulletproof window, where she saw flashes of hostility on the other side.
How Park's story connects to the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising: With escalating interracial conflicts, along with increasing incidents of police brutality against Blacks and Latinos, many Korean-owned businesses across Los Angeles were looted and burned during the 1992 L.A. Uprising. But the Parks’ gas station was spared. For Park, everything changed after the Uprising took place. As Park grew older, her understanding of the L.A. Uprising and her place in it evolved.
Listen to Park's full story here:
Hear Episode 1 of "Inheriting"
Topline:
In the first episode of "Inheriting," host Emily Kwong speaks with Carol Kwang Park, whose family ran a gas station in Compton for decades. The episode follows how Park experienced working as a cashier at the gas station, leading up to and during the 1992 L.A. Uprising.
Meet Carol Kwang Park: Park started working as a cashier at her family’s gas station in Compton in 1990, when she was only 10 years old. After Park’s father died, her mother needed help running the station. Park says she would work 24- to 72-hour shifts, in which she would mostly sit inside of the cashier’s booth encased in bulletproof glass.
By 1990, Korean families like the Parks ran thousands of businesses across L.A. County, many in majority Black and Latino communities. As a child, Park didn’t fully understand the historic, economic, and cultural context outside her narrow view from the bulletproof window, where she saw flashes of hostility on the other side.
What is Inheriting?
"Inheriting"is a show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, which explores how one event in history can ripple through generations. In doing so, the show seeks to break apart the AAPI monolith and tell a fuller story of these communities. Learn more LAist.com/Inheriting
“I was racist at some point because they were calling me these names so I called it right back,” Park says. “I know that was extremely wrong now and in my later adult years, I understood what was happening. But I was angry for a long, long time.”
With escalating interracial conflicts, along with increasing incidents of police brutality against Blacks and Latinos, many Korean-owned businesses across Los Angeles were looted and burned during the 1992 L.A. Uprising. But the Parks’ gas station was spared. For Park, everything changed after the Uprising took place. As Park grew older, her understanding of the L.A. Uprising and her place in it evolved.
Son Lye Park, Carol Park’s mom, standing outside the cashier booth of the family gas station in Compton before her death.
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Courtesy Carol Park
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Park continued to work at the station every weekend for 16 years. In 2009, Park began a double master's degree in ethnic studies and creative writing at UC Riverside.
“I began to understand anti-Blackness exists. Anti-Asian hate exists. And these two things butt heads all the time.” Park started writing her memoir about growing up in the gas station and began interviewing her mother about her memories during the Uprising.
Compton
In the 1990s, Compton was more than 70% Black and working class jobs were scarce. Jewish and Japanese merchants began to sell their stores, and the prices were cheap enough for Koreans to move in. The Korean presence in Compton was growing, and by the 1990s, Korean families ran thousands of businesses – gas stations, liquor stores and beauty supply stores – across L.A. County, many in majority Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Today, Park is pursuing her PhD in ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside, and teaches at colleges throughout Southern California.
“When I'm teaching, I tell the students, go home and talk to your parents, and it will change your lives and how you see them and how they see you.” she says. In the first two episodes of Inheriting, we’ll explore Park’s story and her evolving perspective of the L.A. Uprising.
Carol Park teaching her Introduction to Race and Ethnicity Class at Cal State Long Beach in 2023.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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The history behind the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising, or Sa-I-Gu: On April 29, 1992, the verdict for the trial of four Los Angeles police officers charged in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist, was announced — acquitted on almost all charges. Outrage from the acquittal and years of racial inequality fueled and resulted in six days of demonstrations and destruction, known today as the 1992 L.A. Uprising.
Another incident that added fuel to the Uprising was the killing of Latasha Harlins the year prior. In 1991, Harlins, a Black teenager, was shot and killed by a Korean store owner, Soon Ja Du. The media began to sensationalize and frame the resulting protests and anger as the “Black-Korean conflict.” That sentiment began to ripple across the city.
Demonstrations and protests calling for justice gave way to stores being burned down and emptied. By the end of the six days of protest, sixty-three people died, most of whom were Black and Latino.
There was also $1 billion in property damage. Nearly half of those properties were Korean-owned. Korean Americans refer to the Uprising as “Sa-I-Gu,” literally translating to “four-two-nine” for the date. According to surveys conducted after the Uprising, almost 40% of Korean Americans said they were thinking of leaving Los Angeles, and 50% of Korean business owners were facing a “very difficult” financial situation. The term acknowledges the event as one that had a huge toll specifically on Korean Americans and their livelihoods.
How can I listen to more of this story?
Hear Episode 1 of "Inheriting"
New episodes of "Inheriting"publish every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts and on LAist.com/Inheriting.
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.
