Makenna Cramer
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published October 15, 2025 5:00 AM
The entry period for the Los Angeles County Library's 46th annual bookmark design contest ends Saturday.
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Courtesy L.A. County Library
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Youtube
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Topline:
Attention young artists — your original design could end up in libraries across Los Angeles County for the 46th annual bookmark contest.
Why it matters: The L.A. County Library is looking for creative students across a variety of ages to submit bookmark designs inspired by books, libraries, reading or anything else your imagination can come up with.
Why now: All entries must be received by Saturday.
The backstory: If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can look through last year’s winners, which were selected from more than 10,200 submissions.
What's next: The grand prize winners will then be selected by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for each of the five districts next spring, and those designs will be made into bookmarks and handed out across the 85 libraries in the system.
Read on ... for how to submit your designs.
Attention young artists — your original design could end up in libraries across Los Angeles County for the 46th annual bookmark contest.
The L.A. County Library is looking for creative students across a variety of ages to submit bookmark designs inspired by books, libraries, reading or anything else your imagination can come up with.
The contest, which dates back to 1980, aims to encourage young people’s art and love for reading, according to the library. All entries must be received by Saturday. The grand prize designs will be printed for the L.A. County Library system.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can look through last year’s winners, who were selected from more than 10,200 submissions. You also can find 30 years worth of winning bookmark designs here.
How it works
Your bookmark can be made out of any medium, including colored pencils, markers, paint or a computer.
But the designs need to be original, according to the library, so avoid Hello Kitty, Superman and other copyrighted characters.
All artists must live in L.A. County, and there’s only one entry per person.
The contest categories are broken up by grade level:
Kindergarten - second grade
Third - fifth grade
Sixth - eighth grade
Ninth - 12th grade
The library locations will select the top local winner in each grade level next month.
The grand prize winners will then be selected by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for each of the five districts next spring, and those designs will be made into bookmarks and handed out across the 85 libraries in the system.
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published September 27, 2026 9:27 AM
More details on quake coming shortly.
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ananaline / Getty Images
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iStockphoto
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Topline:
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.6 struck near Hermosa Beach, and was likely felt as far off as Oxnard.
Keep reading ... for more on what we know for now.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.6 struck off the South Bay at about 8:40 a.m., and was likely felt as far as Oxnard.
The U.S. Geological Survey says it was centered about four miles west-southwest of Hermosa Beach. More than 1,500 people reported feeling it.
It was not immediately clear if any damage had been reported.
We will have more on this developing story shortly.
We have earthquake resources
We don't want to scare you, but the Big One is coming. We don't know when, but we know it'll be at least 44 times stronger than Northridge and 11 times stronger than the Ridgecrest quakes in 2019. To help you get prepared, we've compiled a handy reading list:
Members of Compás Discoteca (L to R): Adrian Silva, Albert Piña, Ricardo Carlos, and Elias Ruiz.
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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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Topline:
Compás Discoteca, a four-person DJ collective, fosters community and connections with eclectic live vinyl mixing at restaurants in and near the Inland Empire.
The backstory: Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. The crew decided to form the collective after seeing what they thought of as a "sign" in 2024.
On a Sunday night at the Mexican restaurant La Popular in Claremont, diners are eating to a soundtrack that starts with cumbia and jumps to J Balvin and Bad Bunny before landing on Luther Vandross.
That’s the aim of DJ collective Compás Discoteca — to bring connection and community through live vinyl mixing at La Popular and El Balcon in Ontario.
How Compás Discoteca was born
Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. On a night out in 2024, they saw a sign: a parking space for a “compact car,” minus two letters.
“The C and T are missing — compá. Like, ‘We're compás,’” Carlos said, recounting that night.
A "Compás Discoteca" turntable mat.
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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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Their DJ collective, Compás Discoteca, was born. “Compás” means “buddies” in Spanish and “Discoteca” means “nightclub."
Seasoning the scene
When Compás Discoteca first formed, the members said Southern California’s vinyl-listening scene was more focused on track selection, letting songs play out in full. The collective wanted to bring more life to the experience by mixing music live.
“It just seemed a little stale,” Silva said. “I feel like we helped to bring some seasoning to that.”
They also wanted to play genres people wouldn’t normally hear together.
“You might hear us jump from funk to cumbia to hip-hop to disco, soul to house. We're just trying to take people on a journey with us,” Silva said.
Each compá takes their turn at the turntables for two 30-minute sets. And each brings their own sound.
Three of the "compás" pose for a picture in between their sets.
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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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Silva is the “party-starter.” He gets people dancing.
Carlos has a Latin bent, taking influence from his Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Creole roots.
Ruiz lives for “jaw-drop moments” and brings records he thinks will surprise his fellow DJs.
Piña spins rare world grooves in the funk and boogie vein.
“He probably gets the most Shazams from us and from the audience,” Ruiz said of Piña. “But most importantly, you feel like you're hanging out and with some good music.”
Albert Piña prepares looks through a box of vinyl records during his DJ set at "La Popular" in Claremont.
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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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Feeding off the energy
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon in Ontario on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular in Claremont on the third Sunday.
The vibes for Sundays are chill, they said, and Fridays are for letting it all loose.
“There's like an energy there, like, ‘Oh, man, we made it through the week.’ We try to feed off of that,” Piña said.
Compás Discoteca vinyl nights
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon (200 N. Euclid Ave., Unit C, Ontario) on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular (235 N. Yale Ave., Claremont) on the third Sunday.
When: Fridays, 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sundays, 5 to 9 p.m.
Cost: free to diners
Next shows: Friday, Oct. 2, at El Balcon; Sunday, Oct. 18, at La Popular
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Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published September 27, 2026 5:00 AM
The Bagel Portal, the bagel delivery system of 29 Loaves, in Joshua Tree.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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Topline:
Joshua Tree has quirk, character and plenty of nature. Since 2024, it also has real New York-style bagels.
How? These bagels are courtesy of 29 Loaves, a home bakery operated by DIY baker and through-and-through New Yorker Richard Lee.
Read on… to find out what distinguishes a New York-style bagel from lesser ones, according to Lee, and how he learned to make his.
Along Highway 62 in Joshua Tree, a stack of high school lockers holds something the High Desert was missing: a real New York-style bagel.
For that, you have DIY baker Richard Lee to thank.
“I want a bagel. What do I do?” Lee remembered thinking after moving to Twentynine Palms in 2023 from Los Angeles, where he had lived for more than a decade.
The Bagel Portal off Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.
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Richard Lee
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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It wasn’t just any bagel the born-and-raised New Yorker was craving, but the kind from back home that gives “a little crunch” when you bite into its crust — with a “chewy, softer” inside and a taste Lee calls “ineffable.”
“Like maybe a sourdough or an Italian bread,” he said.
Taught by YouTube, tested by family in New York
Richard Lee converted his garage in 29 Palms to make bagels.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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A tinkerer by nature, Lee launched 29 Loaves in early 2024, bringing bagels he handcrafts in his licensed home operation to Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and surrounding communities.
“I went to the culinary school of YouTube,” he said, having watched more than 100 videos on how to make a bagel. At first, he relied on his own taste buds as a guide, before sending his creations to his family in New York to taste.
After months of overnight shipping, Lee said, “Even a UPS store is asking me, ‘Why are you doing that?’”
“I know it makes no sense,” he told them. “That's how I operate.”
29 Loaves serves up New York-style bagels to Joshua Tree and other desert communities.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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Eventually, his sister gave the thumbs-up. To be extra, extra, extra sure, Lee went to folks living in the desert with New York ties to get their blessing.
“Attention is an ingredient,” Lee said of his bagels. It’s a philosophy he’s honed while running his other business providing IT services, which he now operates remotely.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “If you make a mistake or something falls on the bagel and marks it, it’ll end up that way as a finished product.”
Why bagels mean so much to him
Lee, whose father is Korean and mother is Brazilian, said his bakery is ultimately about food memories — and draws inspiration from what he ate growing up. The only other baked good 29 Loaves sells is pão de queijo, a gluten-free Brazilian cheese puff he makes.
Richard Lee handmakes New York-style bagels at his home operation.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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But nothing rivals bagels. Sundays were often bagel days in his childhood home in the Long Island suburbs. As a teenager working for his father, Lee remembered they would make detours off the Long Island Expressway to grab fresh bagels.
“They were nice and plump, and they were so hot,” he said.
Father and son would eat them straight out of the bag — no cream cheese, no nothing.
“Those were the types of memories that I wanna bring here,” Lee said.
Get your bagel
You can find 29 Loaves bagels in select cafes and markets in desert communities, including Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Pioneertown. Lee himself delivers orders within Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree.
For a 24/7 hankering, there’s The Bagel Portal, at 61877 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree — look for a stack of lockers under a wooden A-frame in the parking lot facing the highway. You’ll get a combination code after making a purchase.
The widespread coastal damage from Hurricane Marie, which was hundreds of miles off the coast, is a preview of what El Nino could bring later this year.
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Mario Tama
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Big surf from distant hurricanes in the Pacific could bring coastal flooding to Southern California starting this weekend.
Why it matters: Hurricanes Polo and Odalys are expected to cause coastal erosion, flooding and high surf along Southern California's already battered coastline.
Read on ... for the forecast.
Big surf from distant hurricanes in the Pacific could bring coastal flooding to Southern California starting this weekend.
Hurricanes Polo and Odalys are expected to cause coastal erosion, flooding and high surf along Southern California's already battered coastline. Swells from Polo are expect to arrive as early as late Sunday and peak Monday and Tuesday.
Bryan Lewis, National Weather Service meteorologist, told LAist that high tides could reach 7 feet. He said Long Beach and Avalon are among the more vulnerable areas for potential flooding and erosion.
Long Beach and Los Angeles warned residents to prepare for potential flooding and other effects through at least Wednesday.
In early September, Hurricane Marie brought coastal erosion and flooding that led homes being red- and yellow-tagged in L.A. and Orange counties.
