Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and brings you the top news you need for the day.
Published November 12, 2025 12:20 PM
The long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park is set to open at Exposition Park on Sept. 22.
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The Lucas Museum
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Topline:
The long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park is set to open on Sept. 22, officials announced on Wednesday.
More about the museum: The museum will house 35 galleries across 100,000 square feet. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 40,000 works. Officials said the space will house one of the most significant collections of narrative art.
What artists are included? The Lucas Museum’s collection features works by Norman Rockwell, Kadir Nelson, Frida Kahlo, Maxfield Parrish and others. Comic art creators, including Winsor McCay, Frank Frazetta and Chris Ware, will also be featured. The museum also houses models, props, concept art and costumes from museum co-founder George Lucas’s filmmaking career.
Officials said: “This is a museum of the people’s art—the images are illustrations of beliefs we live with every day. For that reason, this art belongs to everyone,” Lucas Museum co-founder Mellody Hobson said in a statement. “Our hope is that as people move through the galleries, they will see themselves, and their humanity, reflected back.”
A man walks into Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
Legal experts note that immigration enforcement at or near churches is still relatively rare, but faith leaders and advocates are urging pastors to develop response plans and educate congregants about their rights.
Some background: Recent immigration enforcement actions near places of worship have raised concerns among faith leaders across Los Angeles about what protections churches actually have. While in the past, “sensitive locations” like schools, hospitals and parishes were spared from raids, President Donald Trump ended that policy. That means U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can enter and investigate any place that is considered public — including churches.
East L.A. training: Pastor Carlos Rincon of Centro de Vida Victoriosa in East Los Angeles recently hosted a “Know Your Rights: Church and Immigrant Protection” training for pastors and church leaders.
Read on... for what experts say churches should know.
A man detained last June in the parking lot of a church in Downey.
A taco vendor taken in January during a weekly food distribution outside a church in the San Fernando Valley.
Recent immigration enforcement actions near places of worship have raised concerns among faith leaders across Los Angeles about what protections churches actually have. While in the past, “sensitive locations” like schools, hospitals and parishes were spared from raids, President Donald Trump ended that policy. That means U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can enter and investigate any place that is considered public — including churches.
Legal experts note that immigration enforcement at or near churches is still relatively rare, but faith leaders and advocates are urging pastors to develop response plans and educate congregants about their rights
Pastor Carlos Rincon of Centro de Vida Victoriosa in East Los Angeles recently hosted a “Know Your Rights: Church and Immigrant Protection” training for pastors and church leaders.
The workshop was led by the UC Irvine Law Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic.
Rincon said the training aimed to counter misinformation circulating within Latino churches. He said other pastors requested the training, and he hoped it would also help leaders of small Bible study groups within his own church.
Here’s what legal experts and advocates say churches should know.
What areas of a church are considered public?
In general, any area that is open and accessible to the public is also open to immigration agents. Within church grounds, areas that are freely open to visitors can be considered public.
This can include:
Parking lots — even if they are on private property — if access is not restricted by personnel.
Church lobbies, especially when doors are open and there’s heavy foot traffic before and after services.
The nave, or any central area where congregants gather for worship
But legal experts say there’s no single factor that determines whether a place is considered public or private.
“There’s no rigid line of, ‘This is for sure going to be public. This is for sure going to be private.’ It’s depending on the court’s analysis,” said Melissa Inda, a law student at the Irvine School of Law.
What areas of a church are considered private?
Areas generally considered private are:
Confession boxes, where privacy is expected. However, that can change if left open.
Offices, especially if doors are closed and clearly marked as private
The sacristy, or the area typically near an altar where clergy prepare for services and sacred items are stored
Locked storage closets exclusively used by staff or selected people
Bathrooms reserved for employees or clergy members
The Centro de Vida Victoriosa Church in East LA on March 10, 2026.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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What does this mean for your place of worship?
Immigration agents may enter and investigate public spaces of church property that are open to congregants or visitors.
However, agents generally cannot enter private spaces unless they have a warrant signed by a judge. In places of worship, for example, ICE would need a judicial warrant to enter a religious leader’s private office, if it was treated as a private area.
Additionally, agents can also enter private spaces if given “consent from somebody who appears to have the authority to give it, such as staff members,” Inda said.
What can churches do to prepare?
Identify non-public spaces: Places of worship should clearly mark what areas are private and which are open to the public at certain times.
Create a response plan: Churches should designate a primary person or persons who will interact with ICE.
Point persons can include staff or volunteers, not just pastors.
Church members should identify risk factors and discuss their comfort levels in interacting with federal agents.
Educate staff and volunteers: Church leaders should make everyone aware of the plan.
Gas prices at a station in Northridge on March 9, 2026. Gas prices have recently increased in the state as the U.S. war with Iran intensifies.
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Zin Chiang
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CalMatters
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Topline:
Iran war spikes gas prices, putting spotlight on California's refinery profit-cap rules and the state's shrinking fuel supply options.
The backstory: Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil markets turn calamitous. The legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed “California took on Big Oil and won.” Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a “landmark law” that “will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families.”
Why it matters: The law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.
Read on... for more about this law and why California hasn't used it now.
Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil markets turn calamitous. The legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed "California took on Big Oil and won."
Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a "landmark law" that "will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families."
But the law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.
Now, with gas topping $5.30 a gallon statewide, that decision is under a new spotlight. The Iran war has sent global oil prices soaring — but the war is only part of the story. California has a structural problem: fewer refineries, a captive market and no easy outside supply options. When prices rise nationally, they can rise even more here.
Proponents say this is precisely the moment the 2023 law was designed for. The commissioners last year left the door open to rescind the delay — and move forward with the rule before the five years — if they change their minds.
"These are the moments we need them, because when the price of a commodity goes through the roof — be it crude oil or refined gasoline — that's when companies make outrageous profits," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.
But those who backed the delay argue it was a necessary concession — that penalizing refiners risked driving them out of the state entirely. It's a tension that cuts to the heart of California's energy predicament: how to protect consumers today from an industry the state can't yet afford to lose, while still making good on its promise to leave that industry behind.
California’s unused gas-price tools
When the California Energy Commission met last August Newsom was already retreating from his confrontation with the oil industry. The question before commissioners was whether to move ahead with aggressive rules targeting refinery profits — or step back, as the governor was doing.
It was a sharp reversal. Newsom had declared special legislative sessions in 2022 and 2024, pushing through sweeping new powers to curb gasoline price spikes — including requirements that refiners store more fuel and replace lost supply during maintenance, and the profit-cap rules now sitting dormant. A new energy commission oversight division created by the law found an unexplained gasoline premium of about 41 cents per gallon between 2015 and 2024, costing drivers an estimated $59 billion.
Gas prices are displayed on a sign at a filling station in Fresno on March 6, 2026.
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Larry Valenzuela
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CalMatters
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“Those are critically important laws,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity. “What that information shows is that Californians are at the mercy of a very few refiners with immense power.”
California’s oil industry strongly opposed the measures, and some economists remain skeptical of them. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein warned that capping refinery profits during shortages could backfire.
“The last thing we need is to start trying to regulate refinery margins,” he said. “As much as people don't like high gasoline prices, they really, really hate gas lines.”
By last August, refinery closures were looming and warnings of $8-a-gallon gasoline circulated in Sacramento. Newsom and Democratic leaders were negotiating with the oil industry to boost production in Kern County — talks that produced a law that has since driven an uptick in drilling permits.
After Valero said it would close its Benicia refinery, Newsom directed Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, to “redouble the state’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning” and ensure a “reliable supply of transportation fuels.” Gunda responded with a series of recommendations that aligned largely with industry’s desires — among them a pause in the state’s profit-cap rule.
Against that backdrop, energy commissioners voted on Aug. 29 to delay the rules for five years. Ahead of the vote, Gunda said the delay would help boost “investor confidence” in the state’s oil refiners, “thereby ensuring a reliable in-state refining capacity.”
Oil industry representatives say the decision made sense – the profit-cap measures, they argued, miss the real problem.
“The real problem is California is an energy island — we’re losing 17% of our refining capacity,” said Zachary Leary, a lobbyist for the Western States Petroleum Association.
But Court, of Consumer Watchdog, said the governor “panicked,” leaving the state without the “hammer” it now needs.
“When you have this type of level of gas run up, you're going to need those tools,” Court said.
The difficult middle of the energy transition
California has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045 — but it still depends heavily on gasoline, and it is losing the refineries that produce it.
Phillips 66 last year shut its Los Angeles refinery, citing concerns about the sustainability of the California market. Valero is closing its Benicia refinery next month, pointing to a challenging regulatory environment.
“If you start losing refineries — as we are going to — and you don't have an alternative source of supply, we're going to start getting price spikes when there's any sort of disruption at one of our refineries,” Borenstein said. “Or just during high demand periods.”
The challenge of reducing fossil fuel use while maintaining adequate supply has created what Gunda — Newsom’s point person in negotiations with the oil industry — calls the “mid-transition.
“This is not going to be a smooth transition,” Gunda said last month in testimony to a state Senate committee. “Every time you lose a refinery, it’s going to be a double-digit percent of refined fuel lost in California. So that abrupt transition will mean an abrupt increase in imports.”
A global oil shock hits California
The recent jump in gasoline prices reflects a global oil shock tied to the war with Iran — not a policy change unique to California, experts said. But the surge highlights how exposed the state remains to global energy markets as it loses refining capacity and imports more crude and gasoline.
Since the conflict began, the international benchmark for crude oil has climbed more than $25 a barrel — a shift that typically translates to about 60 cents per gallon at the pump, in line with the increase in California retail prices, argues Borenstein, of UC Berkeley.
“All of the change we've seen in the last couple of weeks is in line with the change in crude oil prices, and therefore is not California specific,” he said.
Newsom has made a similar argument, blaming the spike on global oil markets and the war with Iran rather than California policies. But analysts note that the state's shrinking refinery base means global shocks land harder here than elsewhere.
A key concern is the Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, the narrow waterway carried more than 20 million barrels of oil a day — roughly one-fifth of global supply. Traffic is now at a standstill, and crude prices topped $100 a barrel again — even after more than 30 countries announced releases from emergency reserves.
Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking, said a prolonged closure could push crude prices above $130 or $140 per barrel — driving California prices closer to $7, with a worst-case scenario approaching $10 at some stations.
Most analysts consider that outcome unlikely but no longer unthinkable.
“Right now, this doesn't appear likely, but it is a worst-case scenario that is growing by the day,” Cummings said.
Competing ideas for what comes next
Siegel, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said California should move forward immediately to implement the profit-cap rules and require companies to hold larger fuel inventories.
“Our leaders shouldn't rest until the rules are in place to prevent price gouging on top of volatility, and should not rest until people get their money back,” she said.
Economists say California’s biggest challenge may be infrastructure. Valero plans to close its Benicia refinery, which produces about 10% of the state’s gasoline, next month. In an analysis posted last year, Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Cummings said California could offset lost refinery production with gasoline imports – if permitting allows refineries like Benicia to convert to fuel import terminals. Newsom said in January his administration is working with the company to continue importing gasoline into Northern California after its refinery operations close.
“If I was in the Legislature right now, all of my energies and effort would be built on, one, making sure that Benicia gets turned into an import terminal — and two, making sure whoever owns or operates that is not an incumbent,” Cummings said.
Court, of Consumer Watchdog, pointed to a proposed Phillips 66 pipeline that could bring refined gasoline from Midwest refineries into the state – something California has never had, relying instead on in-state refining and marine imports. Dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline, the project would build a new pipeline and reverse an existing one to move gasoline and diesel from central U.S. refineries to Arizona and California.
One state lawmaker has proposed expanding access to E85, a cheaper ethanol blend. Both ideas remain proposals without clear timelines.
Meanwhile, some oil companies and even some Democrats are warning California’s climate policies could raise production costs enough that refineries reconsider operating in California — adding another pressure point to an already strained supply picture.
The profit-cap rules that could penalize oil companies remain on hold until 2029. By then, California may have lost more refineries — and may still be grappling with the problem Newsom once promised to solve: gasoline price shocks in the country’s most unaffordable market.
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Monica Bushman
produces arts and culture coverage for LAist's on-demand team. She’s also part of the Imperfect Paradise podcast team.
Published March 13, 2026 5:00 AM
Conan O'Brien hosts the live ABC telecast of the 97th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on March 2, 2025.
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Trae Patton
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AMPAS
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Topline:
Want to watch the Oscars this weekend with other movie lovers, but don’t want to host a watch party yourself? Many Los Angeles bars and restaurants have you covered.
The details: The 98th Academy Awards are this Sunday, March 15. Hosted for the second time by Conan O'Brien, the show is airing on ABC and Hulu at 4 p.m. and there are lots of watch parties (some with Oscar ballot contests) happening in and around the city too.
Read on ... for a list of Oscar watch parties in L.A.
Wanna watch the Oscars this weekend with other movie lovers, but don’t want to host a watch party yourself? Many Los Angeles bars and restaurants have you covered.
While the fifth annual “Official” Oscars Watch Party held at The Academy Museum is sold out, there are still plenty of places showing the Academy Awards live. Here are a few to check out below:
(And when it comes to your Oscar ballot, LAist has you covered with expert predictions — and heated debates — from FilmWeek’s 24th annual Oscars Preview.)
Brazilian Oscars Watch Party
Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. Dusty Vinyl 11326 W Pico Blvd., West L.A. COST: $50; MORE INFO
LAist events columnist Laura Hertzfeld suggests checking out this unique watch party: “Why not celebrate with the Brazilians and their nomination for (the excellent film) The Secret Agent? Dusty Vinyl is being turned into a 1977 secret-agent-themed hideout for the occasion, with a bespoke menu (food is included) and live music before the show starts; '70s costumes encouraged.”
The Hollywood Roosevelt’s Academy Awards Viewing Gala
Sunday, March 15, 3-10 p.m. The Hollywood Roosevelt 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood COST: $375; MORE INFO
If you’re looking to splurge on a four-course dinner and get as close to the actual Academy Awards (held at the Dolby Theatre) as possible, the gala at The Hollywood Roosevelt is your spot. There’s also the added fun of watching the show in the ballroom where the very first Academy Awards were held in 1929.
Beers, Burgers and Best Picture
Sunday, March 15, 3:30 p.m. 33 Taps, all locations Culver City, Silver Lake, DTLA, WeHo COST: Free; MORE INFO
All 33 Taps sports bars will be showing the Oscars live on Sunday.
Oscars Watch Party at The Greyhound
Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m. The Greyhound Bar & Grill 5570 N Figueroa St., Highland Park COST: Free; MORE INFO
The Highland Park bar and grill will have an Oscar ballot contest with a $5 buy-in for a chance to win a cash prize.
Rooftop Red Carpet Dinner + Watch Party
Sunday, March 15, 2:30 p.m. Elevate Lounge 811 Wilshire Blvd., DTLA COST: $39; MORE INFO
If a “celebrity-style atmosphere” with a red carpet, rooftop views and 360 degree photobooth is what you’re looking for, Elevate Lounge has got you. Your VIP ticket includes complimentary hors d’oeuvres for the first two hours of the event from Takami Sushi & Robata.
Oscars Trivia + Screening Party
Sunday, March 15, 2 to 10 p.m. 2636 Huron St., Cypress Park COST: Free; MORE INFO
This trivia night, Oscar ballot contest and watch party is free, but formal attire is required. Trivia begins at 3 p.m., before the show starts.
Dinner in WeHo + the Oscars
Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m. La Boheme 8400 Santa Monica Blvd, WeHo COST: Free admission; MORE INFO
The West Hollywood Mediterranean restaurant will be showing the Oscars on their projector screen and offering Happy Hour specials all night (which they also offer every Monday-Thursday and Sunday).
Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published March 13, 2026 5:00 AM
Beverly Soon Tofu's original menu, shown here painted on this gourd, is on display at the Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library for the rest of March.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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Topline:
Tien Nguyen, a food writer and Los Angeles Public Library creator in residence, has been digging through the library’s archives of restaurant menus from Koreatown to show the changes the neighborhood has been through over the decades.
One example: Nguyen points to a restaurant from the 1960s, called The Windsor. At the time it served mostly European dishes, like pasta. In the 1990s, however, under new ownership it became a Korean restaurant, called The Prince, which now offers comfort food favorites like bibim mandu and its signature Korean fried chicken.
How that reflects K-Town’s history: Nguyen ties the changes in menus to the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which allowed many more Koreans to emigrate to and settle in Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before local restaurants reflected the new demographic settling in the area.
See the menus: Nguyen will be presenting her talk “Menus as Neighborhood Maps: How Los Angeles Restaurant Menus Tell Stories of Community Formation” at 10:30am Saturday, March 14, at the L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
To learn more about K-Town’s culinary history: Keep reading.
It’s hard to look at a restaurant menu without being able to order anything from it, but Tien Nguyen has made it her mission to do exactly that.
Nguyen, a food writer and Los Angeles Public Library creator in residence, has been digging through the library’s archives of restaurant menus, some of which go back to the early 1900’s. She’s specifically focused on the neighborhood we now know as Koreatown, and says tracing the evolution of dishes offered can help us understand its history.
“ L.A.'s Koreatown is a really great example of the ways we can look at menus and see how the neighborhood has changed over time,” she said.
She’s been sharing her research with the public, and will be giving a talk this Saturday at L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
How restaurants reflect K-Town’s history
In the early 20th century, Koreatown was mostly known as Wilshire Center. Its Art Deco apartments were freshly built, and landmarks like the Ambassador Hotel were trendy spots for celebrities and dignitaries.
“There's one menu that I remember that is in honor of Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa, and you could see there was a big feast and banquet for them,” Nguyen said. “There were also menus for the king and queen of Greece.”
But soon after, other L.A. neighborhoods became in vogue and Koreatown hit a period of decline, even as high-rise buildings started to go up in the mid-20th century.
Following that, Koreatown started to take shape as into the diverse ethnic enclave it is today. Nguyen ties the changes to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed the United States’ highly restrictive quotas on immigration from certain countries, especially those in Asia.
About the menus
Nguyen told LAist the menu of the Korean restaurant The Prince is one of the best examples of this evolution. The restaurant now offers comfort food favorites like bibim mandu and its signature dakgangjeong. But in the middle of last century, it was known as The Windsor, and offered European continental fare.
The Windsor's food offerings from 1958.
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Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library
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“ It looks like they have great cocktails, they have really great fresh fruit alongside steaks and all sorts of different types of pastas,” Nguyen said. “When I look at those menus, you do have a bit of FOMO, but at the same time, I also am a person of color. So there's also this recognition that maybe I wouldn't have been welcome in some of those spaces as well.”
In the 1990s, the space came under new ownership and became The Prince – a Korean restaurant that still preserves its Old Hollywood charm.
“The thing to get there really is the Korean fried chicken, the tteokbokki – the rice cakes – and the Korean pancakes,” Nguyen said.
Another example which shows the emerging Korean influence of the area comes from the restaurant Beverly Soon Tofu, which opened in 1986. The restaurant’s menu was painted onto gourds, one of which is currently on display at Koreatown’s Pio Pico Branch Library until the end of the month.
Nguyen, who co-authored a cookbook with Beverly Soon Tofu’s founder Monica Lee (not to mention twobooks written with Kogi’s Roy Choi), said the menu was inspired by Korean countryside decor.
Monica Lee of Beverly Soon Tofu, pictured soon after her restaurant's opening in 1986, along with a letter announcing the opening.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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“ These dried gourds were also used as lanterns, so that was her inspiration for wanting to make it look like a menu, because her restaurant at the time was decorated kind of like a countryside restaurant,” she said.
As Korean-Americans settled in what Monica Lee called a sometimes “hot, busy and bothersome” city when she founded her restaurant in 1986, they shaped the neighborhood into the largest Koreatown in the United States – and also shaped the way Americans far and wide eat.
An translation of Beverly Soon Tofu's opening announcement.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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“ You go to Trader Joe's, and there's that kimbap that was really popular for so many years,” Nguyen said.
Korean-Americans did this alongside many other immigrant populations that call Koreatown home – many of its strip malls represent cuisines from several different countries.
“What's kind of amazing about that to me is that it is something that feels natural,” Nguyen said. “ Koreatown has a large Oaxacan population, for example. It has a very big Bangladeshi population. And so all these foods, all these cultures, [mingled] together to create a food culture that I think is so distinctly Los Angeles.”
Nguyen also credited Korean restaurants with sourcing fresh ingredients locally – even though they aren’t as celebrated as other Californian restaurants for doing so.
How to attend the talk
Nguyen will give her talk “Menus as Neighborhood Maps: How Los Angeles Restaurant Menus Tell Stories of Community Formation” at 10:30am Saturday, March 14, at the L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
