The Brief

Holiday music rules the pop charts once again this week, as Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" scores its 17th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 — the third longest run of all time. On the albums chart, the K-pop group Stray Kids debuts at No. 1 with HOP; the group has debuted atop the Billboard 200 with its first six charting albums, which is a new record to kick off a career. And, though the same five holiday songs sit atop the Hot 100 as last week (and last year at this time, for that matter), there's a fresh milestone for more recent-vintage Christmas songs by Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson.

Top albums

This past summer, the K-pop group Stray Kids debuted atop the Billboard 200 with a record called ATE. That feat tied an all-time record, as only one other artist's chart history — that of the late rapper DMX — began with five straight albums that debuted at No. 1. Now, just four months later, Stray Kids can claim the record outright, as a new album called HOP debuts atop the charts. That's a run of six straight No. 1 debuts, all of them within a span of just three calendar years.

Because so much of HOP's chart success is derived from sales rather than streaming — with an emphasis on CD sales, curiously enough — Stray Kids' stay atop the Billboard 200 may be short. (The group's previous records have followed a similar path.) But it speaks to the considerable power of K-pop music that so many albums in the genre have debuted at or near the top of the charts this year.

If you're looking for a metric to convey K-pop's growth in the U.S. — as well as the increasingly international nature of the pop charts in the streaming era — a total of 27 albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with vocals predominantly performed in a language other than English. Of those 27, exactly two-thirds of them are in Korean, and all of them have come out since 2018.

Below Stray Kids, Kendrick Lamar's GNX holds at No. 2 for a third straight week since its debut atop the chart, while Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department slides from No. 1 to No. 3. Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet climbs from No. 5 to No. 4, the Wicked soundtrack slips from No. 6 to No. 7, Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft rises from No. 9 to No. 8 and Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess surges back into the Top 10, climbing from No. 11 to No. 9.

That leaves three holiday titles to round out the Top 10. Though none of its songs have hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, Michael Bublé's Christmas climbs from No. 7 to No. 5 — which suggests that much of its audience prefers to hear Bublé drain the life out of holiday favorites in album-length doses, mostly via streaming. Bing Crosby's Ultimate Christmas, a generously portioned holiday collection from earlier this year, climbs from No. 8 to No. 6, while Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas leaps into the Top 10, climbing from No. 14 to No. 10 on the strength of… well you know.

Top songs

Yes, in a development as predictable as the tides, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" once again sits atop the Hot 100. It's the song's third straight week atop the chart, which is no big surprise; what's notable is the accumulation of weeks at No. 1, which is approaching record territory. With 17 weeks at No. 1 — all of them racked up in two- to four-week bursts starting in 2019 — the song has now posted the third-longest run at No. 1 in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, which dates back to 1958. It also stands alone with the longest run of Carey's career; her "One Sweet Day," with Boyz II Men, was a world-beating record-setter with 16 weeks at No. 1 back in 1995-96.

Assuming it tops the chart next week, as well, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" looks primed to break the all-time record shortly after the commencement of the 2025 holiday season — assuming no song runs up a longer streak between now and then. Currently, the all-time record of 19 weeks at No. 1 is held by two songs, both of them from the streaming era: Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)" from 2019 and Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," which dominated the Hot 100 for much of this year. (It finally dropped out of the Top 10 just this week, but looks poised to reenter the chart's upper reaches once the holiday perennials get mothballed.)

Speaking of holiday perennials — and the stench of mothballs — the usual suspects round out the Top 5. Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" holds at No. 2, a spot it knows well, while Wham!'s "Last Christmas" jumps from No. 4 to No. 3, thanks in part to a new physical release and the release of a Wham! documentary on Netflix. "Last Christmas" swaps places with the zombified corpse of Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock," while Burl Ives' "Holly Jolly Christmas" holds at No. 5.

Only one non-holiday song sits in this week's Top 10, so give credit to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars for their resilience as "Die With a Smile" holds at No. 6. Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" dampens the season by jumping from No. 11 to No. 7 — seriously, people, Andy Williams, we've talked about this — while Dean Martin's "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" leaps from No. 12 to No. 8. And at No. 9 and No. 10 are… well, sit tight for a sec.

Worth noting

So, before we get to Nos. 9 and 10, here's a wild statistic: Until this week, the newest holiday song to hit the Billboard Top 10 is from… 1999, when Kenny G released a sax-y cover of "Auld Lang Syne." (The song had a "Millennium Remix" that incorporated news clips from the 20th century, which helped G's "Auld Lang Syne" reach No. 7 in 2000.)

Which means that, for nearly 25 years, not a single newly recorded holiday song — of the thousands upon thousands that have been released — has graced the Billboard Top 10. Nothing by Taylor Swift, nothing by Beyoncé, not one song by any artist whose career began in the 21st century. Hope you like Andy Williams, suckers, because the holiday season is for songs that bored your grandparents!

So consider it progress that two 21st-century holiday songs have ended the drought and hit the Top 10 for the very first time this week: Kelly Clarkson's 2013 song "Underneath the Tree" climbs from No. 15 to No. 10, while Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me," from 2014, rises from No. 14 to No. 9. So if you want to know how long it takes a holiday song to travel from "new" to "officially welcomed into the canon," the answer is: "at least a decade." Even for those of us who've had "Santa Tell Me" stuck in their head for weeks, it has to count as progress.

Incidentally, if you're looking for a sense of just how old most seasonal standards are, consider that "Auld Lang Syne" is one of only two holiday songs from the '90s to have ever hit the Top 10. The other? A sweet little ditty, perhaps you've heard it, called "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

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The $360 million effort to turn Exposition Park’s largest parking lots into green space won’t be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics.

State leaders announced the multi-million dollar investment into the park in 2024, planning to prep the park for an Olympic close-up by replacing the warren of asphalt lots on Expo Park’s southern edge with an underground lot and green park land.

Now park officials say the 6-acre project now won’t break ground until 2028, after the Olympic torch is extinguished.

Expo Park and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be a centerpiece of L.A.’s Olympic image in the summer of 2028. But for residents of the surrounding South L.A. neighborhoods, the park and its facilities help fill a serious need for recreation and green space.

Andrea Ambriz, general manager of the state-run park, said the park hasn’t had an investment of this kind since the 1984 Olympic Games, but that the inspiration and funding for the park project go beyond the 2028 games.

“Whatever we do now is intended in full to support the community. It’s not just for these games,” Ambriz said.

Ambriz said park officials hit pause on project planning after realizing it would not be completed before the Olympics.

State leaders are still angling to get at least some of the park freshened up in time for the Olympics, with officials announcing in January that Gov. Gavin Newsom planned to earmark $96.5 million in proposed funds for renovations in the park.

The funding, according to the governor’s proposed budget, will be used for “critical deferred maintenance” to meet code compliance and accessibility requirements.

Ambriz said the lion’s share of the money will go to rehabbing roadways, sidewalks and ramps throughout the park to ensure safe pedestrian and vehicle access.

“This is a part of what we know we need,” Ambriz said. “It is a really significant downpayment from the state.”

How will the park affect the neighborhood? 

John Noyola is a 42-year resident of the Exposition Park neighborhood who sits on the North Area Neighborhood Development Council. For him, any major overhaul of the park still feels like an abstract concept.

He’s seen news reports about the proposed changes, but heard little more.

“It hasn’t really affected us or the community,” Noyola said.

The 150-year-old Expo Park has one of the densest collections of cultural institutions in Los Angeles, said Esther Margulies, a professor of landscape architecture just across the street from the park at USC.

Four museums, including the under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, will soon share the park with the BMO Stadium and the Coliseum.

Margulies said Grand Park, in downtown Los Angeles, has begun to fill a role as a “living room for the city” in recent years, but that Expo Park is falling short of its potential.

“People should see Expo Park as a place to begin their journey of visiting Southern California and Los Angeles,” Margulies said. “This is where you should come and there should be this energy of, like, ‘Wow!’”

Changing Expo Park, Margulies said, starts with building a space that serves its community.

In its current design, the park’s best-kept green spaces sit behind the fences of its museums, Margulies said, and large asphalt expanses act as heat sinks. Major events often come at the community’s expense.

“There’s tailgating, day drinking in the park,” Margulies said. “People don’t come to the park on those days.”

Noyola, the Expo Park resident, said his family and others in the community frequent the park recreation center, pools and fields near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He worries that construction could block parking or other access to the park spaces that are available.

He remains wary of the unintended consequences of a park remodel, especially after watching traffic spike in Inglewood when SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome were built.

“It would be nice,” Noyola said of the remodel. “Looking at the greater vision of LA 28, it’s needed. But at what cost?”

Southern California is in for a wet week, with the potential for what the weather service is calling "widespread" impacts.

Ahead of the heavy rain, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has issued an evacuation warning for the Palisades, Sunset and Hurst burn scar areas due to the potential for mud and debris flows.

The warning is in effect from 9 p.m. on Sunday until 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Storm details

When is the rain coming?

Rain is expected to arrive in Ventura and Los Angeles counties Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service.

When is the rain heaviest?

Weather forecast this week for Southern California.

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Courtesy NWS

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Moderate to heavy rain is expected early Monday, with significant snow and damaging winds starting at about 3 a.m. Heaviest impacts, including the possibility of widespread flooding and thunderstorms, are expected to last until around 9 p.m.

Rain continues all week

Light rain is expected to continue Tuesday through Friday.

Upcoming weather alerts for L.A.

• A Flood Watch will go into effect on Monday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• A Wind Advisory will go into effect Monday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• A High Surf Advisory will go into effect Monday at 10 a.m. through Thursday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. for the Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, San Pedro and Port of Los Angeles areas. Angelenos are encouraged to avoid the ocean.
• A Gale Watch, which includes sustained surface winds near coastal areas, will go into effect Monday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for all inner waters near the Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, San Pedro and Port of Los Angeles areas. Angelenos are encouraged to avoid boating until the weather is calmer.

Today, millions of Angelenos use the Central Library downtown (which turns 100 this year) and over 70 branch locations to access the Los Angeles Public Library’s collection of over 8 million books.

But this juggernaut wasn’t created overnight. What started with just 750 books in 1872 was transformed in part because of city librarian Everett Perry, a visionary who wanted books to be easy to access. Here’s a look at how his influence can still be felt today.

A library in disarray 

Perry got the job as top librarian in L.A. after working at the New York Public Library, which opened a main building during his tenure. He was accustomed to growth.

But when he arrived in 1911, the Los Angeles Public Library was struggling. With no permanent location, it had moved several times into different rented spaces, the most recent being in the Hamburger's Department Store, where patrons had to ride an elevator to check out books in between women’s clothes and furniture.

Perry aired his grievances in a 1912 library report.

Everett Robbins Perry in 1911.

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Witzel Photo

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Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

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“The modern library aims to be a vital force in a community,” he wrote. “It can not perform this function, if its usefulness is limited by an inaccessible location.”

This is an early look into his ethos as librarian. Perry was part of a progressive crop of librarians, whose ideas were shifting about how books should be stored and used by the public.

His goal was to create a library system focused on great service and that rivaled the very best on the East Coast. With others, he pushed for a central library to be built, funded by a $2 million bond measure. Voters passed that in the 1920s, which led to the creation of the impressive Art Deco building that still stands downtown.

But what was perhaps even more impressive was how he infused the building with novel ideas about how to make reading more accessible.

One key example was his decision to set up subject departments. For decades prior, libraries stored books on fixed shelves (these couldn’t be adjusted), so they were usually sorted by size or acquisition date. Libraries had only recently moved to the not-very-user-friendly Dewey decimal system.

By grouping books under subjects, Perry made it much easier for people to find what they wanted. His idea was so successful that it eventually spread to other libraries across the country.

Another innovation was where you could read the books. Perry put the circulation and card catalog area in the center of the floor, which was surrounded by book stacks and reading rooms along the edges. That meant they were next to the windows and full of natural light, which according to LAPL, wasn’t customary at the time.

The reference room of the Main Library, seen circa 1913, was in an enclosed section on the third floor of the Hamburger Building, a department store.

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Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

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Building a teaching program

Perry earned a reputation as a fair, iron-fist leader who wanted top-notch library practices.

He issued a rulebook for staff that covered everything from the janitor’s responsibility to make brooms last longer to requiring librarians to go with patrons to find books.

But Perry’s legacy also includes the next generation of librarians. In 1914, he revamped an aging LAPL librarian training program into a full-fledged, accredited library school that was known as the best in California.

Artist Dean Cornwell, left, shows his proposal for the Central Library rotunda murals to city librarian Everett Perry sometime in the 1920s.

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Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

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The history department at the Central Library in 1926. This was one of the largest reading rooms of the library.

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Mott Studios

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Los Angeles Public Library Legacy Collection

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He aimed to professionalize librarianship by encouraging men to apply (it had commonly been women), urging all applicants to have at least some college-level education, and creating a formal internship program. The program covered technical librarian skills, as well new coursework that compared how other libraries functioned across the country.

Perry served for over two decades until his death in 1933.

His achievements were numerous. Aside from getting the Central Library built, he grew the staff from 98 to 600, helped the 200,000-book collection balloon to 1.5 million, and added dozens of more branch libraries.

In 2018 he was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame.

Federal immigration agents have left a U.S. Coast Guard facility that's been a key staging area for them in the Port of L.A., according to U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan who represents the area.

Since last summer, agents have been using the base on Terminal Island as a launch point for operations.

In a statement to LAist, Barragan, a Democrat, says she confirmed with the Coast Guard last night that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have vacated the base. She says it's unclear at this time whether the move is permanent or if agents are moving to another location in L.A. County.

Local officials and community groups are celebrating the agents' departure from Terminal Island. Volunteers with the Harbor Area Peace Patrols have been monitoring agent activity for months, tracking vehicles and sharing information with advocacy networks.

Earlier this week, the group said it received reports of the department.