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From backyard BBQs to car shows to just cruisin' around town, you know good times are on tap when Brenton Wood's hits like The Oogum Boogum Song, Gimmie Little Sign, or I Like The Way You Love Me are on the playlist.
Why it matters: Wood has enjoyed the kind of career and timelessness most musicians only dream of achieving. What motivated him to reach such heights? Hunger, according to the man himself.
Why now: Wood turns 82 today.
If Southern California had a soundtrack, Brenton Wood's music would be all over it.
From backyard BBQs to car shows to just cruisin' around town, you know good times are on tap when his hits like The Oogum Boogum Song, Gimme Little Sign, or I Like The Way You Love Me are on the playlist.
Now 82 years young on Wednesday, Wood has enjoyed the kind of career and timelessness most musicians only dream of achieving. What motivated him to reach such heights? Hunger, according to the man himself.
"I just needed a hit,” Wood told LAist recently. “I needed some money."
Wood grew up in San Pedro, one of 11 kids. Food was scarce. "My father would bring home rabbits sometimes with the buckshot still in them," he said.
Wood closely studied music trends. When his earliest recordings, a collection of doo-wop-style tunes didn’t take off, Wood went back to the drawing board, studying the hits and weaving the best parts into his own writing.
He also found inspiration in his own love life. "Whatever changes I went through, it [was] me learning that I could express my feelings to the person standing in front of me," he said.
A decade later, in 1967, when he released The Oogum Boogum Song, it was clear all that note-taking had paid off. It went on to peak at #34 on the Billboard Top 100.
Wood told us: "It was [Abracadabra] because they were casting a spell on me."
He didn’t even like the song when the label first presented it to him. Then, he spent six weeks reworking it. As he recorded that reworked version, he said he knew it was something special.
"I was laughing all the way through,” he recalled. “I thought, boy, this is gonna be catchy."
His hunch proved true. Shortly after the record debuted, he brought the new 45 to the historic Dolphins of Hollywood and had the in-house DJ play it.
"Before I got out of the record shop, people lined up ready to buy it. I thought, 'Maybe I'm onto something.'"
He sure was. His subsequent album, Baby You Got It, gave us faves like Gimme Little Sign and the low-rider deep cut Catch You On The Rebound.
The songs not only made him a mainstay on radio stations at the time but also continued to resonate in the subsequent decades on oldies radio, including The Art Laboe Connection Show.
Wood’s songs became particularly beloved in Latino communities — where they were immensely popular.
“Mr. Wood's music is part of the fabric of Chicano & Lowriding culture,” explains Julie Vasquez, president of Joyas Musicales, who’s been listening to Wood “since birth.” “His music connected with the culture and for decades has been handed down from generation to generation.”
Vasquez and her colleague, Edward "E-Dub" Rios, produce music that captures the oldies sound.
“It would be bigger than hitting the lotto to have an eternal impact through music like Mr. Wood has done,” Rios said.
There is a special place in Wood's heart for his Latino fans and his embrace by the communities.
"It makes me feel like I'm being accepted," Wood said.
Brenton Wood, one of the last living legends of "Oldies but Goodies," still performs and will appear at the Greek on October 7.
@austincrosstalk Happy Birthday, Brenton Wood! Full interview on LAist.com. #soul #lowriders #music #blm #brentonwood #lasvegas
♬ original sound - Austin
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A second case of measles has been confirmed in Los Angeles County. The infected person also traveled to Orange County.
Why it matters: Measles has been on the rise in other parts of the country like South Carolina, Arizona and Utah. 588 measles cases have been reported this year, the most cases reported in January since the year 2000. Two cases have been detected in LA County and two in Orange County.
Read more on information public health officials has released regarding potential exposure.
A second case of measles has been confirmed in Los Angeles County.
L.A. County Department of Public Health officials announced on Saturday the virus was detected in an international traveler who arrived at the Tom Bradley International Terminal — or Terminal B — at LAX on Monday, Jan. 26, through Gate 201A on Viva Aerobus Flight 518.
Public Health said anyone at Terminal B from 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 26 to 1 a.m. on Jan. 27 may have been exposed.
The traveler also spent a day in Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park in Anaheim on Jan. 28 from 12:30 to 10 p.m. On Jan. 30, they visited a Dunkin’ Donuts in Woodland Hills from 3 to 4:45 p.m.
Health officials say people who visited the above locations during those time periods may also be at risk of developing measles.
Symptoms typically appear one to three weeks after exposure.
Public Health recommends these individuals check if they are already protected against measles and advise getting a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine if they aren't.
Symptoms include a fever above 101 degrees; cough; runny nose; red, watery eyes; and a rash that typically starts on the face.
Saturday's announcement comes one day after L.A. County public health officials confirmed the first case of measles in the county. More information about that case here.
Orange County has reported two other measles cases this year, one in a young adult who recently traveled internationally and the second in an unvaccinated toddler who had no known exposure to the virus.
Measles spreads easily through the air and can stay on surfaces for many hours. Those infected can spread the virus before showing symptoms, which can take weeks to appear.
So far, 588 measles cases of measles have been reported in the U.S. this year, the highest number of cases in a January since the U.S. eliminated measles in 2000. Most of these cases are linked to outbreaks in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah.
The L.A. County Department of Public Health is encouraging Angelenos to check their immunization status for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to determine if they’re protected against the virus.
If symptoms develop, contact a health care provider via phone as soon as possible. L.A. Public Health advises people not to go physically into a health care facility before notifying them of measles symptoms.
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South Carolina now has confirmed 847 cases since the first case was reported in October, making the outbreak bigger than the one in Texas, which started just over a year ago.
Why it matters: This latest outbreak, as well as the speed at which it is spreading, is another test of the United States' ability to contain measles. It comes as the Trump administration has taken multiple steps to undermine overall confidence in vaccines.
What's next: The U.S. is already in danger of losing its status as a country that has eliminated measles. That's a technical designation. It's given to countries that have gone a year without a continuous chain of transmission. For the U.S., the clock started in January 2025 with the Texas outbreak.
In Southern California: The first measles cases of 2026 were just reported in L.A. and Orange counties.
The measles outbreak in South Carolina is showing little sign of slowing down. The state has confirmed 847 cases since the first case was reported in October, making the outbreak bigger than the one in Texas, which started just over a year ago.
Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina's state epidemiologist, points out that in Texas, measles cases grew over the course of seven months, while in South Carolina it has taken just 16 weeks to surpass the Texas case count.
"This is a milestone that we have reached in a relatively short period of time, very unfortunately," she said at a press briefing Wednesday. "And it's just disconcerting to consider what our final trajectory will look like for measles in South Carolina."
The state on Friday reported 58 new cases since Tuesday.
This latest outbreak, as well as the speed at which it is spreading, is another test of the United States' ability to contain measles. It comes as the Trump administration has taken multiple steps to undermine overall confidence in vaccines.
And it is happening as the U.S. is already in danger of losing its status as a country that has eliminated measles. That's a technical designation. It's given to countries that have gone a year without a continuous chain of transmission. For the U.S., the clock started in January 2025 with the Texas outbreak.
Measles elimination status is granted — and taken away — by a special verification commission set up by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). It reviews extensive evidence to determine whether the outbreaks in the U.S. are all part of a continuous chain of transmission that began with the outbreak in Texas in January 2025. Gathering the necessary epidemiological data, genomic analyses and surveillance reports takes time.
But even if PAHO determines that the outbreaks are separate, the U.S. could still lose its elimination status if it fails to prove that it can interrupt the spread of measles quickly and consistently, says Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, an infectious disease specialist and former top official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And so far, he says, the U.S. is failing on this front.
"We do not have the capability to actually control measles, whether or not this is demonstrated through continuous measles transmission for 12 months," Daskalakis said in a press briefing this month. "So I'm going to say that elimination is already lost."
PAHO has said it plans to review the United States' measles elimination status this spring.
When asked whether the potential loss of measles elimination status was significant during a press call this month, Dr. Ralph Abraham, the principal deputy director of the CDC, said, "Not really."
Abraham said losing elimination status would not impact how the administration tackles measles. He said the administration supports the measles vaccine, but "You know, the president, Secretary [Kennedy], we talk all the time about religious freedom, health freedom, personal freedom. And I think we have to respect those communities that choose to go a somewhat of a different route."
But infectious disease experts and epidemiologists say the choice not to vaccinate is what's driving these outbreaks. Daskalakis says the resurgence of measles is being fueled by misinformation that undermines trust in vaccines.
And public health experts say losing elimination status is more than just symbolic. "I think it's really a comment on the state of the public health system," says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "We maintained elimination for 25 years. And so now, to be facing its loss, it really points to the cycle of panic and neglect, where I think that we have forgotten what it's like to face widespread measles."
And as measles cases rise, that will lead to more hospitalizations, more deaths and a greater toll on the public health system as a whole, says Dr. William Moss of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He points to estimates suggesting that the average cost for a measles outbreak is $43,000 per case, with costs escalating to well over $1 million total for outbreaks of 50 cases or more. And fighting measles also takes resources away from other public health priorities.
In 2000, PAHO declared measles eliminated from the U.S. because there had been no continuous domestic spread for more than 12 months. But the virus is still endemic in many parts of the world, and every year, there are U.S. cases brought in from abroad. So the virus has not been eradicated.
Compare that with the smallpox virus, which has not been reported anywhere in the world since the World Health Organization declared it eradicated in 1980.
Similar to Texas, the vast majority of cases in South Carolina have been in children and teens who are unvaccinated, leading to quarantines in about two dozen schools. Clemson University and Anderson University also have recently reported cases. And the virus has crossed state lines. North Carolina has confirmed several cases linked to the South Carolina outbreak. Across the country in Washington state, officials in Snohomish County told NPR they've linked six measles cases in unvaccinated children there to a family visiting from South Carolina.
Dr. Anna-Kathryn Burch, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with Prisma Health in Columbia, S.C., says it breaks her heart to see her state have such a large outbreak.
"I'm from here, born and raised — this is my state. And I think that we are going to see those numbers continue to grow over the next several months," she says.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth — more than Ebola, smallpox or just about any other infectious disease.
A person infected with measles can be contagious from four days before the telltale measles rash appears, until four days after. So the person could be spreading measles before they know they're infected. And when they cough, sneeze, talk or even just breathe, they emit infectious particles that can linger in the air for up to two hours, long after the infected person has left the room. On average, one infected person can go on to sicken up to 18 other unvaccinated people.
The best way to protect yourself is vaccination. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is very safe, and two doses is 97% effective — which means 97% of people will develop lifelong immunity against the disease. When vaccination rates are high in a community — 95% or more is considered ideal — that helps prevent measles outbreaks because there aren't enough vulnerable people for the virus to keep spreading. In Spartanburg County, S.C., the schoolwide vaccination rate for required immunizations is 90%.
Vaccination rates have been dropping in the United States. Nationwide, 92.5% of kindergartners had received the measles vaccine in the 2024-2025 school year, according to the CDC. In many communities across the country, those figures are much lower, creating the conditions needed for measles outbreaks to spread. Experts say all that's needed is one spark to ignite it.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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President Donald Trump said today that he has instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration's immigration crackdown.
What he said: On his social media site, Trump posted that "under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help."
What's next: He provided no further details on how his order would affect operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS personnel, or other federal agencies, but added: "We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists."
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration's immigration crackdown.
On his social media site, Trump posted that "under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help."
He provided no further details on how his order would affect operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS personnel, or other federal agencies, but added: "We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists."
Trump said that in addition to his instructions to Noem he had directed "ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property."
Later Saturday night, Trump said to reporters as he flew to Florida for the weekend that he felt Democratic cities are "always complaining."
"If they want help, they have to ask for it. Because if we go in, all they do is complain," Trump said.
He predicted that those cities would need help, but said if the leaders of those cities seek it from the federal government, "They have to say, 'Please.'"
The Trump administration has already deployed the National Guard, or federal law enforcement officials, in a number of Democratic areas, including Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. But Saturday's order comes as opposition to such tactics has grown, particularly in Minnesota's Twin Cities region.
Trump said Saturday night that protesters who "do anything bad" to immigration officers and other federal law enforcement, "will have to suffer" and "will get taken care of in at least an equal way."
"You see it, the way they treat our people. And I said, you're allowed, if somebody does that, you can do something back. You're not going to stand there and take it if somebody spits in your face," Trump said.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul have challenged a federal immigration enforcement surge in those cities, arguing that DHS is violating constitutional protections.
A federal judge says she won't halt enforcement operations as the lawsuit proceeds. State and local officials had sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Justice Department lawyers have called the lawsuit "legally frivolous."
The state, particularly Minneapolis, has been on edge after federal officers fatally shot two people in the city: Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the federal action in Minnesota and across the country.
Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has suggested the administration could reduce the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota — but only if state and local officials cooperate. Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis following the killings of Good and Pretti, seeming to signal a willingness to ease tensions in Minnesota.
The president on Saturday night said he intended to speak to Homan and Noem on Sunday and he seemed to endorse the idea of immigration agents wearing body cameras or having their interactions filmed.
Trump was asked by a reporter if he thought it was a good thing having lots of cameras capturing incidents with law enforcement.
"I think it would help law enforcement but I'd have to talk to them," Trump said.
He went on and added: "That works both ways. But overall, I think it's 80% in favor of law enforcement."
Copyright 2026 NPR
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A newly formed coalition is asking the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to place a five-year, half-cent sales tax measure on the June ballot in Los Angeles County.
Why now: Facing federal funding cuts that could strip health coverage from hundreds of thousands of Angelenos, clinic leaders, union members and patients gathered in Inglewood last to boost a stop-gap proposal they want to put in front of voters: a county sales tax to stave off service cuts and keep more sick people from seeking primary care in emergency rooms.
Facing federal funding cuts that could strip health coverage from hundreds of thousands of Angelenos, clinic leaders, union members and patients gathered in Inglewood last Wednesday to boost a stop-gap proposal they want to put in front of voters: a county sales tax to stave off service cuts and keep more sick people from seeking primary care in emergency rooms.
A newly formed coalition, Restore Healthcare for Angelenos, is asking the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to place a five-year, half-cent sales tax measure on the June ballot in Los Angeles County.
“The ballot measure that we are proposing is an urgent and necessary step to stop the damage, to protect access to life-saving care,” said Louise McCarthy, president and CEO of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, one of the organizations in the coalition. “The stakes right now could not be higher.”
As the federal spending plan, H.R. 1, starts to take effect, Medi-Cal cuts and eligibility changes will affect millions of Californians. The state estimates it could lose tens of billions of dollars a year in federal funding.
According to the coalition, their proposal would raise about $1 billion annually for health care in Los Angeles County. The revenue would help create a local coverage program that would pay for primary and emergency care as well as behavioral health needs for people who fall off their Medi-Cal insurance and have no other coverage options, according to the coalition. When people are uninsured, uncompensated care at clinics and hospitals grow, threatening the availability of services for everyone, coalition leaders say.
The coalition is working with Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose office on Wednesday presented the motion to the county — an initial step before public debate. The board is expected to vote next month; the deadline for placing a board-sponsored measure on the June ballot is March 6.
“I do not take lightly asking fellow residents to consider imposing a ½ percent retail tax,” Mitchell said in an emailed statement. “This option is on the table because what’s at stake are safety net services unraveling for millions of residents — which would come at an even greater cost for the largest county in the nation.”
She added that if the measure passed it would sunset on Oct. 1, 2031 and would be subject to public oversight and audits. “This is a last resort option for the times we’re facing and for voters to make the final call on,” Mitchell said.
If the board of supervisors does not approve the measure for a June vote, the coalition will gather signatures toward qualifying the initiative for the November ballot, said Jim Mangia, CEO of St. John’s Community Health, another coalition member.
Efforts to shore up health care access for poor Californians aren’t unique to Los Angeles. Pressure is building for state and county leaders to find new revenue streams to make up at least in part for the federal losses. In a legislative hearing Tuesday, health providers and advocates also urged state lawmakers to seek creative funding solutions.
Last November, voters in Santa Clara County approved a tax similar to the one proposed in Los Angeles County. Santa Clara’s Measure A will raise the local sales tax by five-eights of a cent for five years. The county projects that it will provide $330 million annually for local hospitals and clinics.
Both local proposals are separate from the push led by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West for a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of the state’s approximately 200 billionaires, which would generate an estimated $100 billion to fund medical care and other social services at the state level. Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the initiative, arguing that such a tax would drive wealthy people — who pay a significant portion of the state’s income taxes — from the state. That measure has not yet qualified for the November ballot.
Local and state tax proposals could seemingly compete for the attention of voters, since both are responses to the issue of federal funding cuts. And in L.A., voters may have to consider a number of other tax measures this election year from a city hotel tax in June to a sales tax to support the Los Angeles Fire Department in November.
Mangia sees the tax initiatives to fund health care as complementary. He said the state tax on billionaires would help restore some of federal cuts to Medi-Cal at the state level, while the L.A County measure would help shore up the local safety net.
“We’re doing this to make sure that no matter what happens federally, statewide, residents of L.A. County will have access to health care,” Mangia said.
Among the most prominent changes and cuts made in Trump’s major budget reconciliation law are a new requirement for enrollees to log 80 hours per month of school, work or volunteering starting in 2027; a rule that requires people to renew coverage every six months rather than annually; restrictions on taxes that the state places on insurers to help pay for the Medi-Cal program; and a reduction in how much the feds will pay for the emergency care of non-citizens.
State health officials estimate 2 million Californians could lose their Medi-Cal coverage over the next several years.
Under its own growing budget pressures, the state has also rolled back coverage for certain groups. Starting earlier this month state health officials froze Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented people — the state foots most of the cost for this group because with the exception of emergency care, federal dollars cannot be used to cover individuals who are in the country illegally. This summer the state will also cut non-emergency dental care for undocumented adults already enrolled in the program.
