Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published October 13, 2024 10:58 AM
These bioluminescent waves were spotted off the coast of Laguna Beach on March 2021.
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Courtesy Mark Girardeau / Orange County Outdoors
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Topline:
Beachgoers in Newport Beach reported seeing the glowing waves throughout the night Saturday into early Sunday morning.
Where to go: Users on the wave-spotting Facebook group "Bioluminescence in Orange County/ Southern California" reported seeing an impressive display off of Newport Beach. One user also reported seeing some lit-up waves in Ventura.
The backstory: People watching for bioluminescence had some advance warning, as red algae was spotted off the coast of Newport on Saturday morning. Red algae are what causes the natural phenomenon. The microscopic organisms emit the light as a response to being agitated by the waves. That's to say, the glowing waves are quite literally alive.
A consolation prize: The bioluminescent waves are notoriously unpredictable, though you can find some tips for spotting them here. But this month, if you venture out to see the neon blue waves around twilight, you'll also have a decent chance of spotting the brightest comet visible from earth since 2006, which should appear low on the western horizon soon after sunset. If you're extra, extra lucky, you'll see both.
Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published February 27, 2026 5:00 AM
About 150,000 students have used CalKIDS scholarships to help pay for tuition and other higher ed expenses.
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Jay L. Clendenin
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Los Angeles Times
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Topline:
The priority deadline for California students to apply for federal and state-based financial aid is March 2. As students hustle to meet this deadline, the state is also encouraging them to claim a CalKIDS scholarship—up to $1,500 that can be used to pay for college or a career training program.
What are the requirements? The program, created through state law, does not require essays, letters of recommendations or a minimum GPA. To access these funds, students solely need their 10-digit Statewide Student Identifier, which is assigned to them at school.
Who’s eligible? Noah Lightman, assistant deputy director at ScholarShare Investment Board, which oversees the program, said about 60% of California’s public school students are eligible for the scholarship. Plus, those who qualify for it are not in competition with each other.
What can it be used for? Once they graduate high school, students can use this money to cover tuition or other higher ed expenses, including books and housing.
Why it matters: Research shows that children with even a modest amount of money set aside for higher education are three times more likely to attend college —and four times more likely to graduate college than children who don’t have any savings.
The priority deadline for California students to apply for federal and state-based financial aid is March 2. And as students hustle to meet this deadline, the state is also encouraging them to claim their CalKIDS scholarship—up to $1,500 that can be used to pay for college or a career training program.
Typically, scholarship applications involve writing essays, meeting GPA requirements and maybe even securing letters of recommendation in a competition for limited funds.
But the CalKIDS scholarship requires none of that, said Noah Lightman, assistant deputy director at ScholarShare Investment Board, which oversees the program.
About 60% of California’s public school students are eligible for the scholarship, and it’s non-competitive. Students are entitled to the money by state law, Lightman said — they just have to claim it.
CalKIDS launched in 2022. To date, about 850,000 California students have claimed their scholarships.
Lightman pointed to research showing that children with even a modest amount of money set aside for higher education are three times more likely to attend college—and four times more likely to graduate college than children who don’t have any savings.
He knows from personal experience, having juggled coursework, extracurriculars, standardized tests and college applications while figuring out how he’d pay for college. Knowing there’s easy-to-access money “can be life-changing,” he added.
How are the CalKIDS scholarship amounts determined? And how do I claim it?
Students in second grade and up who are eligible for a CalKIDS scholarship will get at least $500.
The state determines eligibility based on a variety of factors, including family income and whether the student is learning English as a second language. If a student is unhoused or fostered, they will receive an additional $500. Eligible students who are unhoused and fostered will receive $1,500.
Lightman encourages everyone to check, though.
To claim their scholarships, Lightman said, students just need their 10-digit Statewide Student Identifier, which is assigned to them at school. (If you don’t know what yours is, ask your teacher or counselor.) Once they have their SSID, students or their parents can go to the CalKIDS website, plug in that number, along with their birthdate and county where they attend school, and readily find out if they are eligible and, if so, for what amount.
Students do not need a Social Security number to access these funds.
The process takes about five minutes or less, said Julio Hernandez, a college and career administrative coordinator for Los Angeles Unified School District. Counseling teams across the district have been instructed to tell students about CalKIDS, Hernandez added. He’s also used the website to secure a $500 scholarship for his son. Once he graduates, Hernandez’s son will be able to use that money to help cover tuition or other higher ed expenses.
According to CalKIDS, students have used their scholarships to pay for everything from books to housing bills.
Students can start using their CalKIDS funds as young as 17, and they don’t have to spend it while they’re undergraduates. If they would like to hold on to that money till grad school, they may, Lightman said—but the money must be spent by the time they turn 26. Currently, he added, nearly 150,000 students are using CalKIDS to help pay for college.
What might keep students from claiming their scholarship?
At Long Beach Unified, counselors help students and parents navigate the claim process.
Counselors at the district also describe the process as quick and straightforward. But, Candyce Simpson, a counselor at Jordan High School, noted in an emailed statement to LAist that students and their parents are often “bombarded with emails about college and the cost of college.”
“There are predatory programs that spam our kids about scholarships, if you pay a fee,” she added. “As counselors, we constantly remind our students and families that if they ask for a credit card, they should delete the email immediately. These programs are very savvy, and they look very legitimate.”
Messages from CalKIDS may get “buried,” Simpson said. “Students know FAFSA and Studentaid.gov; we need to add CalKIDS to our narratives more intentionally.”
Want to learn more about CalKIDS?
The program will host a webinar about the program in March. Click here to learn more and sign up.
Hey, new parents! There is also a CalKIDS scholarship for babies
Every baby born in California on or after July 1, 2022 is also eligible for a separate CalKIDS scholarship—regardless of their family income.
These scholarships start at $100. To access them, parents need their child’s 13-digit local registration number, which can be found on their birth certificate. If families choose to link this money with the state's official college savings program, ScholarShare 529, CalKIDS will add another $50 to their account.
The scholarship, though small in comparison to escalating college costs, “serves as a conversation starter,” Lightman said, “helping families look at college savings in general.”
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published February 27, 2026 5:00 AM
People walk toward an entrance to Disneyland on April 24, 2023, in Anaheim.
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Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
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Topline:
Community members have organized an event called “Disneyland Raza Invasion” outside the theme parks to take place the same day as the planned "MAGA Takeover" at Disneyland in Anaheim tomorrow. Here’s what to know about the dueling events.
Is Disney involved? No. Similar to other events like “Dapper Dan Day” and “Bats Day,” the events are solely organized by outside groups that have no direct affiliation with the amusement park. Park officials declined to respond to LAist’s request for comment.
What we know about the “MAGA Takeover”: Organizers with 805 Patriots say the “peaceful” event is for “family-oriented” conservatives to enjoy a day at the park.
What about the Raza Invasion event? : The Brown Berets of California, a Chicano community organization, is also planning a “Disneyland Raza Invasion” outside of the main park entrance.
Organizers on social media said the “peaceful, united presence” is to “stand against hate and intimidation.”
Read on … for details on the dueling events this weekend.
Community members have organized an event called “Disneyland Raza Invasion” outside the theme parks to take place the same day as the planned "MAGA Takeover" at Disneyland in Anaheim tomorrow. Here’s what to know about the dueling events.
Disney is not involved in the events. The two are solely organized by outside groups with no direct affiliation with the amusement park, such as “Dapper Dan Day” and “Bats Day.”
Park officials declined to respond to LAist’s requests for comment.
Organizers with 805 Patriots say “Patriots in the Park” is a “peaceful” event for “family-oriented” conservatives to enjoy a day at the park. They’re encouraging attendees to show support for the president by wearing attire permitted by Disneyland, such as red hats, shirts and accessories.
Organizers say the “MAGA Takeover” meet-up is strictly recreational and participants should enjoy the park as regular visitors, without seeking attention or creating disruptions.
“It is NOT a march, protest, demonstration or political action. Attendees will enter the park as everyday guests and are expected to follow all Disneyland guidelines,” according to a statement from 805 Patriots.
The Brown Berets of California, a Chicano community organization, is also planning a “Disneyland Raza Invasion” outside of the main park entrance on Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m.
Organizers on social media said the “peaceful, united presence” is to “stand against hate and intimidation.” The group speaks out against the Trump administration’s policies, including immigration raids.
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Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn, whether in school or in the community.
Published February 27, 2026 5:00 AM
Elaine Marumoto-Perez and James Marumoto opened Kansha Creamery in 2015.
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Mariana Dale
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Every year, a South Bay ice cream gives kids the opportunity to turn their ideas into sweet, sweet frozen reality.
The backstory: Siblings James Marumoto and Elaine Marumoto-Perez opened Kansha, which means gratitude in Japanese, in 2015 in a strip mall off Western Avenue on the border of Gardena and Torrance.
An annual tradition: The kids flavor contest is a reflection of the owners’ vision for their shop, a space shaped by the people in their neighborhood. Over the years Kansha Creamery’s kids’ flavor contest has yielded all kinds of creations, some featuring hibiscus, others with strawberry lemonade or kinako (roasted soybean powder)— 2026 marks the competition's 10th anniversary.
“We were kind of just open to just trying anything,” Elaine said of their first contest in 2015. “We really wanted to just kind of be a part of the community. So it was a good way to do that.”
Go deeper to see the winning flavors from 2026’s contest
Every year, a South Bay ice cream gives kids the opportunity to turn their ideas into sweet, sweet frozen reality.
Over the years Kansha Creamery’s kids’ flavor contest has yielded all kinds of creations, some featuring hibiscus, others with strawberry lemonade or kinako (roasted soybean powder) — and 2026 marks the competition's 10th anniversary.
The shop is in a strip mall off Western Avenue on the border of Gardena and Torrance, and owned and operated by siblings James Marumoto and Elaine Marumoto-Perez. Their neighbors include a yakitori spot, a ramen shop and a dentist.
The kids flavor contest is a reflection of the owners’ vision for their shop, a space shaped by the people in their neighborhood.
“We were kind of just open to just trying anything,” Elaine said of their first contest in 2015. “We really wanted to just kind of be a part of the community. So it was a good way to do that.”
Putting the community into ice cream
As kids, James and Elaine said they entered Mitsuwa — then Yaohan— grocery store’s annual Mother and Father’s Day drawing contests.
They looked forward to seeing their art displayed in-store and their parents were excited about the free gift card.
Kansha’s contest invites kids 12 and under to submit a drawing of their flavors. James and Elaine weigh the entries’ art, story and likelihood the idea will yield tasty ice cream.
One of the winners in 2023 was Wafu-Wahoo Japanese Memory by Kairi Kitagawa. The flavor is so popular, Kansha’s made it on-demand for wedding orders. “ It's like super cool, the fact that they're like making my ice cream [at] special events,” Kairi said. “I feel, like, really happy about that.”
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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Kairi, now 15 (back left) said he was inspired by a summer trip to Japan where he toured a mochi factory. His sister Sayana, pictured here with his mom, won the kid’s flavor contest in 2018 with Love Love Strawberry Heart.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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Korra entered the contest several times before winning with Winter Chip in 2024. “I really [like] mint chip and I thought about winter,” she said. “I thought of snow.. and the marshmallows were like the same colors.”
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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Korra's mom, Winnie, estimated she bought more than 30 pints of the flavor to share with family and friends.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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Elaine remembered a submission from a few years ago that proposed an ice cream flavored like rain on pavement.
“That is so beautiful and so artistic, but we cannot make that flavor,” she said.
Other times, the contest doesn’t align with the right season for a particular ingredient.
Once they select the winners, James is responsible for making them a reality.
“It's more stressful than like a regular day,” James said. “Because I don't want to let the kid down. I also don't wanna let the parents down.”
Flavors: There’s a rotating menu, but the classics include:
Mr. Universal: Vanilla ice cream with an oatmeal cookie and caramel swirl
Vanilla: James’ go-to flavor
Matcha: A blend of two green teas
Good to know:
The shop donates .75 cents of every ice cream sold to Community Loving, a mutual aid organization in the South Bay.
The 2026 kids' flavor contest winners will be available at least through Saturday, Feb. 28.
Opening a South Bay ice cream shop
Before James and Elaine opened Kansha in 2015 they rotated between part-time jobs. Elaine nannied and taught piano. Both worked at local restaurants.
They donated part of what they made to charity, but wanted to do more.
“Kansha means gratitude in Japanese,” Elaine said. “We kind of wanted to embody that in our business practices.”
James and Elaine way back when.
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Courtesy Instagram
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@kanshacreamery
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They chose an ice cream shop, in part, because they wouldn’t need additional employees and they said there were few options for frozen treats in the South Bay at the time.
James taught himself to make ice cream from books and emails with other makers. Early flavor experiments included mustard and straw.
The organic ice cream base for every flavor is from Northern California’s Straus Family Creamery. Some of the store's best-known flavors, including matcha, draw on their Japanese heritage and the area’s Asian diaspora.
The flavors rotate frequently, but the Mr. Universal — vanilla ice cream with caramel and oatmeal cookies — is always on the menu.
The flavors rotate frequently, but the Mr. Universal— vanilla ice cream with caramel and oatmeal cookies— is always on the menu.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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It represents “the humble and the rich,” James said. “Anyone can enjoy it.”
The business survived the pandemic by switching from in-store scoops to pints-to-go.
“It's kind of a miracle,” Elaine said. “We believe in God and so we're like, ‘this is God's story and he's been taking care of us this whole time.’”
On a recent afternoon, the shop’s customers included friends catching up over cones, a grandmother and granddaughter, and school age kids doing homework and playing Jenga.
After more than a decade in business, Elaine and James are still the primary employees. Their cousin helps out on the weekends.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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“They want you to stay,” said Winnie Laurel, a regular who lives nearby. “It's not a turn and burn, you know, type of place.”
Elaine greeted many people personally — asking about their kids or a recent concert they’d attended.
She said the siblings have grown more confident and more connected to the community over the years.
“The job before was, kind of like, to give the product to the person,” Elaine said. “But now… I feel more like a host of this place and make people feel comfortable.”
They also give back: Within six months of opening, Kansha had donated more than $10,000 to feed children in need. The shop now reports their lifetime giving tops more than $550,000.
The 2026 kids’ flavor contest winners
About two dozen kids entered the contest this year.
Charlotte's reaction to her first bit of Ooey Gooey Greatness? "Oh, that's good!"
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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The hue of 8-year-old Charlotte Hosmer’s painting of a gold-brown scoop of Oooey Gooey Greatness caught James’ eye.
“ It's hard to capture the color of salted caramel, and that was like the perfect color of salted caramel,” James said.
Hosmer envisioned the flavor as a combination of hot fudge, caramel (the Ooey Gooey) and chocolate chips.
“The greatness came from 'cause I thought I was gonna be great,” Charlotte said.
After more than a decade of making ice cream, James can reference the shop's encyclopedia of past flavors for techniques to create the kids’ ideas.
Amaya Ingram's initial reaction to tasting Golden Zoeycolada for the first time? "I think it's really good!"
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Mariana Dale
/
LAist
)
Take the second winner, Golden Zoeycolada— piña colada with pineapple chunks and shortbread cookie— which borrows techniques from a previous Taiwanese pineapple cake ice cream.
Creator Amaya Ingram, 6, was inspired by her favorite fruit and the breakout song from “KPOP Demon Hunters.”
Zoey, the rhyme-spitting star from Burbank, is Amaya’s favorite of the trio and what she dressed up as for Halloween last year — “She looks a lot like me. Like she has bangs. I have bangs.”
“ I worked so hard on this flavor,” Amaya said. “ I did drawing and thinking and writing and typing.”
How did winning feel?
“Amazing."
Elaine said she hopes the kids who participate feel like their voice matters.
“ Even if you don't win, it's like you made something that you're excited for,” James said. “And you have a chance of something good happening.”
Afterall, everyone who entered gets a free scoop at the shop this week.
The Warner Bros. Discovery board announced late Thursday afternoon that Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the entire company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it had struck with Netflix for the purchase of its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.
What's next: Netflix says it is pulling out of the contest rather than try to top Paramount's offer. "We've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," the streaming giant said in a statement.
The context: Warner had rejected so many offers from Paramount that it seemed as though it would be a fruitless endeavor. Speaking on the red carpet for the BAFTA film awards last weekend, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos dared Paramount to stop making its case publicly and start ponying up cash.
The background: Paramount previously bid for all of Warner — including its cable channels such as CNN, TBS, and Discovery — in a deal valued at $108 billion. Earlier this week, Paramount unveiled a fresh proposal increasing its bid by a dollar a share.
Read on... for more on what to expect.
The Warner Bros. Discovery board announced late Thursday afternoon that Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the entire company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it had struck with Netflix for the purchase of its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.
Netflix says it is pulling out of the contest rather than try to top Paramount's offer.
"We've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," the streaming giant said in a statement.
Warner had rejected so many offers from Paramount that it seemed as though it would be a fruitless endeavor. Speaking on the red carpet for the BAFTA film awards last weekend, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos dared Paramount to stop making its case publicly and start ponying up cash.
Netflix promised that Warner Bros. would operate as an independent studio and keep showing its movies in theaters.
But the political realities, combined with Paramount's owners' relentless drive to expand their entertainment holdings, seem to have prevailed.
Paramount previously bid for all of Warner — including its cable channels such as CNN, TBS, and Discovery — in a deal valued at $108 billion. Earlier this week, Paramount unveiled a fresh proposal increasing its bid by a dollar a share.
On Thursday, hours before the Warner announcement, Sarandos headed to the White House to meet Trump administration officials to make his case for the deal.
The meetings, leaked Wednesday to political and entertainment media outlets, were confirmed by a White House official who spoke on condition he not be named, as he was not authorized to speak about them publicly.
President Trump was not among those who met with Sarandos, the official said.
While Netflix's courtship of Warner stirred antitrust concerns, the Paramount deal is likely to face a significant antitrust review from the U.S. Justice Department, given the combination of major entertainment assets. Paramount owns CBS and the streamer Paramount Plus, in addition to Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other cable channels.
The offer from Paramount CEO David Ellison relies on the fortune of his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. And David Ellison has argued to shareholders that his company would have a smoother path to regulatory approval.
Not unnoticed: the Ellisons' warm ties to Trump world.
Larry Ellison is a financial backer of the president.
David Ellison was photographed offering a MAGA-friendly thumbs-up before the State of the Union address with one of the president's key Congressional allies: U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican.
Trump has praised changes to CBS News made under David Ellison's pick for editor in chief, Bari Weiss.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, told Semafor Wednesday that he was pleased by the news division's direction under Weiss. She has criticized much of the mainstream media as being too reflexively liberal and anti-Trump.
"I think they're doing a great job," Carr said at a Semafor conference on trust and the media Wednesday. As Semafor noted, Carr previously lauded CBS by saying it "agreed to return to more fact-based, unbiased reporting."
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