The Brief

Roughly three years after above-average rainfall fueled a devastating landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes, the landscape has become almost unrecognizable. Homes, ripped apart by the land movement, have been wiped away, creating swaths of unusable open space. Trying to slow the landslide has pushed the city to the financial brink.

But also caught in the landslide’s crosshairs is a beloved seaside network of trails that continues to be pulled apart and will never be the same.

The area was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of the land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some of which span 12 feet.

For decades, land movement was minimal. But above-average rainfall in 2022 and 2023 rapidly accelerated — up to 1 foot per week in some places — prompting Southern California Edison and SoCalGas to shut off utilities for hundreds of residents.

Landslide damage has closed dozens of trails in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Landslide damage has closed dozens of trails in the Portuguese Bend community area of Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Land movement has since slowed to about 1.6 inches a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground, but damage to the around 16 miles of trails remains and will likely never be abated.

"We don't traverse those areas on a regular basis. We occasionally use drones to look at the damage,” said Ara Mihranian, Rancho Palos Verdes’ city manager. “You can't get across certain trails, so if we even went down into a certain area, we wouldn't be able to continue because of the open fissures in the ground.”

William Lavoie of the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club has hiked trails in the 1,500 acre-Palos Verdes Nature Reserve once a week for about 25 years. Before the city closed off the area, he said he saw a telephone pole “ tipping at about a 30-degree angle.”

Landslides resulted in a home being severely damaged in Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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“ I understand why they closed the trails because there were some pretty good-sized fissures,” he said. “It would be very sad if somebody broke a leg or twisted an ankle or broke an ankle.”

The effects on nature

But the destruction hasn’t been a total loss.

The California gnatcatcher, a small songbird that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls “threatened” and the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly rely on certain host plants within the preserve.

“ The habitat that supports the wildlife has been fragmented, has been damaged with fissures opening up in the ground, splitting apart. Coastal sage scrub has actually been sucked in by the fissures,” Mihranian said. “That impacts the corridors and the wildlife patterns that you see out in the preserve.”

But Cris Sarabia, conservation director for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, said the species can also benefit from less human activity.

“ Both of those endangered species have wings so they could essentially fly,” he said. “So the fissures on the trails or the cracks in the ground don't necessarily cause big impacts to them because they're able to move around.”

Sarabia said his organization is also tracking the cactus wren bird that resides in a cactus found within the landslide area.

“ We have been working closely with the different entities doing the [mitigation] work to avoid as much habitat as possible, but unfortunately some of these areas overlap,” he said.

Meanwhile, the conservancy is trying to salvage the cactus and preparing for restoration of the sites, collecting native seeds and growing new plants.

But the true extent of the damage and the effects to wildlife are unclear, Mihranian said, because city officials haven’t been able to go in to do a full assessment — the area is too unsafe.

 ”It's going to be a herculean effort and a very costly one as well,” Mihranian said of repairing the damage.

A colossal financial drain 

When the current fiscal year ends in June, Rancho Palos Verdes will have spent close $65 million on efforts related to the landslide since October 2022. For context, the city’s annual operating budget is around $40 million.

“ The city has taken a huge hit on this emergency response,” Mihranian said.

Rancho Palos Verdes has appealed to state and federal officials for assistance, but with little to no success.

Adding salt to the wounds, the city has also lost out on revenue from parking fees for the preserve. Revenue generated at the Abalone Cove Park lot has dropped from $150,000 each year, to just $11,000, according to the city. Revenue from parking near Del Cerro Park also decreased from around $32,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 to just $4,000.

Not to mention all the homes that have been lost, uprooting the lives of residents who haven’t been able to resell, instead relying on a government-backed buy back program.

Alternative trail routes

Lavoie, the Sierra Club member, said despite the trail closures, the vast open space in the Palos Verdes Peninsula means there are plenty of alternatives.

Here are some of his favorites:

• Lavoie affectionately calls the trail behind Highridge Park “the maze.” It’s an easy one-hour walk and you get to share the trail with horses. 
• Malaga Cove: Pass Neptune fountain, the library and post office to continue along a grassy hill shaded by eucalyptus trees. Use the utility pathway to reach La Venta Inn.
• The Via Buena stairs in Lunada Bay. 
• There are lots of great trails that start at Ernie Howlett Park.   

Anyone can join the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club on their hikes in the peninsula. Check their calendar for meeting spots and times.

Southern California was built on radio.

"I can still hear the jingle KFWB News 98,” wrote  Taline in Los Feliz, during a recent conversation on LAist's daily news show, AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM. “I grew up hearing that in my dad's minivan on the way to and from school. It has a special place in my heart.”

Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — was leaving the FM dial where it had simulcast on 97.1 FM since 2021. The station, which is also one of the oldest in L.A., is not budging from 1070 AM where it has been on the air for more than 100 years. The move away from FM officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station, which Audacy officials called an area of growth for advertisers in today’s media landscape.

The move is one in a long line of changes for radio and a reminder that before podcasts, playlists and algorithms, many Southern Californians built their days around radio broadcasts.

Radio, a daily ritual

The construction of KNX

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Herman J. Schultheis

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Michael Jackson, a well-known KNX, personality

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Larry Mantle, now in his 41st year hosting AirTalk, remembers being a kid and dreaming of what it might be like to be behind the mic at one of these radio stations.

“ I grew up with KNX," he said. “My dream job as a kid was to be an anchor on KNX or KFWB, the two local all-news radio stations, 'cause there was nothing like hosting AirTalk that even existed at that point.”

Mantle opened up the phone lines on a recent show to hear from his fellow SoCal radio lovers about the shows they miss and the memories they have. Here's what they had to say:

A love for radio, then and now  

A pilot of KMPC's traffic alert helicopter pictured with his daughter and grandson.

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Los Angeles Public Library

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A 1963 picture of Valley State College (now Los Angeles Valley College) preparing to launch KVCM

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Larry Leach

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Los Angeles Public Library

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“When you'd walk down Hollywood Boulevard where the station was, you could hear it playing as you went down the street,” said  Olivia in Glendale about KLAC 570 with Al Jarvis.

 Larry in Yorba Linda shouted out KBCA Jazz for its 24-hour jazz, saying “When I first moved out here in '68 from Phoenix, which had like an hour a week, it was a real wonder.”

 Mark in Glassell Park emailed that he loves KCRW’s Henry Rollins, writing, “I used to bristle at his unique DJ persona, but over time, I came to love him and his crazy eclectic playlists. I find his knowledge in history and punk rock fascinating. He's a gem and a legend."

"I'd like to give a shout-out to all the DJs working at KXLU, the college station at Loyola Marymount University, said  Jeremy in Culver City in an email. “That station's been on the air for nearly 60 years. I believe it's one of the best examples of what's possible with radio."

"KFWB and KRLA back in the day when they were rock music stations —  Dr. Demento, one of my favorite on-air personalities, also had eclectic music taste," said  Carrie in Desert Edge.

“ Dr. Demento was must listening when I was a kid in junior high school at Le Conte Junior High in Hollywood,” Mantle added. “Every Sunday night on KMET, we would make sure we were listening to Dr. Demento and his funny records.”

The question remains…

An 11-year-old winning a car in a KMPC contest in 1963.

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Los Angeles Public Library

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Listener support is vital to any radio station, and it’s clear KNX has many lifelong fans. AirTalk listeners highlighted their support for household KNX names over the decades like Bill Keene, Melinda Lee, Mike Roy and Jackie Olden.

As KNX makes changes, many are watching closely and thinking about the future of radio.

Listeners like Tommy in La Quinta are left wondering if the radio dial will be the same…

“I’m a hardcore listener, but I don't know about casual listeners [and] if they'll tune to AM,” he said.

After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.

According to the deal, the private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.

The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.

The 2028 Olympics are intended to be privately financed, and an existing city agreement with LA28 states that the Olympics organizers, not L.A., will pay for extra costs for public services in support of the Games. But L.A. is the financial back-stop for the Olympics, meaning if LA28 goes in the red, taxpayers will pick up the bill.

Beyond that, the city services agreement presents another area where L.A. could incur additional unexpected expenses for hosting the Games. L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez warned LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover earlier this year that a bad deal could "bankrupt" the city.

Jacie Prieto Lopez, an LA28 spokesperson, and Paul Krekorian, who leads the city's office of major events, said in statements that the freshly inked agreement would help deliver a fiscally responsible Games.

"Mayor Bass’ priority is that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games be fiscally responsible, protect taxpayers, and benefit Angelenos for decades to come. This agreement helps deliver that commitment," Krekorian said.

But the contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Organizers are counting on the federal government to pay for public safety at Olympic venues that are considered part of a "national special security event." That includes costs for LAPD staffing. LA28 has not included security costs in its $7.1 billion budget — a fact that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto criticized earlier this year.

The federal government has so far allocated $1 billion for security costs for the Olympics. Exactly where those federal funds will go has not yet been determined, and there's no guarantee they will cover all of L.A.'s policing costs.

To address this, city officials have also proposed an amendment to a 2021 agreement between the city and LA28. That amendment would establish that if L.A. is not reimbursed by the federal government for all its eligible expenses, it could dip into LA28's contingency fund of $270 million before the private organizing committee could use those funds for any legacy projects.

But that bucket of money will first be used for any costs that Olympics organizers still owe if they run out of revenue — meaning if the Olympics don't turn a profit, the city's access to that money will depend on how much is left for the taking.

Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who has been tracking the city's negotiations with LA28, told LAist the agreement was a "PR document" not a deal. She pointed out that if the federal government does not pay up for security spending as expected, L.A. could be in trouble.

" It leaves the taxpayers with a GoFundMe strategy," she said.

The city services agreement lays the groundwork for more negotiations between LA28 and the city. Each venue will require its own agreement, to be negotiated by July 1, 2027. Venues in the city of L.A. include Dodger Stadium, the L.A. Convention Center, L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Venice Beach Boardwalk.

The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.