The Brief

One of Los Angeles’ oldest green spaces, MacArthur Park, is on its way to being made whole again.

A multi-year effort has started to reconnect the 35-acre recreation area that’s currently bisected by Wilshire Boulevard. But why was the park split in half nearly a century ago?

MacArthur Park origins

Before it was public parkland, today’s MacArthur Park wasn’t a popular place. In the early days of L.A., in the 1800s, it was a marshy wetland that was dismissed as an undesirable swamp, according to historian Nathan Masters, as the land occupied a saddle-shaped depression.

The body of water was a natural alkali lake, which created a very productive ecosystem with plenty of waterfowl. That evaporated for a time in the extended 1860s drought, giving the area a bad reputation, and it prompted the public to dub the space the “Dead Sea,” according to a city planning survey.

The city tried to sell it off for a bottom-barrel price, but it failed to draw any interest. The land then went from swamp to dump as people piled trash and animal carcasses rotted away. But after Angelenos began to move to the Westlake neighborhood around it, they campaigned for improvements, and it transformed over the years.

In 1886, the area was designated as public parkland, first named Westlake Park, which took it from an eyesore to an oasis (or at least as nice as you can get for a city), complete with buggy paths, boating facilities, a bandstand for Sunday concerts, and a seal pool! (Yes, actual living seals to gawk at.)

Fresh water was pumped into the lake from the city’s Zanja Madre water system, which reduced its alkalinity.

In 1942, the city of Los Angeles changed Westlake Park’s name to what we know today, in honor of General Douglas MacArthur.

Split in two

An aerial view of Westlake Park in 1921.

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Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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This aerial view, dated in 1929, shows Westlake Park with the proposed Wilshire Boulevard extension over the lake. The road extension has been artistically rendered, showing the boulevard curving across the north side of the lake.

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Spence Air Photos/Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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As L.A. grew through the decades, so did our transportation routes.

One proposal had a 70-foot boulevard-width roadway and 6-foot sidewalks, which would curve across the park and an arm of the lake. The plan, which was submitted by the Wilshire Boulevard Association around the early 1930s, would've cost approximately $250,000.

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Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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At that time, Wilshire Boulevard, a major east-west artery, dead-ended 1.5 miles west of downtown at the park. It was millionaire Gaylord Wilshire’s dream for his namesake boulevard to connect downtown to Santa Monica, so the city had been looking for ways around the park into downtown since the late 1920s.

There were proposals drawn up to achieve this through other means, like a $250,000 plan to build a bridge over the lake, but in the end, the city chose a cheaper option — simply extending the road, at $93,000 (equivalent to $2.1 million today).

Aerial view of MacArthur Park in 1956. The park's smaller lake, created by the split, was filled in sometime after the extension was completed.

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Howard D. Kelly/Kelly-Holiday Mid-Century Aerial Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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The cut-through change wasn’t welcomed by all, however. The Wilshire Community Council protested the move in 1932 and residents organized to urge city leaders to stop. In October of that year, 300 residents went before the Public Works Committee of the City Council to voice a unanimous dissent.

Speakers felt the change was an unnecessary one that would destroy the park, bring traffic hazards closer to visitors, and be a “drain on the public purse.”

But the city moved forward, and in 1934, they constructed the road that took Wilshire Boulevard into the park, through the lake, to the other side. The lake was drained temporarily as teams filled in the dirt foundation.

At the time, the road it connected to was Orange Street, but it was all renamed to Wilshire later.

Today's concerns

The contentious history mirrors issues with the management of MacArthur Park today, with concerns that it isn’t well taken care of.

In 2021, the park closed down for a million-dollar repair, displacing the unhoused people living there. And there are also crime worries. Just recently in June, a body was found in the lake.

The city leaders spearheading the merging of the two park sides believe that closing the causeway will bring a refreshed effort to improving the park after “years of neglect.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

In Los Angeles, the buzz around HBO’s “Heated Rivalry’ isn’t just about the drama on-ice, it’s sparking heated debates off the rink. 

Through her Substack, “Black Girl Watching,” critic and filmmaker Brooke Obie has been hosting in-person salons and online critique sessions about films like “Sinners” and the hit TV hockey romance.

“I believe in the power of criticism and the necessity of it as a tool to fight fascism and I am always going to create community spaces where we can think critically about the media we consume,” Obie told The LA Local.

As the show’s popularity grows, fans and advocates are asking whether its success reflects real inclusion or another moment of rainbow capitalism in sports.

Brooke Obie, creator of the Black Girl Watching Substack.

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Courtesy of Brooke Obie

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Obie said that there are many Black fans of “Heated Rivalry,” so she wanted to create a safe space for them to discuss it.

“(We) talk about some of the racial nuances of the show that impact the ways characters are treated by the fandom,” she said. “And (we discuss) how existing racist and sexist tropes can be used to interpret characters when too much is left to the imagination of the audience by the writers.”

The Canadian drama is based on the novels by Rachel Reid. It was created for TV by Jacob Tierney and follows two closeted rival hockey players, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, whose secret romance unfolds over years of competition. 

It premiered quietly on the streaming service Crave before being licensed to HBO Max, where it grew into what HBO executive Casey Bloys called a “word-of-mouth sensation,” even with little marketing.

From left, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) in “Heated Rivalry”.

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Sabrina Lantos

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HBO Max

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The show’s success has been swift and unusual, given its origins on a small Canadian streamer and lack of marquee names. Its stars, Connor Storrie (Ilya) and Hudson Williams (Shane), have appeared at awards shows, carried the Olympic torch and posed for glossy photo shoots. Social media is flooded with fan edits and watch parties.

Recreational hockey leagues reported an uptick in queer participation.

But beneath the celebration, fans like Obie say the conversation is incomplete.

She said she noticed early on that online conversations about the show often lacked racial nuance — particularly around Shane, who is written as having a Japanese mother but rarely explores that cultural identity on screen.

“With a white author and a white showrunner at the helm, Shane’s lack of culturally Japanese experiences is a clear weak spot in a fantastic show,” Obie said.

Obie added that the goal of critical dialogue around the series is not to tear down the show but to create an inclusive space where LGBTQ+ fans of color and others in the margins can feel seen in a fandom that often skews white.

Joel Relampagos announces the casting of his new reality series.

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Courtesy of Joel Relampagos

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The show’s impact has been positive for a sports culture that has historically marginalized queer athletes. Specifically, there has been a queerification of sports since the show’s premiere, according to Emmy-winning producer Joel Relampagos.

Relampagos, who is developing a reality series focused on queer athletes, told The LA Local that he has seen more athletes willing to share their stories since the show premiered.

“We really have to eliminate that old mentality that being an athlete looks a certain way — like it’s a monolith,” Relampagos said. “When in fact, it’s so not.”

He has received submissions from queer hockey players across the United States and Canada, including many from L.A. Some are still closeted. Others say the show gave them courage to consider coming out.

Former professional golfer and LGBTQ+ sports law and policy expert Maya Satya Reddy told The LA Local that she has seen an influx of new queer hockey fans and increased interest in competitive recreational leagues such as Outloud LA, She/They Sports, GLASA Softball and Lambda Basketball in Los Angeles. 

“The impact ‘Heated Rivalry’ has had on so many, athletes and non-athletes alike, is incredible and something to be celebrated,” Reddy said. “But describing it as revolutionary in changing queer and trans sports spaces is disingenuous. It’s only been two months!”

Reddy, who is of South Asian descent, founded the Queer Asian Social Club, a Los Angeles-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

She said she left playing golf because of discrimination and pivoted to LGBTQ+ sports law and policy advocacy. She founded the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Sports Project and participated in programming for the first-ever Pride Day at PGA Championship.

“I have lived this,” Reddy said. “I have seen firsthand, both personally through my athletic career, and professionally in my law and policy work the importance of representation and its shortcomings.”

She celebrates “Heated Rivalry” but said there is still little effort to drive systemic change in the sport beyond the heavy attempt to capitalize financially on its success.

GBTQ+ sports law and policy expert Maya Satya Reddy plays golf.

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Courtesy of Maya Reddy

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Since the show debuted, Williams and Storrie’s fame has skyrocketed. So has that of their co-stars François Arnaud and Robbie G.K., who play characters that have a tertiary romance on the show.

“Hudson and Connor’s invitation to be torch bearers is the perfect example of the impact this show has had on sports,” said Reddy. “It is clear as day that the (International Olympic Committee) made this selection as a marketing ploy to capitalize on the craze.”

Reddy points out that IOC President Kirsty Coventry has recently made it a “core mission to target trans athletes.” 

In June 2025, Coventry created a working group to review “protecting the female category.” At the end of last year, it was reported that the IOC is considering a a policy that would ban transgender athletes from the Olympic Games, potentially affecting the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

Reddy also mentioned recent news of USA Hockey banning trans people from participating in certain programs. She noted that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who praised “Heated Rivalry,” is the same commissioner who faced backlash for banning promotional warm-up jerseys, which included Pride-themed jerseys as well as Pride tape on hockey sticks. 

“I’m only aware of one person involved with ‘Heated Rivalry’ who spoke about any of this — Harrison Browne, a trans professional hockey player that appeared in the series,” Reddy said.

“At the same time, the two leads of the show were being congratulated and celebrated for being selected by the IOC as torch bearers for the Winter Olympics,” she added.

“Neither Hudson nor Connor has said anything about this ban in USA Hockey, nor have they, at least meaningfully, mentioned or celebrated their trans cast member Harrison.”

Some breezy conditions will linger this morning, but otherwise we're looking at a slightly cooler day.

The warmest area today will be the Coachella Valley, where temperatures will reach 75 to 80 degrees.

Elsewhere, we should stay under 80 degrees today across the region. The beaches will remain around the low to mid 70s, up to 75 degrees for coastal Orange County. Most L.A. County valleys, the Inland Empire and inland Orange County will hover in the mid to upper 70s.

The coolest areas today will be the Santa Clarita Valley, where temperatures there will be from 64 to 71 degrees, and the Antelope Valley where temperatures will range from 58 to 86 degrees.

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

Koreatown will be a bit crowded in June as thousands of fans gather for multiple FIFA World Cup watch parties.

Organizers from local Korean groups announced Wednesday the schedule of events as the South Korean team is set to play in three games in Mexico on June 11, 18 and 24. 

Viewing parties for the June 11 opener and the June 24 match where South Korea will take on South Africa will be held at Liberty Park in Koreatown. Organizers estimate 1,500 to 2,000 attendees and will close off Serrano Avenue next to the park to accommodate food trucks. A large LED screen showing the game will face Wilshire Boulevard, with sponsor booths lining the street.

Although kickoff for the games that will be broadcast in the evening, programming will start at 2 p.m. with performances and other activities at Liberty Park.

Event organizers include the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles, the LA Korean Festival Foundation, and the Korean American Chamber of Commerce.

The June 18 game against Mexico is projected to draw 2,000 to 3,000 attendees, organizers said. Duha Hwang with event organizer Advue said they plan to shut down Normandie Avenue along the same stretch used for the LA Korean Festival at Seoul International Park.

Programming for the Mexico match will start at 10 a.m. and run as an all-day event, Hwang said. 

“This will likely be the biggest game of the group stage for our neighborhood,” Hwang said. “Koreatown is home not only to Korean Americans but to many different communities. We want this to be a joint celebration, where both Korean and Mexican communities come together to support their teams.” 

South Korea’s opponent for the June 11 game will be determined after European league play concludes later this spring. They could play against Czechia, Denmark, North Macedonia or the Republic of Ireland.

Inglewood is one of several North American host cities for this year’s games, but South Korea will be playing their matches in Mexico.

Hwang said this year is especially meaningful, given the World Cup is being held in North America for the first time since 1994. 

“In 2002, many of us were in Korea cheering on the national team. Now, the World Cup is being held here, on the continent where we live. Being able to cheer for Team Korea here at home makes this moment particularly significant,” Hwang said. 

Organizers acknowledged parking will be limited and encouraged attendees to use public transit or rideshare services. Hwang said they will look into plans to operate shuttle buses.

Before he was released from prison, artist Fulton Leroy Washington (a.k.a. Mr. Wash) made a promise to his fellow inmates.

“I explained to the guys with tears in their eyes, and not just in their eyes, but running down their cheeks, that they were going to return home. And [...] I was leaving to go and prepare a place for them,” he said.

Mr. Wash was convicted of a non-violent drug offense he maintains he didn’t commit and was sentenced to life in prison because of mandatory minimums. He served more than 20 years in federal prison before he was granted clemency and had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama in 2016.

'Art is like therapy'

While he was incarcerated, Mr. Wash began to draw and paint, and then taught art to others at three different prisons in Kansas, Colorado and finally Lompoc, California, for 18 years.

“I changed the lives of a lot of prisoners.  Each prison I went to, the warden would ask me to do what you did there, here,” he said. “I would continue to teach and share, give guidance and mentorship, and sometimes therapy. ‘Cause art is like therapy. I could use it as a way to reach and find out some of the [...] deepest things going on with them.”

Mr. Wash first began drawing after his lawyer asked him to sketch a person from memory — a witness who she hoped to track down to help with his defense. While it didn’t prevent his conviction, it did help his attorney locate the person, and after that, he said, “I promised God at that time that I would continue to practice [art] and to share it.”

He gained media attention for his portraits and other paintings he made while incarcerated, and in 2014 completed a work depicting Obama granting him clemency.

"Emancipation Proclamation," 2014.

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Courtesy of Mr. Wash

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“Whether directly or indirectly,” Mr. Wash wrote in his new book Artists in Space, “I also believe that art played a part in President Obama commuting my sentence and bringing me home in 2016.”

Mr. Wash’s paintings have since been featured in the Hammer Museum, LACMA, The Huntington Library and at a solo show at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery.

Now he’s released Artists in Space to help fund the creation of a community center — including space for art classes and housing for formerly incarcerated people — at the site of his art studio on Rosecrans Avenue in Compton.

‘Artists in Space’

Artists in Space features interviews with 20 Los Angeles artists, photographed in the usually private spaces where they work.

Some of these artists helped to fund Mr. Wash’s legal defense and many offered their own spaces for him to work in after he was released from prison.

Patrisse Cullors, the artist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, offered Mr. Wash space to work on a larger scale painting at her Crenshaw Dairy Mart, which in turn helped inspire Mr. Wash’s vision for the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center.

A portion of "Artists in Space," which features 20 L.A. artists, including Patrisse Cullors, in conversation with Mr. Wash.

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Joppe Jacob Rog

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Artists Kenneth Gatewood and Charles Bibbs, who Mr. Wash counts as mentors and who are also featured in the book, helped contribute to his legal defense fund for years.

“And I had never met them,” Mr. Wash said. “They were selling their work and giving 25% of their work to pay the legal fees to try to get me out.”

Making the vision a reality

The Compton location where Mr. Wash works today has already been transformed significantly — from a dilapidated, overgrown lot to one that now includes his studio, office, and a large outdoor area (made over with donated paint and astroturf) with walls that artists and community members are invited to make their mark on.

Mr. Wash’s vision for the space is for it to be a “two-way bridge” that provides young people with a creative outlet to set their futures on a positive trajectory, and as a place for formerly incarcerated people to live and create art.

A rendering of the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center.

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The NOW Institute

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His hope is that the main building will be completed before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but still needs to raise several million dollars to make that a reality.

He’s currently raising money to fund the construction through sales of Artists in Space, donations to the nonprofit Help Us Help Wash, and by selling his own paintings, which he continues to create in his Compton studio, most often working in silence.

“I just pray,” Mr. Wash said. “If you listen to music or TV or radio, to me, while you’re working, part of your energy and spirit is being [put] into that [...] It's captured you. And so I, a lot of times, choose not to be captured again. So I just stay within me and within God and just keep going forward.”

How to attend

An Artists in Space BBQ and launch party, with Mr. Wash and Patrisse Cullors in conversation with Evan Pricco of The Unibrow, is from 2 to 6 p.m. March 7 at the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center, 915 W. Rosecrans Ave., Compton. RSVP here.