Mariana Dale
has a soft spot for desert flora🌵 and fauna🐍.
Published September 1, 2026 2:48 PM
These rattlesnake pups share the same light gray and tan scales and their parents, but weigh just 5-6 grams and are half the length of a pencil.
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Carl Myers
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Courtesy L.A. Zoo
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Topline:
Two litters of a rare southwestern rattlesnake were born at the L.A. Zoo last month. The six New Mexico ridge-nosed rattlesnake pups are the first to be bred under a multi-agency recovery program that started two years ago.
Why it matters: The shy, gray-and-tan snake lives in isolated mountain ranges in Arizona, New Mexico and Northern Mexico and is considered “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
Why now: The L.A. Zoo is one of three institutions working to breed the snakes so their offspring can be released back into the wild as part of Project Obscurus (the rattlers’ scientific name is crotalus willardi obscurus). This year’s litters are the first zoo-bred pair in the project and the result of pairings made about a year ago. The pups’ parents were collected from the mountains of Sierra San Luis, Mexico for breeding.
What's next: In the coming months, Project Obscurus will decide whether these snakes are released back into the wild or remain in the breeding program.
Read on… to see more cute pictures of baby snakes and learn about their recovery.
Two litters of a rare southwestern rattlesnake were born at the L.A. Zoo last month. The six New Mexico ridge-nosed rattlesnake pups are the first to be bred under a multi-agency recovery program that started two years ago.
“Ultimate success is getting the populations in the range where they're most threatened in — Arizona and New Mexico — getting those to have sustainable populations … that are genetically diverse and stable in the long term,” said Byron Wusstig, the L.A. Zoo’s reptile curator.
The shy, gray-and-tan snake lives in isolated mountain ranges in Arizona, New Mexico and Northern Mexico and is considered “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The L.A. Zoo is one of three institutions working to breed the snakes so their offspring can be released back into the wild as part of Project Obscurus (the rattlers’ scientific name is crotalus willardi obscurus).
“ Conservation … isn't just about protecting the animals that look most similar to us or that are the easiest to like,” Wusstig said. “It's about preserving that ecosystem as a whole.”
Wusstig said the zoo staff changes the temperature, humidity and light in the snakes’ enclosure to mimic their habitat in the mountains of the southwest. During the summer, sprayers and misters simulate monsoon storms.
“It's really trying to match their natural environment to help them thrive,” Wusstig said.
What's life like for the snakelets?
Unlike most egg-laying reptiles, rattlesnakes give birth to live young and “hang out” with the neonates for the first few weeks of life.
The animals' meals are frozen and thawed to the appropriate temperature, which is important because the rattlesnakes are pit vipers who can “see” temperature.
The pups snack on centipedes in addition to bite-sized pieces of the mice and quail that adults eat.
“There is a bit of parental behavior that happens with rattlesnakes that we still have a lot to learn about, but it's really interesting to observe,” Wusstig said.
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Luc Myers
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Courtesy LA Zoo
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In the coming months, Project Obscurus will decide whether these snakes are released back into the wild or remain in the breeding program.
In the meantime, the zoo’s staff has a unique opportunity to observe the young snakes.
Wusstig said the pups have been basking in the light on top of their mom and sipping water that beads up on her scales.
“There is a bit of parental behavior that happens with rattlesnakes that we still have a lot to learn about, but it's really interesting to observe,” Wusstig said.
Can I see the babies?
The zoo’s ridge-nosed rattlesnakes are not on public display. Quarantining helps keep the snakes healthy and minimize the risk of introducing unfamiliar germs to wild populations.
Jordan Rynning
has been following this case for months, including interviewing the man at the center of allegations.
Published October 31, 2026 7:00 AM
Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, spoke with LAist on Sept. 16, 2026, about the federal body armor case against him being dismissed.
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Jordan Rynning
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LAist
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Topline:
The L.A. County District Attorney’s office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez earlier this week. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Most serious claims haven’t materialized: Though federal prosecutors made headlines claiming in court documents and on social media that Alvarez was “leading a violent street gang, while claiming to be a gang interventionist for the City,” they have not filed charges related to those claims.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez on Wednesday. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He had served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Why Alvarez’s arrest made headlines: Alvarez was working as a city-contracted peace ambassador in MacArthur Park when he was arrested by federal agents in May. Federal and county prosecutors each brought felony charges against him, claiming he was in possession of body armor as a violent felon.
Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A., pointed to the case on social media to criticize city officials for allowing taxpayer money to be “shelled out to a convicted gang murderer.”
About his criminal record: Judges in federal and state court have now dismissed prosecutors’ felony charges against Alvarez, after U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang found on Sept. 9 that Alvarez did not have a violent felony conviction. Alvarez was 15 when he committed a gang-related murder. He was tried and convicted as an adult in 2002. After a change in state law increased the age at which minors could be sentenced as adults to 16, Alvarez’s case was sent back to juvenile court, and he was released in 2024. At that point, he had served more than 20 years.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday, Oct. 7 that Republican Bill Essayli is not legally serving as the top U.S. prosecutor in Los Angeles.
The ruling is the latest roadblock to the Trump administration’s effort to extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law. The strategy was designed to bypass confirmation by the U.S. Senate — something that generally requires a degree of bipartisan support.
Essayli “is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto’ United States Attorney,” U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote.
The order won’t take effect until the court rules on the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal. Essayli said he doesn’t agree with the court’s order. He said the president and Attorney General “have every right to select supervisors within the Justice Department.”
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Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Myrna Velasco (left) performs as Dolores Huerta in “¡Sí Se Puede!” at Boyle Heights City Hall on April 2, 2026.
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Carlin Stiehl
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LAist
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Topline:
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The backstory: Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Eliana Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring. “There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” Pipes said. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The show's extension had been announced prior to the news that Huerta died Wednesday, Oct. 28., at her Bakersfield home. She was 96 years old.
“There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” said playwright Eliana Pipes. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring.
CSULA seeks memories from underground music scenes
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
CSULA is seeking memorabilia from LA's underground music scenes for its research archives.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles.
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Topline
There’s a whole world of underground Southern California music history that’s hidden in storage boxes — photos, fliers, cassettes and other memorabilia. Research librarians at the California State University, Los Angeles are holding a community archive event on Nov. 5 to ensure the cultural memory of L.A.’s underground music scenes are preserved for future generations.
Why it matters: The memorabilia are the physical remnants of the supportive L.A. communities built around music and enjoyment. But many of these objects languish out of sight, and run the risk of being lost, along with the memories attached to them.
Why now: For four years, archive staff have held an annual day to receive ephemera from the public. They're doing it again on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Read on… to hear how goth, rockabilly and other underground clubs in L.A. inspired the head archivist.
Right around the year 2000, there was a club night in Hollywood called Clockwork Orange. Fans of The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus and other bands came for the DJ’s mix of their favorite songs but also for a vibe that welcomed people regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual and gender identity.
“I was a pretty shy person, and so that was a place where I could sort of be myself and express myself,” said Azalea Camacho, a regular there in those days.
She had just graduated from Workman High School in the City of Industry and was also clubbing at rockabilly music nights in Rosemead and goth club nights in downtown L.A.
Camacho said there was lots of memorabilia from those times, such as photos taken in and outside the clubs, ticket stubs and promotional fliers. They're the physical remnants of those supportive communities built around music and enjoyment, but many of them languish in shoeboxes and storage units, at risk of being lost — along with the memories attached to them.
Cal State LA has hosted Sounds of the Underground Archive for the last four years. It's an opportunity for people to donate their underground music scene memorabilia.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles
)
“I think the danger is maybe those stories are not being told, or people don't know about the story,” she said.
Keeping stories alive
More than two decades later, Camacho is now in a position to make sure those stories are kept alive. She’s head of special collections and archives at the university library at California State University, Los Angeles.
Four years ago, she and library staff created an annual day for area residents to donate or digitize memorabilia for their Sounds of the Underground Archive. This year it's on Thursday, Nov. 5. They’ll accept physical donations, but they’ll also have a scanner to digitize printed material, so people can keep items that are precious to them.
SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND ARCHIVE
Date: Thursday, Nov. 5 Time: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Location: Cal State LA Library Community Room, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles
Camacho is hoping this year will bring in a bumper amount of memorabilia. It's taken time to get the word out, she said.
“From the actual community archiving day [we’ve collected] maybe 100 or less than 100 items. … It's not a lot,” she said.
She said they're on the lookout for a wide range of mementos, including:
Fliers
Handbills
Zines
Newsletters
Posters
Set lists
Photographs (prints, negatives or digital files)
Cassette tapes, CDs, or vinyl records
Ticket stubs
Wristbands
Band merchandise (stickers, buttons, patches, T-shirts)
DIY press kits or liner notes and correspondence (letters, emails, messages related to music scenes)
Venue or collective ephemera (membership cards, schedules, announcements and more)
