The Brief

Just eight of 34 Orange County cities, plus the county, have made progress on local climate action plans, according to the latest report from the non-profit Climate Action Campaign.

Just six of those O.C. cities have approved plans to address the causes and impacts of climate change, according to the group’s first report that was released last year.

Orange County jurisdictions — despite facing high risks of worsening landslides, sea level rise, fire, heat and flood — are far behind other Southern California counties when it comes to having climate action plans, according to the California Climate Action Plan Database, which is compiled by researchers at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. (You can also check out different types of climate-related plans submitted by your community to the state here.)

And Orange County, the sixth most populous county in the U.S., is one of the biggest counties without a climate action plan. But, slowly, that appears to be changing, in large part due to grassroots organizing by local residents.

“It is well beyond time to act,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley at a press conference in Santa Ana about the new report. “I’ve been working on these issues since I was on the planning commission in the early 2000s in Costa Mesa. So we have been struggling, but I think now we are making forward progress.”

Orange County jurisdictions have fewer climate action plans than surrounding counties, according to the Climate Action Plan database from Cal Poly.

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Courtesy Cal Poly Climate Action Plan Database

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The county was called out in last year’s report for not having a climate action plan, but has now completed a draft plan that Foley said will be presented to the board of supervisors for approval later this month.

Local organizers celebrated the progress.

“When we published our first report card, some people suggested that we were being too hard on local governments and that we were expecting too much from our leaders,” said Tomas Souza de Castro with the O.C. Climate Action Campaign.

“But now that we have experienced unprecedented heatwaves and fires in our own backyard in just the last week, we know that there is no cavalry coming to save us. We can create a climate safe, climate resilient future here in O.C.”

What is a climate action plan? 

Climate action plans, or CAPs, provide a long-term roadmap for governments to reduce planet-heating and health-harming pollution, and adapt to worsening disasters driven by climate change, such as increasingly extreme heat, drought, fire and floods.

They are most effective when legally-binding and are only effective as long as they’re actually adhered to.

Local CAPs are important because different cities and counties have different sources of pollution and require their own specific ways to adapt to the changes occurring as a result of global heating.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing and adapting to the climate crisis, and state and national plans can often be too broad for practical use by local governments. The climate crisis may be global, but it’s experienced and addressed locally.

Climate action plans generally focus on two buckets: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. A robust plan has a detailed inventory of where greenhouse gas emissions come from, and has plans to reduce that pollution in everything from transportation to industry to households.

A robust CAP also focuses on adaptation, including strategies to fortify infrastructure, develop a sustainable water and energy supply, reduce waste, expand access to green space and address inequality in climate impacts.

CAPs are particularly important for local governments to receive certain types of state and federal funding. According to 2021 State Controller data, Orange County receives some of the least spending per capita from the state.

A map from the Climate Action Campaign report of cities that have adopted or are developing climate action plans in Orange County.

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Courtesy Climate Action Campaign

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CAPs can also be replicated and scaled. For example, the report points out how both California and the United States eventually adopted the city of San Diego’s CAP target for emission reductions.

At this point, none of Orange County’s jurisdictions have adopted a plan that meets the state’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below the 1990 levels by 2030. Globally, scientists say greenhouse gasses must be reduced 45% by 2030 to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Where progress has been made and stalled

The report highlights Orange County, Laguna Beach, Santa Ana, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Tustin, San Clemente, city of Orange and Irvine as taking steps in developing or implementing their climate action plans, while acknowledging there’s still a long way to go.

Each of those cities is in the process of developing a plan, with several such as Santa Ana, Buena Park and Costa Mesa hiring dedicated staff positions to help carry out the plans.

Orange County has also now successfully completed its draft CAP. Supervisor Foley said it will help the county apply for funding from the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, and includes greenhouse gas inventories for every city in the county, so O.C. cities don’t have to spend time or money doing that themselves.

The report says Huntington Beach, however, has taken steps backward. While the city approved a climate action plan in 2017, last year the city council voted to dissolve its Environment and Sustainability Committee and stopped working on its Sustainability Master Plan.

The report also highlights how the city left the Orange County Power Authority, which supplies participating cities with renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar.

You can read the full report here.

With Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi not running for reelection, San Francisco is about to experience its most spirited congressional race since 1987, when Pelosi beat 13 candidates to fill the seat left open by the death of Rep. Sala Burton.

The 85-year-old Democrat leaves behind a historic record of accomplishment — from the power she achieved as a caucus leader and Speaker to delivering significant legislative victories, including passage of the Affordable Care Act, and her unparalleled ability to criticize President Donald Trump.

“Nancy Pelosi was the most effective speaker of the modern era, a legendary political thinker and strategist,” said Brian Hanlon, co-founder and CEO of California YIMBY, a pro-housing group. “And San Francisco punches way above its weight in terms of both national and state politics. So, who is San Francisco going to put in this seat?”

So far, three very different candidates have emerged as the top contenders to represent Pelosi’s district, which encompasses most of the city, except a southern slice that includes the Excelsior, Visitacion Valley and Oceanview neighborhoods.

The leading candidates

Connie Chan

San Francisco supervisor, District 1

The 47-year-old Democrat represents the northern section of San Francisco, including the Richmond District. Chan, who was born in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. as a teenager, is leaning into her biography as the basis of her candidacy.

“As a first-generation immigrant, I have the lived experience, understanding the challenges that immigrant community faces, and most definitely during this time, when we see the Trump administration sending ICE agents to our streets and also in courtroom, firing our immigration court judges so that they can detain our immigrants illegally,” Chan told KQED. “That is, first and foremost, one of our top priorities.”

Now in her second term on the Board of Supervisors, Chan, who once worked as an aide to former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, opposed Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan, which allows denser housing in neighborhoods like the Richmond, where single-family homes dominate. She also opposed a voter-approved ballot measure to close part of the Great Highway and create a public park, and supports sending the issue back to voters.

Scott Wiener

State senator 

Now in his eighth year in Sacramento, Wiener has championed landmark legislation to facilitate — even mandate — more housing construction in California, a position that has won him both support and criticism.

By any standard, Wiener, 55, is a prolific legislator. This year alone, 12 of his bills were passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. In an evaluation of state lawmakers across the country, Wiener was ranked as the most effective member of the California State Senate by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking, a project of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.

Wiener, who is openly gay, said it is “definitely time” for the city’s LGBTQ+ community to elect one of its own to Congress. He would be the first openly gay representative from San Francisco in the House.

Saikat Chakrabarti

Software engineer and political activist

Chakrabarti, 39, jumped into the race before Pelosi announced her retirement, saying it was time for a new generation of leaders for the Democratic Party. Wiener also entered the race before Pelosi made her plans public.

After making millions of dollars as one of the first software engineers at the payment processing company Stripe, Chakrabarti worked on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and later became chief of staff to progressive icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“I think I’m the only one willing to challenge the Democratic party establishment,” Chakrabarti told KQED this week. “People know that the Democratic party needs a new direction, it needs new ideas and it needs solutions that are as big as the problems that we face. And that’s what I’m offering the voters.”

What voters care about

“Affordability” is the mantra for Democratic candidates across the country, and this race will be no different. Chan, who criticizes Wiener’s “Sacramento version of affordable housing” in her campaign announcement video, will emphasize affordability as it relates to housing, but also in health care and child care.

Chakrabarti, who said he is more pro-housing than Chan, supports the controversial plan to build 800 units of housing above a Safeway in the Marina.

As expected, all three candidates promise strong opposition to Trump’s policies, including ICE raids, mass deportations and federal budget cuts. Wiener, who authored a new law banning ICE agents from wearing face coverings and bills supporting trans students, is a frequent target of right-wing hatred. He wears it like a badge of honor, and even has a “Scott’s MAGA Fan Club” section on his campaign site highlighting attacks by Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other conservatives.

While housing is largely a local issue, defense spending is not — and U.S. funding for Israel could become a contentious topic. Wiener, who is Jewish, has been outspoken about antisemitism while trying to strike a balance between Israel’s right to exist and opposing its war in Gaza.

Chakrabarti has made Palestinian rights a centerpiece of his campaign.

“I’m opposed to military funding in Israel as long as the genocide continues,” he said.

Chan has also said she would not support sending “weapons of war” to Israel, calling the situation in Gaza a human rights violation that she believes meets the legal definition of genocide.

Money, endorsements — and Pelosi’s shadow

The success or failure of a campaign depends on many factors, including name recognition, their record, voter enthusiasm, endorsements and resources.

Chakrabarti is the least well-known of the candidates, but he has access to enormous personal wealth to self-fund his campaign. Since this is his first run for office, he mostly points to his work behind the scenes, including his role in helping promote the Green New Deal, which he said helped center climate change as the key environmental issue.

“It’s going to take a movement of candidates and people to make this happen,” he said. “But I think that’s what’s possible right now, and that’s why I’m running.”

Chan, who is running for the first time outside a relatively small district, could face fundraising challenges. But her relationships with local unions, such as Unite Here Local 2, which represents workers in the hospitality industry, could help with campaign cash and volunteers.

Wiener has been raising money for a potential congressional run since 2023, reporting more than $1 million raised through September, according to federal campaign finance data. He said fundraising accelerated significantly after Pelosi announced her retirement.

It’s not clear if Pelosi herself will put her thumb on the scale for one of her would-be successors. Among the candidates, she seems most aligned with Chan, who has appeared alongside her at recent public events.

An endorsement from the San Francisco Democratic Party could provide a major boost. But that’s a significant hurdle, as it requires support from 60% of local delegates.

Local party chair Nancy Tung, a leader of the party’s more moderate wing, thinks only one candidate could conceivably win an endorsement.

“It’s within the realm of possibility that Scott Wiener would actually get the endorsement,” Tung told KQED this week. “I think he’s probably got the best chance.”

In the June primary, voters will decide which two candidates will advance to the November general election in the race for this solid Democratic seat.

A pair of brown leather shoes worn by Oscar-winning actor Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 film, Joan of Arc. A couple red togas with gold leaf embroidery thespian Laurence Olivier likely donned in the 1960 epic Spartacus. A leather briefcase used by the great Cecil B. DeMille between 1920 and 1940. A pair of Levi's from 1952 worn by Gary Cooper.

Those are just a handful of clothing and accessories — hats, shoes, scarfs, gowns and more — from old Hollywood the city of Los Angeles calls its own.

The 300-some pieces have been in the care of ASU FIDM Museum in downtown for more than three decades. The collection is open to the public, and the museum displays and lends pieces out for exhibition.

Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman tries the armor that she will wear for her role of Joan of Arc, a movie directed by Victor Fleming in 1947. A pair of shoes worn by Bergman is part of a collection of memorabilia owned by the city of Los Angeles.

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Next fall, some of the garments will be on display at an exhibition at ASU FIDM Museum on legendary costume and fashion designer Gilbert Adrian.

Los Angeles and Hollywood are oftentimes synonymous, but how did the city of L.A. come to possess these silver screen artifacts?

The Hollywood Museum?

We go back to the 1960s and the broken dream to build a museum of American film and television history.

At the center of the proposed Hollywood Museum (not to be confused with one on Highland Avenue since 2003) was the collection of artifacts and costumes culled from studios, production companies and actors themselves that numbered in the thousands.

The exhibition space never came to pass, according to city documents, because the funding never caught up to the vision.

The empty jail in Lincoln Heights once held a collection of Hollywood memorabilia owned by the city of L.A.

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Works Progress Administration Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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In 1968, L.A.'s recreation and parks department took over the collection. When private storage was price prohibitive, the garments and accessories were stocked away at the empty jail in Lincoln Heights for two decades — until the deal with the fashion institute in 1988.

Dietrich, Astaire, Valentino...

As part of a loan agreement with the city that has just been recently extended, ASU FIDM Museum provides services to store, conserve and restore these 300 fashion and costume objects (for an inventory, go to pg. 19) that span the 1920s to about 1970.

There are tons of prized items in the mix — including more than a dozen pairs of dance shoes owned by Fred Astaire.

One name you'll keep seeing is screen diva Marlene Dietrich. About 100 pieces were donated to the Hollywood Museum from a storage unit she kept in L.A., said Christina Johnson, senior curator at ASU FIDM Museum.

 "It includes pieces that she wore on film, pieces in her personal life," Johnson said.

And sometimes, both. Like a paisley lamé evening gown created by a costume and fashion designer known by the mononym Irene.

"There's photos I found of [Dietrich] wearing it at Ciros nightclub with her then lover Jean Gabin," Johnson said. "Then she wore it when she was part of the USO entertaining the troops during World War II."

Dietrich purposely wore that same gown in A Foreign Affair — the 1948 Billy Wilder dark comedy set in post-war Germany.

" It's been so many places and I think that's one reason that fashion and costume history are so important because it makes history come alive for people," Johnson said. " When I'm handling something, it really makes me reflect on, what did this person experience while wearing this?"

Unlit Lucky Strikes

The collection contains ribbons, sash, ties, an entire costume ensemble worn by Rudolph Valentino (leggings and all) from the 1920s, and even a torso metal armor believed to be used in both the 1925 and 1959 versions of Ben Hur.

But probably none are more curious than the four unsmoked Lucky Strike cigarettes in their midst.

They belonged to silent movie star Mabel Normand, who worked with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

" Her wardrobe items came in a Louis Vuitton trunk," Johnson said. "Those Lucky Strike cigarettes were in a pocket."

Normand was a heavy smoker and eventually died from tuberculosis. Still part of the collection, the possibly century-old cigarettes are stored separately so as not to stain the garment.

" But that's the thing, these belonged to real people who did real things," Johnson said. "And some of her unused cigarettes came with the collection."

There’s a reason L.A. has so many art masterpieces in various museums: the region had a lot of industrialists and bankers in the 20th century who used some of their wealth to build large art collections.

The Norton Simon is a prime example.

“The quality of the collection is unmatched, and I think we feel really proud of the really serene, spacious environment that we provide for looking at art,” said  Emily Talbot, vice president of collections and chief curator at the museum.

In 1975, industrialist Norton Simon took over the critically acclaimed but financially troubled Pasadena Art Museum. Simon spent decades building a food production empire, starting with a small juice processing plant in Fullerton to running the Hunt-Wesson Foods conglomerate.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin, at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. It was moved to this new location on the museum property in 2025.

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He was fascinated by art and artists and used the drive that made him successful in business to buy and collect art. You’ll see paintings by Rembrandt, key works by Auguste Rodin on the museum’s grounds (including the Thinker), as well as paintings by abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler, and centuries-old sculptures from India and Cambodia.

The Norton Simon Museum's art collection includes sculptures from Cambodia and other south Asian countries.

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Elon Schoenholz

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Courtesy Norton Simon Museum

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The museum currently displays about 1,000 pieces from the blended Pasadena Art Museum and Simon collections. In total it has 12,000 objects, ranging from masters like Rembrandt and Picasso to contemporary art by Ed Ruscha and Sam Francis.

For its 50th anniversary this year, the museum spent $15 million to rebuild and renovate its gardens and its signature façade, which faces Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena and puts it in the middle of worldwide TV coverage of the Rose Parade each year.

For those who get slightly overwhelmed at grander museums like the Getty or LACMA, the more people-scaled Norton Simon is a great option. If you're heading there, here are some highlights recommended by the museum staff you shouldn't miss:

The long-lost Degas

Start with the newest acquisition by the museum, a roughly 1-foot-tall bronze sculpture by Edgar Degas titled "Arabesque over the right leg, left arm in front."

The bronze sculpture is the most recent acquisition by the Norton Simon Museum.

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LAist

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Simon loved and collected Edgar Degas’ late 19th century sculptures of dancers. But as much as he tried, and as much money as he had, his collection was incomplete.

“In 1977, Norton Simon bought an almost complete set of sculptures by Edgar Degas,” Talbot said. “It was missing just two, and we have been looking for those two sculptures ever since.”

Last year, the staff finally found one of them. It’s the first work of art the museum has purchased in 18 years.

It’s a sort of sculptural sketch, Talbot said, created by Degas to understand a dancer’s poses before making the final work. It has the rough surfaces of the original clay and wax the artist used ahead of casting the bronze.

“These sculptures really give you a sense of the artist's mind, how he thought about process, what he thought was interesting about the body and movement, and that's really captured in these casts,” Talbot said.

Degas painted, made prints and sculpted. His pastel drawings are sublime. And this sculpture makes the Norton Simon one of the top places in the world to see Degas’ dancer sculptures.

The two faces of Picasso

A visit to the museum will put you face to face with a master work by Pablo Picasso. It’s a 4 foot by 3 foot painting called "Woman with a Book."

Woman with a Book by Pablo Picasso on display at the Norton Simon Museum.

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It’s thought to be inspired, Talbot said, by a 19th century painting, "Madame Moitessier," by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

Madame Moitessier by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

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“Picasso used that composition, which also depicted a woman seated in an armchair. But he sort of updated it for the modern moment, using these very bright colors and also kind of drawing your attention to a somewhat more sensual representation of the subject,” Talbot said.

A few years ago, the Norton Simon borrowed that Ingres painting from the National Gallery in London and displayed the two paintings side by side.

Woman with a Book by Pablo Picasso at the Norton Simon Museum.

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Courtesy Norton Simon Museum

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This Picasso, she said, is a good illustration of one of the artist’s most repeated quotes: that “good artists copy, great artists steal.” He not only used another painter's composition; he also embraced another artist's color choices.

“In this particular painting, we have a palette that was really inspired by his friend Henri Matisse,” Talbot said, referring to the strong red and blue, and soft pastel shades.

An epic chess match. Your move!

When you walk into the museum entrance, you'll see a chess set under plexiglass. It’s an 1850 chess set made of wood and ivory that Simon bought in India during his honeymoon with actor Jennifer Jones.

Chess Set made circa 1850 in India with ivory pieces, and wood board inlaid with ivory. It's the first piece of south Asian art purchased by industrialist Norton Simon.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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“ This is depicting the Indian version of the game, so one thing that visitors might notice is that there are camels and elephants instead of rooks and bishops,” Talbot said.

Aspiring and current chess masters will have fun with how the board is set up. It’s arranged in move No. 12 in an epic chess game played in 1855 by a Bengali player and a Scottish chess master.

This was Simon’s first South Asian art purchase. The floodgates opened after this. His collection went on to include sculptures and paintings from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, Laos and other countries.