The Brief

Photos posted on social media of red foxes perched on walls in San Pedro and feasting on fish in Redondo Beach as recently as last week are surprising to some people. But residents and experts say that although these foxes aren’t native to Southern California, they’ve become a mainstay of the South Bay.

Red foxes of South Bay.

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They’re not native, so how’d they get here?

Red foxes were introduced to the Orange County area in the early 1900s after they were brought from the East Coast for hunting and to populate approximately 125 farms throughout the state that bred the animals for their fur. When the farms went out of business, the foxes either escaped or were released into the wild, establishing the current population in the Southland, according to Miguel Ordeñana, senior manager of community science at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The foxes have thrived ever since, in large part because they’re adaptable.

“They also have a wide dietary breadth so that they're not only limited to prey,” said Ordeñana. “Because of the fox's small body size, they can make a den out of a lot of places.”

They also aren’t territorial and stay mostly hidden by day in thick habitats, like lemonade berry plants.

Red foxes of the South Bay.

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So how many foxes live in the South Bay?

In the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the red fox coexists with a small population of the gray fox, which is actually native to the area. Cris Sarabia, conservation director at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, said there are no exact numbers for the fox population on the peninsula, but “the numbers are very low.”

Red foxes of South Bay.

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Over the years the population size has shifted due to drought conditions and the increase in predator populations, like the coyote in other parts of the Southland.

“Coyotes are a dominant species and will actively kill red foxes,” Oredñana said. “The natural expansion of coyotes and of the range has allowed at least some kind of control of red foxes.”

Interacting with the red foxes

Karen Schuenemann has been photographing the red foxes of the South Bay for more than 15 years. She first encountered a red fox in 2006 and then discovered a den on the cliffs of San Pedro. She has been photographing the foxes ever since.

“In San Pedro, they're along the coast there, and they've just adapted, so they frequently will be denning near the cliffs,” she said.

Red foxes of South Bay.

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Courtesy Karen Schuenemann

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But experts said that as cute as the red foxes are, people should avoid feeding or interacting with them.

“They need to stay wild and we want them to continue to stay wild,” Sarabia said. “We don't want them to lose that fear of humans because that's when problems start to occur.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities — a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.

Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the U.S. economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on so many staples key to the American diet is significant, and it comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and other key races around the country.

"We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee," Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida hours after the tariff announcement was made.

Pressed on his tariffs helping to increase consumer prices, Trump acknowledged, "I say they may, in some cases," have that effect.

"But to a large extent, they've been borne by other countries," the president added.

Meanwhile, inflation — despite Trump's pronouncements that it has vanished since he took office in January — remains elevated, further increasing pressure on U.S. consumers.

The Trump administration has insisted that its tariffs had helped fill government coffers and weren't a major factor in higher prices at grocery stores around the country. But Democrats were quick to paint Friday's move as an acknowledgement that Trump's policies were hurting American pocketbooks.

"President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: His tariffs are raising prices for the American people," Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement. "After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters' fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a 'pivot to affordability.'"

Grocery bill worries

Trump slapped tariffs on most countries around the globe in April. He and his administration still say tariffs don't increase consumer prices, despite economic evidence to the contrary.

Record-high beef prices have been a particular concern, and Trump had said he intended to take action to try to lower them. Trump's tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, had been a factor.

Trump signed an executive order that also removes tariffs on tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and certain fertilizers. Some of the products covered aren't produced in the United States, meaning that tariffs meant to spur domestic production had little effect. But reducing the tariffs still likely will mean lower prices for U.S. consumers.

The Food Industry Association, which represents retailers, producers and a variety of related industry firms and services, applauded Trump's move to provide "swift tariff relief," noting that import U.S. taxes "are an important factor" in a "complex mix" of supply chain issues.

"President Trump's proclamation to reduce tariffs on a substantial volume of food imports is a critical step ensuring continued adequate supply at prices consumers can afford," the association said in a statement.

In explaining the tariff reductions, the White House said Friday that some of the original levies Trump relished imposing on nearly every country on earth months ago were actually no longer necessary given the trade agreements he'd since hammered out with key U.S. trading partners.

Indeed, Friday's announcement follows the Trump administration having reached framework agreements with Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador and Argentina meant to increase the ability of U.S. firms to sell industrial and agricultural products in these countries, while also potentially easing tariffs on agricultural products produced there.

During an interview that aired earlier in the week with Laura Ingraham of Fox News Channel, Trump hinted that lower tariffs might be coming.

"Coffee, we're going to lower some tariffs," the president said then. "We're going to have some coffee come in."

Tariff checks?

Despite pulling back on so many tariffs, Trump used his comments aboard Air Force One on Friday night to repeat his past assertions that his administration would use revenue the federal government has collected from import levies to fund $2,000 checks for many Americans.

The president suggested such checks could be issued in 2026 but was vague on timing, saying only, "Sometime during the year." Trump, however, also said federal tariff revenue might be used to pay down national debt — raising questions about how much federal funding would be needed to do both.

Trump rejected suggestions that attempting direct payments to Americans could exacerbate inflation concerns — even as he suggested that similar checks offered during the coronavirus pandemic, and by previous administrations to stimulate the economy, had that very effect.

"This is money earned as opposed to money that was made up," Trump said. "Everybody but the rich will get this. That's not made up. That's real money. That comes from other countries."

The first of 30 Bob Ross paintings — many of them created live on the PBS series that made him a household name — have been auctioned off to support public television.

Ross, with his distinctive afro, soothing voice and sunny outlook, empowered millions of viewers to make and appreciate art through his show The Joy of Painting. More than 400 half-hour episodes aired on PBS (and eventually the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from 1983 to 1994, the year before Ross died of cancer at age 52.

Ross' impact lives on: His show still airs on PBS and streams on platforms like Hulu and Twitch . It has surged in popularity in recent years, particularly as viewers searched for comfort during COVID-19 lockdowns. Certified instructors continue teaching his wet-on-wet oil painting technique to the masses , and the Smithsonian acquired several of his works for its permanent collection in 2019. But his artwork rarely goes up for sale — until recently.

In October, the nonprofit syndicator American Public Television (APT) announced it would auction off 30 of Ross' paintings to raise money for public broadcasters hit by federal funding cuts. It pledged to direct 100% of its net sales proceeds to APT and PBS stations nationwide.

Auction house Bonhams is calling it the "largest single offering of Bob Ross original works ever brought to market."

Ross has become synonymous with public broadcasting and some activists have even invoked him in their calls for restoring federal funding to it.

"It's a medium that Bob just cherished," said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross, Inc., in a phone call with NPR. "With the cuts, it's just a natural inclination to support public television."

"Winters Peace," which Ross painted on-air in 1993, was among the first of his works to be auctioned to support public television, in California in November.

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The first three paintings sold in Los Angeles on Tuesday for a record-shattering $662,000. Bonhams says the works attracted hundreds of registrations, more than twice the usual number for that type of sale. Each sold for more than its estimated worth, led by "Winter's Peace," which fetched $318,000 to set a new Ross auction record.

"As anticipated, these paintings inspired spirited bidding, achieved impressive results and broke global auction records, continuing the momentum we've seen building in [Ross'] market," said Robin Starr, the general manager of Bonhams Skinner, the auction house's Massachusetts branch. "These successes provide a solid foundation as we look ahead to 2026 and prepare to present the next group of Bob Ross works."

"Winter's Peace," which Bob Ross painted on-air in 1993, is among his first three works going up for auction in November. He used especially vibrant colors with his TV audience in mind.

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The next trio of paintings will be auctioned in Massachusetts in late January. The rest will be sold throughout 2026 at Bonham's salerooms in Los Angeles, New York and Boston.

How the offering could benefit public broadcasters 

At President Donald Trump's direction, Congress voted in July to claw back $1.1 billion in previously allocated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), leaving the country's roughly 330 PBS and 244 NPR stations in a precarious position.

CPB began shutting down at the end of September, PBS has already cut 15% of its jobs, and several local TV and radio stations have also announced layoffs and closures.

Demonstrators dressed as Bob Ross at a Chicago protest calling for the restoration of federal funding to PBS in late September.

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"I think he would be very disappointed" about the CPB cuts, Kowalski said of Ross. "I think he would have decided to do exactly what we're doing right now ... I think this would have probably been his idea."

Kowalski, whose parents founded Bob Ross Inc. together with the painter in 1985, said Ross favored positive activism over destructive or empty rhetoric.

"That just was his nature," she said. "He was like that in real life. So I think this would have been exactly the thing that he would have chosen. I suddenly got really emotional thinking about that."

Ross spent about 26 minutes painting "Home in the Valley" on live TV in October 1993. It's been in storage ever since and will go on sale in November.

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The Ross auction aims to help stations pay their licensing fees to the national TV channel Create , which in turn allows them to air popular public television programs including The Best of the Joy of Painting (based on Ross' show), America's Test Kitchen, Rick Steve's Europe and Julia Child's French Chef Classics.

Bonhams says the auction proceeds will help stations — particularly smaller and rural ones — defray the cost burden of licensing fees, making Create available to more of them.

"This enables stations to maintain their educational programming while redirecting funds toward other critical operations and local content production threatened by federal funding cuts," the auction house says.

Ross' paintings rarely hit the market

The 30 paintings going up for sale span Ross' career and are all "previously unseen by the public except during their creation in individual episodes" of The Joy of Painting, according to Bonhams. Many have remained in secure storage ever since.

They include vibrant landscapes, with the serene mountains, lake views and "happy trees" that became his trademark.

Ross started painting during his 20-year career in the Air Force, much of which was spent in Alaska. That experience shaped his penchant for landscapes and ability to work quickly — and, he later said , his desire not to raise his voice once out of the service.

Once on the airwaves, Ross' soft-spoken guidance and gentle demeanor won over millions of viewers. His advice applied to art as well as life: Mistakes are just "happy accidents," talent is a "pursued interest," and it's important to "take a step back and look."

"Ross' gentle teaching style and positive philosophy made him a cultural icon whose influence extends far beyond the art world," Bonhams says.

While Ross was prolific, his paintings were intended for teaching instead of selling, and therefore rarely go on the market.

In August, Bonhams sold two of Ross' early 1990s mountain and lake scenes as part of an online auction of American art. They fetched $114,800 and $95,750, surpassing expectations and setting a new auction world record for Ross at the time. Kowalski says that's when her gears started turning.

"And it just got me to thinking, that's a substantial amount of money," she recalled. "And what if, what if, what if?"

Bonhams officially estimates that the 30 paintings could go for a combined total between $850,000 and $1.4 million. But Starr, of the auction house, predicted in October that they will continue to exceed expectations, based on their artistic value, nostalgia factor and more.

"Now we add in the fact that these are selling to benefit public television, I think the bidding is going to be very happy," she said. "Happy trees, happy bidding."

Disclosure: This story was edited by general assignment editor Carol Ritchie and managing editor Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
Copyright 2025 NPR

If you’re mourning the — probably — impending closure of Cole’s downtown or one of the other handful of classic Los Angeles eateries we’ve lost in the past few years, you might find camaraderie in a local social club.

For about a year now, Jake Hook has been hosting monthly meetings of the Diner Preservation Society . "Diner" is a loose term for the group.

At classic joints like Philippe’s and the recently closed Papa Cristo’s , attendees talk about their favorite eateries and what they can do to save the ones we’re at risk of losing.

“Diners are the classic American third space. They are where communities happen. And you can see that by how worked up people get when diners close,” Hook said.

Take the recent closure of the Pantry downtown. Now it looks as if it will be reopening , but Hook said people from across the city showed up in droves before it shuttered.

“So much so that the wait on the last day was about seven hours. And I endured all seven hours,” they told LAist.

A meeting of the Diner Preservation Society

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A philosophy professor by day, Hook’s enduring love of diners led them to compile a massive list of classic joints in our region . And this month, they launched the "Diner Theory" podcast , which delves into topics “at the intersection of food and philosophy.”

Hook, 31, said they think younger generations are looking for spaces that feel more human in an increasingly online world. And diners fill that void.

“It’s something that unites people who have lived here from generation to generation to have these experiences in roughly the same way. And I think that’s valuable for forming some kind of citywide identity,” they said.

Plus, there’s really good, cheap food.

If you’d like to attend the next meeting of the Diner Preservation Society, visit their Substack to learn more.

Upcoming club meetings:

Shakers
601 Fair Oaks Ave.
South Pasadena
Saturday at 10 a.m.

Bun N Burger
1000 E. Main St.
Alhambra
Dec. 13 at 10 a.m.

The Culver City Council has passed a motion to consider creating an "entertainment zone" for its downtown.

Once implemented, it would be the third city in Southern California with a designated area where people can walk around and consume alcohol outside during designated special events.

In May, Santa Monica became the first city in L.A. County to adopt an “entertainment zone” in accordance with California SB 969, which passed in 2024. Long Beach followed suit in August. West Hollywood voted to study the creation of something similar in September.

And now, Culver City wants to be part of a growing trend to boost economic activity and compete with attractions in surrounding cities.

"Century City, Hollywood, Downtown LA ...we're competing with the whole city," Culver City Mayor Dan O’Brien told LAist. "So giving yet another reason for Angelenos to come to Culver City and have a nice night out and enjoy our special events. I think we need to grab it."

A statue in the middle of the proposed entertainment zone.

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What’s the occasion?

“It’s going to be for our special events only,” O’Brien said. “Certainly during the World Cup and throughout the Olympics.”

Other city events listed in the motion include the Summer Concert Series, Independence Day Drone Show and the downtown Tree Lighting ceremony scheduled for Dec. 4.

“ That would be an ideal opportunity to activate for the entertainment zone,” O’Brien said. “But I do not know if we will have everything in place to do so by then.”

Where would it be?

The current entertainment zone proposal encompasses the Downtown Culver City Business Improvement District — of about eight to 10 blocks long and three blocks wide, O'Brien said.

That includes Culver Boulevard between Madison Avenue and Venice Boulevard — and Washington Boulevard between Hughes Avenue and Culver Boulevard. It would also include side streets up to the city boundary.

The Downtown Business Association, which is behind the proposal, is requesting the area that includes the Town Plaza, the Culver Steps and Main Street to be part of the new zone.

The proposed boundaries for the Culver City entertainment zone would span a quarter of a mile.

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What’s next?

The Culver City Council will now need to pass an ordinance approving a plan with information about the exact boundaries of the entertainment zone, its hours of operations and specific events for which they'll be active.

A date for the next vote hasn’t been set.