The Brief

A San Diego Superior Court judge has ruled that the city of Huntington Beach violated California’s Housing Element Law. The law sets housing targets for local governments to meet, including units for affordable housing.

The city has 120 days to comply with the ruling and establish a plan that allows developers to build more units in the city.

"Huntington Beach is not above the law,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta about the ruling. "We are facing a housing crisis of epic proportions, and my office will continue to act with great urgency, working with cities and counties that genuinely want to be part of the solution and holding accountable those that do not."

However, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said they will mount an appeal.

“There's this systematic sidestepping of CEQA, which is the California Environmental Quality Act,” Gates said. “Regardless of the impact high density housing has to the environment, the state is going to ignore CEQA, and force cities to build high density housing.”

Huntington Beach conducted an environmental review of the state’s housing mandates. According to Gates, it revealed that Huntington Beach would see a depletion in its water supply, pose a threat to wildlife and wetlands, and increase pollution “into perpetuity.”

About the state law

The Housing Element Law allows the state to intervene every eight years to let cities know how much housing they must plan for including affordable housing. It also requires cities to put together a housing element showcasing how they will achieve the state’s plan. The state then approves of the element or sends it back to cities to reconfigure according to the requirements.

“We can't solve the decades-in-the-making crisis around housing without everyone doing their part, and this result makes clear the state is serious about enforcing the law,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said about yesterday’s ruling.

But, Gates said, the state has presented “no empirical data” that “high density housing” can make housing affordable.

State vs. Huntington Beach

California’s Democratic majority leadership continues to tussle with Huntington Beach’s Republican-leaning city council. In 2019, Huntington Beach lost a lawsuit when the state sued the city for failing to set aside land for new housing.

In 2023, the city also filed a lawsuit against the state in federal court alleging that the state’s housing laws violate the city’s zoning requirements. Late last year, U.S. District Judge Fred Slaughter ruled against the city but they filed an appeal earlier this year in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We're fighting on multiple fronts and we're going to continue to fight,” Gates said. “We've been made an example of not wanting to be friendly to housing development and doing our share for regional housing needs and the facts of the matter is that's completely untrue.”

Stealing a smooch under the mistletoe is a time-honored holiday tradition — but the word itself has an origin that invokes the exact opposite of romance.

As part of NPR's "Word of the Week" series, we're exploring the history of the plant's name, diving into the tradition of kissing beneath it, and taking a scientific detour along the way.

The etymology of mistletoe — a plant with small, oval evergreen leaves and waxy white berries — likely comes from the Anglo-Saxon words for manure — "mist" or "mistel" — and "tan" (sometimes rendered as "toe"), meaning "twig" or "stick."

"It literally means bird poop on a twig," according to Susie Dent, a British lexicographer and author of Guilt by Definition.

The name stems from the way its seeds are carried by birds and dropped after passing through their digestive tract. This method of seed dispersal is called endozoochory, says Tristram Seidler, a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the curator of the UMass Amherst Herbarium.

In short, animals eat fruits, including berries, move on and "deposit" the seeds in a different location, he says. For mistletoe seeds, that location happens to be the tops of trees. From an evolutionary standpoint, Seidler says, species survival can depend on getting seeds away from the parent plant.

"Any seeds that land near their parent plant may germinate," he explains. "But they're almost certainly going to be wiped out by disease because those areas tend to be crowded and small plants are very susceptible to their own pathogens."

Humans, then, make use of the mistletoe spread by those birds — planting it in cultural practices that stretch back into antiquity.

Mistletoe history

The oldest customs surrounding mistletoe are likely tied to celebrations of the winter solstice, according to Bettina Arnold, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. These go back to the Neolithic era in prehistoric Europe.

"All agricultural societies would have made note of [the winter solstice] because it literally is the time when… you can start seeing the days getting longer again," she says. "So it's a return to life after sort of a seasonal death, in a way." The mistletoe, being evergreen, "is actually almost a metaphor for that."

Arnold says that Pliny the Elder, a first-century Roman author, provided a detailed account of mistletoe and its use by druids, a nature- and ritual-focused priesthood that lived in Iron Age Gaul (modern-day France) and the British Isles. Pliny said that when they found mistletoe growing on a particular kind of oak tree, a priest in white vestments would climb up to cut down the mistletoe with a golden sickle.

"They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons," Pliny wrote. (In fact, modern medical literature says the exact opposite).

Given mistletoe's association with fertility and rebirth, it's not surprising that it made its way into Christian tradition, Arnold says, noting that although we often forget it today, "the Roman Catholic Church is really kind of an extension of the Roman Empire." The Romans themselves also had their own solstice tradition that seeped into Christian practice: Saturnalia, in honor of the god of agriculture, Saturn, included decorating homes with evergreen boughs, wreaths and garlands to symbolize renewal.

Norse mythology adds another mistletoe tale — of Baldur, the god of light. In a story reminiscent of the Greek hero Achilles, Baldur's mother, Frigg, makes her son invincible to all things except mistletoe. Loki, the trickster, exploits this unusual weakness by using an arrow made of mistletoe to kill Baldur. In some later versions of the story, Frigg's tears over her son's death become mistletoe berries, symbolizing her love.

Plant a kiss

So, what about all the kissing?

A reference appears in a song from the 1784 musical comedy Two for One, which celebrates "what good luck has sent ye / And kiss beneath the mistletoe."

It's the oldest written reference to the custom, according to Arnold. It appears to have gained popularity in the following centuries, with holiday themes of regeneration, renewal and redemption helping to reinforce it.

According to author Dent, the story of mistletoe reflects this transformation, evolving from a "slightly scatological beginning … [to] blossom into something rather beautiful."

Copyright 2025 NPR

I hope your holidays are very merry so far. Here at LAist, we headed out to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena recently to get a fresh look at the art collection, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. If you have time in this light traffic (and rainy!) week, it’s worth the ride to check out this gem. Or if old Hollywood glam is more your thing, Fiona Ng scoped out the ASU FIDM museum downtown, which has more than 300 artifacts in its care that you can visit — including many pieces worn by Marlene Dietrich.

Licorice Pizza’s music picks for the weekend include the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Mint on Friday, plus RL Grime at Academy L.A. and Quiet Riot at the Whisky a Go Go, both also on Friday. Sunday has hair metal vets the BulletBoys at the Whisky, and actress and performance artist Ann Magnuson will do an encore performance of her “The Luv Show - 30th Anniversary” Celebration at Zebulon.

Elsewhere on LAist.com, learn about the final shows at the Hotel Cafe before it moves and get a glimpse of LACMA’s first Van Gogh acquisition.

Events

Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry

Preview through Sunday, January 4
Pacific Asia Museum 
46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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David Kim

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Pacific Asia Museum

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A museum-wide installation takes over USC’s Pacific Asia Museum starting in February, but you can get a sneak preview at the innovative project, conceived by Los Angeles-based Korean American artist and muralist Dave Young Kim, over the holidays. Mythical Creatures is an immersive exhibit that spans 12 rooms and tells visitors a story in verse across the museum’s walls. It features 100 objects from USC PAM’s diverse collection of Asian art, as well as new work from Dinh Q. Lê, Lily Honglei, Wendy Park, Momoko Schafer, Kyungmi Shin, Sanjay Vora, Lauren YS and more.

Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

Saturday, December 27, 5 p.m.
Alex Theatre 
216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale
COST: FROM $19; MORE INFO

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Artist Shepard Fairey is DJing, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater is performing and DJ Lance Rock is hosting this charity screening of the iconic 1988 Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special. The evening will benefit AnimAID, which helps animation professionals whose lives have been affected by the wildfires. The movie is followed by a holiday concert at 8 p.m. with Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas.

The Wonderful Winter of Oz 

Through Sunday, December 28 
Scherr Forum at Bank of American Performing Arts Center
2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks
COST: FROM $42; MORE INFO

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Lythgoe Family Panto

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A very British tradition at Christmastime is going to a panto — a pantomime — with your family and friends. For the uninitiated, a panto is a sort of mistold fairy tale rewritten with audience participation, bawdy (but typically kid-friendly) humor and colorful costumes and sets. The Lythgoe Family Panto brings a taste of that to L.A. every year, this year with The Wonderful Winter of Oz, starring none other than J. Peterman himself, John O’Hurley.

When Harry Met Sally… 

Saturday and Sunday, December 27 and 28, 11 a.m. 
Art Theatre 
2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach 
COST: $13; MORE INFO

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Columbia Pictures

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Honor Rob Reiner’s legacy by heading to Long Beach for a screening of the best holiday movie and best rom-com of all time (don’t @ me), When Harry Met Sally…

2025 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour

Sunday, December 28, 7 p.m.
Los Feliz Theatre
1822 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz
COST: $17; MORE INFO

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Courtesy American Cinematheque

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Take the opportunity to see some great indie shorts as American Cinematheque and Vimeo present a showcase of seven standouts from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The event is followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

S.H.I.N.E. Mawusa

Saturday, December 27, 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
World Stage
4321 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park
COST: $5 SUGGESTED DONATION; MORE INFO

Every Saturday, S.H.I.N.E. Mawusi — Sisters Healing, Inspiring, Nurturing, and Empowering, in the Hands of God — brings West African drum culture to the L.A. community. World Stage hosts this suggested donation-only performance, which teaches African culture through music and dance.

Laboratory for the Future

Through January 4, Thursdays to Sundays, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Propeller Gallery 
Airport Arts Center
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Debra Scacco

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Debra Scacco’s work is only on display for another couple of weeks; make sure you get over to Santa Monica Airport to see the project from the beach city’s first Public Works Department Artist in Residence program before it’s gone in early January. Scacco explores the relationship between “water, waste, and urban ecology” and uses clay from Santa Monica’s water well excavation alongside portraits of city essential workers in the installation.

Holiday tours & Vault Experience

Saturday and Sunday, December 27 and 28
Petersen Automotive Museum 
6060 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile
COST: $150; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Petersen Automotive Museum

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If you left the car fanatic in your life off your list, this is the perfect opportunity to make up for the oversight. Included in your Peterson Automotive Museum admission is a special tour of the Vault — home to many rare and vintage cars — a trip to the museum’s mechanic’s shop, where restoration work on the vehicles is ongoing, and a gift certificate to the museum’s restaurant, Meyers Manx.

Papusas and Punchlines

Friday, December 26, 7:30 p.m.
Jaragua Restaurant
4493 Beverly Blvd., Mid-City 
COST: FROM $19.50; MORE INFO 

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Papusas and Punchlines

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Eat delicious papusas and laugh till it hurts at Jaragua for their ongoing Papusas and Punchlines series, this week with a holiday theme. Comics from HBO, Jimmy Kimmel Live and more will perform.

Aparna Nancherla’s comedy career spans almost two decades. She started in standup, has written for shows like Mythic Quest and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and acted in shows like Search Party, Corporate and BoJack Horseman.

After taking a break from standup to write a memoir turned into an extended hiatus.

”I was mining some real, raw personal depths and facing some parts of myself that I hadn't looked at really closely,” Nancherla told LAist. “And then I think trying to get up in front of a bunch of strangers at night was just too much for my nervous system.”

Nancherla is now back with her first hour-long special.

In Hopeful Potato — available now on Dropout, a streaming service dedicated to comedy — she shares her journey navigating her social anxiety in everyday life.

Nancherla joined LAist All Things Considered host Julia Paskin to talk about how she deals with anxiety and depression and her recommendations for places to decompress in L.A.

Good advice and bad mental health advice she’s received

Julia Paskin: Let's talk about good advice.

Aparna Nancherla:  Ironically, the internet's recommendation to touch grass. I think seeing actual people being a little out in the world [and] spending time in nature, those are all things that have helped me. But also realizing that your coping mechanisms are not always gonna work the way you want them to. Deep breathing or taking a self-care day, sometimes it won't make you feel better… I think that just accepting that's part of it too. Like some days you're just gonna feel bad and that doesn't mean you failed.

Julia Paskin:  Could I ask you [for] some of your top worst tips you've received for dealing with depression and anxiety?

Aparna Nancherla:  I've heard, "Just don't think about it." I'm like, "Oh yeah, I haven't tried that." [Also],  something along the lines of: "Suck it up. We're all having a hard time. Everyone's a little depressed." That kind of thing. And honestly, I do find going for a walk or exercising or drinking more water, those can be helpful things. But I think people often utilize them as the solution, like this will cure you. And I'm like, there is not really a cure. It's an ongoing, non-linear journey, and I don't think people understand that.

Places to avoid being a hermit

Julia Paskin:  You talk in the special about having had "big hermit energy" at one point [...] You mentioned touching grass. Any particular spots in L.A. to go touch grass?

Aparna Nancherla:  I mean, very on-brand for me, but I love a coffee shop, I love a library, something where you're around people, but maybe you don't have to directly engage with them, but there's some social contact…  I do think it's [...] important to kind of push myself to be out in the world. 'Cause I think sometimes it can be a slippery slope with being like, is this really a self-care day at this point? You haven't seen anyone for 10 days. Like maybe this is more a sign [that] you need to have lunch with a friend.

Just a couple months ago, [I] got a membership to the L.A. County Arboretum… [I’m an] admirer of waterfalls, and they have a big one planted right in the middle called the Meyberg Waterfall. And it is just one of my really happy places.

Julia Paskin:  Do you have a favorite library or bookshop or anything like that, that you'd recommend?

Aparna Nancherla: I'm in Pasadena, so I love the Pasadena Public Library system. …  There's actually a library I really love in Glassell Park. The Eagle Rock Library I love. And then there's just like great coffee shops around those places too, like Habitat and Penny Oven.

Navigating mental health in an unstable entertainment industry

The unpredictability of the entertainment industry — from the shuttering of studios during the pandemic, to fears of AI and the potential effect of corporate mergers on jobs — has increased anxiety for people working in Hollywood. Nancherla’s advice for dealing with this uncertainty? Support one another.

Aparna Nancherla:  I think what helps in these moments is as a creator [thinking] what can I make? What brings me joy? What connects me to other people? And for me it is kind of going back to smaller things where it's like [doing] a local show. I just did a fundraiser for a local L.A. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who's doing such great work with housing and people's wages. And I think it's so important to remember there are degrees of power and ways we can show up for each other that don't have to do with billionaires, and mergers and things that hopefully people can work towards changing, but might not change overnight.

Nancherla’s comedy special "Hopeful Potato’"is available to stream now on Dropout.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

A federal appeals court has upheld a court order requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to build more than 2,500 housing units on its West Los Angeles campus.

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered the VA to construct 750 temporary units for veterans within 18 months and 1,800 permanent housing units within six years.

The ruling found the agency had “strayed from its mission” by leasing land to commercial interests like a UCLA baseball field and Brentwood School sports complex, instead of caring for veterans.

“There are now scores of unhoused veterans trying to survive in and around the greater Los Angeles area despite the acres of land deeded to the VA for their care,” Judge Ana de Alba wrote in the opinion.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Powers v. McDonough case say the ruling could end veteran homelessness in the Los Angeles region, which is home to more than 3,000 unhoused veterans, according to official estimates.

"It's the most important ruling in the history of this country concerning the rights of veterans," said Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney with Public Counsel, during a press conference Wednesday. “After this case, there should be no such thing as a homeless veteran.”

The VA did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment on the ruling.

‘Long overdue’

The appeals court affirmed most of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's 2024 ruling, which found the VA discriminated against disabled veterans by failing to provide adequate housing on the 388-acre property deeded as a soldiers' home back in 1888.

The main plaintiff named in the class-action lawsuit, Jeffrey Powers, lived in a tent outside the gates of the VA Medical Center.

At a press conference Wednesday, Powers told reporters this week’s appeals court ruling delivers “about 80%” of what he wanted.

“We got the most important thing, which was to get veterans off the street,” Powers said. “And for that, I'm happy with the outcome.”

The case stems from a 2015 settlement in which the VA promised to build 1,200 housing units, with more than 770 completed by 2022. The department missed that deadline, prompting the new lawsuit.

Iraq War veteran Rob Reynolds came to the West L.A. VA for PTSD treatment in 2018, met veterans sleeping on the streets outside and began advocating for them.

During Wednesday’s press event, he called this week’s Ninth Circuit ruling “long overdue.”

"There should never have been a lawsuit filed in the first place,” Reynolds said. “ They were using the property for everything but what it was intended for, and that's housing.”

The veteran plaintiffs argued that lack of on-campus housing prevented disabled veterans from accessing physical and mental health services at the facility.

As of late 2024, the VA said there were 307 veteran housing units open on the West L.A. campus and 461 units under construction.

Robert Reynolds (right), a veteran advocate with AMVETS, walks with Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva as they tour the Veterans Row encampment along San Vicente Boulevard in November 2021.

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Al Seib

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Commercial leases

The appeals court ruling invalidated most commercial leases on the property, including Brentwood School's 22-acre sports complex and an oil company's drilling license.

However, the court overturned the district court's previous invalidation of UCLA's lease for its baseball stadium. Rosenbaum said he plans to refile that portion of the case, which had been argued on different grounds.

Reynolds criticized local leaders for what he said was inaction at the West L.A. VA Campus. He said local officials’ personal connections to Brentwood School and UCLA played a role.

“ A lot of these special interest groups on the VA land have so much influence politically in Los Angeles,” he said. "That's why you've had a lot of our politicians remain quiet about this."

In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the VA secretary to declare the West L.A. VA campus a national hub for homeless veterans and develop a plan to house 6,000 people there by 2028.

That housing goal is even more ambitious than the court order, but local advocates say they haven’t heard anything from the Trump administration since it was issued.

“They need to speak to the people that actually live on that property,” Reynolds said. “I'm hoping now that we have this Ninth Circuit ruling in, that we'll be able to have some more discussion with the administration and with the VA leadership to try to figure out what the next steps are.”

As a result of this week’s ruling, the case has been sent back to the District Court judge to implement the housing order and oversee construction